When Apple first launched the iPhone, it was a device which immediately raised the bar in the mobile device world. The industry had seen scores of smartphones released well before the iPhone ever made it to market, but the original Apple iPhone brought a perfect fusion of form and function to the marketplace and was launched at the right time when consumers were crying out for a little bit of individuality. That was obviously coming up to five years ago, and although the overall standard of device released by manufacturers have increased thanks to that launch, the iPhone is still considered to be setting the standard.
For those among us that are hardcore fans of not only Apple products, but also the software and mobile applications that they make, I am pretty sure you paid close attention to the announcements made during the recent media event in San Francisco. The public and media focus centered predominately around the fact that Apple were launching a new and improved Apple TV as well as the all new iPad, both of which are set for public release a week from today.
Ever since smartphones began earning their stripes as very adept and convenient Wi-Fi hotspots, companies and carriers have been looking for ways to halt the trend - or at the very least, charge more.
When Apple launched the iPhone 4S in October of 2011, one of the most talked about and probably its headline feature was the inclusion of the Siri intelligent assistant software which attempted to make life easier by being able to accomplish tasks given to it through a simple voice command. When invoked by the user, Siri is ready and able to take spoken orders which can range from setting meetings up in the calendar, checking the location of friends and family or even pulling up a weather forecast for most locations in the world.
The Apple and gadget loving world is going crazy about the new iPad, set to launch in seven days time around the world, but while it is great that we are going to have a beautiful, Retina ready iPad to play with, we need to spare some time to think about the iOS software that powers Apple's amazing devices. A relatively small part of the Apple media event in San Francisco was dedicated to the news that the company were set to release the latest 5.1 update to iOS. Tim Cook spent a few minutes discussing some small additions and paid most attention to the fact that it would being Siri to the Japanese market, but straight after the event device owners all over the world started seeing iOS 5.1 as an available update.
Whether you have been experiencing battery woes, or you are just pining for an untethered jailbreak, there are a variety of reason as to why you may wish to downgrade your device from iOS 5.1 back to iOS 5.0.1 or 4.x.
Although the talk of new iPad and updated Apple TV will undoubtedly dominate the headlines concerning Apple's media event in Yerba Buena, that doesn't necessarily downplay the rather significant software releases bundled into proceedings.
Tim Cook and his Apple team took to the stage in San Francisco as expected to announce the launch of the new iPad, throwing in a new Apple TV set top box for good measure. The announcement pretty much came as everyone had predicted, with no specifications or inclusions to blind side us. But while there has been plenty of talk about what hardware the company would introduce, little time was spent wondering about the software side of things and what the upgraded device would mean for the applications that we all know and love.
For those iPhone owners are who big fans of Siri, you will no doubt be interested in all of the extensions and additional functionality that developers are releasing into the Cydia store for Siri lovers who also enjoy the benefits of being jailbroken. The Siri modifications, like most tweaks, some to be broken down into two distinct categories - those that provide an actual tangible enhancement, and those that are designed and released purely for entertainment purposes.
It's always interesting to see how our console favorites fare when ported through to mobile devices - particularly those which have been around for years.
