Posts tagged with "iPhone"

Apple Reportedly In Talks With New Light Sensor Supplier For Next-Gen iPhone

A new report from Digitimes claims Apple has received a series of verification units for new ambient light sensors to (allegedly) implement in the next-generation iPhone, set to be announced in September according to speculation surfaced in the past weeks. The new supplier, Taiwanese-based company Capella, currently ships ambient light sensors to HTC, and may receive orders from Apple before the end of the year “at the earliest”, the publication says.

Capella, which ships over one million ambient-light sensors to HTC a month currently, has reportedly delivered its products to Apple for verification as the ambient-light sensors currently used by iPhone 4 have been criticized for some problems, said the sources, noting that Capella may received Apple’s orders before the end of the year at the earliest.

Capella shares, which are listed on Taiwan’s OTC market, suffered a major setback recently as sentiment for the stock was blunted by its decreased first-quarter gross margin.

The ambient light sensor is used in mobile devices, in conjunction with software, to determine the automatic screen brightness and optimal settings depending on external light conditions. The iPhone, for instance, has a panel in the system Settings application that allows users to turn auto-brightness on and off, as well as a slider to manually adjust brightness. The iPhone 4 and other Android devices were highly criticized last year for their hardware and software implementation of auto-brightness which, in most cases, doesn’t take in account light conditions at the sides of a device (the ambient light sensor is placed on iPhone’s front panel) and, due to a series of bugs, automatically locks brightness settings to the highest level, thus consuming large amounts of battery life.

The iPhone 5 is rumored to skip a WWDC announcement for a Fall 2011 release, but rumors surfaced online so far haven’t mentioned a new or improved usage of ambient light sensors in the new device.

iOS 5 To Feature Over The Air OS Updates?

According to 9to5 Mac, Apple is preparing to implement the capability for users to get over-the-air OS updates for the iPhone from iOS 5. Android and HP/Palm’s webOS users have long had the convenience of having OS updates pushed to their phone as soon as an update is available. Whereas users of iOS devices have had to resort to manually connecting the device to their computer with iTunes where it is downloaded and then installed.

9to5 Mac claims that multiple sources have said to them that the new feature will debut in iOS 5, allowing any subsequent updates to be pushed to the device. According to their sources, Apple has been discussing the feature with Verizon since early this year and are hoping to reach an agreement with them. Although it isn’t known whether other carriers internationally, or even AT&T in the US, have been approached by Apple over the feature.

Apple clearly has the fundamental technology for over-the-air updates working because the Apple TV (iOS version from late last year) is able to update itself without any computer connection. However there are two fundamental stumbling blocks before over-the-air updates could be seen to be feasible. Current updates are over 600MB, which is a substantial size to be downloading over any 3G connections. To get carriers to be happy with allowing the updates, let alone achieving an agreement with them to exclude them from any download caps, Apple would have to substantially trim that size down. The second issue is that of backups, currently before an update is installed, iTunes will create a back-up in case of a failed update. A cloud based back-up system is the obvious, but perhaps complex, solution to this issue.

Following the article, several people in the jailbreaking scene made some comments about the feasibility of over-the-air updates. In particular, @chronic and @chpwn make comments that a lot of the code required for over-the-air updates have already made their way into iOS4. For example, the MobileSoftwareUpdate.framework is in all iOS4 devices but has only been “fleshed out” on the Apple TV.

[Via 9to5 Mac]

Cydia Tweak Lets You Cycle Through Apps With The Volume Keys

If you own a jailbroken iPhone, you don’t mind trying new tweaks and you’ve been looking for yet another way to modify the look of Apple’s iOS multitasking UI, there’s a new app called PhySwitch available in the Cydia Store that I’ve been positively impressed with over the past week and decided to keep installed on my device. Just like Multifl0w, PhySwitch presents running apps as windows, rather than icons. But unlike the aforementioned hack, PhySwitch doesn’t scroll through windows horizontally, like you would do on a computer or larger screen: considering the nature of the iPhone’s display, developer Pedro Franceschi opted for a vertical solution that makes much more sense on the iPhone, and uses the volume keys to let you cycle through apps. You can bring PhySwitch’s fast app switcher in the foreground with an Activator command you, and after that you’ll be able to quickly browse apps with the volume keys, or a vertical swipe. It’s really simple and, for some reason, I’ve come to use it on a daily basis.

The tweak’s not perfect (apps don’t come in the foreground immediately, as PhySwitch goes back to the homescreen for a second and re-launches the app you selected) and could use some speed improvements, especially for the opening animation. However, I think it’s a very clever hack that’s very easy to use and accessible. Get it in the Cydia Store, and check out the demo video below.
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“New and Innovative Features” Coming to iOS Maps App, According to Job Posting

It’s no secret Apple is working on new functionalities for its iPhone and iPad Maps application to introduce in iOS 5, but a new job posting on Apple’s website seems to confirm that the focus for the next major version of Maps will a completely new user interface, and a series of “innovative features” that, supposedly, will dramatically change the look and feel of the app. Apple already emphasized in the past through other job postings that they were looking for engineers to bring Maps “to the next level” with deeper integration with navigation software, so it doesn’t come as a surprise that the team is still looking for new designers and developers to enhance the Maps experience.

Come work for the team that revolutionized the mobile technology industry as it continues to define what computing looks like in a post-PC era. The Maps team is looking for a proactive and hardworking software engineer to join our team. Along with excellent skills in object-oriented software design and programming, the successful candidate will have real-world experience developing sophisticated user interfaces. Excellent communication skills are also a must, as you will be collaborating closely with Apple’s peerless human interface team to add new and innovative features.

Whether the new version of Maps will be bundled with iOS 5 is still unknown at this point; Apple confirmed last week that they are currently working on an improved traffic service to launch in the next years, but several reports in the past indicated iOS 5 – coming out later this year, with a preview at the WWDC in June – would be heavily based on location, Maps, and other cloud-oriented features. Many even speculated Apple could leverage its own version of mapping software, thus ditching Google Maps, to build a new social location service to include in the new MobileMe / iCloud. Speculation about the new iOS Maps application is running wild lately, and the job postings from Apple do nothing but increase the amount of guesses and rumors we’re hearing on the subject. Seeing an improved Maps app in June wouldn’t surprise anyone, but it’s unclear how many of the new functionalities Apple is working on will be rolled out this year with iOS 5. [via 9to5mac]

Hack Enables iPhone To Control Multiplayer Kinect Game

Singapore-based developer Rockmoon realized that there was a need for more iOS hacks that interacted with Microsoft’s Kinect controller, and created a game prototype that allows two players to steer a vehicle in a 3D environment on screen, and shoot the vehicle’s gatling gun the same time using a custom iPhone app. As noted by TUAW, the whole game shown in the demo video looks a lot like Sega’s old Sewer Shark, with one player handling the steering wheel with his arms and other movements (such as leaning back and forward) and the other hand taking care of the shooting. The setup looks pretty cool and we’ll never get tired of hacks and applications that enable functionalities and interactions otherwise unsupported by the platform, but really – an iPhone that connects to a Microsoft Kinect is something we won’t officially see anytime soon.

Still, it’s neat and it appears to be working quite smoothly. Check out the video below. Read more

Review: Driver Feedback App Evaluates Your Driving Performances

Following recent news of Apple building a crowdsourced traffic service to launch in the next few years, it’ll be interesting to see whether competitors and third-party developers will start playing around with more car-oriented and traffic-based services for iOS devices. Insurance company State Farm – which I had never heard of before, but it turns out they’re pretty huge in the United States – released a new iPhone app a few days ago that’s aimed at monitoring your driving performances and giving you a score based on various factors like braking, acceleration and cornering. The concept is really simple: the worse you drive (severe acceleration or braking, for example), the lower score you get at the end of the test. How does the app keep track of all this? Again, simple: it uses a mix of Google Maps, iPhone accelerometer and GPS data to see where you’re going, and how you’re driving. I took the app for a spin tonight to see whether or not it would really work with the awful road that connects San Martino al Cimino to my town, Viterbo.

The app starts up with a screen that asks you to create a new user profile, although everything stays locally and it’s not sent to State Farm’s servers. You can create as many profiles as you want for all members of your family who drive and would like to try Driver Feedback. Once a profile is ready, the app will also ask you to place the iPhone on a flat surface in your car but not on the dashboard, so you won’t be distracted and the iPhone’s accelerometer can work properly to register brakes and stops. Tonight I decided to drive a little faster than I usually do (75 km/h on average instead of the usual 60 km/h on the aforementioned terrible road) to see if Driver Feedback could really give me a bad score once I arrived at my destination. Once you’re ready to go, all you have to do in Driver Feedback is wait for a sound effect (a countdown related to the iPhone being placed on a flat surface, luckily I have one in my VW Polo) and start driving.

It usually takes me less than 10 minutes to drive from San Martino to Viterbo. As I decided to drive relatively worse tonight (of course, without putting anyone to risk) to evaluate the app’s functionalities, I didn’t consider that it was raining, badly. So it turned out to be a pretty awful 7-minute car trip that I honestly won’t repeat ever again. And the app did notice after I was done: I got a 50/100 score with multiple severe acceleration and braking points, and lots of suggestions to improve my driving in the future. Driver Feedback can even keep a log of all your trips and it allows you to check out data points on a Google Map, too. In the Alerts tab, the app explains what you did wrong and why you should improve your driving style, whilst the main screen offers an option to share scores via email or text. The UI is minimal, and elegant.

From what I’ve seen so far, Driver Feedback is a well-realized product that might really help you fine-tune the way you drive. I’d like to see more factors being considered in the future (such as traffic, or weather conditions), but as it stands now State Farm’s Driver Feedback is a cool app for drivers, and a useful product to remind everyone that good driving can save gas, and lives. Go download the app here. Read more