John Brownlee - page 30

If you have a Pebble watch, don’t download the Pebble 2.1 update. It could very well brick your smart watch.

Hate freemium or ad-supported games? Tough noogies.

Based upon leaked schematics discovered by Macotakara of the forthcoming 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch variants of the iPhone 6, Nowherelse teamed up with concept designer extraordinaire Martin Hajek to create what may be the most plausible look at what Jony Ive’s next iPhone design would look like yet.

All the proportions here are perfect: althougb it features a larger profile, a super thin design, and an edge-to-edge display, the design still features a beautiful internal symmetry that seems worthy of Apple. There are some changes: the edges are curved, more organic, and the volume buttons have been unified into a single rocker, but otherwise, it looks like an evolution of the current iPhone 5s. Which is exactly what the iPhone 6 would look like.

Check out more images below. What do you think? Could this be the iPhone 6?

Over at the Hotel Club, they’ve posted a fantastic interactive infographic showing the differences between traveling at the dawn of tourism — 1863 — and today, 150 years later.

But this particular section, showing how the gadgets and guides that people relied upon in the Victorian era when traveling overseas have been totally made obsolete by the iPhone, really stood out to me. We’ve previously seen how the iPhone made everything Radio Shack sold 20 years ago obsolete, but as this infographic shows, the iPhone has made centuries — not just decades — worth of gadgets obsolete. It’s one of the most important inventions ever.

Source: Hotel Club

Do you like Facebook’s Chat Heads as a notification system for Facebook messages? On Android, Chat Heads can run universally in any app, but on iOS, they only show up in Facebook, Paper or Facebook Messages. It’s in-app only. But if you have a jailbroken device, a new tweak will allow you to break Chat Heads out into the rest of the iOS operating system.

It was just a few hours ago that we told you that Apple had patented new transparent texting system which would help users who walk while typing be more aware of their surroundings.

If you thought the patent sounded like a great idea for a jailbreak tweak, you weren’t alone. CamText is a new tweak for jailbroken devices that replaces the default Messages.app background with a live stream from your camera’s video feed.

So if you have a jailbroken iPhone, why wait until iOS 8 to get Transparent Texting today? It’s fully compatible with both Messages and BiteSMS, although not the iPad. You can buy it through Cydia today for just $1.50.

Via: iClarified

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

Last week, we posted a video by iOS hacker extraordinaire winocm, showing that he had managed to hack an iPad 2 so that it could boot between iOS 5, iOS 6 and iOS 7 at will. At the time, we said “elite skills necessary to hack your iPad to dual boot operating systems is beyond the ability of most of us mortals, and it’s unlikely winocm will ever make this process friendly for the everyman.”

Well, we’ve got egg all over our face on this one, because that’s exactly what winocm intends on doing. The legendary hacker has said on Twitter that he’ll be releasing the hack to the public. Unfortunately, there aren’t many details outside of that, including what devices this hack will work on, but if you want to have a schizo-iPad that can dual boot between Scott Forstall’s skeuomorphic iOS 6 and Jony Ive’s flat iOS 7, it’s coming!

Via: Redmond Pie

Getting a new Mac delivered to your door is always an exciting experience… but imagine opening the door and seeing, not your postman, but Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak at your door? You’d lose your mind, just like the girl in this video, Emma, does when she realizes that er idol is at the door. As Emma’s father notes, it’s like having your lightbulbs delivered by Thomas Edison!

Source: Sploid

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MyTEfBRCjg

Before iOS 7 came along and Apple borrowed its approach to multitasking wholesale, Auxo was one of the best reasons to jailbreak your iPhone or iPad. Since iOS 7 took many of its tricks, though, we’ve been waiting to see what, if anything, an updated version would look like.

We’ve just gotten our hands on the first trailer of Auxo 2, and while it’s just 30 seconds long, it’s enough of a look to get us excited. Featuring iOS 7’s advanced animations, a beautiful new split-paned Control Center view, the ability to close all running apps at once, and much, much more, Auxo 2 is shaping up to be just as revolutionary to jailbroken iOS devices as Auxo was to iOS 6 devices.

It looks as if Auxo 2 will be released on Cydia on Wednesaday, April 2nd. There’s no word on pricing yet, although the original tweak cost $1.99. We’ll let you know when it’s out!

It’s no secret that Steve Jobs was inspired by the incredible work Xerox was doing over at PARC Labs when he came up with the Mac: he borrowed the computer mouse, the desktop, and even the Macintosh business plan from the famous tech think tank.

Now, it looks like we also owe the ubiquitous hamburger icon — widely used in iOS as a menu shortcut, as well as a way to order draggable lists — to Xerox PARC as well. It turns out that the first example of the hamburger icon shows up in a 1981 video for the Xerox Star workstation.

Here’s an interesting financial. Robert Paul Leitao, founder of the AAPL Independent Analysts, shows how Apple’s revenue has grown over 1,127% since 2006, and earnings per share has grown an incredible 2,457%.

Fiscal 2011 and fiscal 2012 have been particularly kind to Apple: 66% in 2011, and 54% in fiscal 2012, largely thanks to new deals such as the Verizon Wireless iPhone deal, and the announcement of a new product line in the iPad. In 2013, though, Apple grew only 9.2%, and so far, Apple’s guidance for the latest quarter suggests nearly no growth at all.

Leitao’s conclusion? Apple’s growth is dependent on the successful release of new and currently unannounced new products. “Apple is an episodic enterprise,” he writes. The best reason to believe that Apple has an iWatch coming this year is that, without one, Apple will stop growing.

Source: Posts At Eventide Via: CNN

Considering their nearly ubiquitous status in retail cuture, it’s easy to forget that the Apple Store is a relatively new creation. Although Apple brought in over $7 billion in revenue last quarter across 400 physical locations, the first one was opened in just 2001… but ever since then, the Apple Store has spread like wildfire across the planet.

Here’s a great reminder of how far Apple has come, courtesy of Business Insider. Watch this animated map showing Apple Stores’ openings internationally. Check out how far the greatest retail success story since Wal-Mart has come!

Source: Business Insider

Sick of colliding with lampposts and the elderly whilst walking and texting? A new Apple patent for ‘Transparent Texting’ might be right up your alley, using your iPhone’s video camera to pipe through a live feed of what’s happening in the real world behind your Messages window.

Here at Cult of Mac, we’re a big fan of Noodlecake Games’ Super Stickman Golf series. Also? We love Flappy Bird (and it’s better clones).

For us, then, Noodlecake’s new game, Flappy Golf, is just chocolate melting over delicious peanut butter. It’s like Super Stickman Golf except with a flappy golf ball, which you need to get in the hole with as few flaps as possible. Even better? All thirty levels of the game are completely free. Oh, Noodlecake, we love you so.

Flappy Golf
Via: Touch Arcade

BlackBerry — the beleaguered Canadian smartphone maker that controls literally 0 percent U.S. market share — is now suing its own executives to prevent them from quitting their jobs and flocking to Apple. Really!

In early 2012, Apple acquired Chomp, largely to fix the broken search, recommendation and discovery features of the iOS App Store.

Two years later, app discovery on the iOS App Store remains pretty much as broken as ever. Maybe that’s why Cathy Edwards, Chomp’s co-founder who went on, post-acquisition, to become Director of Evaluation and Quality on Apple Maps, is leaving Apple come April 11.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1yW4n17lhc

Hate iOS 7’s visual aesthetic, but have apps that require iOS 7 to function? You should do what famed jailbreaker winocm did — hack his iPad 2 so it triple boots between iOS 5.1, iOS 6.1.3 and iOS 7.0.6!

Well, okay. You got us. The elite skills necessary to hack your iPad to dual boot operating systems is beyond the ability of most of us mortals, and it’s unlikely winocm will ever make this process friendly for the everyman. Still, wouldn’t you love if your iPad could do this?

Source: YouTube

Just over a month after Apple launched the second story on its ‘Your Verse’ microsite, chronicling how iPads help mountaineers climb the world’s tallest peaks, Apple has released a new update, detailing how the tablet can help diagnose athlete concussions.

Between their jailbreak solutions for iOS 6 and iOS 7, the hacker collective known as Team Evad3rs has done a lot for OS X device owners.

Despite what they’ve done to help liberate people’s iOS devices, though, Team Evad3rs has asked for remarkably little back. With JailbreakCon coming up, then, why not support Team Evad3rs with these high-quality vinyl skins, courtesy of the folks at iCarbons?

Like other iCarbon skins, you can customize the official Evad3rs skin with different colors, right down to any element.

The official Evasi0n skin starts at just $13 from the iCarbon website: grab one now to show your support of jailbreaking!

Via: iDownloadBlog

Yup. Thirteen years ago today, on March 24, 2001, Apple and Steve Jobs unleashed the first version of Mac OS X 10.0 (code named ‘Cheetah’) on to the world.

Despite officially being a teenager, OS X is holding up better than most 13 year olds: its voice isn’t cracking, it’s not awkward around girls, and since Scott Forstall’s departure, there’s barely a blemish to be seen on its otherwise pristine countenance.

What’s your earliest memory of OS X? Share it with us in the comments.

Has your child bankrupted you in Smurfberries? Had a child who maxed out your credit card on in-app purchases? Good news. Apple is now writing to some iTunes account holders, telling them they may be liable for a refund.

We’re big fans of the Philips Hue line of smart lightbulbs controllable with a slick, full-featured iOS app, but there’s no doubt it’s a pricey proposition for most people, with a single Hue bulb costing as much as $60.

If you want smart lighting in your home for about half the price, then, pay attention to what LG is doing. They have just announced their own smart bulb system called the LG Smart Lighting system, and each bulb will cost just $32.

It looks like paying for burgers using your iPhone is the next big trend in fast food.

Following Burger King’s announcement last week that it would be releasing a dedicate mobile app, Wendy’s has followed suit, unveiling their own iPhone-based payment app that will allow you to pay for Big Bacon Classics at any of Wendy’s 5,800 locations.

Do you have a lot of reliability issues with your iPhone or iPad? You might want to make haste to upgrade to iOS 7.1. According to a prominent app monitoring firm, iOS 7.1 is the least crash prone and most stable version of iOS yet.

Last week, Alex Kibkalo, a former Microsoft employee living in Lebanon, was arrested on charges that he had sold the Windows 8 source code in retaliation for a bad performance review. What was most shocking about the arrest was the means by which Microsoft gathered evidence pinning the crime on Kibkalo: they went into his personal Hotmail account and read his email to figure out it was him, without a court order to do so.

Apple would never do something like that by reading iCloud email without a court order, right? It’s not that simple, actually. Like Hotmail, Yahoo, and other webmail providers, iCloud’s terms of service specify that Apple reserves the right to read your email at any time.