Jailbreakers who rather foolishly updated to iOS 5.1 shortly after its release earlier this year are still waiting for an exploit that will allow them to reclaim root access to their device. But according to iOS hacker Pod2g, that exploit could only be another month (or two) away.
The most exciting part of Nikon’s [D3200 announcement](https://www.cultofmac.com/161700/new-nikon-d3200-slr-connects-to-ipad-over-wi-fi/) was the WU-1a (Woo-la!) Wi-Fi adapter, a dongle which hangs annoyingly out of the open side hatch of the SLR’s body and allows for wireless communication with a smartphone. An iOS app is promised later this year, but above you can see a demo of the Woo-la in action with an Android handset.
Remembering each and every password to each and every service you’ve ever signed up to is an incredibly difficult task. To make it easier, we create simple passwords that we’re less likely to forget, like the name of our favorite pet, our partner, or our car. The problem with that is, it’s not very secure.
Norton’s new Identity Safe is a free service that allows you to choose stronger passwords and keep your data safe while saving them all securely to your PC or smartphone to ensure that they’re never forgotten. You can then sync your passwords between your Mac, PC, Android and iOS devices so that you have them with you wherever you go.
With the widely-rumored Google Drive service set to launch sometime this week, its rivals are scrambling to ensure they still have the upper hand when it comes to cloud-based storage. We’ve already seen an update to Dropbox this week, and now Microsoft is bringing new features to its SkyDrive app for iOS.
In addition to support for the iPad and its high-resolution Retina display, SkyDrive 2.0 also offers a number of handy new features.
Minecraft fans, rejoice. Minecraft Pocket Edition just got updated to 0.3.0, and the new release finally adds the feature you’ve all been waiting for: crafting. Oh, and cows and chickens too.
The term iSheep has been around for quite some time to describe those who purchase Apple products for no other reason than the fact that they’re Apple products and to denote that they all look the same. While I believe every facet of life has its “sheep,” Samsung makes an obvious reference to these iSheep in its latest Samsung Unpacked teaser video where they use sheep to depict “everyone else.”
Mobile purchasing systems based on NFC have a way to go before they become ubiquitous, but other types of mobile payments already here. A great example is the Starbucks app that can be used as a virtual reload-able gift card. When you want to pay with the card, a barista scans a code on your iPhone’s screen.
Starbucks may have made this technology a part of every day life for millions of people, but it isn’t the only company to do. Some airlines offer a virtual boarding pass as part of mobile check-in features.
The same iPhone/smartphone screen as digital token approach may soon extend to your commute as well as your morning coffee or air travel. A pilot project in Boston plans to bring the same NFC-less mobile payment technology to the city’s commuter rail service.
Over the past two years, the iPad has shown up in a wide variety of workplaces. Some of those iPad at work are areas the come immediately to mind like salespeople using iPads to demo solutions and prepare quotes on the fly. Other places are ones that you might never expect like large combines in industrial agriculture.
One of the most recent employers to embrace the iPad is the Denver Broncos. The football team will replace its existing paper playbooks with iPads.
We’ve all seen the ridiculous Samsung videos where they pit some clueless iPhone users against one of their experienced gurus in an attempt to show how you can do more with a Samsung Android device. Well, one Android user decided to switch over to the iPhone to see for himself which of the operating systems was truly easier or “simpler” to use. After 30 days of using an iPhone, he finds iOS to be much more frustrating and actually more difficult to use. Well, not so much “difficult” as cumbersome.
Minimalism is a fascinating thing. Our world is getting increasingly loud and busy, yet many are starting to want more minimal and distraction-free experiences. Apps specifically are another way that the minimalism trend can be observed; more and more applications are getting back to the roots by cutting away superfluous effects and features.
Pop is a perfect example of how minimalism manifests itself in a basic iOS app. Unlike other writing apps for the iPhone and iPad, Pop is just a blank pad to jot down text. Nothing else. Nothing at all… But really, that’s all there is.
Sony has announced two new all-in-one speaker docks for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod today, which claim to be the world’s first speakers to use magnetic fluid for dampening. Both devices also feature built-in DAB radios and CD players, while one also offers wireless Bluetooth connectivity and your own light show.
There have been a handful of technologies touted over the past few years that would remove (or dramatically reduce) the need to carry our credit/debit cards, loyalty cards, and even cash. For the past couple of years, NFC has been the technology of choice for turning our phones into digital wallets. Google and RIM have built NFC support into their respective mobile OSes and a handful of manufacturers have built NFC phones, but the technology hasn’t lived up to the hype.
Another day, another cool thing you can do with Alfred. This time it’s updating a text file of your choice, without having to leave Alfred’s friendly text input window.
Over the past few months, we’ve heard some delusional things from RIM executives, some sober assessments of its dire straights, and even the story of RIM execs being kicked off a plane for being too drunk and unruly. With that gamut of events, it shouldn’t be too shocking that RIM’s VP of developer relations Alec Saunders recently resorted to a public temper tantrum, complete with condescending personal insults, when the development team behind YouMail announced plans to abandon the BlackBerry platform.
The ability to share my documents across all of my devices and have them with me wherever I go is indispensable to me, and so Dropbox is one service I couldn’t be without. However, one of its biggest flaws has always been the difficulty in sharing documents.
That’s no longer the case with Dropbox’s latest update, which makes it super simple to share your files with your friends, family, and colleagues.
Time Warner recently added the ability to live stream national and regional sports networks from the TWC TV app for the iPad, iPhone, Android 4.0 smartphones and tablets, and TWCTV.com. Any Time Warner Cable video subscriber living in New York, Dallas, or Charlotte will now have the ability to live stream their favorite sports channels at no extra cost by using the TWC TV app.
Microsoft has decided to jump into the mobile management marketplace. The company has announced plans to retool its Intune cloud-based desktop management service to manage iPhones, iPads, and some Android devices. The news follows RIM’s similar decision to include iOS and Android management in the new BlackBerry Mobile Fusion console that it designed for its PlayBook tablet.
Microsoft’s Brad Anderson, corporate vice president of the company’s management and security division division showed off the new version of Intune at Microsoft Management Summit (MMS) in Las Vegas. Anderson’s presentation, however, wasn’t able to illustrate Intune’s upcoming iOS management capabilities because the iPhone used in his demo failed to perform properly with the Intune release being used – an event that The Register reported as seeming “as though the spirit of Steve Jobs was in the room.”
Awesome Calendar is a Google Calendar client for iOS, priced at three dollars on the iOS App Store (although a free Lite version is also available). Is it as awesome as its name implies? I wouldn’t say so.
One of the interesting tidbits to emerge from testimony during Oracle panent infringment trial against Google is that Oracle had considered producing its own smartphone and buying either RIM or Palm. The testimony came from Oracle chief Larry Ellison, who was a close personal friend of Steve Jobs. Ellison is, in fact, quoted as describing their relationship as “best friends” in Walter Isaacson’s biography of Jobs.
The news raises some interesting questions – not the least of which are whether Jobs knew of the plan and what impact Oracle jumping into the smartphone game against the iPhone might have had on their friendship. Jobs was obsessed with the idea that Google and its former CEO Eric Schmidt (also a former Apple board member) had ripped off Apple’s iOS design work in creating Android.
Puerto Rico based iGenApps showed off its signature service at the DEMO Spring event in silicon valley this week. iGenApps offers the ability to create iOS and other mobile apps with no programming knowledge and just a basic working knowledge of HTML. The service is centered around web app development, but the company claims a premium service will turn web apps into native apps for a price.
It’s been a busy day for photo sharing community 500px. They managed to launch a major update to their iPad app as well as release their first ever Android app. While Instagram is all the rage these days and has amateur mobile photographers giddy inside, 500px is a photo community built around passionate photographers and enthusiasts who discover, publish, share, buy and sell thousands of photographs every day. You won’t be snapping pictures with this app but you have the opportunity to:
Mobile app management company Apperian announced two new features for companies looking to expand the use of iOS, Android, and BlackBerry apps as part of an overall mobile strategy. One feature aims to connect end users within a company with IT staff and developers for collaboration on new and existing apps. The other is designed to give employees an easy way to rate and comment on apps already in use.
Apperian provides app management and deployment services for business and enterprise customers. The company’s EASE platform allows IT to create internal app stores showcasing both internal apps and public apps that are available through the iOS App Store. The company also provides a range of related services including the ability to push out apps and updates to devices over the air.
The iPhone and iPad are great mobile work solutions for many professions and IT is no exception. With the right collection of apps, virtually every IT job role can become mobile. Systems administrators, user interface designers, and even help desk agents can use their iOS devices to keep tabs on the technologies that they manage and resolve problem at any time from almost anyplace.
IT tools for iOS cover a wide range of ground from basic remote access to network diagramming. Here are a set of tools that no IT department should be without.
There are few photo editing apps on for the iPad that are as versitle and easy to use as Snapseed while also giving users some great tools to make photos look better. It’s the best photo editting app on the iPad, but earlier today Snapseed released a new update for the app that makes it even better.
There’s nothing worse then prepping your app for launch and then finding out you missed one crucial step to ensure it looked solid across all platforms. Keep in mind that just because you’ve “built” a mobile app, that doesn’t mean it is going to be ready for market. Without testing, your app’s not going to cut it. Not in the least.
Cult of Mac Deals has got a great deal on a video course put together by Robert V. Binder that will teach you ways to test out your software to make sure it’s ready for your audience. This video course is applicable for Android, Blackberry, iPhone, iPad, Windows Mobile, Palm OS and mobile apps using HTML5. And it’s available from Cult of Mac Deals for only $49 — a savings of $80 off the regular price!
But this deal is coming to a close…