nc. (YHOO), said it wants the Web portal to explore a combination with AOL Inc. (AOL)to “unlock value.”

(Reuters) - Apple Inc (AAPL.O) broke its silence on complaints about bending iPhones, hours after withdrawing a glitch-ridden software update as the company struggles to restore momentum to the rollout of its latest phones.

"With normal use, a bend in iPhone is extremely rare and through our first six days of sale, a total of nine customers have contacted Apple with a bent iPhone 6 Plus," Apple spokeswoman Trudy Muller said in an email.

Apple shares closed down nearly 4 percent at $97.87 on Thursday, wiping out nearly $23 billion in market value.

The new phones face criticism over their bendability, dubbed "bendgate". Social media and online forums have been abuzz with comments about how the new phones can bend when placed in back pockets or while wearing skinny jeans.

Apple said its iPhones feature stainless steel and titanium inserts to reinforce high-stress locations and use the strongest glass in the smartphone industry.

The only way an iPhone may have bent is if someone put it in their back pocket and sat on the phone for a very long time, said Laban Roomes, chief executive of Goldgenie, which customizes and gold plates iPhones.

Apple was also forced to withdraw a faulty update to its latest operating system after some users of its new phones complained of call service disruptions.

"We apologize for the great inconvenience experienced by users," Muller said.

Apple said on its website it was working on an iOS update to fix the issue, and will release it in the next few days. (bit.ly/1qxHWGR)

"I do believe this speaks to execution issues at Apple," said JMP Securities analyst Alex Gauna. "At the end of the day I believe this too shall pass, but we are noting with concern that the miscues pile up."

Apple said on Monday it had shipped 10 million units of iPhone 6 and 6 Plus.

Users of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus also complained about the inability to use the fingerprint-reading Touch ID after updating to iOS 8.0.1.

Some users had complained of "sluggish Wi-Fi and dwindling battery life" after moving to iOS 8, Time magazine reported earlier this week. (ti.me/1pqlCPt)

On Thursday, Apple issued a step-by-step guide for users to reinstall iOS 8, launched last week, through the latest version of iTunes. The health app will not work for now and will be fixed in the next software update, the company said.

Customers might, however, hope for replacements for their bent iPhones, depending on whether their devices passed an inspection, tech news website The Next Web reported, quoting an Apple support executive. (tnw.co/1rlv7mW)

"It's not game over for Apple, but nor should we give them a pass on this," Gauna said.

Cases of bent iPhones 5 and 5s had been reported in 2013 by Cult of Mac, a website that exclusively covers Apple. (bit.ly/1sjZbOT)

Rival smartphone makers took digs at Apple's problems.

A Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (005930.KS) advertisement showcased a bending phone against its own product, while BlackBerry Ltd (BB.TO) CEO John Chen said: "I would challenge you guys to bend our Passport."

Nestle SA's (NESN.VX) Kit-Kat chocolate wafer brand tweeted "We don't bend, we break".

(AP) - Apple filled a gaping hole in its product lineup with new iPhones boasting larger screens like Samsung's flagship Galaxy smartphones. Now, Samsung is coming out with a smaller phone that looks and feels more like an iPhone.

The new iPhones measure 4.7 inches and 5.5 inches diagonally, up from 4 inches before. Still, that's smaller than the 5.1 inches on the Galaxy S5 and the 5.7 inches on the Galaxy Note 3 and 4 phones.

But even Samsung is stepping back from its recent practice of releasing ever-bigger phones. The new Galaxy Alpha matches the 4.7 inches on the iPhone 6 and has a metal frame like the new iPhones, reflecting Samsung's attempt to mirror Apple's emphasis on design.

Unfortunately, the Alpha falls short in a few ways, including the resolution of its display. Other shortcomings will become apparent as I go through the various features.

The Alpha will be available in the U.S. starting Friday through AT&T. It will cost $200 with a two-year service contract, or $613 without one. The $613 price, which can be paid in installments, is less than the $650 starting price for the Galaxy S5 and the iPhone 6. You also get double the storage with the Alpha, but it's still a high price to pay for technology that isn't top of the line.

---

- THE BUILD:

The Alpha's metal frame represents a departure from previous Samsung Galaxy phones, which primarily consisted of polycarbonate plastics.

However, the Alpha still has a plastic back, albeit one that feels smoother and nicer than what's on the S5. You can swap in a spare battery, but can't add a memory card.

What struck me most was how the Alpha feels much like last year's iPhone 5s. The sides are smooth and straight, and the edges are at right angles, like the box for a deck of cards. The corners, though, are curved.

By contrast, the new iPhones feature curved edges, so they feel thinner, lighter and less boxy. But the Alpha is actually smaller, thinner and lighter than the iPhone 6 - by a tad. Compared with both, the S5 feels giant.

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- THE SCREEN:

Size isn't all that matters. The screens on the iPhone 6 and the S5 are both sharper than the Alpha's. The Alpha's screen is decent for reading text and viewing images, but it's about the same resolution as what Samsung built into the Galaxy S III phone back in 2012.

Like other Samsung phones, the Alpha uses a screen technology called AMOLED, for active-matrix organic light-emitting diodes. This is designed to produce richer colors than iPhones, but sometimes the technology goes overboard. For instance, some people complain that AMOLED technology distorts color, so human skin looks too orange, for instance. There was a hint of that when viewing photos and video, but not enough to bother me.

---

- THE CAMERA:

The Alpha's camera is 12 megapixels, less than the 16 megapixels on the S5. Although the Alpha's megapixel count is still higher than the iPhone's 8 megapixels, Apple has squeezed many other technological touches into iPhones to deliver consistently good images.

I took dozens of photos with all three phones and found the megapixel count mattered only in a handful. In good light, street signs and posters on a store window across the street came out slightly better on both Samsung phones.

However, the iPhone 6 was typically better at getting the focus right, particularly for low-light and close-up shots. The iPhone 6 quickly captures text on a bottle of contact lens solution, while it took a few tries with the Samsung phones to get the focusing right.

On some evening shots of the New York skyline, I could make out the rectangular windows of apartment buildings when using the iPhone, thanks to anti-shake stabilization technology. With both Samsung phones, the lights from the windows were bleeding into one another.

In my test shots, the iPhone 6 also had better white balance to offset the yellowish coloring of indoor lighting. That said, the Alpha produced the richest colors in a few of my shots.

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- THE REMAINING HARDWARE:

Like the S5, the Alpha has a heart-rate monitor for fitness apps and a fingerprint sensor to unlock the phone. But the Alpha lacks the S5's waterproof coverings. The new iPhones have only the fingerprint sensor. The Alpha and the iPhone 6 have comparable battery life in my tests.

The Alpha's storage stands out. It offers 32 gigabytes for about the same price as a 16-gigabyte phone from most rivals. With the new iPhones, Apple has doubled the storage in the pricier models, but the base models are still at 16 gigabytes. Most phones cost $100 more for a 32-gigabyte version.

Even with the added storage, the Alpha just seems too expensive for what you get. Given that memory costs have been coming down, more storage ought to be as routine as faster processors in each generation of phones.

The Alpha's design is impressive, but the rest of the phone is only adequate. HTC and Apple, for instance, have both been able to produce stunning designs while squeezing in the latest technologies.

Apple has made design central to its iPhones since its first model in 2007. Samsung seems to embracing the importance of design with the Alpha. Along the same lines, the upcoming Galaxy Note 4 phone will have a similar metal frame as Samsung attempts to ratchet up its rivalry with Apple. With better hardware, that phone will have a better chance than the Alpha at challenging the new iPhones.

(Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc will boost staffing at its secretive Silicon Valley-based hardware unit by at least 27 percent over the next five years as it tests Internet-connected "smart" home gadgets such as a one-button device to order supplies.

The plans, detailed in a little-known government document and by people familiar with the matter, signal Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos's intentions to double down on the No. 1 U.S. online retailer's hardware strategy. This is despite the lukewarm reception of Amazon's new Fire smart phone and some investors' criticism of its heavy spending on highly experimental projects.

The Lab126 division, which developed Amazon's Kindle and other consumer electronics devices, plans to boost its full-time payroll to at least 3,757 people by 2019, according to the agreement reached with California in June that would give Amazon $1.2 million in tax breaks.

Amazon will invest $55 million in Lab126's operations in Sunnyvale and Cupertino, the agreement posted on the California governor's website shows.

This expansion comes as Lab126 tests connected-home devices that could open up a new front in its war against Google Inc and Apple Inc, two people familiar with Lab126's activities said recently.

The sources requested anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to the media.

Technology companies see Internet-connected dishwashers, thermostats and other household devices that can "talk" to one another as ways to fuel demand for products and services. But skeptics say many of these devices cost too much for most consumers and could take years to go mainstream.

Amazon is testing a simple wi-fi device that could be placed in the kitchen or a closet, allowing customers to order products like detergent by pressing a button, one of the people said. Lab126 is also interested in wearable devices, the other person said. Both sources stressed that such devices may never come to market.

These details shed rare light on the division at Amazon, which is notoriously tight-lipped about any unit's operations and staffing.

In a statement, Amazon said Lab126 was moving "incredibly quickly" and cited the company's 2014 devices, including the Fire phone, Fire set-top box and several new tablets and e-readers.

"We will continue to invent and create new features, services and products, and to support this innovation. Lab 126 is also growing very quickly," Amazon spokeswoman Kinley Pearsall said.

AIM TO BE INDISPENSABLE

Whether or not Amazon ultimately sells connected home and wearable devices, the experiments hint at Bezos' broader ambitions. Lab126 has become increasingly important to Amazon's broader aim to use devices to make it indispensable to its more than 240 million active users.

Bezos is deeply involved in developing Lab126's projects, from the 2007 debut of the first Kindle e-reader to the Fire phone.

The Fire phone, which Lab126 worked on for four years, debuted this summer to lackluster sales and reviews. Earlier this month, Amazon cut the price of its phone to 99 cents with a two-year contract with AT&T.

Amazon shares are down nearly 20 percent this year.

Other tech leaders are also seeking a central place in the home. In January, Google bought Nest Labs, a smart thermostat maker for $3.2 billion. In June, Apple announced plans for HomeKit, its own framework for connecting household gadgets.

Embedding households with such devices would be much more lucrative than merely selling gadgets like wireless LED light bulbs or wi-fi garage-door openers.

With Lab126's experiments, Amazon envisions homes decked out with Internet-connected sensors that would allow it to tell customers ahead of time when they need to replace air conditioner filters or service their washing machines, one of the sources said.

"If I walk into my laundry room and there's a big pool of water and the floor needs to be replaced, I'd love to know about it two weeks before it happens," said Ryo Koyama, CEO of Weaved, a startup working on connected-home technology.

Lab126 had almost 3,000 full-time employees in its 2013 taxable year.

Apple’s iPhone 6 Plus appears to have a hidden feature, though it’s one you might not want to test out. According to a report by MacRumors, Apple’s latest smartphones are susceptible to bending out of shape if kept in your pocket for too long.

MacRumors’ report is based on posts by two of its forum members. The first forum member, Hanzoh, said that he kept his iPhone 6 Plus in his front pants pocket for about 18 hours.

During that time, he said, he drove to a wedding, danced, and sat down for varying periods. Later, when he took his iPhone out of his pocket, he noticed that it had a slight bend at its midsection.

Bent iPhone 6 Plus


A second MacRumors forum member, DevinPitcher, claimed that his friend’s iPhone 6 Plus bent after his friend put it in his pocket and got into his car. Both Hanzoh and DevinPitcher provided photos of their iPhone 6 Pluses to back up their claims.

As MacRumors points out, past forum members have seen similar problems with the iPhone 5 and iPhone 5s. Those owners reportedly received replacements for their bent handsets from either Apple or their carriers.

That the iPhone 6 Plus is capable of bending isn’t out of the realm of possibility. The phone is not only Apple’s largest, but it’s also one of its thinnest.

In fact, Lewis Hilsenteger over at Unbox Therapy tried bending his iPhone 6 Plus after reading reports of its flexibility, and managed to put quite the kink in the handset. Though, it took a good amount of force for him to see any results.


Daniel Howley

Yahoo