Not long ago, there was a rumor that Microsoft was going to announce a feature called SmartGlass for tablets and phones at E3, allowing users to interact with content on the Xbox using their "second-screen" devices. Well, that rumor has panned out to be true; during its E3 keynote, Microsoft did officially announce the service.
As well as concentrating on bringing a host of new services and products to consumers, Microsoft has been placing a lot of emphasis in improving what it already has. The lack of progress of Internet Explorer over the years has seen the likes of Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome become the front runners - despite the fact that 90 per cent of computer users run Windows, and thus have Internet Explorer installed by default.
While the US is usually first in line when it comes to product releases, the release of Samsung smartphones goes spectacularly against the grain. The release of the Google Galaxy Nexus (manufactured by the Korean electronics giant), was delayed by months as stateside tech fans waited on an apparent whim for the landmark release.
When Siri was launched back in October along with iOS 5, many iDevice users - myself included - were a tad bemused that Apple had decided to make its exciting new voice assistant a feature exclusive to the then brand-new iPhone 4S. The Cupertino claims of older devices being unable to facilitate the eloquent (albeit often mishearing) voice-activated sidekick were questioned by many, but with the iPhone 4S frenzy having died down, we all expected March to bring a new iPad inclusive of Siri.
Regardless of whether you are the type of person who fully embraces the social network culture and repeatedly update your status and timelines, or the type of person who totally disagrees with broadcasting your every move while waking through the world, the fact is that Facebook and Twitter are big business and are undoubtedly here to stay. With the public launch of iOS 5 last October, we saw the first steps of a social trend, with Apple integrating Twitter into iOS and allowing system-wide sharing of information directly to the service.
If you happen to be like me and are one of the millions who are walking around with a white iPhone 4S then be prepared to shed some tears as you are no longer the owner of the most popular smartphone on the market, in the UK at least. uSwitch are reporting that after battling past all of the competition, the beautiful white 4S eventually managed to claw its way into the number one position last month only to be toppled by Samsung's Galaxy S III.
With the jailbreak community once again reveling in delight after the release of the latest jailbreak that provides an untethered experience across the board on iOS 5.1.1, the expectant update and release of the iPhone Dev Team's software-based Ultrasn0w unlock has finally come to fruition. For a lot of users, being jailbroken is only half the battle, with the ultimate goal being able to unlock their iPhone for use on all networks.
With the Hack In The Box Security Conference (HITBSecConf) behind us and the developer community looking forward to the announcements which Apple have to make at their Worldwide Developers Conference next week, it seems that the iPhone Dev Team have come to the conclusion that the time is right to give the jailbreak community a little pre-WWDC gift. Historically speaking, MuscleNerd and his compatriots are a team that just keep on giving, with this instance being no different, after taking to Twitter to announce that all of their software packages have been updated with the latest Rocky Racoon jailbreak 5.1.1 untether.
One of the main reasons that a lot of people jailbreak their iOS devices and love the software available is because of the customization options they bring to the table. A native iOS device such as the iPhone, iPod touch or an iPad is a very competent and powerful piece of kit, but the ability to make it unique is always something that will appeal.
With the Chronic Dev Team, in conjunction with other members of The Jailbreak Dream Team, pushing out Absinthe 2.0 at the Hack In The Box Security Conference last week, there is undoubtedly going to be a lot more jailbroken iPads kicking around. Those owners of Apple tablets who couldn't jailbreak due to firmware restrictions have now been set free and are able to roam through the wilderness that is the Cydia store. Cydia already contains a large number of tweaks designed for the iPad, but the TenIconSwitcher for iPad adds to that list.
