Month: February 2013

DisableNCPlus lets you kill Notification Center on a per-app basis

How many times have you been swiping through a level of Infinity Blade, or Fruit Ninja, and accidentally pulled down the Notification Center? I know it happens enough to me to be a nuisance.

Well the good news is, for all of you jailbreakers out there, there are tweaks that allow you to disable the pull-down menu. And a new one just hit Cydia that actually lets you do it on a per-app basis...

‘LivePapers’ adds animated wallpaper to jailbroken devices

Looking to spice up your iPhone's Home screen and Lock screen? If so, then look no further than LivePapers, a recently released jailbreak app available on Cydia's BigBoss repo.

LivePapers allows you to enable animated wallpaper that you can display on both your Home screen and Lock screen. You can interact with the wallpaper on your Lock screen using taps, and configure settings for each of the custom wallpapers.

By itself, LivePapers isn't exactly a home run, but with the purchasable addons, the jailbreak app is tons of fun. Take a look inside as we go in depth with LivePapers, plus we'll talk about and demonstrate its purchasable addon packs.

Exchange bug makes iOS 6.1.2 the fastest-adopted iOS version yet

Nearly 35 percent of iDevice owners have adopted Apple's iOS 6.1.2 software in less than a week following its February 19 release, an ad network announced Tuesday. That iOS 6.1.2 became the most popular iOS version in such a short time is largely attributed to a glitch with Exchange calendars that resulted in increased network activity and reduced battery life for some iOS 6.1 users. While in line with previous iOS 6.x adoption rates, this particular data point evidently indicates folks continue to obsess over their mobile gadgets' battery performance...

Apple is researching iPhone technology that could anticipate your actions

Wouldn't it be great if your iPhone could learn your behavior, noting you hold your handset with both hands when texting and always use a 45-degree angle when making calls?

That's essentially the purpose of a newly-discovered Apple patent covering an "intuitive portable electronic device."

The patent, filed in 2011, polls an array of sensors onboard your smartphone, permitting an iPhone to adjust its behavior without you making the adjustments. Imagine your usually annoying ringtone changing to a bit of Brahms when the phone detects your bedroom's lower light levels...

‘Think Different’ ad man explains why Samsung’s anti-Apple advertising is working

Apple, the world's greatest marketing machine, is no longer untouchable. That's the sentiment shared by Ken Segall, the former creative director at advertising firm TBWAChiatDay, the guy who came up with the name "iMac" and worked alongside Steve Jobs on Apple's famous Think Different campaign. In a post over at his personal blog, Segall opined that Samsung's commercials are getting the best out of Apple and he offers two reasons why that's the case...

Major blow to BlackBerry as Pentagon warms up to iOS and Android

The U.S. government and its defense agencies have been dropping BlackBerries for iPhones and Androids for some time and at an alarming pace, too. Back in March 2012, the U.S. Air Force placed a cool $9 million order for 18,000 iPads. Last December, The Washington Post dug up a Defense Department document revealing the Pentagon had tapped contractors to test iOS and Android devices.

Then Bloomberg last month claimed Consolidated Analysis Center Incorporated, a federal contractor, altered thousands of iPads for use by high-ranking government officials, including the President. And finally, Tuesday came the official confirmation that the U.S. Defense Department is working to open its networks to about 100,000 mobile devices from Apple and Google...

This is what an $11,000 iPhone 5 case looks like

In case you were wondering, this is what an $11,000 iPhone 5 case looks like. Well, it's actually more of a bumper than a case since it doesn't wrap around to cover the back of the phone. But that's beside the point.

What you are looking at is the new Haven iPhone 5 case from Brikk, a designer and manufacturer of couture products and accessories. The line starts out at $11,610, and goes to $14,235 and beyond, depending on the model...

Instagram surpasses a hundred million active users

Facebook-owned Instagram, despite negative publicity surrounding the controversial terms of service brouhaha, continues to grow its installed base. Today, the company announced a major milestone: Instagram now has over a hundred million active users across mobile platforms. That's ten million more active monthly users since it announced the 90 million milestone on January 17. By comparison, Twitter over a six-year time span hit 200 million active users, as of end of 2012.

Commenting on the development, Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom shared an anecdote in a blog post about how he realized Instagram was going to be different when fans at the Giants Stadium starting posting their Instagrams after another co-founder "with a few quick commands at his terminal" filled the service with images of the game...

Apple is ‘a little less arrogant than they used to be,’ says carrier exec

Faced with intensifying pressure as it vies for supremacy in the highly competitive smartphone market - fighting chief rival Samsung and other vendors left and right - Apple has reportedly softened its stance on carriers and has shifted in how it goes about doing business with the world's wireless carriers, or so thinks one particular wireless industry executive.

Instead of putting on the 'our way or the highway' posture in its dealings with the people who are pushing the iPhone to wireless subscribers, Apple is "a little less arrogant than they used to be," according to France Telecom-Orange CEO Stephane Richard. Here are some choice quotes...

How to change your folder icons layout with 2×2 Folder Icons

Surenix, the designer/developer behind the hugely popular ayecon theme has just released a simple tweak for iOS that changes the layout of your folder icons. Normally, a folder icon shows a preview grid of up to nine icons for apps that are placed in a given folder. With the 2x2 Folder Icons tweak, you can change this 3x3 grid of icons to a 2x2...

AT&T LTE expands, Wi-Fi network growth doubles

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_729aD7CfA0

U.S. carrier AT&T announced an expansion of its fourth-generation Long-Term Evolution (LTE) radio technology in Tunica, Mississippi; Athens and McMinn County; and LaFollette and Campbell County. The company has also flipped the switch on 4G in Tallahassee, Florida; Lawrence, Kansas; and the Salinas and Monterey areas. AT&T says its 4G network covers more than 285 million people and includes 3,000 more 4G cities and towns than Verizon. Letting us in on the latest on its network expansion, the telco underscored its Wi-Fi network doubled in 2012 versus the year-ago period...

Buddy crowdfunded smartwatch claims a battery life of 10 days

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hirm_ie6IkI

One of the challenges smartwatch makers face deals with the tiny batteries that power these things. That's why Bluetooth Smart (or Bluetooth 4.0) technology is so great. It consumes only a fraction of the power required by previous Bluetooth implementations and can wake up devices nearly instantaneously.

Enter Buddy, a crowdfunded Bluetooth smartwatch with a claimed battery life of as much as ten days, or an impressive two weeks on standby. Besides telling time, the Buddy also relays notifications from your iOS, Android or Windows Phone devices, lets you control music playback, place calls, receive and display data from your device like turn by turn navigation, display your media like pictures and more...