Last year, company by the name of CutYourSim caused a mixture of excitement, confusion, and subsequent disappointment and cynicism when it released a permanent unlock procedure - only for the service to be abruptly halted once Apple caught wind of what was occurring.
Security, or the lack of it, is very much a hot button topic these days, and nowhere more so than in the mobile space. It seems things may be getting worse before they get any better.
Samsung's iMessage, Gtalk and other IM service competitor, ChatON, is already available for Bada, BlackBerry, Android and iOS but now it has gained a new platform - the desktop.
Whenever we talk about jailbreaking an iOS device, we invariably mention the Cydia platform in the same paragraph. Whenever a jailbreak is processed using one of the main development tools, Cydia is a by-product and installed upon the device, allowing users to browse through all of the packages contained within. Even though users generally use Cydia on a daily basis, I would imagine that due to the fact that it contains a very simple to use front end, people would be unaware of the processes which take place behind the scenes.
I have said it before, I am saying it now and no doubt I will say it time and time again, but the most popular tweaks in my personal opinion are the ones that provide either a much needed enhancement to the operating system or an actual real world benefit to users. Aesthetic modifications are all well and good, but tastes change over time and they will no doubt be downloaded, used for a brief time frame and then pushed into obscurity whereas a tweak or modification which provides an actual tangible benefit will stand the test of time.
Over the last few years, jailbreak users have become accustomed to developers coming up with new and interesting tweak ideas, and releasing modifications through Cydia which are extremely complex and often contain a large settings bundle with a number of configurable options. In some instances, this is required and can more often than not, provide users with a lot of options, and important they give the illusion of value for money. But sometimes producing something extremely simple can be of equal benefit to users.
As jailbreaking has become a more widely accepted method of gaining iDevice freedom in the last few years, the Cydia platform has become synonymous with the act. The Cydia name and icon have almost become a visual indication that a device is indeed jailbroken, with all of the jailbreak tools installing Cydia as a matter of course with each fresh jailbreak. While it is extremely likely that this will always be the case, surely a bit of competition is good for community?
Today, during the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Vimeo have pushed out the major update to their iPhone app that they said was coming earlier this year. Finally introducing a proper, native iPad UI, the update also packs improvements to the iPhone UI, on top of an array of other enhancements.
It is that time of year again when the crème de la crème of Hollywood come out in force for Oscar Sunday to compete against each other for award based glory. Oscar Sunday is undoubtedly the largest night of the Hollywood Calendar where actors, actresses, producers and directors alike turn out in their over priced outfits to see who will win the accolades.
Software development is like any other profession in which sometimes a piece of work can be completed and distributed that you are entirely happy with, but as time progresses and feedback from users comes in, it becomes apparent that you could have done things a bit better or made improvements to certain aspects of your product. It is that constant striving for improvement and enhanced usability that generally sets good developers apart from the great ones.
