Sparrow for iPhone — the third-party email client that has left Apple’s built-in Mail app redundant on my device — has received another major update today, which introduces a number of helpful features and quashes a handful of bugs.
One thing it doesn’t add, however, is that much-anticipated push support. That’s coming later, but you’ll have to pay for it.
An “iPhone 5” SIM tray that was leaked by one parts supplier earlier this month suggested Apple’s sixth-generation iPhone may not get that long-awaited redesign after all, launching instead with a look that resembles its last two predecessors, the iPhone 4 and the iPhone 4S.
However, a new headphone jack & earpiece component that has been leaked by the same supplier contradicts that belief, and indicates that the new iPhone will indeed sport a whole new look.
Research in Motion showed off its BlackBerry 10 operating system earlier this month at its BlackBerry World event in Florida. While many have branded the release too little too late, it does have some features that actually look pretty nice.
One of those is its gesture-based predictive text keyboard, which allows you to swipe a single key to input common words. Thanks to one iOS developer, this feature will be available on jailbroken iPhones before it gets its official debut on a BlackBerry 10 handset.
Instacast, undoubtedly the best podcast manager for iOS, got a great update this week that deserves a place in our must-have apps roundup. We’ve also got an impressive voice translation tool that you just have to try, a social weather app that’s more reliable than the weatherman, plus major updates for Pocket and Google+.
Our source within Apple has seen their secret new HDTV, and my friends, you are in for a treat. In this episode of The CultCast, we’re going to tell you every juicy bit of info our source told us.
Plus, AT&T will soon be offering you family data plans, we’ll tell you what we know.
And three apps enter, but only one can rule them all — don’t miss our favorite apps of the week!
Subscribe to the CultCast now on iTunes, and read on for our show notes!
This has been a terrific week for gaming for those with an iOS device. Gameloft’s hugely impressive N.O.V.A. 3 leads our roundup having set an incredible standard of mobile FPS games, with stunning visuals and terrific gameplay. We’ve also got a wonderful sequel to Frontier Developments’ LostWinds, an original skateboarding game from Penny Skateboards, and lots more.
Following the site’s report that Apple is planning a 7-inch iPad for an October release alongside the next iPhone, iMore today says that Apple hasn’t finalized the design of its sixth-gen smartphone (commonly referred to as the “iPhone 5”). All of the metal casing and 4-inch display rumors are still up in the air, but Apple has zeroed in on a smaller dock connector, according to iMore.
May is Mobile Management Month at Cult of Mac,
JAMF specializes in Apple management technologies. The company Casper Suite is a full featured Mac client management solution as well as an iOS device management product. Being devoted specifically to Apple technologies, JAMF is able to include features not found in other products at this time including the ability to integrate with Apple’s enterprise sales and warranty system known as GSX, the ability to distribute ebooks to iOS devices, and deployment workflows that integrate with Apple Configurator.
While Casper Suite is an excellent option for organizations that are predominantly or completely Apple-based, organizations with a mix of desktop and mobile platforms may find the product somewhat limiting. In addition to Casper Suite for Mac and iOS management, JAMF also offers Mac enterprise deployment and asset management tools. Finally, it’s worth noting that JAMF offers significant licensing discounts for education institutions implementing Casper Suite.
Have you ever wanted to know the definition of a word without having to perform a Google search or open an app? If you have an iPhone 4S you can use Siri to look up definitions, but older iOS devices are have immediate way to show a definition.
Apple has a built-in dictionary in iOS that’s easy to forget about, but luckily a jailbreak tweak called SpotDict makes it simple to lookup words on the iPhone. SpotDict uses Apple’s dictionary to let you quickly define words from the Spotlight window in iOS.
It’s lunch time on the West Coast. I’m starving. Like, I could eat a zebra-porcupine hybrid right now, that’s how hungry I am. Things are only getting worse after I ran into this trove of beautiful iPhone app icon concepts that make my iPhone and iPad good enough to eat. The steak icon looks so tender. So succulent. I’m going to go grab a burrito before I start trying to eat my iPad like that poor little Taiwanese girl, but you should definitely check out these gorgeous app icons.
Most companies grappling with the BYOD trend think in terms of allowing personal iPhones, iPad, and Android devices. Virtualization heavyweight VMWare looked at the situation quite a bit differently. Instead of allowing personal devices, VMWare’s CIO Mark Egan decided to require employees to use their personal smartphones in the office.
The move, unorthodox to say the least, seemed to Egan the best option when he found himself sandwiched between the rock of corporate-owned smartphone expenses and the hard place of users clamoring for the choices of BYOD.
Apple and Samsung are neck and neck when it comes to U.S. smartphone market. In Japan, which represents roughly 5% of the global smartphone market, however, the iPhone is significantly beating Samsung’s range of Android handsets. Apple, in fact, has a more than 20% lead over Samsung in Japan – significantly higher than its current 5% lead over Samsung in America.
Next week, the iPhone will launch on three additional U.S. regional carriers. This move follows last month’s roll out to five regional carriers plus last year’s addition of C Spire and Puerto Rico-based Claro Puerto (Apple’s first deasl with regional carriers).
Apple’s regional expansion prompted Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty to issue a note to investors saying that the new partnerships will help ensure sustained iPhone growth. She also noted that she doesn’t expect to see carriers dropping subsidized pricing for the iPhone – a concern that has also made investors hesitant when it comes to Apple.
Following Apple’s acquisition of several mapping companies over the years, it has always seemed inevitable that the company would one day wave goodbye to Google Maps in iOS in favor of its own, in-house service. That’s exactly what will happen when iOS 6 makes its debut later this year, according to one report.
Apple is expected to launch its own maps service, which offers an innovative 3D view mode, allowing you to view city stunning cityscapes in all their glory.
When you build a robot or an artificially intelligent machine, there’s always going to be a fear that one day it will turn against you. That’s what Siri has done to Apple today, labeling one of the iPhone’s biggest rivals, the Nokia Lumia 900, the “best smartphone ever.”
One of my favorite jailbreak tweaks for the iPhone 4S (before I updated to iOS 5.1 and lost my jailbreak) was called Lingual, which enabled Siri to connect to Microsoft’s Bing Translate API and immediately translate words or phrases into a number of different languages.
Thanks to iTranslate Voice, you can now get the same functionality and more for any iPhone from the App Store. This excellent $0.99 app listens to you speak, then quickly translates your sentences into one of 31 languages. It’s super quick and incredibly accurate.
Talk to Beasty Design. Unfortunately they don’t actually slide to unlock. That’s patented.
4G mobile broadband provider FreedomPop has started taking preorders for a $99 case/sleeve that gives free 4G data speeds to an iPhone 4/4S. Backed by Skype co-founder Niklas Zennstrom, iPhone owners who purchase FreedomPop’s case will be given 500MB of free 4G data each month. Full data packages will also be sold in the future, but those details have not been given at this time.
We know what you’re asking: Will this thing actually work? Take a look at this video and find out:
Rumors saying Apple is planning a smaller version of the iPad won’t die, and a new report sheds more light on the rumored product. Fueling past rumors that Apple is interested in creating a 7-inch iPad at a cheaper price point, iMore claims that the company is planning a 7-inch iPad for release this October alongside the next-gen iPhone.
But that’s not all! The most interesting claim is that the upcoming 7-inch iPad will be priced between $200-$250. Also, the tablet will feature a Retina display like the third-gen iPad, keeping the same 2048×1536 resolution, according to the report.
Businesses and individuals thinking that they have mobile security covered, may need to think again. That’s the message from a new report on mobile security shows that nearly half of people using a personal device like an iPhone, iPad, or Android device are doing so without their company’s knowledge or permission. The same report showed that users frequently access sensitive or confidential data from mobile devices but would stop after a security breach.
Adding to concerns around personal mobile devices and BYOD programs, one third of IT professionals in the survey said that their company has already experienced a mobile-related security incident.
SynchroCam is an app that uses the cameras of two iDevices to snap a stereo photo. It then combines the two images into one animated GIF, the kind that flick back and forth and give a trippy 3-D effect.
Foxconn chief executive Terry Gou has confirmed that Apple will use some of its cash to help improve the labor conditions for more than 1 million workers in Foxconn’s Chinese factories, where devices like the iPhone, iPad, and iPod are assembled.
Gameloft has blown us away with its N.O.V.A. 3 teaser trailers over the past few weeks, and today one of the most anticipated iOS games so far this year makes its App Store debut. The series has always been up there with the best first-person shooters for iPhone and iPad, but this release promises to deliver a new benchmark for graphics and gameplay on iOS.
N.O.V.A. 3 could be the best $7 you’ve spent on mobile gaming to date.
Instapaper 4.2 has just hit the App Store, and it’s a pretty big update. The headline feature is a new iBooks-style page-turn animation, but there is a lot more in there besides.
If you’ve ever used AirPlay to connect speakers or your AppleTV to your iPhone, you’ll know that you’ve got to be diligent about disconnecting your device afterwards, lest you suddenly start piping sounds or video to somewhere else accidentally.
How bad can it be if you don’t remember to do that? Really, really bad. In fact, this is pretty much the worst case scenario we could think of: one Redditor who forgot to disconnect his iPhone from his Apple TV via AirPlay ended up showing his in-laws a homemade pornographic film featuring their daughter.