Since the introduction of Siri along with the iOS 5, there has been a strong number of Cydia tweaks based around voice dictation. In order to use Apple's system-wide voice dictation technology, you need to be in ownership of an iPhone 4S / iPad 3 or newer, but thankfully, the jailbreak quarters are considerably more accommodating. If you like the idea of text being read out by a voiceover software, you may like the Awake Speech tweak, which allows a custom message to be read out after you disable or snooze your alarm.
iOS devices are great for a variety of purposes, and although gaming, quality of apps and general speed and fluidity of the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch is getting better with every new release, said devices still make pretty solid e-readers. iOS does have its own Reading List feature allowing you to enjoy reading various Web content in a cleaner environment, but if you're a real bookworm, it's likely these features don't stretch far enough. Thankfully, if you do find the native offering a little scant in places, a jailbreak developer by the name of qusic has sought to enhance the experience with his heavily-featured Readr tweak. More details after the break.
When the Kinect SDK first launched, researchers began looking into ways to make the technology more accurate, allowing it to do much more than tracking bodily movements. Although such advancements have yet to manifest in the popular peripheral, Microsoft has today showcased a feature allowing for the fine-tuning of gesture control, allowing the Redmond company's Research team to simulate multitouch gestures on a PC, but over the air.
It has now been a year since the old Android Market was rebranded as the much more all-encompassing Google Play Store, and to commemorate the occasion, the Big G is running a whole week of deals for its users.
The appearance of the iOS home screen has remained very archetypal since the first iPhone was showcased by Steve Jobs back in 2007. The icons sit in rows of four, and even though the iPhone 5 allowed for an extra row courtesy of its larger display, iDevice users could be forgiven for finding the unchanged look somewhat bland. The lack of any real native customization with iOS has seen jailbreak theming thrive, and although Springtomize 2 and Iconoclasm are seen as the go-to utilities when meddling with the home screen icons, the inherently easy-to-use CustomGrid is back for another outing as CustomGrid 2 (iOS 6+).
We've been hearing on and off speculation about Apple's plans to launch a music streaming service, but just when the trail seems to have gone cold on the subject; new reports have emerged suggesting that Tim Cook and Eddy Cue have held relatively recent meetings with Beats Electronics LLC over a potential partnership. As a company, Beats have managed to propel themselves into an industry leading position in their particular field, but it seems to be the recently announced "Project Daisy" music streaming initiative that Apple are taking a keen interest in.
Apple proved themselves onto a winning feature with the introduction of the fabulous Do Not Disturb toggle as part of iOS 6. Some may argue that the functionality took more than a little design inspiration from a Cydia tweak before the announcement of iOS 6, but it's now regarded as an important part of iOS. As always, we look to developers within the jailbreak community to spot little niches where they can enhance Apple's mobile operating system, and there will be plenty who would agree that Flusterless is one of those important time-saving installations.
Whenever a new piece of hardware or updated version of iOS is released from Apple, it always seems to be built around certain decisions from within that cause a little bit of fuss and confusion. The iPhone 4S proved to be one of the fruit company's most successful iPhone models to date, but the decision to include facial detection only for still image capture still proves to be a discussion point. The FaceDetectionVideo4S tweak within Cydia eradicates that issue for those who are still operating the fifth-generation iPhone.
It's not just Apple's iPhone that finds itself the subject of speculation and even the odd concept drawing, you know. These days, Samsung is undoubtedly one of the biggest players in the smartphone world, and as such it is without a doubt one of the few companies that can garner the same kind of attention as Apple when it has a new product in the pipeline.
Considering how integral the iPhone has become in the mobile industry, it's amazing to think the device is scarcely six years old. It was in 2007 that then CEO Steve Jobs wowed audiences at the Moscone West Center with the game-changing handset, and for those with a more vivid memory, you may also recall a moment when Jobs made a prank call to the local Starbucks. Ying Hang "Hannah" Zhang was the Starbucks worker in receipt of Jobs' tomfoolery that day, and having retained her position at the world's most recognizable coffee chain, recently spoke of how die-hard Apple fans still, even today, call up the store and ask for "4,000 lattes to go, please."
