Month: April 2012

‘AssistantServer Installer’ brings half baked Siri experience to older iOS devices

If you don't have an iPhone 4S, but still want to experience Siri, chances are you've already done so through one of a variety of existing methods.

Since the iPhone 4S was released, numerous methods for providing Siri, or at least some form of her, have appeared for older devices.

AssistantServer Installer is yet the latest way to do so, and the cool thing about it is that it requires minimal configuration to get it up and running at a very basic level...

Tweetbot’s iCloud sync is brilliant

A couple of weeks ago version 2.2 of Tweetbot — my favorite Twitter client for iOS — was released to the public.

While that update included a number of interesting new features and obligatory bug fixes, the new iCloud sync capabilities stand head and shoulders above everything else.

One of the things that has always annoyed me about Twitter clients, and by extension Tweetbot, is that there was no reliable method for picking up where you left off across multiple devices. I know Tweet Marker support was there before, but I've never had very much success with it, and it only works with timelines.

I have Tweetbot installed on two iPhones, two iPads, and an iPod touch. As you can probably imagine, it doesn't take long for things to get really messy when tweeting from all of those different devices at various points in time.

That's where the beauty of iCloud comes in. The new iCloud sync makes Tweetbot a seamless Twitter experience, able to sync timelines, mute filters, and even DM read statuses across multiple iOS devices...

Research finds that iOS users are far more active than Android users

Chitika, an ad network whose reach spans across more than 100,000 websites, is out with a new report this weekend regarding mobile platform usage. The firm has been tracking real-time activity on its network over the last 24 hours, and the results are pretty interesting.

Despite Android devices garnering close to 50% of the smartphone market, Chitika found that iOS seems to be the mobile OS of choice among its users. Here in the US, at least, devices running Apple's operating system accounted for nearly 70% of recent activity...

Smugglers caught sneaking iPhones into China in glass beer bottles

M.I.C gadget passes along an interesting story regarding a recent smuggling bust that took place at the Sha Tau Kok border in Southern China. Chinese officials seized hundreds of iPhones from a woman traveling from Hong Kong to Shenzhen.

The craziest part of this story is how the handsets were being transported. The Customs agents found the iPhones hidden inside 25 ounce solid glass beer bottles. How'd the smugglers manage to pull this off? Watch this video...

645 Pro lets you take better photos with your iPhone

If iPhone apps like Instagram and Camera+ aren't producing photos up to your standards, there's a new title that might be worth checking out. 645 PRO, by Michael Hardaker, describes itself as "the photography professional's iPhone camera."

Loaded with tons of high-end features like a real-time ISO and shutter speed reader, and a live histogram, the app promises unparalleled image quality. It even claims to produce "developed RAW" TIFF files and "lossless" JPEG images...

Request anyone’s location, regardless of device, with Space-time for iOS

TheNextWeb points to an interesting new application called Space-time. The software allows you to see the location of almost anyone, regardless of their device, as long as they have a smartphone with a GPS locator.

Of course, the iPhone already has a friend-tracking solution in Find My Friends. But it only works if you are trying to locate a person using an iOS device with the app installed. Space-time is much more universal...

‘Forecast’ tweak places a weather widget on your iPhone’s Lock screen

LockInfo was one of the first jailbreak solutions for getting more out of your iPhone's bland and boring Lock screen.

Now the same developer behind LockInfo is borrowing one of that tweak's best features and developing it into a standalone release.

The result is called Forecast, and it provides a cheap and simple method for accessing weather on your Lock screen without needing the full version of LockInfo...

Nest thermostat unboxing and first impressions

The Nest Learning Thermostat is one of those products that makes it finally feel like we’re living in the future that we envisioned as children. One step below Jetsons level tech, the Nest harbors contemporary tech in a pseudo-retro styled metal and plastic body that’s a bit unassuming, if not altogether ironic.

When you sit and contemplate about what the Nest is doing, it doesn’t seem all that groundbreaking, especially considering some of the advancements in technology that we’ve witnessed over the last decade. The wow factor comes from the fact that the creators of Nest found an industry that didn’t dare veer far from the status quo, and essentially turned it upside down...

Midway adds iCade support to its Arcade app

Do you have an iCade? Do you like playing old arcade games like Spy Hunter or Rampage? Well if you answered yes to both of those questions, we've got some good news for you. Midway has just updated its Arcade app with iCade support.

For those that aren't familiar with the iCade, it's ThinkGeek's miniature arcade cabinet that allows you to play iPad games. The list of iCade-compatible games is rapidly growing, and now includes Midway Arcade with the following titles...

Apple to webcast second-quarter earnings call on April 24

Apple will webcast its calendar 2012 second-quarter earnings next Tuesday, April 24 at 2pm Pacific / 5pm Eastern. The call will include Apple's performance metrics and sales figures from a three-month period which ended March 31.

According to analysts, Apple is expected to report iPhone sales anywhere between 26 and 44 million units, with the best analysts’ consensus of 35 million units. Some folks are worried about a 24 percent drop in iPhone activations by Verizon and rumors that carriers might drop iPhone subsidy that hurt their bottom line.

I opined these concerns are overblown and should be taken with a grain of salt as crazypants analysts and Apple doomsayers regularly come out of the woodwork ahead of the company's quarterly reports.

Talks are underway to settle iPad trademark dispute in China

Apple is in talks with bankrupt display maker Proview of China over the iPad trademark dispute that has delayed the launch of the third-generation tablet in the 1.33 billion people market, a new report out today alleges.

The two parties have reportedly entered a voluntary mediation procedure that could lead to negotiations over a possible settlement.

If no deal is reached, the higher court will have to make a ruling and the severe consequences for Apple, should it loose the case, could include a hefty fine and a country-wide ban on iPad sales in China...

RedSn0w 0.9.10b7 released for Mac and Windows

A new version of the RedSn0w jailbreak tool was released today, bringing us a nice assortment of new features, and hinting at an even greater things to come...

Beta 7 of RedSn0w 0.9.10 contains a nice assortment of new useful features, including the iPhone 4S and iPad 2 Corona A5 untethered jailbreak for iOS 5.0.1.

Check inside for a full rundown of what's new, and what's new to come...