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Chart: how US mobile landscape changed in 7 years

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 21, 2013

Research firm comScore today released a comprehensive report on mobile landscape in the United States and elsewhere and one particular chart stands out as another example of how the smartphone market is a duopoly between iOS and Android, with Apple and Samsung increasingly taking industry's profits at the expense of - well, pretty much every other handset maker out there.

Spanning 2005-2012, the chart paints an accurate picture of platform dynamics when it comes to the competitive market for connected mobile devices...

LSBackView: view the back of album art on the Lock screen

Jeff Benjamin ∙ March 21, 2013

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZPIWE5wljY

LSBackView is an upcoming jailbreak tweak that allows you to view the "back" of album art for music playing via the stock Music app. This rear view of the album art allows you to switch tracks within the same album when playing music using the Music app, but this feature is not available on the Lock screen. Of course, there are Lock screen controls, but those controls are linear, only allowing to you skip each track one by one. LSBackView, on the other hand, allows you to play the exact track you want to hear from an album.

The tweak can be activated using a simple double tap gesture on the album art found on the Lock screen. Another swipe brings you back to the main album art display. Although there's no solid ETA for LSBackView's release, I'd imagine that it will be soon, and it will be a free download. What are your thoughts?

American Airlines’ new iPad electronic flight bag caught on video

Cody Lee ∙ Updated February 24, 2018

As most of you have probably heard by now, flight bags are going digital. This means that pilots are getting approval to replace their 30-40lb bags of paper company and flight manuals with a 1.5lb tablet—typically an iPad.

American Airlines is on the forefront of the movement, and it has just begun installing iPads in the cockpits of its MD-80 fleet. And the folks over at AOL's Gadling travel blog were able to catch one of them in action...

Survey: better the screen, bigger the paycheck for in-app game sales

Ed Sutherland ∙ March 21, 2013

We ran across an interesting yardstick when measuring how much mobile consumers will spend on in-app purchases: screen quality. No, we're not talking about whether your phone's screen is too covered with smudges and grime to see the "buy" button. Turns out, in-app purchases could be ten times as much, depending on the device screen.

Per one app firm, the connection between screen quality and in-app revenue is most evident with Android handsets, but is totally absent with iPad users...

Doodle Message: compose doodle drawings within the Messages app

Jeff Benjamin ∙ March 21, 2013

A while back, we covered a jailbreak tweak called Grafiti [sic]. It allowed you to instantly create and share drawings via the messages app, by acting as a keyboard replacement. WIth that in mind, it supported a lot more apps than just the stock Messages app; it worked with Whatsapp, Mail, Tweetbot, and more.

Doodle Message is similar to Grafiti, in that it allows you to create drawings from within the Messages app, and send those drawings to your friends via Messages. The big difference here is that Doodle Message only works with the Messages app. There are, of course, other smaller differences, as we'll touch on inside.

iPhone 5S said to start shipping in Q3 this year with upgraded camera and processor

Cody Lee ∙ March 21, 2013

Now that Samsung has unveiled its flagship handset for 2013, all eyes are on Apple as the tech world waits to see what it has in store for its next-generation iPhone. The word is it's going to be an 'S' model, meaning it'll likely only feature internal changes.

And a new report out of China this morning reaffirms that theory, claiming that components for the iPhone 5S will start shipping in Q3 of this year. It's believed that the handset will offer an upgraded camera and processor, among other improvements...

Make calls instantly from the Messages app with RaiseToCall

Cody Lee ∙ March 21, 2013

I don't really make phone calls anymore these days. But when I do, they almost always originate from the Messages app. You know the drill—you tap the Status bar to scroll to the top of the conversation, and hit the 'Call' button.

While most folks, including myself, don't find this two-step process at all troublesome, the jailbreak community seems to always be asking the question "how can I do this quicker?" And the answer to that question today, is RaiseToCall...

Precise renderings depict just how bulkier Galaxy S4 is versus iPhone 5

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated May 16, 2018

Though Samsung's new Galaxy S4 smartphone has just a slightly larger display compared to its predecessor, the 4.8-inch Galaxy S3, its five-inch screen puts in the phablet category, especially compared side-by-side next to Apple's iPhone 5. Because the device won't launch before end of April, we're currently unable to compare their form factors in person.

Enter Martin Hajek, a 3D artist who made a name for himself with painstakingly rendered mockups of Apple's rumored products. The latest from his kitchen: a fresh batch of precise renderings which give us a good idea how the two devices compare size-wise...

T-Mobile/MetroPCS deal has passed all necessary regulatory approvals

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

On March 12, the United States Federal Communications Commission has approved T-Mobile’s merger with MetroPCS, following the March 6 approval by the Department of Justice. Today, Richardson, Texas-headquartered MetroPCS issued an update informing us that the two partners are announcing receipt of all required regulatory approvals, clearing the way for the merger.

Although the deal is still pending an approval by MetroPCS shareholders, which are scheduled to vote on the merger next month, the transaction has now received a stamp of approval from the Committee on Foreign Investment...

Spotify 0.6.1 update brings images and biographies to artist view

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated May 2, 2017

Less than one month after its awesome 0.6.0 update, which brought along a brand new app interface, Spotify has been updated again. Version 0.6.1 adds a brand new biography feature to the artists view. Now you can see a photo of your favorite band, along with a link to a written biography.

This brings the iPhone version of Spotify closer in line with the desktop version, which has had images and biographies since its inception. The 0.6.1 update also brings a new bug fix. Check inside for more details.

Eric Schmidt on Google Now for iOS: the ball is now in Apple’s court

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 21, 2013

An alleged promo video thought to show off an unreleased build of Google Now for the iPhone and iPad has piqued our interest, as you could imagine. It was pulled from YouTube soon after, posing questions about the state of the official Google Now software for Apple's mobile platform.

Speaking at the Google Big Tent Summit in India, Google's Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt hints Google Now has been submitted to Apple for approval. He suggested the ball is now in Apple's court. If approved, Google Now features are likely to be added to the Internet giant's native Search iOS app.

Update: Apple confirmed to CNET that Google never submitted Google Now to the App Store in the first place...

How to enable face detection while recording video

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 11, 2018

Face detection is a feature that allows the iPhone's iSight camera to focus on the most prominent face in the frame, balancing the camera's exposure across up to 10 faces. It's a feature that works well with the iPhone's still camera, and it also works for shooting video.

The only problem with video, is that the face detection only works prior to the actual filming. That means that you can detect faces before tapping the shutter button while in video mode, but not afterwards. FaceDetectionDuringVideo is a tweak that eliminates that restriction. In other words, it allows you to detect faces in the middle of shooting a video.