The remarkable FaceTime video calling service has been one of the most well received additions to the Apple range of services in recent times. FaceTime for iOS was originally introduced at the 2010 World Wide Developers Conference to coincide with the release of the iPhone 4 which had an integrated, front facing camera.
The enthusiastic community which surrounds the jailbreaking scene is thriving, there can be no doubt about that fact. Even though the cat and mouse game with Apple is becoming more and more difficult with every iOS release, the evidence which points to the popularity of jailbreaking is there for all to see.
From a user experience point of view; for the most part, iOS generally tends to keep even the most hardcore mobile device users happy. As an operating system, iOS is purposely built to work seamlessly with the devices as it is installed upon and therefore the theory exists that it provides a much better UX. Obviously, different users have different expectations from their devices, and although iOS is a very feature rich operating system some users still do feel that certain areas are lacking in terms of function.
The pursuit of the untethered iOS 5 jailbreak has been a non stop, full on roller coaster ride which started in November, and looks set to continue for the next week or so at least. The development past has been anything but smooth, and all involved have had to overcome a series of technical hurdles just to get to the position we find ourselves in.
Up until six days ago, it had been an amazing 517 days since legendary hacker, PlanetBeing, had last treated his fans to a Tweet. He broke that silence on the 11th January with the revelation that, with the help of Cydia founder Jay Freeman, he had managed to escape the Apple Sandbox. For those who haven't been following the long running A5 jailbreak saga, PlanetBeing was drafted in by developer Pod2g to be an integral member of the jailbreaking 'Dream Team'.
The battle between Apple and jailbreak development teams has been going on for a number of years now, and with the recent release of an untethered jailbreak for A4 devices, and the impending release of an A5 version, it is unlikely it will end anytime soon. However, I think even the main developers and hackers would admit to being a little naive if they thought that the process wasn't getting a little more difficult with every iOS release.
The public may not remember, but up until 2001 the major high streets around the world were missing one key component - Apple retail stores. It wasn't until May 19th 2001 that the first two Apple retail stores opened in Virginia, changing the way the company did business by showcasing their own products in their own stores for the first time. Prior to the first store opening, Apple relied predominantly on electronics and big box computer stores to give their products a high street presence.
Ever since June 2009, Apple have included the Spotlight search feature on the iPhone, iPod touch and the iPad. The inclusion of the Spotlight search feature in iOS 3.0 and above allows users the ability to quickly search contacts, mail metadata, calendars, media and installed applications amongst other things.
After going through a relatively quiet patch during the latter months of 2011, the last three weeks have been a hive of jailbreaking activity. They say; you can have never have too much information, but there has been so many updates posted to blogs, and various Twitter accounts that in some circumstances it has been difficult to keep up. Let's try and bring some sanity to the situation and see where we are at.
Whilst our iOS devices provide a novel way of playing music through the stereo, the rigmarole of getting up and traipsing towards it to skip those guilty Britney tracks can get pretty darn annoying; after all, we’re far too technologically advanced to be participating in such nonsense.
