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/

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.

iOS 6

The Apple World Wide Developer Conference (WWDC) earlier today included the announcement of iOS 6. iOS 6 is the sixth major version of the Apple mobile operating system which rus the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. There are hundreds of new features but some of the major new features are listed below.

• Maps - All new Apple Maps including Turn-by-Turn Navigation and Siri integration.
• Facebook integration throughout the OS
• FaceTime over a cellular connection
• Improved Safari including better iCloud integration
• New options for controlling alerts, including "Do Not Disturb" mode
• Shared Photostreams
• Passbook - for a paperless ticketing system

iOS 6 will be coming to iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPod Touch 4th Gen, iPad 2 and the New iPad this Autumn.

Emoticons on iOS: Emoji Keyboard

Everyone uses the classic smiley face :-) or winking ;-) but on the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad you could be showing your emotions in a lot more detail! These faces look great on the retina display too.

To enable the Emoji keyboard follow these quick and simple instructions below!

Mac OS X Mountain Lion's Messages Beta

If you are excited by today's Mac OS X Mountain Lion announcement and can't wait till the summer to experience some of the apps then you are in luck! Apple have released a beta version of Messages. Messages brings you the iOS iMessage feature to your Mac. You can communicate to and from Mac's and iOS devices and even include attachments such as pictures and HD video.

You can start a conversation on your Mac and then continue it on your iPhone whilst on the move. All of your iOS devices can receive your new message notifications. You can even go from messaging a contact to joining them in a FaceTime call, to speak to them face to face.

Download the Messages beta here.

Google Maps Style Improvements

Google Maps has become the standard for mapping in the last few years. Their maps are accessed by people all across the globe for accurate and up to date maps of the world.

The recent 2011 update is compared to 2009 on Google's Lat Long blog, the images are below.

New York is a good demonstration of how the map is easier to read as the main roads are shown narrower.

This is most dramatic change is in Sydney, where there is a large concentration of main roads. The colours used in the map are toned down, and as a result more information can be displayed. This increases as you zoom in, where labels appear and are resized at every zoom level. The images below show London's South Bank.

And zoomed in London South Bank University shows the names of individual buildings. Try it yourself in the embedded map below.

View Larger Map

So how did an internet search engine become so dominant in the world of cartography?

My Starbucks Rewards

Starbucks have been running a card loyalty and benefit scheme called "Starbucks Card Reward" for some time. From tomorrow their new scheme "My Starbucks Rewards" replaces it. The same physical card can be used and the existing feature of topping up the card to make coffee purchases will remain. The differences are all in the benefits/rewards.

Previously you received benefits for using your card:

• "Free Extra Shot for your drink
• Free Soy and Whipped Cream for your drink
• Free Syrup for your drink
• Free Tall drink when you buy a bag of whole bean coffee (250g)
• Free Tall drink with a VIA® 12-pack 50p off Fresh Filter Coffee"

The new My Starbucks Rewards scheme features two levels of benefit.

Angry Birds Infographic

Angry Birds can cause addiction, and for Rovio, huge profits! This info graphic explores the Angry Birds stats!

 
Infographic by: AYTM Market Research

You can now even play Angry Birds within Google+!

App of the Day - Facebook - iOS and Android

Facebook is 2nd most popular site in the world (Alexa rating page) and it has over 500 million active users. A lot of these users have smart phones and if you have an Android device or iPhone, iPod Touch etc. then the Facebook app is a must for you! Keep up to date with your friends latest statuses/photos/event invitations, all on the go. The Facebook app runs through a web fetching system so essentially all of the content within the app is actually online. This means that it is updated and improved all the time without the need to constantly download updates to the app itself. Facebook's mobile app incorporates all of the recent changes to Facebook's News Feed and privacy enhancements such as post approvals to add tagged items to your own wall.

The Facebook app also features Check In which uses your smartphones GPS to quickly determine your location, and also alerts you if a friend checks in nearby. You can look at pages on the go and read and respond to private messages. If it wasn't so buggy and often unreliable then it would get 5/5 but sadly it is so it's getting a 3/5 rating. It's also spookily similar to the Google+ app following recent changes...



Rating 3/5
Price - Free
Developer - Facebook

Image: Facebook

Convertbot - iOS

Convertbot is a great app for anyone working with conversions. Available for the iPhone and iPod Touch for only £1.49 it's a really well made app. After extensive use I have never come across any bugs or freezes. It has a vast array of conversions, everything from length and area to live updated currency and very industry specific conversions such as data rates and volumetric flow. There are a total of 500 units across 21 categories. Also features a clever user interface with makes novel use of the iPhone's multitouch screen. To change conversions you roll symbols around a wheel and tap of the figures to change the input. Input and output can easily be switched at the tap of a button too.



Rating 5/5
Price - £1.49 - US$1.99
Developer - Tapbots

Image: tapbots.com

iPhone Caps Lock

The iOS operating system for iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch features a great touch keyboard. It predicts what you are typing on the fly, enabling quick auto-completion with the space bar, auto-capitalisation of the first word and built in spell checker. However, entering in capitals has always been a bit of a hassle. "Shift" "E" "Shift" "X" etc just to type EXAMPLE.

There is another way! The little known feature that you can enable a "Caps lock" option from the Keyboards settings. When typing you just double tap shift, it glows blue, and all your text IS TYPED IN CAPITALS.

To enable caps lock go to Settings > General > Keyboard > Enable Caps Lock.

Enable Caps Lock Option

Shift highlighted blue to show caps lock 

Apple News Roundup

Ok, today is very exciting as their are 3 (yes 3!) big Apple announcements! This blogpost gives you a brief overview and points you in the right direction for more info. In the next few days a more detailed analysis and opinion will be posted.

1. iOS 5
iOS is Apple's mobile operating system for the iPhone, iPod Touch and the iPad. iOS 4 is the current version for the latest devices. iOS 5 will bring over 200 new features including an upgraded camera control, better management of notifications and even sync over Wi-Fi. With Wi-Fi Sync you never have to plug your iPhone in to sync with iTunes again.

Courtesy of Apple

2. iCloud
iCloud replaces MobileMe for mail, contacts and calendars (you keep the same email address) but it brings with it so much more. With iCloud you can store all your documents, photos and music online and then access them from any of your iDevices or computer.


3. Mac OS X Lion
Lion will be the next version of Mac OS X and you will need the App Store (included in Snow Leopard) to download it. In the US it will cost $29.99 - which is a bargain. The new OS will include support for full screen apps (it's about time) and an Auto save function which is similar to Time Machine.

More details and analysis coming soon! For more information on any of these announcements, check out www.apple.com.

iOS 4.3

Apple have released iOS 4.3 for the iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPod Touch (3rd & 4th generation), iPad & iPad 2. Note that iPhone 3G has been dropped from the updates now, this leaves iPhone 3G owners a bit put out as their software seems increasingly slow and buggy since updating to iOS 4. The new update includes better AirPlay options, iTunes Home Sharing and Personal Hotspot.

iTunes Home Sharing lets you listen to content from your iTunes library anywhere around the house through the Wi-Fi connection on your device, similar to streaming on an Apple TV.

Personal Hotpost is similar to the existing Internet Tethering option only it allows the sharing to happen over Wi-Fi and to up to 5 devices in total (3 through the Wi-Fi connection).

iOS 4.3 also offers a significant boost in speed for javascript handling on these mobile devices.

For more information: http://www.apple.com/ios/

iOS 4.2 on the iPhone 3G

Apple have updated their iPhone operating system, iOS, to 4.2. This latest version advertising many new and exciting features. However, not all the new features work on all devices but Apple don't make it very clear which features work with which device. On their webpage: http://www.apple.com/ios/ they state: "Not all features are compatible with all devices. For example, multitasking, AirPrint, and VoiceOver are available on iPad, iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, and iPod touch (3rd generation and later). AirPlay and Game Center are available on iPad, iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, and iPod touch (2nd generation and later)."


This blog post aims to clarify the available features for everyone. The table below shows the features and their compatibility. As you can see the iPhone 3G doesn't really benefit with any new features although the iPhone 3G does get a speed boost with the new update.

The ebook Revolution

Ebook readers, tablet devices and smart phones are becoming more and more popular ways to digest written content such as news, books and magazines. Are the days of the printed press numbered? The range of devices that can gather content is increasing daily with manufacturers scrambling to compete with the market leaders in smart phones, tablets and ebook readers. Apple's iPad has revolutionised the market by bringing hardware to the forefront of people minds.

With the Apple iPad and the iBook store Apple hope to capture the technology keen with an ebook reader by selling them what they really want: a shiny new gadget with a bright colour screen, touch screen and motion controls. Other manufacturers have a more "book" focused strategy. Sony, Amazon and many others have released ebook readers which feature "e-ink". The e-ink screen looks like the printed text you might find in a book. It behaves just like a printed page, reflecting sunlight. In comparison tablet computing devices such as the new Samsung Galaxy tab or the Apple iPad fail miserably to remain readable in bright sunshine.

With technologies developing for both decent reading screens and multifuntion devices full of music and video content, the number of books and magazines which are downloaded and read on digital devices will enevitably increase. One day reading may undergo a similar revolution to music where it will not be uncommon to have your entire bookshelf in you pocket or on your computer.

As proof of this the Metro have an iPhone app so you can recieve their free newspaper on an iPhone without having to get to the train station and pick one up. The Times have an iPad app which, controversially, requires a monthly subscription. It will be a toe in the water for the newspaper industry looking into new technology.

Interesting the Independant newspaper will soon be launching a smaller version of their broadsheet called "i" which will cost only 20p.

Amazon are really leading the way with ebook readers by providing both great value hardware (with free 3G coverage) and an online bookstore which is competitivly priced. You can even keep multiple ebook readers or Kindle apps in sync with their whispersync service.

These new techologies also allow access to far more material than the newsagents, for example you won't find Web Warp Blog for sale there!

FaceTime comes to the Mac

Apple introduced us to FaceTime with the arrival of the iPhone 4. Then the latest iPod Touch received front and rear facing camera's and added FaceTime capability between iPod's and iPhones. Now the webcam, Wi-Fi powered, conversations come to the Mac. From today you can download the Beta version of the FaceTime software and start calling iPhone and iPod Touch users as long as you are connected to the internet and they are connected to the internet via Wi-Fi.

Check out the Apple webpage here.

Apple unleash new iPods

Apple announced a new range of iPod's in their recent iPod event. The new iPods include:

• iPod Touch with Facetime and Retina display (like the iPhone 4)
• iPod Nano with multitouch interface (similar to the iPhone)
• iPod Shuffle with buttons again (much better for control)
• And the iPod Classic with a huge 160GB storage capacity

Courtesy of Apple Inc.

They have also released iTunes 10.  This includes a new social networking element called Ping. It allows you to follow your friends and musicians and see what other people are listening to, rating or reviewing. The new version of iTunes also supports third party hardware that will be compatible with their remote speaker system currently only used by the Airport Express. It will be inbuilt in some forthcoming stereo's from Denon and JBL. Click Here for more information. The iTunes 10 logo moves away from the classic iTunes symbol of a musical note in front of a CD, we really have left the age of the CD.

They also announced a new Apple TV model. The new model moves away from the Mac Mini looks with a small sleek black glossy case. It features HDMI output and the ability to rent HD films from iTunes via the inbuilt Wi-Fi and your existing home Wi-Fi network.

AR Drone - Ultimate Gadget

As seen on BBC Click and Five's Gadget Show the AR Drone is the ultimate gadget. The AR Drone is a remote controled helicopter with four turbines. It's referred to by it's makers, Parrot, as a quadricopter with iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch control via Wi-Fi. It features two cameras - front facing and vertical. These broadcast video straight to your handheld controller (iPhone).

The system is very advanced and features ultra-sound sensors and a self level auto-pilot. The AR Drone can be piloted using the accelerometer within an iPhone. It can be safely flown indoors with a cover surrounding the blades.

The best way to check it out is with this video!


For more information and videos check out AR Drone's website.

For purchase information check out HMV: Click Here

Apple Remote iPhone App

Apple's iPhone is certainly the mobile of the moment, it seems like everyone is amazed when they see one. The best feature has to be the multi-touch UI. It makes it really interactive. Gestures such as 'Pinching' to zoom in and out and panning a map with your finger are so much easier to use than traditional mobile phones.

One feature that has really got my attention is the applications for the iPhone. You can download extra applications through Apple's iTunes software that thousands of people already use to sort their music for use on their iPod.

The Remote is an app made my Apple themselves and it connects to your iTunes library over Wi-Fi and allows you to control your iTunes library for track selection Play/Pause etc. This works particularly well if you have Airtunes .

Apple Remote iPhone App (Opens in iTunes)