Mobile menu toggle

News - page 1781

Metroon Theme For DreamBoard Brings Windows 8’s Metro UI To Your iPhone [Jailbreak]

By •

What would Steve Jobs think?
What would Steve Jobs think?

When you’re getting a little bored of looking at the same old home screen, the DreamBoard app for iOS can completely revamp your device with a whole new look. Couple that with a new tweak called Metroon and you have yourself an iPhone that runs Windows 8 (well… almost) — complete with a Metro user interface, live tiles, and even the “Charms” bar.

iPhone Case Packs Vestigial USB Thumb Drive

By •

Possibly pointless but plainly pretty.
Possibly pointless but plainly pretty.

What if I told you there was a case that adds up to 16GB storage to your iPhone? And further, that this case costs just $50. You’d be pretty interested, right? Well, it’s kind of true. You can indeed buy a 16GB case, but sadly that memory can’t actually be used with the iPhone.

Has Boxcar Thrown In The Towel On Third-Party Push Notifications?

By •

Is Boxcar down for you?
Is Boxcar down for you?

Before every iOS app in the App Store began sending you push notifications — whether you want them or not — the best way to stay on top of your alerts was with Boxcar, a free app that delivers push notifications on behalf of a huge catalog of apps. In its App Store description, Boxcar boasts about delivering over 1 billion notifications since its debut in July 2009. But it seems the service may have finally ended.

WSJ Confirms Amazon Is Testing A Smartphone That Could Enter Production This Year

By •

Amazon hopes to expand its mobile reach with a new smartphone.
Amazon hopes to expand its mobile reach with a new smartphone.

Following earlier rumors that claimed Amazon is gearing up to launch a smartphone that will rival Apple’s iPhone, The Wall Street Journal has confirmed with sources that the retail giant is currently testing the device with its suppliers, and that it could enter production as early as the end of this year.

U.K. Retailer Lists ‘Apple Mystery Product’ On List Of Top Ten Christmas Gifts

By •

Has Apple been running Instapaper on the iPad mini?
Retailers expect a "mystery" Apple device to be a big hit this Christmas.

We’re nearly halfway through July, and while the vast majority of us are enjoying the summer weather (unless you live in the U.K. where it continues to rain), retailers are already preparing for Christmas. U.K. retailer Currys and PC World just published its of predictions for the top ten gifts this holiday, and at number four it lists an “Apple mystery device” with pricing to be confirmed.

Could this mystery device be the upcoming iPad mini?

Please, Please Someone Turn This Email Concept Into A Real Mac App

By •

mail2

“When the first email was sent in the 1970s, there was no big difference to email we know today. And that’s the problem.”

So begins this screed / manifesto written and posted by Tobias Van Schneider. Email, he says, has lived beyond its original purpose, and is being used by all of us in new and interesting ways. Web and social media technology continues to push beyond the original Berners-Lee concept of a world wide web of hyperlinked information, so why not do the same for email?

Let’s face it, there are no great email clients on the Mac. There are many that do a good job of one thing or another, but none that just scream, “perfect!” Mail becomes a bloated mess as soon as it starts to have to manage the huge volumes of electronic communication we ask it to these days. Sparrow is a decent start, but it, too, is bound by the trappings of email tradition and history. I’m with Van Schneider – it’s time for a change.

Apple Speaks Out On Ditching The EPEAT

By •

Apple is spreading its green initiative to China. Photo: Apple
Apple is spreading its green initiative to China. Photo: Apple

Apple recently pulled all of its products from the U.S. government-backed Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT). This is a big deal because EPEAT is largely considered the de facto “green” standard for U.S. companies.

The reason Apple withdrew its 39 products was speculated to be because of the EPEAT’s requirements for device repairability—something Apple has definitely shied away from in recent years with products like the iPhone, iPad, and new MacBook Pro with Retina Display. Apple has now issued an official statement on its decision to part ways with EPEAT.

iPad Minis And Our Favorite New Gadgets On Our Latest CultCast

By •

cultcast-site-promo-pic.jpg

It seems like every couple weeks now, we get new rumors that the iPad is about to get all mini-me on us. But does anyone really want a smaller iPad? We’ll tell you what we think on our latest CultCast.

Then, Raves and Faves! The segment where we pitch our favorite tech and then vote on which is best — only one gadget may live!

Go on and subscribe to the CultCast here, or download Apple’s smart new Podcasts app and effortlessly stream The CultCast whenever you’d like.

Full show notes ahead!

As RIM Falters, iPhone/iPad Deployments Become Contingency Plans

By •

If RIM falters, iPhone/iPad pilot projects become the contingency plans.
If RIM falters, iPhone/iPad pilot projects become the contingency plans.

Enterprise customers form the backbone of RIM. Many of them are now preparing contingency plans in case the BlackBerry maker goes out of business or is bought by another technology company. Many enterprises first began thinking about contingency plans in the wake of RIM’s large-scale outages last year.

What those contingency plans look like varies. Some companies are soliciting advice from leaders in the mobile management like MobileIron. Some are revisiting their agreements with RIM. Others have already begun migrations away from the BlackBerry.

20 Years Ago, The Lab That Discovered The Higgs Boson Used A Mac To Give Us Images On The Web

By •

The first image ever transmitted on the web, first uploaded using a Mac.
The first image ever transmitted on the web, first uploaded using a Mac.

When you think about the European Organization for Nuclear Research, or CERN, you probably think about all of their excellent particle smashing work, which recently culminated in the supposed discovery of the so-called ‘god’ particle, the Higgs Boson.

But twenty years ago this July, the researchers at CERN were responsible for another watershed moment, not in the history of physics, but in the history of the web: they put up the first ever image on the Internet. And they used a Macintosh to do it.

Play Music Inside iOS App Folders With FoldMusic [Jailbreak]

By •

An interesting take on music playback.
An interesting take on music playback.

Taking an innovative approach to how we experience music on our iOS devices, a new jailbreak tweak called FoldMusic lets you create playlists from the iOS Music app and view them as standalone folders on your iOS Home screen.

I was skeptical of this idea originally, but after playing with the tweak, I can see the appeal. If you have an artist, playlist, or album you want quick access to, it doesn’t get much faster than this.

Google+ iOS App Updated With Full Support For iPad, Events Integration, And More

By •

The new iPad interface for Google+ on iOS.
The new iPad interface for Google+ on iOS.

Google has released a major update to its Google+ iOS app that brings full support to the iPad’s Retina display. Borrowing from the Android version, Google+ on the iPad relies heavily on images and sports a very clean, minimal interface. The iPhone version of Google+ was updated weeks ago with a similarly clean UI, probably due to the fact that Google acquired Kevin Rose’s talent at the app development firm Milk.

In today’s update, the location-based Google+ Events feature has been integrated into the universal app. You can attach photos directly from your device’s Camera Roll and add them to your posts. You can also start and join hangouts in-app and stream them to your TV using AirPlay.

FileMaker Launches Developer Certification Program For FileMaker 12

By •

FileMaker delivers training resources, classes, and certification exam for FileMaker 12.
FileMaker delivers training resources, classes, and certification exam for FileMaker 12.

FileMaker has announced the availability of its FileMaker 12 Certification exam. As with other certifications for IT professionals, FileMaker’s certification illustrates to potential employers or consulting customers that you have the key skills to deliver a solid and complete solution using FileMaker Pro and related products like FileMaker Go for iPhone and iPad and FileMaker Server.

Twitter For iPhone Updated With Expandable Tweets, Better Notifications, New Icon

By •

The Twitter client used to send a tweet is no longer displayed in the new Twitter for iPhone.
The Twitter client used to send a tweet is no longer displayed in the new Twitter for iPhone.

Twitter has updated its official iPhone app in the App Store with several new features, including added settings for notifications, enhancements to the Discover tab, the new expandable tweets feature for viewing media content in the timeline, stability improvements, and the new Twitter icon.

Twitter for iPhone 4.3 is available now in the App Store for free. Change log after the break:

San Francisco Is The First City To Riot Over Apple Rejecting Green-Friendly Rating System

By •

How badly will fallout from Apple's decision to remove its products from the EPEAT registry affect it?
How badly will fallout from Apple's decision to remove its products from the EPEAT registry affect it?

Just days after word broke that Apple had decided to withdraw its products from the EPEAT registry, San Francisco announced that the city would will stop procurement of Apple’s Mac desktops and notebooks. The move may be the first of many such announcements as many local, state, and federal agencies mandate purchases of only computers that meet the EPEAT criteria.

Apple’s decision to remove 39 of its products from the registry is puzzling to many considering that Apple is very vocal and transparent about the environmental friendliness of its products and processes. Apple was also one of the companies that helped create the EPEAT standards in 2006.

EOS 650Ds Turning White, Irritating Users

By •

wpid-Photo-10072012-1525.jpg
Some Rebel T4is are turning white and could cause allergic reactions.

 

Remember the first batch of white MacBooks? Their top panels would react with the grease from your hands and turn a disgusting, smoker’s-hair yellowish brown. Not only that, but the trim on the edges of the computer was prone to flaking off like mature plastic scabs.

Apple seems to have gotten on top of this kind of first-gen hardware problem, but Canon’s new Rebel T4i (EOS 650D) is doing a similar thing, only in the opposite direction: Its rubber coating is turning white, and leaking irritating substances as it does so.

Google To Pay $22.5 Million For Bypassing Privacy Settings In Safari On iOS [Report]

By •

Screen Shot 2012-07-10 at 2.11.52 PM

Back in February it was discovered that Google was bypassing Apple’s privacy settings in Mobile Safari on iOS. The search giant was making ad revenue from Safari users’ web activity by ‘tricking’ the default iOS browser to allow multiple tracking cookies.

6 months later, and Google is about to pay the “largest penalty ever levied on a single company” by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Google will pay $22.5 million to settle the charges issued by the FTC, and the code in question has already been disabled by Google in Safari on iOS.

A Visual Breakdown Of Tablet Screen Sizes Compared With Rumored iPad Mini [Image]

By •

Screen Shot 2012-07-10 at 1.44.10 PM
Click to make larger

This graphic shows popular tablet screen sizes compared with the rumored ‘iPad mini’ screen size. Tablets include the Kindle Fire (Amazon is rumored to introduce a new generation of the Fire in coming months), Google Nexus 7, current iPad, and the theoretical 7.85-inch iPad mini’s screen. Rounding the screen size, we should actually be calling the purported device a 8-inch iPad.

Rumors are saying Apple will unveil the iPad mini (unconfirmed name) this fall, and that the device will sport a non-Retina 1024×768 display.

Source: @trojankitten

Via: Daring Fireball

Say Goodbye To The Nano Watch: Apple To Release Radically New iPod Nano Design [Rumor]

By •

ipod_nano_oblong_rendering

More than any other iPod, the venerable iPod nano has tended to be the chrysalid of the family, morphing from one radically different shape to the next with every successive generation.

The first couple generations of the iPod nano tended to be long and thin devices, to be replaced with a squatter square third-gen model, before returning to its familiar rectangle shape for the fourth and fifth generations, only to become a radically different touchscreen Shuffle-sized device in 2010.

Crazy. So what’s next for the iPod nano? According to a new report, it’ll stay a multitouch device, but again become long, thin and rectangular. It’ll even get a home button!

How Mountain Lion Server Stacks Up To Windows Server [Feature]

By •

Think OS X Server doesn't have equivalents to Active Directory and Exchange? Think again.
Think OS X Server doesn't have equivalents to Active Directory and Exchange? Think again.

Last week, I compared the costs of Mountain Lion Server with the licensing for Windows Server 2012 Essentials Edition. Both products are pretty clearly for the small business market. One of the big questions or concerns from readers centered around Microsoft’s Active Directory and Exchange. The assumption being that Apple didn’t provide anything similar.

That assumption, however, isn’t accurate. To clear up confusion, let’s take a look at what the core services and features in OS X Server actually offers and the audience that can best benefit from Mountain Lion Server – small businesses looking to set up a handful of services for a relatively small number of users.

The Future Of Apple’s Dock Connector [Feature]

By •

Apple_iPod_Shuffle_second_generation_green_top_view_and_dock_connector_top_view
If this was good enough for the iPod shuffle, why isn't it good enough for the iPhone 5?

In 2006, Apple released an iPod that, to this day, is unique amongst all of the iPods it sells in that it didn’t come with a standard Dock Connector: the iPod shuffle.

In order to save space in a design that was built from the ground up to be as tiny as possible, Apple jettisoned the traditional 30-Pin Dock Connector in the second-gen shuffle in favor of a clever implementation of USB that plugged in right through the 3.5mm audio jack.

For the last six years, Apple has favored this implementation of USB syncing and charging in its line of iPod shuffles, even as every other model of iPhone, iPod or iPad shipped with a much bulkier 30-Pin Apple Dock Connector.

As rumors have heated up that Apple will abandon the 30-Pin Dock Connector in the next iPhone for a slimmer 19-Pin Connector, a natural question to ask is, “why?” If Apple just wants to save space in the next iPhone, why not just adopt the time-tested iPod shuffle’s approach, which is about the most efficient and elegant implementation of USB ever designed?

The answer’s simple: while the iPod shuffle’s USB design is ingenious at syncing and charging, it’s really crappy at everything else that the 30-Pin Dock Connector is designed to do. But what does the 30-Pin Dock Connector do, why doesn’t Apple just use USB like most of its competitors, and why is 19-Pin — not 30 — the way to go?