OS X Mavericks
The Mac software is now super power efficient and mega fast. This is achieved using Timer Coalescing, which groups CPU operations together, allowing more idle time and faster performance. Mavericks reduces activity by 72%, saving much needed battery life. An interesting feature has been added to OS X Mavericks, App Nap. It slows down the app which you're not currently using and which isn't in view (for example, if you paused your music and started using another app), and again, it saves battery life. When you start using the app again, it works as normal and at full speed. App Nap works the same way with tabs in Safari. When you are currently viewing one tab, the others slow down to conserve energy. The best thing is that you don't even notice it.
Now, everyone hates it when various adverts are running on a web page, especially if you're not interested. Safari has a solution. The ads don't start playing by themselves, instead, you can choose if you want them to play or not by clicking a bar at the top of an ad. Simple and easy. The new version of OS X has compressed memory, allowing you to have lots of apps open without being deprived of speed at which they run in.
New features and updated apps:
Calendar - The stitches are gone, and amazingly everything still sticks to the screen. How did they manage to do that? Calendar now displays a weather forecast and journey time to each of your events. Facebook events now appear right in your calendar, now there's no excuse for forgetting someone's birthday. Also, when you click on an event, a little slice of the map appears at the bottom, so you know where to go. Scrolling is now much smoother and faster if you want to go far forward in time.
Safari - The world's best browser is now even better. When you have multiple tabs open, only the one you are currently in is active; the others practically go to sleep, increasing power efficiency. Whenever you open Safari, you are greeted with your Top Sites so you can visit them quickly and easily. You can also drag bookmarks and to the Top Sites section and rearrange thumbnails. The web pages you visit are a lot more responsive and scrolling is smoother than before.The new Sidebar lets you see your bookmarks, thumbnails and shared links. Safari is much more efficient and faster than Chrome and Firefox.
iCloud Keychain - This feature remembers and stores you passwords safely, so now there's no need to worry about forgetting your passwords. They are automatically filled in whenever and wherever you need them. Unique passwords are generated for your new accounts to keep them safer, but you can always use your own one. iCloud Keychain also stores your credit card information.
Multiple Displays - You can now connect two Macs together, to act as one. The displays work in perfect harmony: the dock appears on whichever screen you're working on, and each has it's own menu bar. You can open apps in full screen mode on each display and even turn your TV into a fully functional display using your Apple TV and AirPlay. How's about that?
Notifications - Reply to emails, messages, and other notifications without having to leave the app you're in. You can also sign up with your favourite websites to stay up to date with the latest news and goings on. Furthermore, you can answer FaceTime calls without having to stop what you are doing - it will all appear in a box at the side of your screen. A summary with all of your notifications will appear if you've been away from your Mac.
Finder Tabs - One window now consists of multiple tabs, to find the things you want, when you want. As well as that, you can now open Finder in a full screen view, to see even more of your files at once.
Tags - You can now keep all your related documents in one place, using tags. Place all your important documents in one place with an "important" tag, or keep all your school work under the "school" tag. Finding organising your files has never been easier.
OS X is a big step forward in the Mac software and users are definitely going to like it. Hopefully there won't be any glitches and everything will work fine and at the promised speed.
iOS 7 - The Mobile OS from a whole New Perspective
A completely redesigned UI, a pure representation of simplicity, all-new apps and more. Ladies and gentlemen, iOS 7 is here, prepare to be amazed. Rumours said it's going to be different, rumours said it's going to be flat, rumours said it will change the whole course of iOS forever. Well, here it is:The User Interface has got a completely new look. It's fresh. It's clean. It has a whole new sense of depth, brought to us by distinct layers, which establish order along the software. iOS 7 cleverly takes advantage of translucency, this makes even the simplest of tasks more engaging. A whole new set of motions and animations has been introduced - scrolling, unlocking, swiping and simple movements of your device make it all a little bit more interesting. Tilting your iDevice left or right, when in the home screen view, reveals new parts of your background image by moving the icons in a 3D sort of way. Each and every icon on the home screen has been radically redesigned around a new grid system. A whole new pallette of beautiful colours has been added. None of this may matter to you, but it makes a massive difference.
Introducing the new features and redesigned apps:
Control Centre - Now, everything is just a small swipe away, no matter what app you're in. You get quick access to wifi, Bluetooth, airplane mode and Do Not Disturb. Control Centre also lets you change the brightness, play/pause music and connect to AirPlay. You can now swiftly turn on the flashlight, open the timer, calculator and camera.
Notifications - All you need to do is swipe down, which ever app you're in. It lets you know a whole new range of things. Missed calls, new mail, to-dos and much more. A whole new section called 'Today' lets you know if you need an umbrella, if it's someone's birthday or the latest traffic data. It also gives you a heads-up on tomorrow. What about that, eh?
Multitasking - Just like before, press the home button twice to reveal the multitasking menu. It's a whole lot better. Along side the Windows-like look, it learns which apps you open, and when. For example, if you visit Safari everyday at around 10am, iOS remembers. The app will be ready for you. It knows what you want to do, before you do it. To completely close an app, just swipe it up and it's gone. Just like that.
Camera - All you need from a camera, right at your fingertips. You can now choose from four different formats: video, photo, square and panorama. The all new filters give you endless photo editing power, whether you want your photo to be black and white or spruce it up retro style, you can do it all in one app.
Photos - A brand new look, for your brand new memories. Photos now sorts your pictures into different sections, depending on the time and place they were taken in. Share the captured moments with your family and friends, using iCloud.
AirDrop - Quickly and easily share photos, videos and contacts over wifi or Bluetooth. Simple. Once received, the photo, video or contact is saved where it should be. No hassle at all. You are automatically visible to people who have you in their contacts with iOS 7, but you can change that and make your self also visible to people nearby.
Safari - The world's most used browser, now completely redesigned to make surfing the web even easier. Brilliant. Tabs have gotten a 3D view, to get rid of a page just swipe it off the screen. Easy. Safari has now got a search field like Chrome, you can type in a URL or search term, it knows what to do. The Reading List has been redesigned and lets you scroll through it seamlessly. Also, see which webpages people have shared on Twitter and what they had to say about them. As well as all of that, Safari safely stores all your passwords, so you don't need to worry about a thing.
Siri - Your personal assisstant. Ask whatever you want, whenever you want. Siri has a new voice, you can choose between a male or female. It answers questions with significant speed and accuracy, thanks to it's new sources - Bing, Wikipedia and Twitter.
App Store - The best place to download apps and games is now even better. You can search apps that are most popular near you, there is a new kids category; where you can satisfy the gaming needs of your little ones. Best of all, it updates apps automatically.
Find my iPhone - You don't have to worry about losing your beloved iDevice, or anyone hacking into it. Turning off this feature or erasing your memory requires your Apple ID and password, so no one can get their hands on your information, contacts, photos and everything else. All that is completely safe.
iTunes Radio - Yep. It's here. Listen to your favourite radio stations and artists, all from the music app. You can add things to your wishlist, and iTunes Radio remembers which songs you've listened to. Unfortunately, this is only available in the US at the moment, but Apple will add other countries soon.
In addition, the Maps app looks well thought out this time and has surely been improved. iOS 7 will be available to download this fall and is compatible with: iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPod Touch 5th gen, iPad 2, iPad with Retina display and the iPad Mini. It will be what seems like an extremely long wait, but it will be worth it. After all, iOS is the most advanced mobile operating system out there.
Apple is Replacing iPhone 5 Screens in Store - iPhone 6 to be the Same Size
Apple has started replacing iPhone 5 screens in-store, meaning that if your your screen is cracked or smashed, and your local store is equipped with the new machine, all you have to do is walk into a Genius Bar and wait a few minutes.
This investment in machinery designed to make iPhone 5 repairs possible in store likely indicates that when Apple launches a new iPhone later in the year the screen is likely to be similar to the current phone. Reports suggest that the machine cannot be used to fix screens on any other model of iPhone, and it seems unlikely that Apple would choose to produce a machine that may soon become obsolete.
The new machines have been distributed to most stores - at least in the US - and are used to calibrate the display's functionality, after the screen has been replaced. If your iPhone 5 is still on warranty, the repair will cost about $149 (about £97). However, if it isn't then the screen replacement will deprive you of $229 (about £150).
We’ve contacted Apple for details of the UK pricing for the service and haven’t yet had a response. We do know that Apple already had a system in place for customers to arrange the repair of an iPhone screen. Apple charges £139 to replace a cracked screen (£146.29 if you use the mail order service). In both cases the phone is sent away.
You may be able to find someone else to repair the screen for less, but you should be aware that letting someone else tamper with your iPhone would void your warranty.
512 Pixels got hold of a photo of the new machine, and stated: "From what I’ve heard, Apple Stores have been instructed that the iPhone is the “top priority” for the Genius Bar, and this new repair — and crazy machine — surely reflects that. In addition to the program changes, many stores have Geniuses that are dedicated to iPhone repairs for sections of their shifts. In short, Apple is pouring resources in to in-store iPhone repairs."
We reported earlier in May that Apple had plans to repair more iPhones in store rather than exchange a broken iPhone for a refurbished one. At the time it was believed that Apple would role out the changes in the US this autumn.
iPhones that are sent off to have their screen replaced are currently replaced with a refurbished model so customers lose their data (unless they had a back up). This new program will save you the hassle of sending your phone off for a long period of time, or even worse, losing it in the process and receiving a new device; therefore having to restore it from an iCloud backup.
Unfortunately, the in-store screen replacement service is only available for the iPhone 5, the newest version of Apple's iPhone. It is unlikely that older versions will be included since the unit is likely set up for the 4in screen of the iPhone 5.
Currently Apple Store staff are only able to carry out replacements of batteries, vibrator motors, speakers, receivers and home buttons in store. Under the new plans revealed at a Apple meeting in May, the Apple store staff will be able to replace the display, cameras, sleep/wake button, and logic board.
Apple Devices can be Hacked Using a Malicious Charger
The malware is practically undetectable, meaning that the user is oblivious to what's going on inside their iPhone, iPad or iPod. The USB charger has a BeagleBoard built into it, turning what you think is a standard charger into a harmful computer that is capable of doing quite a lot of damage. The BeagleBoard is a low-cost (£30 / $45), single-board open source computer produced by Texas Instruments to teach open source hardware and software capabilities. Once your device is plugged in, the custom software cracks the iOS code to install malware.
Devices were previously hacked, and still are, using malicious software hidden in downloadable files which the user unknowingly installs onto their computer or another device. Such attacks never happen on Apple's devices, due to the highly secure software that they use. However, attacks on iDevices could become more popular and frequent because of the new 'wall charger' computer; unless Apple fix this gateway into their software quickly.
The team behind this clever way of hacking are the Black Hat Hackers, who aren't your usual bunch of operators. They research ways in which devices can be attacked so that we know what to look out for and what not to download. A yearly conference is held in the USA where the team announce their findings. This year they will certainly talk about the wall charger which installs malware onto an Apple device and inform Apple of how they can close the gateway into iOS. You can read more on their website.
The researchers, Chengyu Song, Billy Lau and Yeongjin Yang stated: "All users are affected, as our approach requires neither a jailbroken device nor user interaction." They later added "This hardware was selected to demonstrate the ease with which innocent-looking, malicious USB chargers can be constructed." More information will be revealed at this year's Black Hat conference starting on the 27th of July.
My advice would be to stay well clear of chargers which aren't made by Apple. Also, try to avoid downloading unknown software or apps onto your device as they may be carrying dangerous malware.
WWDC 2013 App
The app is available to download from the App Store now. The WWDC will start off with an official Apple Keynote, where we expect iOS 7, OS X 10.9 and new Macs to be unveiled.
Stay tuned and I will keep you up to date with the latest news from the WWDC.
iPhone Owners Spend 55% More Time on Their Phone Than Android Users
The average iPhone user spends 1 hour and 15 minutes on their device everyday, this is substantially more than Android users, who only spend around 49 minutes on their handsets. Android phones are used for talking (28%) more than iPhones (22%), which in turn are used more for texting (22%) than Android handsets (16%). Android owners spend 16% of the time browsing the web, iPhone owners only spend 12%, which suggests that people prefer larger screens for visiting websites. iPhones, however, lead the way in social networking, sending emails and taking stunning pictures.
Both, Android and iPhone users spend less time watching videos and reading, each accounting for less than 1% of mobile phone usage everyday. This information points towards the fact that we prefer to watch videos on tablets, which have bigger screens, and reading actual books rather than gauging our eyes out at a small display.
If you would like to read more on this subject then visit Simmons Connect.