PEDES3ANTECH

Apple has been known for its simple, intuitive and beautiful hardware design and today that philosophy has been applied to its software component. This expectation was driven mainly by the fact that Jony Ive (Apple chief of industrial design) took the lead in re-designing the much anticipated iOS7 and the world was given a first hand look of the updates today during the WWDC 2013 keynote address. The weeks leading up to the event was full of supposed leaks about how the new iOS 7 was going to be "flat" and "simple". People gave these rumors a lot a credit because that has always been the over-arching principle behind Apple's hardware designs since the beginning. So the idea of it being applied to its software component was a no-brainer especially with Ive at the helm. The immediate reaction from the tech-world was "mixed" to put it mildly. Some people felt like the new iOS does not offer anything new to the table and that a lot of the design im...

Apple has reached a major milestone, its app store has reached 50 Billion Downloads. To put that into perspective, there is about 6 Billion people in the world w/c means there is almost 10 apps downloaded for each living soul on the planet. To put it on even better perspective, Apple has sold 500 Million iOS devices according to most recent numbers ( source here ). That means on average each iOS device sold has 100 apps installed/downloaded to it.  If you think this milestone is important only from a business standpoint, you are missing half the story. Here is why: How the iPhone changed the mobile market When the first iPhone came out, the Apple App store was not in existence yet and no one had any idea how big a role apps will play in our lives. The first iPhone unveiled on January 9, 2007 and went on sale on June 29, 2007. At launch, the 1st Generation iPhone was able to do basic Smartphone functions (ie. web-browsing, email, calendar, etc.) and it was heralded as ...

Today, I have given up on Android and regret having made the decision to switch to it from iOS in the first place. I am not supposed to post anything new in this blog until I got back home from my vacation but the recent turn of events is just too frustrating not to share.  Ever since I used my first iPhone, I have always relied on my smartphone as my main camera during vacation trips. I felt that with the significant improvements in smartphone camera quality carrying a dedicated digital point and shoot camera became unnecessary. When I switched from my iPhone to the Galaxy Note 2, I expected the Note 2 to functions as my main/ day to day camera as well. I went on this trip with my Galaxy Note 2 prepped for heavy picture taking and video recording. The Note 2 only came with 16GB of internal memory so I decided to buy an external micro SD card (32GB) to make sure I had enough memory to store all the pictures and videos I planned to take. Everything was set. I was even ...

At the beginning of the new year, I posted a blog about my 2013 to do/try list (see post here ). Today I am proud to say that I am able to check off one item in the list- Try an Android Smartphone.  I have been using the Samsung Galaxy Note II for the last couple of weeks now after giving up my iPhone 4S. I did not post a blog about it right away to make sure my assessment is not biased. I had to make sure I gave myself enough time to learn and understand the OS. I had used an iPhone for over 3 years before getting the Note 2 so I had to make sure I get rid of any expectations based on what I was used to getting with iOS. It was not easy but after around 3 weeks I am fairly confident I gave Android a fair chance so here is my assessment.  Hardware Design and Feel. The Galaxy Note II is huge but highly functional even for someone with small hands like myself. The feel of the material however still has a plasticky feel w/c to me diminishes its high-end value ...

It's that month again where everyone is talking about love. The malls are full of Valentines day promos and restaurants are offering up "romantic" and "unforgettable" dinner for two. Everyone is stressing out about what gift to give their significant other, what dress to wear on the date and even what to eat. Blogs are being written about Valentines gift ideas, how to act during a date, blah blah blah. ****If you want to impress your girlfriend or wife this Valentine check out this great Valentines gift suggestion that is sure to blow her away courtesy of Zales- link* *** On the other side of the spectrum, singles are starting their own boycot of this purely consumeristic man-made celebration of love on a random date of a random month. But since it seems like everyone is talking about love, I am compeled to write something about it, this however will talk more about how technology can help keep relationships alive in the modern world.  I will be talki...

Amazon.ca Widgets A few days after Jailbreaking my iPad mini, I only managed to downloaded a handful of tweaks from Cydia. There are two reasons for this slow adoption on my end: i. Cydia sources were hammered making downloads almost impossible and ii. Not too many iOS 6.1 tweeks available mainly due to the fact that most dev teams are still scrambling to develop them. So far I have downloaded tweaks I always considered essential to a Jailbroken iOS device, namely; SBSetting, Activator, and iFile. These are tweaks I have used before and still consider essential in enhancing my iOS user experience. I have also downloaded a few new tweaks I have not used before: f.lux, Mail Enhancer and Retina Pad. My favourite of the three so far is Retina Pad. Below is my review of this tweak/ app. What it is Retina Pad is a jailbreak tweak that literally unleashes the Retina display capability of your iPad/ iPad mini. What blew my mind with Retina Pad is how it enables Retina display for...