Category: iOS

Microsoft Releases Official Remote Desktop Apps For iOS and Android

Coinciding with the release of Windows 8.1, Microsoft has unveiled Remote Desktop apps for iOS and Android.

RDM has long been a way for users to remotely access Windows desktops, whether from another computer or a mobile device. While this is Microsoft’s first foray into official iOS and Android apps for the service, other solutions from large companies like Citrix and Splashtop have adequately filled the gap for years.

What Microsoft’s remote desktop version has going for it is its price — free — and its official support of Windows 8.1, which is rolling out now. The app also supports Network Layer Authentication (NLA) which, according to Microsoft, “completes user authentication before you establish a remote desktop connection and the logon screen appears. This is a more secure authentication method that can help protect the remote computer from malicious users and malicious software.”

The app is a bit rough around the edges, according to initial reviews, lacking pinch-to-zoom and multiple desktop size support. In other words, you’ll be doing a lot of scrolling if your computer’s native resolution is much higher than your phone’s or tablet’s. Of course, you’ll have to install the host software on that PC in the first place, so the solution isn’t quite plug-and-play.

October 19, 2013
Google Maps Update For iOS Brings In-Line Route Previews, Tips and Tricks

Google Maps For iOS might not have satisfied every user, but Google is constantly trying to improve its map on the iOS devices through updates often.

The new release shows brief route previews with traffic overlays, which makes it easier and less complicated ways to get from one place to another. If you are not aware of how to use the Google Maps on the iOS devices you can also browse a new Tips and Tricks section for help.

The company also claims in the version 2.3.4 update release notes that the new version brings enhanced support for the Arabic and Hebrew languages (including voice commands and prompts) and bug fixes. The update is now available at the app store.

[via]

October 16, 2013
Angry Birds Go! Will Be Available For Free On All Platforms Starting December 11

Love Angry Birds ? Good news for this game lover as Angry Birds Go! is the next big entry in the Angry Birds franchise. The game takes the “universe” of Angry Birds and applies it to cart racing.

As the teaser shows, players need power-ups to take their birds, pigs, and other Angry Birds characters past opponents on a variety of downhill stages. This game seems different than what we are used to see when it comes to Angry Birds, the teaser makes it further exciting. The graphics are said to be improved, but that can only be judged once this game will hit the market on december 11 on iOS, Android, Blackberry 10 and even Windows Phone 8 for free. Check out the teaser video:

[youtube id=”5xP12tpJrl8″ width=”100%” height=”300px”]

October 15, 2013
iPhone 5c and 5S priced in India : 16 GB Starting Rs. 41900 and Rs 53500

The iPhone 5c and 5s are slated to hit India end Oct 2013 and go on sale starting Nov 1st. Airtel and Reliance seem to be the two major companies marketing this set of phones aggressively. The pricing information for the 2013 edition of iPhones has come out and does not look to be in the region that buyers from India will appreciate.

The iPhone 5c is set to go on sale for a price of Rs. 41900 for the 16 GB variant irrespective of color, while the iPhone 5s is expected to go on sale for a price of Rs. 53,500 for the 16 GB variant again irrespective of color. Some rumors earlier had pointed out that the price of the gold color may be hiked, but such is not the case.

If we compare the price to the US, a contract-free and unlocked 16GB version of the iPhone 5C is available for USD 549 (about Rs 34,700) in the US, while an unlocked and contract-free iPhone 5S can be bought for USD 649 (about Rs 41,000). Apple is charging a hefty premium, this is considering the stricter Custom duty laws and the ever fluctuating price of the dollar.

On a different note, the phones are already available in the grey market sometimes cheaper than the slated launch price. So are you waiting for the official “high priced” iPhone 5c / 5s or are you taking the jump with the import units. Either way you still get warranty because the import units are still under warranty at Official Apple Stores across the globe, India has a franchise model so the imported units are not covered under warranty.

October 15, 2013
Exclusive : Apple iPhone 5s and 5c will Launch in India 1st Nov

We had posted during the launch of the iPhone 5s globally that the iPhone 5s and 5c will be available in India Oct 20th, the launch has been delayed to ~~23rd Oct and not~~ 1st November.

iGyaan is the first to know exclusively, directly from Apple, that the Public launch of the new iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c in India will be on 1st Nov in 10 cities across the country which include Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai among 6 other cities. The Pricing for the phones is as follows:

iPhone 5s 16 GB : Rs. 53500

iPhone 5s 32 GB : Rs. 63500

iPhone 5s 64 GB : Rs. 71500

iPhone 5c 16 GB : Rs. 41900

iPhone 5c 32 GB : Rs. 53500

The iPhone 5s and 5c will be available on first come first serve basis at the event,

Here is another exciting thing, iGyaan is also planning a few giveaways post the iPhone launch in India, so you can stay tuned for the days ahead.

The iPhone 5s and 5c were announced in September at an event held at Cupertino in the United States. The iPhone 5s is the first phone to integrate a 64bit chipset and a TouchID fingerprint Sensor.

October 10, 2013
Microsoft to Launch Remote Desktop For Android and iOS Devices

Microsoft will launch the Windows Server 2012 R2, and will release its Remote Desktop app on Windows, Windows RT and OS X, but also on iOS and Android, probably by end of this month.

The press release further shows, with Windows Server 2012 R2 Microsoft is introducing the Microsoft Remote Desktop app, available for download in application stores later this month, to provide easy access to PCs and virtual desktops on a variety of devices and platforms, including Windows, Windows RT, iOS, OS X and Android. However, this is the first time Microsoft’s remote desktop is available for rival platforms, but having said that this could be a problem for current apps which perform the same function.

The remote desktop for the iOS version will support iOS 6 and 7, while the Android variant will support everything from Gingerbread upward. No information is available on the date of the release yet.

[toggle title=”Press Release “]Microsoft unleashes fall wave of enterprise cloud solutions
Oct. 07, 2013
New Windows Server, System Center, Visual Studio, Windows Azure, Windows Intune, SQL Server, and Dynamics solutions will accelerate cloud benefits for customers.

REDMOND, Wash. – Oct. 7, 2013 – Microsoft Corp. on Monday announced a wave of new enterprise products and services to help companies seize the opportunities of cloud computing and overcome today’s top IT challenges. Complementing Office 365 and other services, these new offerings deliver on Microsoft’s enterprise cloud strategy.

Satya Nadella, Cloud and Enterprise executive vice president, said, “As enterprises move to the cloud they are going to bet on vendors that have best-in-class software as a service applications, operate a global public cloud that supports a broad ecosystem of third party services, and deliver multi-cloud mobility through true hybrid solutions. If you look across the vendor landscape, you can see that only Microsoft is truly delivering in all of those areas.” More comments from Nadella can be found on The Official Microsoft Blog.

Hybrid infrastructure and modern applications

To help customers build IT infrastructure that delivers continuous services and applications across clouds, on Oct. 18 Microsoft will release Windows Server 2012 R2 and System Center 2012 R2. Together, these new products empower companies to create datacenters without boundaries using Hyper-V for high-scale virtualization; high-performance storage at dramatically lower costs; built-in, software-defined networking; and hybrid business continuity. The new Windows Azure Pack runs on top of Windows Server and System Center, enabling enterprises and service providers to deliver self-service infrastructure and platforms from their datacenters.

Building on these hybrid cloud platforms, customers can use Visual Studio 2013 and the new .NET 4.5.1, also available Oct. 18, to create modern applications for devices and services. As software development becomes pervasive within every company, the new Visual Studio 2013 Modern Lifecycle Management solution helps enable development teams, businesspeople and IT managers to build and deliver better applications, faster.

Enabling enterprise cloud adoption

Recognizing that most enterprises will take a hybrid approach to cloud, Microsoft wants to help customers utilize their investments in on-premises software solutions toward the adoption of cloud computing. On Nov. 1, Microsoft will offer Enterprise Agreement (EA) customers access to discounted Windows Azure prices, regardless of upfront commitment, without overuse penalties and with the flexibility of annual payments.

As another part of this effort to reduce cloud adoption barriers, Microsoft on Monday announced a strategic partnership with Equinix Inc. Building on recently announced partnerships with AT&T and others, this alliance will provide customers with even more options for private and fast connections to the cloud. Customers will be able to connect their networks with Windows Azure at Equinix exchange locations for greater throughput, availability and security features.

Governments are among the most demanding enterprise customers. To help U.S. federal, state and local government agencies realize the benefits of public cloud computing, Microsoft is introducing its Windows Azure US Government Cloud. This will offer U.S. government customers a dedicated community cloud for data, applications and infrastructure, hosted in the continental U.S. and managed by U.S. personnel. Windows Azure has been granted FedRAMP Joint Authorization Board Provisional Authority to Operate, making it the first public cloud of its kind to achieve this level of government authorization.

Data platform and insights

As part of its vision to help more people unlock actionable insights from big data, Microsoft next week will release a second preview of SQL Server 2014. The new version offers industry-leading in-memory technologies at no additional cost, giving customers 10 times to 30 times performance improvements without application rewrites or new hardware. SQL Server 2014 also works with Windows Azure to give customers built-in cloud backup and disaster recovery.

For big data analytics, later this month Microsoft will release Windows Azure HDInsight Service, an Apache Hadoop-based service that works with SQL Server and widely used business intelligence tools, such as Microsoft Excel and Power BI for Office 365. With Power BI, people can combine private and public data in the cloud for rich visualizations and fast insights.

People and devices in the cloud

The proliferation of cloud applications, data and consumer devices is moving many enterprises to a bring-your-own-device model. The new release of Windows Intune, also available Oct. 18, combines with System Center Configuration Manager to help IT departments give mobile employees security-enhanced access to the applications and data they need on the Windows, iOS and Android devices of their choice. This unified management environment for PCs and mobile devices complements the new access and information protection capabilities in Windows Server 2012 R2.

Further, with Windows Server 2012 R2 Microsoft is introducing the Microsoft Remote Desktop app, available for download in application stores later this month, to provide easy access to PCs and virtual desktops on a variety of devices and platforms, including Windows, Windows RT, iOS, OS X and Android.

Software as a service business solutions

The next major version of the company’s CRM solution, Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online Fall ’13 will be available later this month, helping make customer interactions more personal via contextual information for deeper insights than the previous version, delivered on a variety of devices.* The on-premises version is expected to be available later in the fall for deployment either in-house or hosted by a partner. More information is available here. In addition, Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2013 R2 is now available, offering small and midsize businesses interoperability with Office 365, full multitenant support, and a range of tools designed to support large-scale hosting of the application on Windows Azure.

More information on Monday’s announcements can be found at the Microsoft News Center.

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

* Devices include Windows 8 tablets and iPad tablets with Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013; Windows Phone 8, iPhone and Android phone shortly following the release of Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013.[/toggle]

October 9, 2013
Apple’s iPad Event May Happen Oct 22nd

Apple might host its Annual iPad refresh event on the 22nd of October 2013. AllThingsD who seems to have correct information every time, has reported that the iPad event is likely to happen on Oct 22nd.

Apple is expected to launch two new models of the iPad, the 5th Gen original iPad and the second generation iPad Mini (hopefully with Retina display) . No official word has come from Apple, but most people are expecting that the new iPad or iPad mini will come with the TouchiD fingerprint sensor for added security on the iPads.

October 9, 2013
BlackBerry and Kik Settles Mobile Messaging Patent Suit

After 3 years of accused patent suit, Blackberry and Kik have finally settled the patent infringement case. Kik said in a statement that it is “very happy to put the BlackBerry lawsuit to rest,” the details of the settlement are not public, because it includes the confidentiality agreement.

BlackBerry initiated the suit weeks after Kik’s messaging service was in the market, grabbing 2 million users in the period of 10 days. However, Kik says it has 90 million registered users across iOS and Android, and is looking forward to 225,000 new joiners every day. On the other hand, BlackBerry’s BBM messenger has 60 million monthly users, which could have been more if the global launch of BBM for Android and iOS was not aborted in between of the process.

October 8, 2013
iOS 7 Battery Drain Fixes for iPods, iPhone 4, 4s, iPhone 5, 5c and iPhone 5s

If you recently upgraded your iPhone 4, 4s and or 5 to iOS 7 then you are probably suffering from massive battery loss on your iOS device also known as post-upgrade-drain-syndrome. However we have been able to locate a few causes that could be the culprits behind the whole iOS 7 battery life drain issue.

Check out the ten quick fixes below and the ultimate fix at the bottom.

Quick Fixes

1. Brightness and Display Timeout : It’s an age old problem, and probably the easiest to fix quickly : ensure that the brightness is not turned up too high and the timeout of the display is at 1 minute. This will save the battery considerably as the biggest consumer of iOS 7 battery is the Display.

2. Location Services : In iOS 7 a lot of apps ask for location use consent and users mostly agree without realizing that the use of GPS causes sufferable battery drain, quickly fix theis by going to Settings > Privacy > Location Services and turning off apps you don’t want using this service. For example Google Chrome may use location to find localized results but you may not need that, so turn it off. Also at the bottom of the Location services menu,you will find a System Services panel, which can be further tweaked to turn off options like Location Based iAds etc. that you don’t need.

3. iPhone 5/ 5s Parallax : The fun new animation which causes the wallpaper in the background to move, making the whole plane of the iPhone look 3 dimensional also affects the battery life drastically. Head over to Settings > General > Accessibility and set “Reduce Motion” to On. This will disable parallax and increase iOS 7 battery life.

4. Background App Refresh: If your apps are getting updated and refreshed while your phone is resting, its not really resting. While your phone is on standby , its actually getting drained pinging the servers for data refreshes. turning this off will improve battery life considerably. Find it in Settings > General “Background App Refresh” you can turn it off completely or turn off apps you can refresh manually.

5. Push Mail / Fetch Mail : Push Mail and Fetch mail also check the servers for new email frequently, using up data and battery life, setting this to manual will help the battery life of your iPhone / iPod. However some would rather have this feature on. Find the settings in Settings > Mail,Contacts, Calendars > Fetch New Data.

6. Incompatible Apps : Some apps that have not been optimized for iOS 7 may cause battery drain issues, one such daily use app is “Whatsapp”. In our testing we saw that battery drained 200 times faster if Whatsapp is actively running on the iOS 7 device. If not using this app is not an option, then double tapping the home button and sliding the app away to fully quit the app may be a good option to save battery life.

7. iPhone 5/ 5s Airdrop: On the iPhone 5, 5c and 5s a new feature called Airdrop allows you to share files between other iOS devices that support this feature including Mac OS devices. However if you don’t use this feature frequently turning this off from the control center will save additional battery. Swipe the control center up and tap on AirDrop , then tap “Off” and you are all set.

8. Spotlight Settings : With iOS 7, you can now search for anything on your iPhone using Spotlight. All you have to do is pull down on your Home screen and you can search pretty much every part of your phone, from notes to music, to mail. This also takes a mjor hit on the Battery, simply reduce the search options to the ones you do use : go to Settings > General > Spotlight search and set it to use only things you use.

9. Siri: Unless you use Siri frequently, turn her/him off. If you do use Siri, then turning off “Raise to Speak” in Settings > General > Siri will keep the proximity sensor from being used all the time.

10. Bluetooth and Wifi: Although the essence of any Smartphone, if you are not a frequent user of Bluetooth and Wifi, then turning them off will help improve iOS 7 battery life.

Although the above fixes will help a lot with the battery life drain, turning off only those features you can live without is recommended. If all else fails try the major Fix below.

Major Fix:

Set Up as a new device:

In most cases when we update any hardware from one generation of OS to the next, it is recommended that a fresh install be done. Similarly when you upgraded your iOS 6 device to iOS7, a lot of profiles and cached files, tmp file and even some preferences get carried over to iOS 7 which may not essentially be compatible with the new OS and may cause the processor on the iPhone/ iPod to get overworked.

Take a backup of all your images, sync up your contact to iCloud or any similar service, and bid adieu to the old messages. Put your iPhone / iPod in DFU mode , and restore the device via iTunes, once the new iOS is downloaded and flashed on your iPhone / iPod, set it up as a new device and do not restore from backup.

Simply sync back your images, contacts, music and apps and you are good to go. You will see a drastic change in the battery life of your iDevices, as this method will make your device fresh and delete all the garbage that was not required.

October 6, 2013
Samsung Says First Gold S4 Was Sold Even Before The Gold iPhone Was Announced

Apple released its two new iPhone’s on 10th September 2013, iPhone 5c and 5s. iPhone 5s was launched with the new color ‘gold’ and since then, we have seen leaks for HTC phones going Gold but in the recent news we saw Samsung Galaxy S4 in gold color.

On Friday, Samsung posted to the company’s blog, Samsung indirectly acknowledged the popularity of Apple’s new gold iPhone 5S by posting a gallery where they showed all the phones launched in gold color by them(including Gold S4 ). The blog said:

“Everybody loves gold, which is why we sometimes make phones in that color. (Or sometimes even with actual gold for the body!) See below to check out some of the phones we’ve released in gold in the past”

The blog post was likely crafted in response to voices on social media channels like Twitter that took Samsung to task for claiming (indirectly) earlier in the week that it had a gold smartphone on the market before the iPhone.

October 1, 2013
Apple Releases iOS 7.0.2 Update To Fix Lock Screen Bug

Apple has started to roll out iOS 7.0.2 to fix a lock screen security bug which was discovered just the very next day when iOS 7 was available for the general masses.

Apple says iOS 7.0.2 will fix the issue where users could bypass an iPhone lock screen to gain access to personal information like photos, email, text messages, Facebook, Flickr, and Twitter accounts. It seems iOS 7.0.2 is a basic security update, however, Apple also said that the new update will also include a Greek keyboard option for passcode entry.

A NULL dereference existed in the lock screen which would cause it to restart if the emergency call button was tapped repeatedly. While the lock screen was restarting, the call dialler could not get the lock screen state and assumed the device was unlocked, and so allowed non-emergency numbers to be dialed. This issue was addressed by avoiding the NULL dereference,” said Apple.

[via]

September 27, 2013
Facebook Allows Editing Your Typing Errors

Facebook has started to let you edit post’s text after you publish it. The feature comes to the web and Android in an update today, and to iOS soon. Previously you had to delete your post, lose all your Likes and comments, and repost to edit something.

Android users also get emotion and activity sharing, events at a glance, and photo album creation today. Now, you are able to edit all posts and comments from the web. To edit posts, you’ll be able to click the down arrow in the top right of one of your posts and select ‘Edit Post’ to change the text, then click done editing.The revisions and original post will still be viewable if friends check your post’s edit history, though. Editing the comments came into the picture a while ago.

September 27, 2013
FIFA 14 Now Available for Free on Android and iOS

FIFA 14 comes up with over 16,000 athletes playing for 600 teams within 34 stadiums spread across 33 leagues.

The game will be available on app store and Google play store free of cost, with EA hoping to bring in revenue by way of in-app purchases, which includes Ultimate Team points or even for the unlocking of additional game modes. The game not only includes currency that lets you spend cash to save time, but there are three modes (Manager, Tournament, and Kick Off) that are only available after a paid upgrade.

While the company claims that this game has high quality graphics, the file size of this game in play store is 1.35 GB and in the app store the file size is 1.17 GB. FIFA 14 is playable in English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Dutch, Russian, and Brazilian Portuguese.

September 24, 2013
BlackBerry : BBM App Won’t Relaunch This Week

BlackBerry has provided an update to the millions of eager BlackBerry Messenger users who are waiting for the app to arrive on both iPhone and Android.

The app was successfully launched on iPhone in several countries on time on Saturday, but the Android version was met with difficulty and never arrived. Many Android users resorted to install leaked and “unreleased, older version” from various file sharing sites that apparently “resulted in volumes of data traffic orders of magnitude higher than normal for each active user and impacted the system in abnormal ways.” BlackBerry then paused the launch on both platforms. The app had been installed over 1.1 million times.

Andrew Bocking, head of BBM at BlackBerry, took to the company blog and informed the masses that “the team is now focused on adjusting the system to completely block this unreleased version of the Android app when we go live with the official BBM for Android app. We are also making sure that the system is reinforced to handle this kind of scenario in the future.”

As for a release of BBM for iPhone and Android? Well, nothing concrete from BlackBerry. Bocking noted that getting BBM to operate as it should is not a “simple task” and “will take some time and I do not anticipate launching this week.”

[Via]

September 24, 2013
Cops in NY promotes iOS 7’s Security Features

The New York Police Department seems to be a big fan of iOS 7, the department has officers out on the street encouraging the iPhone owners to update to iOS 7, which has new security features that they believe might cut down on thefts.

Devices running iOS 7 can be remotely secured when lost and with the touch id it can be further secured(if one ignores the exceptions). The NYPD hopes that these features will discourage thefts, specially for Apple devices.

The changes in iOS 7 have received praise from both New York’s attorney general and the San Francisco district attorney. In a joint statement earlier this week, the two say :

iOS 7 is an important first step towards ending the global epidemic of smartphone theft.”

Thefts might not stop overnight, but they believe that the Activation Lock (the remote securing feature) is an important effort that might reduce phone thefts in the near future.

[via]

September 23, 2013