iPhone 5 passcode security compromised

This could easily be a 'how to hack your iPhone 5' post.

In the Video you can see an exploit of a bug in the iOS 6.1 operating system that enables the user to gain access to the phone's contacts, text messages, data library and all the other features. 

The trick involves a call to the International distress number and a tapping of the power button of the phone. You can see the detailed procedure in the video above.

According to Apple sources, the company is aware of the bug and will deliver a patch on the next update resolving this issue. So, if you are a user that has not yet updated the operating system to iOS 6.1 it would be better for you to wait until the fix for this issue has been released. On the other hand, if you have already installed iOS 6.1 then it would be a good idea to protect your phone from 'malevolent hands'

source: www.wired.co.uk

iWatch: The new Apple trend

Rumors for a smart watch from Apple are constantly rising.

Latest leaks indicate that Apple is now focusing on creating a hand watch that will be able to execute all applications that an iPad or iPhone would. According to Bloomberg, Apple has already assigned a group of 100 people, including managers, marketeersm engineers and other stuff, to develop this watch according to the everyday needs.

Although someone might just claim that these rumors are not based on reality, truth is that Apple faces quite a problem regarding the value of its company that has dropped quite a lot according to the stock value. As a result, it is only logical for Apple to look for new ways of reaching top sales and elevating the value of its stock on the last September's peak.

With this creation, Apple will make the first 'serious' attempt on smart wearable mobile devices worldwide. Using this watch as the first step, the opportunity of experimentation is born. And if the experiment is successfull, there are countless other products that are characterized as wearable and can be turned into smart mobile electronic devices.

In any way, you can see some suggestions or ideas from individuals across the globe of what the iWatch could look like:

RIP Steve Jobs

Sadly, it is true. The man that has given nothing but inspiration to the world has succumbed to his ill (as well as irreversible) health condition.

Steve Jobs has recently quit the position of the CEO in Apple due to these problems. Liver Cancer has reached a point of preventing him from stapping up to the needs of that position. But today Steve Jobs has died, leaving the world in grief. 

Steve Jobs, founer of Apple, has created a great impact through his ideas to the world. His thoughts have literally changed the way we act, work, interact, amuse and educate ourselves. His innovative ideas have created products used by people all over the world, products such as the iPhone, Mac, iPad and so on...

Steve Jobs died at the age of 56 years old.

Rest in piece Steve, you will be missed...

Prototype iPhone 5 lost by Apple employees twice

...Lost where? In a bar!

No, it is not an anecdote or a joke. In a time period of a single year the prototype iPhone 5 (which is about to be released in a few days) has been lost by Apple employees. How it happened? Well...

April 2010, an Apple employee (...for some reason his name is not public) walks into a bar carrying the new iPhone 5. After some drinks the employee walks out of the bar without the iPhone... When Apple realises that the prototype device has been lost, goes on pursuit of it and ends up re-taking back the device after finding out that whoever found it in the bar, that was originally lost, sold it shortly.

It happened last year, it also happened this year according to 'The Guardian' newspaper on todays post. The same thing happened (more or less) when iPhone was under test outdoors and away from the company's facilities. According to police investigation, the iPhone5 was (again) found by somebody and sold over through the Internet for 200 dolars. But when the police visited the house of the person supposed to have it, the family that resided there claimed to have no idea of where the iPhone would be. Even after police search (that was conducted with the permission of the family that resides the house) nothing was found. 

...Looks like there is an iPhone5 out there, a bit earlier than its release.....

Steve Jobs quits from Apple due to health problems

Apple's founder and CEO Steve Jobs has announced his inability to support the position of the chief Officer and as a result quitted from the leadership of Apple.

According to Steve Jobs himself, the day has come for him to announce that he no longer is able to respond to his duties as the chairman of Apple. Jobs has suffered from liver cancer and undergone a liver transplant two years ago. Although Apple has not specified details regarding his illnes, rumor has it that his medical problems are back, becoming the main cause for him quitting his position.

The sure thing is that Apple loses its founder, its man who's ideas gave a special ID to the company and placed the corporation where it stands nowadays.

The successor in Apple's CEO position is Tim Cook, Steve Jobs' 'right hand' in the company. He is now in front of the challenge of his lifetime proving that he is capable of dealing with the issues of the corporation in order not only to retain Apple's status but even enlarge it. A matter quite difficult since Apple 's value on May reached the staggering amount of 153 billion dollars (Apple posseses the first place in company value, with Google second and valued 111 billion dollars).

End of an era for sure...

Android Smartphone vs iPhone

On a previous post Apple's superiority was poinetd out in the field of tablets against its grand opponent: Android. But what happens on the field of smartphones?

Many people would argue that iPhone is much better, more stable and trustworthy than Android. Well, there are facts that indicate that there is a sense of truth in this. But the main (public) opinion is that Android really rules the field of smartphones. The reason? Here are some of the main reasons why Android is more attractive:

User-friendly: Android phones comply with the pc user inetrace. Applications Menu can be accessed by tapping a button and it is easy for the user to know which apps are running at that moment and which are inactive. In other words, it is easier for the user to know what is going on on their phone.

iTunes: In order to update an iPhone, you are forced to do it through iTunes. On the other hand, Android can be updated either through OTA (On The Air) tool or using some third party tool with the use of a PC. In addition, in order to manage your multimedia archives, your files and everything else on your iPhone you need to be conected to iTunes, in contrast to Android which has many tools (created by many developers) in order to manage your phone.

iTunes is forced upon you by Apple and it is not a great platform to work with (actually in my opinion it is quite bad). Android allows a lot of managing programs (not just a specific one from a forced-monopoly source) something that works in favor of its appeal to the common public.

Applications: iPhones get their applications from iTunes and are designed by Apple. Android includes applications created by almost everyone that is able to create an Android source code. As a result, Android apps tend to cover more subjects, do more jobs, be more user friendly (since they are constantly improved) and in general work in a better way for the user. An other point that Apple's wish for monopoly hurts the company's image to the public.

I am sure that a lot of people will disagree but in my opinion Apple may have offered a more stable platform in iPhone but Android's rapid development surely will overtake Apple's ground and be the winner in the field of Smartphones.

iPad vs. Android: 24-1 ??

The score makes the game look really (really really) unbalanced, something that obviously is not true for our case. But, according to TheNextWeb Apple's iPad has outnumbered the number of sales of all Android tablets such as Samsung Galaxy Tab and Motorola Xoom by a ratio of 24:1!

So, is Android tablet market all that bad? Or perhaps the public opinion is turned in favor of Apple?

Android tablets are not that bad, actually. Examples such as the forspoken Motorola Xoom are quite competitive against an iPad. Also, iPad tablets are quite cheaper than Apple tablets, a factor that cannot indicate public opinion favoring (in such a large ratio) Apple. The truth is osmewhere in the middle as a wise man (myself :D) said.

And the truth is this: Android software has appeared on the frontstage of the technological world only some years ago. On the other hand, Apple, much older than Android, has created a formidable brand name 'forcing' customers to trust an iPad against an Android tablet, despite the lower price and the tie in technical characteristics.

Is marketing application and brand name equity all that effective in public choice? Apparently...

Photo from TechnologyBlogged.com

iPad for Aviation use

...That's right, a great change in the world of aviation has already began. In the life of a pilot there were many documented maps, charts and guidelinebooks that should be kept in every flight deck and be used through every flight. In other words tons of books and maps were used during the flight.

But recently the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) in the US has approved the use of iPad tablet in order to replace all these scripts and maps and make the life of a pilot easier.

From now on US pilots are allowed to use an iPad for flight documentation as well as mapping. To be more specific, the 41 (!) total flight instruction manuals that pilots are obliged to carry in every flight are about to turn into electronic books in the well known .pdf form (Alaska airlines and American airlines have already procceeded to the use of iPad instead of books). With the substitution of books to an iPad not only the information is available to pilots more easily but also the update of these books according to modern standards is going to be a lot easier. In addition there are about 2.4 millions of written pages to be saved, giving an ecology touch to the issue as well.

In addition to the above, not only the flight manuals are about to be turned into electronic but flight maps as well. A special app has been developed under the name of 'Mobile TC' by aviation chartmaker company Jeppesen. After thorought testing of the tablet and the application regarding the stability in extreme conditions (such as even decompression of an aircraft) as well as the interference with other aircraft systems, FAA has approved its use for mapping as well. So, pilots are able to use iPad to replace manual map charting.

Jeff Buhl, jeppesen's product manager for the Mobile TC app said after the testing that the Apple iOS and the application proved extremely stable during the tests.

“The recovery time for an application crashing or the OS crashing is extremely rapid,” Buhl says.

During the evaluation period with the FAA, the production app did not crash. But even if it did, Buhl says it’s ready to go again “in 4-6 seconds from re-launch to previous state.”

Although the permit from the FAA is valid only for one airline company ('Executive Jet Management'), according to Jeppesen's sources, even more and more companies are applying for the use of an iPad for mapping as well as replacing the flight manuals. The fact is that aviation in the U.S. (for a start) is about to change according to the modern breakthroughs of technology. Many airline companies will surely follow the footsteps of the airliners above. So, let us all hope that gaming is not a popular hobby for pilots (if you know what I mean.... well, just jokking.... I guess.... )

Apple iPad 2 Review - Better than Best?

About a year and half ago Apple announced the release of a new revolutionary gadget, iPad. A tablet that would offer ultra mobility and Computing force at the same time. And by general accordance Apple guys were successful at achieving their goals. iPad made it to the top without much struggle, becoming the no1 tablet as well as introducing the idea of a tablet to people.

Now Apple strikes again with the release of iPad 2. the title of this article actually describes the facts that represent iPad 2, it is even better than the 'best'- its previous version. Well, that would sound logical now but 2 years ago, especially before the release of iPad it would sound rather hard to believe. Believe what? That a tablet of 0,34 inches thick at its thickest point would be equiped with 2 dual core proccessor of 1GHz.

Well, though hard to believe, is is a fact. 1GHz dual core proccessor with 512MB of Ram memory (double than the previous version of iPad) it can offer great speed and stability (like every other Apple system) combined with ultra mobility of 680 gramms of total weight in a 9,7 x 7,3 inches manufacture. iPad is also equiped with a 1024x768 screen like the older version.

These numbers realy do represent iPad 2 because after tests including multitasking, switching between applications and 'heavy' applications (for example image proccessing applications), iPad has responded almost perfectly by showing no sign of instability. Well, surely, it is not a Desktop replacement but for its size, it does quite good.

On the downsides of iPad 2 now.

Cameras. iPad 2 has been equiped with 2 cameras, one on the front and one on the back of the gadget, for obvious reasons. But these cameras are quite bad in effectiveness for the standards of iPad 2. Well, surely, its a plus that iPad 2 has a camera installed (unlike the older version) but this camera is not as competitive as the rest of the package. On the front a VGA and on the back an iPhone 5-like- camera are not meant to give advantage to Apple in the field of photo shooting. In my opinion, if an update on iPad follows (iPad 3 for example) this should be the first point for Apple to reconsider.

Another minus of iPad is the software. OK, hardware speaking, iPad offers cutting edge technology in proccessors and RAM memory but when it comes to software, Apple faces the same problems as it has always been facing. Of course, breakthroughs have been made for example by implementing the new Internet browser which scores quite fairly in speed and stability. Of course even though the browser is upgraded, Applestill won't allow Flash to be installed on its browsers, making it impossible for many websites' elements not to be viewable. In addition, newly implemented programms carry quite a few bugs that cause even crushes in some cases.

Overall, iPad 2 has a lot to offer. It is the greatest choice for a tablet and in many ways better than the older version. On the other side Apple has to really deal with its problems and not just cover them up in order to create a tablet that will be safe from competition. If they do so, iPad surely has the potential of becoming the bast gadget around!