With Apple actively working on the sixth-generation iPhone which is likely to see a public release towards the end of this year, users of older generation devices like the iPhone 3GS and even the original iPhone could be forgiven for thinking that the time has come to look for an upgrade or purchasing a more up-to-date unit. The core functionality of the iPhone has remained stable since 2007 but the hardware has greatly improved with each release, with the most notable changes coming in the form of the Retina display with the iPhone 4 and incremental processor and memory upgrades.
Of all the features that arrived when iOS 5 reached the end-user back in October of last year, iMessage has been arguably the most significant, and by now allowing messages to be sent and received in a faster, more secure manner across a variety of platforms, it has to go down as one of the best in the business. Granted, it has its occasional downtime, but it's not bad as is, and with the service also arriving to the Mac with OS X Mountain Lion, it will almost certainly become the sole mode of quick communication to many Apple enthusiasts.
Research In Motion's BlackBerry OS is clearly struggling to maintain relevance in the current consumer market, but with all three of the major mobile operating systems having taken steps to implement some description of voice-recognition functionality, it appears BlackBerry will also be joining the party, too.
With the on-going development of iOS 6, the production of the next generation iPhone and the rumored smaller iPad, as well as the imminent release of OS X Mountain Lion, Apple has been really scrutinized lately be a Russian researcher who found a way to bypass the in-app purchase process in apps available via the official App Store. The bypass procedure, involving an intermediary server and two iPhone certificates undoubtedly caused an internal headache at Apple and prompted almost immediate action.
Considering that the Cydia store is packed to the rafters with tweaks and packages that span across multiple aspects of Apple's mobile operating system, it is always a nice treat to see an offering land in the repositories that offers something slightly different and exists solely to enhance a part of the operating system that has often been overlooked in the past. The CallTap tweak, may not be feature packed but it does offer some useful functions.
When it comes to the world of jailbreaking and the associated tweaks that are housed within Cydia, history has shown us that small and easy to use packages can sometimes be the best and most fun to use and interact with. There are always exceptions to this and there might come an instance when a little depth is required, but the tweaks that offer a quick and fun solution to something generally have a lot of mileage in them.
The 2012 Olympic Games are nearly upon us, and although it's a great festival and celebration of the human form pushed to its physical limits, there's also the small matter of the medals. As all countries involved look forward to what will undoubtedly be a great spectacle, many will be hoping their nation manages to not only do well, but bring some medals home in the process.
Earlier on this week, we learned European carriers were stockpiling nano-SIM cards in anticipation for the launch of the next-generation iPhone. For those who missed the previous report, the nano-SIM removes all needless plastic from the micro-SIM, saving those precious extra millimeters within a mobile device for more important hardware.
The next phase of the continual trials between Samsung and Apple are expected to kick off in the US on July 30th, but as has been the case previously, no-nonsense Judge Lucy Koh ordered both parties to try and resolve their differences by means of a mediation meeting. According to an article previously accessible over at The Korea Times, Apple head honcho Tim Cook met with Samsung execs Choi Gee-sung and Shin Jong-Kyun on July 16th, but no agreement could be reached.
Personally speaking, I have been a user of iOS since the launch of the first iPhone back in 2007 and during that time I have always let Mobile Safari take care of my web browsing requirements. There has always been the temptation of fraternizing with some of the third-party browsers available on the App Store such as Apollo or SkyFire, but it always felt a little like cheating to move away from Apple's own offering.
