I imagined that when Apple first started developing the Siri software to be distributed with the iPhone 4S handset, they would have hoped that the intelligent voice assistant would be taken to the hearts of users and quickly become an integral part of their mobile lives. After all, this isn't just some bonus feature or application which offers a small amount of entertainment before being discarded in the never-to-be-used-again pile. Siri is deeply integrated into the operating system, meaning that going forward; we are likely to see enhanced abilities as well as inclusion on all new devices brining Siri to a much wider audience.
With the App Store being launched in 2008, I am not so sure that anyone would have predicted the insane levels of success that it would enjoy during its infancy. We have to remember that Apple’s application market is not even four years old and already has close to 600,000 applications on it with over 100,000 registered developers regularly adding to that total. We are pretty sure that Apple would have taken great pride in announcing to the world that they were approaching the 25 billionth download on the App Store, offering a $10,000 iTunes gift card to the person who manages to download that app.
We have recently seen quite a lot of excitement being created over the release of Google Chrome in beta for Android smartphones, with users experiencing genuine delight at the thought of being able to use one of the world’s most popular browsers on their mobile device. Owners of the Apple iPhone haven't been lucky enough to get a feature packed browser like Chrome, but for the most part, Mobile Safari does an excellent job of offering a very rich browsing experience which keeps users relatively happy.
Although an iOS device can be easily secured by means of a passcode, the continual inputting of your secret combination can quickly become repetitive - to the point where you may feel locking your device isn't so important after all.
In the last ten years, Apple have pulled themselves from the brink of obscurity into being worth an estimated half a trillion dollars. They have revolutionized the digital download industry spanning across music and video. They have released one of the most important consumer electronics devices of all time in the iPad which is changing the way we use think of technology and helping to reshape educational institutes.
Privacy - particularly in this most digital of times - is a massive deal. You don't have to look a great deal further than the commotion surrounding Google's big privacy policy amendment today to realize that consumers care a great deal about privacy, and will kick and scream to the high hills if said privacy is threatened in any way.
E-reading has become a hugely popular pastime over the last few years - largely attributable to the release of devices such as Amazon's Kindle and Apple's iPad tablet.
The majority of iOS device owners who choose to go down the root of jailbreaking, do so because of the functionality enhancements that it can provide. By installing Cydia as a byproduct of the jailbreak process, users are presented with a near endless supply of tweaks and modifications which can dramatically improve the already excellent user experience of an iPhone or iPad. One such tweak that can provide this enhanced experience is the one that we are pretty sure most community members have heard of, comes from developer Grant Paul (chpwn)and goes by the name of 'Zephyr'.
Security, or the lack of it, is very much a hot button topic these days, and nowhere more so than in the mobile space. It seems things may be getting worse before they get any better.
A potential new privacy loophole has been discovered in the way iOS handles the Camera Roll and how apps are granted permission to interact with it. Unsurprisingly, the pitchforks are out all over again.
