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Our Best Cydia Repos and Useful Tweaks for 2013

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Every once in a while we all do it, we look down at our iPhone home screen and think is this really it? Well, thankfully you can Jailbreak your device with ease thanks to the latest Evasi0n Jailbreak out at the moment, in seconds your iOS 6 device can be Jailbroken and ready to install the latest tweaks. So, which tweaks do we like and should you check them out.

Well, before we get in to all that, one of the first things you are going to think about is adding some useful and popular Cydia repos that gives you the best jailbreak tweaks to install on your device, well here are some of our recommendations from what we’ve found over the last few weeks.

1. xSellize

2. SiNful iPhone Repo

3-Hackulo.us

4-iHackstore Repo

5-iHacksRepo

6-Hack Your iPhone Repo

7 Insanelyi

8 Bite Your Apple Repo

9 K3a.Me


http://k3a.me

10. iClarified


http://cydia.iclarified.com

11. iFonetec


http://app.ifonetec.com/cydia/

12. Boerse


http://Boerse-Repo.Net

We’re sure there’s loads more, but these are definitely some of the best we’ve found and been using for many of the tweaks shown below.

So, lets get to the Jailbreaks and tweaks themselves, here’s some which we love.

1. AppCent

Why isn’t iOS like this by default, AppCent, available for free in the iHacksRepo, adds a percentage on to your Springboard when you begin installing an application, so instead of showing simply installing, it shows a percentage of how much has been installed instead, very useful for downloading really large apps and games from the App Store.

2. Auxo

Auxo is awesome, Auxo brings more of what should have been to iOS 6, in this case Multitasking. When you bring up the Multitasking pain up after installing Auxo, which is free also in the iHacksRepo, you will see image previews of the last state of that app, you can then swipe down to close individually or if you tap and hold an app, it will ask ‘Do you want to remove all apps from the multitasking tray?’, so useful. But that’s not all, scroll to the left and you’ll find a music player, once again you’ll find shortcuts to the usual suspects, Wi-Fi/3G/Bluetooth etc, all of which can be customised in Settings.

3. Barrel (2)

Everyone loves Barrel and we’re no different, although we’ve found if you want it to work on the iPhone 5 you must search for Barrel 2, we experienced some Safe Mode restarts when attempting to install Barrel. Once you’ve installed Barrel 2, you can then customise how your Springboard transitions through its pages, with some special effects such as the classic (always seems to be used) Curl and Roll Away, although in Barrel 2 we have a new favourite called Vortex, check it out anyway for free in the BiteYourApple Repo.

4. InfiniFolders

You maybe seeing a trend here, all so far are what should be in iOS by default, this is InfiniFolders. Don’t you just hate how in iOS when you add a Folder it stops at 12 (or 16 for iPhone 5) with no ability to add more, this is useless, especially if your on an iPhone with the 12 limit, iOS should allow you to add way more than that with a simple scroll down to view the rest, well that’s exactly what InfiniFolders does, and its available for free in many Repos, but we’ve used the BiteYourApple Repo for our iPhone 5.

5. Octopus Keyboard

Despite been developed before the Z10 was released, this is the easiest way to explain what it does. Octopus Keyboard gives your iPhone the Blackberry 10 keyboard, as you type words with your keyboard, suggestions will appear above certain letters, and if you want to type that word simply swipe up that letter and it will finish off the word for you, the tweak learns what you type to create more valid suggestions based on your typing patterns and previous words typed too, this is one of our favs, however this tweak is not free, costing $4.99 in the K3A.me Repo.

6. KBShortcuts

KBShortcuts is another one of our favourite Keyboard add-ons, this tweak allows you to do the traditional Desktop keyboard shortcuts on your iPhone, except instead of using Command or Control keys, you use your Space bar and drag, for example to select all of some text, Tap and drag the Spacebar to the letter A, to Copy drag to C, paste drag to V etc. All shortcuts can be configured, although if you are unsure what everything does, Drag the Spacebar to the ? symbol and it will tell you in a pop up. KBShortcuts is free in the BiteYourApple Repo.

7. ProTube (2)

ProTube is an add on well known, the original version added a download button to playing videos in the built in YouTube app, in ProTube 2 it works with iOS 5 or 6, with the Google built YouTube app, which must be installed before applying this tweak. ProTube 2 adds a download button in the video playing as well as a Downloads section in the apps sidebar. You can even download every quality available up to 1080 and M4A Audio as an option too, the videos can also be saved to your Camera Roll. ProTube 2 is available for free in many Repos listed. UPDATE: Recently the app has been experiencing errors, if you experience this you’re not alone, hopefully these will be fixed when a later version is released, current version 1.0.4

8. GBA.EMU and GBC.EMU

They may not be tweaks, but its sure good to be able to run emulators on an iPhone finally, whilst none have been updated to support the iPhone 5 display, its awesome to be able to install and run GameBoy Color and Advanced games finally. What’s interesting about these two is they are actually available in the Google Play store for over £3 each, free for iPhone Jailbreakers in the xSellize and BiteYourApple repos.

9. IntelliScreenX

This is a popular one, altho not free either, in fact its a massive $9.99, but with it you can customise the Lock Screen to use the Notification Centre for not only widgets but with a simple gesture, your FaceBook, Twitter and Email feeds will show up as well with built in response tools and more. If you’ve got the money this is available in the BigBossRepo for that rather whoa price of $9.99

10. BytaFont

The iPhone is filled with many things, but all those things are in the same boring font, wouldn’t it be great if you could just change the font and download better ones afterwards, well with BytaFont you can, available for free, just give it a search, this tweak will allow you to edit and change all fonts around your iPhone. Fonts are to installed separately from the app.

11. Zeppelin

Zeppelin is another well used tweak, it allows you to change the Carrier text with a logo of your choice, it’s not a tweak we’re fans of but one we’ve heard requests for, Zeppelin is available for free in the ModMyi Repo, so check it out.

12. Slide My Name

This simple tweak allows you to edit what your unlock slider says, instead of Slide to Unlock, it could say Your iPhone, or whatever your imagination gives you, Slide My Name is available for free in the BigBoss Repo.

Apple iOS 6.1.2 coming next week!

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Click to visit the original post

Apple are set to release the next update for iOS 6 in the form of 6.1.2. This is set to fix Microsoft Exchange and Passlock bugs which has been affecting a few 6.1.1 users. According to reports across the web it is due to be released on 20th Feb. So mark your planners for it.

It’s just been a week since 6.1.1 was released specifically for iPhone 4S users which fixed 3G bugs which apparently has affected the Vodafone network.

So lets see if any more bugs occur from 6.1.2 or Apple have finally managed to fix them.

 Reblogged from TechREX Online, view that post here!

Google Nexus October 2012 Event Coverage

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Due to the intense storm taking place around the US, it was natural that they wouldn’t do a live event, but that certainly didn’t stop Google from announcing all, and here’s what they had to announce, a massive overhaul of the Google Nexus range and a nice update to Android 4.2.

Google Nexus 4 (LG Phone)

We kick off with news we kind of already knew about, the infamous update to the Galaxy Nexus is finally here, whilst yes it is made by LG unfortunately, the build quality actually doesn’t feel that bad and many are saying it feels much less plasticy than the Galaxy Nexus it replaces.

Designed collaboratively by LG and Google, the Nexus 4, the newest smartphone in the Nexus line-up from Google, will be available starting next month in select markets. With a sophisticated hardware design from LG, your favourite Google Apps, and the latest version of Android 4.2, Nexus 4 puts the best of Google in the palm of your hand.

LG had this to say on the device;

“LG is proud and excited to play this role in helping build the latest Nexus smart-phone,” said Dr. Jong-seok Park, President and CEO of LG Electronics Mobile Com-munications Company. “Users will be delighted by the perfectly balanced combination of form and function with the latest generation of Android.”

Google responded with;

“This is the first time we collaborated with LG to build a Nexus device,” said Andy Rubin, Senior Vice President of Mobile and Digital Content at Google. “They brought an extraordinary amount of talent to the project, and the result is a feature-packed device that feels great in your hand, and blazingly fast under the hood.”

Nexus 4 comes with a high-performance 8MP camera and takes stunning Photo Sphere images, letting you capture every detail of the world around you. Up, down and all around you, which is a pretty incredible feature. Photos taken with the camera also upload themselves with Instant Upload so you’ll never lose a shot.

The Nexus 4 comes with a stunning QXGA 1280-by-768 4.7-inch True HD IPS Plus display supported by Zerogap Touch technology with gently curved glass edges, which allow your finger to slide smoothly on and off the 320ppi screen, (not quite Retina Display, and not the ppi of Lumia 920 or HTC 8X, but still stunningly clear), while cutting edge display technology means you feel like you’re touch-ing every pixel, protected by scratch resistant Gorilla Glass 2. Speaking of the Lumia 920, the Nexus 4 also supports Wireless Charging out of the box, it wasn’t announced though whether it will support the standard Qi like 920 and the Palm Pré, but its highly likely.

Nexus 4 comes with a cutting-edge 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro processor, so you’ve got speed and power to spare. Zip around the web, experience rich 3D graphics and gameplay, and effortlessly switch between multiple apps without ever missing a beat. With a massive 2GB of RAM and the fastest version of Android ever, Nexus 4 is the snappiest Nexus smartphone yet and one thats hard not to recommend for anyone looking for an awesome Android device.

With Jellybean 4.2, Google Now is built-in, which keeps you even more organized – get reminders about upcoming flights, restaurant reservations, hotel confirmations and even nearby photo opportunities – when and where you need them, this thing eats Siri for breakfast.

With Google Maps on Android, turn-by-turn GPS navigation, live traffic info, and integrated driving, walking and public transit directions, getting from A to B has never been easier. 3D Maps and rich satellite imagery give you a more realistic sense of what’s around you while features like Street View and Indoor Maps make sure you always know what’s in front of you.

Spec Sheet

  • Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon™ S4 Pro processor with 1.5GHz Quad-Core Krait CPUs
  • Operating System: Android 4.2, Jelly Bean
  • Network: 3G (WCDMA), HSPA+
  • Display: 4.7-inch WXGA True HD IPS Plus (1280 x 768 pixels)
  • Memory: 8GB / 16GB
  • RAM: 2GB
  • Camera: 8.0MP rear / 1.3MP HD front
  • Battery: 2,100mAh Li-Polymer (embedded) / Talk time: 15.3 hours / Standby: 390 hours
  • Size: 133.9 x 68.7 x 9.1mm
  • Weight: 139g
  • Wireless charging, NFC

Availablility

All them features are well and good and now you’re probably thinking where can I get this device. The Nexus 4 will be sold unlocked and is GSM/HSPA+ compatible so it will operate on more than 200 network providers worldwide, just pop in a supported SIM card and be up and running in no time. It will be available to purchase in both an 8GB version and a 16GB version on Google Play starting November 13 in the US, UK, Canada, Germany, France, Spain and Australia. Offline availability in Europe, Central/South Americas, Asia, CIS and the Middle East will begin from the end of November.

UK Prices start at an incredible: £239 (8GB version)

Google Nexus 7 (Update)

Google also through out an incremental update to the Nexus 7, which wasn’t much really, update to 4.2 (more information below), and an awesome price drop, you can now get the 16GB version for  price of the 8GB, ouch if you purchased, and a 32GB version replaces the 16GB previous price.

Google Nexus 10 (Tablet)

Samsung may not make the Nexus 4 phone, but Samsung do make the Nexus 10 tablet, which also will be sporting Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. The tablet has a 10-inch display with (2560×1600) PLS display, as rumoured, and is due to launch on Nov 13 in US, UK, Australia, France, Germany, Spain, Canada and Japan, and priced almost identical to the iPad, hint hint.

Google says it’s going to be the ultimate tablet for watching movies or reading magazines, with 9 hours of video playback or 500 hours of standby on a single charge. And with the user-switching features of Android 4.2, the company says it’s a truly shareable tablet.

The Nexus 10 weighs in at 603 grams, and measuring just 8.9mm thick, with a curved, metallic textured back and front-facing stereo speakers. The tablet’s powered by Samsung’s Exynos 4 SoC, which incorporates a beastly Mali 604 GPU.

With all the new stuff coming in Android 4.2, and the new Google Play services launching in the weeks ahead, it’s an exciting time in the world of Android.

Android 4.2 (still ‘Jellybean’)

Android 4.2 UI

With the huge bunch of Nexus news today, it almost seems as though the latest release of Android, 4.2 , still called Jelly Bean, hasn’t gotten much mention. As expected, Google still packed a whole bunch of new features into the latest Android release such as;

  • Photo Sphere: A new way to capture panorama photos, Photo Sphere creates huge multi-shot scrollable images very similar to those found in Google Maps Street View.
  • Gesture Typing: Lots of comparisons being made to the third party Swype keyboard, and rightfully so. You can now type by tracing the words on the keyboard with a single finger.
  • Multiple User Support: A feature that many people have been asking for, Android 4.2 now supports multiple user logins on a single tablet device. Widgets, wallpapers and even game save states are all tied to the unique user logins.
  • Wireless Screen Sharing: Watch YouTube videos, movies and anything that’s on your screen to an HDTV with a wireless HDMI adapter, similar to Apple’s Airplay.
  • Daydream: Setup your tablet to display photos, news and more while the device is idle or docked.
  • Expandable, Actionable Notifications: First introduced in Android 4.1, improved in Android 4.2. Interact with apps directly from the notification pane, Android really tops the entire mobile industry with Notifications and it just gets better in 4.2.
  • Google Now: A headline feature coming with the first release of Jelly Bean, Google Now is getting revamped with new kinds of cards and improved interactions.

And thats a rap, incredible hardware, insane software, very impressive stuff from Google.

Is the iPhone 4S worth it for existing iPhone 4 users?

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The existing iPhone 4

Its that time again, another Apple device has arrived and of course many are going to be queuing on Friday to get their hands on it, but why, isn’t what you’ve already got enough. Its that time again, is the new iPhone 4S worth it for existing iPhone 4 users.

iOS 5

iOS 5 will be the real reason why many will be speculating whether the upgrade will be worth it or not. The iPhone 4 supports all 200 new features introduced in iOS 5 which was released to the world yesterday (12th October) along with iCloud. So many will be wondering why get the iPhone 4S, the phone you’ve got now if you’re happy with it, maybe pretty much as good for the average jo. And don’t worry, and iOS5 review and feature guide is on the horizon.

A5

The iPhone 4 has the A4 and the iPhone 4S has the A5 … great, so whats the difference. Apple have never officially confirmed the spec of the A4, but its been speculated to have 1GHz single core power with 512MB of RAM. The A5 has 800MHz processor, but its dual core with up to 5x faster graphics performance over the iPhone 4, so if gaming and speed is your thing, then the 4S maybe something to look into, but we really wouldn’t recommend just going for it over an iPhone 4 without seeing it in person and really being blown away over Speed.

One thing you may think about the iPhone 4S for is Video. The iPhone 4S now supports Mirroring using the HDMI adapter, or via AirPlay, this could be a very useful and awaited feature for many, which was first introduced in the iPad 2. Also, with the increased gaming performance, Real Racing 2 will be able to do the same thing you can with the iPad 2, with full 1080p gameplay on a TV, whilst your iPhone 4S will work as a Steering wheel and show controls on the iPhone, whilst your TV is Fully Filled with the gameplay. Here it is on an iPad 2.

Siri

Siri is pretty much the only thing going for the iPhone 4S in the uniqueness that you’re going to see. Siri is much more than Voice Control you have now on your iOS device. Siri is actually very impressive and rather industry leading in how accurate it is and what it can do, especially as Apple are still branding it as in ‘beta’. As you can see from this video, it is some very impressive software, many have speculated why its not in existing iPhones, but come on, they need some feature to market the device over, same as when Voice Control was 3GS only in 2009. If you are partially sighted or blind, of if you use your phone in the Car, Siri is a incredible reason to get a 4S, and many more situations. If anything is going to make you get a 4S, Siri will likely be it. In fact, the S probably stands for Speed when you ask them at an Apple Store, but to us, the S stands for Siri.

World Phone

In the UK, every network is GSM … no really, all of them. Whilst some Americans are like, wow, really, they are. The US probably has the most ugliest of network carriers, all with their own standards and services it just makes it awful for manufactures and users get a good network, and because of this Apple has released the iPhone 4S as a ‘World Phone’, featuring technologies of CDMA and GSM built in with multiple bands to work on pretty much all networks world-wide. Whilst this isn’t ever probably going to be noticed or used for UK citizens or even European citizens all over, this could be very useful for people who regularly travel around the world, as your iPhone will literally run on any network … well, roam it. Watch your bill if you’re gonna be doing that.

In the US, the iPhone 4S is also available on Sprint for the first time, and many more worldwide networks have been added. This is obviously gonna effect peoples decision to get it.

Camera

The iPhone 4S has an amazing Camera, whilst at 8 MegaPixel (from 5 on the iPhone 4) it has all new optics and shots taken on this device are just incredible, the 4S’ camera really is a professional one. The feature thats got most excited is 1080P HD Video Recording, which knowing Apple will be incredible. The iPhone 4 720P HD video recording is to date the best 720P video I’ve seen from a Smartphone so very looking forward to the 1080p performance from the 4S.

Storage

Short and right to the point, the iPhone 4S is the first iPhone to come in 64GB of Storage, which is awesome. So if you’re full and can’t do anything about it on a 32GB iPhone 4, then … well, firstly enjoy the price of upgrading, and secondly, there’s a solution.

Antennagate

This is one thing I’ve never had a problem with on the iPhone 4, but if you did you’ll be happy to know that the iPhone 4S fixes the Antennagate issue, woo. So, that could be a reason to get it … possibly.

Network Performance

The iPhone 4S supports 14.4Mhz down speeds, which AT&T in America claim is 4G as HSDPA+. So thats pretty good, of course support for this standard is very scarce, in fact AT&T are actually rh only carrier worldwide we can see supporting this upon the 4S release.

The iPhone 4S also features Bluetooth 4.0 which uses next to nothing battery life and has so much more to offer, this is a secretly kept big deal. Brief info on Bluetooth 4.0 advantages here!

Summary

So, are you getting an iPhone 4S, have you pre-ordered or got yours yet. If so, what made you get it. Me personally, after using iOS 5 for a few weeks now (developer testing) on an iPhone 4 I don’t feel its worth the upgrade, but some of these features are indeed very tempting, the most for me are the Camera and 64GB capacity. But we’ll see. I’m waiting for the sixth iPhone.

Apple’s ‘Lets Talk iPhone’ Event Recap

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New Apple CEO Tim Cook kicks off the keynote

Well, it happened, Apple did indeed talk iPhone on the ‘Lets Talk iPhone’ event on Tuesday, but did they introduce what we all wanted? Well, that depends who you are, what do we mean by that, well we’ll get in to that.

Some interesting stats

Apple kicked off the keynote like they always do, with the “here’s how we are doing” section, where Apple announced some interesting stats, in fact throughout the keynote some very interesting stats were announced.

  • Mac OS X Lion is the fastest adopted OS yet, with a comparison of Windows 7 adoption to 10%. Apple claim the “Digital only” approach of Mac OS X Lion made this much more possible
  • iOS still top OS. Now, this is completely different wherever you look, Apple used July US marketshare in the keynote.
  • The iPhone 4 is the #1 Smartphone in the world! This is incredible, especially when you look at the fact that the 3GS is the second.

iPod Updates

Of course Apple was going to bring some updates to iPod and many were  expecting Apple to not only update just 2 of the lineup, but discontinue the rest! Well, we can confirm right now, Apple did do ‘minor’ updates to the iPod Nano and iPod Touch. By minor we’re talking small price changes … thats it! The iPod Touch does now come in white, which is great! Here’s the updates in more form.

iPod ShuffleiPod shuffle - The iPod Shuffle is still here for £40 for 2GB memory, same colours, same iPod Shuffle.

iPod NanoiPod nano - The iPod Nano saw a few updates. The menus can now be viewed either with 4 icons per page or zoomed in and scroll through one at a time. An updated Nike+ app supporting Running. More Clocks as most people use iPod Nanos for watches now thanks to some pretty awesome accessories. And a price drop. I was hoping for a 32GB iPod Nano but oh well.

  • 8GB iPod Nano = Now at lower price of £115
  • 16GB iPod Nano = Now at lower price of £129, which used to be the 8GB price point.

  iPod classic - The iPod Classic is still available. The same old Classic iPod, which ever way round you write it, still available, still £199, still 160GB.

iPod touch - The iPod Touch now is available in White. Thats actually it for the iPod Touch updates. Its interesting that the iPod Touch didn’t get the A5 Processor, this, I think is what stopped us getting a redesigned iPhone, more on that later. The iPod Touch will of course ship with iOS 5.

  • 8GB iPod Touch now cheaper at £169. 32GB and 64GB versions are £249 and £329 respectively

And that was iPod.

iPhone Updates

IPhone 4S logo.png

Apple had been rumoured for a long time to be introducing a whole new iPhone that would be much, much thinner, have tapered edges and more, but I supposed thats whats called being pulled in by the rumours. Apple ended up introduced the iPhone 4S. I know what you’re thinking, thats a familiar way to name an iPhone, yep, same way they went from iPhone 3G to iPhone 3GS, and you know what its eerily a lot similar. Same design, faster and has a voice feature exclusive, just like when 3GS was released. OK, its obviously more than that, but thats how most people are taking it, and there are many reasons why some would be very disappointed by this, but I for one aren’t, and I’ll go through the main features of the iPhone 4S and see if I can change your mind a bit too.

The iPhone 4S is powered by the Apple A5 chip, which in English brings Dual-Core 1GHz processing power, and compared to the iPhone 4 A4 chip, it brings 7x faster graphics, the increased graphics is of big importance as mobile gaming is taking over.

With the A5 chip, you can also do some of the unique iPad 2 features, such as AirPlay mirroring (or wired mirroring using Apple’s HDMI adapter) which is going to be great for the iPhone 4S, especially as ‘Real Racing 2′ have announced they will support iPhone 4S to do the same experience with the racing game as on iPad 2. Controls shown on iPhone 4S, gameplay shown in Full Screen 1080 on the TV, wonderful.

The iPhone 4S now features an 8 Mega Pixel camera compared to the 5 Mega Pixel camera found in the iPhone 4. But Apple haven’t just stopped at Mega Pixel, they’ve kept it going. Adding much more advanced features to the lense such as All New Optics in the camera ‘using five precision elements to shape incoming light’. Long story short, great pictures.

Apple also improved the video capture of the iPhone 4S, which now shoots Full HD 1920×1080 1080P video at 30fps. The iPhone 4S now even uses the built in Gyroscope to automatically stabilise the video live resulting in much better video. We’re sure as soon as the iPhone 4S is launched, many will have Video on sites like YouTube to show us just how good the video is, Android handsets 1080P has been very disappointing, so we’ll see eh.

Who can forget iOS.

With Apple’s upcoming release, iOS 5, over 200 features are expected to arrive. This update will also be available for iPhone 3GS, 4, iPod Touch 3rd and 4th gen as well as all iPads as well.

If any feature of the new iPhone 4S is going to make you get it over an iPhone 4 of lower its Siri. You may recognise the name Siri, and Siri is far from new on the iPhone. It first arrived in the form of an iPhone app back in 2008, but since then Apple acquired the company and its now better than ever and built in to the OS. The Siri app in the App Store is no longer in the App Store anymore as well, shame, making Siri iPhone 4S exclusive. But it works very well, here’s an Apple video below.

Apple – Introducing Siri on iPhone 4S

Yes, the iPhone 4S has exactly the same 3.5inch Retina Display found in the iPhone 4 which is great … I think anyway, some people wanted larger displays, but hey, everyones for themselves. One thing that is different appearance wise for the iPhone 4S is the Antenna bands are in different places, similar to the placings on the US Verizon version with the exception of the additional band on the top beside the headphones socket. Whilst some might think this is weird its also beneficial as its meaning no more anntenna-gate.

Connectivity wise, the iPhone 4S is pretty impressive too.also a World Phone

  • The iPhone 4S is a World Phone meaning both GSM and CDMA networks will work on one single device, great for worldwide users.
  • 802.11N Wi-Fi and first for iPhone, Bluetooth 4.0
  • The iPhone 4S (on GSM) also features 18MBs down, which if you work for HTC is 4G, yes, the iPhone 4S has 4G!!! Now, Apple don’t believe this is 4G, but hey, still pretty impressive if it is or isn’t. … Of course network support needed.

Its also got the obvious nitty gritty, better battery life or so they say, everything else is like the iPhone 4. But still rather impressive.

iPhone Pricing

iPhone 3GS – Remains on Sale. Same 8GB model, allegedly Free on Contract. (£319*)

iPhone 4 – Remains on Sale in a new 8GB only model. (£429*)

iPhone 4S – 16GB (£499*), 32GB (£599*) and a first for iPhone, a 64GB (£699*)

*prices for SIM Free

Other iOS News

iOS 5 Release Date

Apple’s all new iOS 5 Update will arrive upon iPhone 5 Launch of Friday 14th October, the O2 rumors was true

New App: Cards

I’m literally talking about this quickly as it got a very mute reception. Essentially, new app in the App Store, allows you to make a Card, yes a card like Hallmark, and Apple will send it to you, simple as! ……. yeeeeaaaahhh.

New App: Find My Friends

Bit freaky, but like Find My iPhone, this allows you to Find Your Friends by location. Don’t worry though, its invite only, and you can be ‘temporarily’ discoverable, so pretty nifty feature if used right!

iCloud

iCloud will be released on the 14th October within the iOS 5 update. We mentioned iCloud in previous blogs. More info at Apple’s website.

Watch the Keynote Address

Apple iPhone Event confirmed for October 4th!

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Apple's discreet Event invitation, doesn't say much, or does it....

Apple iPhone Event Announced

Confirmed by Apple through invites, the upcoming October 4th Event that had been cerculating around the rumour-mill for a while has been confirmed to be taking place in the form of a simple Apple invitation.

Around this time of the year is usually where we expect to hear about updates to Apple’s iPod line, and the trend with that, a new version of iTunes. But this year things have kinda gone a bit different, for instance we don’t have the new iPhone we’d normally have by now, and whats the deal with the Mac Pro, who knows!

The definitely happening.

We don’t like to make predictions, but we’re gonna try anyway, wish us look eh! I suppose the ‘definitely gonna happen’ we can tick off are;

  1. New iPhone (Whether iPhone 4[S], iPhone 5, or some are saying maybe both)
  2. Minor updates to the iPod line
  3. iOS 5 released, or imminent release date announced.
  4. iCloud launched alongside iOS 5.

The not so sure abouts.

The not so sure of is of course which iPhone, or “iPhones” as rumoured earlier, we’re gonna get. Will we get an iPhone 4S, essentially the iPhone 4 with beefed up hardware, kinda like the transition from 3G to 3GS. Or will we get the full blown new iPhone 5. Some are even saying we may get both. Personally I think they’ll just be one device, might be because of the “1″ on top of the Phone icon on the image, who knows. Whichever iPhone it is, I’m hoping simply for a 64GB version, although some rumours are saying 16 and 32 may remain the only options, which will be a real letdown if it is.

I’d like to see a new version of iTunes, whilst iTunes 10.5 has been used in beta to test iCloud, I’d like to see iTunes 11, new releases of iTunes have been the trend around this time of year, and iTunes still needs that well needed redesign around the edges.

As I mentioned earlier, the Mac Pro. The Mac Pro is very in need of an update, why have you even left it this long Apple, come on!

Summary

Long story short, its great that the event is finally here, just a week from now we’ll know all thats happened. The event will take place at Apple Headquarters in Cupertino at 10AM (6PM UK Time) next Tuesday, and of course a massive indepth blog from us will be right there on cue.

Apple Tops J.D. Power Rankings of Smartphone Consumer Satisfaction

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APPL JD Ranking 2011

Award Recipient: Apple Inc

Apple have topped yet another Customer Satisfaction ranking by topping the (US) J.D. Power Rankings of Smartphone Consumer Satisfaction and more than beating the competition.

Apple were the only manufacturer to even come close to a score of 5 out of 5, never mind that they achieved it across the board. This isn’t just the first time they’ve won this either, this is Apple’s 6th consecutive victory. Not bad eh.

Apple winning the award could be due to the simplicity of iOS, especially in comparison to Google Android, which can confuse the average user by being too varied across manufacturer. Either way this is just one more to the ever growingly large Apple mantlepiece of awards.

The awards also measured mobile app usage amongst users of Smartphones, finding social networking and games to be the most popular amongst over 2 thirds of the survey. Also over half of Smartphone users have also downloaded entertainment apps and travel apps such as for mapping and weather.

 

Ping Chat! Review – BBM for everyone?

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Ping Chat! “The World’s Most Popular Free Text, Picture and Video Messaging app for mobile devices”

That’s all good, but could Ping! Chat be the BBM for iOS and Android users out there? Maybe, I mean, come on, this service is also available for Blackberry as well. Well, curious, we had a look and tested it out.

First Impressions

We launched the app on an iPhone 4 and an iPod Touch to test Ping! Chat and we we’re welcomed with a simple setup screen where you can create a Ping Chat ID, or recover one from an existing account. The interface is very clean and overall the app is very easy to use and works very well. We’ve tested the app on two iOS devices and one Android device and got very good results. We will update this blog if we get the chance to test this on a Blackberry device.

Ping Chat ID

Like with RIMs BBM service, on Ping Chat you have you’re very own unique ID, unlike BBM, on Ping Chat its not just a random assortment of symbolic rubbish. You create your own ID basically by typing what you’d like, your ID can contain letters and numbers. Once you’ve created your ID you can share it with your FaceBook and Twitter account, or by e-mail. One good thing about linking your FaceBook and Twitter accounts is Ping Chat will show you existing Ping Chat users who have linked their FaceBook and Twitter  accounts from your friend list, so you can add your friends already using Ping Chat quite easily, which is handy. You can also add people manually by e-mail address or simply by entering their ID, they will then receive a request which they can accept.

Chats

Whats a messaging service if it can’t message you, and Ping Chat can definitely do that. One thing I do like about Ping Chat is when you send a message to someone an “S” appears to the left of the message marking that the message has successfully ‘Sent’, that turns to an “R” when the person you’re sending to has “Received” the message, very useful indeed. Messages were very quick at sending and receiving, taking no longer than 5 seconds to send and receive at the other end, and that was only because I was using 3G instead of Wi-Fi. You can also easily do group chats on Ping Chat, which do make the messages take a couple more seconds to send, but hey, no complaints on that one.

You can also, other than text messages, which also have a nice range of Emoticons you can send in your messages, you can also send Photos, Videos, your current location, Audio (recording) and Contact information. Of course I recommend using Wi-Fi or checking your Data Plan before you start sending tones of videos, for obvious reasons. Files you send have a nice progress bar to show you it sending and feature the same “S” and “R” so you know when they have sent.

Interface

The interface is very straight forward (shown on iOS, but interface is consistent on Android/RIM) with a green button to start a Chat, where you can add more than one friend to start a Group Chat.

At the bottom, from left to right, you have your Contact list. This shows all your ‘Buddies’, ‘Suggested’ these are people who are in your linked FaceBook or Twitter accounts who you’ve not added yet, and ‘Pending’ these are requests you’ve not responded to. In the top left there is a “+” button to add a new buddy manually by ID or e-mail, this is also how to link FaceBook, Twitter and even your Address Book.

Next is “My Profile”. This allows you to add a custom Photo for yourself on Ping Chat, enter your First and Last Name as well as a Status, to which you can then save and change later if you wish.

Then we have “Share”, this allows you simply share your Ping Chat ID with FaceBook, Twitter or by e-mail to invite people to your Ping Chat.

And on the right you have “Settings”, where you can … set… things. One thing I would recommend doing is turning Sounds on in the ‘Notifications’ settings, esp if you’re using an iPod Touch which doesn’t have vibrate. This also features options to change your password, e-mail address and all that good stuff, and if you ever feel the need, the option to delete your account.

Push Notifications

Push Notifications are really the only way you know somethings happened in iOS when an app isn’t open, and I’m happy to report that I’m yet to have a problem with Push Notifications for Ping Chat, every message sent to an iPhone 4 locked with Ping Chat closed, got a pop-up notification in seconds of the message been marked as “S” sent on the sending device. So, good news there then.

Service

Based on reviews and people who’ve been using this service more than a week like us, no one has reported downtime of the service which is good, and neither did we. One thing to note about Ping Chat is you are always available, there is no offline mode, which according to the creators is so to make it more like free texting, which is good and all, but something some people might have to get used to.

Probably the best feature of Ping Chat is “Offline Messages”. No, this doesn’t allow you to use it offline, but what it does is, if you are not connected to any data network, or one supported by Ping Chat notably Wi-Fi, 3G, EDGE and GPRS, Ping Chat will keep that message for you until you do get connected to a data network, so you never miss a message, which is pretty awesome.

Overall

If you’re doing the intelligent thing and switching from a Blackberry to an iOS or Android device but you miss BBM, although this message still goes out to BBM users, we can’t not recommend Ping Chat. Not only is the app free, its Cross-Platform (no mention of Windows Phone tho, so hang on tight you dozen out there, it may happen) which has to be the killer feature. It has a clean interface, works very well, although notifications are sometimes shaky on Android, irony eh. But really, this is the best alternative to BBM, and in many ways its much better.

Rating: 4.5 / 5 – The best Cross-Platform messaging service we can find. Some shaky notifications at times, but its really 99% there!

Download for yourself!

for iPhone and iPod Touch (iOS 3 or later)

for Android (2.x and above)

for Blackberry (4.6 and above)

Apple iPhone 5 Pre-orders starting September 30th?

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Apple’s upcoming 5th iPhone could be set to be released in October and pre-orders could be beginning as soon as September 30th.

According to a source at 9ToMac the upcoming iPhone 5 could be released in either October 7th or October 14th based on how well the product production goes, which sources are saying pre-production of the iPhone 5 is going very well so far, lets hope for Apple’s sake the antenna is as well … had to be said.

Apple’s iPhone 5 is rumoured to feature the same A5 dual core processor found in the iPad 2, but I think we’ve been thinking that ever since the iPad 2 was announced, other rumours include an 8 MegaPixel camera with full 1080P video recording. One thing to be sure is that the phone will be running Apple iOS5, which will also run on all current selling iOS devices including the iPhone 3G[S] and 4, and the 3rd and 4th gen iPod Touch.

Apple was previously rumoured to be launching the iPhone 5 at a September event, although those rumours were later denied by an Apple source, but all the same, we’re getting to the time when Apple normally has a media event. The Sept/Oct media event is normally to launch updates to the iPod line and a new version of iTunes, which has had a drastic rumour in itself that it could support a ravamped interface which would be waaaay overdue.

Either way, we’ll all see what happens to the upcoming iPhone 5 and I’m sure we’ll all have to look steep in our wallets for the funds to get it, and we at RKUK Media will be there all the way with a review and a comparison of it to the current iPhone 4 and of course the pros and cons, as well as which is the best network for the device.

Blog Monday 11th October 2010 – Got the 4, Reunion and Well that were crap!

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Since my last visit to you campers, well quite a bits happened so err… lets get to it then shall we!

iPhone 4
Well, in my last post I was talking about what deal to get with the iPhone 4, and well, now I kinda have one so lets get in to that shall we. The first day of October I spent on a train going to my “LOCAL” Apple Store, if you call two long trains and a bus local. I ordered a SIM Free iPhone 4 32GB online, I actually went in Google and searched for reserve and well did! When I got to the store they actually funnily enough didn’t even know how I’d done it as they stopped pre-ordering weeks ago, oh well, still got it so I’m happy of course. I also got an iPhone 4 dock, which many think is a waste of money, but I really do use them rather regularly, and seen as I’ve no intention getting a case it’ll lower the chance of possible scratches, which is swell. Yes, I haven’t had a case on the iPhone 4 and had it well over a week now and can clearly say I’ve had absolutely no issues with reception (Vodafone UK). I have to say though I’ve been more than happy with the iPhone 4, haven’t had a single headache, its a real fantastic phone, it even gets girls to sit next to ya, more on that later! The battery life is insane, I tried my best to drain it through an 8AM – 3AM day, yeah, long day, and it still had 24% juice. Everything is just great, camera, performance, design, its as I put in my review, perfect! The contrast of what I’ve been saying about that bluddy Android phone I’ve got compared to this is just amazing! Its not that I think Android is sh*t, its just that its completely sh*t now, but I do think that will change in the future, but the way the iPhone 4s going, its quite the thing to catch up to, especially when in the UK, the iPhone 4 works on every single network! So, yeah loving the iPhone 4.

Reunion with old friends, and bump in to another … you can’t write this stuff … hang on!
I don’t normally go out on Fridays, unless I’m purchasing an iPhone 4, but I was very happy to recieve a phone call from my iPhone 4 WHILST HOLDING IT WITH MY LEFT HAND IN THE DEATH GRIP (such rubbish I tell ya) from Nathan Chalmers. Hadn’t seen him in … well, since school, so nice to catch up, and nice that he kept his promise when I bumped in to him on the bus. Had a blast to be honest, after setting up my Grandma’s new HD TV (yeah I know, techy!), I was straight there. There was also Ben Yates, now Ben I haven’t seen for bluddy years, we probably would of been reunited in Year 9 if we didn’t get put in alternate sets, so haven’t seen Ben Yates really since I was in Year 4, kricky! We had a few pints of catching up, most of which I didn’t pay for which was an even bigger bonus, always happens that when you actually can afford to pay, just you wait next time when I’m skint. So yeah, made a few random videos that I uploaded to their own YouTube channel through my iPhone, don’t even ask what they were doing, bluddy hilarious though.
Now this is gonna get confusing, whilst hanging around with Ben Y, Nathan and his girlfriend, I bumped in to Ben Hunter, I KNOW … … three Bens. No I was rather shocked to see him to be honest, very quick howdy doody then buy as we kinda was with our own crowd, but yeah there ya go!
But overall I really enjoyed catching up with them lot so err swell.
Oh and sticking to a more recent note, Nathan you’re attempt on phone pranking this morning was quite frankly dreadful, it was so obviously you, made my morning just to hear the silence when I replied to your attempted disguised voice “hello Nathan”!

Grandma’s Birthday =/= Rob’s Leaving Do!
For reasons which became apparent recently Rob suddenly was leaving the Charnwood, his work for years now, and moving on to a new job, which of course meant a leaving do, which we we’re all invited to. Unfortunately this kinda was on exactly the same day we’d planned a little do for my Grandma’s birthday, which kinda just meant I was later thats all. Anyway, I have to say whilst I was excited for a rock ‘n’ roll night, with the knowledge that Kai, Caddy and Grandad Lee would be there, I was incredibly disappointed with the (cough) entertainment that followed. For starters, Kai wasn’t their, but the biggest disappointment was it wasn’t really a do, it was just a bunch of people squashed around a small bar talking about history whilst what was now Caddy, Grandad Lee and me, were just sat bord out of a tree. I think it all started to get pointless being there when Caddy left, seriously I was about 3 seconds from leaving, it was utterly boring. I’ve never really liked the Charnwood lot, apologise will not be sent if you’re reading this, I was expecting Rob’s leaving do, bit of a woah-hoo, whilst having a laugh with the lads in the corner. So yeah, safe to say I didn’t enjoy it. Although as we all agreed when Rob pointed her out (whoever she is), the randomer in blue was rather good looking, only rather though, although compared with her surroundings she was the most beautiful thing in the world.
The night, eventually ended and me and Grandad got dropped off in Cleck as we fancied some sh*tty chips, the chips you only enjoy when you’ve had a few pints, I was becoming quite a regular at the place, especially when I’d only been there the previous night ordering the same thing. Reflected on the night, then went home. So, yeah, Grandma’s low-key do = Not bad quite a laugh. Rob’s leaving do = Utter sh*t.
Just noticed I’m swearing quite alot, no I hope he enjoyed it but seriously inviting us, as in Kai, Grandad and Caddy oh and me, was rather pointless as we were left out throughout the night, and when a twat spat in my beer that just settled it.

Ought Else
Yeah actually. You know when your on a bus and you’re alone on a seat, meaning there is one seat left, which leads to people eventually if it gets busy having to sit next to you. Its always weird and awkward when someone sits next to you when there’s other places available isn’t it, and its always an old woman, ugly person or someone that absolutely reeks so bad you go noticeably pale. But hey, listen to this. Today, the bus had plenty of seats, even full rows behind me, but an absolutely beautiful lass got on the bus and sat next to me, I was like WAAATTT, it was also funny to see a chav who thought he was the best thing on the planet do the same thing. Yeah, how bout that, the magic of an Apple product. I almost wished I didn’t have to get off at the next stop, left with a smile from her and left the bus to College. Always awkward to leave a bus when a part of your bodies larger than normally when your entering College, say no more … you would though!

Anyway, on that incredible revelation, I’ll E-Ya Later, until next time!

Ben


http://rkukmedia.co.uk

Apple iPhone 4 32GB – First Impression / Review

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Apple iPhone 4 Review

Introduction
The iPhone 4 has, lets face it, probably had the most unusual and varied beginnings of any, not only Apple but any, product of all time. Starting with massive “wow”, record breaking sales, then oh somethings not right with the antenna, then orrr, its just been too much!
Well, before I start this review, written one week after purchasing the iPhone 4, well 8 days actually, I was busy on Friday, anyway.
I purchased my iPhone 4 from an Apple Store. I wanted to make sure I could get one so I searched in Google to see if I could reserve it, found an Apple.com link, went to it, and reserved it, went to the store and they were amazed on how I’d done it, anyway, got it home and now lets get to the review itself.
I got the iPhone 4 SIM Free, or microSIM Free, so I could pick my network, I picked Vodafone as they are quote on quote “voted the best network for iPhone 4″, we’ll see about that. So, got my microSIM, got my iPhone 4, lets unbox and get to the review.

First Impressions
When you first unbox the iPhone 4, the biggest shock I had was probably, well for one thing not having a wipe, ugghhh, although I did have a SIM Ejection Tool. No, the biggest shock is how thin it is, which does mean you have to get used to holding it, ironicly. The phone feels very strong and well built, something I think the 3G and 3GS design didn’t have, the iPhone 4 definitely doesn’t feel cheap. Despite actually been lighter than previous iPhones, it does seem to feel heavier, don’t know if its the materials or the more squarer shape.
Anyway, turning the phone on, getting my existing apps, music and what not on the iPhone 4 was the boring experience it always is when you get a new iOS device, but of course worth it in the end. I was happy to finally be able to change my home screen wallpaper seen as for some reason the 3G and 2nd gen Touch didn’t deserve that, although their are loads of websites with some brilliant wallpapers that match the home screen perfectly, I found one with the shelves on which looks great.
Then I got round to using the phone itself, I must say I am yet to FaceTime, but I’ll get in to everything else.
Performance
The iPhone 4 is fast, and I’m still getting used to multitasking but am very thankful for it and it is just fast at everything, which was a bit let down to the experience I was used to before I got rid of my iPhone 3G.
The … phone bit.
As a phone, I personally think the iPhone 4 does rather well, I always said that I would not get a case for the iPhone 4 involving the antenna unless it was an issue, and I can quite honestly say it is not an issue for me. Don’t get me wrong, if I sqeeze it like I’m trying to do something to make a man excited then yes the reception goes down MAXIMUM 3 bars, but never to “searching”. Having said that, in my entire history of using mobile phones I am yet to experience a dropped call, which kinda proves how bad US networks must be. Texting is of course great on the iPhone, the best on-screen keyboard on the planet with a great interface.
Camera
The iPhone 4 has a fantastic camera, whilst 5 megapixel doesn’t sound too special, its comparable to the 8 megapixel photos taken from the NOKIA N8, and when we get to video capture then its just overkill, which is helped by the iPhones LED flash. The iPhone 4′s video capture is fantastic, with dual microphones and fantastic quality at 30fps, the iPhone 4 is definitely a replacement device to your camcorder or digital camera*.
Data
Unfortunately the iPhone 4 has launched with new data plans that remove the phrase unlimited, which is annoying, but how much data do you actually use a month. Well, I decided to investigate and after visiting multiple websites, regular Twitter & FaceBook updates, uploaded a video to YouTube (in SD), view Maps locations, I barely used 68.4MB, which if we x4 to that is only 273.6MB, which is nothing to data plans today, so based on data plans that have a minimum of 500MB in their usage, you will be more than fine with your data useage on your iPhone 4*.
Ought Else
My overall experience with the iPhone 4 has been I have to say no more than completely possitive, I’m glad I got the 32GB version, as the fantastic 720P video capture does result in using a lot of storage, as well as downloading more and more of the fantastic collections of apps in the App Store, but I’m yet to experience something wrong with the iPhone 4 even without a case.

Pros
-The camera is insane. Photos are great and videos in 720P HD are incredible.
-Feels like quality, the design is fantastic and the phone just looks great.
-The Apple A4 chip performs speedy even whilst multitasking.
-The built in Gyro allows games to be like never before seen on a phone, also improves Mapping and Compass accuracy.
Cons
-Whilst I had no issues with this, the antenna issue some have been plagued with has to be mentioned as a con.
Summary
The iPhone 4 is indeed the biggest leap since the original iPhone. Design, performance and even general features have all just gone up that extra level to keep up with the competition. With some fantastic deals available for the iPhone 4 I can’t think of many ways why you wouldn’t like an iPhone 4, unless you generally just don’t want one in which fair enough!
Price
SIM Free: £499 (16GB), £599 (32GB)
Availability
Now

Rating: – The best iPhone to date, the antenna issue is a massive over exsaduration, the phone performs great and highly recommend it.

*for casual/average users.