According to an internal Apple memo obtained by 9to5Mac, the original iPhone will soon become 'obsolete' in the eyes of the Cupertino company, with those looking for service or repairs at Apple Retail Stores or mail-in AppleCare Repair Centers unable to do so in most places. It is natural for an Apple product to become 'vintage' or 'obsolete' after five years, but there's a certain significance, dare I say poignancy attached to this particular progression, for the device is about as iconic as anything Apple has ever released.
Spotlight search, although not a feature of everybody's iOS-navigating repertoire, is still seen as an important feature of Apple's mobile OS, and although relatively one-dimensional at stock level, the jailbreak scene has certainly found plenty of uses for the native search feature. Those of you who've used Alfred for OS X will be more than aware of its strengths when it comes to speeding up the process of finding exactly what you want, and one Cydia developer has taken the strengths of Alfred and sought to implement them into Spotlight.
Some very interesting information pertaining to Apple's iOS 7 has emerged today, which will see reasonably thorough makeover retaining many familiar aspects whilst "flattening" much of the user interface, as reported before. Although, as 9to5Mac reports, the changes will be some of the most significant the software has seen in its lifetime, it is also reckoned that users will have little trouble adapting to the changes.
When Samsung set about designing the Galaxy S4 as the replacement for its flagship Galaxy S III, there were no doubt all manner of targets that it wanted to meet. Bigger screen, same footprint, improved durability and more will quite possibly have been written on a whiteboard somewhere in Samsung HQ. But not all were met, especially that durability one.
Microsoft may be languishing behind Apple and Google in the mobile operating system stakes, but that hasn't stopped the Redmond outfit from coning out on the offensive with its latest Windows Phone ad. You can check it out after the jump.
It's one of the reasons that Google's Android is often preferred over Apple's iOS, but Google Now is no longer an Android-only affair, with the personal assistant now available for the competition's iPhone and iPad devices.
Oh, Apple, when will you just release a budget iPhone so that we can finally call time on all this speculation?
There have been plenty of hits and a fair few misses in the last couple of revisions of iOS with regards to the new features, but the consensus of the iOS notification banners introduced with iOS 5 seems to be one of positivity. Their unobtrusive nature allows iPhone, iPad and iPod touch users to continue their task in hand without being interrupted, but despite their discreet demeanor, they are rather bland and one dimensional. Looking to invigorate some life into these plain white banners is Bailey Seymour, a jailbreak developer who has come through with a theming tweak for this particular iOS element called BannerImage.
Drop tests provide us with a decent general idea of how a device will fare when faced with the unthinkable. Of course, the idea is to keep a handset protected and try and avoid dropping it from various heights, but should this accident ever occur, drop tests offer a reasonable indication of how robust and durable a device is. Vloggers GizmoSlip posted a clip to YouTube on Friday showing the all-new Samsung Galaxy S4 in a drop test against its predecessor, the Galaxy S III, as well as the Apple iPhone 5. Find out just how much damage each smartphone sustained in the video clip coming up after the break!
VoIP is quickly making the same kind of waves on mobile as it has done over the past decade at desktop level in providing a cheap way for folks to communicate in real time. Calling long distances worldwide has long since been a monopoly, but thanks to services like Skype, we no longer have to pay a huge premium to hear the sound of another's voice from anywhere in the world. Facebook is currently dabbling in this technology, as is clear from the rollout of the VoIP feature within Facebook Messenger for iOS, but if your area has not yet been supported officially yet you wish to unlock and use the calling feature, there's jailbreak tweak for that! Details, as usual, after the jump.
