Oliver Haslam

48 Hours in – What Apple Needs to Fix in iOS 5

Oliver Haslam ∙ Updated February 16, 2018

So here we are, two days after Apple released the first beta of its feature-packed iOS 5 mobile operating system. This also means we've had 48 hours to play with test out iOS 5 on both iPads and iPhones of varying specification and we've come to some conclusions. While the OS is a surprisingly stable first effort, there are still some rough edges to smooth out.

Here are a few of the things we've discovered over the last couple of days - perhaps this will put you off installing the beta considering there doesn't appear to be a way to go back to good ol' iOS 4.3.3...

iOS 5 & iCloud – A Summary of The New Hotness

Oliver Haslam ∙ Updated April 2, 2018

It's been a hectic day or so here at iDB towers and we're sure we aren't the only ones. Yesterda's WWDC kickoff provided more than a few talking points, with iOS 5 and iCloud being two of the biggest. Granted OS X Lion is one fine looking piece of software, but for us it's the mobile stuff that gets the pulse racing.

This post will be a little roundup of just a few of the most important new things we've learned today, with links to some more in-depth coverage inside the iDB content vaults. So, without further ado, let us begin...

Steve Jobs Biography ‘iSteve’ Tops Best Seller Charts And It’s Only A Pre-Order!

Oliver Haslam ∙ Updated April 2, 2018

If there's one thing us geeks like more than a celebrity CEO, it's a book about one. With that in mind it's perhaps not a great surprise that the biography of Steve Jobs is already a Bestseller across multiple categories for Amazon - and it's not even out yet.

Unimaginatively titled 'iSteve', the book currently holds the top spot in the technology, biography & history and business categories on Amazon.com, with the Walter Isaacson work sitting in 29th place in the top 100 books on the site...

AT&T Working On Smaller SIM Cards Just Like Apple

Oliver Haslam ∙ June 6, 2011

In an interview at All Things Digital's D9 conference, AT&T CEO Ralph de la Vega hinted that the mobile phone carrier is working on a new, smaller SIM card standard for future smartphones just as Apple is already confirmed to be.

According to AppleInsider, the comment came after All Things Digital's Ina Fried asked about the possibility of a new embedded SIM card as Apple had been rumored to favor, saving valuable space inside ever-shrinking handsets...

iCloud More iTunes Than MobileMe?

Oliver Haslam ∙ June 5, 2011

We're less than 24 hours away from the big opening to WWDC 2011 now, and the rumors are still flying as to what we will and won't see when Steve Jobs puts sneaker to stage at the Moscone Center. The latest buzz comes courtesy of Apple fanboy and tech pundit John Gruber, with the Daring Fireball himself sharing his thoughts on tomorrow's announcements.

The full post goes on for a good few hundred words and re-hashes much of what the community has already speculated over the last week or so, but with one considerable exception. According to Gruber's fourth-hand information, we shouldn't be thinking of Apple's iCloud as the new MobileMe, but rather the new iTunes. Intrigued? So were we...

Upcoming Hamburg Apple Store Has A Change Of Heart, Turns To Windows

Oliver Haslam ∙ June 5, 2011

Apple's iconic Apple Stores are known around the world, so much so that they stand out on the crowed streets even while they're still under construction. Shrouded in black, there is no doubting when an Apple retail location is in the process of being put together behind closed doors.

That is, unless it has a great big Microsoft Windows logo stuck to the side of it...

Location Aware Calendar Alerts Shown in Apple Patent

Oliver Haslam ∙ June 3, 2011

Upcoming iPhone software could take GPS data and information from the internet to provide location and situation-aware calendar events and notifications, if a recently released patent application from Apple ever comes to fruition.

Discovered by AppleInsider, and entitled "Dynamic Alerts for Calendar Events" the patent was first applied for back in 2009 but Apple haven't put it to any useful use. Yet...

iH8sn0w Announces iFaith SHSH Blob Dumping Tool

Oliver Haslam ∙ June 2, 2011

SHSH blobs, despite the slightly comical name are extremely important in the world of iOS jailbreaking. See, the problem with jailbreaking iOS devices is every once in a while you might need to revert to an old firmware version, something Apple isn't too keen on.

When attempting to flash an iDevice with a firmware other than the most current one, iTunes will contact Apple's servers for authentication and because your version of iOS is older than the one currently installed, the server refuses.

Luckily this can be gotten around as with so many things in tech - and this is where SHSH blobs come in, along with a new tool by hacking friend iH8sn0w called iFaith...

Apple Readying Moscone West For WWDC 2011

Oliver Haslam ∙ June 1, 2011

With Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference just a few days away, the Cupertino outfit has begun preparations by decking out its Moscone West venue with a large Apple logo. While the logo isn't yet complete - these people do have to eat and sleep apparently - we're sure everyone can see the finished article will show Apple's iconic logo cover two sides worth of windows...