Jun
04
2013
6
comments
 

New ‘Cybernetic’ Tweak Improves Notification Banners

Posted by at 5:52 pm

Screen-Shot-2011-11-14-at-12.49.19-AM

Notifications on iOS work well enough, but I’ll just say that I’m hoping Apple to announce some updates to the feature–as well as most other iOS features–next week at WWDC. In the mean time, though, there’s a jailbreak tweak that was just released to hold us over.

Cybernetic, a tweak on the ModMyi repo, brings a variety of updates an enhacements to how iOS handles system notifications. With the tweak, you can:

  • Tap a notification banner to dismiss it
  • Pan down a notification banner (like opening notification center) to launch the app
  • Get rid of all notification banners with an improved Do Not Disturb

To grab the tweak, search for Cybernetic in Cydia. It’s absolutely free. Does this fix iOS notifications for you?

 

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Jun
04
2013
8
comments
 

New Activator Tweak Beta Brings Powerful New Gestures

Posted by at 3:15 pm

Activator is one of the most essential iOS jailbreak tweaks; it allows you to assign various actions such as “Compose a Tweet,” or “Play the Next Track” to triggers such as “Double Tap the Lock Button.” If you want holding the volume up button to play the next track, activator can do that for you.

The tweak’s developer recently released Activator 1.7.5 Beta 6, adding a few Velox-like gestures for triggering system actions. With the lastest version, you can assign flick gestures to specific apps. For instance, you can assign “Flick Up” specifically to the Music app, and doing so can cause a variety of actions such as “Play Next Track.”

Watch the above video for more details, and let us know what you think of these new features!

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Jun
04
2013
19
comments
 

ITC: Apple Guilty of Patent Infringement, Certain Devices Banned from Import

Posted by at 3:11 pm

samsung-vs.-apple

The Samsung-Apple court wars are still raging, even if they haven’t received the same amount of attention. Regardless, the International Trade Commission today ruled against Apple, declaring that certain iOS devices infringed upon Samsung’s 3G patents. Models include the iPhone 4, iPad 3G, and iPad 2 3G.

What does this mean? For starters, people with affected devices can continue using these devices. In that regard, very little will change. This ruling does not go into effect for 60 days, during which the White House can veto the decision. If the White House upholds the ruling, then Apple can take the case further and contest this ruling, which would result in a postponement of this ban until another decision is made.

After all of these options are exhausted, Apple would be unable to sell the devices which were found to be infringing upon Samsung’s patent in the United States, and potentially elsewhere as similar cases would use this judgement in their consideration. (more…)

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Jun
04
2013
12
comments
 

Bill Nye to Host a Session at WWDC

Posted by at 2:44 pm

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The WWDC app that Apple released yesterday may have a bit of what most consider to be foreshadowing, but there are a few little tidbits we have learned as fact thanks to the app. As 9to5Mac reports, Bill Nye will present his own session at WWDC 2013, detailing the “remarkable chain of events that led to his understanding of the process of science.”

The Bill Nye the Science Guy® show is celebrating its 20th Anniversary.  The Science Guy himself will describe the remarkable chain of events that led to his understanding of  the process of science, the need to engage young people, and the power and joy of knowing our place among the stars, our place in space.  We’ve had 20 years of the Science Guy; today, there’s an app for that…

If the session’s description is to be believed, we may be seeing a Bill Nye-labeled app release. Who knows. For those of you going, the session will be held Friday June 17th during the lunch break.

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Jun
04
2013
10
comments
 

Could a New iPhone Hack Fuel Future Jailbreaks?

Posted by at 11:15 am

Evasi0n, the official iOS 6 untethered jailbreak tool.

Yesterday, it was reported that an iPhone could be comprised in less than one minute with a malicious third-party charger. The hack involves leveraging USB capabilities to bypass iOS defense mechanisms, allowing a user to inject malware code right into an iOS device.

A trio of hackers will be demonstrating these vulnerabilities at the upcoming Black Hat USA conference, and it has fuelled interest that the concept could be applied to future jailbreaking methods. At least one iOS hacker in Joshua Hill (p0sixninja) confirms that it’s indeed a possibility, so it’s exciting to see what could happen.

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Jun
04
2013
41
comments
 

Stop Whining About Apple’s So-Called ‘Lack of Innovation’

Posted by at 10:00 am

apple_logo_grey1Tech pundit MG Siegler couldn’t have said it any better about Apple’s innovation, or apparent lack thereof:

After all, it’s been so long since the last truly innovative product, the iPad, came out. Um, the iPad came out three years ago. Three years! Guess how much time there was between that product and the last “truly innovative” product, the iPhone? Three years. Guess how much time there was between that product and the last “truly innovative” product, the iPod? Five and a half years.

Newsflash: true innovation takes time. Apple has by far the best track-record in recent history when it comes to such products. But how quickly we forget how long each one took to come to market. There needs to be a Turn so we can appreciate the Prestige. But screw that. We want more, better, faster. Cue Louis CK.

Apple will deliver innovation in due time. Everyone needs to calm down.

[TechCrunch via iDB]

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Jun
04
2013
10
comments
 

iPad Mini Refresh Could Be Delayed For Quite Some Time

Posted by at 8:45 am

ipad miniApple introduced both the iPad mini and fourth-generation iPad last October, but it appears that only the latter will be in store for an update in the near future.

According to DigiTimes, volume production of the full-sized iPad will begin in July-August. Meanwhile, it is claimed that production of the second-generation iPad mini could be postponed from September to November.  (more…)

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Jun
04
2013
18
comments
 

Zynga Killed OMGPOP

Posted by at 7:25 am

OMGZYNGA

Zynga has shut down OMGPOP, just sixteen months after acquiring the Draw Something creator, as part of a larger 18 percent decrease in the company’s workforce. The move resulted in a sharp decline of Zynga’s stock price, down around 12 percent after the closing bell yesterday.

Draw Something, a social game that requires users to guess sketches drawn by other players, was a smash hit on the iPhone for its creators OMGPOP. The game surpassed 50 million downloads in just 50 days, entering Angry Birds territory in terms of success on the App Store.

Then, things took a turn for the worse. (more…)

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Jun
04
2013
26
comments
 

Android User’s Galaxy S III Explodes and Lights on Fire While He is Asleep

Posted by at 6:53 am

Exploded Galaxy S III

Talk about a nightmare.

Reddit user vizionx1208 details a scary situation in which his Galaxy S III exploded while he was sleeping, presumably as a result of the lithium-ion battery overcharging. The user claims that everything about the smartphone was stock, including its battery and charger, and that it was not rooted. This is how the events unfolded, edited for clarity.  (more…)

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Jun
03
2013
6
comments
 

Taste the Rainbow: WWDC App Pulls a Concept from iOS Calendars to Sort Events

Posted by at 5:03 pm

Photo Jun 03, 9 30 40 AM

Using color to sort things isn’t a new idea at Apple nor at any software company for that matter. Colors are a great way to distinguish between things because they are (1) one of the unique things that are known to us soon after birth and (2) unmistakable; you can’t get green and red confused unless you’re colorblind or are the age of three (I mean no offense to colorblind people and, now that I think about it, that may actually be something Apple needs to explore). I was reminded of this while browsing through the Cupertino corporation’s latest official app offering and found that they have brought a concept long apart of the default calendar app to the year 2013. (more…)

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