Month: November 2011

FastPdfKit: First Siri-Controlled App Hits the App Store

Oliver Haslam ∙ Updated January 24, 2016

Apple's Siri is certainly the hot property these days, and it is at its best when in the hands of hackers who create tools like SiriProxy. Offering a way of making Siri interact with pretty much anything on a network, SiriProxy has opened doors left and right, and now app developers are getting in on the action.

FastPdfKit, an app now available on the App Store, claims to be the first to offer Siri integration using SiriProxy. More accurately, FastPdfKit's developer, MobFarm, is the first to spend the time to create the commands required to interact with its app, but we'll let them off with their bold claim just this once.

The result is the ability to ask Siri to complete in-app tasks, such as paging forward or searching for text. The app even has a party trick, with Siri on an iPhone 4S being able to control the FastPdfKit app on an iPad...

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Siri Proxy Makes Starting Your Car With Your Voice a Reality

Oliver Haslam ∙ November 25, 2011

A few days ago we told you about one clever fellow who had found a way to create a 'Siri proxy,' allowing him to intercept Siri commands. This, in theory, makes Siri compatible with just about anything with an API, and the original proof of concept demonstrated Siri controlling a thermostat.

Now it seems that proof of concept has become something of an arms race, with likeminded individuals now making Siri connect with all manner of things, the latest being an automobile.

Using a Viper car system, an individual was able to instruct Siri to lock and unlock the car's doors, as well as start and stop the engine. Super cool, indeed...

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Apple.com Black Friday Deals Now Live in the US

Cody Lee ∙ Updated May 9, 2017

For those of you looking to score some Black Friday savings without standing outside of your local retailer all night long, you'll be happy to know that Apple's Black Friday sale has finally hit the US website.

You'll recall that we got an early glimpse at Apple's Black Friday pricing yesterday. And as predicted, the discounts are fairly modest compared to other retailers...

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Apple Airs New iPod touch Commercial Featuring iOS 5

Cody Lee ∙ November 24, 2011

With the holidays around the corner, Apple's advertising team is working overtime. Just a few days ago we told you about the new iPad 2 commercial, and now the company has just released a new iPod touch ad.

The iPod touch line didn't receive any hardware updates this year, but it did get a new white model and a minor price drop. It also received the new iOS 5 update, which stars in the device's latest TV spot...

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The App Store’s First Subscription-Based Game Gets Pulled After One Day

Oliver Haslam ∙ November 24, 2011

It may have only been made available yesterday, but the first subscription-based iOS game service has already been pulled from the App Store with no explanation.

Big Fish Games had its app approved by Apple which, according to initial reports, offered subscription-based gaming for $6.99 per month. The app allowed the streaming of games from Big Fish Games' servers right to an iPad, with Apple taking their usual 30% cut of the revenues.

While Big Fish Games' seemed rather happy with themselves for being the first to offer games with a monthly subscription on iOS, it turns out that Apple isn't so keen, with the app now gone from the App Store...

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AT&T Withdraws T-Mobile Merger Application from FCC

Cody Lee ∙ November 24, 2011

Big news coming out of the Lone Star state today as Dallas-based wireless carrier AT&T has announced that it has withdrawn its T-Mobile merger application from the FCC. The operator was looking to buy the Deutsche Telekom-owned carrier for close to $40 billion dollars.

The merger deal has hit some major roadblocks over the last few months. In August, the Department of Justice filed a court complaint to block the buyout. Then yesterday, the FCC sided with the DOJ, requesting a formal administrative hearing into AT&T's proposal...

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Infinity Blade 2 Trailer Shows Off Amazing Graphics

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 11, 2023

During a highly anticipated media event last month, Apple unveiled the iPhone 4S. Although the handset looks similar to its predecessor, it includes a number of internal changes. Among those changes is the addition of the A5 dual core processor.

To show off the iPhone 4S' performance capibilities, Apple demoed the upcoming Infinity Blade 2 title from Epic games. The original Infinity Blade was a hit, and set the bar for in-game graphics. Well its successor doesn't just raise the bar, it smashes it...

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MobileMonitor: The Creepiest iPhone Jailbreak App Ever!

Jeff Benjamin ∙ November 24, 2011

Want to see something really creepy? I mean, really creepy?

MobileMonitor is a jailbreak app that just appeared in Cydia, and as its name implies, it lets you monitor mobile devices remotely.

It really has to be seen to be understood, but MobileMonitor basically allows you to track virtually every facet of an iPhone's usage remotely, completely unknown to the user of the device. Full video inside...

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Change Your App Icon Label Colors Using CustomColor

Jeff Benjamin ∙ November 24, 2011

CustomColor is a jailbreak tweak for those of you wishing to change the colors of your app icon labels. It features separate settings for dock icons and non-dock icons, and features simple RGB sliders to adjust the colors of your labels.

There's even an option to set random colors for each app icon label. In my testing, the tweak worked fairly well, but it's not without its share of issues as you'll notice inside...

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How to Enable Smoother Cover Flow Scrolling in iOS 5

Jeff Benjamin ∙ November 24, 2011

Cover Flow has always been more eye candy than it is useful, but the usefulness it did have has always been hindered by its lagginess.

SmoothCoverFlow is a free jailbreak tweak available on Cydia that aims to eliminate the choppy feel that you get when scrolling through a large Cover Flow library. Does it work? Check out our video demonstration inside for the answer...

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How to Add Sharing Options to Safari’s Reading List

Jeff Benjamin ∙ November 24, 2011

Reading List, the Instapaper-like feature included with iOS 5, is a great way to save web pages for reading later. But what if you want to share some of the content that you've saved to your reading list? What then?

Sadly, Apple has neglected to add any sort of sharing options to Reading List. Perhaps they're saving the sharing features for a future iOS update. With that in mind, one developer in particular thought it would be a good idea to enable Reading List sharing by means of a handy jailbreak tweak, and that's just what he did.

Take a gander at ActionList, a tweak that enables a variety of sharing options for Reading List...

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