Oliver Haslam

San Francisco Police Want Bar Surveillance Footage to Find Lost iPhone Prototype

Oliver Haslam ∙ September 26, 2011

Remember the lost iPhone prototype? No, not the lost iPhone 4 that infamously went missing in a San Francisco bar, but the other one.

The iPhone 5 prototype that apparently took a walkabout in the Cava 22 bar in San Francisco has caused a bit of a stir. First, the San Francisco Police Department said that it didn't know anything about the situation, and then the SFPD came back with a statement that there was police involvement.

Then came reports that Apple's own security personell may have been impersonating police officers, and now it appears the real SFPD has asked for surveillance footage from the aforementioned bar...

Apple Working on Universal Charging and Syncing Cable For Macs, iDevices

Oliver Haslam ∙ September 26, 2011

It's patent time again, and the latest discovery by those eagle-eyed patent-watchers at AppleInsider have spied a new application that hints at an improved method of charging and syncing our mobile devices.

The patent, originally filed all the way back in 2001 and recently improved upon, suggests Apple's boffins are keen to reduce the number cables and connectors we use for our mobile devices – that's Macbooks, iPhones, iPads and iPod touches. The old-fashioned click wheel iPods should also be able to get in on the action...

Instagram Photos Get Their Own Art Gallery in London

Oliver Haslam ∙ Updated April 18, 2016

Instagram has been around for some time now, bringing an interesting concoction of quick snaps and ready-made filters to the crazy world of iOS social networking. The photos created and shared by Instagram both delight and appall, but love or hate it, the world's favorite photographic networking app isn't going anywhere anytime soon.

As if to drive that point home, one group of budding photographers has come together in London, with the goal putting together an art show aimed at highlighting the very best photos to be fiddled with by Instagram's filters...

Optimum TV App Blocking Jailbroken Devices

Oliver Haslam ∙ Updated January 24, 2016

Optimum, a big player in the New York cable TV business, also offers iPhone and iPad apps to its customers that bring live TV and on-demand content to iOS devices. Optimum's apps have proven popular for those who use the service, but they now appear to have waged something of a war on the jailbreak community.

According to reports from its customers, Optimum's iOS apps now fail to work on devices that have been jailbroken...

Qantas to Use iPads as In-Flight Entertainment

Oliver Haslam ∙ September 16, 2011

The iPad's attempt to single-handedly revolutionise, well, everything, took another step to completion after Australia's crown jewel airline, Qantas, announced that it will use iPads as in-flight entertainment systems.

Beginning in October, according to The Register, selected Qantas flights will sport the tablets as entertainment for passengers, with movies and television shows and music pre-loaded by the airline...

Kensington Releases iPhone Case and App for Secret Agents and Paranoid People

Oliver Haslam ∙ Updated August 24, 2016

There's nothing worse than leaving your iPhone somewhere, other than perhaps having it stolen. Kensington agrees with that sentiment, and has launched two new accessories that aim to help us keep our beloved iPhones by our side.

The two releases, while sporting somewhat cumbersome names, act as cases crossed with proximity alarms, letting users know when their iPhone is too far away...

Multitasking Concept for the iPad Shows that iOS Still Doesn’t Have it Right

Oliver Haslam ∙ Updated September 26, 2016

After we spent years begging Apple to finally add multitasking to iOS, the boffins in Cupertino relented, bringing the joys of multiple running apps to our iPhones and iPads. Well, sort of.

Apple's implementation has many-a-geek arguing over whether it really is multitasking. Once you get past that little hiccup, it works surprisingly well. But could it be better?

The launch of iOS multitasking hasn't stopped the creative types from showing us how they think multiple apps should be handled, and a new video caught our eye today, and we're rather impressed...

iMessage to Become Part of Mac OS X Lion’s iChat?

Oliver Haslam ∙ September 14, 2011

When iMessage was first announced by Apple way back in June, we all got very excited. The prospect of replacing SMS with something a little more 21st century appeals to us all, and getting rid of those ridiculous carrier charges is somewhat of a bonus.

What would really make iMessage stand out from most alternatives, and especially SMS, is the ability to send and receive messages from computers, as well as our iPads, iPod touches and iPhones. Currently, that's not possible, though as we've already made clear, other solutions already offer compelling alternatives.

New code discovered in OS X Lion's version of iChat suggests that iMessage may actually be coming to the desktop...

Apple Owns 68% of Worldwide Tablet Shipments

Oliver Haslam ∙ Updated February 24, 2017

IDC have been at the old researching game again, and this time they've decided that Apple's iPad accounts for a massive 68% of worldwide tablet shipments, which we have to admit, isn't to be sniffed at!

The results are for the second quarter of 2011, which means it is worth remembering that the recent influx of Android-powered tablets will no doubt have altered that landscape slightly...

Europeans Love Android More Than iOS?

Oliver Haslam ∙ September 14, 2011

Everyone loves sales numbers, right? If that's true, everyone really loves sales numbers that claim that either Android or iOS is winning the mobile war.

It seems different numbers point to a different winner in this war, or at least a different winner in each battle. And this time around it's Android's turn to be the victor...

Why Gtalk is Already the SMS Replacement that iMessage Wants to Be

Oliver Haslam ∙ Updated October 10, 2018

The race to kill SMS is on. Instant messaging apps have flooded both the App Store and Android Market, with WhatsApp and others seeking to replace SMS by offering free, cross-platform messaging in (sometimes) fancy-looking apps that allow not only the sending and receiving of text, but also the sending of pictures and video.

Even Samsung is set to join the fray, with ChatON being the company's first foray into the world of instant messaging. Samsung promises to release apps on just about every platform. It seems that everyone has it in for SMS, and the carriers must surely know what's going. And let's not forget Apple's iMessage...