iOS 7 Find My iPhone Security Loophole

The latest iOS software for the iPhone, iOS 7, has many positive and negative new features. For those that aren't keen on pastel colours and transparent affects then iOS 7 is not you. Of greater importance though is a potential security flaw with Control Centre. Control Center is a new feature which lets you control a variety of system settings.

When using Control Centre from the lock screen you can activate Airplane mode - this prevent's Find My iPhone working if your device has been stolen.

However this device is still not usable to criminals due to iOS 7's Activation Lock:

With Activation Lock, your Apple ID and password will be required before anyone can:

• Turn off Find My iPhone on your device
• Erase your device
• Reactivate and use your device

To avoid this is turn off Control Center for the Lock Screen from the Settings app on the iOS device.

Apple have released iOS 7.0.2 to patch a security flaw where users could gain some access to the iPhone through the Control Centre.

iOS 7 Released 18/9/13

Today Apple have released the latest version of their mobile devices operating system, iOS 7. It is available for millions of iOS devices through the 'Software Update' page on the General section of the Settings app.

iOS 7 is completely redesigned from iOS 6, which had previously followed the UI look from each previous version of the mobile operating system. iOS 7 takes a new approach of simplicity, layering and a new colour palette. All of the Apple apps, Camera, Messages etc. are also completely redesigned.

The new design minimises intrusion and hopes to give the user the information they exactly when and where they need it. For example FaceTime is full screen, as the conversation you are having is the focus of your attention.

The redesigned Photos app looks really good. It automatically groups your photos in 'moments' based on the time and location that the photos were taken. Other changes include the Control Centre which you can pull up from the bottom of the page to turn things like bluetooth and wi-fi  on and off. Also included in Control Centre is brightness controls, music controls and a torch (flashlight).

For more information see Apple's webpages: http://www.apple.com/uk/ios/

Updated YouTube app icon on iOS

The YouTube iOS app icon has been featured on +Web Warp Blog before: YouTube and iOS6 - September 2012, it was praised for changing from an old fashioned television (not very YouTube) to a much more sensible 'YouTube' branding which everyone who has used the website will recognise:

So why is it changing to this??

The app update inlcudes: Watch a video while searching for the next one, just like picture-in-picture and Search for playlists and use the “play all” button for endless entertainment. What are your thoughts on this app icon change?

Audi R8 V10 Advert

This has got to be one the best car adverts ever. Thanks Audi for uploading it to +YouTube!

Siri in your car

Apple's Siri comes to selected new cars. Once the iPhone is paired the car entertainment system can be used to interact with Siri to listen to text messages and make basic enquiries.

Google Doodle Celebrates Schrödinger's Birthday

Today's Google doodle celebrates Erwin Schrödinger's 126th Birthday. Erwin Schrödinger is most famous for his though experiment Schrödinger's Cat which explores quantum theory superposition. The cat in the box with a vile of poison which will at some point break represents a sub-atomic particle whose properties cannot be accurately predicted, only observed through measurement. The cat cannot be assumed to be alive or dead, as it may be either, so the cat is assumed to be alive and dead. Only when the box is opened is the cats fate revealed.

Now TV Box

Now TV is a premium online video on demand service powered by Sky. As it's powered by Sky the available content will be very familiar to Sky TV's Sky Movies and Sky Sports customers. The sport packages give you access to Sky Sports with flexible pay-as-you-go packages such as a £9.99 day pass. Sky Movies is also available on monthly subscriptions.

You can get Now TV on mobile devices (iOS and Android), online through the Now TV website. To get Now TV on your TV you could use a PS3 or Xbox 360 and now the new Now TV Box.

The Now TV Box is remarkably small, less than 9cm wide. This form factor is very similar to the Apple TV. It's also very cheap, only £9.99 to purchase, including postage and packaging. The device includes access to a small range of other services including BBC iPlayer, Spotify and Demand 5.

Disappointingly for a new device, a likely a result of the low cost of the box the HDMI output is limited to 720p resolution.

For more details check out Now TV's webiste: https://shop.nowtv.com/ 

#vLondon - Chris Pirillo London Meetup

So it's a typical British summer day (bright but showery) when non other than YouTube personality/Tech website creator/all round geek +Chris Pirillo decides to meet some UK fans - outside. Of course it was raining! He had flown over to the UK as a social reporter aboard British Airways UnGrounded flight from San Francisco to London Heathrow.

This gave Chris an opportunity to meet local fans in the UK and to provide fans an opportunity to meet each other. The Facebook event had over 100 attendees who said they were going, on the ground the figure of 75 was banded around a fair amount. Not bad for a vlogger/geek/tech meet up in Hyde Park with less than 48 hours notice.

The event was impromptu and unscripted, it harnessed the power of community on social media websites. Drawing together like minded individuals who may never have found each others online content, and almost certainly would never have met.

There was a lot of filming! This has created a collection of YouTube videos which show the event from almost every angle. It's a fascinating way to witness the event, even having been there in real life. Recently there was talk of crowd sourcing video at music gigs (on BBC Click). I can really see this working as it is very immersive.

Check out my video of the meet up below and be sure to check our the various other videos of the event, each with their own perspective.

OS X Mavericks Wallpaper

Apple's next desktop OS will be version 10.9, called OS X Mavericks, as announced at the recent developer conference WWDC2013. The OS will feature huge improvements on optimisation of both performance and power consumption, particularly useful for MacBook's. Other features include Maps and iBooks on your Mac, which sync with your iOS device, naturally. Improvements to other apps/workflows such as Finder and Calendar. Support for multiple displays is also improved.

If you can't wait to get your hands on the version of OS X you can at least get the default wallpaper which is below. OS X Mavericks also breaks the naming convention of recent years where Apple named Mac OS X after big cats (Cheetah, Puma, Jaguar, Panther, Tiger, Leopard, Snow Leopard, Lion and Mountain Lion).

Download the full resolution image here.

PS4 vs Xbox One - Game Sharing

Both Sony and Microsoft announced more details about their future consoles at this weeks E3 expo. One aspect which has got people talking is the different approaches that Microsoft and Sony have taken to used games.

With the PS4 title's on disc can be passed to another person, and played on their PS4, as shown in the Sony instructional video below! This video mocks Microsoft's proposed DRM (digital rights management) system which is thought to inhibit sharing of titles, even those purchased on disc...

The Xbox One may allow you to share the game with up to ten family members, reports n4g.com. But details are unclear to say the least. The DRM restrictions on the Xbox One include having to connect your Xbox One to the internet so it can communicate with the Xbox Live servers at least once every 24 hours, otherwise your games will not play! Historically there have been instances where Xbox Live has been down for days.

There are some Xbox 360 games, including Codemasters F1 2012, which separate the multiplayer license from the disc, meaning if the disc is leant or sold that the new owner has to download a licence from Xbox Live in order to play the online multiplayer feature. I'm not a fan of this policy (who would be?) and am not thrilled that Xbox One will be even more restricted.

Does the Xbox One DRM concern you? Will it sway you towards the cheaper and less restricted PS4? And since the Xbox One is not backwards compatible with Xbox 360 then Xbox 360 customers may be tempted to switch to PS4? Feel free to discuss in the comments section below!

iOS7 - First Look

Apple's WWDC2013 conference keynote did not disappoint. One of the announcements, and probably the one which will affect the most number of Apple's customers is iOS 7. Apple's mobile operating system has a brand new UI which looks great. It will be available on the iPhone 4, 4S and 5; the iPad 2, 3, 4 and Mini; iPod Touch 5th Gen.

Some of the new features such as the new music app look really good, but this post is just a quick first look of the new UI. From Apple's page: www.apple.com.

The new look is as per the rumours in some ways, simple colour palette, radical change from iOS 6. But in other ways it is just incredible. The apps apear to 'float' on a pane above the wallpaper. By tilting your device you can see 'behind' the app icons! There is a huge amount of translucency and the app icons look fantastic. Let us know what you think in the comments section below.

Microsoft Wireless Mobile Mouse 3500 - Unboxing

Join me live on YouTube as I unbox the Wireless Mobile Mouse 3500, and give you my first impressions.

The mouse features BlueTrack technology so it glows blue from the bottom rather the familiar red. It combines optical and laser technologies. Its a great little mouse, a perfect companion for your laptop.

More information from Microsoft: Click Here

WWDC2013

Apple's World Wide Developer Conference 2013 (WWDC2013 for short) kicks off in a weeks time on June 10th in San Francisco. The 5 day conferences promises to showcase to developers the direction that Apple is taking it's world class operating systems iOS and OS X.

The Apple fan base eagerly await new of features which will need to compete with the recent updates to Google Android operating system and the latest Samsung hardware such as the Galaxy S4 and the Galaxy S4 Mini (due in July).

Many predictions include a larger screen size for mobile devices. This may be more difficult to achieve with backwards compatibility unless it's equally scaled in both directions. Apple where keen to stress on the creation of the iPhone 5 that the iPhone was the perfect width for the human hand. Based on this I would not expect a huge size increase unless they run two models at different sizes. This is a habit they have previously made with the iPod and more recently with the iPad and the iPad Mini. Much like Samsung they would then cater for more screen sizes to suit individual consumers.

The conference may even hint at new hardware releases such as a much awaited retina display iPad Mini or 3G/4G connected MacBook Air. For OS X I predict there will be even further integration with Apple's iCloud and a more 'iOS' approach to desktop computing. This has been a theme for the past couple of years.

iTunes Match may be revamped to include a streaming service to compete with Google Play All Acess, Spotify, Rdio, Bloom and Last.fm. Many rumour mills refere to this Apple services as 'iRadio' which would certainly fit nicely along side iTunes, iCould and their iDevices.

The buzz around the event is already building. See the latest tweets #WWDC2013 below!

Tweets about "#WWDC2013"

Feel free to post your predictions to comments section below.

New iPod Touch

Apple have quietly switched their 16 GB iPod touch model from the iPod Touch 4th Generation to a new cut down version of the 5th Generation variant. This change has already taken affect on the US and UK Apple Store's online and will filter into retail outlets from tomorrow. This makes the iPod Touch range far more consistent as the entire range now has the iPhone 5 spec 4 inch retina display and the A5 processing chip.

The previous version, the 4th Generation also came in a 32 GB option. This has been dropped. The new 16 GB iPod Touch costs £199 in the UK, which is the same price as the outgoing 4th Gen iPod Touch with twice as much storage at 32 GB. The new version is also only available one colour - a black facia with silver back. Previously the iPod Touch was very similar to the iPhone with white and black options or though they had a mirrored back as per previous versions too.

A comparison of the now discontinued iPod Touch 4th Generation and the current iPod Touch range, featuring the new 16 GB model, is shown below.

This is an interestingly timed change as we are only weeks away from Apple's WWDC 2013 conference. This shows a firm commitment to the 4 inch retina display with 6 rows of apps as all of the current iPod Touch's have now moved away from the 3.5 inch retina display which is still available on the iPhone 4 and the 4S which are both current models for sale in addition to the iPhone 5.

Gmail's New Inbox

Google recognise that these days peoples Gmail inboxes are bombarded with loads of emails. They created Priority Inbox in 2010 (info here) but now it's time for another inbox revolution. This time they are calling it Gmails 'new inbox'.

The basic principle is a set of customisable tabs for managing emails which are Updates, Offers, Social or, and most importantly, Primary. The emails are filtered automatically. Here's an image of the new layout from Gmail's blogger page.

Here's a description of the new feature on Google's website: click here.  And below is a promo video for the service. Gmail users should get this automatically added to their account in the coming weeks however from Gmail's blogger page:

If you'd like to try out the new inbox on Desktop sooner, keep an eye on the gear menu and select Configure inbox when it appears in the Settings options.

Copy enters the online storage fray

So what do you look for in an online storage solution? If the answer is an unlimited referral scheme then 'Copy' is a new service which you will love. It's a direct competitor of Dropbox, and their service is very familiar to Dropbox users. Just like Dropbox you can access your data via mobile apps and securely share specific files or folders with other users.

Unlike Dropbox the referral scheme gives you 5 GB instead of 500 MB and it isn't caped to 32 GB but is unlimited. At time of writing +Chris Pirillo has 3.5 TB from collecting a load of 5 GB referral bonuses!

Get a Copy account today with a bonus of 5 GB: https://copy.com?r=0zuL03

Or try Dropbox and get a bonus of 500 MB: http://db.tt/iTCsG6x

Should Dropbox, Box.net or Mega be worried about losing market share to Copy? Maybe it's best not to worry and just to take full advantage of Copy's generous offer!

The New Google+

Google's developer conference started today and with it came a raft of updates from Google about various products and services which they offer. Google+ has received a complete redesign, with a slick, stylish and more intelligent website. You can see how great the site looks for yourself by clicking here, as it's up and running already. The pages themselves, such as Web Warp Blog's page are surprisingly similar in layout to Facebook pages.

The new page and in built intelligence is demonstrated in this Google promotional video:



What do you think of the new Google+? Feel free to comment below using our new Google+ powered commenting system!

Boeing 787 Dreamliner

The 787 Dreamliner, Boeings latest passenger jet, has suffered from technical difficulties which have lead to delays. Boeing has moved past these problems now and are increasing the speed of their production, reports the Los Angeles Times. This is exciting news as the 787 is one of two planes (the other being the Airbus A380) which are set to increase luxury and space on long haul flights.

The plane was demonstrated at Farnborough Air Show last year, and pushed to the extreme! This YouTube video below shows you how the 787 will not be flown with passengers on board!

iSocial Network

Could Apple be looking to create a social network? Apple created computers for people. Then they created portable music devices which became iconic with digital music. They added a set of touch screen devices which would of seemed science fiction only a decade ago.

Apple contribute to a huge amount of our technological lives. Even 'non-Apple' users enjoy the latest movie trailers which are often distributed by Apple using Quicktime and many Windows users organise their music with iTunes. But where next for this technological giant. A sceptic will say that the bubble will eventually burst and Apple's fortune will change. It's speculated that their glory days are over following the death of Steve Jobs and the increasing strength of the competition in the mobile device markets. But more optimistic folk may point out that Apple never stay still and that new products and services will come online to fuel the frenzy associated with Apple fan boys.

They already have numerous services wrapped up under the iCloud brand. These include email, calendar, notes, to do lists etc. This is similar to Google who have a primary focus on web services and of course launched Google+ as a (second) attempt to compete with social networking sites such as Facebook. Their previous service, Buzz, was far from successful. So would Apple try to create a social network to compete with Facebook and Google+?

With Shared Photostreams they have created the ability to share photo content with other iPhone/iPad users. This is similar to a social network as you can comment on, or like, photos (sound familiar). But this feature is limited on the computer and doesn't include a 'profile page' etc. that would expect from a social network. The iMessage service is Apple device specific messaging but again this performs one of the tasks required of a social network and simply replaces SMS messages for iPhone users messaging each other.

Their iOS operating system for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch and OS X Mountain Lion for their computers integrate with Facebook and Twitter already. And Apple have tried before to create a social network - Ping - was a music orientated network built within iTunes to help users share music. But this already happend on existing social networking sites, and users often had concerns over their privacy. Who want's to publish online every track they buy from iTunes. No one used to stand over your shoulder when you picked up a CD in HMV or Woolworths!

Based on Apple's previous trend to keep services limited to it's own hardware (iTunes being a notable exception) it is hard to believe that a social network would build any momentum in this cross platform world where Facebook lets you communicate over any device to anyone else using different platform. Would Apple end up competing with device specific services like BBM? Not a great move for the future.

Bottom line is no one needs or wants another social network, especially one that would not be cross-platform or webpage based. And it would not help Apple sell hardware. What Apple could do is integrate more of the existing social networks, such as Google+, into it's iOS and OS X operating systems to make their products more flexible (like Android devices, which can share content to millions* of services)

*millions is probably an exaggeration.

Google Glass Explorers

So project Google Glass has finally reached the lucky few 'Explorers'. Engadget demonstrate here a point if view video of playing fetch with the dogs. It's certainly a different perspective to the typical hand shaking smart phone video approach, and it's quite engaging too. It also leaves the filmers hands free whilst filming which is why he can stroke the dogs and play fetch. The general consensus though was that Glass had a little to offer around the home when computers, tablets and smartphones are all vying for your attention whenever you receive an email of a Google+ notification already. Here is the article on Engaget: http://www.engadget.com/2013/04/26/living-with-google-glass-day-two/

What are your thoughts on Google Glass? Is it (and products like it) the future of personal computing? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

Google Maps Treasure Hunt for April Fools

Google have a great history of April Fools jokes and this years is a treasure hunt for Google Maps. You can browse around their 2D treasure maps and then pop into 'street view' to see the world through a periscope. Look out for pirates, treasure and landmarks such as the sunken Titanic.


View Larger Map

Feedly

So Google Reader is ending on July 1st 2013 (Google Reader blog). Google are hoping to focus more on their headline products. Is this a reflection that RSS are becoming less popular?

So what are you going to do with all your favourite RSS feeds?

Feedly has taken full advantage of this situation by allowing you to copy over your feeds from Google Reader directly into Feedly through your Google account. This is extremely smooth and painless and the look and feel of the site is very similar to Google Reader. A little more emphasis is put articles images than Google Reader which was more clinical. Feedly is free (for now) and there is a Chrome add-in and Android and iOS apps too.

Hope that helps :-)

Stop the Cyborgs!

Update 2021: Stop the Cyborgs website is no longer running

A new campaign group has been set up to "stop the cyborgs" in response to the Google Glass project. For those of you are aren't aware of the Google Glass project here is a quick summary: Glass is basically a futuristic product from Google which puts Google services such as Maps and Google+ along side photography and video capture into a heads up display within a pair of glasses. They feature voice recognition as the user interace so you can ask glass to take a picture, post a status to Google+ or even to video call with someone right from your glasses. This takes mobile technology to the next level. To find out more about Google Glass click here.

So now you have seen Google Glass are you sceptical? Are you fearful of Glass wearers taking video of you in public spaces? If you are then Stop the Cyborgs is a website fot you. It's going to be a huge debate over the potential invasion of privacy when Glass (and similar future products, one assumes) allow wears to record/stream to the internet live video from their perspective. If you are concerned Stop the Cyborgs even offer signage which you can print off to declare your shop/business/cafe etc. a Google Glass free zone.


This may be a case of closing the stable door after the horse has bolted for privacy campaigners though. Mobile technology has moved at such a fast pace in smart phones that many of the potential privacy invasions already exist. A huge proportion of the population now carry smart phones which are capable of almost all of the features of Google Glass, although if you someone is filming with a smartphone it would be more obvious.

Smart phones are also personally identifiable to the manufacturers and include location data by default. Social media such as Facebook and Twitter are constantly allowing your location to be published and some services, such as foursquare, are completely location dependant.  

One of the key concerns on the Stop the Cyborgs website is facial recognition software, but Facebook already does this for pictures that people upload already, although this did cause a stir amongst pro-privacy groups.

As we see the future from todays perspective the technology around may well reduce our privacy but provide will improve our access to information from the internet. The information available will be increasing personalised, local and relevant. Tecnology such as the Nike Fuelband to track your level of exercise and Google Glass to help you get around with directions will be complemented by internet connected cars which take services like Tom Tom's traffic live service and integrate it into your car's dashboard. Smart cars will be able to direct you to a free car parking space in a car park and help you find your destination quickly and easily.

The question is, should Google Glass really be subject to such a negative campaign? Wearable/integrated technology is a progression from smart phones which is not going to be easy to prevent. Comments are welcome below.

Facebook Messenger's Free Call arrives in the UK

The Facebook Messenger app as been a curious addition to the Facebook mobile apps lineup. It's only advantage over the messages section of the Facebook app itself was the loading time. It appeared as though Facebook were trying to 'replace' text messaging with their Messenger app. This was until January when in America and Canada users were able to use the Messenger app to make voice calls to contacts over their data contract or Wi-Fi connection.

This feature now comes to the UK, but without too much of a fanfare as it's more of a beta test and will be rolled out properly once bugs are squashed. To try out the feature for yourself in the UK you'll need the iOS version of the Facebook Messenger app. Then just swipe right to reveal a list of your contacts. Tap a contact for their information and the new 'Free Call' button will be there. If it's got a green phone symbol, you are good to go! If they don't answer you can even leave a voice message.

Skype and Windows Messenger

Microsoft's aquisition of Skype in October 2011 meant that Microsoft have been running two services along side each other which largely do the same thing: Skype and Messenger. Looking forward to April 2013 they will be merging these services into one brand, Skype. Skype have become a household name for video calling over the internet in much the same way that people refer to vacuum cleaners as a Hoover.

This was achieved by offering free video calling through an easy to use app which is available on  multiple platforms. A Mac user can call a Windows user and then the Windows user can phone another friend who's out and about with their smartphone.

Microsoft are encouraging you to merge your contacts into one Skype service. They are emailing customers with the following:

Starting April 8th, we will begin upgrading customers from Messenger to Skype. The process will take a few weeks to complete. April 8th is the first day you may be required to upgrade. This is a bit later than the March 15th date we previously mentioned to some of you as we wanted to give you more time to make the transition.

Having tried out the merging process I can report that it was surprisingly easy. Just download the latest version of Skype for your operating system. Log in using your Microsoft (MSN) account. Choose 'I already have a Skype account' and sign in with that account. Click 'Merge Accounts' and you are done.

All of your existing Messenger contacts are in a separate list and you can instant message them from within Skype itself. By linking your Facebook account too you can use Skype to contact Facebook friends using Facebook Messenger. Facebook is also cross-platform so they can be in a web browser on the Facebook website or using the various Facebook Messenger apps for iPhone, Android etc.

With the new version of Skype comes a slightly darker shade of blue for the logo which is simplified to reduce the 3D effect which it previously had. The simple bold logo fits more with Microsofts branding in Windows 8 and it's services such as Outlook.com.

Meteorite explodes over Russia

It was yesterday morning (UK time) whilst people were planning to look to the skies to see meteor DA14 pass only 17,200 miles from the Earth (which happened later that evening) that over 1000 people in Russia received minor injuries in a dramatic meteorite explosion. The meteorite exploded over the Chelyabinsk region causing an air shockwave which smashed windows. As yet reports are only of minor injuries.

It is common practice for vehicles in Russia to record video of their journey, presumably to assist in appointing the blame following any incidents with other road users. These cameras have proven to be an extremely valuable resource for recording the meteorite. Russia Today have put together the below compilation of some of the best footage from across the region.



So why weren't we warned on the potential impact of this meteor, when we know exactly when DA14 was due to pass close to the Earth? It's a scale issue. The Russian meteor was only around 15 metres across and weighed approximately 7000 tonnes. DA14 for comparison 45 metres across.

Astronomers are tracking hundreds of Near Earth Objects (NEO's), and the number grows each year with new teams and new technologies. The fact is that they concentrate on larger NEO's first in the hope that if we know it's coming we can launch an Armageddon or Deep Impact style rescue mission to save the planet.

Smaller meteorites like this cause 'airbursts' but we shouldn't worry about them too much, as damage is usually limited and more often than not they would hit un populated areas, unlike the typical disaster film scenarios!

Free Online Storage

So there are load of Cloud Storage Options out there and in this series of blogposts, tagged Cloud Storage, we are exploring the market. Today we are going to focus on free services. How much bang can you get absolutely no buck?

So here's a summary of the free services available. As you can see 5 GB seems to be the typical free limit. Many of the services have maximum file size limits, although this is typically the same as the service capacity. Dropbox allows you to increase to 8 GB for free by earning 250 MB each time you share their service with your friends. You even get 250 MB extra space free by finishing their tutorial.



The best feature of any of these online storage products is that you can store files securely and access them through a web browser. You never need to worry about losing a USB stick again.

Mega.co.nz

Online storage sites are about to be joined by a new player: mega.co.nz. Created by Mega Upload's founder Kim Dotcom (yes that is his real name) the new service offers a huge 50 GB of free space. Kim's previous website Mega Upload was seized by the FBI and closed by the US Department of Justice in January 2012. Mega Upload made money from advertising webpages where it's users shared copyrighted material such as Hollywood blockbusters and chart-topping music.

The new site, Mega, promises to focus of privacy of it's users. Mega encrypts 'on the fly' your uploaded files and Mega has no way to access them. This is a 'turn a blind eye' approach as they still allow users to share links to access these files. These links operate a similar way to the traditional online storage sites, however they include the encryption so that on download the user receives the original file unencrypted.

The question is will users turn to Mega to share copyrighted material in the same way that they did with Mega Upload, or will Mega become a haven for businesses looking to store data on an encrypted service which focuses on the privacy of their users. BlackBerry certainly gained a huge market share as mobile emails took off by focusing on the securing the emails (and BBM) of business executives.

Cloud Storage Options

There are a lot of companies out there ready to sell (and give away!) space in the cloud to store and backup your documents, photos and music. But the costs, features and limitations vary between companies. If you are looking for a clear cut comparison of cloud services available today, you have come to the right place!

The criteria I have focused on in this blogpost is cost vs storage space. Some of these services do have other features which can be useful though. Microsoft's Skydrive has an Xbox app for example, and most of these services can be accessed from your smartphone.

Looking at services which cost up to £100 a year, be it a monthly or annual charge, you get a big variation in storage space. For example for a 100 GB account with Dropbox (£74.40) you are paying twice the cost that Google Drive charges (£37.20).



Prices correct as of January 2013, and are likely to keep changes as these companies compete with one another for your custom.

Update to Apple TV

Apple TV's 2nd & 3rd Generation have been updated to software version 5.2. To get the update just turn on your Apple TV and wait for the auto prompt to update, or manually check for updates in the settings page. The new update keeps the general look and feel of Apple TV but it seems snapper to switch to different apps.

Click image to see Apple TV on Amazon

There are some new features though, and one is particularly surprising! Just like when an update unlocked the ability for an iPod Touch to connect over bluetooth, the Apple TV's bluetooth has now been activated! You can connect an Apple Wireless Keyboard (connects via bluetooth) to control your Apple TV. It can be used to navigate the menus's and is particularly helpful when searching for content with text entry. Perhaps a future update will include email or Safari for web browsing?

Other new features include iTunes in the Cloud. This lets you listen to your iTunes purchases streamed direct from iTunes over the internet. This can be done with your whole library already if you subscribe to iTunes Match.

The Up Next feature brings Apple TV inline with iTunes 11 which allows you to build a playlist on the fly by adding tracks to 'Up Next'. iTunes 11 is available on Mac and PC.


For guidance on how to connect your Apple Wireless Keyboard to your Apple TV just click here for the Apple support page.

128GB iPad

Apple have announced that their iPad with Retina display (what we call the iPad 4th Generation) will be available with even more storage capacity from 5th February 2013. The new size is 128GB, as you probably guessed from the title of this blogpost! There was no fanfare or an Apple special event to break the news, just a simple press statement, but then the product remains the same. The new size is available in both Wi-Fi only and Wi-Fi+Cellular options. The costs in the USA are $799 for the Wi-Fi only and $929 for the cellular option.

A whopping 128GB flash drive takes the iPad with Retina Display into new territories. This doubling of storage capacity from 64GB to 128GB, and coupling an iPad with Retina Display with the Apple Wireless Keyboard brings it into competition with a MacBook Air, which is $999, to use US dollars for a direct comparison. And the $999 MacBook Air is only equipped with 64 GB flash storage!

Both the MacBook Air and the iPad + a wireless keyboard give you the option to quickly and accurately type emails, documents etc. for work. But the iPad has a lot more to offer for play. The multi-touch interface works brilliantly with games and creative apps, and also for showing off your photos. It's a tough choice to make if you have $1000 to spend on Apple products!

More and more complex applications are being released for the iPad too. Companies such as Autodesk and WaveMachines Labs take the iPad format very seriously with their AutoCAD WS and Auria apps respectively. Both companies are quoted in Apple's press release of acknowledging that their customers will benefit from a larger storage option on new devices.

Is this enough storage to tempt buyers away from tablets with expandable memory? Can you foresee ever using up 128GB, thats a fair few apps, photos and films. But the with the 4G LTE high speed it is quick to download a large file, so it's probably very useful. Let us know in the comments below what you think of the this addition to the iPad product line up.

App of the Day - App Gratis

App Gratis gives you access to one free app for iOS devices each day. These include paid apps such as WhatsApp and Cut the Rope, but each app is only free for one day! There are also links to lot's of discounted apps and apps which were already free too.

The app limits itself to one push notification a day, to make sure it does not become annoying. If you have an app which you are marketing at a cost a 24 hour give away could greatly increase your user base. And users of good apps share their experience with other iPhone users!



Download today and start discovering paid apps for your iPhone / iPad / iPod Touch, for free!

The Chrome Story

Google Chrome is a fantastic web browser. It's fast, free and automatically updates itself in the background. Other browsers now include features like auto update, such as Mozilla Firefox, and all modern web browsers have dramatically increased in speed.

But Google Chrome is still way ahead in browser benchmarks. In fact it's hard to remember a time before Chrome! From page hits in 2012 Google Chrome is the most popular browser visiting Web Warp Blog with just shy of 40% market share.

Check out the video below for a bit of Google Chrome history from Google themselves.

Paperless 2013

Is 2013 the year that the paperless office finally exists? Probably not, but there is no harm in trying. Since technology such as fax machines, photocopiers and printers have become common place in offices it has been inevitable that our use of paper has continued to increase. And paper isn't expensive so there is very little financial incentive to just stop printing.

We waste the planets resources, cutting down trees, creating paper, and shipping tons of paper to your office just to print out an email which could be read perfectly well on screen. It just doesn't make sense. In 2013 a group of companies have teamed together to sponsor an initiative 'Paperless 2013'. It is no surprise that these sponsors offer technologies and products that will help anyone hoping to reduce their paper consumption. These include online storage and scanning products.

To get email updates with hints and tips from Paperless 2013, or to just find out more, visit www.paperless2013.org

Ubuntu for Phones

Ubuntu is the most popular linux distribution and is seen by many as a real alternative to Microsoft's Windows and Apple's OS X operating systems. In 2013 Ubuntu comes to smart phones to join the competitive mobile operating system market. Their promo video (below) looks really impressive and they are inviting developers to make their apps compatible with a mobile linux OS.

Ubuntu has grand aims, they are hoping to produce a single OS which can run desktop computers, TV's and smartphones, creating a truly unified experience. Ubuntu offer a lot to desktop users, including access to cloud based storage which is fully integrated into apps within the OS. And have I mentioned that the desktop version is essentially free! There is now a suggested donation but it is certainly cheaper the Windows or OS X.

The Ubuntu phone features interesting usability traits. The 'lock' screen does not require 'unlocking' as such, just swiping in various areas of the screens edge to access specific content on your device. The OS allows you to go full screen and enjoy the most of your photos, videos or web browsing experience. Would you consider trying a new mobile operating system? If it works well this may encourage increasing numbers of users to try this linux distribution on the desktop too.

More information Ubuntu's website www.ubuntu.com

Starbucks $1 Reusable Cups

From today Starbucks are offering a $1 plastic reusable cup in all of their US and Canadian stores. This cup will pay for it self in 10 visits to Starbucks as coffee bought with your reusable cup is 10 cents cheaper. Starbucks already offers this price reduction when customers bring in their Starbucks tumblers (and in the UK too), however it is hoped that the cheaper reusable cup will encourage more customers to change their habits and reuse their cup.

Starbucks will wash out the reused cups with boiling water free of charge before filling it with your chosen beverage. It is encouraging that large corporations are increasingly trying to change the culture of throwing away paper cups.

iCloud and Mac OS X Lion

Apple offers their latest operating system, OS X Mountain Lion, for a reasonable rate in your local currency. However not all existing Mac's meet the minimum hardware specification, and are therefore limited to it's predecessor Mac OS X Lion. This is typical of new operating systems as the demands on the system hardware tend to increase or sometimes older processors architectures are no longer supported for upgrade, such as Apples transition from PowerPC to Intel processors about 5 years ago.

This blogpost is about the specific implications of running Mac OS X Lion along side the latest versions of iLife and iWorks applications supporting iCloud.

Firstly Shared Photo Streams are NOT included in the latest versions of iPhoto and Aperture when running on Mac OS X Lion. This can not be due to a hardware restriction as the personal Photo Stream (up to 1000 most recent photos) works perfectly and keeps all your latest snaps up to date just as on iPhones, iPads and Apple TV's. So why omit it? To encourage you to upgrade to a new Mac?

When it comes to iCloud storage of documents for iWork the Apple webpage says: "iCloud requires iOS 5 on iPhone 3GS or later, iPod touch (3rd and 4th generation), or iPad; a Mac computer with OS X Lion or later". So you would assume that Pages, Numbers and Keynote would be fully integrated with iCloud document storage as shown on the Apple webpage advertising each service, assuming your Mac is running either Lion or Mountain Lion.

This, however, is not the case. From the Help file in Pages: "Updating documents using iCloud works differently, depending on whether you’re using OS X Lion or OS X Mountain Lion (v10.8)". How different you ask? Well the method of transferring files on Mac OS X Lion is to use www.icloud.com! Cloud services such as Google Drive and Dropbox, for just two of many examples, which include a desktop app, syncing automatically, offer a far neater solution to push your content to cloud storage than via a web browser. The web browser method is a handy tool for when you are away from your computer, not a primary workflow. The requirement is then that you manage the library on your Mac and choose what to upload or download. iCloud is supposed to 'just work' and the versions feature should stop you losing old parts of a document.

These two examples could be included on older systems if not for Apples need to add new features which are unique to the latest OS. In many cases systems which can't run Mountain Lion can in fact run either Windows 7 or Windows 8 using boot camp and can enjoy Shared Photo Streams with the iCloud application for windows.

So in summary, always remain up-to-date or unfortunately expect some disappointment.