iOS Archives - Page 6 of 9 - Serious Startups

New iPhone Parts Leak, Show That Many Rumors Appear To Be Accurate Including Larger Screen

Rumors of the next iPhone (possibly the “iPhone 5) have really been taking off because, well, it’s the iPhone. Not to mention Apple has officially set the schedule and date for their keynote at WWDC, and while the next iPhone probably won’t be released until the fall, we never know for sure with Apple. This is because Apple has a notoriously tight lid kept on all of their developments, and when something goes amuck, like an iPhone 4 getting lose months before launch, you might just have an Apple CEO knocking on your door.

As far as rumors go, a larger screen, a smaller dock connecter, a new aspect ratio, and LTE have all been rumored to be on board in the next iteration of the iPhone. And it would be hard to believe that Apple would skip out on most of these like a larger screen or LTE. Our guess is that they won’t, and now we have some beautiful photos thanks to our friends at 9to5Mac that show what Apple may be planning.

As you can see in the images above, Apple is definitely going with a larger screen for the next iPhone, and the camera is actually placed on top of the earpiece as opposed to next to it. The dock connector is also smaller, and there is plenty of room inside for what we hope will be an LTE radio. In the image below, you can see that a metal plating has been used to give this iPhone what looks like a unibody shell, although we have no details as to what this is actually made of. The frame is as wide as the current iPhones (4 and 4S models of course), but is longer which goes right along with the runors we have been hearing. Sources say that the screen resolution will be 1136 x 640 and that the iPhone will have specially designed software (iOS 6?) to take advantage of all that extra room.

Source: 9to5Mac

[Opinion] The Facebook Phone And What You’ll Actually See

This article is based on theories in which I’ve presented to people before certain sites took what was an idea and called it their own. I’m basing a couple of the features/products within based on speculation and possible rumors in which have happened in the past and ones we’ll surely hear in the close future when it comes to the Mythical Facebook Phone…

Seattle Startup Doxo Launches One Click Bill Payment For Mobile

Doxo, the Seattle based all in one digital file cabinet and e-payment startup has launched a new one click payment method for bill paying and to top it off, it’s available on mobile as well.

Although Crunchbase has Doxo formed in 2008, the company launched the Doxo platform in mid 2011. Their all in one service allows users to manage all types of bills from one simple easy to use platform. Now you don’t have to bookmark 5 different credit card sites, all your utility sites and your car note. Everything is managed by logging into Doxo.

Doxo and their all in one digital file cabinet and e-pay system is backed by the king of all e-commerce, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, through his investment arm. In addition to their consumer customers, Doxo has attracted government clients in Washington including: Benton County, Chelan County, Clallam County, Clark County, Franklin County, Island County, Lincoln County, Pend Oreille County, Spokane County, Stevens County, Thurston County, Walla Walla County, Clallam County Public Utilities, Mukilteo Water and Sewer District, Lake Stevens Utility District.

Doxo launched an iOS app last summer and just recently updated it. They also just released an Android app available in the Google Play store, both mobile apps allow consumer users to pay their bills using a one-click method on their mobile phones.

More after the break
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Yahoo Kills Livestand

Yahoo, a company with a brand new CEO, Ross Levinsohn, is shutting down it’s News stand that it started just months ago. In an application I nor many of you have ever heard about Livestand, was supposed to be Yahoos response to Flipboard which like many of Yahoo’s recent projects has failed. In an attempt to turn the company around Levinsohn is trying to streamline what the company does.

While we received great feedback on Livestand’s design and it earned a 4-star rating in the App Store, we committed ourselves to continuously measure and scrutinize what’s working and what isn’t. We have learned a lot from Livestand and are actively applying those insights toward the development of future products that are better aligned with Yahoo!’s holistic mobile strategy.

Regan Clark mentions on Yahoo’s Blog. While never making any inroads or showing any interest in Android, Yahoo is said to be wanting to push full steam ahead with Mobile, as seen with it’s recent launch of Axis.

Facebook To Buy Opera, To Gain More Of A Footprint In Mobile

In a move that makes as much sense as buying a company for $1 billion only to release an application just like it weeks later, rumor has it Facebook is looking to buy Opera. Facebook, which is now having to go before the SEC over how it handled its IPO is rumored to want to buy the Browser. Facebook which listed Mobile as a major interest in it’s IPO filing is quickly pushing full steam ahead to build it’s Mobile footprint. Which the acquisitions of Lightbox, Instagram and others Facebook looks to be pushing forward to the often rumored and mythical Facebook Phone.

With getting closer and closer to 1 billion users, having a browser will no doubt send shock waves in what is already a fierce battle between Google with Chrome and Microsoft with Internet Explorer. With the addition of a browser, rumored Application store, buying/built a Camera interface with Instagram and it’s own newly released iOS application, Lightbox for gallery. The only thing left for a full on blitz is an operating system. However after seeing what Amazon did with the Kindle, could a Forked Android version be what Facebook is soon to be looking at building or would buying RIM for it’s Blackberry OS finally push FB into building it’s own phone.

Source: Pocket-lint

Groupon To Go Head To Head Against Square On Mobile Transactions

Groupon the daily deals site is reportedly interested in entering the Mobile Commerce field to compete with the likes of Square and most recently PayPal. The company who is embroiled in controversy in almost anything it does, from how it reports it’s profits to how it stock raises, wants to handle your money.

Business Insider is reporting that it’ll charge 1.8% transaction fee and a $0.15 per transaction charge for payments that they process. Whereas Square charges 2.75% with no per transaction fee and PayPal Here charges 2.7%, also with no transaction fee. In a risky move, Groupon will provide not only the device that retailers can charge customers, but also an iPod Touch to take the payments with. Like Yahoo, which recently made waves by releasing a semi browser for the web, and an iOS application, Groupon which keeps failing and is being mishandled would rather throw as many things against a wall and see what sticks versus fixing what’s wrong and instead is trying to hide from this.

Source: Business Insider

Facebook Launches “Facebook Camera” For iPhone, Upload Up To 30 Photos At Once

Eerily close to their acquisition of the hit photo-sharing app, Instagram, Facebook has just launched a new photo-sharing app for iPhone called Facebook Camera. Facebook Camera is what you would expect it to be–an app that allows you to take pictures and add them to Facebook. This may seem simple enough, so much so in fact, that it is unnecessary to have, however, there are a few features that make it much easier to use than the iOS camera or just the Facebook app itself.

Facebook Camera has a completely new UI from what we have come to know in the official app, and it is actually very intuitive and easy-to-use. You can view a very streamlined version of your Facebook news feed that shows all of the photos your friends have uploaded and tagged, and you can also view their profiles (profiles only show pictures as well. When viewing your “me” stream you can scroll through your camera roll and pick the photos you would like to upload. You can add up to 15 effects to each photo, crop them, tag them, and upload up to 30 at a time. This is what sets this app apart from other photo uploading apps. When you have a ton of photos to upload via mobile, Facebook Camera would definitely be the quickest and easiest way to do so, that is, if you use Facebook. You can take pictures directly from the app, however, for some reason you can’t actually delete them. The app did just launch today though, so it’s understandable that they have a few things to work through.

Facebook Camera is a pretty nice app and if used for its strong points, can really be productive to have installed. It is a little strange that they launch this app right after the Instagram acquisition, but that was a pretty out-of-nowhere purchase to begin with, and it wouldn’t be surprising to find out that the team working on Facebook Camera had no idea it was going to happen. Either way, it’s here, so be sure to check it out in the App Store and let us know what you think in the comments.

Google+ Updates Its Android App To Mimic It’s Update To iOS

Google has finally updated their Android app to follow the model of the iOS version they released to make the mobile experience “more beautiful.” Many Android users were pretty jealous to see the beauty iOS users were beholding, and they now can finally have it themselves. With some glitches though, the tablet version is still a little lacking as seen below. Most of the update takes what was a bland boring application and just makes it pop with the photos and posts, as well as some other major updates that we’ve all been waiting for and hoping for.

Launching Tonight Yahoo’s Answer To Chrome, I Think

Yahoo, tonight is launching what they are calling a “Chrome Killer”. But there is a problem, as you can see right now you can download a plugin to use it on…guess what? Chrome.

I don’t get it either. As of now, when you go to axis.yahoo.com you are able to “Download it now”(Chrome Extension) view a video of it or see an ad for it. While having a new choice in browsers is nice, I’m still not sure why Yahoo will try something else it’ll fail at instead of fixing their problems they have now. Visually, it looks good until you realize how much quicker Chrome is to use, and return to using it.

Philly Startup Snip Snap, Putting Print Coupons In The Digital Space

Snip Snap founder Ted Mann presenting at TechCrunch Disrupt NY 2012 (photo: nibletz inc)

A new startup mobile app called Snip Snap presented today during the first session of Tech Crunch Disrupt’s Battlefield. Snip Snap is in the pool of 30 other startups competing for 50,000 dollars and the Disrupt cup. I loved the idea so much that I started writing this article while Snip Snap founder Ted Mann was still presenting.

The idea for the app is incredible (hence why I am writing about it right this second). Basically you take a picture of an actual print coupon out of your newspaper or direct mail. The picture uploads to the app, makes note of the barcode and the expiration date and goes into your virtual wallet.

Once in your wallet the coupon can be shared with other users. That gives the app a second life. I remember when I moved away from home my mom would send me her coupons from the Baltimore Sun and the Washington Post now with this app you can get coupons from major stores across the country. If you didn’t know, sometimes a Bed Bath & Beyond may have a great deal on something in California and not in New York and vice versa.

MC Hammer questions Snip Snap founder Ted Mann At TechCrunch Disrupt NY 2012 (photo: nibletz inc)

With all this nationwide coupon sharing, there is a function in the app that lets you report back to the Snip Snap network on whether or not the user was successful redeeming the coupon.

The judges met Snip Snaps founder with the immediate questions you would think of like, what about coupon fraud. Right now it’s totally up to the merchant on whether they are going to a) accept the coupon via an image on your phone and b) whether they want to honor the deal. Surprisingly there is still an 80% success rate with the coupons currently in snip snap.

Other features include:

Expiration date reminders
In store reminders (when you enter a store that you have a coupon for, Snip Snap lets you know)
Use for any coupons, it doesn’t matter what the coupon is for
Share with friends

You can find Snip Snap in the app store now.

NY Startup MyStream: Share Your Music From Device To Device VIDEO INTERVIEW

NY startup MyStream is an app that allows you to share your music from device to device by simply using wifi or Bluetooth. Sounds basic enough right? Well the app comes packed with a lot of exciting features, and best of all it’s free.

When two friends have the MyStream app downloaded to their iPhones they can now share any music in their library with each other in a couple of different ways.

First, they can share over their choice of a wifi or bluetooth network.

They can also share the song one person is listening to in real time, with the other person. Or connected devices can browse each other’s libraries and listen to whatever songs they want off the library. Now this is a streaming share so you can’t copy the song form one device to another. However, if you like the song MyStream has a buy button that will connect you to where you can download the song directly to your device.

Now you don’t have to worry about sharing headphones and bumping heads or having to cuddle close to listen to the same iPhone speaker. MyStream eliminates all of that hassle.

Record labels aren’t put off by real estate agent turned tech startup founder Richard Zelson’s app because it encourages purchasing your own music. In an interview with our good friends at TechCocktail Zelson said: “We’re making it more valuable to have your own copy of music again,”

The buy button is the piece that keeps the industry folks happy. We’re sure you’re familiar with the scenario “Dude you need to hear this song”, well when the other user wants the song, they just go and buy it from their own device.

Check out the video below:

Linkage:

Find out more about MyStream here

More of our TechCrunch Disrupt NY 2012 coverage can be found here

We’re on a nationwide sneaker-strapped startup roadtrip, find out more here

Boston Startup: About Last Night The Ultimate Night Life Social App

We love About Last Night for several reasons. First off the crazy Bostonian serial entrepreneurs who co-founded About Last Night are pretty awesome. About Last Night is one of several startups that are incubating in their own personal incubator. Brothers Darren Dodge and Derek Dodge have a bunch of their own startups “cooking in the microwave, we just open the door and check on them” says Darren.

But really, the great thing about About Last Night is the robustness of the platform. They left no stone unturned, but at the same time the UI is appealing and not too cluttered.

About Last Night is about sharing the good times you had last night. The About Last Night crew showed off good times spent Sunday night in Times Square, at Bubba Gumps and other fine establishments around New York.

The app allows you to follow people you don’t know (like Twitter), People you do know (like Facebook) and your favorite night spots and locations (like a reverse FourSquare), again it’s like leaving no stone unturned. It feels a bit like path, but it’s more about the jello shots you did at the Ale House, not waking up at 7:35 with a hangover and brushing your teeth.

They’ve been working on About Last Night for the last six months and they’ve come out with an easy and fun to use app. They’ve got plenty of time to work on even more startups, ya know with the Red Sox sucking and all…

Check out the video below:

Linkage:

Find out About Last Night here

More TechCrunch Disrupt NY 2012 coverage here

We’re on a sneaker-strapped nationwide startup road trip, check it out here (and support us please)

Google Sets A 4-Device Limit On Google Music Unauthorizations, Soon Retracts Due To User Dissatisfaction

Since Google Music was launched, there was always a limit on the number of authorized devices. 10 devices was the most any person could have linked to their Google Play, and everyone (well, most everyone) was fine with that. However, people’s comfort with the service’s limits began to change a little when Google announced that they would only let you unauthorized 4 devices a year from you Play account.

So what’s the big deal?

Well, many people are fine with a 10 device limit because at any time they can un-authorize the devices that they aren’t using and add new ones without any problems. With this new rule however, people can only do this 4 times a year. That means if you get a bunch of devices that you don’t use on Google Play and have maxed out your unauthorizations, you’re stuck with what you’ve got. This is especially bad news for those who root their devices, because a lot of times your Google Music will recognize the same device as a different device because it’s running a new ROM. You can see how this can quickly become an issue. If you have a computer, tablet, and phone all synced and authorized to your Google Play account you should be okay. That is until, you flash a new ROM a couple times to find which one you like most, or add another computer or get a new one. With this new regulation, Google is really handicapping a lot of people who take advantage of using multiple devices.

Because this was such an issue, Google has currently retracted this rule, allowing things to return to normal…for now that is. Google has released the following statement to clear things up a little:

“Yesterday we made a change to our device policy for music on Google Play. Any user can associate up to 10 devices to his or her account. Once you have connected 10 devices, you may add a new device only by deauthorizing an existing one from your account, and you may do this up to four times per year.

We limit the number of times you can swap out new devices at the request of some of our music partners in an effort to limit abuse. We understand this has caused some issues for users who often deauthorize and reauthorize the same device, and we are currently re-implementing the solution in a way that works for our users and music partners.

We apologize for any inconvenience and will update this page as new changes are made.”

Hopefully they find a way to allow users a little more room to breathe with authorizations, because I for one, will not be able to last very long on a 4-unauthorization limit. I’m sure many of our readers would agree, especially those who like to root their devices and flash ROMs. We’ll be sure to keep you updated on the situation, and until then make sure you have only the devices you want on your Google Play account, because you may not have much time.

Apple Now Censors Jailbreak From iTunes Store

Apple, taking a page out of Twitters arsenal and censoring things it doesn’t like has added another one. The word JailBreak will no longer be found in the iTunes store. For those that don’t know, Jailbreaking: iOS jailbreaking, or simply jailbreaking, is the process of removing the limitations imposed by Apple on devices running the iOS operating system through the use of custom kernels.

So with Apple, not liking the fact that people pay hundreds of dollars, or even body parts, to own not rent/barrow the device. They are trying to get rid of any and all evidence about such products. So besides Applications being disallowed for political reasons into the iTunes store, any mention of Jailbreaking will now be as well.

Source: Cult Of Mac