Jordan Golson

IHS Suppli has released its estimate of the component costs involved in building the iPhone 5s, performing a virtual teardown based on information revealed by Apple and industry knowledge. The estimate, which does not include numerous other costs involved in product development, manufacturing, and sales, such as research and development, software, patent licenses, marketing, and distribution...

A pair of games with support for iOS 7's newly added game controller support have been released on the App Store.Though the game controllers haven't actually been released yet -- there are at least two companies who have announced or hinted at upcoming controller releases -- both Walking Dead and Bastion were updated today with game controller support, according to our sister-site TouchArcade....

Three days after the iPhone 5s went on sale, Algoriddim has updated its Djay and Vjay apps with 64-bit support, including new features that are only possible with the A7 processor.For the realtime video-mixing app Vjay, the most processor-intensive task has always been decoding two videos simultaneously. For prior iPhones, the Algoriddim team needed to use a number of tricks and...

BlackBerry has agreed to a "letter of intent" to be acquired by Fairfax Financial, in a potential deal worth $4.7 billion or $9 per share. Fairfax currently owns 10% of BlackBerry shares.Fairfax Financial is a conglomerate holding company, somewhat like a Canadian Berkshire Hathaway. The company's primary business is insurance. Fairfax's CEO, Prem Watsa, was on the BlackBerry board of directors ...

Apple CEO Tim Cook has apparently joined Twitter with the username @tim_cook, with fellow Apple executive Phil Schiller retweeting him as a means of verification. The account was first created back in July, but today saw Cook's first tweet. Visited Retail Stores in Palo Alto today. Seeing so many happy customers reminds us of why we do what we do.— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) September 20, 2013 ...

Chipworks is performing a more in-depth examination of the iPhone 5s than the one performed by iFixit last night.Among its discoveries, Chipworks found that the A7 chip is manufactured by Samsung, a big win for that firm after rumors surfaced earlier this year that Taiwan Semiconductor Company (TSMC) might win the contract for the new chip. Code discovered in iOS 7 back in July did suggest...

Senator Al Franken (D-MN) has sent a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook expressing concern over the new Touch ID fingerprint sensor built into the iPhone 5s, which went on sale earlier today.In the letter (PDF), the Senator, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law, says he is an iPhone owner and is concerned about the use of fingerprints to unlock the device.I...

Within four hours after Apple began taking orders for the iPhone 5s, Apple Store shipping estimates for new orders of the device slipped to 7-10 days in the U.S. and Canada, following a similar pattern to shipping estimates in other countries where the 5s went on sale earlier today. The original shipping estimate for all 5s models was 1-3 days. Some 28 minutes after they went on sale, all gold ...

Apple started taking orders for its flagship iPhone 5s in the U.S. and Canada at midnight Pacific Time after the phone launched earlier today in 8 other countries around the world. Most locales have seen tight supplies of all capacities and colors, with the gold model said to be particularly difficult to come by. The iPhone 5s is available directly from Apple via the Apple Online Store and the ...

Two controller makers are teasing MFi "Made for iPhone" game controllers following the public release of iOS 7. The new OS includes special APIs for third-party hardware game controllers, turning the iPhone and iPad into gaming systems on par with other handheld consoles.ClamCase has published a trailer for its GameCase iPhone controller, which connects via Bluetooth, includes its own battery,...

A pair of prosecutors, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón, have been pressing Apple for months over a rash of thefts of mobile devices, including iPhones and iPads. Gascón in particular had been pushing for a 'kill switch' that could permanently disable stolen iOS devices. Today, Gascón and Schneiderman praised Apple's release of the ...

36 percent of active iOS devices are already using iOS 7 according to information published by Mixpanel, a mobile analytics firm.Apple has frequently touted the rapid adoption of new operating system upgrades as a significant strength of its mobile operating system, ensuring that developers who adopt new APIs and features like iCloud or Passbook will see a large market for their wares.For...

Apple has unveiled a new Kids category on the App Store [Direct Link], MacStories noted. The page includes multiple sections, including the best apps for certain ages, games specifically for kids, and different types of learning apps like 'Create & Play' and 'Shapes & Colors'.First announced at WWDC in June alongside iOS 7′s developer debut, the Kids category is aimed at facilitating the...

In iOS 7, Siri can change a number of settings on the iPhone, including toggling Bluetooth on and off or changing the screen brightness. As one MacRumors reader noticed, Siri can also activate Airplane Mode, even if a passcode lock is set, allowing a thief to effectively disable Find My iPhone on a stolen device.However, Apple has added some extensive security features to deter phone theft in...

With iOS 7, Apple now allows app downloads up to 100MB over cellular connections, prompting users to connect to Wi-Fi for larger apps. Apple previously boosted the limit to 50MB with the launch of the third-generation iPad in March 2012. Before that, users could only download 20MB apps over a cellular connection.Developers frequently work hard to keep their apps under the over-the-air download ...

Apple will use sapphire home buttons on the new iPad and iPad mini, expected to launch next month, according to a report from DigiTimes.Apple first adopted sapphire to make covers of iPhone 5 cameras and now the material is also used in making covers of iPhone 5S finger print-recognizing home keys, the sources noted. Apple in March 2013 filed with the US Patent and Trademark Office an...

Google is launching a new, entirely separate company called Calico. The firm will be dedicated to tacking major, long-term healthcare initiatives like significantly extending the human lifespan.Calico will be helmed by Arthur Levinson, the chairman and former CEO of biotech firm Genentech. Levinson is also a longtime board member and Chairman of Apple, and a director of Hoffmann-La Roche, a...

Apple has just released iOS 7 to the public, making the download available to users of recent iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch models. Users can obtain the update either by connecting their devices to iTunes and clicking the "Check for Update" button or checking for over-the-air updates on their devices via Settings -> General -> Software Update. It may, however, take a few minutes for the update to...

At its September 10 iPhone event, Apple provided multiple publications with iPhones running iOS 7. The embargo has now lifted on review posts, so we have gathered some relevant excerpts from each site in order to highlight general release reactions to Apple's new operating system. Jim Dalrymple, The LoopiOS 7 isn’t a big change functionally from what we’re all used to with iOS 6. Apple...

iCloud.com has received a makeover with new icons and design inspired by iOS 7, after previously rolling out to beta customers back in August. The background wallpaper mirrors the dynamic, slowly changing wallpaper offered in iOS 7 as well.The site is using new icons for Mail, Contacts, Calendar, Notes, Reminders and Find My iPhone; while iWork for iCloud is still using the older-style iWork...