WorkMobile Blog

Posts Tagged ‘iPhone’

Apple releases iPhone and iPad software update to fix user location tracking

Apple has pushed out a software update to fix a location-tracking bug on its iPhone and iPad devices. The company came under fire after claims the Apple products had been tracking users’ locations, containing a record on the “devices” file of everywhere iPhone and iPad users had been.

Apple’s software update 4.3.3 makes changes to the iOS crowd-sourced location database cache, including reducing the size of the cache, not backing up the cache to iTunes and deleting the cache when location services are turned off.

Apple previously said a bug was responsible for updating Wi-Fi data even when consumers turned off its location services. Apple says it had never tracked users’ locations and has no plans to ever do so.

“The iPhone is not logging your location. Rather, it’s maintaining a database of Wi-Fi hotspots and cell towers around your current location, some of which may be located more than one hundred miles away from your iPhone, to help your iPhone rapidly and accurately calculate its location when requested,” said Apple.

The update is available to download via iTunes for iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPad 2, iPad and iPod touch (4th and 3rd generation).

Apple sues Samsung for “copying” its tablets and phones

Apple has sued Samsung for “slavishly” copying its handset and tablet designs. Apple said that Samsung’s Galaxy S handset and Galaxy Tab violated ten of its patents around the look and design of its iPhone and iPad.

“Instead of pursuing independent product development, Samsung has chosen to slavishly copy Apple’s innovative technology, distinctive user interfaces, and elegant and distinctive product and packaging design,” the suit argues, according to the Financial Times.

The suit notes says the Samsung devices too closely mimic the rounded corners of Apple’s devices, as well as the design of its app icons.

The suit is the latest in a string of patent arguments between mobile leaders, and Samsung has already suggested it plans a counter suit. “Samsung will respond actively to this legal action taken against us through appropriate legal measures to protect our intellectual property,” a spokesperson said.

The move didn’t come as a surprise to some analysts. “There has already been criticism that Samsung copied too much from Apple [in its Galaxy phones],” Bae Sung-young, a market analyst at Hyundai Securities, told Reuters.

However, as Samsung is a major supplier of chips to Apple, he doesn’t expect the suit to be too damaging. “Whether they like it or not, [Apple and Samsung] have to work together.”

New rumour says iPhone 5 will make June release

A fresh rumour originating from South Korea is suggesting that the iPhone 5 will make the usual June release window after all.

In recent weeks it’s all been doom and gloom for Apple fans and early adopters looking forward to the iPhone 5. All signs appear to be pointing towards a late 2011 or – gasp – early 2012 release for the next generation Apple smartphone.

This latest Korean rumour claims that the iPhone 5 will maintain the tradition of launching in June. While it’s acknowledged that WWDC won’t be the venue for the iPhone 5 announcement (as it was for the iPhone 4) it will make a showing shortly after. ETNews claims that KT and SK Telecom have the new handset lined up, and that it’ll arrive in South Korea shortly after the usual front runners (like the US and UK).

Sounds promising, right? Well, not really. There are a number of problems with this rumour, meaning it doesn’t stand up as well as those that point to a late arrival for the iPhone 5.

For one thing, the iPhone 4 has only recently been released in South Korea. We know technology moves fast in the land of Samsung, but three months in between iterations? We can’t see it happening.

Then there’s the fact that there’s no precedent here, either for such a swift release in South Korea or for an additional Apple show so soon after WWDC.

That’s not to write off this rumour entirely, but the weight of evidence is still behind a launch in time for Christmas. Unfortunately.

Google Instant Previews goes mobile

Android and iOS users can now preview web pages before diving in. Instant Previews has been available online for some time. It lets users visually compare search results from webpage snapshots to improve the efficiency of browsing.

It is accessed by clicking on the magnifying glass next to a web page in search results. Starting today, Google Instant Previews is available on Android (2.2+) and iOS (4.0+) devices across 38 languages.

Apple announces iOS 4.3 launch date

The latest mobile operating system from Apple will be released to coincide with the US iPad 2 launch, on 11^th March. The iPad 2 is not due to hit the UK until 25th March. At the iPad 2 launch event in San Francisco, Scott Forestall, vice president at the company, ran through some of the improvements iPhone and iPad users could expect with the updated OS.

JavaScript on iOS 4.3 is set to be twice as fast, bringing improvements to the Safari browsing experience, he claimed. Also the iPad switch will now be able to both mute and rotation lock, rather than just the current lock function.

FaceTime, previously only available on iPhones, will now work between both the smartphones and iPad devices – also thanks to the inclusion of cameras on the iPad 2 – and both multi-track recording and iMovie video editing will become available, with HD sharing capabilities.

Apple Devices – ‘aiming to replace cash’

The next generation Apple iPad and iPhones are expected to include a ‘mobile payments feature’ that the firm hopes will replace cash and cards for millions of users. Spending on debit and credit cards in the UK overtook cash for the first time last year, and already the technology industry is gearing up for the next battle.

According to analysts, Apple is considering heavily subsidising payment terminals for shops as it prepares to take on rival “Near Field Communications” (NFC) systems from Visa and Mastercard, which allow shoppers to simply wave their credit card at the checkout. The second iPad is due in April, swiftly followed by the fifth iPhone in June.

NFC is most familiar to most Britons as the technology behind Transport for London’s Oyster card. More recently it has been promoted by Barclaycard: For small purchases, users just have to wave their card rather than enter a PIN.

Apple is not the only Silicon Valley giant to see the potential in uniting such technology with internet-enabled smartphones. Google’s new Nexus S device also incorporates an NFC chip.

iPhone: a safe alternative to RIM’s BlackBerry devices

A number of small security software developers are helping Apple’s iPhone gain a foothold within corporations once the exclusive domain of Research In Motion’s (RIM) BlackBerry.

The shift reflected efforts by some companies to accommodate the preference of many employees for Apple’s iconic smartphone, a trend which has led software makers to develop programs to deliver secure email and other data over the iPhone.

The status of BlackBerry’s security features as the industry standard is not under threat. However, the new programs could mean many employees might no longer need to carry a company-sponsored BlackBerry in addition to their personal iPhones.

One company experimenting is Deutsche Bank. In conjunction with California-based software maker Good Technology, the German bank is delivering corporate email to some employees in a trial its internal analyst deemed “overwhelmingly positive” despite some minor flaws.

Apple’s App Store celebrates 10bn downloads

This weekend saw the iPhone makers hit the massive milestone, highlighting the lead of the iPhone-maker in the mobile online software battle.

Apple launched the mobile application store for the iPhone back in mid-2008 and it proved to be an instant hit, driving sales of the smartphone and helping reshape the way mobile content was delivered.

The iPhone app store offers more than 300,000 programs, including the WorkMobile app, and there are also more than 40,000 apps available for the iPad. Its closest rival is privately-held GetJar, which sells software for all platforms, and reached one billion downloads in June 2010.

Google’s Android Market and Nokia’s Ovi Store are among other larger mobile online stores.

iPhone iOS 4.3 details revealed

The next major iteration of iOS, 4.3, has been sent out to developers, and some juicy details have already leaked out. According to Engadget, the iOS 4.3 OS lists two editions of the fourth-generation iPhone that the software will support, and three second-generation iPads. The most likely explanation for these five device listings is the CDMA and GSM versions of the iPhone 4 and iPad — CDMA being the network standard used by some US carriers — while the Wi-Fi-only iPad explains the third tablet listing.

No big surprises there then? Not really, but it shows that Apple will still keep the 3G and non-3G iterations of the iPad.

Boy Genius Report also writes that the Photo Booth and iLife software suites will come to iOS around the time that iOS 4.3 lands. iLife comprises iPhoto, music-creation software GarageBand and iMovie, which is already available for iPhone 4s. Photo Booth is a “fun” photo app that lets you create photo booth-style images with your front camera, rumoured to be one of the big changes in the iPad 2.

Multitasking now possible on iPad

Following the recent release of the latest version of Apple’s mobile operating system, iOS 4.2, iPad owners should finally be able to multi-task on the device. Although iPhone users had enjoyed the luxury of performing more than one task on their smartphones since iOS 4, the ability is a first for iPad owners.

The update is available for download on iPads, iPods and iPhones, although not all functions will work on all platforms, and multitasking will only work with apps developed for iOS 4. Another feature of the upgrade is the ability for users to move apps into folders with drag-and-drop simplicity for better app management.