Latest Gadgets, Tablets and Smartphones
Apple [AAPL] is holding an event on September 1 to launch some “music related” gadgets and services. It is expected that the new iPod touch 4 will be launched along with iTV and potentially 99 cent TV show downloads.
The event is being held at Yerba Buena and the picture above and below shows what’s going on at the moment in preparation for the launch. [Read more…]
The iPhone Dev Team has mentioned that iOS 4.0.2 and iOS 3.2.2 will not get a jailbreak.
The reasons are not due to them being stuck and not knowing what to do. Instead, they are waiting for a major release to be launched such as iOS 4.1 for the iPhone so that more iPhone users can take advantage of the exploit.
Now it’s a few weeks later, and Apple has closed the jailbreakme.com hole. They’re shipping devices with FW 4.0.2/3.2.2, impervious to this particular jailbreak. So now, people will begin to ask: will there be a jailbreak for devices that shipped with 4.0.2/3.2.2, out of the box?
No, there won’t be. FW 4.0.2/3.2.2 was *only* released to fix the jailbreakme hole. With FW 4.1 still in its beta stages, it makes no sense to escalate the ‘cat & mouseĀ with Apple for FW updates that only fix the jailbreak holes.
Apple [AAPL] is to hold an event on September 1. Judging by the image above, they will be launching some music related services which could include a new iPod touch 4, iTV or Apple TV.
Other rumoured products include a 99 cents TV show rental service, possibly iTunes Cloud, CDMA iPhone 4 (doubtful) amongst a few other things. [Read more…]
Apple [AAPL] has won a patent for a couple of software features found in iOS.
The first is in relation to the “Slide to Unlock” bar that is found when you switch on an iPad, iPhone or iPod touch. The second is in relation to the character-pop on the virtual keyboard that Apple uses.
What it basically all means is that you can’t copy Apple by creating a Slide to Unlock that looks like the version that Apple uses. Also you cannot create a keyboard with popping characters like shown in the diagram above. [Read more…]
Vimeo has created a new HTML5 video player that will now allow the Apple iPad to play video content. As well as HTML5 being compatible with the iPad, it is also compatible with the iPhone and iPod touch.
The new Vimeo HTML5 embeddable player is capable of detecting what browser is being used to load up the webpage. By using the browser information the correct video format is loaded up from a selection of either Flash, HTML5 or native. The appropriate definition is also selected allowing for HD, SD or mobile versions of the video to be viewed in either h.264 or webm. [Read more…]
Samsung look set to launch a Samsung Galaxy S PMP. The new device will be called the YP-MB2 and will be similar in how the iPhone and iPod touch are different in that it will be a Galaxy S without the cell phone functions inside.
As well as lacking cellular connectivity, the YP-MB2 also has a lower resolution camera at 3 megapixels. What it will have is an Android based OS and a 1GHz CPU. The screen will still be 4 inches and be Super AMOLED. For connectivity it will have Wireless and Bluetooth. [Read more…]
The Nook software for the iPad, iPhone and PC has been updated and enhanced. New features include a book rating feature on the iPad and Retina display optimised version for the iPhone 4.
The iPhone and iPod touch Nook app is new to the Apple [AAPL] devices and prior to this release, it was only available on the iPad. The iPhone version is a simple version that allows users to get on with reading without distraction. Colours can be optimised for day or night reading. A one-tap preview is also available allowing users to quickly see a theme before changing it. [Read more…]
With the recent opening of the Amazon Kindle UK store, the Kindle Digital Text Platform has now also arrived in the UK.
“Publishers and authors can now take advantage of the Kindle Digital Text Platform and make their books available to the millions of customers that visit Amazon.co.uk,” said Greg Greeley, Amazon Vice President, European Retail. “Sales of Kindle books in the US continue to rise and we are now selling more Kindle books than hardcovers. We expect to see a similar pattern in the UK with publishers and authors benefitting from greatly increased sales as a result of adding their titles to the new Kindle Store via the Kindle Digital Text Platform.”
Pleco is releasing an updated version of it’s Chinese Dictionary software. The new version makes use of the camera on the iPhone and uses OCR to track Chinese characters and provide the meanings of them on the screen.
To look up with a symbol means, you hold the camera over it and the software recognises it and instantly pulls the description from the dictionary.
The app is version 2.2 and will be launching next month assuming approval goes successfully. The price of the app isn’t known just yet but the company behind it say it wont be too expensive. [Read more…]
S.N.A.P is an app for iOS devices (iPhone, iPad and iPod touch) that has been designed to analyse the privacy settings on your Facebook page.
SNAP means Social Network Analyzer for Privacy and works by logging on to Facebook with it. At that point, it checks the settings on your account and provides a grade based on what your privacy settings are.
S.N.A.P. stands for Social Network Analyzer for Privacy. Working with Facebook, S.N.A.P. gathers privacy information about your profile then grades you on how visible you are to the outside world.
S.N.A.P. also features an in depth search of your Facebook profile for any keyword. Not only will it tell you how many times the word is found, but will show you exactly where, when, and how it was posted.
Adobe has released a new version of Photoshop.com Mobile. The new version has been renamed to Photoshop Express and now functions fully on the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. Previous versions running on the iPad had to use pixel doubling to fill the screen.
The application was launched yesterday in to the app store and for those who already have the original on the iPhone, you’ll get an update through the Apple App Store.
The Photoshop Express application on the iPad is basically the same as it was on the iPhone in that you can load up an image and enhance it with various controls. With the iPad having a much larger screen, the editing experience is improved although the results are the same. [Read more…]
Apple [AAPL] released iOS 4.0.2 and iOS 3.2.2 to fix the PDS flaw in the iPhone 3G, 3GS, 4, iPod touch (newer generations) and the iPad. This problem has it’s good and bad sides. The good side is that once upgrading you are safe from any malicious exploits, but on the down side, the iPhone jailbreak doesn’t work any more if you upgrade.
One other problem is for those who own early generation iPhone hardware that cannot upgrade to iOS 4 and specifically 4.0.2. The older iPhone is still prone to this attack. Apple hasn’t made a fix for the people who own the older iPhone which leaves them a little open to attack.
To make your original iPhone safe you’ll need to jailbreak it which is kind of ironic. Once jailbroken a new app can be downloaded via Cydia that seals the security hole and essentially adds the same protection that iOS 4.0.2 adds. [Read more…]
