Year: 2012

Two months on – why I am still glad I didn’t buy a new iPad

The eagle-eyed amongst you will have already spotted that the title says "two months on" and, clearly, we are beyond the two month mark since the new iPad was made available to an expectant public. The reason for my tardiness is that this post has taken the better part of two weeks to write, and I almost scrapped it on a few occasions.

To understand why that is, let's delve right on in to why I didn't buy the new iPad and, importantly, why I am glad about that fact.

So, before we continue, and before I open myself up to more than my fair share of abuse, I suggest you make yourself a good cup of coffee, and get yourself comfortably. We're about to begin...

Video compares 4.07-inch iPhone 5 glass panel vs. current iPhone

Japanese blog Macotakara just posted an interesting video which seems to compare an alleged next-generation iPhone glass panel against the current iPhone model. The clip depicts a taller but wider glass panel, supporting the mounting evidence that the iPhone 5 will introduce a new display size measuring slightly above four inches diagonally...

iPhone 5 likely has S5L8950X CPU, 1GB of RAM and SGX543 GPU variant

9to5Mac did an awesome job combing through an iOS 6 build running on a prototype next-generation iPhone unit.

They were able to surface a couple interesting details which help paint a pretty accurate picture of the innards likely to power the final product.

These reportedly include a variant of the A5x chip sporting an ARM S5L8950X processing core, 1GB of RAM and "something entirely new" for the graphics subsystem...

This jailbreak tweak allows you to have a more engaging Siri conversation

Are your Siri conversations feeling a bit like a dead end? Are you looking for a more conversational personal assistant? If that's the case, then PersistentAssistant is a jailbreak tweak you need to investigate. PersistentAssistant forces Siri to continuously listen for new queries until your close the Siri window, making for a more engaging conversation.

PersistentAssistant is especially useful if you're in a situation where you can't use your hands to continuously re-invoke Siri — for example, when driving. Check out our video walkthrough inside to see how it works...

PaperLock adds yet another mod to your iPhone’s Home screen

PaperLock, like Unfold, and Unlockize before it, adds another "slide to unlock" modification to your iPhone's Lock screen. PaperLock — as its name not so subtly implies — is a tweak that lends a paper-like "page turning" look to your iPhone, similar to what you see when you turn a page in iBooks.

Out of the box, PaperLock comes with three high quality themes: paper, plastic, and bandage. It should be noted that the graphics where designed by renowned iOS theme designer Surenix; hence, when I say high quality, you can believe it. How does it match up with other Lock screen mods? Check inside for the details.

Office for iPad reportedly landing November 10

News Corp.-owned The Daily reported this morning that Microsoft's development team has apparently locked the code for Office on the iOS platform last month, followed by the design team's approval of the user interface. The long expected office suite is now being tested, with Microsoft internally shooting for an October 10 release date, giving Redmond a five-month lead time to smooth out the rough edges...

Angry Birds Space gets 10 tasty Utopia levels

Rovio today pushed a free content update to its Angry Birds Space game, which launched back in March. A bunch of new levels are available, inviting you to "squawk your way through a cosmos of donuts, cakes and very hungry piggies".

Get downloading and watch a cutesy trailer right below...

Labor watchdog says Foxconn sweatshops haven’t improved much

Labor watchdog Student & Scholars Against Corporate Misbehaviour (SACOM) today criticized Apple (again), arguing that conditions in Foxconn's manufacturing facilities in China haven't really improved following the FLA audits. In fact, they claim higher-ups continue to impose "humiliating disciplinary measures on workers", audits be damned...

iPhone goes pre-paid on Cricket beginning June 22

Apple continues to roll out its iPhone to regional carriers in the United States with the addition of Cricket Communications, a Leap Wireless company. What's interesting about this particular announcement is that Cricket is a pre-paid carrier so basically they've just become the nation's first wireless operator to offer the unlocked device with a pre-paid plan...

All six legendary Steve Jobs talks at AllThingsD hit iTunes, get downloading

Wrapping up our extensive coverage of yesterday's Tim Cook appearance at the D10: All Things Digital conference, we just learned that event organizer, News Corp.-owned the Wall Street Journal, has reached an agreement with Apple to make all six Steve Jobs chats at D events available free on iTunes.

This is good news for anyone with the slightest interest in Steve Jobs and his public speaking, even more so knowing only Jobs' D5 and D8 interviews have been available on iTunes so far...

Poll: how did Cook do at D10?

Unless you slept over through yesterday, you're well-aware that Apple's boss Tim Cook had a little chit-chat with technology columnists Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher, his first major unscripted media appearance since he took over the CEO job last August. We've been covering the most important talking points throughout the day.

Also available: video snippets plus a 17-minute clip highlighting the interesting bits. So take your time, skim through the articles and watch Cook respond to smart questions and dodge controversial topics before taking this poll. We'd also love to hear your honest opinion on how he handled this major media appearance...