iPhone - page 244

Google updated its Google Search app earlier this week to introduce Google Now to iOS. The feature brings Android’s awesome digital assistant to your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch, allowing you to get information like the weather, sports scores, and travel assistance all in one place.

But many users have found that it also has a significantly negative affect on battery life. Because many of Google Now’s “cards” rely on location data, the service constantly gets updates on its whereabouts from nearby cell towers and Wi-Fi hotspots, and this means it’s eating away at your battery all the time.

Six months after taking responsibility of software design, Jony Ive is hard at work overhauling Apple’s upcoming iOS 7 operating system. And according to sources for Bloomberg, the changes he is making are so significant that they run the risk of delaying the update’s release.

The Google Search app for iOS was updated earlier this week to bring Google Now to your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. but it seems that the service isn’t yet supported in all territories. As is often the case, however, the jailbreaking community has a solution.

GoogleNowEnabler is a new tweak that promises to activate Google Now on your iOS device no matter where you live.

One of the limitations of the iPhone and iPod touch version of Safari has always been a lack of tabbed browsing. Granted, there’s only so much space on the smaller mobile screen, but all the same – tabbed browsing is great.

So is being able to open tabs in the background, so that you can continue reading Cult oF Mac posts, but still save an interesting link in another tab, just like you can on the Mac with a Command-click.

When you tap and hold on any link on a web page, Safari’s default behavior on the iPhone is to ask if you want to open the link, open it in a new page, Add to Reading List, or Copy it. Choosing Open in New Page will do just that, but in the foreground, taking you away from your current web page.

Luckily, with a simple Settings tweak, you can change this default behavior.

BlackBerry has been going through a bit of a rough patch the last few years. The iPhone and Android stole the smartphone market from beneath their feet, and its recent product launches have been incredibly underwhelming.

Things are looking bad for BlackBerry, but it’s totally not going to let these last few years of mediocrity get to it though. In fact, BlackBerry’s CEO thinks his company just needs to weather the storm while everyone is going through this iPad-fad thing.

In a recent interview, BlackBerry’s CEO, Thorsten Heins said that he sees a limited future for tablet computers, and we’ll probably stop using them in a couple years. 

When the VLC iOS app was pulled from the App Store in 2011, a little part of me died inside. I own a large collection of movies in different file formats, and VLC is my go-to media player for files that aren’t supported by QuickTime and iTunes. While there’s hope that VLC will return to the App Store, I’m not holding my breath. And I don’t really care anymore because I’ve found something better.

For several months I’ve been beta testing an iOS app called Infuse. Support for 14+ file formats, an intuitive interface, and some slick details make Infuse the best third-party media player out there.

Ever tried to record a selfie on Vine? Normally, it’s been a pain in the ass ever since the app came out, because you couldn’t use your iPhone’s front-facing camera, but times are a changin’ as the app is now ready to help you record all your vain selfies from the comfort of your front-facing camera.

The days of awkwardly clutching your iPhone infront of you while pressing the record button on the other side are over. A new version of Vine just hit the App Store and it includes the ability to use the front-facing camera on your iPhone. Oh, and you can finally mention people in posts and comments now too.

The free update for Vine 1.1 is available in the App Store now.

Source: iTunes

Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov has revealed that he recently spent $100 million on Apple shares in anticipation that they will rebound. The 59-year-old believes that Apple is a “very promising” investment, despite the current share price being almost 40% off its peak last September.

Popular jailbreak tweak biteSMS just got a new update that introduces a quick compose widget to your iPhone’s Notification Center. The feature promises to be a simple and convenient way to send text messages in a pinch.

Boost Mobile is to begin prepaid iPhone sales during the third quarter of 2013, according to information leaked on Twitter. Boost would become the third prepaid provider to offer Apple’s popular device, following its introduction to Cricket and Virgin Mobile in 2012.

It’s a bit of a challenge to describe Spreecast in a nutshell — hence the clumsy headline.

Watching the service is sort of like eavesdropping on a videochat between a small group of people; only you can also interact with other viewers, and the videochatters (I hereby coin this word) themselves, through live (text) comments. Spreecast has been used by a bunch of big organizations and famous people — a few standout examples include Reese Witherspoon, The Wall Street Journal, VH1 — to broadcast conversations and interviews. Of course, peons like me (or you) can also use Spreecast to broadcast our own chatter.

Spreecast is old news, since it’s been around since late 2011; but now it’s available as an iPhone app.

Donald Trump thinks Apple should increase the iPhone’s screen size… or else. The real estate tycoon talked about how much he wants a larger iPhone on his Facebook page today. If Apple doesn’t wise up and release a phablet, The Trump says the company will “lose a lot of business.”

As the CEO of Square, and co-founder of Twitter, Jack Dorsey has quickly become one of Silicon Valley’s most admired CEOs. His Square payment system is quickly changing the way consumers buy things, and it’s making businesses and consumers interact on a more personal level.

Square’s goal is to make payments quicker and easier for both business and consumers, so the company has an intense interest in wearable tech. When asked in a recent interview whether he thinks Google Glass is an interesting product, Dorsey answered that he doesn’t see much value in Google Glass right now, but he’s intrigued by devices that wrap around the wrist – like Apple’s rumored iWatch – because they feel more natural.

When asked whether he’s looked into Google Glass, Dorsey had the following to say:

Not only is your iPad the greatest time-killer of all-time, but while you’re busy playing games, writing emails, taking pictures, and tweeting, you’re also creating some abstract artwork with each tap and swipe.

Artists Andre Woolery and Victor AbiJaoudi noticed that each iPad app reveals a different pattern of swipes and taps that form a unique piece of artwork. In their collaboration series called Invisible Hieroglyphics, the duo highlight all of the hidden masterpieces you never knew you were making, by tracking the gestures and swipes on the iPad screen and translating them into artwork on acrylic glass you can hang on your wall.

Here’s a look at some of the invisible paintings you create everyday:

iPhone theft has become a huge problem. Mayor Bloomberg says if it weren’t for Apple’s shiny devices getting stolen so frequently, crime in NYC would have gone down slightly in 2012.

Despite the best efforts of the boys in blue, catching iPhone thieves is hard work. Police really haven’t gotten too much better at it, so they’re changing their target. To get iPhone thieves off the streets, cops in San Francisco are trying a new tactic: rather than waiting around on subways trying to catch thieves in the act of stealing iPhones, The Fuzz has started trapping the buyers of stolen iPhones.

We’ve always thought that Apple’s rumored iWatch probably won’t have the ability to enter text, but maybe we’re wrong. Maybe Apple will use software similar to this ZoomBoard concept that lets you zoom in on a keyboard, tap the letter you want, zoom back out, and then find new characters.

Users who have tested the prototype were able to type about 10 words per minute with it, which is pretty slow compared to average speeds on a real keyboard, but maybe it could be used on a limited basis. We don’t think anyone will ever want to type an email on their iWatch, but what if you want to send a quick reply to a friend without pulling out your iPhone to type it up? This could be the answer.

Here’s a video of ZoomBoard in action:

It looks like Microsoft has been taking a sneaky peek at Samsung’s guide to marketing. Rather than touting new features or specifications in its latest Windows Phone commercial, the company has taken to bashing the competition instead.

The minute-long clip sees Apple face off against Samsung during a massive wedding brawl as the two companies trade insults over smartphones.

Google promised us it was coming, and after a lengthy Google Now today makes its debut on iOS. It’s available as part of an update to the Google Search app, and it’s exactly what users on Android have been enjoying for the past year.

The iPad has earned first place in the J.D. Power and Associates customer satisfaction survey for the second year in a row, just a month after Apple’s iPhone secured the award for the ninth time. The popular slate scored 836 out of a possible 1,000 points having been rated on performance, ease of operation, styling and design, features, and cost.

Japanese telecom provider KDDI’s mobile branch is planning to kick off its iPhone 5S pre-orders on June 20 ahead of a launch in July, according to an internal document that has been making its way around the web. The carrier expects the device to offer a 13-megapixel camera as well as Apple’s latest iOS 7 operating system.

If you’re looking for solid and stylish protection for your iPhone, then this Cult of Mac Deals is going to be right up your alley. You’ve spent a lot of money on your iPhone. You owe it to yourself to protect it accordingly.

BodyGuardz Armor™ Carbon Fiber is the ultimate in expression and protection. Each carbon fiber skin (Note: This is not a case) is custom designed to fit your device and will provide tough scratch protection. As a bonus, each skin also includes a screen protector. And Cult of Mac Deals has it at a 50% discount – just $9.99 – for a limited time!

If you haven’t played Ticket to Ride yet, all you need to know is that the iPad version is the most addictive board game I’ve played on the device. On the iPhone? Nothing even comes close (O.K., except maybe chess and Words with Friends).

This weekend the newest version of the game to hit the iPhone, Ticket to Ride Europe Pocket, goes from $2 to free. Don’t miss out on this one — and make sure you tell a buddy so you can play ’em.

The “i” in the next iPhone will stand for “identity.”

When people hear rumors and read about Apple’s patents for NFC, they think: “Oh, good, the iPhone will be a digital wallet.”

When they hear rumors about fingerprint scanning and remember that Apple bought the leading maker of such scanners, they think: “Oh, good, the iPhone will be more secure.”

But nobody is thinking different about this combination. Everybody is thinking way too small.

I believe Apple sees the NFC chip and fingerprint scanner as part of a Grand Strategy: To use the iPhone as the solution to the digital identity problem.

NFC plus biometric security plus bullet-proof encryption deployed at iPhone-scale adds up to the death of passwords, credit cards, security badges, identity theft and waiting in line.

Chat Heads. They made their grand debut in Facebook Home for Android, and Facebook added them later to its official iOS app. Now they are venturing out of Facebook’s iPhone app and into the rest of iOS, thanks to a jailbreak developer.

This time around on CultCast: why we need $150,000 $230,000 $500,000 for coffee with Tim Cook; Mr. Cook talks iPhone with a 5-inch screen; and with mobile products like the iPad taking over, could Apple eventually stop selling Macs? Plus, we’re finally getting a new Xbox console; the next iOS and OS X at WWDC; and the current Apple hardware drought needs to end!

All that and more on this week’s CultCast. Stream or download new and past episodes on your Mac or iDevice by subscribing now on iTunes, or hit play below and let the good times roll.

Show notes up next.