The appearance of the iOS home screen has remained very archetypal since the first iPhone was showcased by Steve Jobs back in 2007. The icons sit in rows of four, and even though the iPhone 5 allowed for an extra row courtesy of its larger display, iDevice users could be forgiven for finding the unchanged look somewhat bland. The lack of any real native customization with iOS has seen jailbreak theming thrive, and although Springtomize 2 and Iconoclasm are seen as the go-to utilities when meddling with the home screen icons, the inherently easy-to-use CustomGrid is back for another outing as CustomGrid 2 (iOS 6+).
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Considering how integral the iPhone has become in the mobile industry, it's amazing to think the device is scarcely six years old. It was in 2007 that then CEO Steve Jobs wowed audiences at the Moscone West Center with the game-changing handset, and for those with a more vivid memory, you may also recall a moment when Jobs made a prank call to the local Starbucks. Ying Hang "Hannah" Zhang was the Starbucks worker in receipt of Jobs' tomfoolery that day, and having retained her position at the world's most recognizable coffee chain, recently spoke of how die-hard Apple fans still, even today, call up the store and ask for "4,000 lattes to go, please."
Next week, Samsung will finally unveil its eagerly-awaited Galaxy S IV smartphone, and amid all the excitement leading up to that March 14th event in New York City, the leaks are arriving thick and fast. A short while ago, benchmarks purporting to represent the handset appeared to confirm, among other hardware features, an Exynos 5410 quad-core processor and now, the famed and oft-reliant evleaks Twitter account has released a couple of render images of the phone.
Speculation regarding Apple's supposed "iWatch" endeavors has certainly been gathering steam over the past 24 hours, and following the report from Bloomberg earlier today that Apple could bring its smartwatch to market in time for the holiday season, we're now also beginning to get an idea of just how long Apple may have been contemplating this product. According to reports, boxes of Nike watches were ordered by Apple all the way back in the mid 2000s, with Apple engineers and designers then taking the time to study how they were made, and the materials used.
With the Samsung Galaxy S IV announcement arriving late next week, the rumor mill is awash with various claims pertaining to the handset. In the latest, the specs - including an Exynos 5410 quad-core chip clocked at 1.8GHz - is said to be powering the Korean company's beastly flagship, but those hoping for a change in the usual plastic wrapping are going to be left disappointed once more. According to leaked benchmarks, the Galaxy S IV will be at the top of the pile when it comes to sheer power, but a separate leak suggests that, while it was hoped Samsung would try and impress with a solid finish, it looks as though the shiny plastic is back to fight another day.
The blogosphere has been getting itself in something of a tizzy over the idea of Apple bringing a so-called "iWatch" to the market. Ever since, it seems, the Pebble Smartwatch finally set a release bracket following its Kickstarter phenomenon, the talk of Apple exploring this market has been without relent. We've heard several inconsequential reports pertaining to a supposed iWatch over the years, but there's a lingering feeling that this time, it's for real, and Bloomberg has shed even further light on the matter by stating that it expects the Cupertino company to come through with such a device within the next nine months.
Microsoft's Windows Phone 8 has only been around for six months, but a job posting over at the Redmond company's listings page suggests its successor will be hitting devices later this year. With most competitive operating systems churning out annual revisions, it was always presumed Microsoft would indeed offer a significant update to its smartphone firmware, but now, the job posting all-but confirms those suspicions.
With just ten days to go until the grand unveiling of Samsung's Galaxy S IV smartphone at a special event in New York City, the Korean company has begun the countdown by posting a teaser video clip of the highly-anticipated handset. The clip involves a young boy - the "secret messenger" of Samsung Unpacked 2013 - calling in to take a look at a secret package. Upon opening the box, the boy's face excitedly lights up with the sunlit glow of its contents, and one has to wonder whether tech fans will be as dazzled by what they see once proceedings begin on March 14th.
We all, at some point, find ourselves in a situation whereby we put off a task for a moment, forget it, and only get around to considering it again when it's too late. In terms of our daily digital errands, this could take the form of replying to an e-mail, calling somebody back, or perhaps responding to a text massage; and iOS developer Joshua Tucker has created a beautiful concept to help deal with the latter.
Apple has a habit for going against the grain when creating some of its adapters and peripherals, and on closer inspection, that's perhaps never more apparent than in the Lightning to Digital AV adapter. You wouldn't expect a great deal when stripping it down, but as Panic (of Coda and Transmit fame) dug up, there's actually a fully-fledged computer, complete with an ARM chip and 256MB of RAM inside.

