The AT&T Galaxy S II launching Sunday has faced a stumbling block through a major security hole shown on video (below). Anyone can bypass the password or pattern unlock just by waking the phone, letting the display sleep, and then waking it a second time. BGR notes that the only safeguard is that it requires the phone having been properly unlocked at least once before, although that's very likely to be the case for any system that hasn't been very recently rebooted....
Apple has been rumored to be working on advanced speech recognition technology for some time.
After Apple's acquisition of Siri, TechCrunchreported in May that negotiations were ongoing with Nuance to integrate their speech recognition technology into iOS. Earlier this week, 9to5macdetailed much of what is expected to be the major new feature in the next generation iPhone to be release on October 4th. The story was met with some skepticism in our forums, but we were especially confident in the report as we had privately heard the exact same story from our sources.
The Siri/Nuance-based voice recognition Assistant will be the major new feature in the next generation iPhone and will be an iPhone 4S/5 exclusive feature. As detailed, the Assistant will allow users to speak to their iPhones in order to schedule appointments, send text messages, retrieve information and much more. Voice recognition happens on the fly and reportedly with great accuracy.
Assistant interface, artist rendition
We've created this artist rendition (above) of what the Assistant interface looks like based on sources with knowledge of the feature. After a long press on the home button, the screen fades and slides up, just like with the multitasking interface. Revealed is a silver icon with an animated orbiting purple flare which indicates a ready state. From what we've been told, this image is a close representation of the actual Assistant interface.
From there, the user may be taken to a conversation view that somewhat mimics Siri's original interface, but in Apple's own styling.
Based on this knowledge, we contracted Jan-Michael Cart to put together a video representation of the Assistant workflow. Cart had been responsible for a number of iOS concept videos in the past, but we wanted to mock up what the actual Assistant interface looked like. Due to the short turnaround, we know that not all elements in the video represent actual look/feel of the Assistant interface, but should show off the general workflow.
After receiving spoken commands, the Assistant shows you back the recognized text and then takes the next step. This could involve sending a text message (with confirmation) or pulling data from Wolfram Alpha. The feature is said to be one of the major differentiators for the next generation iPhone.
Apple is hosting a media event on October 4th, where they will introduce the next iPhone and these new features.
Apple on Friday supplied developers with the ninth beta of iTunes 10.5, with a number of known issues remaining before the final version of the software debuts with iCloud.
Mobile advertising network Greystripe surveyed iPad and smartphone users this summer about their travel habits and how their mobile devices help them with travelling -- either through setting up travel bookings for transportation and hotels or as a GPS unit or method to pass the time while in transit. The results show a strong link between travel activities and iPad usage, with 93 percent of users engaging with their devices while travelling, and 91 percent using it for a travel-related activity....
The AT&T Galaxy S II launching Sunday has faced a stumbling block through a major security hole shown on video (below). Anyone can bypass the password or pattern unlock just by waking the phone, letting the display sleep, and then waking it a second time. BGR notes that the only safeguard is that it requires the phone having been properly unlocked at least once before, although that's very likely to be the case for any system that hasn't been very recently rebooted....
Mobile advertising network Greystripe surveyed iPad and smartphone users this summer about their travel habits and how their mobile devices help them with travelling -- either through setting up travel bookings for transportation and hotels or as a GPS unit or method to pass the time while in transit. The results show a strong link between travel activities and iPad usage, with 93 percent of users engaging with their devices while travelling, and 91 percent using it for a travel-related activity....
