iOS365: February 2011

February: This months most popular posts

Posted by nkbish0p at 18:05 0

A review of one of the iPhone 4's strongest rivals and how it compares to an iPhone 4

A look at how the popularity of each of the main operating systems has changed over the past 12 months

An announcement and information about the iPad event scheduled for March 2. Come back then for latest news and information!

How to get more out of your iPhone battery

An easy way to improve the battery life of your iPhone

Windows Phone 7 analysis

An analysis of one of the latest iOS rivals

Thanks for reading my blog, if you have any suggestions please post them in the comments below. More great articles coming in March!

A second alternative

Posted by nkbish0p at 11:33 0

If you are looking for a new smartphone, and are not interested by what I consider to be the best available android smartphone, or maybe want to try something new or stand out from the crowd then you may be interested in the HTC Mozart, running Windows Phone 7.

Of course, before even considering a phone running Windows you may want to read this article where I analyse the strengths and weaknesses of this platform against iOS.

Finished? On with the article!

HTC Mozart

The HTC Mozart is probably the closest phone to an iPhone that runs Windows Phone 7. It is a similar size to the iPhone (a feature that is not always common in Android/WP7 handsets) and has a similar feature set. Sim-Free, the handset can be purchased for under £400 making it around £100 less than the base model iPhone.

One feature the HTC Mozart lacks is the large internal storage offered by the iPhone. With only 8gb of internal storage, the Mozart has only half the capacity of the cheapest iPhone 4. In a similar manner to the iPhone, memory cannot be increased with the use of a memory card.

In terms of music, the Mozart, in my opinion falls second to the iPhone, relying on Microsofts "Zune" software as opposed to the iPhone's fantastic iPhone software. In terms of ease of use as a music player, the iPhone really is second to none and this is never more apparent than when you use a competing product. That said, the Zune software is far better than what is offered by some manufacturers (read: RIM/Blackberry). As a bonus the phone comes with "SRS WOW HD" which should help with sound quality.

As per usual, the build quality cannot match that of the iPhone and it is obvious that this is an area where money has been saved. However, the build quality and materials are on a par with, or better than most other competing products.

The camera offered by the Mozart contains an 8 megapixel sensor, so you should be able to print off good quality images at a large size. The camera also has a Xenon flash and this is an absolutely FANTASTIC addition to a phone if you intend to use it in any environment without ideal light conditions. The Mozart should be capable of taking FAR better photos than an iPhone 4 in low-light conditions and this feature alone sets this handset apart from the crowd if you are a keen mobile photographer. Fitting with it's imaging credentials, the Mozart can record HD Video too.

My main gripe with this handset is it's "non-mature" operating system. Over time I would expect WP7 to flourish and become a strong competitor in the mobile operating system market but it may be a gamble to back this system when far more mature systems exist. This article should give you some insight into mobile OS distribution. If you are looking for an imaging phone however, or want to experience the development of one of the finest operating systems first-hand, I would recommend this phone above any other.

A nicer version of multitasking

Posted by nkbish0p at 15:09 0

If you have ever used a mac, you may be familiar with "Exposé" a nice way of showing you what apps are currently running on your computer and allowing you to easily switch between them. Unfortunately, in my opinion, the way iOS shows you what apps are open and how to switch between them isn't great at all; it only shows four apps at a time and takes ages to close apps that you no longer want to run.

Fortunately for jailbroken phones there is an alternative, multifl0w, which is essentialy exposé for your device.

In order to install this, you will need to jailbreak your phone (read about this here) and have http://repo.insanelyiph0ne.com/ added to your sources in cydia (read about this here)

Once you have done the above open the above source in the "sources menu" in Cydia and scroll down to "multifl0w" and install it. After your device reboots you will have the software installed!

The software is configured to work how multitasking normally works but it can be changed to be activated in different ways inside the settings menu on your phone.

The devlopers have a website which can be found here

Let me know what you think of this great piece of software below!

TOP STORY! iPad 2 to be announced 2nd March!

Posted by nkbish0p at 16:45 2

As posted here on engadget Apple has scheduled an event for 2nd March where the "iPad 2" is set to be announced.

Rumours have been spreading over the past few months about what the next iPad will bring to the table in order to keep it ahead of the competition. I would speculate that the next iPad will include at least one camera (front mounted) for video calling and double the RAM of the old iPad to keep it inline with the iPhone 4. It would be nice to see the next iPad also sporting a "retina display" though this should not be counted upon just yet.

More to follow as details emerge. I will post any information that comes from this event on this blog.

UPDATE #1

more rumours can be found here

The iPhone's strongest rival?

Posted by nkbish0p at 19:02 0

Although it may already be clear that I believe the iPhone 4 to be the best phone money can currently buy, it is always good to see strong competing devices as this forces Apple to improve their own product in order to compete. Also, I think it will be interesting for me to write about a different phone for a change.

There are a large quantity of operating systems on the market, but personally I think Google's Android platform is the closest competitor to iOS and one Android phone in particular has caught my eye

The Google Nexus S - The best android phone ever?

There are several reasons that I think this phone is great, but unfortunately the price is not one of them. Retailing at £539 at the time of writing on Expansys makes this phone one of few phones on the market to be more expensive than a base 16gb iPhone 4. Bad start admittedly.

This phone goes with one of the major features of most current flagship Android handsets, a large superAMOLED display. These screens are great and tend to look more impressive than the display found on an iPhone 4. Unfortunately the resolution cannot match the iPhone 4 but it is not bad at 960*640 pixels.

An important thing to consider when buying an Android handset is that because there are so many different phones available, some may get updates faster than others. Fortunately the Nexus S ships with Android 2.3 installed and as Google's flagship device, I would expect it to receive updates before almost all the other Android phones. A great positive.

The camera is on a par with the competition with a 5 megapixel sensor, standard fare in modern smartphones and can also record 720p high definition video, which is also pretty standard. It is good to see the back of the days when awful cameras were fitted to smartphones such as the original and 3g iPhones.

The phone has 16gb of built in storage (a nice and slightly unusual feature for an Android phone) and 512mb of RAM which should help with multitasking. The battery is also huge at 1500mah.

It is great to see Google putting their name on a phone in a similar way to how Apple creates the software and hardware for its devices. The fact is, as Google's top handset this phone should enjoy excellent support until a new "Googlephone" is released at least. The huge number of handsets available with Android makes it hard for any phone to stand out inside the Android ecosystem and I think Google may be onto a winning formula by providing their own product with no ties to a handset manufacturer (however it should be noted that this particular phone is based on the Samsung Galaxy S).

In short, if you are looking for a new smartphone, but for some reason do't wish to buy an iPhone, or are looking for a phone with a large screen I would suggest giving the Nexus S a try, especially if you are particularly interested in an Android handset.

If you believe I have missed something out, or wish to share your experiences with this phone, please leave a comment below!

Why Windows Phone 7 is (over) 2 years behind iOS

Posted by nkbish0p at 16:11 2

Having intended to do a comparison of the various mobile operating systems with the objective of finding which is best, upon starting my research it dawned on me that Windows Phone 7 (WP7) is very similar to an early iteration of iOS.

Having used WP7, it is clear that Microsoft have come up with a very strong product, but with many missing feature and the same could have been said in 2008 of Apple's iOS. Having realised this, I compiled the following table to illustrate the shortcomings of early iOS (2.0) and the current version of WP7.

Feature	Microsoft Windows Phone 7	Apple iOS 2.0	Apple iOS 4.0
Number of apps	8154 (16/02/2011)	15,000 (16/01/2009)	400,000+ (16/01/2011)
Cut/Copy/Paste	No	No	Yes
True Multitasking	No	No	Yes
Apps “freeze” when phone locked	No – app must be reloaded	Yes	Yes
Universal Search	No	No	Yes
Threaded email	No	No	Yes
Universal email inbox	No	No	Yes
Application sorting	Alphabetical only	User defined	User defined with folders
Home screens	1	9	11
Battery % indicator	No	No	Yes
OSX Syncing	Beta only	Yes	Yes
Public transport map directions	No	No (added in 2.2)	Yes

The first and biggest problem with WP7 that will likely keep it behind the competition is the lack of third party apps available for the device. It does not seem unreasonable to suggest that no matter how many adopters the platform gains, it seems realistic to expect there to be less than 100,000 apps available for the platform by the end of 2011 (I will enjoy looking back at this prediction at the end of the year!)

For a supposedly "business orientated" system, the lack of threaded email, unified email inbox and universal search seem to be a major oversight on the part of Microsoft. These features were all missing from iOS 2.0, but were added one year later with the release of i0S 3.0. Personally, I have rarely required the service of any of these three features, but considering the number of complaints about iOS whilst these features were not present, it seems these features must be important to a number of individuals.

The way Microsoft promotes the supposed "customisation" of it's software also seems to differ from what is offered in reality. Whilst it is a nice option to have widgets (a feature which iOS still lacks) in WP7 this feature comes at the expense of the ability to put the application on a phone into a chosen order, standard practice on iOS and Google Android, and the applications can only be viewed in alphabetical order. Also, WP7 offers only ONE customisable screen, when even iOS 2.0 offered NINE customisable screens.

I would class the "battery percentage indicator" as a minor annoyance rather than a missing feature really, but to me, it would be an inconvenience with the lack of battery time modern phones have. This should be a very simple update for WP7.

Another missing feature, OSX syncing is obviously only relevant for those using OSX which, by most estimation is around 10% of the market. This feature isn't really missing, but beta support could be buggy.

The lack of public transport directions on maps could be an annoyance to those wishing to use their phone as a transport timetable and was a great addition to iOS back in 2008. I feel that Microsofts insistence to using Bing maps rather than (in my opinion) the far superior Goolgle maps could be at fault here.

Although this post may come across as being non-objective, I feel it does highlight the fact that WP7 is not yet a mature operating system and the purpose of the post is also to highlight the development iOS has experienced since its inception. Personally I think that WP7 is a much better start for Microsoft than iOS 1.0 was for apple, but when they released iOS, Apple set the benchmark for future mobile operating systems and it seems unlikely that WP7 would be anything like it is if iOS had not come into existence.

It will be interesting to see what happens to WP7 as it develops. Personally I am hoping it will mature into a great OS, as the more competition iOS has, the better it will need to become.

If you enjoyed this post or have any suggestions for future posts please leave a comment below!

- @nkbish0p

APP HIGHLIGHT 4: Dropbox

Posted by nkbish0p at 14:12 0

For long term readers of this blog, todays post may bring back a memory of a similar post that I wrote back in June 2010, but this app is so great and seeming still uncommon enough to inspire me to once again sing its praises.

Unusually, this article is actually relevant to anyone that owns any kind of smartphone with either iOS, Android or Blackberry OS or anybody that owns a Windows, OSX or Linux based computer. To me that seems like everyone!

The purpose of dropbox is to back up your important files online, and allow you to access them from any computer anywhere in the world. (You do not even need the app installed on the computer you wish to get your files on, but you will need the app on a computer if you want the documents to be updated and uploaded automatically). Installing the app on your smartphone allows you to also access these documents without even having access to a computer.

As usual in my app highlight section, Dropbox is totally free for 2gb of storage space in which to back up your documents, which can be absolutely any type of file that you wish. Users wishing to store more than this can either pay money to increase their storage space up to 200gb or refer friends to dropbox, giving a bonus 250mb of space whenever a friend signs up.

The beauty of dropbox, and to me what sets it apart from its competitors is that it is RIDICULOUSLY EASY TO USE. For totally fail safe backups and peace of mind all you need to do is install dropbox on your computer, and save any documents you wish to be backed up online into the "dropbox" folder that the program will create. (When installing the software on a computer there is a great tutorial which displays automatically explaining exactly what to do).

By trying this software you have nothing to lose, in all honesty I think it is genuinely one of the best pieces of software around at the moment and is extremely well executed. For anybody with important things on their computer that they do not wish to lose (seems to happen to everybody at somepoint) I would urge you to give dropbox a try by downloading at the link below!

click here to try dropbox!

Some Statistics

Posted by nkbish0p at 18:15 5

As the choice of mobile operating systems has expanded over the past four or so years, the rivalries between the OS manufacturers have grown stronger and this has filtered down to the users of each system, with many users liking to claim that their OS whether it be iOS, Android, Windows or even Symbian is the "best". Of course, the best operating system is objective, depending what you aim to use it for and how well each fits your need, so the point of this article is not to get my viewpoint on this across (though I am planning to write an article on this in the near future) but to answer another important question. Which operating system is the most commonly used?

This topic has been hotly debated, as different statistics can seem to show a different outcome, but for this article I will be focusing on UK USERS ONLY as this is the primary audience for this blog. I will be comparing the percentage of the market that each provider has and also the growth.

It can be seen on the graph that iOS is currently the most popular OS in the United Kingdom, with a market share of over 40%, just ahead of RIM's blackberry which has a share of around 38%. It should however be noted that the market share of iOS is falling steadily, which could be down to the growing popularity of Google's android, which now has around 13% of the market.

From the graph I would predict that the likely dominant mobile OS's for the near future will be iOS and Android. Personally I find it staggering how popular Blackberry actually is, considering the advantages of both Android and iOS over this platform. (For example, iOS has over 400,000 apps, Android over 250,000 whilst Blackberry users have less than 17,000 to choose from).

it must also be noted that in the next few months, Microsoft's windows phone 7 platform will likely make an appearance on the graph as a stand alone OS. In my opinion it is likely that business users will switch from Blackberry to Windows Phone 7 as the blackberry platform seems outdated and suffering from a lack of innovation. (I am currently in the process of writing an article about Windows Phone 7, check back soon for that!)

In conclusion, if you are looking to buy a new phone and have an interest in using your phone to download apps as well as to stay inline with the competition in terms of updates and progression I would strongly advise against buying anything other than an Android or iOS handset, at least until Windows Phone 7 has matured slightly and it becomes obvious where this platform stands. It should be noted that the more users a platform has, the more apps and software will be developed for it; for an example compare Windows and Mac OSX, as windows has far more users, far more developers have developed far more programs and software for it. Although iOS had a huge head start (it was released before Android) giving it it's huge market share it will be interesting to see over the coming months whether Android becomes the primary platform for developers to work with (this will be strongly influenced by worldwide usage, as android has a much stronger user base worldwide than in the UK). I think it is a foregone conclusion that before long, more applications will be available for Android than iOS. What will happen to Blackberry however remains to be seen...

Let me know what you think about your phone and/or operating system in the comments below!

How to improve battery life on your iPhone

Posted by nkbish0p at 14:33 2

Note I: This article is not relevant for the original iPhone as it does not have 3g

Note II: This article requires an application to be installed that requires your iPhone to be jailbroken. To find out how to jailbreak your phone, read this

One common issue people often have with owing a smartphone is that the battery lift is often not as good as desired. There are many ways to extend the battery life of your device, such as lowering the brightness of the display, or switching off mobile data when not required. However, the second option is not ideal as it prevents you from receiving emails or push notifications. It is well known that having 3g switched on has a strong negative effect on the battery life of an iPhone, but it would be inconvenient to switch 3g on and off all the time manually. Todays app allows 3g to be switched on when your phone is unlocked and switched off, returning to a gprs or edge connection when the phone is locked, allowing push notifications and emails to come through as normal without the battery drain of constantly having 3g switched on.

Auto 3g: How to install

Make sure your device is jailbroken, and if it isn't use this to jailbreak it.
Add this source: http://repo.insanelyiph0ne.com/ using this guide
In sources, tap the above source
Scroll down to Auto3g
Tap "install" and follow the instructions on screen
After installing, if when you open Auto3g you get a piracy message, go into settings on your device and switch aeroplane mode on, then back off again. If this does not remove the message switch your phone off then back on again.

The app itself is quite self explanatory when you start using it, but if you have any problems contact me below or via twitter @nkbish0p.

How to add a repository (repo) in cydia

Posted by nkbish0p at 14:26 0

Basics

To download certain things from Cydia onto your phone, you are first required to add the repository where the file is located onto your phone. This is a simple process and can be completed by following the steps below.

Method

Open cydia and tap "manage" at the bottom of the screen
Tap "sources".
Tap "edit" in the top right hand corner, then "add" in the top left.
Type the address of the repo that you wish to add, then follow the on-screen instructions.
If you have done this successfully, in "sources" the address you types should be visible under "entered by user"

Note, adding some repositories may display a piracy warning, this can be ignored.

When to buy (and when not to buy) a new apple product.

Posted by nkbish0p at 15:19 0

One of my favourite things about apple products is that they tend to be released periodically and it is often predictable when a new model is due. For example, it is common knowledge that new iPods are generally released in September and new iPhones in July. However, many people do not realise this and I am often asked about rumours regarding updated products.

This is great if, like me you like to have a product as soon as it is released and would hate to see an updated version of your purchase released just after you had bought it, as can often happen with other devices such as mobile phones and music players.

At the link below, you will find the expected release dates of yet to be announced apple products and refreshed versions of current products. The information on this website is obviously prediction's only but I have found it to be very reliable and accurate. The site also lists rumours of what differences there may be between the current product and the upcoming update.

CLICK HERE TO SEE EXPECTED RELEASE DATES OF NEW APPLE PRODUCTS

Please leave a comment below if you find this information helpful!

APP HIGHLIGHT 3: Futbol24

Posted by nkbish0p at 15:03 2

If you are a regular reader of my "app highlight" feature, you may have noticed that every app that I have reviewed so far has been free and todays offering is not an exception. From my experience there are thousands of applications in the free section of the iOS app store that can often better their paid counterparts, but due to the vast number of free applications, it can be hard to wade through the terrible ones in order to find the hidden gems.

Todays app is a great download for anybody that is a fan of football. I was inspired to find this application as I am an avid follower of football, and was tired of frewquently refreshing the bbc sport homepage on my phone in order to see score updates in realtime for football matches.

Todays app highlight "futbol24" offers a feature that I have been looking for for quite a long time; the ability to send goal updates to your device as a push notification, in real time, as they occur, in a similar manner to how, around 5 years ago you were able to get sent notifications of goals to your non-smartphone as a text message. The real advantage of the service offered by Futbol24 is that it is completely free of charge.

When the app is opened it lists football matches from many leagues around the globe. A great feature of the app is that you can choose the games for which you would like notifications for, saving you from a barrage of notifications from games you have no interest in. Simply tap on a game, then tap "push" to enable notifications for that match.

For me it was important that the notifications be delivered quickly and accurately and I am pleased to report that whilst using the app over a WIFI connection, the push notifications were actually delivered before the score was updated on my home PC on the BBC website. This I found to be extremely impressive.

It is worth noting that the app classes itsef as a "betting guide" and allows you to make "forecasts". I had a brief attempt at finding out what this feature was, but could not figure it out and found the instructions of little help.

If you are looking for a great, free app to keep you updated with all the lastest football goals as they occur, I strongly recommend you try this app by downloading at the link below!

futbol24

If you have any suggestions for apps for me to review, please leave a comment below or contact me via twitter @nkbish0p. Have fun!

APP HIGHLIGHT 2: Google Translate

Posted by nkbish0p at 11:09 0

Back in 2008, I recall exactly what made me want to purchase my first iPhone. It was when I saw the first demonstration of the applications that would shortly be coming to the device with the upcoming ios2.0 update and I saw the "remote" app that allows you to control iTunes on a computer using your phone.

It was at this point that I realised what it was that made me want an iPhone. It was the idea that I could have a single device that could do literally anything I could ever want it to do; and whilst admittedly in practice I have used the remote app around three times in two and a half years, I have always had it on my device because I like the idea that it is there for me whenever i could care to use it.

The same could be said of the focus of this app highlight: "google translate". Although in practice it is obvious that this app will be used rarely by me personally as soon as I saw it available on the app store I just had to have it.

For those unaware of what this app is or what it does, google translate literally translates between different languages. The beauty of this app however is that it has voice recognition, you can speak into the device and it converts what you are saying into a choice of 57 different languages.

The wealth and quality of services available from google these days is staggering and it is not surprising to see that google translate works well, as usual exceeding my expectations of voice recognition software. However, I must say that there are certain words that may not be recognised, maybe uncommon words or nouns, but it is notable that if you are having trouble getting the app to recognise a certain word you can type the word instead.

Although for me this app has pretty limited use, it may be ideal for foreign language students or frequent travellers, or as a cool thing to show off to demonstrate the capabilities of your phone.

Another nice touch is that this app is completely free, so you have nothing to lose by downloading it and trying it out at the link below. At the time of writing the app is also number one on the free app to 25 list so it is clear many people are doing exactly that.Enjoy!

Google Translate For iPhone

ios version 4.3

Posted by nkbish0p at 18:50 0

With all signs pointing to an imminent software update for all iOS devices, I have compiled a list of what new features you can expect to gain from your device with the new version software iOS 4.3. As always iOS 4.3 will be free to download for anyone with a supported apple device.

Major updates

Airplay support for third party apps - Airplay lets you strem content such as audio and video from your device to another device over wifi such as your pc or tv. The ability to do this with third party apps is a great addition as it will users of apps such as VLC to share content without conversion

Personal hotspot feature - A feature for iPhone only that will allow you to connect other devices to your phone to allow them to share the phones 3g internet connection; great for using your laptop in an area with 3g coverage but no wifi.

Noteworthy minor updates:

UI updates and bug fixes
Parental controls for use with ping
New menu for scrubbing in videos (allows for more precise scrolling and scene selection)
Ability to cancel and delete an app in the process of it downloading from the app store
Ability to set the amount of times your phone rings for a text message

As always, if you wish to jailbreak or unlock avoid this update until further notice, anyone that does update early is welcome to post their opinions on the new features here

ios 4.2.1 jailbreak

Posted by nkbish0p at 18:37 0

To jailbreak the latest ios 4.2.1 firmware on any device, go to the link below, download the software for your operating system and follow the on screen instructions.

As usual, if you want to stay jailbroken, do not update to 4.3 when it is released sometime in the next few days.

Also note that at present no unlock is available for this firmware at the time of writing.

greenpois0n ios 4.2.1 jailbreak

Update: I have successfully jailbroken two devices using this method on windows7 and macOSX without any problems. The instructions are easy to follow.

APP HIGHLIGHT 1 : Navfree UK & ROI

Posted by nkbish0p at 20:40 1 comments

Welcome to my first post of a new series entitled "app highlight". In this series I will aim to highlight certain iPhone applications that the reader may not have discovered that I think are worthy of a mention. Considering the app store now has more than a quarter of a million apps available to download, sometimes it can be hard to find some great apps that are hidden away.

Navfree UK & ROI

As it's name may suggest, Navfree is a free satellite navigation app for the iPhone that offers a great alternative to other applications such as TomTom and Navigon. Obviously the big draw to Navfree is it's cost, totally free! Considering the high prices of similar apps, this app has got to be worth a look for many people looking to find an app of this type before spending their hard earned cash.

It is worth a note also that there is also a version of Navfree for the US, great if you go there on holiday asn it saves spending a large sum of money on a competing app that you may only use for a couple of weeks.

It is worth noting that although the app itself is free, if the user wishes to also have the app highlight locations of "safety" (read "speed") cameras and alert the driver to their presence, this must be bught as an in app purchase costing a not unreasonable £1.79 in the UK market.

The app includes all the other standard "sat-nav" features such as turn by turn directions, voice guidance, auto re-routeing and also includes live google search as a bonus.

It is excellent to note that the maps are downloaded to your device, meaning you do not need an active internet connection to follow your route on-screen (similar to a dedicated sat-nav) saving you money and battery power. One downside to this is that the app is 257mb which may be considered large if you have a lot of music, videos or other content already on your device.

I am taking a trip this weekend in which I will be utilising this app, so expect an updated review shortly. In the meantime try this app yourself by visiting the following link:

Navfree UK and ROI

Check back for more "app highlights" soon!

UPDATE #1

Having used this app to navigate a 4 hour drive over the weekend, I can safely say that compared to rival apps such as tomtom and Navigon, Navfree offers outstanding value with little to no difference in quality compared to its competitors. GPS reception was always strong and there were very few issues with the maps in the software and the directions issued. I highly recommend that users try this app before purchasing alternative software.

It may also be noted that battery consumption whilst using this app isn't as severe as it could have been with an hour of navigation using approximately 15-20% of the capacity of the battery of an iPhone 4.

iOS365

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