Stories by Gary Ng

Earlier today, Apple finally launched iTunes Match in the US, along with iTunes 10.5.1 to the rest of the world. For our American friends, iTunes Match allows your music library to be matched to the cloud for $24.99 annually. With the new version of iTunes, those in the US using iTunes Match will see new...

Siri has been cracked to work from any device--including Android phones. Applidium details their findings on their site: Today, we managed to crack open Siri’s protocol. As a result, we are able to use Siri’s recognition engine from any device. Yes, that means anyone could now write an Android app that uses the real Siri!...

Siri in Canada lacks location, map services, and restaurant queries, but there still are workarounds to get her to help you tell the time here. If you ask her what the time is, she will say: "Sorry, I don't know what time it is in _______ ." You can bypass this by asking: "What time...

This weekend I attended TEDxVancouver, and it was a fantastic experience that was very inspirational. One of the speakers, Kara Pecknold had an interesting talk about design, and referred to the iPhone. When she asked the audience of 1000 people who had an iPhone, roughly 75-80% of the crowd raised their hands. She showed an...

Update: This post has been updated to indicate that iTunes Match is only available in the US. This morning Apple has released iTunes 10.5.1 that adds the long awaited iTunes Match (U.S. Only) and a few other goodies. The update is available via Software Update and Apple's website. After installing iTunes 10.5.1, users can subscribe to iTunes Match...

A new NDP study reveals that the iPhone 4 and 3GS hold the top two positions in U.S. smartphone sales during Q3. The five best selling mobile handsets were as follows: 1. Apple iPhone 4 2. Apple iPhone 3GS 3. HTC EVO 4G 4. Motorola Droid 3 5. Samsung Intensity II Apple's had an identical ranking in NDP's...

Apple has finally launched iTunes Match in the US, along with iTunes 10.5.1. The company previously promised the cloud music service would debut in October, but that never materialized. The $24.99 annual service is a significant part of Apple's iCloud service: With iTunes Match, even songs you’ve imported from CDs can be stored in iCloud....

Ever heard of PixBits? Me neither. They're fresh out of the oven and boy are they starting with a bang. This new indie developer has recently released their first title, Junk Jack, and those of you who have played Minecraft will feel right at home, sort of. The big difference between the two is the...

Update 2: A couple more pics of cases from @mjosepha and @prytoo: Update 1: @tdotORR shares a picture of his $11 Belkin case! If you're looking for an iPhone 4 case, Rogers is offering 75% off Belkin cases when you show the following coupon in store right from your iPhone. Selection of cases will probably...

In a NYT blog post, David Pogue discusses a thoughtful feature that's available on all iOS 5 devices: something called AssistiveTouch. Turning on the feature in Settings->General->Accessibility, causes a white circle to appear on the screen that overlays apps and the homescreens. Tapping on it brings up a floating on-screen palette. Its buttons trigger Multi-Touch gestures using...

Apple has reached out to The Loop to inform users it continues to investigate some issues of battery life in iOS 5: “The recent iOS software update addressed many of the battery issues that some customers experienced on their iOS 5 devices,” an Apple spokesperson told The Loop. “We continue to investigate a few remaining...

(image from: Engadget) Yesterday Apple released iOS 5.0.1, its first 'delta update' which meant only necessary files were downloaded, instead of the entire iOS. Also, this update debuted over the air updates, which so far in my experience have worked exactly as described. iOS 5.0.1 was released to address iOS 5.0 battery life issues for...