Few tricks for IPhone users

At long last, iOS 7 has arrived, though with a lot of emmm hiccups but still iOS 7 is a strange new land, especially on day one. Out with the gradients, in with the trippy fluorescents. Your favorite app? It probably looks completely different now.

It can be confusing, but we’re here to help. iOS 7 has all sorts of nifty little tricks tucked away in places that are in no way immediately obvious, especially if you haven’t followed Tim Cook’s every word along the way.

If you’ve been using iOS 7 for a while, you might know some of these. Hell, you might know most of these. But we tried to cover the bases to make sure that most people learn a thing or two. (Know all of these? You’re way cool, high five. Share another trick down in the comments!)

Swipe Down For Search:

Gone are the days of having to swipe or tap your way to iOS’ dedicated search page. You can now access Spotlight search from anywhere on the homescreen. Just swipe down in the middle of the screen.

You can use Spotlight to quickly search across your device’s apps, emails, and contacts — but curiously, it seems that Apple has removed Spotlight’s ability to search the web. I’m pretty sure I never actually used that, but this is the Internet so I’m supposed to complain now that it’s gone.

Swipe Up For Toggles:

Fixing what is perhaps one of iOS’ most glaring, long-lasting omissions, iOS 7 puts one-click access to things like Airplane mode and Wi-Fi/Bluetooth toggles just one swipe away, instead of hiding them in settings.

To get to the new Control Panel, just swipe up from the bottom of the screen anywhere you might be. You’ll get buttons for Airplane mode, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Do Not Disturb, Orientation lock, and sliders for brightness and media control. Oh, and there’s a flashlight in there. So if you were thinking about building a dedicated flashlight app, now is probably not a good time.

Reveal iMessage and SMS Timestamps:

iOS has always been kind of weird about telling you when a message was sent or received. It’ll tell you when some messages came through — but only if it’s the first one that’s come through in a while in a given thread. If you sent a bunch of messages around 12:45, for example, you’d normally only get that first 12:45 timestamp.

With iOS 7, you can reveal the timestamp for each and every message. Just grab one of the speech bubbles in a thread and swipe to the left. Tada! Timestamps! Never argue about exactly when a message was sent again!

Swipe To Close Safari Tabs:

Safari has a new, scrolling 3D tab interface that allows for just about as many tabs as you want.

Alas, these tabs also have new, tiny “X” buttons that make closing them quickly a bit of a pain.

Forget the X button — it’s for chumps. Swipe the tabs away to the left, instead. It’s a whole lot faster, and requires less precision when you’re trying to dump a bunch of tabs on the go.

Call/SMS/Facetime Blocking:

With iOS 7, it’s finally a pretty straightforward process to block people from calling, messaging, or FaceTime-ing (FaceTiming? Facing? Agh.) you. You can find the block list at either Settings > Phone > Blocked; Settings > Messages > Blocked; or Settings > FaceTime > Blocked. Note, however, that the block list is universal — block them in the phone settings, and they’re blocked on FaceTime, too.

App-By-App Cell Data Usage/Blockage:

Want to see which app is using up all of your cell plan’s precious megabytes? Want to keep Pandora from streaming unless it’s on Wi-Fi?

Pop into Settings > Cellular and scroll down to the bottom. You can see which apps have used the most cell data and block any app from using cell data at all. (Note: An app needs to have used cell data at least once for it to show up in the list.)

How To Close Apps:

Apple changed the App Switching/App Closing mechanism up a bit with iOS 7. It used to be that to close an app, you’d double tap the home button, wait for the app drawer to slide out, then press and hold on an icon until the little “X” appeared.

With iOS 7, the whole thing looks and works a bit more like webOS of yesteryear. Double tap the home button to bring up the fullscreen app switcher, which provides a screenshot of each running application in a sideways-scrolling carousel. To close an application, simply swipe the app’s screenshot up and off the screen.

(Note: You really shouldn’t need to close apps all that often. Unless the app has crashed and refuses to fix itself or it’s doing something that is eating your battery, iOS 7 is designed so that most apps use little to no resources when in the background.)

Bonus Tricks:

Folders can now be paged, allowing them to hold a huge number of apps.
Safari still has private-browsing mode, it’s just in the app itself now instead of hidden away in settings. Find the switch in Safari’s tabs screen.
Airdrop, Apple’s much touted system for wirelessly transferring files to other nearby iPhones, only works with the iPhone 5 and later. (I’ve spotted many a 4S user wasting time trying to figure out how the heck to turn it on, when the option simply isn’t there for them. Don’t worry, I wasted a good 10 minutes myself.)
Miss the “List” view in the calendar app? It’s still there, just not immediately obvious. Tap the search icon to bring up a scrollable list. If you’re into using default ringtones, give Apple’s list another look. They’ve added a bunch of new trancy ringtones and chiptuney text alerts.
Siri has picked up a bunch of new tricks. You can toggle settings (“Turn On Do Not Disturb”), ask for recent tweets (“What is TechCrunch saying?”), show you pictures (“Show me pictures of cats”) pulled from Bing, provide Wikipedia info inline (“Tell me about TechCrunch”), post to Facebook, play back voicemail, list recently missed calls, and find restaurants on Yelp and make OpenTable reservations.
iOS 7 keeps tabs on where you hang out most, allowing it to cache relevant nearby data. It’s neat, if a bit spooky. Once you’ve used iOS 7 for a while, go to Settings > Privacy > Location Services > System Services to view a list of your frequent haunts. You can also turn this feature off at the same location.

You want a Gold Iphone 5s? We do too

The gold iPhone 5s (which still seems more “champagne” than gold to me) was a phone that seemed improbable when it was first rumored, but Apple did indeed make it – and consumers seem glad. A report from the Wall Street Journal says that Apple is asking suppliers to increase production of the gold finish iPhone 5s in order to keep up with demand.

Currently, just a few hours after iPhone 5s orders have gone live on the Apple online store, the gold iPhone is the only model that’s showing a shipping time longer than “7 to 10 days”) in the U.S., and it’s not going to make it out to new buyers until October, per the order page. With every new iPhone, there are supply constraints initially in terms of how many Apple can produce, and it’s also possible that the gold iPhone carries additional constraints depending on how hard it is to produce the aluminum with that particular finish, but regardless it looks like the somewhat unorthodox color choice is the big seller this time around.

“I don’t care what’s inside the device,” the WSJ quotes TV-station employee Lian Jiyu, who was waiting for an iPhone 5s in Beijing, regarding his own device color choice. “Chinese people like gold.”

One launch day iPhone buyer on the ground at the Toronto flagship store reports that it’s already completely sold out, even before the doors have officially opened, thanks to a reservation system put in place for those waiting.

Apple’s iPhone 5s and 5c launch in Hong Kong appeared to draw a considerable line, the WSJ reports, and in Beijing line-ups were manageable and without any kind of excessive drama. This differs considerably from previous years where there was almost a riot at the kick-off of iPhone 4S sales in the city. The company has changed its launch strategy as a result, giving customers the chance to pre-order and then assigning them a time to come to the location to pick up their devices.

Apple is selling the iPhone at launch in China for the first time ever, which could help alleviate grey market device sales, which are normally a big issue in the country. But it sounds like demand for the gold 5s, combined with scarcity of that model could create a different type of grey market opportunity, which is another good reason for Apple to ramp up production and try to supply the appetite for the gold finish device themselves. Everyone wants a gold iPhone 5s, or wouldn't you?

Bbm for Android and Ios

Bbm ? On Android? We prefer whatsapp. Well that's they thought, 21st of September came and what do you know. Almost a million people hadn't slept all night, a couple of thousands were constantly darting in and out of the playstore, others were on blogs, websites and social networks searching for bbm for their android and ios devices. The app didn't show up at the playstore causing a lot of angry outbursts, apparently almost the whole world were secretly cheering for #bbm4all. At the end of the day over a million people had downloaded the app for android and a couple of thousand for iPhone.
BBM for android has been a long time coming, and the result is a fairly slick-looking app with the bright, flat design language we've come to expect from just about everything. Coming to both iOS and Android this weekend(it was supposed to) it seems to runs on different servers than its native BlackBerry counterpart, and BlackBerry is selling the service partly as a secure alternative to existing competitors. That said, its user experience the little I have seen is definitely gonna give whatsapp a good run for its money. The design includes just about everything you'd expect: a slide-out side menu includes group messaging features and other settings, while a contacts list lets you talk to individual users. Now you'll be getting contacts by giving them your pin and controlling who talks to you. Unlike every tom,dick and harry chatting with you cos they have your phone number.

Nokia lumia 1020: specifications

Nokia confirms the Lumia 1020, a cameraphone that offers 41-megapixel photos on the Windows Phone operating system.

Nokia's newest handset places great emphasis on its photographic capabilities, boasting a second generation 41-megapixel sensor, and available in a choice of yellow, white or black.

It claims to 'reinvent zoom, enabling people to discover more detail than the eye can see' due to its PureView technology. Deploying features such as optical image stabilisation, the device claims to be able to produce some of the sharpest images possible on any digital camera.

A similar device, the Pureview 808, launched last year, but ran on the now defunct Symbian operating system.

The Lumia 1020 includes a new application called Nokia Pro Camera, designed to make it easy for anyone to take professional quality images. Either before a picture is taken or after it has been shot, the user can see how the zoom capability and the chosen settings will affect the final photo or video.

Another new feature is dual capture, which simultaneously takes a high resolution 38-megapixel image to set aside for editing, and creates a 5-megapixel picture to share to social networks via Windows Phone 8.

The 41 megapixel sensor features Zeiss optics and a choice of six physical lenses, plus optical image stabilisation, claiming to deliver crystal clear pictures even in low light conditions. It also captures blur-free videos with stereo sound even at the loudest concerts due to Nokia Rich Recording, designed to handle sound pressure levels six times louder than conventional smartphone microphones.

Stephen Elop, President and CEO of Nokia said: “We want to take people on a journey from capturing pictures to recording and sharing their lives. The Nokia Lumia 1020 will bring new meaning to pictures and continues to strengthen Nokia’s leadership in imaging.”

Analysts, however, claimedthe Lumia alone cannot turn around Nokia's fortunes.

Daniel Gleeson, mobile analyst at IHS Electronics and Media said: "The issue for Nokia is that photography on smartphones is not just about having the best quality pictures. Sharing pictures to social networks is more important to most consumers than printing. High engagement levels means that convincing Instagram users to switch from iPhone or Android to Nokia's platform will be difficult.

"The lack of an Instagram app for Windows Phone also reinforces the fact that the platform is lagging in choice and quality of applications compared to iPhone or Android. Furthermore, the popularity of Instagram's filters again proves that absolute top rate picture quality is not actually important for the majority of users.”

Alongside the handset, Nokia also released a new imaging software development kit (SDK) that provides key image editing features of the Lumia 1020 to developers, and a camera grip allowing for hands-free photo taking, complete with built-in tripod mount.

Other features include increased battery life, the addition of popular apps Path and Flipboard being added to the Windows Phone app roster, and customers will be treated to an ad and subscription free Nokia Music streaming account.

The Nokia Lumia 1020 will arrive first on US shores on July 26 for $299.99 on a two-year contract, and will make its way across to China and key European markets this quarter.

Fifa 13 finally out on mobile, but only for Nokia Lumia: for now

Fifa 12 is a game we all love and we are all eagerly expecting Fifa 13 with held breathes. Its finally out but it seems its only Nokia Lumia users that will be enjoying it for the main time. Well, we know that it's a shame, but only if you own a Nokia Lumia Windows Phone 8 device, you will be able to download the newly released FIFA 13 from the Windows Phone Store. Word is that graphics are nothing you've seen before, and the controls are said to be extremely precise. The new FIFA 13 includes around 500 licensed teams, which can participate in 30 leagues. Players have the vast database of 15,000 players at call and can make them sprint on 32 real-world stadiums. The price of the game is $4.99.

Iwatch Iphone Ipod touch Imac Ipad: Connected?

It seems Apple's inovations will come to its rescue again. As Apple shares hover around the $400 mark, investors continue to look for signs the company will innovate and tackle new growth markets before confidence is restored. Among the new devices Apple will reportedly launch in the near future is a connected wrist watch rumored to be called the “iWatch,” which would mark Apple’s entrance into the emerging wearable computing market. Dozens of reports suggest an iWatch is imminent, and now it has been discovered that Apple recently filed documents in an effort to trademark the name “iWatch” in Japan, Bloomberg reported. This is the second country in which Apple has attempted to trademark the name — the first was Russia — and it is the most solid evidence yet that the company plans to launch a smartwatch in the future.

Windows phone gets best apps iOS and android have to offer

Mass Effect, NBA Jam, Real Racing 2 and Tiger Woods on windows mobile? Yes! Yes! Yes!
Windows Phone is catching up in titles, but if you ask phone manufacturers who support Microsoft’s system - it’s not really catching up quick enough.Mass effectReal racing 2Tiger Woods Pga tourNba jam Nokia is the one company most dependant on Windows Phone and Microsoft for its future and that’s why it’s been pushing for more better apps quicker.

And now it gets them. Coming exclusively for Nokia Lumia Windows Phones are four of the best games available on mobile - Mass Effect Infiltrator, NBA Jam, Real Racing 2 and Tiger Wood PGA Tour 12. All games are made by Electronic Arts.

Mass Effect Infiltrator first launched on Xbox and now comes on WP. It’s a pure third-person shooter with controls optimized for touch so that tapping on an opponent locks the fire on them. The game costs $6.99.

NBA Jam brings a dose of basketball fantasy in just the right time as the NBA enters its finals phase. The game lets you play your team of two against another one and costs $2.99. Real Racing 2 is one of the best racing games bringing jaw dropping graphics and realistic physics. The game is available for $4.99. Finally, there is Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12 allowing you to create a custom golfer with a neat system allowing you to better gauge your shot.These are some of the most anticipated games and getting them exclusively on Lumia would be something that might push gamers into buying a Nokia device. And N.O.V.A. 3 for Windows Phone is just around the corner. Exciting times, aren’t they?

source: WPCentral

More Women own smartphones than men do

The smartphone market is quickly moving towards maturity and this latest infographic summarizing stats from the United Kingdom is a good illustration. Smartphones are penetrating people of all demographics and age, with more women owning a smartphone in the UK and more people in their mid forties to seventies owning a smart handset.

In only a couple of years smartphone penetration surged from 38% in 2010 to 60% in 2013. Interestingly, while in 2010 the survey showed that 63% of smartphone owners were men, now that has changed and there are more women owning a smartphone, 58%, according to eDigitalResearch and IMRG.

There is a lot of other interesting facts showing how smartphones become truly universal and widespread among all kinds of people in theworld

Site distributes pirated iOS apps, you don't need a jailbreak

Ios and their closed system, well a new way of installing pirated iOS apps on an iPhone or iPad without being jailbroken has just appeared! It turns out that a Chinese pirate site, called 7659, has found a way to do just that.

These smart fellows have achieved this by exploiting Apple's own bulk enterprise licensing tools. The tools are usually used by companies to distribute apps to their employees more easily, but it looks like it has fallen into the wrong hands. Utilizing the tools, the pirates are now offering paid apps for free through their site. The "service" is only available in China, but according to some reports, it's possible to take advantage of it if you use a proxy server.

Apparently, they "believe" that using the iTunes platform can prove to be a bit difficult for Chinese users, which is why they are offering a new way of getting applications. According to them, the percentage of jailbroken phones in China since the service's launch has dropped from 60% to around 30%, which, however, doesn't really matter that much, considering that those non-jailbroken users are still getting pirated content. It would certainly be interesting to see how Apple reacts, a new update just because of them or they'll just let sleeping dogs lie?

Here's the full message by site:

"First of all, we would like to thank all Apple users around the world and your support for Kuaiyong.

Statistics have shown that a significant amount of Apple users are Chinese based. However, the fact is that in China, a large number of Apple users are not very familiar with the iTunes system and how to effectively manage it.

In order for Chinese Apple fans to download applications securely, Kuaiyong developed its own method of giving users access to thousands of free apps without having to jailbreak their devices. Kuaiyong offers detailed descriptions of apps, free app download trial, IOS device management and visual and audio file backup system. IOS system backup and recovery features will also be released in the very near future.

Our goal has always been about bringing Chinese Apple users with quick, convenient and pleasant IOS experience. Since the introduce of Kuaiyong, the proportion of jailbreak in China has declined dramatically from 60% to around 30%. Kuaiyong will hold on to this goal in the future and we would like to see more support for Apple as well as Kuaiyong."

Ios vs Android: The battle is over

   Wrong am I? No i'm not. The ios vs android war is over and a winner has emerged. If this were in the wee months of 2012 we might have given it to the ios but fast forward to 2013 and android has won the battle and probably the war. These operaring systems have changed mobile devices and what they can do in the palms of our hands, ios with its simplicity and sureness of efficiency. Android with its effectiveness of acheiving whatever you set it to do. The debate would continue to rage and points will continue to be made but android has a couple of advantages over the ios and they are pretty solid ones.

 The home screen: ios and android have gotten better and a lot of cosmetic and structural changes have gone into them after ios 4 and gingerbread. These versions of their respective operating systems were where they really got it right, the newer versions were built on these systems.

The android home screen gives you everything, live wallpapers, weather, news streams, notifications widgets, everything. The iphone is different from the android phones as the os and phone come from the same manufacturer so it is relatively easy for them to make the phone look exactly as they envision. The number of phone makers and the different mobile operators have given the android homescreen very diverse looks. The nexus line seems to be the only brand that offers an unadulterated android homescreen. With the notifications bar just a pull away, weather widget, news and all the nexus homescreen is a real beauty. The amount of custimization is simply breathtaking and that is exactly what android is all about. Do as you please.



 Variety: one major strenght of android is its variety. With sammy churning out devices like tomorrow is another day to die hard and Htc showing that its not by thousands of plastic phones but hundreds of solid well built devices and Lg, Motorola and other brands producing phones with diverse specs and screen sizes plus their own modifications to the os, the iphone is outgunned and outnumbered. Even Mohamed Ali cant fight Tyson and Mayweather at a time and expect to win.

Apps: The itunes store has the largest volume of apps, something the windowsphone  would cringe at hearing. But android is growing fast, and fast enough that it is likely it overtake the istore. Also the argument that iphone apps have a better quality than its android counterparts is losing steam because the quality of apps in the playstore has drastically improved. Every app that the android os has can stand toe to toe with its ios version. Games like modern combat 4, nova, shadowgun, real racing and a lot of others offer great graphics and an awesome gaming experience.

nba 2k12 android

need for speed iphone

nba 2k12 iphone

fifa 12 android

need for speed android

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Screen size: according to a survey, smartphone owners prefer a bigger screen something along the four inches line. The 3.5 screen of the iphone was great but now with far larger android screens and equally stunning graphics they lay out small screens dont cut it anymore. Even though the iphone 5's screen grew in height it still doesn't look large.


Cross app integration: The ios closed nature doesnt allow apps to share common resources, for example a pdf document in your email can never be saved. It'll only exist in your email. The android os allows you to share a document or picture, anything as far as another app can make use of it there is the option for that app to find it and use it.


I for innovation: the I in the iphone and iproducts mean innovation. Well that's what some people believe. But after ios4 innovation seems to have ended with the iphone. Meanwhile android has grown in leaps and bounds in this regard. Project butter, widgets, smooth transition between panes, apps, heavy web pages, and a lot of cosmetic changes have occured on the os. The different manufacturers also add their own ideas, sometimes it works other times it doesnt. The samsung s3 with its front facing camera that knows when you are not looking at the phone and puts off the screen then turns on when you do, pauses and plays videos when you look away and look back, Samsung s4 with its hovering gesture control and the likes.



The andy boys will be heard loud and clear for years to come thats a given, the uncertainty lies with ios catching up or falling further behind. So many factors aid androids cause, Mark Zuckerbergs plunge into androids waters with the new "facebook home" feature is an indication that he beleives totally in the os. Steve Jobs death also a big loss for apple as it seems their innovation died with him. Or the closed system of apple that you need to jailbreak your idevice then download an app from cydia before you can send your mom the picture you just took with her or maybe its the browser that doesnt support any flash content. Android built its os in a way that google search, gmail, google maps, google+, youtube, google now and google docs are all knit round the os. A really smart move as some of these features are used everyday by us and like Manchester united and Manchester city the android family are really getting noisy. Spending $213m in 2011 on tv, magazine & newspaper adverts surely makes a lot of noise and more was spent in 2012, 2013 will undoubtly increase. The android os has overturned the ios in a lot of areas that are evident. What we are all pondering is how wide it'll stretch its lead.