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Starbucks issued Wednesday evening an updated version of its iPhone app featuring full Passbook support and integration. The company, which has long maintained its own Passbook-like mobile payment app, now allows customers to create a Pass from existing, registered cards to pay for beverages, food items and more. Integrating with the company's rewards program, purchases…

Apple’s new Lightning interface for its iDevices may not easily reach the same level of robust third party support as its 30-pin Dock Connector predecessor. Sources speaking with iLounge Wednesday indicate that the Cupertino company is making significant changes to its “Made for iPad/iPhone/iPod” (MFi) policies that will make it more difficult for third parties…

The City of Fremont has abandoned an effort to have the original, state-of-the-art factory that made the first Macs listed as a place of historic significance. The City Council wanted the building registered as such a place after the death of Apple cofounder Steve Jobs in 2011, but found out that the building isn't old…

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg thinks Apple's new iPhone 5 is the bee's knees. In an interview with The Today Show's Matt Lauer that will air on October 4th, Mr. Zuckerberg said that Apple CEO Tim Cook had sent him one on the house, and said, “It's a wonderful device.” Mark Zuckerberg & Matt Lauer Source:…

Apple Maps in iOS 6 uses significantly less data to do its job than the Google Maps-powered service it replaced, according to a report from data compression and analytics firm Onavo. The company did side-by-side tests of Apple Maps in iOS 6 and the previous Maps app in iOS 5.x, and found that Apple's new…

Apple quietly dropped a claim that its new iOS Maps app was the, “most beautiful, powerful mapping service ever” in the wake of CEO Tim Cook's apology for the service and commitment to improve it. Apple's webpage devoted to the product replaced the above-mentioned braggadocio with a more modest claim that Apple Maps offered, “a…

Apple CEO Tim Cook published an open letter to customers Friday, addressing concerns over the company’s new Maps application that was introduced as part of iOS 6. Mr. Cook reiterates the point that the service will improve over time as Apple receives corrections from users and internally updates data, but he suggests that alternative mapping…

Reports Thursday that Google's Motorola Mobility faked an advertisement comparing Google Maps to Apple's Maps app in an effort to artificially embarrass Cupertino’s new service are only partially correct. An examination of the issue shows that, while Motorola may have configured the comparison to act in its favor, the advertisement was a valid comparison, for…

The Phiaton PS 20 NC Earphones have noise canceling and are worth serious consideration if you're in the market to replace what came in the box with your iPhone or iPod. Aside from sounding quite decent, they add the advantage of noise cancellation that Phiaton claims is up to 95 percent effective; however I didn't…

User satisfaction of Apple’s new iOS 6 mobile operating system is down slightly from that of iOS 5, according to a new poll conducted by mobile research firm On Device and revealed by TechCrunch Wednesday. The drop in satisfaction is small but notable as it represents the first time that iOS user satisfaction has decreased upon…

Many companies sell carbon fiber covers for current Apple products. Apple may be working on products made from carbon fiber, according to sources close to suppliers in Asia, Macotakara reported Wednesday [Google Translation]. The strong yet ultra-light material would allow the Cupertino company to continue its quest to reduce the weight and thickness of future…

Apple built a separate Maps app for China, according to The Wall Street Journal. The newspaper said that mapping restrictions in China and other issues specific to the communist country resulted in Apple building a special version of maps for customers inside China. According to the report, there are only 11 companies who have a…

Over 5 million iPhone 5 smartphones were sold during the first three days of availability, which was below financial analyst estimates. Despite the lower than expected number, Apple still beat last year's iPhone 4S launch by a million units, and Wells Fargo analyst Maynard Um thinks the company could still report sales through September that…

Scalpers have been hogging some iPhone 5 lines at Apple Stores in the U.S. A reader report from the Rockingham Park Apple Store in New Hampshire said resellers were buying iPhones two at a time with stacks of Apple gift cards, while on the other side of the country, Forbes reported that line sitters were…

Apple may soon be facing a legal challenge from the Swiss Federal Railway, SBB, for using a design nearly identical to that of the railway’s station clocks as part of the new Clock app for iPad in iOS 6, Swiss newspaper Tages-Anzeiger reported Thursday [Google Translation]. The design of the clock is licensed by SBB…

Apple has purchased another 200 acres near its Maiden, NC data center, presumably for a second solar farm in an effort to meet its pledge to run the facility on 100 percent renewable energy by the end of the year. This new land will double the size of the solar array producing power for the…

When I first saw the Throne Poison headphones from I-Mego I thought: wow. They are big and bold and reminiscent of the radio mics of the 1950’s. The Throne Poison design is chrome with muted purple. These headphones were designed for vocals and acoustics that suit classical or new age music.   Throne Poison headphones…

Apple has a dominant lead in the mobile device world with its iPhone, iPad and iPod touch ecosystem, and that's going to help push the company's stock up to US$1,650 in 2015, according to Ironfire Capital founder and analyst Eric Jackson. Google will do well in the mobile market, although Apple has already won over…

Alongside the launch of Windows 8, Microsoft has announced a major shift in Office pricing and packages for small businesses and consumers. With Office 2013, slated for release in November,  Microsoft is shifting its primary focus from traditional, “perpetual” licenses to a yearly subscription model. Depending on users’ individual usage models and needs, and Microsoft’s…

Prerelease iPhone 5 Parts Leak via Nowhereelse.fr Apple’s new iPhone 5, set for release this Friday, carries a bill of materials (BOM) of US$199 for the low end model, according to an analysis and virtual teardown by IHS iSuppli Tuesday. With an estimated $8 manufacturing cost, Apple’s total cost to build a 16 GB iPhone 5…

“Those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.” — George Bernard Shaw The iPod nano, now in its 7th generation, has traveled a convoluted journey through time. While first conceived as a smaller, more convenient iPod for youngsters and for exercise, its various incarnations have transmogrified according to shifting technical winds, never quite settling…

Shares in Apple Inc. crossed the US$700 mark for the first time in after hours trading on Monday. The stock ended the regular session up just shy of the $700 mark, but crossed that line after the markets closed. AAPL's official closing price for Monday was $699.781, a gain of $8.501 (+1.23 percent), on moderate…

Earlier today we provided a spec comparison between the iPhone 5 and the Samsung Galaxy S3. Starting Sunday, Samsung will make its own comparison between the two best selling smartphones with a large print ad in national and local newspapers across the United States, CNET reported. With the headline “It doesn’t take a genius,” Samsung…

My friend Carmen is a busy woman. She travels on business a lot, constantly on the go. When she went looking for a smart phone several months ago she originally bought an Android device. I forget which one, but she quickly found that incorporating it into her daily routine was not as easy as she'd…