Archives for September 2012

Microsoft Courier to live on through Windows 8 app codenamed Project Austin

Back in September 2009 a new project at Microsoft was found. It was called Microsoft Courier and looked to be an excellent device useful for creating and managing ideas. Although the Courier was both confirmed and killed by Microsoft in a paragraph, the project looks to be living on by the way of an App for the new Windows 8 devices.

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Android Jelly Bean 4.1 update rolling out to Samsung Galaxy S III in Europe

After a few months of waiting, Galaxy S III owners are now beginning to see an update available for download OTA in the form of Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. SIII owners in Poland are amongst the first to get the latest Android update and it appears that the update will be spreading across Europe shortly.

The new update brings a number of new features to the phone which includes project butter which aims to make the user interface as sleek and smooth as possible when transitioning and responding to touch. Also, Google Now will be added to the device. Google Now is a service that aims to anticipate what the user wants to do and organises information accordingly.

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Apple Maps

Now that millions of people have installed iOS 6 on their iPhone or iPad a number of problems have been spotted with the Apple Maps. Problems include town names being in the wrong place down to air ports found in farmers fields etc… The list goes on and on.

In iOS 6, Apple dropped Google Maps as the standard and then switched to Apple Maps so that it had more control over the whole service. Although it has good points such as free navigation built in for latest gen and last gen devices, it still lacks in many areas. One notable example is no street view and even more so, the problem of the maps not being accurate.

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iPhone 5 teardown reveals device is easier to repair

iFixit has done the traditional tear down of the new iPhone 5. The device has just launched here in the UK within the last couple of hours, but over in Australia it has already been available since yesterday due to time zone differences.

The teardown revealed that to get inside you simply need to unscrew a couple of pentelobe screws and after that, use a suction cup to pull the screen off the front. This is a far better design when compared to the likes of the iPhone 4 and 4S as on those versions you had to remove the back of the device and fight through a bunch of electronics to get to the screen to prise it out. Now a screen replacement is just a matter of unfastening the screws, taking the screen off and putting a new one in place.

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iOS 6 now on 15% of devices within first 24 hours

The benefits of having just 1 brand of phone using an OS is that the adoption rate is far quicker. Take the iPhone for example, when a new version of the software is made available it generally works on the last 3 or 4 generations of devices and can be installed at the same time. Previously this had to be done with a wire connecting up to iTunes, but since iOS 5 it has been possible to update over the air. This is why iOS 6 is now on 15% of devices within the first 24 hours of release.

Compare the graph below to that of Android OS updates, we can see that Jelly Bean is only available on 1.5% of devices after about 2 months. That is because there are so many Android devices running the operating system that are either not compatible, or awaiting carriers to modify, build and push a new update out.

Here is a graph showing the adoption rate of iOS 6 (created by Chitika):

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Apple comments on iOS 6 Maps problem

iOS 6 was released a couple of days ago to the public and within the first day or so, many users have reported problems with the maps due to problems when them being incorrect in many cases. Part of the reason for the backlash was that the maps cut out street view which the previous Google version had from iOS 5 and earlier. But, that isn’t the only problem. Users have also complained that there are many errors to be found such as towns missing, towns labelled wrong as well as an airport marked on a farm in Ireland.

Apple has now responded to clarify where it stands. The comment first says how brilliant iOS 6 is and then tags a bit on the end saying that they have a team of engineers working on it.

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Raspberry Pi gets a 50% performance increase – without voiding warranty

Raspberry Pi users can now officially over volt and over clock the Raspberry Pi according to new information today posted on the official RPi website. The new feature is called Turbo Mode which provides a way to make the device faster without the risk of breaking it and voiding the warranty.

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iOS 6 video demonstation of all new features

Redmondpie has been very helpful by putting together a video of all the new features to be found in iOS 6. The demonstration shows both the iPad running iOS 6 and an iPhone running the new operating system. The iPhone is a 4S while the iPad is an iPad 3 (or the new iPad as it’s officially known as).

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iOS 6 Download Now Available

Yesterday, Apple [AAPL] released iOS 6 to the public. The new version builds on previous versions of the operating system. It is compatible with all iPhone models down to the 3GS as well as the latest 2 generations of iPod touch and the iPad 2 and iPad 3. For those running the latest gen iPhone 5 (released tomorrow), this OS makes use of the larger screen and also has all the apps adapted to fill the extra space on the screen.

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iPhone 5 announced – release date is September 21

After many months of speculation and leaks, most of which were correct I might add, the iPhone 5 has finally been announced. The new smartphone is called the iPhone 5 and brings several new things to the iPhone range.

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iPhone 5 packaging leaked

Although the invitation to a press event has a 12 for the date I assume and a number 5 in the shadow, these were put together to mean iPhone 5 announced on September 12. But, a “leaked” picture of what looks to be a packaging printing machine now seems to show that the iPhone might just be referred to as iPhone with using the same naming as the new iPad… ie, “The new iPhone”. The font, text, bolding and upper case letters are all in the right places when compared to the latest gen iPad, so perhaps this is correct.

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iPhone 5 event announced for September 12 by Apple

Apple has sent out invites to a press event which will be held on September 12. As seen in the image below, the phrase “It’s almost here.” is used along with a 12 although the shadow is a number 5 which strongly hints at Apple calling the new phone, assuming it is a phone that is announced, an iPhone 5.

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