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Post-PC news: China zooms past US in PC sales, netbooks on life support

Ed Sutherland ∙ April 30, 2013

For US PC buyers accustom to receiving items from China, here's a switch: new research indicates more computers are being shipped into China than America. After China became the largest PC market in terms of buyers, the country is now also the world's top market when it comes to shipping.

According to IHS iSuppli, in 2012 69 million PCs were shipped into China, compared to 66 million units headed for the United States. Despite its size, China still has some catching-up to do with the rest of the world. For instance, while most countries have moved on from desktop computers, a full half of PCs shipped to China are desktops.

That's just one of many intriguing differences in the world's largest PC market...

biteSMS’ new Quick Compose widget is here

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 8, 2017

Well, it's not exactly what we were expecting, but it's still pretty intriguing. biteSMS version 7.6.1 is here, and it brings with it a new Quick Compose widget, that, for a time, was referred to as Text Heads.

It's a far cry from the Facebook Home inspired Chat Heads tweak brought to us recently by Adam Bell, but it'll no doubt still be a welcomed feature for hardcore bite fans.

TypeStatus 1.1 supercharges the ‘now typing’ indicator in your status bar

Jeff Benjamin ∙ April 29, 2013

TypeStatus will always have a special spot in my heart, because it's one of the few tweaks that I can say I envisioned. Brought to fruition by Hashbang productions' @thekirbylover, it's a tweak that allows you to see when a person is replying to an iMessage by means of an ellipses icon in the status bar.

The first iteration of TypeStatus was a very basic implementation of the idea, but it worked well. This latest version, TypeStatus 1.1, adds a ton of new features to the already excellent package. Not only can it show when someone's typing, but it can also show you the iMessage address of the person typing right on the status bar. As if all of that wasn't enough, TypeStatus 1.1 includes another new feature that let's you see when an individual has read one of your iMessages.

The tweak was already awesome before this update, but with this update it's quite possible that TypeStatus will make it on the "top jailbreak tweaks of year" lists. Want to know something even better? You can try it out right now via Hashbang Production's beta repo. Take a look inside for a few more in depth tidbits regarding the update.

Tickets for JailbreakCon 2013 now available for order

Cody Lee ∙ April 29, 2013

After making its debut in London, JailbreakCon hit the west coast of the United States last year, bringing iOS hackers and other members of the jailbreak community together in San Francisco's California Conference Center.

This year, it's hitting the east coast. WWJC 2013 will be held at the Raddison Hotel in New Rochelle, New York, about 30 minutes from Manhattan, on August 23rd and 24th. And if you're interested, tickets just went on sale...

iOS 7 said to feature redesigned, “very flat” user interface

Cody Lee ∙ April 29, 2013

Ever since Apple's SVP of iOS Software Scott Forstall was ousted last fall, and hardware designer Jony Ive was put in charge of the human interface team, pundits and fanatics alike have wondered what future versions of the platform would look like.

We may find out soon enough. According to a new report, which cites "multiple people who have either seen or have been briefed on iOS 7", this year's software update is going to be a fairly significant one, bringing a redesigned interface, and more...

BiteSMS updated with big performance improvements and bug fixes

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 14, 2018

Good news for folks who like the features of biteSMS, but don't use it due to performance and reliability issues. The team behind the popular Messages app replacement claims many known bugs were fixed in an update today.

BiteSMS version 7.5 was released this morning with a number of performance-related improvements and bug fixes. In fact, the developers say it's now 100% the same speed as the Messages app. Full change log after the fold...

Personal social network Path passes 10 million users

Cody Lee ∙ Updated November 12, 2019

Last month, I downloaded Path for iOS for the third time to try out the app's new 3.0 update, and I thought to myself "this app is so beautiful." It's just too bad that no one I know uses the decidedly more intimate social network.

But just because no one I know uses it, doesn't mean that no one is using it. Dave Morin, the company's founder and CEO, announced earlier today that Path has just crossed a major milestone in its short life: 10 million users...

OS X 10.9 said to feature tabbed Finder with tags, iOS style multitasking and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 29, 2013

OS X 10.9, the next major revision to Apple's operating system for Macs internally codenamed 'Cabernet', is up for introduction later this year, according to a well-informed writer. Specifically, Apple is apparently bringing more of core iOS features to its desktop operating system.

This entails stuff like iOS style multitasking that should prove functional by allowing background tasks to pause like on the iPhone and iPad. Finder, the Mac's long-standing default file manager, is understood to gain power features such as tabbed browsing modes and tags.

An enhanced Safari browser is thought to include a redesigned backend for improved page loading, speed and efficiency, which reminds us a lot of Turbo browsing mode from the Opera mini browser...

LockscreenToggles lets you access your toggles directly from the Lock screen

Jeff Benjamin ∙ April 29, 2013

LockscreenToggles is a brand new way to toggle various functions directly from the iPhone's Lock screen. It works by using swipe gestures. For instance, a simple swipe from right to left on the Lock screen clock reveals the toggles. A simple swipe down on the toggles reveals a list of available toggles.

With LockscreenToggles, you are required to have five toggles configured to display at once on the Lock screen, and these can be selected from a list of ten different toggles. Take a look inside for more insight...

Donald Trump urging Apple to build jumbo-sized iPhones

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 29, 2013

Donald Trump, in his own words, owns "a lot of Apple stock" and misses Steve Jobs terribly, but that's not stopping him from demanding that Apple releases an iPhone with a bigger screen. The 66-year-old billionaire, magnate, president of The Trump Organization and the founder of Trump Entertainment Resorts is publicly urging Tim Cook & Co. to think beyond the iPhone 5's four-inch screen because "I like the larger screen" and because Apple will "lose a lot of business" unless it gets an iPhablet right...

Review: Belkin Ultimate Keyboard Case for iPad

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 14, 2018

As someone who's relegated the full sized iPad to the back burner, it's admittedly a bit awkward to pull this thing back out. But the folks at Belkin have a new product for me to try, and it looks cool enough to convince me to dust off my iPad 3.

Belkin is no stranger when it comes to iOS accessories, but this — the Ultimate Keyboard Case for iPad — is perhaps its most thoughtful. The case, which officially launches in May, was created for people who want to get things done on their full sized iPads. It works with any currently available full-sized iPad, including the iPad 2, iPad 3, and iPad 4. It's not the prettiest keyboard case on the block, and perhaps not the most durable, but it screams functionality.

Belkin sent me a product sample about a month ago, and I decided that I was going to put this thing through the paces. Instead of using it for a few days and reviewing it, I wanted to see if the case actually lived up to its moniker.

Report offers inside look at undercover police operation to disrupt stolen iPhone trade

Cody Lee ∙ April 29, 2013

Earlier this year, it was reported that mobile phone thefts had climbed to 300 per day in London, with the iPhone accounting for over half of them. And we've heard similar numbers here Stateside, in major cities like New York and Chicago.

But police forces are beginning to fight back, setting up undercover units to try and disrupt the stolen smartphone trade. And a new report out this weekend offers an inside look at such an operation by the San Francisco Police Department...