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You can now access the Microsoft Office software suite on your Apple iPhone. However, Microsoft doesn't appear to have any plans to extend that support to Apple's iPad tablet computer. Starting late last week Microsoft made Office Mobile for iPhone ... available through Apple's app store. A subscription costs $100 per year and gives users access to the cloud-focused Office 365 . Excel, Word, PowerPoint Now Available to iPhone Users Using the new Office 365 app, iPhone users can create, read, and edit Word documents and Excel spreadsheets. They can also create slide presentations using PowerPoint ... (view more)

The long-running patent dispute between Apple and Samsung took a surprise turn this week when a U.S. federal agency banned earlier models of the iPhone and iPad. However, an appeal court or the White House could block the ban. The order doesn't come ... from a court, but rather the United States International Trade Commission (ITC), a semi-independent federal agency with some legal powers. The ITC's job is to advise the government on trade issues. However, it does have some power to make rulings on unfair trade practices, such as alleged violations of trademarks and patents. This week, the ITC ... (view more)

Google's Android platform continues to establish its dominance over the growing smartphone market. And as sales of Android-based devices rise, Apple's market share is starting to decline. According to analyst firm Gartner, in the first quarter of ... 2013 Android smartphones accounted for 74.4 per cent of global sales. That means more than 150 million devices are now running the mobile operating system (OS). It also means that Android's share of the smartphone market has skyrocketed approximately 20 per cent since last year. (Source: zdnet.com ) Android Up, Apple Down Facing a reverse trend is ... (view more)

Things just keep getting worse for Microsoft's Windows RT operating system (OS), which is designed specifically for mobile devices like tablet computers. Now, it appears Apple has no plans to construct an iTunes app for the OS. The news won't be a ... big deal for people running Windows 8-based devices, like the Surface Pro tablet. After all, they can simply download iTunes to the desktop. However, for people who own the Surface RT (or anything else running the Windows RT OS), that's impossible. They can only access applications (like iTunes) via Microsoft's own Windows Store. No iTunes in ... (view more)

In a new report, tech industry analysts suggest that the world's major electronics retailers have contributed to slow sales of Microsoft's newest operating system (OS), Windows 8 . The problem: retailers didn't make Windows 8's changes clear to ... consumers or do enough to try and help those consumers understand the OS' new user interface. "Windows 8 brought a brand new UI [user interface] that had not fundamentally changed since DOS," noted Moor Insights & Strategy analyst, Patrick Moorhead. "[So] how did big-box retail respond? The same way they have for the last 20 years." "Massive ... (view more)

Apple has admitted to retaining private personal data collected by services Siri and Dictation for a period of 18 months. The disclosure came after one civil liberties group complained that Apple is not doing enough to inform its customers of their ... privacy rights. In response, Apple has revealed the kind of customer information that is collected and stored. In a recent interview, Apple spokeswoman Trudy Muller explained how her company performs their data collection. Siri (available on iOS devices) and Dictation (available on both iOS and OS X devices) send speech-to-text messages wirelessly ... (view more)

Plans for a summer 2013 release of the Apple iPhone 5S have reportedly been delayed as the company looks to put the finishing touches on a few new features. Among those features providing a delay: fingerprint-sensing technology that is appearing on ... a smartphone for the very first time. Originally it was believed the iPhone 5S would ship in June. Now, experts are suggesting component problems could delay a launch to late summer or even the fall. (Source: forbes.com ) According to KGI Securities analyst Ming-chi Kuo, the problem stems from interference between the touch sensors that appear on ... (view more)

One analyst says that Apple is working on several brand new technologies. The most exciting: a 60-inch 'smart' television set that uses features found on the company's popular iPhone and iPad devices. According to Brian White of Topeka Capital ... Markets, Apple plans to start manufacturing its own TV sets. This isn't a new rumor; in fact, previous reports indicated that Steve Jobs was closely involved in such a project before his death in 2011. Based on conversations with a variety of electrical components manufacturers in Asia, White has put together a series of possible features that could ... (view more)

Apple chief executive officer Tim Cook has apologized to the people of China. But the apology hasn't settled a dispute about whether the company broke any rules and why it came under such fierce criticism. The issue has been in the news since the ... government-run China Central Television station aired the 2013 edition of an annual consumer affairs investigation show. This year, the show's targets included Apple's warranty policies . The show claimed that Apple takes advantage of a loophole in consumer law when dealing with phones that are beyond repair and have to be replaced. According to the ... (view more)

Apple is reportedly getting ready to release the iPhone 5S, the company's next iPhone offering. And while little is known about the features that will be offered, a recently discovered Apple patent application might have shed some light on the ... topic. The patent, which was first filed back in September 2011 (but had only surfaced earlier this week) outlines an Apple proposal for up to two AMOLED (Active Matrix OLED) screens for a new device. AMOLED screens are known to house faster pixel-switching capabilities, meaning that response times are even greater than standard OLED displays. Whole ... (view more)