Ben Lovejoy

A newly-published patent application from Apple discovered by AppleInsider describes methods that would allow an iPhone to buffer a series of photos before the user presses the shutter button for the device's camera and then automatically select the best one. It is not uncommon for camera-shake or a less than optimal angle to result in blurry or dark photos in low-light conditions, even on the ...

A customer satisfaction survey of mobile shoppers by analytics firm ForeSee (via BGR) puts Apple in joint-second place with QVC, scoring 83%, just behind the top scorer Amazon at 85%. Overall consumer satisfaction with the mobile shopping experience increased slightly from 76% in 2011 to 78% in 2012.The mobile platform is maturing much faster than the PC platform. We see it in the rate of...

Mobile video viewing experienced significant gains last year, growing from just 2% of online videos watched in 2011 to 12% in 2012 - and the majority of it is on iOS devices. 60% of all mobile video viewing is done on iOS devices, according to a study by video monetization company Freewheel (via TechCrunch). Android devices accounted for most of the rest, at 32%. The iPhone alone...

Reuters reports that shares of German television set maker Loewe jumped 43% today as rumors of a possible acquisition by Apple resurfaced. A trader was quoted as saying that Apple is looking to bid 4 euros per share for Loewe, but a company spokesman claimed that Loewe was not aware of any such offer. Rumors of an Apple acquisition of Loewe first emerged in May of last year, dying when Loewe...

The iPhone was the best-selling phone in Japan throughout the whole of the last year, the first time the title has ever been taken from a Japanese firm, according to Counterpoint Research's Country Market Share Report (via The Next Web). The number one slot had been held by local firm Sharp for the previous six years. Apple grabbed 15% of the market, just ahead of local firms Sharp and...

Gartner's quarterly Market Share Analysis: Mobile Phones, Worldwide report shows that Samsung and Apple continue to dominate the smartphone market, with more than 52% of the market between them, but that Android's market share grew dramatically year-on-year while iOS saw a decline. Samsung's Q4 2012 smartphone sales totalled 64.5 million handsets, up 85.3% on the previous year, while Apple's...

Apple has been awarded a patent (via AppleInsider) for 'microslot antenna' technology, which could enable 'invisible' radio antennas to be embedded into the housing of a Mac, iPhone or iPad to save space inside and allow for more compact devices. Notebook computer with integrated wireless antenna (20) on device housing The antennas would use microscopic slots in the housing, with widths of...

Microsoft yesterday released a new 14.3.1 update for Office for Mac 2011 to fix a bug in the licensing alerts, which caused Office applications to claim they were unlicensed. The problem was seemingly introduced during a previous bug-fix update.Stability is improved This update fixes an issue that may cause Office 2011 applications to report a problem with Licensing even though the applications...

An analysis by Asymco of Apple's newly-introduced revenue breakdowns claims that Apple made more money from iTunes and accessories sales alone than all other companies except Samsung made from phone sales during the most recent quarter. As noted in its latest earnings release for the first fiscal quarter of 2013, Apple's total revenues from iTunes and accessories amounted to over $5.5...

With Apple's interest in a smart watch gaining renewed attention, there has been a considerable amount of speculation about what the company might try to do with such a device. Some of the speculation has pointed out that a watch could provide a good alternative to traditional passcodes by using watch proximity to grant a user access to systems and apps. Apple is apparently looking at other...

Apple is one of three high-profile companies being required to explain to an Australian government inquiry why its product pricing in Australia is significantly higher than in the United States, reports Kotaku Australia. The issue is not a new one for Australian officials, but legislators are stepping up their investigations into prices being paid by Australians. The action comes after Apple, ...

Information workers in the enterprise sector would like a Microsoft tablet but an Apple phone, according to Forrester Research's annual Mobile Workforce Adoption Trends survey of 10,000 enterprise staff (via AppleInsider). For tablets, preferences were 32% Microsoft Surface, 26% iPad and 12% Android tablet. For phones, the figures were 33% iPhone, 22% Android and just 10% Windows Phone....

Apple has hired a senior researcher in organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display technology from LG, reports OLED-Info (via BrightWire), potentially signaling renewed interest in the technology.Apple has hired a new executive into its Display group - Dr. Jueng Jil Lee, a former research fellow at LG Display, who apparently was involved with printing technology research. Dr. Lee's previous...

The untethered jailbreak tool evasi0n for iOS 6.x which has been downloaded by over four million users has seen a bit more news come out over the past 24 hours, led by an update designed to address a pair of bugs discovered in the initial version. Users had reported a number of issues with the jailbreak, including slow boot times and the Weather app crashing, and iPodNN notes that both have...

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak said in an interview yesterday that Apple has fallen somewhat behind in the smartphone field, allowing competitors like Samsung to catch up. The comment was made as Wozniak spoke about the importance of brand (translated from the original German report by wiwo.de) at the Business Week Best Brand Awards.I am proud that we have such loyal fans. But this loyalty is...

Rumors that Apple plans to open an online store in Russia have been given additional credence by a report on TechCrunch noting that the company has begun recruiting staff for the operation. The ad is for a Russian Chat Team Manager responsible for managing between 12 and 15 advisors. Although aimed at the Russian market, the role is actually based in Cork, Ireland. Apple is also advertising...

9to5Mac reports finding files for radio buttons in the iPad Music app in iOS 6.1 that could lend weight to last year's rumors that Apple plans to launch a Pandora-style service, providing streaming access to music which could then be purchased if desired. The files, first found by iAust1n, include a series of eight "radio" buttons, several of which have the word 'buy' in the filenames,...

Engadget notes that there appears to be a somewhat extreme example of Apple product placement in an episode of the new made-for-Netflix show House of Cards. The site points out that the shot shown above, occurring 31 minutes and 42 seconds into episode six, appears to show nine Apple devices between just two people. Just taking the devices that are angled towards Underwood, I count three...

A new model of the popular Logitech Ultrathin Keyboard Cover for the iPad will be available for the iPad mini later this month, the company has announced. The Bluetooth keyboard uses the Smart Cover magnets in the iPad mini to hold it securely attached to the device in both cover and keyboard modes. In use, the magnets in the iPad mini grip it tightly in a channel toward the rear of the...

Following last week's announcement, Apple today began offering the 128 GB iPad in the Apple online store with shipping currently listed at 1-3 business days for most models in most countries. Wi-Fi + Cellular models in the United States are currently being quoted 3-5 business days for shipping across all three carriers. The new model, offering double the storage capacity of the previous...