Miss the open tab count in Mobile Safari on iOS 7? Here’s How to get it back

Mobile Safari got a major update in iOS 7. Apple also removed the limitation of the number of Safari tabs one could be open in iOS 7.
So Apple probably felt that it wasn’t necessary to display the number of tabs that are open.
If you still want to know how many tabs are open, then there is a new jailbreak tweak for it.
The tweak is aptly called SafariTabCount. It displays the open tab count on the tab button in the bottom right corner.

Mobile Safari without SafariTabCount installed (left), with SafariTabCount installed (right)














Check out the video walkthrough of the tweak below:
I think it is nice to know how many tabs are open in Safari, so it doesn’t go out of control, and reminds you to close the unwanted tabs.
SafariTabCount is available for free on Cydia.

As always, let me know what you think in the comments below.

Download Now

How much storage space does your 16GB smartphone really have?

Last year, customers who bought Microsoft’s Surface Pro tablets found out that their 64GB tablet had only 23GB free storage space, just 36% percent of the advertised storage space. Not surprisingly, this didn't go down too well with customers.

When it comes to smartphones like the iPhone, 16GB models are quite popular as it is the entry level model. So the question is how much storage space does your 16GB phone have? Folks at the Which? magazine ran tests on eight popular 16GB smartphones to find out the answer to that question.

They’ve created the following info graphic, which shows how much free storage is there in top smartphones available currently.

So as you can see, Samsung’s flagship device, the Samsung Galaxy S4 comes with the least amount of free storage space. It has just 8.56GB or just 54% of the advertised storage space.

iPhone 5c, Nexus 5 and iPhone 5s took the top honors with 12.60GB, 12.28GB and 12.20GB respectively. While it is understandable that some of the space is occupied by the operating system that is required to run the device, Which? magazine found that in some cases unwanted bloat ware and system files occupy 46 per cent of the phone’s internal storage.

The problem is more acute with Android based devices, as carriers are also allowed to install apps before selling devices to customers. The problem is that customers are not allowed to remove some of the unnecessary or unwanted apps from their smartphones include the iPhone.

However, as the Which? magazine points out, the three smartphones that offer the most amount of storage space don’t have memory card slots, so they can’t be expanded like Galaxy S4.

So does it really matter how much free storage space is available on smartphone, especially if they’ve memory card slots? I think it does, as I felt a little cheated when I found that I got only 54% of the advertised storage space on my Samsung Galaxy S4. I must also admit that I was disappointed to find out that I just got 76% of the advertised storage space on my iPhone 5s. It would be nice if the smartphone vendors gave customers an easy way to delete the bloat ware.

What do you think? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

[via Which? blog]

Download Now

Apple Sold Record-Breaking 51 Million iPhones, 26 Million iPads In Q1 2014

Apple’s earnings call conferences tend to be of general interest to the wider on-looking tech community, particularly Q1, which covers the lucrative October-to-December holiday sales period. With the iPhone 5s having sold in unprecedented numbers for a new Apple smartphone (or any smartphone, for that matter), and the likes of the Retina iPad mini and iPad Air having debuted, this Q1 earnings call was always going to be impressive, and in actual fact, it was record-busting.

Its quarterly revenue of $57.6 billion was its highest ever, and with a quarterly profit of $13.1 billion (equating to $14.50 per diluted share), it’s no wonder the company was beaming about the figures. The improvement is also considerable when compared with the same period last year, which saw revenue at $54.5 billion, and a net profit of $13.1 billion; the equivalent of $13.81 per diluted share.

The iPad range was due for an upgrade, and neither the iPad Air or iPad mini 2 – the latter of which was afforded a Retina display – let us down. The consumer response to both devices is reflected in the number of units sold, with the 51 million iPhones sold making for yet another all-time record for any quarter. 26 million iPads were also sold during the quarter, up from 22.9 million for the same time last year, and yes – you’ve guessed it – another all-time quarterly record. The Mac, meanwhile, managed 4.8 million units sold, which is an improvement of 700,000 on the same period in the previous year.

Every year, Apple seems to make a habit of breaking its own records, and with a plethora of new and exciting products said to be in the pipeline, it would take a brave man to bet against the next Q1 results exceeding even what has been managed this time around. As well as the rampant rumor regarding the so-called iWatch, the notion of one or two new iPhones with notably larger displays is also gaining some respectability, with the likes of Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal suggesting this to be the case.

Whatever happens through the remainder of 2014 and beyond remains to be seen, but at this point, the Apple gravy train is still very much rolling and if anything, gathering more steam as it continues on its path.

Download Now

The NSA Is Using iOS / Android Apps Like Angry Birds to Monitor Phone Users

Ever since security contractor Edward Snowden started leaking classified NSA documents last year the subject of what security agencies can and cannot find out about us has been on the forefront of many an agenda. Just recently, the U.S. President was forced to make a statement on the subject, clarifying what information its agencies were collecting about its own citizens, and now a new report claims that both the NSA and the UK’s Government Communications Headquarters, or GCHQ, can scrape data from the very apps we use on our smartphones.

The information, once again courtesy at least in part of Snowden, claims that as early as 2007 Britain’s GCHQ was working with the NSA on the ability to collect and then store information that had been taken from smartphone apps. As the use of smartphones has skyrocketed since that time, it’s only probable that both agencies stepped up their work. Both have apparently now gained the ability to scrape data from apps as well as photos and videos uploaded to the mobile versions of sites like Flickr, Facebook and Twitter. As we become all the more eager to share everything we do, the abilities of international intelligence agencies will only grow.

The scale and the specifics of the data haul are not clear. The documents show that the N.S.A. and the British agency routinely obtain information from certain apps, particularly some of those introduced earliest to cellphones.

However, more recent apps, including the hugely popular Angry Birds series of games are also targets. Simple Android updates are apparently sending data over the airwaves that can at least potentially be intercepted by entities such as the NSA or GCHQ with a reported 500 lines of information being shared during a system update.

The scale of the surveillance which mobile users are under is unclear at this point, even with the leaks still coming. GCHQ says that everything it does is covered by UK law, but as we’ve learned in the past, such things can be worryingly elastic when it comes to government-run agencies both at home and abroad. With more leaks comes more information, but also more questions. We’ll possibly never really know what is being collected, with claims that ad agencies are also targeted. These companies arguably know the most about us, so it should come as no surprise that they are on the radars of intelligence agencies too.

All that being said, we don’t think we’ll be hanging our smartphones up just yet.

But maybe tomorrow.

(Source: TheNewYorkTimes)

You may also like to check out:

• Apple Denies All iPhone NSA Backdoor Allegations In Official Statement

Download Now

Apple Denies All iPhone NSA Backdoor Allegations In Official Statement

It has long since been common knowledge that certain government agencies use a number of digital spying tactics to keep tabs on certain activity. Only recently, details have begun to emerge of just how much intel the NSA has been collecting, to the point where it seems as though there’s very little that anybody can do digitally without the NSA brown-nosing. With some products having leaked info to the NSA without the knowledge of the user, Apple has taken the opportunity to distance itself from such behavior in stating that it has "never worked with the NSA to create a backdoor in any products."

The NSA’s access to our digital spectrum is a hot topic of conversation right now, and just recently, we learned that the agency could access quite a bit of the Apple iPhone. But while the NSA harbors such abilities, Apple maintains that it has had nothing to do with it, and further, that it was unaware that such activity was even taking place.

With its products being mentioned amid the rife NSA spying stories, it seems as though the Cupertino wanted to go on record and declare that it categorically had nothing to do with the NSA’s worryingly deep access to the Apple iPhone.

Speaking to AllThingsD, Apple has stated that it never once did work with the NSA to create any backdoors through which the agency could exploit. Yes, Apple is compliant with official requests made, but it has never dishonestly allowed any organization to access info through any kind of backdoor in its product ecosystems.

Apple continues in its effort to plug any gaps in software that could allow third parties access to sensitive info. Whether it’s the government watching, or simply a chancing hacker looking to steal information for unscrupulous purposes, Tim Cooks men remain dedicated to the task of keeping things as secure as possible.

So, there you have it. Yes, the NSA could be logging much of your iPhone’s info, but no, Apple isn’t willfully facilitating this practice. The iOS ecosystem has proven itself to be among the most secure in the business, and with enterprise adoption continuing to nibble at a market previously dominated by BlackBerry, the privacy-conscious will be hard-pushed to find a more secure platform than Apple’s.

(Source: AllThingsD)

You may also like to check out:

• NSA Can Access Everything On Your iPhone Using Its ‘DROPOUTJEEP’ Backdoor

Download Now

NSA Can Access Everything On Your iPhone Using Its ‘DROPOUTJEEP’ Backdoor

Just when you think that the whole NSA situation can’t get a lot worse, somehow it blows up and somehow takes things to a new level. And now, we’re hearing that the NSA can reportedly gain almost complete access to an iPhone remotely following installation of a software implant.

The news comes via security researcher Jacob Applebaum and German news outlet Der Spiegel, with the revelation being that an NSA program called DROPOUTJEEP allows the agency to collect SMS messages, location data and other information from an iPhone without touching it once a software implant has been installed. Currently that requires access to the device in question, though an updated release was being worked on that would allow remote installation.

Oh, and the NSA can activate an iPhone’s microphone and camera too, should they so wish. Time to start putting black tape over that camera, perhaps.

"DROPOUTJEEP is a software implant for the Apple iPhone that utilizes modular mission applications to provide specific SIGINT functionality. This functionality includes the ability to remotely push/pull files from the device, SMS retrieval, contact list retrieval, voicemail, geolocation, hot mic, camera capture, cell tower location, etc. Command, control, and data exfiltration can occur over SMS messaging or a GPRS data connection. All communications with the implant will be covert and encrypted."

What’s particularly most worrying about this whole sordid affair is the NSA’s belief that this method of data collection will work 100% of the time. This level of confidence is staggering, and begs the question about how the agency can be so sure that each iPhone will be so responsive to its requests. Some are suggesting that Apple has helped the NSA in its endeavors, but that might be a conversation for another day.

It’s clear that US intelligence has access to things far beyond what most of us would have ever believed, and while the claims and counter-claims start to encroach on what we would expect out of a good spy movie, there appears to be no end to the revelations started by Edward Snowden earlier this year.

Scary stuff.

But the big question is: are you ready to be under that sort of surveillance 24/7? Or do you prefer to have privacy without anyone snooping around your private data?

(Source: TheDailyDot)

Download Now

iPhone 5s Vs Lumia 1020 Vs DSLR – Elite Cameras Compared

The iPhone 5s was praised for general ease of use, but from a shot-taking point of view, it pales in comparison to 1020. If you’ve a vested interest in camera technology – on smartphones or otherwise – the entire DPReview article is definitely worth a read through.Nokia, which was recently subject to an acquisition by close partner Microsoft, has struggled in the smartphone industry since the iPhone came into play, but while lackluster sales are largely attributable to the Windows Phone ecosystem, there’s no question that the devices themselves – particularly the cameras – are of the highest order. DPReview has pitted the revered 41-megapixel sensor of the Lumia 1020 and the 8-megapixel rear-facing snapper of the iPhone 5s against some of its favorite DSLRs, and aside from other findings, determined that the Nokia camera is more than just a little bit better than that of its rival. In fact, it’s far, far superior.

The mobile industry is easily the fastest-moving in memory, and while gaming capabilities of our smartphones and tablets are breezing past the likes of the PS Vita and aiming their sensors squarely at the console market, the rear-facing cameras of our beloved handsets are quite literally doing the same to DSLRs.

The tradeoffs of the Nokia Lumia 1020, besides the fact that it runs on the promising-but-unfinished Windows Phone, is that it is a lopsided device to hold due to the camera mechanics. However, if you’re a bit of a photography aficionado, or simply wish to take better mobile snaps, it is a fact that the flagship Nokia device is the best equipped in the business, and thanks to DPReview‘s comparison, we now know just how much better it is.

To put things into perspective, not only did the 1020 trounce the iPhone 5s camera, which, itself, isn’t too shabby, but it also stood up well against the likes of the Canon EOS 10D / 20D / 30D / 40D as well as Nikon’s D800 and FM2.

Nokia has clearly put a lot of effort in cramming as much goodness into the Lumia 1020′s hardware, and although the camera lens is compact, the detail it is capable of reproducing is almost as high as the Nikon D800. Considering Nikon is arguably the most recognized camera brand in the world, coupled with the fact that the D800 is considered its best all-rounder, this is an astonishing achievement, and if you thought the 1020 was just another explosive entry into the Megapixel Race, think again.

The iPhone 5s was praised for general ease of use, but from a shot-taking point of view, it pales in comparison to 1020. If you’ve a vested interest in camera technology – on smartphones or otherwise – the entire DPReview article is definitely worth a read through.

(Source: DPReview)

Download Now