iPhone News

Sparrow for iPad in the works, compliments of the jailbreak community [updated]

Jeff Benjamin ∙ May 30, 2012

Push Notifications are one thing, but support for the iPad is a whole 'nother area where Sparrow is lacking for iOS. As of now, the popular 3rd party email client is iPhone-only, making it difficult for users who have both devices to fully commit to using it.

But as usual, a jailbreak developer is making serious headway on bringing native-like iPad support to Sparrow via a handy tweak. SparrowPlus may already be familiar to a lot of you, it's the same tweak that allows you to make Sparrow your iPhone's default mail client, along with Push Notifications.

Now the developer behind SparrowPlus is working on an update to bring improved Sparrow support to the iPad. It's not perfect, but as you'll see from our hands-on video, it certainly shows some promise...

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Cook at D10: “you’ll be pleased” with where your best friend Siri is going

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 30, 2012

Be careful how you call Siri. Apple's boss Tim Cook says the controversial digital secretary is "your best friend", teasing "you'll be really pleased with some of the things" the company has in store. We also have a cool vid with Cook fielding questions from Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher at yesterday's D10: All Things Digital talk.

So, is Siri up to Apple's standards? Here's from the mouth of Tim Cook himself...

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This tweak produces pint-sized banner notifications

Jeff Benjamin ∙ May 30, 2012

Are you finding that your iPhone's banner notifications are a bit on the large side? If so, then do we have the perfect jailbreak tweak to fit your needs. SmallBanners is a tweak that performs one function, and does so fairly well — it reduces the size of your iPhone's banner notifications.

Personally I think the stock size of the banner notifications is perfect, but I realize that there are probably a few of you out there that don't. If you fit that description, then head inside and check out our video walkthrough for SmallBanners.

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Cook at D10: We’ll look at killing Ping

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 30, 2012

During his opening-night talk at the D10: All Things Digital conference, Apple's chief executive Tim Cook acknowledged the need for Apple to get more social going forward. He also advised folks to "stay tuned" for Apple and Facebook, subtly hinting that deep Facebook integration could be a go-go for iOS 6.

He also addressed Ping, Apple's beleaguered social network for music that he labeled as a product he didn't "want to put a lot of energy into" because "the customer voted".  So, is Apple really going to ditch Ping?

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Rumor: Apple launching feature-complete Apple TV software for iTV at WWDC

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 30, 2012

According to a new report, Apple is readying a much more feature-complete version of the operating system that drives its Apple TV set-top box.

Sources tell it's also bound to power that rumored HD TV set. It wasn't immediately clear from the report whether the enhanced OS will also support the $99 hockey puck and how it might tie with iOS 6.

The company will allegedly launch it at the upcoming WWDC developers conference in San Francisco which begins with a keynote on June 11 at 10am PST...

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Easily access your favorite websites with RapidLinks

Jeff Benjamin ∙ May 30, 2012

RapidLinks is a jailbreak tweak that allows you to quick access a batch of up to five links by means of an Activator action. Each link is configurable via a settings panel in the Settings app. From that same panel you can also configure the Activator action that you would like to associate with the tweak.

Once all of your settings are configured, simply invoke RapidLinks by means of Activator, and a panel will surface from the bottom of the screen yielding the links that you configured. This allows you to access any of your favorite websites from anywhere within seconds. Check out our video walkthrough inside for a demonstration of how it works.

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Absinthe version 2.0.4 released with iPad 2,4 support in tow

Jeff Benjamin ∙ May 30, 2012

The Chronic Dev Team, as expected, has released an update to the Absinthe jailbreak tool to enable iPad 2,4 untethered jailbreak support for iOS 5.1.1.

The iPad 2,4 is the updated version of the iPad 2 that features a new chipset yielding improved battery life. Due to the rarity of this version of the iPad 2, support was withheld until further testing could be done. Now it's obvious that the testing was completed successfully...

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Cook at D10: stay tuned for Apple and Facebook as we get more social

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 30, 2012

So what's up with that unpleasant Apple-Facebook fallout? Here's another video highlight of Tim Cook's yesterday's talk at the Wall Street Journal's D10: All Things Digital conference. In this particular segment, Apple's head honcho explains the Apple-Facebook relationship, touches upon why Facebook isn't more fully integrated into iOS and mulls how Cupertino can "do more with them". Deep Facebook integration with iOS 6, anyone?

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iPhone 5 front panel schematic reveals centered FaceTime camera

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 25, 2016

Another day, another leak. This one comes vi a Japanese blog with a somewhat mixed, albeit strong track record of Apple rumor reporting. The site published this morning an image that appears to be design schematic of the front panel of Apple's next iPhone. It appears to corroborate previous leaks, also suggesting a slight FaceTime camera tweak...

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RIM’s backlog hits $1 billion worth of unsold BlackBerrys and PlayBooks

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated December 20, 2017

Just as we thought things couldn’t get any worse for the embattled BlackBerry maker Research In Motion, more bad news hits the wires on a daily basis.

It’s been revealed today just how unimpressed customers are with RIM’s current lineup of BlackBerry smartphones and the PlayBook tablet, as these two product categories now commanded a staggering backlog of $1 billion in unsold inventory in the last quarter, up from $618 million a year earlier...

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How Apple’s gadgets achieve smooth finish

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 7, 2016

If you ever wondered how the smooth and shiny finish of Apple products is achieved in manufacturing, here's your answer. The process called anodizing makes metals such as aluminum and titanium corrosion-resistant by growing an oxide layer into the metal.

A nice clip based on a chapter in the book Eight Amazing Engineering Stories explains the anodizing process in Layman's terms through the mouth of Bill Hammack the Engineer Guy.

As you know, anodizing is used on many Apple products, including most of the Macs sold today, and is likely to be applied to an upcoming iPhone 5 said to feature metal-clad back...

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