News/Rumors

4 Screen Protectors For iPhone And iPad: from Otterbox with love

The fact is Otterbox is famous for making really durable iPhone cases that are designed to survive all kinds of adversity. The next logical step taken by Otterbox is to create screen protectors for the iPhone and iPad.

Quite recently the company has presented 4 different screen protectors, and each one has its own distinct features and layout.

Otterbox’s new “Clearly Protected” lineup is made of premium materials in the United States. Unlike other screen protectors, these all use a 100% dry application process. There’s also anti-air bubble technology in the protector’s film to keep you from having to laboriously comb over every corner with a credit card.

One of the screen protectors is called “Clean” with a “matte, high strength, self-healing polyurethane material” that “reduces glare, fingerprints, and smudges.” Clean is available for the iPhone 5 and 10-inch iPad.

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The second option is called “Vibrant,” and it’s basically the matte display with a more crisp look that focuses on preserving display sharpness. This screen protector is also available for the iPhone 4/4S and iPad mini.

“Privacy” , the 3-d screen protector, is made for secret agents. A quadlaminar polyester material totally hides your screen activity on all four sides unless you’re facing your screen head on. You can only use Privacy on the iPhone 5 and 10-inch iPad.

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The last one is called “360,” and it does just what the name implies. A protective, transparent, polyurethane material encloses your entire device, including the screen. This protector is only available for the iPhone.

All of these screen protectors range in price from around $20-$30. If you’re in the market for a little added protection, then you should definitely consider Otterbox’s stuff.

iOS, Jailbreak, News/Rumors

Latest iOS 6.1.3 update will kill Evasi0n

“All good jailbreaks must come to an end,” Andy Greenberg reports for Forbes. “Late last week Apple released an update for iOS to developers in beta that prevents the use of the popular jailbreak software evasi0n, according to one of evasi0n’s creators who tested the patch over the weekend, David Wang,” Greenberg reports. “Wang tells me that he’s analyzed the 6.1.3 beta 2 update and found that it patches at least one of the five bugs the jailbreak exploits, namely a flaw in the operating system’s time zone settings.”

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Greenberg reports, “The beta update likely signals the end of using evasi0n to hack new or updated devices after the update is released to users, says Wang, who says he’s still testing the patch to see which other vulnerabilities exploited by the jailbreak might no longer exist in the new operating system. ‘If one of the vulnerabilities doesn’t work, evasi0n doesn’t work,’ he says. ‘We could replace that part with a different vulnerability, but [Apple] will probably fix most if not all of the bugs we’ve used when 6.1.3 comes out.’”

Released less than a month ago, Evasi0n was quickly adopted by users wanting greater control over system-level device functions usually reserved for Apple’s first-party apps. It was reported in early February that the jailbreak had been downloaded over seven million times in just four days. Evasi0n was dealt a temporary setback when iOS 6.1.1 was released in mid February, but a subsequent jailbreak version was swiftly issued to bring back support for all iOS devices, including Apple’s flagship iPhone 5 and new iPad mini.

News/Rumors

Apple vs Samsung case being heard by two Australian judges

Is it coincidence or just a twist of fate? The two tech giants still battle it out and this time in the land we call “down under”. We can say fate has added a twist in the ongoing battle by throwing in an extra judge. In this court, two judges is hearing the case of the two tech giants. “A two-year legal battle between smartphone rivals Apple and Samsung has taken an unprecedented twist in Australia, with two Federal Court judges now hearing the case together,” James Hutchinson reports for The Financial Review.

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“The case, which began in 2011, resumed in the Federal Court this week. Each company is consolidating its arguments in an attempt to simplify the complex layers of allegations and patent infringements each has claimed,” Hutchinson reports. “Justice Annabelle Bennett, who has heard the case since hearings began in 2011, was joined on Monday for the first time by Justice David Yates.”
Hutchinson reports, “Apple lead counsel Stephen Burley said it was the first time in the history of the Federal Court that two judges had heard an ¬initial case together. The court system typically relies on one judge for initial hearings, and panels of an odd number of judges in case of a ¬disagreement on ruling and ¬reasons. But Justice Bennett had raised the notion of introducing a ¬second judge to the hearing last year as a means of helping to understand the complex patents and mountains of documents involved.” This patent battle is been on going for months now and in several continents. Apple has previously won which landed them a $1 Billion payout. Still, the war between the two rages and only time can say who shall be the victor.

News/Rumors

Petitions to make cellphone unlocking legal reaches 100,000 signatures

Due to a ruling making unlocking a cellphone illegal, petitioners have accumulated 1000,000 signatures to lift that law. Derek Khanna stated that the law violates the property rights of an owner.“At 7:37 AM EST on February 21, 2013, a White House petition on cellphone unlocking went over the 100,000 signature threshold on the White House’s ‘We the People’ website,” Derek Khanna reports for Forbes. “This was the threshold for a White House response. Now they will will wait to hear from the White House.”

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“On January 26, 2013, the Librarian of Congress issued a ruling that made it illegal to unlock new phones. Unlocking is a technique that allows your phone to use a different carrier. Doing so could place you in legal liability for up to 5 years in jail and a $500,000 fine,” Khanna reports. “This prohibition is a violation of our property rights, and it makes you wonder, if you can’t alter the settings on your phone, do you even own your own phone?”
Khanna reports, “Overall, this is a clear example of copyright law run amuck – the underlying law was created to protect copyright but it’s being applied in a manner that no legislator expected in 1998 when they voted for the bill. The underlying law, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), was passed three years before the iPod, six years before Google Books and nine years before the Kindle. Now that it’s clear that the DMCA is being interpreted in a way clearly contrary for which it was passed, it’s incumbent upon Congress to act.”

News/Rumors

Apple settled lawsuit with $5 iTunes Credits

Last Monday, Apple settled a lawsuit that was filed by a group of parents after their children spent large amounts of money on in-app purchases, with the company planning to dole out $5 iTunes gift cards, the same amount in cash, or a full refund if the initial charge was over $30.The lawsuit was originally filed last April 2011 which alleged Apple’s process of in-app purchasing was too easy for children to accrue fees on their parents’ credit cards. laintiffs in the case claimed their kids were buying game currencies without realizing they were spending hundreds of dollars in real-world money. As noted by GigaOm, plaintiffs will receive a $5 iTunes gift card or cash equivalent for most claims, while those exceeding $30 can file fora full refund.

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Children were unwittingly charging $99 to more than $300 worth of in-game content to the credit cards associated with their parents’ iTunes accounts, the suit said.

At the heart of the issue are so-called “bait apps,” otherwise known as “freemium” apps, that can be downloaded at no cost but provide for in-app upgrades sometimes priced at over $100. Apple was dragged into the battle for its implementation of iTunes account passwords, which allowed for a certain amount of time to pass before a user was prompted for a password. The password window was adjusted in iOS 4.3.

For its part, Apple noted that parents have the ability to stop their children from purchasing the digital wares, though the argument apparently fell on deaf ears. After a preliminary assessment of the settlement is approved by a federal judge and all claims are filed, Apple will likely start meting out payments as early as the end of 2013.

iOS, News/Rumors

iOS 6.1.2 : Most popular iOS version

Upon the release of iOS 6.1.2 on February 19th, 2012 – slightly over a week following its release of iOS 6.1.1, which was targeted explicitly to iPhone 4S users,” Chitika Insights reports. “With this latest update going out to iPhones, iPads, and iPod Touches, Chitika Insights examined the initial adoption rate of the OS, to compare it with our earlier study on iOS 6.1.1.” “To quantify this study, Chitika Insights took a sample of tens of millions of iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch mobile ad impressions originating from the Chitika Ad Network. This data set is composed of impressions originating from the U.S and Canada, observed from February 19th through February 24th, 2013. A user agent analysis was conducted to identify the iOS version in use from each iOS device impression,” Chitika Insights reports. “A graph depicting the growth of iOS 6.1.2 since its launch can be seen below (in the context of iOS 6 traffic only), along with a current version distribution for all iOS Web traffic.”

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Chitika Insights reports, “As seen in the graphs above, five days following iOS 6.1.2’s debut, 34.9% of iOS Web traffic in our North American network is generated by 6.1.2 users. This makes 6.1.2 the most popular version of iOS domestically, surpassing iOS 6.1.0, and adoption of the OS shows no signs of slowing down. Additionally, looking at the line graph, one can see how the growth in iOS 6.1.2 traffic has been accompanied by a near-corresponding drop in iOS 6.1.0 usage, indicating that many users from that OS in particular are switching to the latest version. As this latest update fixed a battery life issue ― a major phone feature ― it’s understandable that the rate of adoption for iOS 6.1.2 would reach these levels so quickly. For comparison, 48 hours following its release, iOS 6.1.2 adoption nearly equaled what we observed for the much more highly anticipated iOS 6 within the same time period ― a significant achievement considering this update was centered on an OS bug fix.”

News/Rumors

MYO: A wearable control device compatible for Apple devices

Thalmic labs have launched a control device that control and interact with technology by just using fingers and hand movements. The unique gesture control device can be worn just above the elbow on either arm and detects the electrical activity produced by the user’s muscles. Some of the real world applications include being able to scroll up and down a webpage just by lifting or lowering your hand, as well as swiping to the left and right with two fingers in order to switch between desktop apps.

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MYO connects wirelessly with other devices using a low energy Bluetooth connection. The functionality is similar to that found in Microsoft’s Kinect peripheral, originally designed for the Xbox 360 console, but which has since become a popular user interface tool for modders. The difference however is that MYO doesn’t need a camera to sense the user’s movements. It’s certainly a different approach, but will have reduced functionality due to the fact that it’s tracking just one arm – rather than the entire body signature picked up by Kinect.
Thalmic Labs was founded in 2012 by three University of Waterloo Mechatronics Engineering graduates – Aaron Grant, Matthew Bailey, and Stephen Lake. The company has since grown to 10 employees and is now a part of Y Combinator’s winter 2013 cohort.
“As a company, we’re interested in how we can use technology to enhance our abilities as humans – in short, giving us superpowers,” Stephen Lake, co-founder and CEO of Thalmic Labs said. “We’re excited to see how the MYO blurs the lines between us and digital technology.”

iPad, News/Rumors

Apple’s iPad to be used in NFL 2013-2014 to diagnose concussion

The National Football League is said to have plans to integrate Apple’s iPad on the field. They say that it can help diagnose the condition of players following big hits and concussions. The NFL will be providing each team with an iPad application designed to help teams diagnose whether one of their players has suffered concussion almost immediately following impact, ESPN reported on Saturday. League officials demonstrated the app and a new diagnosis system at the league’s annual scouting combine in Indianapolis on Friday, showing how team doctors could employ the technology on the sidelines.

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Prior to the start of the season, and at different intervals throughout the season, the system will be used on players to perform a number of tests in order to establish a baseline score. In the event of a possible concussion, team doctors will use the app to evaluate players, and the app will compare their post-hit results against their established baselines. A large discrepancy could indicate that the player has suffered a concussion, and the protocols for such an injury would go into effect.
Concussions stemming from America’s most popular televised sport rose to a focal point during the 2012-2013 season, where more than 160 players went down with a head injury, spawning multiple lawsuits and serving as a catalyst for major reworkings of the league’s rules by its Head, Neck & Spine Committee. Studies have tied concussions to long-term brain damage and lingering psychological issues, and a number of suicides by former players have largely cemented those ties in public opinion.The NFL isn’t the first organization to turn to Apple’s popular tablet for health applications. The iPad is very popular among physicians worldwide, and the iPad mini may only expand its popularity

Mac, News/Rumors

iPhone 5’s Touch Display Technology rumored to be implemented on Mac

Apple’s In-Cell display patent application has come to light. Yet perhaps the real story here is that Apple has clearly stated that this technology could apply to Macs and went out of their way to list the MacBook Pro, MacBook Air and even a future iMac. So contrary to Tim Cook’s adamant position that Apple has no interest in creating a hybrid MacBook-iPad variant whatsoever, today’s patent filing shows that Apple’s engineers were obviously given different instructions that contradict Apple’s “marketing position.” If the new Ultrabook Convertible segment becomes a run-away hit over the next 24 months, it’s clear that Apple has a backup plan, just like they did when the 7″ tablet segment proved to be the consumer’s sweet spot. I personally have my fingers crossed that Apple will surprise us on this front sooner rather than later.

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Embodiments found in Apple’s patent application/invention relate to liquid crystal displays (LCDs) and electronic devices incorporating LCDs that employ in-cell and/or on-cell touch sensor components, such as black matrix material within and/or above display pixel cells. Specifically, rather than employ a separate, overlaid touch sensor panel over an LCD panel, embodiments of the present disclosure may incorporate integrated touch sensor components in-cell within display pixel cells of the LCD or on-cell above the display pixel cells. Among other things, these touch sensor components may include a conductive portion of in-cell black matrix, which also may shield light from one pixel from bleeding into another pixel. By way of example, an electronic display may include a lower substrate, an upper substrate, and a black matrix material that shields light between pixels of the electronic display. At least a portion of the black matrix material may form all or part of a component of a touch sensor of the electronic display. Various in-cell layers and/or other structures may form these in-cell touch sensor components. These in-cell touch sensor components may include integrated display panel components serving a secondary role as touch sensor components.

News/Rumors

Wearable technology to reach 485 Billion Annual Units by 2018

In a new research report published by ABI today they forecast wearable computing devices such as Apple’s iWatch to exceed 485 million annual shipments by 2018. The report states that “Wearable computing devices are projected to explode in popularity over the next year and with a wave of new gadgets set to hit the consumer market, could soon become the norm for most people within five years.” In respect to Apple’s possible iWatch, ABI’s report specifically stated that “The major question is whether the digital time piece will act as a complimentary device to the company’s iPhone smartphones or as a standalone product with other functionalities like health or activity tracking capabilities.”

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ABI’s report was written prior to the release of Apple’s patent application concerning the rumored iWatch. The answer to ABI’s question is that Apple describes their wearable computer as an accessory to an iDevice such as an iPhone. The patent filing states that it will list incoming calls, not make them. With devices wearable computers like Apple’s iWatch and Google’s Glass coming to market within the next year or two, we appear to be on the cusp of the next wave of revolutionary digital devices. Hang on folks as this could be another wild ride for both consumers and shareholders alike. Quick changes in the market are always disruptive.We can only wait for the possible release of the iWatch but regardless of its supposed released, wearable technology will still change the market trends on technology. It is just a matter of time for this to take place.