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This iPhone 6 Plus case is tough. Not just in a protection standpoint, either. We're talking looks, too. It has reinforced corners with a custom shock dissipation system that absorbs those nasty impacts. It also has an embedded anti-microbial agent that prevents the growth of odor and stain-causing bacteria. Continue reading...

Apple is reportedly constructing its first retail store in the New York City borough of Queens, with plans to open the store sometime later in 2015. The location is reportedly at the Queens Center Mall and will be the largest such mall-based Apple Store in New York. A few months ago, rumors hit that Apple would open its first store in Brooklyn soon but 9to5Mac now reports those plans have changed. It states: News of the Brooklyn store first broke out in December with an opening date target of April 2015. Apparently unspecified delays mean that this target will be now be later in the year or even in early 2016. The Brooklyn store, earlier reports said, will be l…

Pebble is planning new hardware and new software for 2015. That shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone, but given the Apple Watch slated for April and Android Wear-based already in production, Pebble fans will be glad to know the plucky independent isn't slowing down. Pebble CEO Eric Migicovsky, speaking to The Verge: While Google and Apple's smartwatches have been focused on app paradigms, similar to smartphones, Pebble's new software will apparently be quite different. "We've found a new framework to use as an interaction model on the watch," boasts Migicovsky, before adding that while apps will continue to exist on Pebble, they won't be the main focus of the plat…

There's never been a better time to switch to iPhone. Whether you're tempted for yourself or looking to help the Android user in your life, the all-new, all-better iPhone 6 and iPhone-6-plus make the move more compelling than ever — especially when you consider Touch ID and Apple Pay. First to 64-bit A decade ago, if you'd told anyone Apple would be designing the most advanced chipsets in any area or for anything, your'd have been laughed at you. Apple isn't Intel. They're not Qualcomm or Samsung. They've not been making chipsets for years, and they're definitely not the company most people would think of when they think of chipsets. And that might just be why…

Dixons Carphone, the owner of UK retailer Carphone Warehouse, has announced plans to launch a new mobile virtual network operator (MVNO). Partnering with Three, which may soon merge with O2 should purchase talks between Hutchison Whampoa and Telefonica go head, Dixons itself will offer branded tariffs alongside contracts from major mobile operators in the UK. The news comes at a time when you thought the UK mobile industry couldn't get any more confusing for the consumer with operator mergers and new network announcements occurring in the past few months. Dixons' launch has been in the works for around 9 months, and has created a software platform to support offered …

Apple is to install new safes at its brick and mortar stores, in preparation for the launch of the more expensive gold Apple Watch variants. Looking at how traditional jewelry stores operate, it's reported that the company will use the safes to not only house units for sale, but also demo units for overnight storage. According to 9to5Mac sources: The custom-designed safes will be outfitted with Apple Watch MagSafe chargers in order to keep the demo units charged up and ready to go for the next day of business. Apple has already begun installing the safes in some stores ahead of the Apple Watch's expected release April Reports have claimed the more expensive ver…

Apple is a growing brand in China, having enjoyed recent success with the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. Now, China-based luxury publishing group Hurun Research has released a report, concluding that Apple – as a brand – is more attractive to Chinese consumers, taking top spots for best luxurious gifts. According to the report: The upcoming Chinese New Year would be the peak of gift giving in China…..Apple has become the most eye-catching gift brand this year. Apple's positioning in Chinese consumers' minds is getting stronger. Apple Watch should definitely benefit from this position. Hurun Research placed Apple above the likes of Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Chanel, and…

Six year ago I arrived in San Francisco ready to cover my first Apple event — Macworld 2009. It was Apple's last appearance at the show, Phil Schiller was giving the keynote instead of Steve Jobs, and my then-boss, Dieter Bohn, wasn't coming in until later. I was alone in a new place, doing a new thing, and totally unsure how to go about any of it. Then I chanced upon the folks from TUAW. It was Mike Rose who came over and said hello. He'd recognized me from my Twitter avatar, apparently, and had taken pity on my deer-in-the-headlights gaze. He and they couldn't have been kinder, more generous, or more welcoming. (I was more than a little star struck; I'd been reading …

The gold version of the upcoming Apple Watch could be stored in safes installed inside Apple Retail Store. 9to5Mac: The safes will likely be used to carry both to-be-sold inventory as well as to store demo units from the show floor overnight. The custom-designed safes will be outfitted with Apple Watch MagSafe chargers in order to keep the demo units charged up and ready to go for the next day of business. Apple has said in the past that the Apple Watch Sport will have a starting price of $349, but it has yet to comment on the cost of the gold and rose gold Edition collections. Rumors have ranged from over $1000 to up to $10,000. Given the small size and high v…

Out of the ashes of Macworld Expo rises MacIT, which is set to happen this July in Santa Clara, Calif. MacIT has actually been part of the Macworld Expo conference curriculum for the last several years, but now it's getting a chance to shine on its own. If you're interested in presenting at the event, the show's organizers have recently posted a call for speakers that you might want to heed. MacIT is the world's premiere event for "Deploying Apple in the Enterprise" focused on helping Fortune 1000, Global 50, and Higher Education and Governmental organizations find success with the emerging issues of putting iOS and OS X tools to work in their organizations. The goa…

Made from a glossy and matte double molded polycarbonate, this durable frame conforms perfectly around the iPhone 6 to provide casual protection against minor drops. The bumper even slightly elevates the phone from flat surfaces, keeping it safe from unwanted scratches and scuffs. Comes in 5 colors! Continue reading...

Messages launched with the original iPhone as "SMS", because that's all it did at the time. Apple had Safari, so they didn't build an old-school WAP browser and it turned out an old-school WAP browser is what MMS used and needed. So, Apple built one and, once carriers stopped freaking out about the potential bandwidth, added it to the app. Then Apple did an end-run and announced iMessage, integrated alongside MMS and SMS in the Messages app, and running on data completely outside carrier control. They brought it to iPad and Mac. Most recently, Apple enhanced group messaging, added instant sound-bites, selfies, and with SMS-relay brought the carriers to iPad and Mac as wel…

Smartphone battery case company Mophie has decided to join the Super Bowl TV commercial train for the first time this year, and they have already posted their 30-second commercial online. The ad shows the entire world on the brink of destruction. There are visions of snow in the African desert, a hurricane entering Nebraska, and more weather anomalies. Even gravity doesn't seem to be working like it should. What does all of this have to do with a battery extender case for the iPhone? Well, we won't spoil the ending here, but let's just say the ad gets its point across nicely. Mophie has also posted a behind-the-scenes video of the making of their Super Bowl comm…

Happy Saturday, iMore! Because Rich is awesome, he's letting us run some of his Mac-themed comics from the Diesel Sweeties archive on weekends. Bonus comics, woo! We hope you enjoy. Read more comics from the Pixel Project on iMore.com. Continue reading...

Ric Molina over at MacGamerHQ has rounded up his list for the 10 best free Mac games you can play right now: Looking for the best free Mac games? It doesn't matter if you're broke or you just love free stuff (who doesn't), Mac gaming has plenty of quality free games to offer. In fact, there are more than enough options to satisfy you, whether you like strategy games, First Person shooters or else! The list includes some some straight up free-as-in-freedom-not-as-in-beer free games and some "free to play" games that incorporate some sort of in-app payment system to unlock special features. And some require you to set up accounts through their various services in…

There's a blog post making the rounds about how useless Apple Watch is without an iPhone, how pessimistic its future is for developers, and how Apple hasn't delivered on what they "promised" at the event last September. In other words, it represents rage against a fantasy world very unlike the real one in which Apple very carefully set expectations at the event, on the product [preview pages, and in the developer resources that followed. From the elekslabs: Although the opportunities seem pretty huge with Apple Watch, unfortunately, the current capabilities of the emulator-only development don't match the expectations set after the keynote. We can now confidently sa…

For those of you looking to inject a little more juice into your iPhone 5 or 5s, TYLT has announced a new promotion that knocks $25 off both the normal and sliding varieties of its Energi Power Cases. With the cases regularly priced at $60 for the base version and $100 for the sliding one, this marks a fairly substantial discount. If you're not familiar with TYLT, the company makes loads of mobile device accessories (a couple of which we've reviewed) from car chargers to sync cables and cases. Among those accessories is its line of Energi Power Cases for the iPhone, as well as a couple of Android devices, which provide a pretty good amount of extra battery life in a …

On the heels of Apple's Q1 2015 earnings, the company's stock reached a new all-time high of $120 during today's trading session. While I really don't care too much about short term stock price movements, this particular move in Apple's stock is a reflection of investor optimism following the most monstrous quarter ever seen. It's true. In case you didn't catch the headlines from Tuesday, Apple's $18 billion quarterly profit for Q1 fiscal 2015 is the largest quarterly profit of any company in the world in all of history. Plenty has been written following the quarterly report, so instead of rehashing all of the numbers I'd like to focus on what it all means to the st…

Google's WebM video file format has become nichely popular in the years since its debut. As a royalty-free alternative to H.264 standard, it's used for high-quality-but-low-bandwidth videos on sites like YouTube, Reddit, 4chan, and the like. I'm not going to get into the reasons why people might prefer WebMs to gifs, MP4s, MKVs, or FLVs; frankly, I see it as a personal/site-specific preference. But here's the thing: those people who desperately want to view WebMs on their iPhone? They run into a bit of a snag when using a mobile web browser. Because Apple's QuickTime player codec doesn't support WebM. That means no WebM videos in Safari, no WebM videos in Chrome (which…

Vine has released a kid-friendly video app called Vine Kids for iPhone. Developed by two engineers during Vine's Hack Week, Vine Kids does away with most of the elements of the original Vine app, showing only videos that are appropriate for children. Vine Kids does not allow users to record video. Instead, you simply swipe left and right through a curated set of Vines presented by colorful characters. Tapping the screen while watching a Vine will cause different sounds to play. Vine Kids is available for download right now in the App Store. Free - Download Now Source: Vine Continue reading...

Ever take a really awesome photo on your iPhone only to find out it doesn't translate well to Instagram as a square photo? Yeah, we've all been there. While you could always settle for a cropped version, you don't have to. With the help of another App Store app you can post your photos to Instagram in their original aspect ratio. There are lots of App Store apps that allow you to add borders and upload non-square photos to Instagram photos. My favorite is InstaSize because it's easy to use. Also: it's free. There are ads but if you like it enough, you can remove them forever for a nominal IAP via the Settings section. InstaSize - Free - Download Now How to upl…

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has announced that the city has reached a deal with Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile to bring 4G LTE from all four carriers to the Chicago Transit Authority's subway system. The network, which will replace the decade-old system currently in Chicago's subways, will provide continuous coverage for 22 miles. Mayor Emanuel expressed his hope that this upgrade will help make Chicago a more competitive city in the official announcement: "By adding 4G wireless service all throughout the CTA, we are bringing 21st century technology to every rider on every line of our 21st century transit system," said Mayor Rahm Emanuel. "This is anoth…