MacRumors iPhone and iPad Blog: Apps, News, and Rumors

Last August, Apple expanded its recycling program in the United States to allow customers to turn in their used iPhones and iPads for Apple gift cards. As noted by Macworld UK and Macerkopf.de [Google translation], Apple has once again expanded its recycling efforts by bringing a similar initiative to the UK, France, and Germany. But rather than offering payment in the form of an Apple...

The Jakarta Globe reports that Apple's three carrier partners in Singapore are making plans to offer iPhone 4S models lacking cameras, with the move said to be targeting members of the military who are prohibited from bringing camera-equipped phones onto their bases. Carrier M1 even briefly offered camera-less models on its website earlier this week. "iPhone 4S Non Camera" listing on M1's ...

VentureBeat reports that Sony will be bringing its "Music Unlimited" streaming service to the iPhone and iPod touch within the next three months, looking to make inroads into Apple's ecosystem that has been dominated on the music side by iTunes.The electronics company will offer a free iPhone and iPad app for Music Unlimited at some point this quarter, Tim Schaaff, head of Sony Entertainment...

Apple's big education announcement may be January 19th in New York City, but that doesn't mean Apple is the only company innovating in the educational space. University of Michigan professor Perry Samson has developed an iPad app called LectureTools that Samson hopes can turn laptops and iPads from a way to distract bored students into an interactive learning tool that keeps them engaged....

Infinity Field HD, a space shooter from Forzefield Studios, has been updated with extensive Joypad support. Joypad is a separate app that allows gamers to control supported games on an iPad or Mac from their iPhone, turning it into a wireless virtual controller with a configurable set of buttons. Infinity Field HD is the first app to include multiplayer Joypad support, allowing two players to...

Behringer is on hand at CES 2012, displaying its enormous iNuke Boom iPhone speaker dock that was announced last month. The over-the-top accessory is 8 feet wide and 4 feet tall and weighs over 700 pounds. Billed as the loudest iPhone speaker dock, the 10,000-watt speaker can indeed put out overwhelming sound. A dock with a 30-pin connector on the top allows direct connection of an iPhone or ...

With Kodak on the brink of filing for bankruptcy as it pursues an auction of its patent portfolio in order to remain solvent, the company today announced that it has filed two new lawsuits alleging patent infringement by Apple and HTC.A complaint filed with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) specifically claims that certain of Apple’s iPhones, iPads, and iPods, and certain of HTC’s ...

Showtime has joined fellow premium television network HBO in offering an iPad app to stream video to its subscribers. The free app, called Showtime Anytime, serves up Showtime's original programming -- TV series like Homeland, Dexter and Weeds, among other things like boxing -- and the movies running on the various Showtime networks. Get unlimited access to full length versions of your favorite...

Taiwanese publication Digitimes, which gained some notice late last week for its claim that Apple is preparing the iPad 3 for a March release ahead of an "iPad 4" launch just six months later, is adding additional color to its rumors with a new report claiming that Pegatron is set to become Apple's primary manufacturing partner for the iPad. Pegatron, which was rumored as long as six months...

TechCrunch writes of the latest report from NPD, covering U.S. smartphone sales in October and November of last year. The data, which begins right about when the iPhone 4S was released, shows a dramatic increase in market share for the iPhone. The jump, from 26% in Q3 2011 to 43% in October and November, is due in-part to pent-up demand for the next iPhone following the pushback of the "iPhone 5" ...

Call of Duty Elite launched last fall to coincide with the rollout of Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3, the fastest-selling entertainment product of all time. Elite is the online counterpart to MW3, offering stats tracking, in-game competitions, game strategies and more. The service had some rough moments at launch, but most parts of Elite are up and running now. Chacko Sonny, head of Beachhead ...

Netflix yesterday announced its launch in the United Kingdom and Ireland, once again expanding the footprint of the company's popular streaming service.Netflix is available now, and anyone can get a one month free trial: click-to-watch TV programmes and films streamed instantly over the Internet to your smart TV, game console, computer, tablet, or mobile device. After the free trial, it costs...

Reuters reports on a new study from mobile network consulting firm Arieso showing that iPhone 4S users consume twice as much data as iPhone 4 users, with new features such as Siri driving the increased demand.IPhone 4S users transfer on average three times more data than users of the older iPhone 3G model which was used as the benchmark in a study by telecom network technology firm Arieso....

Earlier this week, stealth startup CloudOn released a free iPad app that aimed to bring the functionality of Microsoft Office to the iPad. One day later, the company declared the app "sold out" and pulled it until they could expand capacity. It has since been relaunched for some users, and will be opening up to more over time. In a post about the first day of CloudOn's public availability, the ...

This chart, put together by Bloomberg, shows the slim profit margins that Foxconn deals with to build millions of pieces of consumer electronics for clients like Apple -- which has seen its margins grow dramatically in recent years. At the time of the iPhone launch in 2007, Apple's profit margins were at 15.4 percent, while Foxconn's was at 2.7. In the most recent quarter, Apple reported...

In June of last year, Epic Games reported that it had made more than $10 million from the sale of Infinity Blade on iOS devices. Now, with the addition of Infinity Blade II to the roster, which Epic says has made more than $5 million since it was introduced at the beginning of December, the Infinity Blade franchise has passed more than $30 million in total revenue. Epic Games, Inc. and its...

The Tribunale di Milano -- the Italian first-instance court for patent cases -- has denied a request by Samsung for a preliminary injunction banning the iPhone 4S in Italy over a patent dispute. A similar request was denied in France last month, and the Netherlands in October. The bans in Italy and France were initially requested in October. Florian Mueller points out that both Apple and...

Yesterday, we reported on a new iPad app from Silicon Valley startup CloudOn that seeks to offer a cloud-hosted version of Microsoft Office for the tablet device. A number of readers have noted that the app is no longer available in the App Store, and a note posted on the company's website indicates that it is currently "sold out".Thanks for your support of CloudOn! We're currently sold out. ...