Apple is largely expected to release a Retina-displaying version of its iPad mini this year, along with an incrementally-improved iPhone dubbed the "iPhone 5S". According to a research note from Ming-chi Kuo of KGI Securities, both have hit delays, and with the iPhone 5S release date initially being touted for announcement in June in preparation for a July release, it now appears as though neither will be hitting the market anytime soon.
The existence of an entry-level iPhone, at least in concept, has been a matter of fierce debate over the past couple of months. It is widely thought Apple could use such a device as bait in a push to increase its presence in developing markets, but with the Cupertino company ever reluctant to sell less-capable devices to meet that low price point, there have been quite a few naysayers. Today, however, the guys over at Japanese blog Macotakara have gotten their hands on a previously-unseen dual-head vibration motor, which, due to its low-end nature, is not the kind of thing you'd expect Apple to be packing into the eventual successor to the iPhone 5.
The ability to record voice calls would seem a basic feature in comparison to the many options we have as smartphone users nowadays, but it's not an avenue Apple has hitherto explored, so once again, it's down to the jailbreak scene to try and help users work around this limitation. Audio Recorder, a new tweak offered at the ModMyi repo, is the very first tweak to allow the recording of voice calls natively, and if you're the kind of person that likes to keep a record of important business correspondence, Audio Recorder will help you keep them safely stored for your records.
The Samsung Galaxy S4 is due to hit the market later on this month, but already, iOS developers have begun the task of offering Apple device users some alternatives to the new, S4-specific features. Earlier on this week we featured DuoCam app which introduces the Dual Shot feature for iPhone, an app which seeks to replicate one of Galaxy S4's most applauded features, and today, an iPhone-made take on the Smart Pause feature has just emerged over at the App Store. With so many different applications making up Sammy's "Smart" range, it's difficult to keep track of them all, but Smart Pause, which automatically pauses media when a user looks away from their device, has somewhat manifested itself on iOS in the form of LookAway Player.
Further to the earlier reports from an analyst that the next-gen iPhone could arrive with as many as three different sizes of display, Japanese blog Macotakara has also waded into the debate, suggesting the so-called "iPhone 5S" may retail in three colorways. Citing a trusted source, the report alludes to a third color joining the current black and white variants, although doesn't offer an insight as to what this color might be.
Spring is here, and the analysts are out in force with all kinds of predictions and estimations pertaining to Apple's upcoming major products. According to a series of previous reports, Apple's one-per-year iPhone release cycle could be finally breached in 2013, with many reckoning the Cupertino company to be readying two separate devices. This sentiment has been echoed today by Topeka Capital's Brian White, who believes the device will retail in "at least" two different screen sizes, in a move said to help counteract the vast range of choice offered by Android-powered handsets.
Cydia creator Jay Freeman, better known as Saurik, is well known for his long, insightful speeches on numerous topics relating to the jailbreak scene, and today, has taken to his official blog to give users a better insight into the limitations of SHSH blobs and APTickets. Backing up these little clusters of information offers significant downgrade potential to iPhone, iPad and iPod touch users, but what has recently become apparent to Saurik, is that they're essentially useless to some of the more recent devices. As well as explaining and clarifying a few matters relating to APTickets and SHSH blobs, he also tries to convey, in layman's terms, why we cannot downgrade to 6.1.2-6.0 from 6.1.3 or later using Cydia’s SHSH blobs and APTickets on older A4 devices.
Ever since an Apple patent lodged back in 2011 was rubber-stamped last month by the USPTO, the world of tech seems to have gotten itself carried away with the idea of a near-future iPhone featuring, among other things, a variant of the curved AMOLED display outlined in the filing. It didn't take long for a leak of a 'prototype' of an iPhone 5S / 6 to leak into the wild amid all the hullabaloo, and today, designers Nickolay Lamm and Matteo Gianni have come through with a rather striking render of how an iPhone with a curved display may eventually look.
Love or hate Apple, it cannot be denied that, when it comes to branding and marketing, the Cupertino is the envy of its peers. With a seemingly unique ability to lure consumers into paying often a great deal more than they would for a similar product in another store, it has been the cost, and not the advertising techniques, which have drawn the most scrutiny. However, a critic of Apple's rather unpredictable device naming system has arrived in an unlikely package, with Ken Segall, former advertising client to Apple and advisor to Steve Jobs, delivered a few home truths to his former employer.
Preparing your smartphone's camera quickly enough to take a decent shot before the 'Kodak moment' has passed, is a predicament many of us find ourselves in on a frequent basis. Apple's solution has been to place a camera slider on the lock screen of the iPhone for quick access, but having found it to be rather slow at times, I, like many, rarely use it. If you also feel as though the camera shortcut could be put to better use, you may be taken in by a tweak called PowerSwipe, which allows you to instead reboot, reboot or power down your device when performing that upward swiping gesture.
