Being a Brit, one of the most disappointing things about Siri is that it doesn’t support location services in the United Kingdom. Unlike iPhone 4S users in the United States, I can’t ask Siri to find me a nice restaurant nearby, or for the nearest gas station. However, that’s no longer the case in iOS 6, because Siri now supports location services internationally.
Reeder is, in my opinion, by far the best Google Reader client for both Mac and iOS. And it just got even better on the iPhone. After being rewritten from the ground up, Reeder now offers stacks of new features, like Fever syncing, support for multiple accounts, the ability to subscribe and unsubscribe from feeds, and more. It even has a pretty new icon.
Since its introduction, the iPad has been missing some of the iPhone’s built in applications, such as Weather, Stocks, and Calculator. Until now, there’s been no sign of these apps making it to the iPad. With the introduction of iOS 6, though, it appears that Apple may finally be thinking about bringing the remaining iPhone apps over to the iPad.
We’re super excited for iOS 6. Although it isn’t the complete iOS overhaul many users were hoping for, it does deliver a whole host of new features — like a new Maps app, user interface enhancements, improvements to stock apps, and Siri support on iPad — that we’re certainly looking forward to.
However, it’s hard to ignore the fact that iOS 6 still has some things missing. Things we’ve been waiting for for some time. Here are seven of them.
Apple is renowned for its obsession with detail and making even the slightest things — such as internal components — just as beautiful as the devices that house them. That’s why, during his recent WWDC keynote, Tim Cook said Apple’s new MacBook Pro was more beautiful on the inside than rival machines are on the outside.
This attention to detail is evident in iOS 6, where the slider reflections change as you tilt your device.
The new Maps app that Apple showed off at WWDC yesterday has made it pretty clear that the company will be ditching Google Maps in iOS 6. That means beautiful new 3D maps, voice guided turn-by-turn navigation, and more. But before you get too excited, just remember this: As soon as Google leaved, so does Street View.
Although iOS 6 looks a lot like iOS 5 at a glance, it represents a huge change to some of Apple’s core iOS features. Apps and services like Maps, Mail, Phone, Notification Center and more have all received new features worth talking about, while several new ones have been introduced.
The great thing about it is, is supports a whole host of devices, including every iPhone from the iPhone 3GS onwards. Some devices won’t get access to all features, however. Only the iPhone 4S and the first- and second-generation iPads will enjoy turn-by-turn navigation and 3D maps.
I’ve never really like the way in which the App Store handles security. Sure, I like the fact that if my iPhone is stolen, thieves can’t run up a huge iTunes bill. But I don’t understand why I have to enter my password each and every time I need to download updates or previous purchases. These have already been paid for; why is this necessary?
Thankfully, in iOS 6 and OS X Mountain Lion, it isn’t.
We’re still trawling through the new iOS 6 beta releases that Apple pushed out after its WWDC keynote yesterday, and we continue to find nice new features and improvements. If you’re as excited about iOS 6 as we are, you’d probably like to hear about them.
Here’s a few changes Apple has made to emoji, Reminders, and more.
If I had to pick on adjective for Apple’s upcoming iOS 6, it’d be “local” – Apple is integrating an immense range of local features and giving businesses amazing tools for attracting new customers. Regardless of whether you’re talking about a large chain like Starbucks or a family owned local business, Apple is offering virtually any customer-facing company an immense range of tools to attract and retain new customers.
Since iOS 5 was introduced last summer, our lock screens finally do something worthwhile, and that is present all of our unread notifications in one place, so that we can see what we’ve missed at a glance. However, when you have no outstanding notifications, the lock screen is stall a rather boring place.
AnimateLockscreen is a new jailbreak tweak that aims to change that, by breathing new life into your lock screen with gorgeous animated wallpapers.
Having the ability to connect to the ‘net over a cellular network from almost anywhere is a huge asset, and one of the best things abput the iPad (if you have the 3G/4G version — which you should). But there’s nothing like the shock of suddenly discovering a $300 bill for data overage to make one extremely skittish about ever using data again — which completely ruins the whole point of getting a 4G iPad in the first place (unless, of course, you just bought it for the GPS receiver).
To banish this evil conundrum, you’ll need DataMan Pro for iPad ($4), an app that watches your data usage like a hawk and alerts you when you’re gobbling data too quickly. It’ll even tell you which apps are the most data hungry.
Heading up this week’s must-have apps roundup is Color Splash Studio, a terrific photo manipulation tool originally built for Mac OS X, which has finally made the leap from Mac App Store to iPhone. We also have a great music video mixing tool from Algoriddim, the guys behind Djay; a camera app that’s perfect for your kids, and more.
Kicking off this week’s must-have games roundup is Uplink, a title you may remember from 2001, when it made its debut on PC. This computer hacking simulator has now been remastered for the iPad’s touchscreen, and despite being 11 years old, it’s still an awesome game.
Accompanying Uplink is a hugely enjoyable platformer, a unique take on golf, a first-person catapulting game, and more.
I’ve never been particularly interested in theming iOS on my jailbroken iPhone. Apple’s stock iOS design is simplistic and efficient. The last thing anyone wants is to look at an over-designed interface every day.
With that said, I’ve also been wanting a change of pace recently. With iOS 6 on the near horizon, I’ve been looking for beautiful and interesting jailbreak themes to switch things up on iOS 5.1.1. It just so happens that one of the most gorgeous themes ever made was just released in Cydia.
U.S. Facebook users should start seeing Facebook’s new App Center when they log into Facebook via the web, Android app, or iOS apps. Facebook’s new App Center is less of an “App Store” and more of a central location for Facebook users to discover new apps. In reality, it’s just a way for Facebook to keep users in Facebook or using Facebook integrated apps.
Secure remote access has always been important for companies with mobile workers. As Apple and other mobile technology companies enable an increasingly mobile workforce, however, those remote access needs are increasing rapidly and can easily strain existing VPN setups.
Increasing capacity can be accomplished with the traditional appliance or server-driven VPN solutions, but that can get expensive and doesn’t guarantee that even more capacity won’t be needed in a few months or a couple of years. One company offering a scalable and cost-effective solution to these challenges is iSimplyConnect.
Color Splash Studio, a terrific photo manipulation tool for Mac OS X, has made the leap from Mac App Store to iPhone today. Priced at just $0.99 — with 60% to celebrate its launch — the app allows you to convert your images to black and white, and then inject color back into specific areas.
“You have tools and powers no similar app offers,” its description promises.
Verizon continues to put other carriers to shame with their 4G LTE network. In one day, Verizon manages to blanket more markets than most carriers do in months. At the current rate of expansion, I’d say most other carriers are year’s behind, and according to Verizon’s current forecast, it’s going to get worse.
Google shook up the mobile business landscape by announcing its acquisition of mobile office powerhouse Quickoffice. That move might not seem terribly large, but it creates a very different and unexpected dynamic in the business mobility world. It also sets up a showdown over business capabilities that could have lasting ramifications.
Why is this move significant? It means that every company that produces a major mobile platform now also owns a serious office and productivity solution. Microsoft has Office, Apple has iWork, RIM has Documents To Go (which it acquired nearly two years ago), and Google now has Quickoffice as well as Google Docs. Each company can now ensure that its mobile business customers will have at least one solid option for working with Office files on their smartphones or tablets.
The Omni Group offers a powerful range of Mac business tools that meet several key professional needs including mind mapping and brainstorming, data graphing, diagramming, task management, and project management. Over the past two years, the company has been porting its award-winning software the iPad and delivering great mobile business functionality in the process.
Today the company release the iPad version of its OmniPlan project management software.
Facebook’s been planning an HTML5 app center to try to tackle Apple’s App Store for quite a while, and now Techcrunch has what they say is the first shot of what it’ll look like in the official Facebook iOS app. In fact, we might all see it as soon as tonight, at an app-themed press event to be held in San Francisco.
Facebook on their part is playing mum, saying: “Since we announced the App Center to developers last month, we’ve been testing it with a small percentage of users. We have no further details to announce at this time.”
For me, all I can say is if App Center requires me to load Facebook’s execrable app, I doubt Apple has anything to fear.
Source: Techcrunch
WWDC is only a few days away and the event is shaping up to be filled dramatic announcements. Expectations include an Apple HDTV, a new Mac lineup that includes an updated Mac Pro, the unveiling of the next iPhone, iOS 6 with Siri support for the iPad, updates to Siri’s functionality, and load of additional details about Mountain Lion.
Whether all those expectations are met or not, WWDC and its keynote will pack lots of information for developers and IT professionals as well as various Apple product announcements and previews. The big announcements may be the best part of WWDC for most Mac users and Apple fans, but the event is, at its heart, a giant powwow for developers. It also offers IT professionals and CIOs their best glimpse at Apple future plans and the new technologies that they will need to support and/or manage.
So what are IT leaders and business professionals going to be looking for at WWDC? Here’s our IT wish list for this year’s WWDC.
This year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo has been chock full of mobile news and is a testament to the future of mobile gaming. Major gaming companies such as EA took stage to not only show off their console offerings, but their future mobile versions as well. This year, EA showed off a number of titles, two of which will be hitting Android and iOS later this fall.
SoundHound has updated its popular music searching and discovery app for iOS today, introducing a whole host of new features. Version 5.0 makes SoundHound faster than ever before, according to the release notes, and brings high-resolution album art and images, an improved user interface, a new SoundHound Player with LiveLyrics, and lots more.