Apple is busy,keeping ahead of the competition which seems never being able to really catch up with Cupertino, California company. Relentless innovation and bold business decisions are what keeps Apple light years ahead of any other competing company, which are probably only trying to implement “borrowed” Apple‘s ideas in some kind of Android device, be it a smartphone or some of those unimpressive, generic Android tablets.
Latest patents submitted by Apple mention a way for iOS devices to recognize faces and confirm their nearby presence. Sounds like some science fiction stuff, where your iPad or iPhone scans environment looking for your face ,before it unlocks the device for normal use. Apple’s patents also mention algorithms used for face recognition and methods which will enable the process in different, less favorable circumstances, like when the device is located in some low light environments.
This sounds great, doesn’t it? Such an app on iOS devices could probably be used for many more purposes than what the inventor intended originally. We guess it could become a great addition in various apps and situations, from gaming and productivity, to social networking. So Apple is working on some exciting new technologies, and we will probably see very soon what kind of new wonders will be created by the famous fruit company. Once thing is sure: this will be a great tool for work and play, just like everything else Apple provides us with. Android users should take note: a new product is coming to town, courtesy of Apple!
We have been quite pleased t write this post as Siri is probably one of the best and most popular things becoming available on iOS devices lately. Despite Apple being reluctant to make Siri available to their other iPhone models, jailbreak developers have been busy developing ways to port this fabulous vice assistant to iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS. One of the prominent jailbreak developers known as @chpwn has with help from some other developers released a new jailbreak app known as Spire. Spire enables users to legally use Siri on otherwise unsupported Apple iOS devices.
Spire employs a different way of obtaining files needed for Siri to work, thus circumventing previous issues with Apple copyrights. Also in a similar vein, instead of forcing the ensuing traffic through only one server, Siri will enable every user to choose their own proxy server. Spire is available as a download in Cydia ap store right now.
So head over and download and install your own voice assistant and show your Android using friends how cool iPhone really is! As always let us know did this app work for you.
According to the latest news, Apple has just won a significant victory in their ongoing patent wars against competitors. This time, ITC (International Trade Commission) has ruled a partial ban on a number HTC devices. Details are not yet known about this decision, but if you follow the news about these legal battles you will probably be aware of the fact that HTC, as well as some other large companies wont be too happy about this. Things are getting really serious.
I n their response to this rule, HTC said that they are satisfied with the decision as it, confirmed previous determination on paten 721 and 983 while reverting decisions on patents number 263 and 647. HTC will accept the decisions and respect it entirely. As a first reaction to this decision, HTC will remove patent 647 from all of their devices since it consist of a insignificant UI experience detail.
This whole business will probably gain positive reactions from Apple fans and quite negative ones from the Android camp. What is your opinion on this, do you agree that this is a huge win for Apple?
iPhone 4S has being launched in 20 more countries worldwide. Users in these countries will be available to enjoy the best smartphone on the market with a number of new exciting capabilities and services including Siri, iCloud and itunes Match. Here is the list of countries where users from now on can officially get an iPhone 4S:
Vietnam
UAE
Chile
Egypt
Israel
Kuwait
Peru
South Africa
Thailand
Tunisia
Taiwan
Saudi Arabia
Russia
Brazilian
Bahrain
Malaysia
Morocco
Philippines
Qatar
Philippines
This list shows that Apple has already covered the major markets worldwide with the iPhone 4S. As in earlier cases, in some above mentioned countries the price of these new devices is staggering. What would you say if you had to pay the equivalent of $1400 as Brazilians have to do? We are sure there would be much less people eager to get iPhone 4S with a such price tag.
iPhone 4S which is a device which some analysts erroneously downplayed as only a slightly improved iPhone 4, has just received its next firmware upgrade by Apple. If you are an iPhone 4S user, you are probably aware of the battery bug issue where the devices battery gets drown out too quickly. This wouldn’t be the firsts time for Cupertino company to release an iOS version a bit prematurely, as small scale software bugs are almost unavoidable, no matter the long testing stages. Earlier even some hardware components of the iPhone were buggy, like in the case with the infamous antenna issue on iPhone 4.
But no matter the rare mistakes, Apple always tries to solve issues as quickly as possible, so iOS 5.0.1 was released for all devices rather quickly. But the experience so far has showed the bug wasn’t solved yet. So, engineers in Cupertino have continued searching for the solution for this irritating problem, and the iOS 5.1 firmware was the next attempt to solve the battery drain issue. iOS 5.1 is currently available to Apple developers only. With iOS 5.1 Apple will try to do two things at the same time: most importantly, they want to get rid of the bug and secondary they need to upgrade Siri voice assistant. Still, no one knows the release date for iOS 5.1.
And now Apple has decided to release iOS 5.0.1 for iPhone 4S only. This is not something that is usually seen in the Apple world as it represents a strong tendency of fragmentation of devices and iOS versions which is something Apple always wants to avoid. Still if this could prove as a solution for some serious problem, we bet many users will want to upgrade to this firmware version.
You should be warned that this update is available on for iPhone 4S, so if you have some other iPhone version do not expect any changes yet. Lets hope Cupertino company will find a solution for the battery drain with this iOS release.
Even the mightyApple makes mistakes from time to time. And a mistake they made today, although not a terrible one: it seems that Cupertino company has allowed users abroad to sign up for the new iTunes Match service, which is currently available in US only.
Users in different regions of the world were able to subscribe to iTunes Match, including users in EU, Canada and UK. According to online rumors, despite being allowed to subscribe, no user from located in any other country has actually accessed the service besides making the initial subscription.
Apple has also started refunding users which have already paid for this service. According to some users, Apple has sent emails with apologies and explanations where they write about iTunes Match service being currently available only for users in US and Brazil. So if you are among people which have already paid for iTunes Match and you live outside US and Brazil, you are out of lack. You will have to wait for Apple to launch this interesting service in your part of the world. Are you eager to get your hands on iTunes Match? Let us hear your opinion on this!
So far, the jailbreak community has released a tethered jailbreak for iOS devices on iOS 5.0.1 and 5.0 but the untethered version is still not available. As you probably know, the difference between those two is that with an untethered jailbreak you can use your iPhone or iPad without any issues, while if you have only a tethered jailbreak you need to use your computer to restart your iPhone or iPad. This isn’t really a problem for most jailbreakers, although it can become annoying after some time. The whole issue becomes more troublesome if you need to travel around and you don’t carry your computer with you.
So what most of jailbreakers wait eagerly right now, is a stable untethered jailbreak. And we are happy to say that jailbreak developers are indeed working on this problem. Jailbreak developer known as @Pod2g is working on the jailbreak he demonstrated on a video earlier. He is at the same time blogging about his efforts at his own blog. He tries to regularly update the community on his upcoming tasks and goals.
According to his blog, his next step will be to upgrade all iOS devices he has (iPod 3G and 4G, iPhone 4 and original iPad) to iOS 5.0.1. The exploit he used for his jailbreak needs to be thoroughly tested and probably re-engineered on every single device. After the jailbreak becomes stable enough he will continue with the dev work on the jailbreak for iPhone 4S and iPad 2.
Let us know, are you eager to get a new untethered jailbreak as much as we are?
While patent submissions are not a definite sign that a company is working on some exciting new technology, it often can indicate the direction to which a company is focusing its attention. So it is interesting to note that Apple has again submitted a patent which looks quite promising. This time Cupertino company is developing new ways for sharing data between devices which are close to each other. This technology will exploit cameras for authentication and starting a safe data exchange.
It seems that the cameras are used for recognition of specific details or images shown on the screen of the device. Each of two devices can use some predetermined image for generating a specific digital key. This key is later used for initiating a secure communication path between these devices. This could be very useful in different areas like: social networking, gaming, payment processing and much more.
Another interesting side idea is that you could use this process for logging into your computer with your iPhone. The whole process can be most precisely described as a digital handshake where two devices are recognizing each other through some image. Isn’t this better than what we have now? Apple is again pushing boundaries with such interesting ideas.
Apple has just seeded the first beta version of iOS 5.1 for all Apple developers. This upgrade is available for iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch. It seem that Apple has hidden some valuable information inside this release as developers have already revealed that code contains names of a number of new devices. If you are a frequent reader on our blog you will probably know that Apple always includes coded names for new devices within their new iOS releases. This time they have included a device named ‘iPad 2.4′. Could this be the rumored iPad 3 which is a product we could see next year? Or will this be only a CDMA version of iPad 2 for the Spring network?
If you are an Apple developer with their license you can head to Apple’s website and download the new iOS. Keep in mind that the upgrade will be available only through iTunes as OTA are not allowed for this beta version. If you are not an developer you probably shouldn’t upgrade your device instantly. If you still decide to go further, backup your device and read all the release notes before continuing the upgrade.
If you stuck into some problem, you can always ask for help on Apple developers forums, but basically you will be on your own. So again, it is better to leave the professionals to test this iOS version thoroughly out before you start playing with it. In any case, if you’ve upgraded already, we are interested to hear more about the most interesting features of iOS 5.1.
iPhone 4S is certainly one of the best products Apple released so far. And with all its shiny hardware, perhaps the most revolutionizing feature of iPhone 4S is Siri, the new voice assistant system by Apple. And Siri became such a hot topic among Apple enthusiasts that many rumors appeared son after its initial release. Some said Siri will become available on other Apple devices, some even going as far as mentioning Siri being ported to non Apple devices.
All in all many people in the field felt the wide potential of Siri in many areas. Recently there we wrote about Siri security layers being cracked by a group of developers and now there is this report about a hacker which posted a video on Siri being ported to a server. This proxy server allegedly could be used for generating custom Siri handlers. In the video this hacker known as @plamoni shows a plugin with particular handles which help him to remotely control a Wi-fi device with his iPhone. You can see this video bellow:
You can see that his proxy server for Siri allows you to see any traffic flow appearing while he asked Siri his question. You can also see @plamoni trying out his server directly from his iPhone without any apparent issue appearing. He was able to simply ask Siri about the temperature in the room and get a straight answer from the app. This was a really cool demonstration of a hacked Siri. Imagine all the possibilities, if this works with a simple thermostat. What else could be added to work with Siri? Your imagination is the only limit! Another important note is that you don’t even need to jailbreak your iPhone 4S for this hack to work! You can see all necessary instructions for setting up such a Siri proxy server of your own, if you are skilful enough that is. We expect to see some great Siri hack in the near future. Stay tuned and we will inform you about the latest tweaks and hacks in the jailbreak community!
