The Apple iPhone is no doubt a beautiful example how an almost-perfect design can help make a product great. The first iPhone in 2007 was a triumph for Sir Jonathan Ives and his team, but perhaps one of those most memorable and iconic parts of the iPhone is the slide to unlock feature on the lock screen which has been made famous by Apple. Before the iPhone was released, mobile phones generally featured some kind of two button combo to lock/unlock the device, but Apple managed to change that, and have since featured the same swipe gesture in their iPod touch device as well as the iPad.
With many of us running multiple e-mail and social networking accounts - as well as the bread and butter address book - keeping track of it all can often leave our heads spinning in confusion.
If there's anything that truly antagonizes consumers, it's breaches of privacy, resulting in data being accessed without due consent. In iOS, if a third-party app requires permission to access your location data with the intention of enhancing user experience, you're met with a popup window, and have the option to allow access, or simply block the app from knowing of your whereabouts.
The Apple iOS development scene has gotten to a point where it will always be under the watchful gaze of outsiders looking in. And considering the emergence of mobile technology and software, it is hardly surprising. Mobile tech players play an important role in our everyday lives such that they are bound to come under intense scrutiny. Recent happenings surrounding the beautiful Path application have also made sure that all eyes remain firmly fixed on application security and how developers react to recent media reports.
What would you say if I said to you; forget about sending plain old text messages and get involved in Social Platform Leveraging Animated Texting? I know exactly what you would say, and none of it could be repeated in a public environment but that is exactly what non-suit-wearing developers at Splatt LLC want Android and iOS users to do.
Regardless of whether you love or hate Apple, admire or resent them, or in just plain terms; plain don't care about the company, no-one can deny that they consistently churn out beautiful products. The design ethos isn't all about the product itself though, if you ever take the time to review the packaging that your new iPhone, Apple TV or iPod Shuffle comes in, you'll notice that it is just 'right'. I've lost count of the amount of times I have purchased a product from a different manufacturer only for it to be delivered in a mammoth box which is stuffed with protective bubble wrap, then to find that the product inside is swamped by free and unused space.
In terms of Windows and Mac applications, there are those we like to have, those we cannot live without, and then the bare basics - those paramount to day-to-day performance.
When Apple first launched the iPhone back in 2007, the world marveled at its all-new touch-based interface and the way the stylus had been consigned to the history books. Even before the App Store came along in a year later, the fledgling jailbreak community showed just what was possible with what amounted to a small computer that nestled happily in your pocket.
Late last week, we covered Sara - a jailbreak-only Siri alternative which actually worker rather well. Of course, life experiences will tell us that nothing usually compares to the real thing, but for those not sold by the rather unspectacular iPhone 4S, it does a grand job.
Jailbreaking is something of a cat and mouse battle between those seeking the exploits to create the utilities, and the creator of the devices - Apple.
