Remember when Google was caught with its hands in the jar, overriding privacy settings of both desktop and iOS Safari users' privacy settings in order to better track their web browsing activity? The issue snowballed into a privacy scandal as the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said in April it would investigate the practice. The Wall Street Journal reports this morning that the FTC and the search Goliath are now close to finalizing a settlement that will see Google pony up a whopping $22.5 million to settle the privacy issue, FTC's largest ever fine...
iPad
From the latest news to the most comprehensive tutorials, learn how to get the most out of your iPad with our step-by-step guides and expert tips.
Mockups show what apps would look like on 7.85-inch iPad
After a series of reports from Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal, the "iPad Mini" has once again become the hotest topic in the tech world. It seems like everyone is getting in on the speculation regarding how, when, and why Apple would release such a device.
Up to this point, one of the most popular arguments against the smaller iPad has been that a 7.85-inch display would render most current apps unusable. So either developers would have to completely redesign their apps, or users would be forced to deal with tiny UI elements.
This theory has already been disproven by a number of pundits, via math and other reasoning. But we've come across some mockups that really drive the point across, demonstrating what apps would look and feel like on the smaller screen...
AT&T opens up its Watson speech engine via SDK for iOS and Android
Realizing Apple and Google are moving swiftly to mainstream speech recognition on mobile devices, U.S. carrier AT&T today announced that it is opening up its own Watson speech engine to iOS and Android platforms via a software development kit (SDK), now available on the AT&T Developer website.
Much like Apple's Siri or Google Voice Actions in Android (and Google Now), Watson takes input, analyzes it, performs one or more services and returns a result. Input can be audio files, speech, gestures, face recognition and text. Here's a video of Watson in action...
AT&T LTE now in 47 markets, still way behind Verizon
AT&T has added LTE coverage to six new areas today, bringing its grand total of LTE-covered markets to 47. The carrier flipped the switch for its new 4G service in Buffalo, New York, Wichita, Kansas and more. Keep reading for a full list of the new markets...
‘Check’ allows you to select a range of emails more efficiently
Check is a new jailbreak tweak that allows you to select a range of emails on the iPhone or iPad's stock mail app in a more efficient manner. Instead of selecting each email one-by-one, Check utilizes a new tap and hold shortcut to make it simpler to select a range of emails.
If you're an avid email user on the iPhone or the iPad, and you happen to be jailbroken, then you should definitely check out our hands-on video walkthrough...
Angry Birds pig game reportedly in the works
Finnish developer Rovio is rumored to be working on a follow-up to its popular Angry Birds series, a brand new game that would see you play from the pig's perspective. That would be an interesting twist to the popular formula which saw Rovio deliver a billion cumulative Angry Birds downloads across all platforms as of May 2012, including a hundred million downloads of Angry Birds Space, the latest installment, in just 76 days...
Smaller iPad could sell 6M units this holiday, hurt Android tablets
Following recent reports by Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal reasserting belief that Apple's been working on a smaller, inexpensive iPad allegedly coming in September, analysts are running their spreadsheets like crazy attempting to guesstimate the sales potency of the elusive $249-$299 device...
UK Judge rules Galaxy Tab doesn’t infringe on iPad because it’s “not as cool”
Samsung's Galaxy Tab tablet doesn't infringe on the iPad because it lacks the coolness factor of Apple's device, Judge Colin Birss wrote in a ruling today in London. Put simply, Samsung's Galaxy tablets "are not as cool", and this is the official explanation from court documents. Jony Ive won't like this...
Apple pulls products from Environmental Assessment Tool registry
Despite Apple's efforts — utilizing large solar farms at all of its major campuses, and offering a recycling program for used products — the company continues to catch heat over its effect on the environment.
And this latest move certainly isn't going to help its case. Word is that the company has just pulled all of its products from EPEAT's (Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool) green-friendly registry...
Apple accused of stealing noise reduction technology
Apple is no stranger to the defendant's chair in the courtroom. It's been sued a number of times over the years, for a number of reasons — most recently over alleged patent infringements involving Siri.
But this new lawsuit from Noise Free Wireless seems a bit more serious. The small Silicon Valley company is claiming that Apple intentionally stole critical noise reduction technology from them...
iPad mini: made in Brazil, has 3G, almost as thin as iPod touch
Following up on a string of recent reporting which revives the iPad mini rumor, the usually accurate Japanese blog Macotakara claimed that the device will be produced in Foxconn's new manufacturing facilities in Brazil. Manufacturing is apparently set to ramp up in September, just in time for mass availability around the holiday shopping season, as indicated in other reports...
Speero now available on Cydia
[tube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yI8KoatG5DE[/tube]
Speero — a system management utility for the iPad that we previewed last week — is now available for download on Cydia's BigBoss repo for $0.99.
This is an iPad exclusive tweak that allows you to kill apps, launch apps, invoke Activator actions, and more. All of this is easily performed from an interface that is engaged by means of its own Activator action. If you decide to try Speero, let us know what you think about it in the comments.