Mobile

Uber gives free ride to voters

Whoever said there's no such thing as a free ride hasn't seen Uber's latest promotion.

The car-service booking app, which came under fire last week for boosting prices in New York in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, says today that it's going to give free rides to voters tomorrow. It's pairing up with Rock the Vote to offer the promotion, accessed with code VOTEUBER.

There are a few catches to this offer, though. First of all, it's only open to people who've never used Uber before. And the free ride is only valid … Read more

iPad Mini eating into iPad sales?

Apple isn't saying how many iPad Minis it has sold, but at least one analyst estimates the bulk of first-weekend sales were for the smaller device.

That means the iPad Mini may be taking away from some potential larger iPad sales, which could be negative for Apple if iPad Mini volumes aren't high enough to offset the lower selling prices. Apple is counting on the iPad Mini to address consumer demand for smaller tablets that have largely been dominated by Amazon, Samsung, and more recently, Google and Asus.

Apple earlier today said it had sold 3 million iPads … Read more

Apple unlikely to approve Google Maps app for iOS, report says

Google Maps might not gain admission to Apple's App Store, a new report claims.

Although Google is hard at work developing a Maps app that will be available in Apple's App Store, the Guardian is reporting today, citing sources, that it might never find its way to that marketplace. After speaking to Google employees, the Guardian found that the search giant is "not optimistic" that Apple will approve Google Maps.

There is certainly no love lost between Apple and Google. Since the inception of iOS, Apple offered a built-in version of Google Maps. However, with the … Read more

Acer warns Microsoft that hardware is like 'hard rice'

Acer is pretty peeved with Microsoft's hardware push and continues to let the software giant know it.

The latest comments from the Taiwanese computer maker again criticize Microsoft's recent push to compete with its hardware partners.

According to a rough translation from Google, Linxian Lang, Acer's manager of Greater China operations, compared making hardware to food. He described the process to "hard rice" that's "not so easy to eat."

Of course, the translation is riddled with errors, but the general sentiment is clear: Acer thinks Microsoft should stick to what it does … Read more

HP ponies up bigger bucks for Linux Foundation

Hewlett-Packard has increased its investment in the Linux Foundation.

The organization, which aims at increasing adoption of Linux across the world, announced today that HP has decided to upgrade its Linux Foundation membership from Gold to Platinum. By doing so, HP will now hold a seat on the Linux Foundation's board of directors. The company will also play a role in the Linux Foundation's initiatives, work groups, labs, and events.

HP has been making open-source supporters happy with WebOS, a formerly closed platform that it turned open source. HP didn't say exactly why it decided to up … Read more

Apple: 3M iPads sold over the weekend

Apple said today that it had sold 3 million iPads over the weekend, doubling its previous iPad launch in March.

The launch was a bit unusual this time around. Rather than a single product, Apple offered both the newly unveiled iPad Mini, as well as a fourth-generation iPad, which came with a faster processor and other minor upgrades.

The debut in stores was marred on the East Coast by the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, which destroyed homes, left many other people without power, and hindered access to transportation. Several of Apple's stores in lower Manhattan were shut down Friday … Read more

Unlocked iPhone 5 prices leak on Apple's site

Apple's Web site may have unintentionally leaked yet another detail about the iPhone 5: the prices for the unlocked version.

A search on Apple's Web site for "iPhone 5 factory unlocked" initially comes up empty, but a sidebar shows results for the iPhone 5 with prices that would fall in line with past unlocked prices. Apple Insider reader Dhaval Dinani first spotted the results.

The prices range from $649 and $849, depending on the amount of memory space, and the Apple page lists both the GSM and CDMA and the white and black versions of the … Read more

Microsoft's Ballmer on Windows Phone 8: Small but growing

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer acknowledges that Windows Phone remains "relatively small" in the smartphone world but predicts that the launch of the latest version of its operating system will spark sales.

"I expect the volumes on Windows Phone to really ramp quickly," Ballmer said today during a launch event for Windows 8 in Israel. The presentation was covered by Reuters.

Microsoft formally launched the Windows Phone 8 platform last week, just days after the launch of its Windows 8 platform for desktops, laptops, and tablets. The company hopes to tie the two together, along with its … Read more

Android gains in tablets, Apple slows in third quarter, IDC says

Apple's tablet market share took a hit as consumers "sat out" the third quarter in anticipation of the iPad Mini, analyst firm IDC said. Android tablets made gains as a result.

After a strong second quarter, Apple's unit shipment growth slowed in both consumer and commercial (including education) markets, according to an IDC report published Monday.

"We believe a sizeable percentage of consumers interested in buying an Apple tablet sat out the third quarter in anticipation of an announcement about the new iPad Mini," said IDC analyst Tom Mainelli in a statement.

Apple's … Read more