What is it that makes a smartphone smart? Is it the advanced, flexible operating system that grants users the ability to install apps to extend their device’s feature set? Is it a high megapixel camera? A touch display that can differentiate between accidental taps and real ones? An HD display? GPS? Wi-Fi? Support for 4G LTE? It’s features like these that – according to today’s standards, at least – make up a smartphone.
I think it's a pretty safe to assume that many iPhone users have found themselves in a precarious situation of being out and about somewhere miles away from home - or any usable power source - only to answer a phone call or send that all-important text message and watch their phone power down as the battery sinks past that horrible 1% mark. It's a horrible but an oh-so-familiar feeling, and unfortunately one that comes as part and parcel of owning a portable but power hungry device like the iPhone.
The developers of the Dash package obviously have their own opinion about how Apple has chosen to implement multitasking within iOS. The introduction of iOS 4 brought with it the ability to send apps in the background that allows users to quickly invoke them from memory if the need arises, therefore offering a nice new multitasking-type feature to all iOS users. However, as great as the system and idea is, there has been a lot of complaints about the rather mundane way which Apple has chosen to go about adding to the the firmware bundles.
Users’ data and how it’s compromised to malicious sources is improving at a very fast pace today, but the way we set our passwords and log in to services is still very much stuck in the past. The general assumption is still the same: that the complexity of a password (multiple unique symbols, numbers, upper and lower case letters) is proportional to its security. Password guessing algorithms now take these patterns (using ‘@’ instead of ‘a’, randomly capitalizing letters etc.) into consideration and this means we need to change the way we set our passwords, perhaps even add an extra layer of authentication when signing into online services.
Google has released a public statement in which it tackles the recent legal goings on between both Apple, and the largest Android phone maker, Samsung. While both Samsung and Apple were keen to release statements following the court's decision to order the Korean firm to pay over one billion dollars to the iPhone maker. The whole thing revolves around Samsung's use of technology which infringes upon Apple's patents, and with Android beating at the heart of Samsung's smartphones, many wondered what Google would have to say about the matter.
Were you wondering where the Apple vs. Samsung patent battle would turn next? Now you know, with the news that a hardware ban is firmly within the Cupertino firm's sights. Fresh on the heals of winning a tasty victory in the courts on Friday, Apple has today named the eight Samsung smartphones which it hopes those same courts will ban from sale in the United States.
Samsung's IFA gathering in Berlin, Germany, is fast-approaching, and as is usually the case in the run-up to a media event, the rumors and speculation regarding what'll be revealed are arriving thick and fast.
Prior to this year's WWDC keynote, it was widely presumed Apple would add a Retina display to each of its MacBooks, as well as possibly the iMac. Of course, considering history, we should have been wise to Apple's plan; Include the Retina in one model, add a couple of extra perks, and slap an extortionate price tag on it, and see how many consumers can resist until said features are added across the board.
Mac users are happy to accept the changes which Apple make and deem necessary in order to provide us with a great experience when using their hardware and software products. Deep down we don't always agree with them, especially when upgrading from an older version of iOS or OS X, only to find one of your favorite features being removed, but we live it due to our faith and belief that the experts know what they are doing. On the other hand, some people can't live with it. They see it as a company flexing their corporate muscle to force their will upon us.
September is nearly upon us and we are waiting with our fingers crossed in the hope that Apple take it upon themselves to push out some official invitations to their purported September 12th media event to allow us all to rest a bit easier in the knowledge that we will indeed be getting a new gadget in the next few weeks. Until that happens, we will have to console ourselves by flicking back over the numerous part and component leaks which we have seen in the last few months, which also give us a pretty good idea of what to expect from the sixth-generation iPhone.
