I love Easter Eggs, and no, not the real ones - the ones that software developers and tech companies hide inside their products for us to find, revealing little tidbits that don’t add anything to the functionality of the device at all, but make using it all the more fun. Google’s been doing it for quite a while; game developers do it even more frequently. Today, we’ve stumbled across an Easter egg hidden inside our very own Mac, and it’s very very simple to reveal.
The concept of personal assistants has been around for a long, long time, and they indeed make one’s job a lot easier by sharing a hefty amount of your workload, maintaining schedules, prioritizing stuff, keeping track of projects and whatnot. With advancements in technology, a lot of that responsibility has shifted to our smartphones, further supported by the fact that not everyone can afford (or is entitled to) a personal assistant. Apple took the concept to the virtual world with its implementation of Siri, followed closely by Google Now and now, Microsoft’s Cortana for Windows Phone, with the latter being the highlight these days.
The iPhone is not the best smartphone around when it comes to battery life retention, and from time to time we’ve heard occasional reports that users are experiencing subpar battery life those in ownership of an iPhone 5. And today, the issue has been officially confirmed by Apple and the problem lies in the hardware of the device itself, and luckily you’re eligible for a free battery replacement, if you qualify for it.
Once a dominant force in the smartphone industry, BlackBerry has lost its way in recent years, and having fallen way behind the Apple iPhone in the pecking order, the Canadian outfit has called out its Cupertino rival in the battle of the IM services. Having opened BBM up to iOS, Android and Windows Phone recently, the company is now busy trying to sell the once-popular instant-messaging service to the masses, and as is the case with most tech companies nowadays, BlackBerry has gone on the offensive against its fierce rival's corresponding iMessage.
Foxconn has long since been Apple's main ally in production of iOS devices, and with the iPhone 6 set to be announced in just a few weeks, Foxconn's manufacturing plants must be swarming with evidence. Of course, as part of the agreement to prepare the smartphone for mass distribution, Foxconn is obligated to keep everything under wraps, but every now and again, something slips through the net. Today, we have what appear to be precise iPhone 6 measurements sourced directly from Foxconn, and although these details have been scattered around the blogosphere for quite some time, it's nice to finally have something a little more concrete.
We have had more than enough reasons to believe that the new iPhone 6 will come next month; specifically, on September 9th in a media event. All the evidence right now points in that direction, and if we were to take any hint from what Walmart has done today, it’s all but confirmed. The retail giant has announced temporary price cuts to both the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c models, offering the former at $79 and the iPhone 5c for an astounding, not to mention highly lucrative, $0.97.
Having trailed the iPhone 6 rumor mill for quite some time, we now have a fairly assured list of its specs and features. But as we close in on the September 9th announcement, plenty of on-off rumors still remain up in the air, and for the umpteenth time, a leak has indicated that Apple will offer a 128GB storage option.
The iPhone 6 may be the hottest topic in tech circles right now, but even though the annual dose of iPhone Fever has taken a stronghold once more, we've also the small matter of the iPad refresh to contend with. Only yesterday, we heard that the next-gen iPad Air could double up on RAM to 2GB, with certain 'pro' features apparently set to arrive with iOS 8.1 early next year, and now, a new parts leak has presented us with a close-up look at some of the device's internals.
Although the blogosphere is currently inundated with news of the next-gen iPhone 6, it's also suspected that the iPad line-up will be in receipt of its customary refresh later on this year. Aside from the more obvious matter of the improved processor -- both the iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3 are expected to adopt the all-new Apple 8 SoC -- both of the fruit company's flagship slates will also benefit from an improved Touch ID fingerprint sensor, in what is already stacking up as a fairly substantial hardware upgrade. Now, it has emerged that the larger of the two Apple slabs may be kitted out with 2GB of RAM, and given that the next-gen Retina mini is expected to remain at 1GB, it'll help to give the larger, more prominent model the technical edge over its smaller cousin.
Prompted into action by Google's release of the Chromecast dongle last year, Apple has been on something of a mission to bring more content to its famed set-top. Sure, we haven't seen any new hardware for a good couple of years now as far as Apple TV is concerned, but for those in ownership of the current-gen models, there are now dozens of channels and services to choose from. For sports fans, the introduction of NFL Now is likely to go down well, and if you don't happen to own the Cupertino company's little black box, you'll be pleased to learn that Amazon Fire TV and Yahoo Screen should also reap the benefits of NFL Now over the next few weeks.
















