Year: 2012

Should Apple be worried about HTML5 apps?

Apple's handset has been seemingly unstoppable as of late. The company sold more than 37 million iPhones last quarter, making it the top smartphone manufacturer in the world over the three month period.

But what is it about the iPhone that makes it so popular? What sets it apart from the competition? Is it the sleek hardware? Is it the polished operating system? Sure. These are both big factors. But a lot of folks will tell you that it's all about the apps...

New Mercedes Benz A-Class to feature Siri integration

Being unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show next month, stylish car manufacturer Mercedes will reveal its new Mercedes Benz A-Class automobile. Not only having a stylish outside, the new A-Class will feature Mercedes' new COMAND entertainment system, which will be focused around the iPhone 4S' Siri technology, reports AutoBlog.

COMAND will use Siri so drivers can make appointments, send text messages and emails, get weather information, and control their music through Siri's voice commands. Siri is already a great tool and looks even better when integrated with your car's speaker system...

InvisibleSHIELD HD for iPhone 4S review

Most of you are probably familiar with the InvisibleSHIELD by Zagg. I've done several reviews of these products in the past, and while I don't like putting screen protectors on my iPhones, I have to admit that I am a huge fan of the InvisibleSHIELD for iPad (read my review for more details).

I do not put screen protectors or use cases on my iPhones. It's a matter of principle to me. If Apple went out of its way to design such a beautiful product, I see it is my duty to never alter the look and feel of the product in any way. You can call me crazy, that's fine.

This being said, my wife is the complete opposite. Not only she doesn't care much about the look and feel of her iPhone, but she badly needs a screen protector at all time because she's kinda careless about her stuff – you would not believe what can happen inside her purse!

So when the folks at Zagg sent me an InvisibleSHIELD HD for iPhone 4/4S for review, I decided to use it on my wife's iPhone as she'd be able to tell better than me how well it performs...

Siri talks jailbreaking

[tube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3ig5Wz8je4[/tube]

Did you know that Siri is a jailbreaking expert? It's true, just have a look at this video.

Okay, so obviously there's more than meets the eye here. Siri is using AssistantExtensions, a jailbreak tweak that allows you to input various bits of knowledge into her "brain". Think Neo's "I know kung fu" quote from the Matrix for an idea of what it's like.

If you haven't read our post on AssistantExtensions we urge you to do so. It, along with the Jailbreak FAQ Add-on can be downloaded for free from Cydia's BigBoss repo.

How to use GPS navigation with Siri

Earlier today we brought you a report on AssistantLove — the new jailbreak tweak that allows you to play Spotify songs via Siri.

The tweak also has the ability to search and get directions and routes for 3rd party GPS apps, but unfortunately I wasn't able to get that working in my initial demo.

Now, with the help of the excellent free GPS app Waze, I can demo the integrated GPS navigation using Siri. I'm happy to report that it performs just as expected...

Judge orders AT&T to pay $850 to customer over data throttling

When AT&T introduced its new tiered data plans in 2010, it only kept the unlimited plan for original iPhone owners who didn't choose to join a new plan. As time passed, AT&T announced in July of 2011 that they would begin throttling unlimited users who fell under the top 5% of heaviest data users. On average, it takes around 10GB to reach the top 5%.

However, over the last few months, many users have reported AT&T is throttling their unlimited data plan when they're only at 2GB of data used. A southern Californian man took action and sued AT&T in small claims court. A judge ruled in the customer's favor, who was awarded $850...

Brazilian-made iPhone 4 units now on sale, still expensive

We've been talking about Foxconn's new Brazilian factory for several months now. The plant is not only expected to help the manufacturer meet overwhelming demand for iPads and iPhones, but also make the devices cheaper for Latin American customers.

Due to outrageous import taxes, the two-year old iPhone 4 costs a staggering $1000 in Brazil. And the iPhone 4S is nearly $1500. Apple fans in the country are hoping that those prices will drop substantially, now that Foxconn is making them in Brazil...

The top 3 smartphones sold in 2011 were iPhones

The iPhone has seen an enormous amount of success worldwide. Apple announced during its fiscal Q1 2012 earnings report that the iPhone sold a total of 37 million units in one quarter. Ranked the third phone manufacturer in the world, Apple is continuing to sell an abundance of iPhones.

When it comes to iPhone sales in the US, Apple sold the top three smartphones in 2011, according to a new report released by ComScore. The iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, and iPhone 4S found their way into the most hands of consumers...

iPhone meets analog camera with the Photojojo Rangefinder

Have you been looking for a quirky photography accessory for your iPhone? Perhaps a case that looks like an old-school analog camera and has interchangeable lenses?

Well if you answered yes to either of the above questions, then you're going to want to check out Photojojo's new Rangefinder. The accessory gives your iPhone the look and feel of a retro-style camera, while utilizing its cutting-edge picture-taking technology...

‘PictoKeyboard’ adds tons of new Unicode symbols to your iDevice

If you're one of those people that knows what U+F8FF means, or what Option+Shift+K does, then this post is for you. For those of you who aren't aware, U+F8FF is the Unicode address for the Apple logo  (on Apple devices) that you see on a lot of Twitter profiles, etc.

PictoKeyboard is a new tweak that allows you to have a Unicode keyboard on your iDevice, making it easy to access your favorite symbols on the small screen...

How to launch Siri using your Lock screen’s camera button

Do you rarely find yourself using iOS 5's Lock screen camera shortcut? If so, you may be interested in this handy tweak that maps the camera button on your Lock screen to Siri.

It's called LockAssistant, and instead of invoking your camera when tapping the shortcut on your Lock screen, your helpful assistant will be at your beck and call...