Month: March 2013

‘LandscapeVideos’ forces landscape mode when watching videos

Don't you just hate it when you're watching a video, and it stays stuck it portrait mode due to the iPhone's rotation lock being enabled? That's incredibly annoying.

LandscapeVideos is a tweak that's been needed for a long time — it forces your phone into landscape mode when a video begins playing, regardless of your rotation lock status.

Digg: we’re going to build a Google Reader replacement, starting today

Digg, a social news service struggling for relevance in the age of Reddit and mobile apps that gather news, says it's going to build its own RSS client. The company actually aimed to release such a software in the second half of 2013, but has now accelerated those plans after news of Google Reader's demise.

Digg's Reader will make the Internet "a more approachable and digestible place." It's being built around modern web technologies, making it "fit the Internet of 2013." Digg has pledged to rebuild the most popular Google Reader APIs so its Reader could sync with existing third-party clients and replicate the most popular Google Reader capabilities.

Some form of integration with other social media sources like Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Reddit and Hacker News is also being mulled. This should be an exciting development for all you loyal Reader fans out there...

Analyst: Apple would be ‘stupid’ not to release budget iPhone

Many analysts have voiced their support for a rumored less-pricey iPhone which  they hope will help Apple recover from market share losses in emerging markets, namely China, India, Brazil and Russia - all huge markets for handsets. BTIG's Walter Piecyk goes further, calling Apple "stupid" if it doesn't release said device before year's end.

By his own estimates, Apple could sell about 36.5 million less-pricey iPhones in fiscal 2014 for an additional $11 billion in revenue - and that's after accounting for some inevitable cannibalization of the higher-priced iPhone models...

‘Instahancer’ brings a bunch of new options to Instagram

Instahancer is a new jailbreak tweak that enhances the usability of the iPhone’s Instagram app. It does so in a vein similar to another recently released jailbreak tweak called InstaSave, a tweak primarily focused on saving photos from the service.

While this tweak, too, focuses on saving Instagram photos, it attempts to justify the price premium with the addition of extra features like zooming, caption drafts, and the ability to copy direct URLs. Does Instahancer succeed in its endeavors? Take a look inside for the full scoop…

YouTube Capture is now optimized for iPad

Google's standalone YouTube video recording and uploading software, YouTube Capture, has been updated today to work natively on the iPad and iPad mini.

Now a universal binary supporting all your iDevices natively, the program enables you to quickly capture a clip on  your iPad, perform basic touch ups, type in some meta data and upload your work in full HD to YouTube.

We're not sure who in their right mind would want to record footage on a tablet, but editing and managing those clips surely feels much more natural on the iPad's bigger canvas...

Apple now offering refurbished 4th gen iPads and iPad minis

Good news today for folks looking to score a fourth gen iPad, or iPad mini, on the cheap. Apple has, for the first time, listed refurbished units of both of the tablets for sale on its website.

The discounts aren't significant—up to 9% off of minis, and 10% off of 4th-generation iPads, depending on the configuration—but they're good enough to knock $50 off of some models...

CBS releases free iOS streaming app

Eager to watch episodes of CSI or Survivor on your iPhone, iPod or iPad? Now you can, as CBC this morning released a major new streaming software which gives Apple's iOS devices free access to the network's popular shows like The Late Show with David Letterman, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Survivor, Catch NCIS, How I Met Your Mother, The Young and the Restless and Elementary. Some of the shows will stream via the app 24 hours after they air, but most of the shows are being offered eight days following their initial broadcast...

Google breaks up mapping and commerce biz

More major corporate changes happening at Google. After Andy Rubin yesterday stepped down as Android boss, The Wall Street Journal just reported (and Reuters corroborated) that the Internet giant is breaking up mapping and commerce unit, with Senior Vice President of Maps and Commerce Jeff Huber stepping aside. The two-part management shift at Google also saw some major shakeup of Google's Android and Chrome OS teams. Google's mapping business will be folded into the company's search unit as part of these changes...

TSMC allegedly finalizing Apple A7 chip designs

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), the world's leading independent semiconductor foundry, is reportedly finalizing production designs for Apple's in-house engineered A7 processor expected to power a 2014 wave of iPhone, iPad and iPod upgrades. If a new supply chain report is anything to go by, the chip will be fabbed on TSMC's 20-nanometer process technology, reportedly moving into risk production in May-June, with volume shipments expected in the first quarter of 2014.

TSMC has long been speculated to enter Apple's supply chain and become a manufacturer of the engine which powers iDevices. So far, Apple has fabbed all of its iDevice chips at Samsung's plant in Austin, Texas. This is the first time TSMC has been reported as actually prepping to manufacture Apple's next-gen A-series chip. Earlier this week, we heard that in addition to TSMC, Samsung and Intel are also vying for Apple chip contracts...

How Apple are you? Infographic puts fanboys to the test

Apple has long been known for its army of loyal followers. They use Macs and iPhones, and swear by them. And they constantly argue with Android and Windows users that their choice of platform is superior to theirs. You know, fanboys.

But there's more to being an Apple fanboy than just carrying around an iPhone, and scoffing at the competition. So to help separate the real ones from the fakes, the folks over at Mackeeper came up with this 'How Apple are you?' infographic...

Seagate dominates the mobile storage competition with 1TB Wireless Plus

After meeting with Seagate at CES, I was excited to get my paws on their new Wireless Plus, which is big brother to the recently retired and previously reviewed GoFlex Satellite. We all need our digital content on the go and, often, our iOS devices do not have enough room. I know my 16GB are carefully utilized on both iPad mini and iPhone. Toting around a Wi-Fi enabled 1TB Seagate drive prevents the need for choosing which media to bring along. Just drag and drop your media file to the Wireless Plus and walk out the door...

China Mobile announces major LTE push ahead of rumored iPhone launch

China Mobile announced today that it's going to be spending a staggering $7 billion on its LTE network this year, setting the stage for what could be a late iPhone 5 launch. The carrier's current network standard doesn't properly support the popular popular handset.

In fact, China Mobile—the largest wireless provider in the world by subscriber base—is one of the few remaining major carriers in the world that doesn't offer Apple's smartphone. But recent chatter indicates that there's a good chance that could change this year...