Most of us are using Pocket because it is a great tool for saving what you find on the web for later reading, but nobody knows the story of a startup whose business model is to create a new verb: save. The Verge has decided to find out and share it.

Pocket started as a side project back in 2007 when Nate Weiner taught himself to code using tutorials he found on the web. He wrote his first Firefox extension which featured two obscenely large buttons: one to save articles for later reading and one to access the list of everything you had saved.

It turned out that his extension was exactly what people were looking for. However, he had to face tough competition right from the start: Instapaper, Readability and others. Marco Arment, Tumblr developer and the creative mind behind Instapaper, accused Weiner of copying Instapaper’s major features. Weiner denies these allegations.

Read It Later – Pocket’s former name – has grown rapidly in popularity. A few months after its release, the extension made the front page of Digg. But it was still a “one-man business.” Wiener was the company’s only employee. Wiener has been steadily adding features and managed to add an income stream through an iPhone app that synched articles across browsers.

The popularity of Read It later captured the attention of Evernote back in 2011, and Wiener was invited to their headquarters for a discussion. This invitation turned out to be very fruitful for Wiener. But not the way you think! He decided to be independent. Here is what The Verge says about it:

Ken Gullicksen, then Evernote’s head of corporate development, made Weiner an offer “in the low millions.” But Weiner thought it deserved more — “six times more,” to be exact — and traveled to Evernote’s old offices in Mountain View to make his case.

Inside Evernote headquarters, Weiner sat down in a conference room with Gullicksen and Phil Libin, the company’s founder and CEO. Weiner walked them through his slides, telling them how Read It Later had attracted millions of users, and was earning hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue.

Libin [Phil Libin, Evernote founder and CEO] and Gullicksen listened intently as Weiner made his pitch. Libin, Weiner recalls, seemed enthusiastic about the prospect of working together. Read It Later was for saving things temporarily; Evernote was for saving things forever. It felt like a match. But Gullicksen was skeptical they could meet his price. Afterwards, they all shook hands and Weiner arrived back in San Francisco feeling hopeful. He and his wife had a pizza delivered. “We tried to absorb what had happened,” Will said. “What is this new chapter of our life?”

Two days later, Gullicksen called back. Evernote still wanted to buy Read It Later, he said — but at the original price.

And the rest is now history: after the low-ball offer from Evernote, Wiener quickly raised $7.5 million from various investors including Foundation Capital, Baseline Ventures, Google Ventures, and Founder Collective. They rebranded Read It Later to Pocket last year and now Wiener operates Pocket with 13 employees and high ambitions. Pocket has more than 9 million users and expects to hit 10 million this summer.

Pocket, the Startup that Created a New Verb is a post from: iPhone in Canada Blog - Canada's #1 iPhone Resource

The graphic also shows that Ive had a 72% to 64% advantage over Cook in “positive” sentiment. Furthermore, the infographic also suggests that the Web’s reaction to iOS 7 i.e Ive’s redesign of the iPhone and iPad operating system, was way more positive than that of its critics in the press. Take a look:

Here’s How The Web Judged Tim Cook & Jony Ive At WWDC On Social Media [Infographic] is a post from: iPhone in Canada Blog - Canada's #1 iPhone Resource

Apple’s new iTunes Radio service, which the company unveiled at the recent WWDC 2013 keynote event, has also found its way on the Apple TV as part of the iOS 7 beta update. As AppleInsider points out, users can stream music using the Apple TV’s built-in iTunes Radio app with the same accessibility as seen on iPhones running iOS 7. Meanwhile, Apple TV iOS 7 beta also brings a new “Conference Room Display” mode.

With iTunes Radio, users can access various featured music stations, stations inspired by the music they already listen to and over 200 genre-focused stations. User created stations evolve based on the music they play and download for a more personalized experience. iTunes Radio also lets users ask Siri to play what they are in the mood to hear.

Additionally, a new Conference Room Display mode has been introduced, which is primarily meant for sharing content in meeting rooms using the Apple TV.

“The display mode gives attendees on-screen instructions telling them how they can connect their iOS devices to the Apple TV using AirPlay.

In addition to those features, the update will give users the ability to customize the style of their subtitles”.

Since iOS 7 is currently in its early beta, Apple may add or remove additional features before the final release.

Apple TV iOS 7 Update To Bring iTunes Radio & Conference Room Mode [VIDEO] is a post from: iPhone in Canada Blog - Canada's #1 iPhone Resource

We have seen the influence of Jony Ive in the latest preview of iOS 7 at WWDC, which has been controversial but for the most part seen as a positive move by Apple. Yesterday, Apple simplified Ive’s job title on the company’s website. His title now reads he is the senior vice president of ‘design’–the word ‘industrial’ has been dropped (although his thumbnail description still shows it at the time of writing).

Earlier this year Ive was named part of TIME’s 100 most influential people, describing him as ‘Obi-Wan’ and his team as “Jedi whose nobility depends on the pursuit of greatness over profit, believing the latter will always follow the former, stubbornly passing up near-term good opportunities to pursue great ones in the distance.”

[via 9to5Mac]

Apple Design Guru Jony Ive Gets Updated, Simpler Job Title is a post from: iPhone in Canada Blog - Canada's #1 iPhone Resource

According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, Verizon CFO Fran Shammo has confirmed the company is seeking to expand into the Canadian wireless market, confirming a report first published yesterday by The Globe and Mail. Speaking to the WSJ: 

“We’re looking at the opportunity,” Mr. Shammo said in an interview at The Wall Street Journal’s CFO Network conference in Washington. “This is just us dipping our toe in the water.”

Verizon sees an opportunity to acquire wireless spectrum from upstart WIND Mobile, but the CFO said talks are in early stages, plus barriers include unspecified regulatory complications could get in the way of such a decision.

Another report from Bloomberg has also confirmed WIND Mobile has been by interested buyers “from Canada and elsewhere,” with UBS AG advising the company’s sale. Verizon began to seriously consider a bid for WIND after hearing about Ottawa blocking the sale of Mobilicity to TELUS according to a source. That move by Industry Minister Christian Paradis encouraged Verizon to consider a bid since it would not have to compete with our incumbents to acquire WIND.

The Globe and Mail reports Verizon is said to be interested in participating in the Federal Government’s 700 MHz auction next January and becoming a formidable LTE carrier in Canada. The company’s buying power could lead to competitive pricing on smartphones on two year contracts, possibly undercutting our incumbents Rogers, TELUS and Bell.

Is Verizon the fourth carrier Ottawa is looking for? It looks like a large US carrier entering Canada is what it’ll take to disrupt our wireless industry, which has been painted as lacking competition.

Verizon CFO Confirms Interest in Expanding to Canadian Wireless Market is a post from: iPhone in Canada Blog - Canada's #1 iPhone Resource

Fitbit Flex in black

Here’s what’s available:

• Fitbit Flex ($99.95 CAD) and accessory packs (Teal, Tangerine, Navy) for $29.95 CAD for all three or $14.95 CAD for one colour.
• Fitbit Zip: A small clip that comes in five fun colors, keeps users going with a motivating smiley face, tracking steps taken, calories burned and distance traveled; syncs wirelessly to select iOS and Android devices ($59.95 CAD).
• Fitbit One: A sleek, advanced clip tracker that measures everything Zip does, with the addition of sleep tracking and stairs climbed; syncs wirelessly to select iOS and Android devices ($99.95 CAD).
• Fitbit Aria Wi-Fi Smart Scale: High-end performance scale that tracks weight, BMI and body fat percentage over time; taps into your home wireless network and privately uploads information automatically each time you step on the scale ($129.95 CAD).

By downloading the free Fitbit app, you will be able to track stats and daily goals from each device right from your iPhone. With this launch, Fitbit is taking aim right at the Jawbone UP (read our review here), which is priced $30 more than the Flex.

Fitbit was founded in 2007 in San Francisco, California and currently has its products available in over 15,000 retailers around the world including Canada. You can find Fitbit’s line up at Best Buy Canada, Future Shop and London Drugs stores across Canada with Sport Chek joining later this summer.

Let us know if you’re already using the Fitbit or if you’re going to buy one.

Fitbit Launches Full Lineup Today Online and at Retailers in Canada is a post from: iPhone in Canada Blog - Canada's #1 iPhone Resource

One of the most notable features discovered by Hamza Sood is the system-wide edge-swipe and corner-swipe gestures, renewing the already present edge-swipe in iOS 7 for most of the pre-installed apps.

Other interesting discoveries: Apple is testing new functionality allowing users to hide pre-installed apps, or to create a folder within a folder, plus the option to pinch to close folders.

There are other hidden settings available in iOS 7, such as customizing blur effects, colouring, and animation speeds.

The above settings, however, aren’t readily available in iOS 7 beta 1. As 9to5Mac points out, it requires some unspecified tweaking.

iOS 7 Hidden Settings Reveal Additional Gesture, Multitasking and Folder Options [VIDEO] is a post from: iPhone in Canada Blog - Canada's #1 iPhone Resource

Japanese blog Macotakara has posted images and a video of a case that allegedly belongs to the long-rumoured low-cost iPhone. The case is designed by Japan’s MGM Corp. and suggests an iPhone with rounded edges and a slightly thicker frame than the iPhone 5.

The report points to important differences between an iPhone 5 case and the case manufactured by MGM: first of all, the case has rounded edges, in contrast with iPhone 5′s squared edges. Secondly, it is roughly 2 millimetres thicker than an iPhone 5 case.

As you can see from the above video, the leaked case apparently supports earlier rumours about the low-cost iPhone’s design. As Jeremy Horwitz pointed out back in January — while holding in his hands a budget iPhone prototype – the flat back and flat sides will be connected with a curve.

Alleged Budget iPhone Case With Curved Edges and Thicker Design Hits the Web is a post from: iPhone in Canada Blog - Canada's #1 iPhone Resource

AllThingsD reports with Cue on the stand yesterday, Apple lawyers asked him to discuss more about his late boss, Steve Jobs. In particular, we learn why the late Apple co-founder decided to have A. A. Milne’s Winnie the Pooh as the initial iBooks app freebie plus more. Here are some tidbits revealed (we previously learned Jobs was initially against the iBookstore idea):

• The “page curls” in the iBook app, which show up when you flip an iBook’s page? That’s Steve Jobs’s idea.
• It was Jobs’s idea to pick “Winnie-the-Pooh” as the freebie book that came with every iBook app. Not just because Jobs liked the book, Cue said, but because it showed off iBook’s capabilities: “It had beautiful colour drawings, that had never been seen before in a digital book.”
• Jobs was also specific about the book he used to show off the iBook during his initial iPad demo in January 2010. He picked Ted Kennedy’s “True Compass” memoir, because the Kennedy family “meant a lot to him,” Cue said.

Also, according to CNET, Cue also revealed Apple has roughly 25 percent of the ebook market, the same as Barnes & Noble, adding both companies often flip flop with the ranking, with the latter usually having a higher share than Apple.

The case is set to wind down this week with closing arguments scheduled for Thursday. There is no word whether any of this new information will have any influence on the trial’s outcome, but it sure is interesting. 

Why Steve Jobs Chose ‘Winnie the Pooh’ for the iBooks Launch in 2010 is a post from: iPhone in Canada Blog - Canada's #1 iPhone Resource

By now you have probably seen what iOS 7 has to offer, but here is a quick video walkthrough of my favourite changes in iOS. Of course it does not cover everything, but it should give you an exciting glimpse of what to expect when the public release of iOS 7 arrives this fall:

Don’t forgot to click here to subscribe to my YouTube channel so you don’t miss out on any future videos! What are you most looking forward to in iOS 7?

iOS 7 Video Walkthrough: My Favourite Changes [WATCH] is a post from: iPhone in Canada Blog - Canada's #1 iPhone Resource