The Cydia app store for jailbroken iPhones has shut down

The store was very popular during the early years of the iphone due to apple being more restrictive back in those days, its also worth noting that apple has implemented many of the jailbroken tweaks and applications making it less popular. The owner of the store creator Jay Freeman (aka Saurik) has shut down the Cydia Store citing a combination of costs and security issues. And while Freeman had already planned to close the store by the end of 2018, he brought it forward a week after learning of a security breach that let users purchase apps through their accounts if you were logged in and browsing untrusted app repositories.

This is not the end of jailbreaking it just the end of a centralised store portal users will still have access to Repositories to download, Freeman said, the necessary bandwidth represents the “majority of [his] costs” for Cydia and its just not worth it for him now to carry on. Jailbreaking will carry on but its obviously in decline. The option to run unsanctioned code was hot in the iPhone’s early days, when iOS had many more limitations and homebrew apps could enable major features like third-party keyboards which apple now allows. Apple also tends to patch security holes very quickly now. This is another reason why it’s simply not worth their effort to release one. 

Source https://www.reddit.com/r/jailbreak/comments/a5wfq9/news_andrew_wiik_recommend_that_everyone_removes/ebpur5a/

Samsung is rolling out a backup up service to rival Apples iclouds backup service

Samsung has rolled a new Cloud backup service that has the ability toSamsung Galaxy Note v1 back up everything. The new cloud back up service has already been rolled out to  Samsungs flagship phone called the Samsung Galaxy Note 7. This backup service will be able to match Apples iCloud backup service which has been able to back up everything for years.

Until now Android phones have not been able to fully backup everything in a simple way. However Googles backup service has improved with the launch of  its latest os called Android Marshmallow. Now it will back up apps, photos, contacts and its calendar. But it still lacks a few things, such as the ability to back up sms texts, screen layout and app data for all apps. Currently for Google to be able to back up the data within a particular app, it requires the app to be updated to the latest os and the app developer not cancel the enabled option for Google to store the apps data. There are also many third party backup services available but most are not reliable or too complex for the average none techie consumer to want to use.

Samsung is also rolling the service out to other top end models such as the s7 and the s7 edge. Expect to see the service sometime this August on those models.

 

Allo and Duo Androids answer to iMessage and FaceTime

Allo and Duo are set to become the Androids answer to iMessage andMotorola RAZR XT910 V1 FaceTime. It rumoured that they will become pre installed and the default communication apps on the next release of Android called Android Nougat. Its also likely that Allo will eventually offer sms support in the same way that Apples iMessage does. I.e, defaulting to text sms format if the apps fails to connect via Allo. 

Androids hangouts has not really too off. The app is simply too complex to catch on for the average consumer. Its inevitable that this app will be phased out but over what time frame is debatable. 

 

Bad news for iOS what’s app users

WhatsApp_logo-color-vertical.svgFacebook the owners of What’s app have introduced the ability to share it’s connection with a chrome browser running on a desktop,laptop, tablet etc. This is all made possible by simply scanning a QR code with a smartphone that is located within the Whats app webpage on the Chrome browser. However this option is available to all the os’s except iOS.

WhatsApp have made a statement regarding this matter on their blog: “Unfortunately for now, we will not be able to provide web client to our iOS users due to Apple platform limitations.

“Our web client is simply an extension of your phone: the web browser mirrors conversations and messages from your mobile device — this means all of your messages still live on your phone.”

Its possible they might able to solve this by simply adding a barcode scanner to their iOS whats app application. Whether they can resolve this problem by doing this is anyones guess.  

If iOS users are desperate to use the whats app application they can do it by simply installing a programme called bluestacks. This programme enables you to run the Android os and its apps on a Windows and Mac pc.

3 mobile abolishes roaming in two more countries in April

Three-UKThree have announced that they are adding more countries to its feel at home scheme that abolishes roaming in certain countries. Spain and New Zealand are now joining the list of countries in April, taking its country total up to 18.

Three Uk have built a niche market with regards to this scheme.  When three adds Spain to its list of roaming exempt countries in April its likely to prove popular, because Spain is likely to be topping the charts once again with more than 13 million people traveling to Spain on a yearly bases.  

Dave Dyson, Chief Executive at Three, said: “Feel at Home is unique to Three and offers freedom from unfair roaming charges. It is already hugely popular, with more than a million of our customers enjoying its benefits since launch. Adding France last year and Spain in 2015 means the two most popular destinations with British holiday makers will be covered. Currently, 49% of our customers’ overseas trips are to Feel At Home destinations. With the addition of Spain and New Zealand, that should rise to about 65%. “However, my ambition continues to be to eliminate excessive roaming charges globally and we’re working hard to open up even more opportunities for our customers to stay connected and enjoy their phones whilst they’re abroad.”

These two new destinations will join France, Switzerland, Israel, Finland, Norway, USA, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Macau, Australia, Italy, Austria, Hong Kong, Sweden, Denmark and Republic of Ireland. All of three customers are eligible for this scheme. Those who are on pay monthly, Pay-As-You-Go, SIM-only and mobile broadband have the freedom to use Feel At Home within the limits of their current Three price plan allowance, as long as international roaming is activated⁵. Calls and texts to non-UK numbers will be charged at reduced roaming rates. Tethering is not included. Pay-As-You-Go customers will require an add-on. Data is also capped at 25gb, which applies to all customers.

A website called TripReporter have recently reviewed Three’s Feel at Home service and they have praised the network for identifying the need for fairer roaming charges and for being the first provider to abolish roaming in selected countries.

WhatsApp will soon be offering unlimited messaging through a specific sim card deal in Germany

WhatsApp will begin offering unlimited messaging through a German screen-shot-2014-04-07-at-16-10-511network provider called e-Plus, the company is to launch its own SIM card with unlimited messaging. The sim card will cost 10 euros and it will be only available in Germany for the time being. 

WhatsApp seems to be slowly moving towards becoming a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO).

“WhatsApp has over 50 carrier deals globally. The WhatsApp ePlus SIM card is WhatsApp’s first partnership with e-Plus to launch an MVNO brand,” said WhatsApp head of business development Neeraj Arora.

“This is the first kind of its deal globally between a technology company and a carrier. Carriers are important strategic partners for WhatsApp and we’re constantly working with them to bring innovative offerings to users globally.” 

Earlier this year WhatsApp was purchased by Facebook, It is however unknown at the moment whether or not What app is going to release its own SIM cards in other territories. But don’t be surprised if they do expand in to other territories within the near future. 

 

The new Olympus Stylus SH-1 camera eliminates motion blur

The Stylus SH-1 camera comes packed with a large array of features that makes photography even more fun. One of the moolympus_stylus_sh1-550x309st stunning features it comes with is a anti motion blur feature that can correct motion blur across all five planes of movement thanks to the inclusion of 5-axis optical image stabilisation.

This camera also comes with a large 16-megapixel BSI CMOS sensor, TruePic VII processor and a 25-600mm, 24x optical zoom lens, which gives the user a lot of versitility when out and about.  

This camera has also a large range of automatic settings on offer to the end user such as a panoramic mode,  interval shooting and seven filters. Blur-free videos can also be taken up to 240fps which is ideal for anyone who wants to get blur free fast action shots.

The SH-1 also features a large 3-inch, 460k dots LCD touch display with protective panel that comes with built-in WiFi and a companion mobile app for sharing photos and videos on other devices. Using the OI.Share app, the camera can send photos and videos directly to smartphones.

This camera is a must buy for anyone who is looking for a compact camera that has extra features.

Olympus is launching the Stylus SH-1 camera in the US in May priced at $400.The UK price is £350, it will be available from the end of April. 

The European Union plans to scrap roaming fees

The European Union plans to scrap roaming fees by as early as JulyDSC05414 2014, according to The Telegraph the European Commission has voted on the ruling to end roaming fees within from the borders of the European Union, if everything goes to plan then it should be introduced across the EU member states by July 1st.  Currently as we speak a legal proposal for a ban is being drawn up which will be published before the end of July. This proposal will then be put to the national leaders of all the member states in October.

This will come as welcome news to business people and tourists within the EU.  No longer will people receive excessive roaming bills when they return home from their mobile carriers.

The EU has been tattling the problem of high roaming costs since 2007, by gradually reducing them on a year by year basis.  Next month the EU plans on reducing the price of a call from 24p per minute to 20p per minute.  The price of incoming calls made within the EU will also fall from 6.8p per minute to 5.95p, whilst the cost of sending a text will drop from 7.95p per text to 6.8p per text. Data charges will also fall from 59.48p per megabyte to 38.23p megabytes. 

 

The Xbox 720 could be launched as early as April 26

The seems to be an increasing frequency of new rumours, reports and leaks, that seems to suggest that an official launch date of the Xbox 720 is not too far away. For example a website called pc-tablet says it could even be launched as early as April the 26th and they also claim that they could be partnering with EA who are a major games developer. This would certainly give Microsoft leverage within the gaming arena.

The new Xbox 720 is expected to get a major upgrade, rumours indicate that the consoles 7000 series graphics card that is made by AMD will get a major revision, which is based on its 28nm Graphics Core Next (GCN) Southern Islands tech.

According to unnamed sources on the VG247 website that the  graphics set up in the Xbox 720 is going to be “like two PCs taped together” which if that’s true will produce a better overall gaming experience.

The sources go on to say that the two GPUs in the Xbox 720 “aren’t structured as they are in a normal dual PC set-up,” with each chip working separately to draw different items simultaneously. This hardware configuration if true should also help further increase the overall performance of the hardware.

The enhanced graphic capabilities provided by the new graphics chip should be able to elevate the new Xbox to the level of the rumoured specs of the Sony PS4 which is also expected to contain AMD Southern Islands graphics as well as an AMD x86 CPU processor. However there are some other rumours on the VG247 website that suggest that the new Xbox will be slightly less powerful than the rumoured Ps4, but to compensate for this more ram will be used.

But there is an interesting fact that needs to be noted,  if you compare gaming consoles with the most advanced gaming pc’s they appear to be underwhelming and slightly out of date amd pc’s.

There are more rumours that suggest that Microsoft are planning something more ground breaking. These rumours come from a website called computerandvideogames that suggest that the new Xbox 720 is likely to come packed with a 16-core CPU, which would certainly add some much needed muscle to the maybe-possibly underpowered graphics card that is rumoured to be coming with this gaming device.

The new Xbox is also expected to come with blue ray and is likely to also come packed with dvr features.

If most of these rumours turn out to be true then we will be in for an super gaming and multimedia device that will have many more uses than just simply gaming.

 

 

 

 

Samsung more than doubles it’s tablet market share

Amazingly the tablet and smartphone maker Samsung has more than doubled its tablet market share in the final quarter of 2012, according to new figures that have just been released.

IDC which is a research firm claims that Samsung sold 7.9 million slates in the last three months of the year, that took it’s share to of the sector to 15.1%.

Samsung’s success seems to be impacting on Apples sales this can be clearly seen by the erosion of the iPads market share, during this period where it dropped from 43.6% from 51.7%.

Apples lose comes at a time when tablet shipments have reached a record high of 52.5 million units during the quarter, which represents a 75% increase on the months previous.

Tom Mainelli, research director of tablets at IDC states, “We expected a very strong fourth quarter, and the market didn’t disappoint.

It’s evident that Android will eventually dominate the tablet market place within a year or 2.  Which will be at mainly at the expense of Apples ios platform. All this happened a few years ago within the smartphone world.  In fact Apple could eventually be relegated to the 3rd place with Windows taking the 2nd place crown. If Apple was to really listen to the needs and concerns of the consumer then it might not have to be this way and history will not have to repeat itself again.