It should be common news by now that Apple has taken the decision to have an executive shake-up in Cupertino, with a number of notable faces set to leave the company in 2013. One of the most well-known casualties of the internal restructure is Scott Forstall who has held the role of Senior Vice President of iOS over the last few years. Forstall has been in charge of developing and handling the direction of iOS and has reportedly been shown the door due to his inability to play nice with other executives, as well as the publicly perceived shortcomings in the new Apple mapping system and the Siri digital assistant.
Apple has obviously designed iOS to run perfectly on their iPhone, iPod touch and iPad devices. Google build and engineer Android with smartphones and tablet devices in mind and Microsoft has built Windows 8 to work on an array of different devices, but it's unlikely that Google, Apple or Microsoft envisaged their software running on a DSLR camera when crafting the operating systems.
Facebook have tonight taken the opportunity to push out an update to their universal iPhone, iPod touch and iPad mobile app, taking it to the version 5.1. The world's biggest social network have been on a relatively well-received mobile push recently with significant updates to their iOS and Android apps. This latest update on Apple's iOS platform brings some notable enhancements and serves to make the software a lot more social thanks to more powerful chatting and photo sharing features.
Angry Birds is already preparing to take over the world thanks to its many iterations and multi-platform support, but the upcoming Star Wars version of the game is set to take things to a whole new level.
The Samsung Galaxy S III is currently one of the most successful smartphones available on the market, and one of the prime reasons why Samsung has recently announced record breaking profits. With the Galaxy S III still standing on top of the Android powered community, it should come as good news to United Kingdom based consumers that the 64GB variant in black is now available for pre-order, and that as a SIM free option.
Anyone with even a passing interest in the world of videogames will know all about Grand Theft Auto. It's the game that has caused more than a little controversy over the years, with some even calling for it to be banned thanks to its rather mature content. Thankfully, that's not happened and the fifth release of the game is on its way.
The general interest in photography has increased phenomenally as the cameras of smartphones have improved, yet while the latest high-end handsets can take a mean shot, they're still streets behind your professional DSLRs. Samsung has attempted to bridge the gap between the professional shooters of Nikon and Canon and the point-and-shoot culture our mobile devices are immersed in, by offering up the Samsung Galaxy Camera, and having announced the device some months ago, it looks as though it'll begin retailing in the United Kingdom later this week.
The Lightning dock has been on the market for six weeks now, with the iPad mini and iPad 4 joining the iPhone 5 as the first devices with the new proprietary connector. As is always the case with new Apple gadgets, sites like eBay are awash with thousands of Lightning connector accessories, and while some are more reputable than others, none have yet been released by any of Apple's official accessory partners. Belkin does fall under that umbrella though, and in showcasing a series of accessories for the aforementioned devices, is the first company to officially announce Cupertino-authorized Lightning goods.
With Windows 8 now out and selling in volume, Microsoft has somewhat turned its attentions to other important software implementations. As well as beginning to sell prepaid Skype credit in outlets across Mexico and the United Kingdom, it looks as though Skype will become the Redmond outfit's primary instant messaging service, retiring the long-standing Windows Live Messenger.
Apple has posted the iPad mini User Guide, and if you wish to download it, you can do so by following the link embedded at the end of this post. Whenever a new iOS device hits the market, the user guide always arrives fashionably late, and while the "Fingertips" leaflet provided with said iPhone, iPad or iPod touch gives users a general idea of how to get started with their shiny new device, the User Guide offers more in-depth coverage.
