What time will Apple release iOS 9 in my local time-zone? As you may know, Apple is all set to release iOS 9 on Wednesday, September 16, in some places, that will be Thursday, September 17. Below we take a look at what time will Apple make iOS 9 available in your area.

While Apple has announced the release date for iOS 9, they haven’t announced any specific time for it but if past major and minor releases of iOS are anything to go by, Apple will likely flip the switch on iOS 9 at 10:00am Pacific / 1:00pm Eastern time.

Apple’s official introduction of iOS 9 during this year’s WWDC not only managed to bring about enthusiasm from the general public looking to play with new features, but also from developers who were excited to work with the newest changes and API improvements. Rather than being an entire overhaul of the platform, iOS 9 represents what can be classed as a evolutionary progression of the platform, focusing on a number of core feature additions as well as generally stabilizing the platform to increase user-experience and performance across all compatible devices.

One of the great things about Apple is the company’s willingness to push boundaries and remain mysterious, while also sticking to tradition and remaining consistent and predictable in certain areas. As mentioned earlier, although we don’t have official confirmation from Apple on time, we can generally assume that iOS 9 will be made publicly available at 10am PDT (Pacific Time). That’s 1pm for all you ET (Eastern Time) individuals on the east coast. 6pm for those in UK.

Based on this, we can provide what we believe are fairly accurate times in other territories around the world that you can check in the chart below:


As always, it’s worthwhile preparing yourself and your hardware for the journey ahead. Whenever you’re about to update to a new firmware it’s always prudent to make a full local or iCloud backup. There’s also the mental preparation required to do battle with Apple’s authentication servers that will undoubtedly be taking a hammering from all over the globe.

Good luck, and enjoy everything that iOS 9 brings.

pix

pictures

Apple has made its new wearable device official, which is being dubbed as: Apple Watch. see all the details and everything you need to know.

Features and Specs

Design

The Apple Watch features a slick, and rather traditional design, and since it’s the first ever smartwatch coming out of Cupertino, we’re dead sure that critiques will go at it with their axes and spears.

Cupertino’s new smartwatch comes with a square face – sorry Moto 360 fans – and features a beautiful sapphire display at the front.

Moving to the side of the device, we’re treated with what Apple is dubbing as the ‘digital crown’, which is the go-to button for many tasks, such as zooming in, scrolling, going back a menu, etc.

The Apple Watch has been designed in such a way that it’s fit for pretty much any occasion, which is, obviously a good thing in our books.

And yes, in case you’re wondering, the Apple Watch is indeed water-proof, and is ready to take a few splashes here and there in your everyday routine.

The Apple Watch will be available with 6 different types of straps, so you can put your mind at ease that Cupertino’s smartwatch will get a tinge of boringness over time.

Sensors

Just like how the reports and rumors pointed out, the Apple Watch is insanely packed with sensors. In short, it’s the only health and fitness / fashion device you’ll ever need when you’re out and about. So yes, it’s safe to say that you can throw that trusty old FuelBand into the bin once you get your hands on this bad boy.

The new device features sensors on the back of the device, which are used to grab data from the user’s body, like heart rate sensor, GPS, accelerometer etc.

Taptic Engine:

Its Apple’s haptic feedback system for the Apple Watch. It taps you on the wrist whenever you receive a notification or an alert.

Taptic Engine creates a discreet, sophisticated, and nuanced experience by engaging more of your senses. It also enables some entirely new, intimate ways for you to communicate with other Apple Watch wearers. You can get someone’s attention with a gentle tap. Or even send something as personal as your heartbeat.

Display

The Apple Watch has a rather small touch-screen display, therefore it does not support multi-touch gestures and such, but, to overcome this issue, this is where the ‘digital crown’ comes in, as we mentioned above.

The display of the device wakes up automatically as soon it senses movement, which is a big plus, considering it doesn’t involve the rigmarole of pressing buttons and such.

Charging

The Apple Watch uses MagSafe to charge up, the connector for which goes on the back of the smartwatch. So yes, there’s no wireless charging which users were hoping for.

Software

The Apple Watch runs custom designed software, which has been tailor made for a device of this nature, and instead of relying on taps and button presses, most of the notifications can be interacted with using voice.

And since voice plays a huge role on the Apple Watch, therefore Siri has been thrown into the mix and is ready to take up your queries on a moment’s notice.

Just like any other smartwatch, the Apple Watch will push all notifications from your iPhone to your wrist, and unlike a Pebble smartwatch, the notifications are actionable, and you can send off replies without having to touch your smartphone. Pretty slick.

There are a bunch of watch faces thrown into the mix, ensuring that your wrist worn gadget doesn’t get boring as it sees daily used.

Apart from voice interaction, users have the option to doodle on the display to interact with notifications, but considering the small size of the display, what more could we ask for, right?

And since the Apple Watch is also a fitness ‘band’, therefore a dedicated workout app is also thrown into the mix. Want to track running, cycling or just walking? It’s all there under the hood.

Also included in the support for emojis, custom animated emojis, voice navigation using Maps, phone dialing, email, Mobile payments using Apple Pay, Calendar, Passbook, controlling music, Apple TV, iTunes, Photos, Weather, Stocks, World Clock, Timer Stopwatch, Alarm, Remote Camera, Walkie-Talkie, and more.

WatchKit

Using WatchKit, developers can extend the functionality of their apps to the Apple Watch in App Store. So yes, you’ll be able to create notes on Evernote, send replies to your WhatsApp or Facebook contacts, etc.

Sizes

The Apple Watch will be available in two different sizes, so yes, if you have a smaller wrist, then you don’t need to panic.

The Apple Watch won’t be a lone device, and will come in 3 different models:

Apple Watch
Apple Watch ‘Edition’ – features 18 karat gold casing
Apple Watch Sport

All the above models are available in two sizes.

Compatibility

The Apple Watch will be compatible with the following devices:

iPhone 6
iPhone 6 Plus
iPhone 5s
iPhone 5c
iPhone 5

Price and Release Date

The Apple Watch will start at $349, which is, we’re presuming for the entry level mode, and prices will go up if you’re looking for something a bit more fashionable.

As far as availability is concerned, the Apple Watch will hit shelves in early 2015.

kinda true tho...dis applys to me, but i neva blow up. i just let things slide and move on. i dont like hanging on to issues, and there is this saying dat goes "if u are right, just smile and walk away, and if u are wrong, u dont even have the right to be angry in d first instance" #AngerManagement.

Chips is available, jst insert ur sim nd u re good to go... call 08023719088 for details.. surulere lagos.

Yea its factory unlocked...

used

Call 08023719088 surulere lagos. 30k... plz dnt call to negotiate, serioz buyers only. Color is black.

It’s bad enough that, at least on most commercial flights, there’s no hope of any Web access, and yet, whenever we board a plane ready to take-off or prepare ourselves to land, we’re always urged to switch our devices off by the captain. Of course, this is rather a minor annoyance compared with the potential ramifications of interfering with any of the plane’s essential equipment, and through what most would deem a very remote fear of crashing should we not abide by the rules, most of us oblige, and simply turn our devices off. But now, the FAA has approved the use of electronics during the entire duration of a flight, and with Delta Airlines looking to put the new motion into action as of tomorrow, you’ll be able to enjoy Candy Crush and Lady Gaga uninterrupted through your journey.As of today, the FAA is officially allowing the use of certain electronics during flight from start to finish, meaning you won’t have to mess around with turning your device off or concentrating on the fact that you actually hate flying. Oh, just me then?

The agency is said to be immediately offering airlines revised guidance on the rules, and with Delta already taking steps to implement the new rules, travellers could – as of tomorrow – take advantage, provided the FAA gives the mandatory green light.Things like reading ebooks, listening to music, catching up on Breaking Bad or playing Angry Birds will no longer be illegal during takeoff. There are some exceptions to the rules, but nothing that should hinder the general usage to which we are accustomed, and provided the mobile device is held or placed in the storage unit provided directly in front, there should be no issues.
You will have to throw your devices into airplane mode, but considering that you won’t be able to make a call or check Reddit at any point during your flight anyway, this shouldn’t be too much of an issue.The FAA expects the new rules to be fully in place with all major airlines by the end of the year, and considering how much we hate to be detached from them for any amount of time, this is definitely good news.

call 08023719088 for details... lagos

Samsung, it would seem, simply cannot stop selling smartphones, and with the Galaxy Note having only been released a matter of weeks ago, rumor has it that the next flagship – the Galaxy S5 – could be set to arrive as soon as January. If true, it would be a real break away from the spring-summer launches we’ve witnessed these past couple of years, and would leave Galaxy S4 users feeling more short-changed than they perhaps already do.

The report arrives courtesy of Korean publication Naver, and suggests that the rushed release is a result of the Galaxy S 4 not shifting as many units as Samsung had anticipated. The device will, according to the report, be showcased in January of next year, with the release to consumers taking place in February.

Then again, with Samsung’s Q3 earnings call expected to deliver record-breaking results, this report is hard to believe. Although it is written by a fairly reputable Korean publication and is, at least geographically, quite close to the action, moving the release to January would seem unnecessarily drastic, even if Samsung has missed its targets with the Galaxy S 4.

In terms of specs, the report talks of a 64-bit octa-core Exynos processor, as well as a 16-megapixel OIS camera. Sounds like overkill, of course, but then again, such is the case with the vast majority of smartphones on the market today. With Samsung already expressing its lack of interest in building a fingerprint sensor for its device range, could it be that the Korean outfit is planning to take at least one leaf from the Apple stork by going all 64-bit on us?

Almost every facet of the report seems made up, but if, by some reach, Samsung is planning to unveil a new-year gift to the smartphone industry in January of next year, it stands to reason that we’ll start hearing about it pretty soon.

iphone4 cdma with visafone line on it.. for sale... 30k...
call 08023719088 for details... surulere lagos

With hundreds of new features to boot, iOS 7 for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch is a gold mine waiting to be explored to its full potential. Today, we’re going to go through some of the most lesser known features and tips which we believe you should try right now.

All set? Let’s begin.

1. Use Safari To See Tweets With Links / URLs

Want to quickly see all the tweets in your timeline with URLs / links in them? Simply launch Safari, press the bookmarks button – the one that looks like an open book, obviously – then press the @ button on top. Boom! All the tweets with links in one place. You should be signed in to your Twitter account in Settings > Twitter in order for this feature to work.

2. Turn Parallax On / Off

Don’t like the new iOS 7 Parallax effect on wallpapers – or 3D wallpapers as we would like to call them? Fear that it might be draining your battery? Simply turn it off. Go to Settings > General > Accessibility > Reduce Motion and turn it on or off according to your liking.

3. Enable Motion Sensing Controls

iOS 7 lets you launch Siri or press the Home button by simply tilting your head, or pull down Notification Center by tilting your head to the left. Sounds epic? Indeed it does. Head over to Settings > General > Accessibility > Switch Control to turn it on. Now go to Switches and set up switches to perform different actions.

4. Enable / Disable Bold Text or Change Font Size System-wide

Don’t like iOS 7’s new thin font size? Bold it up! Head over to Settings > General > Accessibility > and enable Bold Text. Changing the system wide font size is as easy as pie, too. Head over to Settings > General > Text Size and adjust the font size to your liking.

5. See Your Frequently Visited Places On A Map

This feature lets you see on a map which places you have been visiting. Might be concerning for some, but here’s how you can find out: go to Settings > Privacy > Location Services > System Services > Frequent Locations. I would suggest keeping this one off for obvious reasons.

6. Block Callers and Unwanted Messages

This feature is a gem to use. Open the contact which might be bugging you, scroll all the way down in contact details and tap Block this Caller. That’s it. The contact will never be able to bug you again. If you want to manage blocked messages, then head over to Settings > Messages > Blocked. This also applies to FaceTime and iMessages.

7. Show Timestamps In Messages App

Open a conversation thread, and swipe from right to left while holding your finger down on the screen. You will see the timestamps of all your sent and received messages.

8. Use Siri To Enable / Disable System Toggles

Siri shed its beta tag along with the release of iOS 7, and can do a lot more than just telling you the weather, calling a certain contact, settings reminders etc. Press and hold the Home button to launch Siri and say – for example – ‘Turn Wi-Fi on’ and Siri will turn on Wi-Fi for you. Same works for Bluetooth and other system toggles.

9. Use Swipe Gesture To Go Back One Screen

In iOS 7, you can simply use swipe gestures to go back a screen, rather than pressing that pesky back button on the display. In Messages for instance, if you’re in a thread, simply swipe from the left corner towards the right and you’ll be taken to the main Messages window. This works pretty much throughout iOS 7, like Mail, Settings, Contacts etc.


10. Take Square Photos Using Camera App

Regular photos aren’t cutting the mustard for you? The native Camera app in iOS 7 now lets you take square photos. Launch the Camera app, and swipe to the right to take photos in square proportions. You can use the same swiping gesture to go through Panorama and Video modes.

11. Update App Content In The Background

Use an app frequently but don’t like to refresh every time you launch it? iOS 7 has you covered. Go to Settings > General > Background App Refresh and enable all the apps you wish to update themselves in the background. Note: this feature really takes a toll on battery, therefore select the apps which are most relevant for you to be updated.

12. Use Panorama Photos As Lock Screen Wallpaper For Added Effect

Use a panorama photo as your lock screen wallpaper which you’ve taken with your device’s camera for a cool spinning effect. Enable Parallax mode for this one which we’ve outlined in feature # 2.

13. Bubble Level In Compass App

The native Compass app in iOS 7 is more than a direction telling companion. Swipe to the right after calibrating the compass to reveal a new screen that lets you access and use a bubble level.

14.Enable / Disable Control Center In Lock Screen Or Apps

Don’t want anyone else, or yourself mistakenly launching Control Center on the lock screen or running apps? Why not disable it? Go to Settings > Control Center and enable or disable access to Control Center on the lock screen or apps.

16. Turn Automatic App Updates On / Off

iOS 7 updates your apps in the background, saving you time and the cumbersome process of launching the App Store and performing manual updates. You can turn automatic app updates on / off by heading over to Settings > iTunes & App Store and turn on / off Updates in the Automatic Downloads section.

17. Unlimited Apps In Folders

Folders in iOS 7 are like a black hole. You keep on throwing apps inside them and there’s no limit on how many apps you can have inside one.

18. Enable / Disable Advertising Tracking

Don’t want your iOS device to be tracked for specific ads? Head over to Settings > Privacy > Advertising and disable Limit Ad Tracking. We’ve heard reports occasionally that this feature also saves battery life by a fraction.

19. View All Received Media In Messages App In One Place

Received a bunch of photos or videos from someone in Messages app but lost it in a mile long thread? iOS 7 now lets you view your media all in one place. Simply tap open the last received photo / video, and press the list view (the one with three dashes, as shown in the screenshot) button.

20. Dynamic Wallpapers

iOS 7 supports dynamic wallpapers, in short: animated wallpapers. Go to Settings > Wallpapers & Brightness > Choose Wallpaper > Dynamic, and there you’ll see a bunch of animated wallpapers which respond to your device’s movement.

Know more features? Feel free to add more

Although Apple’s new iPhone 5s is the most expensive iPhone model when compared to other models on sale currently, a teardown of iPhone 5s internals and an estimated cost price has revealed that the Cupertino may have built the sought-after handset for under $200. Meanwhile, the research by IHS has revealed that the accompanying iPhone 5c may have cost around $173 in terms of raw materials and construction, which, even though the polycarbonate model is quite a bit cheaper than the new flagship, still equates to a rather healthy profit for Tim Cook’s men.

The figures are merely estimates, mind, and with IHS still to release a full report, it would be rather naive to cast aspersions. But one thing is almost certain – the Retina display of both the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c is the most expensive component, by a considerable margin.


IHS states that the 5s, which has been the most popular handset so far based on first weekend sales, cost at “at least” $199 for Apple to build, but while the iPhone 5c has been of far less interest to the consumer than its aluminum-clad cousin, the gulf in cost appears far less obvious.

It’s worth noting that IHS‘s research takes into consideration construction costs as well as just the raw materials, and considering the iPhone 5, released late last year, cost around $205 to make, Apple is doing a good job of driving down its overall production prices.

The iPhone 5c is, to all intents and purposes, an iPhone 5, with only slight alterations internally including a marginally better battery life. The device is quite a bit cheaper than the iPhone 5 and indeed, the iPhone 5s, so those looking for that full-on iPhone experience for a more reasonable price now have a pretty decent option at hand.



Apple doesn’t like selling “cheap” handsets, but rather good handsets at lower costs. Having refined its cost prices and manufacturing processes to build a device as good as the iPhone 5 for, by the company’s reckoning, a much better price to the consumer, perhaps the move to conquer emerging markets such as India and China could well be on the cards.

Earlier on this year, BlackBerry cited unwavering faith in its BB10 ecosystem as the primary reason for spreading BlackBerry Messenger to the Big Two mobile platforms, but not everybody was so naive as to believe the utterances of a company in abject free-fall. The subsequent revelation that BlackBerry was for sale came as a shock rather than a surprise, which was ultimately followed by the news of BlackBerry’s pulling out of consumer market, but today, we’re hearing that a suitor may have been found for the one-mighty brand. According to a press release issued by BlackBerry itself, has agreed a deal with Fairfax Financial to the tune of $4.7 billion, and considering this particular entity already has a large stake in the company, the sum is not necessarily reflective of the Canadian outfit’s overall value.

Shareholders breathed a sign of relief when it was revealed that BlackBerry was looking for a buyer, and their patience will be rewarded with an additional $9 per share as the company is removed from the public market.


Although nothing is completely official just yet – in terms of the actual transaction taking place – in what is still a developing sequence of events, Fairfax Financial CEO Prem Watsa is buoyant about the future of BlackBerry:

We believe this transaction will open an exciting new private chapter for BlackBerry, its customers, carriers and employees. We can deliver immediate value to shareholders, while we continue the execution of a long-term strategy in a private company with a focus on delivering superior and secure enterprise solutions to BlackBerry customers around the world.

Having once dominated the mobile spectrum, BlackBerry has struggled amid exponential growth from the platforms created by Apple and Google, as well as an abundance of devices from vendors ranging from LG to Samsung. The BlackBerry Z10, as well as the BB10 platform, showed glimpses of what might have been had the company gotten itself together a couple of years earlier, but all of its recent efforts to claw back the deficit have looked largely in vain.

The purchase by Fairfax Financial could well help BlackBerry turn a corner, but right now, things aren’t looking particularly good.

Deeone_bangin!:
15 Pm's...... Oya u guys chill lemme reply u. Had a few booze yesternite, I couldn't enter Nairaland.

Btw am surprised no one haff tampered with my id yet. iOS Fans una too mature.

deeone... abeg hlp a broda life... mykdemion@yahoo.com i don send u pm tire... i no see reply.. thanks in anticipation

thanks holar.... d acc worked am on bbm now... yaaaaaaah

@exeasy the account has been diabled due to security reasons...

Horladortune: I am supposed to post the id and password here but cus dis na public forum i think its not a good idea! What do u think?

@horladortune plzz plzz and plzz dis is my email... mykdemion@yahoo.com u can send me d log in details. i jst wana download d bbm and i promise to sign out immediately.. thanks in anticipation

Both iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c are now on sale in 11 countries worldwide. The launch of the more expensive and more in demand flagship iPhone 5s is significant for a myriad of reasons, what with it being the first smartphone with a fingerprint sensor and a 64-bit processor. The new device is also the very first iPhone to ship in three colors, and with a budget iPhone 5c also on the table, many are headed to retail stores without having made up their minds about which one to pick up. Here, we’ll be taking a look at what’s on offer, and help you to decide which iPhone model is the best fit for you.

Storage

Although it was rumored that the iPhone 5s would go all the way up to 128GB this time around, that hasn’t turned out to be the case, and the current offerings range from 16GB to 64GB, with a 32GB variant right in the middle.

Deciding which one to go for depends on your usage habits, and how many different tasks you rely upon your phone to carry out. If, as is increasingly the case, your iPhone 5s is to be your high(ish)-end gaming portal, music player and source of video content, you may wish to consider the 64GB, whereas if you have a small cluster of apps and tend to do quite a bit in the cloud, then you could probably get away with the 16GB effort.

The 32GB is a popular choice for the indecisive, and so if you don’t quite want to settle with the minimum but cannot really justify the 64GB offering, then you’re probably best off going for the 32GB storage option.

Just because the 128GB model hasn’t made the launch, that’s not to say it mightn’t at a later date. The iPad 4, after all, maxed out at 64GB when it was first showcased, but that was doubled up a couple of months later to suit the needs of the power user.

Colors

The new Gold color option has been a major talking point of the past week, and whenever I’ve asked anybody of their opinions, their faces have seemed to quickly revert to a frown. But while a gold iPhone may not be to everyone’s taste, it’s great to see that Apple is offering more variety than ever before.

Accompanying the new champagne-like configuration is a Space Gray option, which is rather similar to the black iPhone 5, and also the Silver model, which borrows from the White + Silver iPhone 5. In all honesty, the color you choose is a matter of personal taste, but the consensus seems to be that the Gold option really accentuates the beauty and design of the device — a notion we tend to agree with here at Redmond Pie.

With that said, it may also depend upon colors you’ve had before. For example, if you’ve been rocking a black iPhone 5 and a black iPhone 4S before that, it stands to reason that you may wish to switch to the Silver or Gold offerings.

Whatever you choose, do so wisely, because we’d imagine you’re going to be looking at it quite a lot!

Unlocked vs. Contract

There are advantages and disadvantages to running a device on contract. For instance, if you go ahead and sign up to a contract, you get the device a lot cheaper at the point of sale. The problem is, most contracts run for 18 months or two years, and with new iPhones arriving on an annual basis, you’re leaving yourself in a difficult position for this time next year.

With that said, the cost is spread, making the iPhone 5s more accessible to the masses, and if you don’t feel like putting down several hundred dollars on a new smartphone, you should certainly consider a contract.

Buying outright gives you the power to drop the device whenever you find something else you like, without having to continually check the blogs to see if your device is about to be succeeded. It also means that when the next iPhone arrives next year, you can swiftly sell yours on and grab the new model, and since iPhones don’t depreciate too much provided they are kept in good condition, your excess spend will be around as much as a subsidized model anyway.

iPhone 5c, anyone?

The iPhone 5c hasn’t been particularly well received. iPhones available to pre-order tend to become unavailable within one day or less, but the iPhone 5c can still be pre-ordered some ten days after announcement. Suffice to say, the omens aren’t particularly good.

But the iPhone 5c does have a great deal to offer. Yes, it is an iPhone 5 in a different shell, slightly bumped battery life and one or two other rudimentary tweaks, but lest we forget that the iPhone 5 has been a very noble servant over the past year, and until we saw that Touch ID, heard about the 64-bit processor or begun to compare its camera with the new dual-LED flash of the iPhone 5s, we thought it was pretty good, didn’t we?

If you want a very solid smartphone capable of completing almost any task for the general user, then look no further than the iPhone 5c. Sure, it doesn’t have the beautiful aluminum chassis, interior mod-cons and general finesse of the flagship, but it’s still a looker in its own right. Moreover, with five vibrant colors to choose from, you have even more choice than with the iPhone 5s.

So, there you have it guys. Whatever you choose, please do so wisely — particularly if you’re considering the Gold iPhone 5s!

iTunes Radio and Music

Hot on the heels of the ridiculously bad Ping, Apple is once again trying to launch something new in the music space. After years of success with the iTunes Music Store, Apple is now trying its hand at the streaming radio game.

Rumored for what felt like forever, Apple’s iTunes Radio was expected to be a play for the market that Spotify is currently dominating, but in effect it’s not a great deal more than customizable radio stations that make it easier for you to buy the songs that you like. Oh, and it’s only available in the United States. Awesome. There’s a work around to access it out U.S.


Announced alongside iOS 7, iTunes Radio seems to have been almost immediately forgotten by the majority of the people who have been testing Apple’s latest mobile operating system. Apple may not have another Ping situation on its hands, but as things stand it’s safe to say that iTunes Radio is uninspiring at best, and wildly off the mark at worst.

So yeah, that’s iTunes Radio.

The Music app is pretty much standard affair. Apart from cosmetic changes, there’s really nothing new. The feature set has barely changed, and it’s good at what we’ve known the Music app has been good for a long time… playing music.

Camera and Photos

The Camera app has been given a very welcoming facelift, too. It’s now way more easier to navigate, controls are front and center, and switching between different camera modes is as easy as flicking on the viewfinder. Apple has definitely done its magic in this department.

The thing which really got us interested here are the live filters. Up to 8 filters to choose from, and with the ability to give your photos a retro look without much fuss and humiliation of downloading multiple apps, it’s safe to say that this department has been well covered.

If you’ve been using iOS since the beginning, you can easily recall how boring – or bad – the Photos app is. Apart from offering the user some features close to nothing, it’s really no more than a simple photo viewer. In iOS 7, Apple is taking things a bit further. And now offers more features and options to users, such as grouping photos according to year, month, location etc.

The new Camera and Photos apps work like a charm and should appease those who are really into photography and video recording.

iTunes Store and App Store

We knew this was coming when iOS 7 first got its mention at WWDC this year. And it’s safe to say that Apple has been putting a lot of resources into making its famed App Stores as much convenient and less horrendous to use as possible. But the question is; have they succeeded in doing so? They have.

The new iTunes Store and App Store carries the same design language as the rest of the OS, and looks as flat as you can imagine, which is actually a good thing. It allows users to focus more on the content they’re looking for, rather than being deviated with that awful gray background.

Find My iPhone (part of iCloud for iOS 7)

Find my iPhone? Yes! Find my iPhone in iOS 7 deserves a little light when it comes to protecting your device. First of all, it does exactly what you think it does… it finds your iPhone / iPad. But in iOS 7, it does a little more.

Starting from iOS 7, if you’ve enabled Find my iPhone, and have lost your device, then the device is of no use to the person who finds it, except the owner itself.

You can remotely wipe your device, which is all well and good. But the restore process will require the user to enter their Apple ID password. Yup, that renders the device useless to the next person who finds it. Great stuff.

iOS 7 on iPad

There’s more to iOS 7 than the iPhone of course, because this update is also available for the iPad. While still basically the same operating system, the iPad version does seem to be noticeably less stable though, which is hopefully just a case of Apple getting an update out to fix.

The new interface brought by iOS 7 does benefit from the extra screen real estate, too, with perhaps the best device to use it on being the iPad mini. Give that thing a Retina screen in its expected October update, and iOS 7 will just look even better.

Others

Other changes that don’t quite get the pulse racing but worth a mention include a new, darker keyboard, the ability to make Audio-only FaceTime calls in case you don’t want to see whoever you’re talking to and a new Messages app that shows timestamps when you perform a little swipe-to-left gesture.

There are of course countless other changes here and there, but part of the fun is finding them so we won’t spoil everything for you here!

Wrap-up

So that’s iOS 7. Beyond the likes of iTunes Radio and some odd additions to things like Notification Center, I have to admit I rather like it. Initial impressions were far from good, but as I got used to the new icons and Apple reduced the transition times as the betas rolled on, I’ve grown to be rather fond of what Apple is trying to do here.

More importantly, it had to do it. With iOS starting to creak a little, change was very much needed. With iOS 7, Apple’s certainly changed things. Those changes aren’t all for the better, no, but give it a few days and I feel sure you won’t want to go back to iOS 6.

And you just wait for all your apps to get updated for it, too. Then you’ll really like it!

Overall, it has to be said that this update changes the way your device feels without ruining it. This is still the iOS you know, just brighter, quicker and nicer to use.

A big thumbs-up from me.

RP Rating: 8.5/10

Notification Center

Another relatively recent addition to iOS, Notification Center has also received a makeover. Now consisting of a three pane approach, gone are the widgets in favor of a more clean and arguably less extensible approach. Not that Apple ever let third party developers create their own widgets anyway.

The first pane plays host to a Google Now-like page of information. Thanks to Apple Maps, iOS 7 now knows where you live and, probably, where you work. Based on that it will offer up information on how long it will take you to commute between the two, just like Google Now. It’ll take traffic into consideration too.

This first pane is also where weather notifications now live, as do your calendar events. Everything is presented in a way that makes us think of Siri, and feels much more natural than having everything split into sections like the old Notification Center. More natural language is used too, so everything feels like it’s an assistant gathering the information rather than a few apps spewing out stats. I like it, but I’d like it to do more, too. Maybe in iOS 7.1?

The second pane is more like the old Notification Center. A swipe to the left – did we mention you can swipe? – brings up all your notifications, separated into lists based on the app that generated them. Tapping one causes the required app to launch. It’s Notification Center as you know it, really.


The third pane is pretty much the same story, but here you’ll find missed notifications, which is actually a bad name for what seems to be an area where notifications from the last 24 hours are shown unless dismissed. The difference between this pane and the general notifications one is that they will stay there until dismissed, instead of clearing after 24 hours.

At least, that’s how I think it works. In all honesty it’s rare I venture that far over, and I still don’t really understand why that third pane exists. I may be proven wrong when everyone else gets their hands on iOS 7 though, and if you can actually tell me what use it is, let me know!

The real shame about Notification Center is that it still doesn’t allow quick replying to emails or messages without launching the app. It’s something jailbreakers have been able to do for so long that it’s almost unforgiveable that Apple hasn’t caught on. Android allows users to act on notifications in different ways depending on the app they relate to, and iOS doesn’t even allow that yet. With so many changes going on with iOS 7, it may just be another update away. It may not though, and that’s a crying shame indeed.

Control Center

Oh Control Center, how we’ve been crying out for you for so long. Finally, after all this time we now have quick access to things like Airplane Mode, turning Wi-Fi on and off and flicking the switch on Bluetooth. There are music controls, too, as well as buttons that launch things like the Clock app, the Calculator app and a flashlight. You’ll find quick access to the Camera app alongside that lot, too.

Being able to invoke Do Not Disturb or switch the rotation lock on without delving into the Settings app is revelation at times, and the fact that it can be flicked up from the bottom of the screen like some sort of inverted Notification Center anywhere in the OS is a bonus. Being able to do it from the lock screen just makes it even better.

Still, it’s not perfect. I’d like to be able to choose which options can be toggled, or add my own apps and replace that Calculator option. Still, we can’t have everything now, can we?

AirDrop

One of the things you’ll find in Control Center is AirDrop. If you’ve missed being able to send photos over Bluetooth like you used to in the pre-iPhone days, then you’re going to love AirDrop. Assuming all your friends have iPhones, that is.

Using a clever mix of peer-to-peer Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, AirDrop allows the sharing of images and files over the airwaves. Using it is as simple as tapping the usual share button that apps can use, and alongside the option to email the file in question, or perhaps open it in a different app, you’ll now find an AirDrop button. Assuming your friends have the option turned on, they’ll show up on your iPhone, eagerly awaiting whatever it is you’ve deemed worthy of them receiving. It’ll come in really useful for many people, but I’m so accustomed to emailing everything after years of iOS use that I keep forgetting it exists. That will hopefully change once everyone is running iOS 7 as well, but the fact that it can’t talk to AirDrop on the Mac is a shame to say the least.

On the few occasions I’ve actually used AirDrop, it’s worked just as well as I could expect. Functional is the best way to describe it, I think.

Hopefully that’s an oversight that will be rectified at some point in the future.

Siri

I almost forgot about Siri, so that should give you some sort of indication as to how much use it gets from me. Still, it’s there so let’s take a look at what’s new.

As with all iOS 7′s first-party apps, Siri has received a new interface that looks very similar to that of Notification Center. The personal assistant also now pulls data in from new sources such as Twitter, Bing and Wikipedia, while offering data in new and interesting ways. You can now ask Siri to search for photos of things and have the results show as a collection of thumbnails, for example.

I wouldn’t say that any of the changes to Siri are going to make people use it if they don’t already, but any improvement is a good improvement. Apple doesn’t seem to be pursuing Siri as much as it once was, and while it is now no longer designated as a beta app, I still find it hard to get too excited about it.

If you’re a big Siri user though, you’ll at least appreciate the new interface.

Safari

The default iOS Web browser, Safari is what the vast majority of iPhone and iPad users will be reading their websites on and that isn’t going to change in iOS 7. While I prefer to do my animated gif watching in Chrome, it’s always good to see Safari get some love here and there, and this year is no exception.

Receiving the now obligatory iOS 7 lick of paint, Safari now removes all the chrome that previously took up so much of the screen. Now, content is very much front and center with the interface disappearing when it isn’t needed.

The separate search bar is now gone, too, with Apple instead opting for a unified address and search bar that not only makes the app look nicer, but also means I won’t keep tapping the wrong one. Win!


Switching between windows is also now just a case of a swiping left or right if you so choose, and the new interface for seeing previews of those windows, or tabs if you prefer, now comes in the form of a vertical carrousel affair.

The entire app feels faster, and Web pages render just as they should. I’d have to say that Safari is still the best mobile browser on the planet, and I only use Chrome thanks to all its account syncing loveliness. Safari in iOS 7 just keeps the ball rolling.

World’s First 64-bit Mobile OS

Here’s something which would spark interest in the geek inside you: iOS 7 is the first ever 64-bit mobile OS. So what does that really mean? Well, if you’re an average user, then it literally means nothing at this point. But if you’re a developer or a pro user, then iOS 7 can take full advantage of the hardware architecture that lies inside your device, providing you raw muscle power to boost performance.

Keep one thing in mind though, iOS 7 might be a 64-bit OS, but of course you need 64-bit hardware for software to act like it’s 64-bit. As of now, the only iOS device which boasts a 64-bit processor is the iPhone 5s. And of course, we can’t test all those 64-bit enhancement claims since we don’t have an iPhone 5s with us right now.

But still, it’s there, and Apple’s mobile OS looks future proof.

After months of testing, leaks and mass panic, Apple’s iOS 7 is here. Of course, it’s been available as an under the radar update for anyone who’s been brave enough to look for it, but now it’s legit.

Apple is rightly proud of the fact that its iPhone and iPad users download new software updates quicker than the competition. Within months, it will be a realistic option for developers to drop support for prior versions of iOS, should they so wish, because a ridiculously high percentage of users will have updated to iOS 7. We Apple users like our software updates, especially when they’re free.

But once the updates are downloaded, and once the apps have caught up too, and all the dust has settled, will everyone still be happy? Will iOS 7 be seen as a smash hit or a damp squib? Even worse, will it be deemed as Apple’s biggest misstep since Antennagate just a few short years ago?

There’s no real way of answering that for another week or so, but our gut feeling is that people will like what they see when they get iOS 7 on their iPads or iPhones. It’ll just need to settle down a bit, that’s all.

After all, Apple needed to do something with its aging iOS. Few can argue that it wasn’t starting to show its age. In an industry where Google’s Android is starting to really flesh out into a fast, modern mobile operating system, and where Windows Phone is arguably leading the way in interface design, the five year old iOS was getting a little long in the tooth.


Redesign

For all the new APIs, all the new under the hood tweaks that iOS 7 packs in, it’s the very bright-colored interface that everyone will notice. That’s the case for any big update, but it goes doubly so for iOS 7.

As anyone who has seen a screenshot of iOS 7 will be able to tell, this isn’t the iOS you’ve been using for the last few years. Yet, somehow, it feels familiar. Gone are the faux-3D buttons and graphical elements in favor of a much more flat, less ‘bumpy’ interface that has more than a little of the Windows Phone Metro / Modern look about it. And that’s a good thing.

With iOS 7, the changes to the interface that we all spend so much time looking at makes the entire experience feel more alive, more fluid. And that doesn’t come from the things you look at as such, but rather how those elements move around the screen.

Let’s take the multitasking interface as an example. In previous versions of iOS, double-pressing the Home button would see a line of icons appear at the bottom of the screen. They slide into view in a similar way to how Folders slide open. It’s all very 2D.

With iOS 7, all that’s gone. Now, pressing that Home button twice sees the current app fade backwards into a row of screenshots showing all the apps that are running. Tapping one sees that ‘card’ for want of a better word, fly to the foreground and take focus. It’s very 3D, and makes the entire experience feel like the phone has depth. For something that everyone says is flat, iOS can actually be quite the opposite.

Those folders I mentioned earlier. In iOS 7, they open with a zoom, filling the screen instead of sliding everything around. Again, you’re left with a sense of depth that suggests iOS is actually running on various layers. That carries over to the way both Notification Center and Control Center flick down and up respectively, sitting atop the content that is now actually beneath them. A blurring effect means that content is always semi-visible, again adding to the feeling of depth that just wasn’t there in previous releases of Apple’s mobile operating system.

There’s the font, too, though that will be either a good or bad thing depending on which side of the fence you sit. Personally, I’m a fan of Apple’s choice here, even if it did take it a couple of tries before it settled on the particular brand of Helvetica that iOS 7 uses today. Again, it feels more modern, more real than what came before.

Frankly, these changes are something we’d also like to see in Mac OS X, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves too much.

Home Screen

It’s not all good news though. The icons on the Home Screen aren’t great, but the best thing I can say about some of them is that I hate them less now than I did when my iPhone restarted the first time I installed the initial beta back in June. And that’s a good thing, really.

As I mentioned above, iOS 7 has a sense of depth to it, and can be felt in many places as you start to use your device with iOS 7 on it. if you can recall Apple’s WWDC keynote, then there’s no way you missed Parallax.


What does Parallax do? In short, it gives the user an illusion that the space between the app icons and the wallpaper is hollow. When you unlock your device, and tilt it in different directions, you’ll feel that the wallpaper is tracking your movement and changes it’s position accordingly (think 3D). The magic actually happens all thanks to the device’s gyroscope and accelerometer working together, therefore it’s not really rocket science. But still, it’s a fun feature to use, and a real battery destroyer.

Lock Screen

One of the first thing people may notice about the switch to iOS 7 is the new lock screen. Featuring handles for pulling the Notification Center down or Control Center up, the redesign also removes the iconic ‘Slide to Unlock’ area. Now, the same gesture can be performed anywhere on the screen and the phone will unlock, which doesn’t sound like a big change at first, but I still find myself swiping an imaginary unlock switch each and every time.

Multitasking

Multitasking has been something of a bug bear with iOS since the early days. First off, it didn’t do it unless you were using one of Apple’s own apps. Which was bad.

Then starting with iOS 4 it did it, which was good. Apart from it didn’t do it properly, which some said was actually better than real multitasking. Whether it was or not, it meant that developers couldn’t do some of the things that their Android-toting brethren could, like proper background updates.

With iOS 7, that’s changing with a brand new UI. Not entirely though – don’t expect to have a hundred and one apps running all the time like Android. This is still iOS after all.

Now though, iOS 7 will learn when you use your apps and allow them to update in the background so that they’re good to go when you are. Check your news app at 9am every morning, or at 10pm before bed? Now, iOS devices will learn that behavior and start allowing your news apps to update their content so that when you tap its icon, everything’s ready and waiting for you.

Apple is also adding the ability for push notifications to initiate a background sync. Until now, apps like Gmail could send you a push notification saying that you’ve received a new email, but when you launch the app it’s not there. You’re left waiting for the app to connected to the required servers and then for it to download the new content. With iOS 7, that app will be able to do that sync as soon as the notification is received.

But wait, there’s more!

There are other fancy things going on behind the scenes, too. Now, iOS 7 will do opportunistic updates, so when you unlock your device to do something the OS will take advantage of the fact that it has had to spin up your device’s CPU already, so will do some updating while the going’s good.

Coalesced updates mean that iOS 7 will recognize when an app is using a particular radio, for instance, and allow another app to piggyback off that, effectively getting two updates done for the price of one. It’s all about multitasking without the usual hit on battery life, and Apple seems to have been working very hard on finding ways to do just that while still offering a real multitasking experience.

We won’t know how good a job they’ve done of it until apps start to take advantage of those new APIs, but we can’t wait to open our Twitter client and have the latest replies sat waiting for us, or have our RSS client update so that we don’t have to wait each time we launch it. Then there’s the Gmail app that should now be able to download emails when they arrive. Exciting stuff!

BlackBerry is no stranger to the smartphone world – the company did make some of the best smartphones ever, especially when that was the only choice for the business community. Although they’ve gradually fallen since then, the recent attempts seem to indicate that BlackBerry is looking to get back in business, and it’s serious this time around. Their latest smartphone, the BlackBerry Z30, has just gone official, and if the specs indicate anything, it might be a phone worth looking out for.

Announced as the successor to the BlackBerry Z10, the device looks and feels quite similar to what the last flagship had to offer. In terms of dimensions, it measures at a reasonable 5-inch display, which makes the device not too difficult to operate and carry around. The screen boasts a resolution of 1280×720 pixels, with a pixel density of 295 ppi. While not bad, this does not even come close to matching the true HD 1080p displays of the recent Android flagships, and even pales in comparison to BlackBerry Z10’s 356ppi. Still, it’s not really bad, and the display should measure up to your expectations just fine. The screen is Super AMOLED, so expect very decent and sharp blacks as before.

On the software front, the device will be running BB10 OS version 10.2, which is definitely a weird naming convention. Nevertheless, it’s the latest that the company has to offer as of this writing.

What’s inside the shell of the device is what sets Z30 completely apart from the previous-gen Z10. The device runs a dual-core Spandragon S4 Pro SoC clocked at 1.7GHz, coupled with a 2GB DDR3 RAM module. The GPU is Adreno 320, all of which combined makes it very capable at handling pretty much everything that you throw at the BlackBerry Z30. The powerhouse is fueled by a 2,880mAh battery, which is non-removable, by the way. BB Z30 features internal memory of a modest 16GB (by today’s standards, at least), but can be increased up to 32GB more using a micro SD card.


On the connectivity front, you get high-speed 4G LTE and dual-band Wi-Fi radio with a/b/g/n support. To keep things friendly on the battery, Bluetooth 4.0 is included, and the device carries Near Field Communication (NFC) as well. The last in the detail is the device’s camera, which features one rear-facing module capable of stills at 8-megapixels, while video recording is 1080p. The front-facing module is 2MP, and can record video at a decent 720p resolution.

So, now that you know it, will you buy it?

iOS 7 will be available to download today. While iOS 7 represents a total overhaul to Apple’s mobile OS, only time will tell what the mainstream public reaction will be to the changes that represent the post Scott Forstall era at Apple. If you have a compatible device capable of running iOS 7, then it’s time to back up that device, make a note of the release schedule and get ready to hammer Apple’s authentication servers.

If we take a look back at release times of major iOS releases, almost all of the iOS 7 beta builds were released at 10am PDT (Pacific Time). All of Apple’s previous major iOS releases, including iOS 6.0, were released to public at 10am PT. If the release schedules of previous versions of iOS are anything to go by, it is safe to say that iOS 7 will be released to public today at 10am PT / 1pm ET in the United States.

BBM For Android APK Download Leaks; Comes With A Catch
By Paul Morris | September 16th, 2013


BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) is coming to Android and iOS really soon. The faltering company announced back in May of this year that they were in the process of porting their once popular messaging platform to multiple platforms, but it looks like the Android version has managed to make an appearance a little prematurely. That’s right folks, BlackBerry Messenger for Android has somehow managed to leak out to the public, but executives don’t need to worry just yet, as it’s entirely unusable without prior permission being granted.


Rumor has it that the official (re)launch of the now cross-platform messaging system will be coming in the next few days. BlackBerry themselves have done little to dampen the speculation after sending out a bunch of invitations to a dedicated event to be held this Wednesday. It’s likely that the event will be used to discuss BBM in a lot more detail, including the ability that it will provide to users for messaging across platforms like Android, iOS and BlackBerry’s own BB10 operating system.


The leak of the Android variant of BBM couldn’t really have come at a better time for BlackBerry. The launch event for the software is so close that it wouldn’t provide any great issues for the company even if the leak was fully functional. However, it also gets the technology loving community talking about the messaging platform which will ultimately drum up interest for when the app is live. As it stands at the minute, the leaked version that we are seeing requires prior user ID authentication to actually work, so it’s nothing more than an aesthetically pleasing shell at this point.

Users who intend to get involved with the new BBM will first of all have to have their BlackBerry IDs authenticated with BlackBerry’s servers before the product will work. Unless you are an official beta tester of this port, then it’s unlikely that your ID will be able to sign into the leaked app. There’s always the option for you to beg and plead with BlackBerry to get your user ID whitelisted on their servers, but we wouldn’t hold our breath on that one.

It’ll be extremely interesting to see what the future holds for BBM and if the decision to go cross-platform has the desired results. If the September 18th launch date proves to be accurate then we don’t have long to wait.

(Source: CrackBerry)

Sunymoore: This is arrant intercontinental antiblastic shittttttt.

lmao

google knows every wifi password ever entered into an android device


We’ve become increasingly aware of how important it is to protect privacy and personal data in this modern digital age, and whenever there’s a risk of said information falling into the wrong hands, it’s only natural that we pay attention.

An interesting discovery has been made by Computerworld’s Michael Horowitz. Apparently, Google keeps a log of every Wi-Fi password ever entered into an Android device, and although humans do not see these passwords, the mere fact that they are there will be disconcerting to some.

The Big G’s privacy policy has been thrust into the spotlight on more than a few occasions in the past, and although this behavior of automatically logging passwords is only used to help mobile users backup their data to Google servers and not need to keep re-entering passwords, it’s fair to say that the company has a lot of Wi-Fi password information.

When you back your data up to Google servers, it keeps your phone book information and such, but few would even recognize that Wi-Fi passwords are included in the bargain. There’s no doubt that it is useful from a user experience point of view, for when you opt to restore data on a new device, you don’t need to go scratching around for those hotspot passphrases once again – cumbersome to say the least.

However, while Google is helping make Android a more seamless experience, not everybody will feel comfortable with any entity keeping this information. You can opt out of the auto-backup feature within the Settings app of any Android device, but considering no human will see your Wi-Fi password anyway, you’re perhaps better off allowing the backups to continue.

To be honest, it depends on your own personal stance, and which you find to be the lesser of two evils. Typing in passwords time after time is not particularly fun, but knowing such a large company knows so much about you is, by the same token, quite scary.

Will you be preventing your Android device’s automatic backups, or you don’t care one bit? comments are welcomed


source: http://m.blogs.computerworld.com/android/22806/google-knows-nearly-every-wi-fi-password-world