Month: January 2013

VSNotifications reads your incoming iOS notifications

Mike Schnier ∙ Updated February 25, 2013

VSNotifications is a jailbreak utility which has been available for a few months. The tweak allows a jailbroken device running iOS 5 or higher to read out incoming notifications through a Siri-like voice synthesizer. With VSNotifications you can receive messages without even having to see the screen.

It's not hard to see how the tweak could be useful. When you're driving, VSNotifications is a great way to stay connected to your messages without breaking laws or endangering others on the road. The tweak could also make a jailbroken iPhone more useful to the visually impaired, or people who just like having their notifications read to them...

How to access iCloud docs on Mac via Plain Cloud

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated November 28, 2016

iCloud is great. I use it everyday to keep data synced across all of my devices and, especially, have important docs in perfect sync across my favorite Mac and iOS apps. By design, those files are tied to their creator apps so problems arise when you just wanna access them quickly in your Mac's Finder, without having to go through the tedious export/re-import process. That's where Plain Cloud jumps in. Plain Cloud is a free Mac app that acts as a simple front-end to apps that store documents in iCloud...

Don’t worry, the ‘iPhone Math’ moniker won’t stick

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 12, 2018

When I woke up this morning to the iPhone Math rumor, I was like 'iPhone what?' As insane as that purported moniker sounds, some did fall for it and took the story as is. But do you really believe Apple would adorn a refresh of its iconic smartphone with such a stupid name? Yes, the Power Mac G4 Cube also wasn't the best moniker to begin with, but what on Earth is the 'iPhone Math' supposed to stand for?

Not to worry, a well-connected Apple blogger has now called into question both the trustworthiness and knowledgeability of the sources who pretentiously claim to even know an upcoming iPhone’s name...

Over 20 million iOS devices seen running Cydia in past 2 months

Cody Lee ∙ Updated February 25, 2013

TechCrunch has published a lengthy article today entitled "Behind The Scenes of The iPhone 5 Jailbreak." The piece takes a look back at all of the jailbreaks that have been released over the years, as well as at the work being done on the current jailbreak.

While the report doesn't offer any new information regarding the progress of the iOS 6 JB, it does have a couple of interesting tidbits sprinkled throughout its contents. One of them, for example, is the number of devices that are currently running Cydia...

Twitterrific gains new features, push notifications still being worked on

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 21, 2013

https://vimeo.com/57871805

As you can see in the clip above, Iconofactory today released an update to its Twitter client on the App Store, Twitterrific. The app has some loyal following - in fact, both TweetBot and Twitterrific are my favorite go-to Twitter clients for iDevices. Twitterrific fans should appreciate half a dozen new features and a bunch of improvements in this release.

Most notably, the new Twitterrific version 5.0.2 now has a simplified in-app web browser and reading mode supporting Instapaper or Readability. It also lets you find tweets in all timelines via History, preview images directly in the timeline and so forth. Push notifications, you say? Read on for the full breakdown...

jOBS star Ashton Kutcher to kick off MacWorld

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated September 25, 2017

Actor Ashton Kutcher who stars in jOBS, the upcoming indie biopic about Apple's late co-founder, will kick off MacWorld Expo, now known as iWorld. The conference runs January 31 - February 2 in San Francisco's Moscone West. Kutcher will take the main stage on January 31 at 9am to kick off the three-day conference and talk about the flick, which is scheduled to hit theaters in April after its debut at the legendary Sundance Film Festival later this month...

Temple Run 2 sees 20 million iOS downloads in 4 days

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

Last week Imangi Studios released a sequel to its widely popular endless-runner game, Temple Run. The game landed here in the US on Thursday night, and within 8 hours it had shot up to the #1 Free App in the App Store.

But apparently its impressive run didn't stop there. Imangi issued a press release this morning announcing that Temple Run 2 was downloaded more than 20 million times, on iOS alone, in its first four days of availability...

Comparison video: BlackBerry Z10 vs iPhone 5

Cody Lee ∙ Updated July 17, 2017

After what seems like years of waiting, we are now just 9 days away from RIM's BlackBerry 10 launch event. Here, the Canadian company is expected to show off its 'finished' next-generation operating system, as well as its new devices that will be running it.

We already know that one of those devices will be the BlackBerry Z10, a high-end handset with a 4.2-inch display, because RIM has already passed out several of them. For those wondering how it will stack up against the iPhone 5, here's a comparison video...

Poll: my next cell phone will be…

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated July 24, 2016

These days, it's all but impossible to escape Apple hate speech. You know who to blame: big media. I mean, stock manipulators played even the credulous Wall Street Journal. It's not just WSJ - or NYT or Reuters, for that matter.

Anti-Apple Forbes hit new lows with clickbait headlines like this one or this one. And as crazypants analysts voice their concern regarding "Apple’s lack of a strategy in the lower-end phone”, they at the same time continue to hallucinate about a happiness or time travel machine from Apple.

And all of them get an assistance from traffic-hungry journalists like Dan Lyons whose write-ups sound bitter and idiotic. But in spite of all that FUD talk, Apple is demolishing Android in every metric that matters. None of this frenzy should matter when considering your next cell phone.

But real life can be a bitch and with so much negative publicity mounting ahead of Apple's earnings report, no wonder some of the faint-hearted fans are beginning to question their faith in the California firm. I know where my heart stands, but I want to know one thing: do you know where your heart stands? So, what's your next phone gonna be?

Reality check: despite FUD talk, Apple demolishing Android in all metrics that matter

Ed Sutherland ∙ January 21, 2013

Now that Apple's stock price appears to have regained some sanity, rising this morning to $500 from last week's low, perhaps its time to introduce some reality into the Apple vs. Android discussions which lately have resembled Chicken Little's adaptation of the Mayan Calendar. Before "The Sky is Falling: Apple orders are down" mania, there was the "Android has the market share and Apple's a has-been" debate.

The core argument and evidence of Android's dominance over Apple was right out of Circular Logic 101: Android has the Market Share. But look behind the curtain and the end of the world does not seem so close - at least for Apple...

Optimus G fuels LG’s return to No. 2 in the U.S., bumps Apple to No. 3

Ed Sutherland ∙ January 21, 2013

Competition to see who is the No. 2 cellphone maker in the U.S. has become a horse race. After losing it to Apple in 2011, LG for the first time since the iPhone 4S launch reportedly has retaken the spot behind industry-leader Samsung. But how did Apple, which produces only smartphones, for so long hold off the South Korean maker of both smart and feature phones?

According to Hong Kong's Counterpoint Research, LG in December snared thirteen percent of the overall U.S. cell phone market, beating Apple's twelve percent. However, it took LG's family of smart and dumb phones to regain the No. 2 spot, which it lost in 2011 when the iPhone 4S was released...

HypedMusic: listen to millions of tracks for free

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated March 19, 2019

Rdio, Pandora and Spotify are all nice options to stream unlimited music rather than buy individual tracks (so last century). But these services cost north of ten bucks per month, which amounts to a $100+ annually. With so many music tracks readily available on the Internet for free, in the form of music videos and what not, Luke Li launched the HypedMusic web site in January 2011 as a legally compliant option to enjoy music on your computer free.

And with an iPhone app launched yesterday, HypedMusic has become a whole lot more useful an alternative to the commercial streaming music services. I've included additional info and a few more screenies right past the fold...