Month: April 2012

TV ad teams up with iOS app to give us a glimpse at the future

Every once in a while, you get a glimpse of a technology that makes you say "cool." And the latest tech to cross our "cool" radars is this interactive TV ad from Channel 5's The Gadget Show.

Using the complimentary iOS app, you can interact with the spot in real-time by panning a full 360-degrees around the studio's set. Confused? Keep reading to see a video of it in action...

Apple hires United Continental CFO Zane Rowe as new VP of Sales

According to a report from AllThingsD, Apple has just hired United Continental's CFO (Chief Financial Officer) Zane Rowe as its new Vice President of Sales. United Continental is the holding company for United Airlines, one of the world's largest airlines.

It's always interesting when Apple adds a member to its exclusive leadership team. The group of executives is in charge of running the world's largest company (by market cap), and ensuring it stays on top...

I’m sorry Mr. Jackson, but I like this Siri advertisement better

With all due respect for Samuel L. Jackson, I think we can agree that this latest commercial is a tad easier on the eyes.

That's because the star of said commercial is non other than New Girl leading lady, and hipster heartstring puller, Zooey Deschanel.

It's the second iPhone 4S/Siri ad uncovered today staring some of Hollywood's finest, but likely not the last...

Samuel L. Jackson stars in new iPhone 4S commercial

As noted by TheNextWeb, a new iPhone 4S commercial has surfaced starring the popular actor Mr. Samuel L. Jackson. The ad popped up this afternoon during an episode of ESPN's SportsCenter.

What's interesting here is that although the commercial seems to fall in line with previous Apple 4S ads — focus on Siri, production value — it appears that Verizon is behind the spot. Check it out...

The case for a four-inch iPhone with 16:9 display

There's no shortage of iPhone mockups these days, a tell-tale indication of the launch date drawing near (we're looking towards a Fall launch). We already told you about one possible iPhone mockup and shared an interesting theory regarding the argument for a four-inch iPhone.

The problem is, the vast majority of artists' renditions depict an iPhone with a blown up display that, however, features the same 3:2 aspect ratio as all iPhone and iPod touch models back to 2007.

So, how about a four-incher with a 16:9 aspect ratio display?

Google to launch new iOS-compatible cloud service next week

You can never accuse Google of not trying. Successful or not, the search company has tried its hand in several markets over the past few years. And it's not showing any signs of slowing down.

TheNextWeb is reporting today that it has gotten its hands on a draft release from a partner of Google's upcoming Google Drive service. That's right. Google's about to take on DropBox in the cloud-based storage space...

Forget Smart Cover, here comes uber-cool, origami-style iPad case

You simply gotta appreciate this little nugget. Here we have a unique case for the iPad 2 that flips open origami-style. It ain't a joke, this thing actually works as advertised.

Not only does it automatically transform into a versatile stand by simply opening the cover, the FlipSteady case - a Kickstarter project by Isaiah Coberly - also fluidly transitions between a variety of standing positions.

But don't take our word for it, check out a clip of the FlipSteady case in action...

Mobile Substrate updated with handy new disable feature

Saurik is on a roll with his Cydia updates today. Earlier this morning he rolled out a new version of WinterBoard. And now we're going to take a look at the also-new-today Mobile Substrate update.

For those that aren't familiar with it, Mobile Substrate is the de facto framework that allows 3rd-party developers to provide extensions to system functions. And it just received a killer new feature...

Google’s Brin says Apple is “balkanizing the web”

Unless I and pretty much every other journalist out there extrapolated the original report, it appears that Google co-founder Sergey Brin has called out Apple and Facebook for running closed platforms that, in his mind, are "balkanizing the web".

Why? Because apps, media and other content served within these ecosystems is not crawlable by the almighty Google search engine. And even though Google's built an empire on other people's content, Google's co-founder calls the latest trends "scary".

Don't laugh, Brin actually realized a pattern his role model Steve Jobs laid out two years ago...

The best iPad remote desktop solution

I've always been a relatively big fan of Screens — the beautifully designed iOS remote desktop app by Edovia.

Screens has always, and continues to be the most impressive looking remote desktop solution for the iPad; in fact, i'd say nothing comes close when it boils down to pure presentation. For that reason, I've always been very hesitant when it comes to trying anything else. I know, I tend to be a tad superficial when it comes to my apps.

Thankfully I didn't let Screens' beauty stop me from trying another highly touted remote desktop solution called Splashtop. Many of our readers and YouTube viewers have been on me about trying Splashtop for some time now, and I just recently took the plunge. I'm so glad I did...

How to officially unlock your AT&T iPhone without losing your untethered jailbreak

The good news came out a week ago that AT&T would finally allow its customers with an off contract iPhone to officially unlock their device for free. In essence, the steps required to get the ball rolling are pretty simple. You just need to place a call to AT&T or hop on a chat with them online.

After collecting some basic information from you, AT&T will take its sweet time (72 hours to 2 weeks) to verify you are indeed illegible for unlocking your iPhone. Upon approval, you will then receive an email with instructions to complete the unlock.

But the caveat is that, if like many people out there you care about your jailbreak, you might not be able to update without losing your untethered jailbreak. This was one of my main concerns at first. I requested the unlock authorization from AT&T for my iPhone 4 running iOS 5.0.1, and even though it is not my primary device, I didn't want to lose my untether jailbreak.

But unlike the email AT&T sends you upon approval of your iPhone unlock suggests, you do not have to completely restore your iPhone to complete the unlock...

WinterBoard receives major update

WinterBoard. It seems like just mentioning the name of the utility can send shivers down the spine of jailbreakers everywhere. In fact, a lot of folks won't install a particular app or tweak of it requires installing the unpopular themer.

So what's wrong with it? Speed, stability, you name it. WinterBoard has long been a scapegoat for jailbreak-related problems. But the utility may be worth a second look now, as it has just received a major update...