Don’t want to shell out the cash for an iPhone 4S? Lease one on O2

If you can lease a vehicle, why not a smartphone? That’s O2′s line of thinking, anyways, as the UK carrier has begun piloting a rental scheme — called O2 Lease — with the iPhone 4S in the driver’s seat. For a 12-month lease period and £55 per month, you’ll be able to rent the 16GB version and get 750 minutes, unlimited messaging, 500MB of data and insurance. Want a 32GB model? That’ll be an extra £10 per month. Since it’s a rental, you’ll be required to give the phone back after your year is up, but at that point you’re free to grab a new device — a great idea for anyone embarrassed to still be holding onto a primitive year-old phone. As O2 puts it: “this is the first tariff model available to all O2 customers that reflects the lifestyle of the smartphone industry.” If the pilot’s successful, the company will consider expanding its selection to more devices; since not everyone wishing to lease a smartphone wants an iPhone, we’d say the more handsets the merrier.

Article: RSS via Engadget Mobile

Tags: Apple, iPhone, iPhone 4S, O2, O2 Lease, Smartphones, UK

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SiriProxy enables voice control of third-party apps (video)

If you’ll rewind your mind in time to earlier this week, you might remember a clever proxy server from @plamoni that enabled Siri’s control of a thermostat through spoken commands. Now, the same bit of engineering has been exploited to enable voice control of third-party applications. In this example,FastPdfKit Reader is manipulated by various commands with SiriProxy acting in the middle. A plugin is used to add new commands to the ones recognized by Siri, and finally, the proxy then sends the final commands to the app. Those hoping to get hacking will find a complete list of instructions from the source link below. For everyone else, you’ll find the true magic after the break.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oS73P73WMNE

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Tags: Apple, Apps, Hacks, iOS, iPhone, Siri, SiriProxy, Video, Voice Control

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Samsung Lampoons Apple Mania in Galaxy S II Ad

Samsung attempts to undermine Apple’s mystique and its hold on consumers with a Galaxy S II ad that presents hard core Apple fans as lemmings who are so blinded by marketing that they can’t acknowledge a superior phone.

The ad, which was set to premiere on Facebook Tuesday evening and then hit TV on Thanksgiving, doesn’t mention Apple or the iPhone 4S by name, however. Instead, fans are shown lining up outside an Apple Store-like location nine hours before it opens. “Someone just left,” says one woman. “Why would they be leaving when we’re only nine hours away?” asks her male companion. “Uh oh,” says another guy in line, reading off his phone. “The blogs are saying the battery looks sketchy.”

Just then, a cool group of young men and women come into the line’s view sporting a Samsung Galaxy S II. The crowd is drawn to the phone, although one guy haughtily dismisses it. “I could never get a Samsung,” he says. “I’m creative.” “Dude, you’re a barista,” his friend replies. The ad also makes much of the S II’s 4G compatibility (iPhones are still on 3G), which leads to the kicker: “The next big thing is already here.”

Although the ad takes a new approach, Samsung is hardly the first brand to challenge Apple’s cult-like following. SanDisk bashed “iPuppets” and “iSheep” in 2006 when it took on the iPod’s dominance in the portable MP3 player category. More recently, Motorola attempted to one-up one of Apple’s proudest moment — its legendary “1984″ Macintosh ad — with a Super Bowl ad for the Xoom tablet that, like this latest Samsung commercial, presents Apple followers as clueless automatons.

What do you think? Will Samsung’s approach be successful? Do you give them points for trying? Sound off in the comments.

Article: RSS via Mashable

Tags: 4G, Android, Apple, Galaxy S II, iPhone, Samsung, Smartphones, Video

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Developer creates proxy server for Siri, controls thermostat with his voice (video)

Now that Siri’s protocol has been freshly dissected and laid bare for the world to behold, hackers have been busy finding ways to move Apple’s personal assistant beyond the realm of the iPhone 4S. That task may be getting easier, however, now that a developer has created his very own third-party proxy server, designed specifically for Siri. The dev, known by his Twitter handle @plamoni, demonstrated his brainchild in a recent video clip, using a plug-in to control a WiFi thermostat with only voice commands. As @plamoni explains, the hack won’t require users to jailbreak their iPhone 4S, but it won’t let them port Siri over to earlier iPhones or iPod Touch models, either — not yet, at least. The idea, according to the developer, is to make it easier for other hackers to experiment with and build upon Siri’s functionality. Head past the break to see the demo video for yourself, or if you’re up for it, grab the source code and instructions on how to create your own server, at the source link below.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AN6wy0keQqo

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Tags: Apple, Developers, Hacks, iOS, iPhone, iPhone 4S, Siri, Smartphones, Video

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Siri reverse-engineered and its inner workings exposed

The engineers at mobile development company Applidium spent some time tearing apart Siri and discovered what makes her tick. Besides understanding the ins and out of how Siri works, the team figured out a way to hack Siri and let it potentially run on other devices.

While using a proxy server, the team discovered that Apple uses a secure HTTPS connection to talk to a server identified as guzzoni.apple.com. The server required a valid security certificate, but, much to their surprise, a self-signed certificate would work in place of the official Apple one. Once they were able to communicate with Apple’s server,  they were able to figure out what information is sent to Apple and what info is sent back to the phone.

Siri, as the developers uncovered, compresses the audio input and sends the audio stream to the server. The server then uses a variety of identifiers, including the iPhone’s UDID, to recognize a trusted device. Apple in return will send back the processed text to the handset. Piggy-backed on top of this text is extra information like confidence scores and timestamps for each word.

To help others understand Siri, the developers released the tools they used to dissect Siri’s protocol. Now that these tools are in the wild, other developers can use them to do their own study of Siri and hack it to support third-party apps. They could also build a malicious app that would take advantage of the SSL flaw discovered by Applidium.

Of course, this all relies on Apple not shutting down the security hole or blocking access to the UDID. As we have seen in the past, Apple is proactive when it comes to these threats and is quick to shut them down. I assume Apple would respond swiftly to this discovery as well.

Article: RSS via IntoMobile

Tags: Apple, Hacks, iOS, iPhone, Siri, Voice Control

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What the iPhone 4S really costs: We reveal, piece by piece, what it actually costs Apple to make the 4S

Just saved up for a new £499 iPhone 4S? Then look away now…

It might have underwhelmed the devotees, but sales of Apple’s iPhone 4S topped four million in just three days following last month’s launch, and it’s still the must-have smartphone this winter. Of course, those sleek looks don’t come cheap. Or do they..?

Out of contract, the iPhone 4S will cost you £499, but we can reveal that the nuts, bolts and high-end circuitry inside cost far less – see below for the total.

Expert analysts from technology firm iSuppli have prised open the pristine casing and totted up the cost of each component.

Some are reassuringly expensive – the touchscreen and display unit cost £23 – but others are less confidence-inspiring.

Next time you’re cursing the battery life, remember it’s only worth £3.68.

Article: RSS via This is Money

Tags: Apple, iOS, iPhone, iPhone 4S, Smartphones

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Vooma Peel PG92 case brings dual-SIM capability, added appeal to your iPhone 4, 4S

Vooma’s new Peel PG92 handset case isn’t the first to bring dual-SIM capability to the iPhone 4, but it may be the most elegant. The accessory, which has yet to be released, essentially consists of an extra battery pack and an unlocked SIM slot. All you have to do is download Vooma’s customized app to your jailbroken iPhone 4 or 4S, strap on the Peel PG92, and insert your spare SIM card into the case (judging from the photos, it appears that the device is tailored for mini-SIM cards, rather than micro-SIM). Once that’s taken care of, you’ll be able to place calls via the app and external SIM, using a dialer interface that’s only slightly different from what Apple offers. No word yet on pricing or availability, but you can sign up for more information at Voom’s website, linked below. Otherwise, check out the coverage from our friends at TechCrunch, who managed to get their hands on a pre-release model.

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Tags: Accessories, Apps, Case, Dual-SIM, iOS, iPhone, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, Peel PG92, Vooma

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Siri for iPhone 4: under review at Apple?

A few days ago, some very interesting rumors concerning Siri, Apple’s new voice assistant service for the iPhone 4S surfaced. According to the folks at jailbreaknation.com who claims to have a source close to Apple – the company is said to be testing Siri on devices other than the iPhone 4S, namely the iPhone 4 (and the iPad 2?). Apparently Apple has given its employees access to a special software build that brings Siri to older devices (in case you didn’t already know, at the moment Siri is (officially) only available on the iPhone 4S) and if testing goes well, we should see Siri on non-4S devices in the form of an update in the near future.

If these rumors turn out to be true, it looks like Apple could be blurring the line between the iPhone 4 and the 4S – since Siri is one of its main ”upgrades”, with another one being the improved camera. People with an iPhone 4 wouldn’t see the need to upgrade, for Siri functionality, but then again consumers weren’t going to upgrade just for the voice assistant anyway. Would this lead to increased iPhone 4 sales (since it’s more affordable)? What do you think?

Article: RSS via UberGizmo

Tags: Apple, iOS, iOS 5, iPhone, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, Siri, Smartphones, Voice Control

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Up by Jawbone aims to keep you healthy

Wristband and app combo

Jawbone, maker of funky headsets, has announced its latest product, Up. Think of Up as like one of those charity wristbands that have been popular over the last few years, except much cleverer.

And that’s because Up features a sophisticated motion-tracking engine that helps you monitor a number of key aspects when it comes to your health.

“The MotionX engine inside the Up band is the result of years of technology development and innovation. MotionX is both extremely accurate and power-efficient, which is critical in delivering a 24/7 product experience small enough to wear,” said Philippe Kahn, CEO and founder of Fullpower, developer of the MotionX technology.

Combined with the free iPhone app, Up allows you to keep track of your activity by monitoring steps, calories burned, distance, pace, and active versus inactive time throughout the day; your sleep  including hours slept, time to fall asleep, phases of sleep (deep versus light) and overall sleep quality; and finally what you’ve eaten.

You take photos of the food you’ve eaten and the app analyses this along with info such as where you’re eating and when you’ve eaten.

The wristband is designed to be worn 24/7 and will even give you reminders during the day to eat, be active or rest. You can also join fellow Up users on an online community to help you stay motivated.

“As the global health crisis mounted, we felt a strong sense of responsibility to see if we could leverage our resources, talents, and ecosystem to try and help make a difference,” said Hosain Rahman, Jawbone CEO and founder.

“Up is Jawbone’s first step in giving people tools to become engaged as consumers of their own health. It’s a complete system designed to integrate seamlessly into one’s total lifestyle, 24 hours a day, not just the few times a week people may work out.”

The Up band comes in three sizes (small, medium, large) and seven colours and will be available for $99.99 on 6 November. A global launch is planned for later in the year.

Article: RSS via Pocket-lint

Tags: Accessories, Apps, Bluetooth, Health, iOS, iPhone, Jawbone Up, Video

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Lookout Mobile Security launches its iPhone app

Lookout Mobile launched a new mobile app for iPhone users, helping them feel safer while “doing their thing” on the web or using some web-connected app. The new Lookout Mobile Security application is free to download, offering an array of features, including:

• Missing Device – allows users to locate their lost or stolen phone on a map, or sound a loud alarm to find it nearby (i.e. if it’s stuck in the couch cushions).
• System Advisor – notifies users of their settings and/or out-of-date software that could put them and their privacy at risk.
• Wi-Fi Security – alerts users when they are connect to an unsecure Wi-Fi network to ensure they don’t expose their sensitive personal data like passwords or account information.
• Location Services – provides users with the ability to set which apps can access their location.
• Backup & Restore in the cloud – just because you haven’t backed up your contacts for some time, that doesn’t mean you don’t want them stored securely outside of your phone. Lookout will do this part for you automatically.
• Management – by using a web-based interface, users are able to keep tabs on multiple devices, including the iPhone, iPad, and even Android phones or tablets.

Sounds neat though not that needed if you know what you’re doing…

Lookout Mobile Security (FREE) [iTunes link]

Article: RSS via IntoMobile

Tags: App Store, Apps, iOS, iPhone, Lookout Mobile Security, Security

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