Did you ever think that your computer, iPhone or Android phone could help you clean your house?

Doesn’t sound right, does it? Well, they can.

There are technological wizards out there who have dreamed up ways to help you conquer the dismal chore of housecleaning by helping you with organisation, scheduling and maintenance.

Working parents decided to design a “divide-and-conquer” approach to keeping their houses clean.

They planned a program that breaks down your chores into bite-sized tasks that are to be accomplished one item at a time - actually, one item a day.

How does this work? There is a rotating checklist that guides you so you go through all the chores, then start again. But remember: It is one chore a day.

So what does this have to do with technology? For this particular cleaning schedule, go to any search engine and type in “Clean Freak Cleaning Schedule”. There you will find the explanation of the program and how to download it onto your iPhone.

The information to follow will then be on your iPhone for you to add, delete or move from task to task as you go through the chores.

Do you have an Android phone? Then “Organising Your Home” is your answer to getting the house in order. You will be totally organised, according to the promoters of this download.

The program gives you practical tips and techniques for ridding all the rooms in your home of unneeded clutter.

This program is organised in a room-by-room manner. Here again, you can break down the organisational process, one room at a time.

Then there is the “House Maintenance Schedule” that is free for Android phone download. This is a calendar application where you log dates of routine maintenance that is or should be done. There are reminders of due dates and also the next maintenance that is needed.

Tasks that are logged in this program include flushing water heater, inspecting fire extinguishers, changing oil for the mower, cleaning lint from dryers, cleaning or replacing water filters, and changing smoke-detector batteries.

These are organised into six-month, three-month and monthly logs.

So there you have it - housecleaning via technology. If you are interested, you can get more information through Appitalism.com.

[Thanks: http://au.news.yahoo.com]

Dropbox is one of the better-known, online storage services – along with Box.net and others – and among the reasons for its popularity is its drop-dead-easy setup and navigation. Begun as a browser-based service on the web, the iPhone app is just as simple.

The free download from Apple’s iTunes App Store took about a minute (on a Wi-Fi connection) and after logging in, we were ready to access our file library an upload more files in about another minute. Navigation is slick and intuitive. Inside the app, click the “Dropbox” icon to access the main file menu; there are also icons for “favorite” folders, to upload files from the iPhone, and to manage settings.

Moving back and forth between the iPhone app and the Web-based interface is a breeze and doesn’t take much thought work.

A couple of notes: You can open a Dropbox account for free and, with that, you get 2 GB of storage. For $99 per year, you can upgrade to 50 GB – essentially on par with the top-tier available from Apple’s iTunes once it launches. There are also options of 100 GB for $199 per year, and for work groups that need 350 GB , it’ll run $795 per year.

[Thanks: http://www.crn.com]

Apps for your smart phone are easy, inexpensive ways to keep children occupied while you keep your eyes on the road. Here’s a list of ten apps that provide hours of fun for children and for adults!

1. 123 Color: Talking Coloring Book - Download this app for your toddler. It’s much less messy than traditional coloring books and crayons. 99¢; available for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad.

2. Weet Woo!: Afraid your child will find inappropriate videos on Youtube? Use Weet Woo! and your kids can watch age-appropriate videos for hours. $3.99; available for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad.

3. Dr. Seuss’s ABC: Read Dr. Seuss books on a smart phone or tablet. $3.99; available for iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad and Android-powered devices.

4. The Oregon Trail: Remember this classic game? Tame the Wild West and keep your companions alive in this frontier game. Free; available for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad.

5. Family Car Games: Get the entire family involved! This app gives you instructions for hundreds of car games the whole family can enjoy. It’s really helpful if you’re low on battery. Get instructions and put away the device. $1.99; available for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad.

6. Road Trip Bingo: It’s like “I Spy” on your iPad. Find items inside and outside of your car and check them off one-by-one. It’s another great way to get everyone involved without taking your hands off of the wheel. 99¢; available for iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad and Android-powered devices.

7. My Little Suticase: You’ve planned the family vacation, so now let your kids plan their own virtual trip. They can choose their destination, what to pack and which toys to bring along. 99¢; available for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad.

8. Uno: The virtual version of this classic card game is fun to play and won’t lose cards. Free; available for iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad and Android-powered devices.

9. Battleship: Everyone loves Battleship, but keeping up with the bulky board and pieces is a pain. Play this in the car without any ships getting lodged between the seats. 99¢; available for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad.

10. Road Trip Scavenger hunt: Much like “I Spy,” this game has your family looking for items on a road trip. The app keeps track of scores and items found. 99¢; available for iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad and free for Android-powered devices.

Information compiled from Woman’s Day.

[Thanks: http://www.waff.com]

An Apple TV, which would run the company’s operating system, would allow people to do many things with their televisions they cannot do now. The most important of these would probably be the ability to run Apple apps. This would permit consumers to download applications from Apple’s store which has hundreds of thousands of products. The Apple TV would allow people to switch from Facebook to Google to their calendars all on one device in the living room.

Apple’s risk of failure is greater than it was in the multimedia, smartphone, and tablet markets. The iPod was launched into market in which multimedia devices were cumbersome and a great deal of music was pirated. The iPod was a first-of-its-kind device with seamless controls. The related ITunes store was a single stop shop for what became thousands and thousands of songs, all available at one place.

The iPhone was released when the smartphone industry was in its early stages. It was a sector dominated by Research in Motion’s Blackberry, which was much more a business device than a consumer one. Apple was able to use its iPod brand success to sell the iPhone. And, the much-used Google (GOOG) Android operating system reached the market well after the iPhone was far down its road of success. The iPad was also early into the tablet PC market. It benefited from the wild popularity of the iPhone and the App Store–a ready place for consumers to personalize their tablets.

Apple’s risk is that the TV market is already crowded. A number of large consumer electronics companies make screens. More importantly, the television in the consumer’s home is already attached to an array of powerful boxes from NetFlix, cable companies, satellite TV firms, and game console manufactures which include Microsoft and Sony.

[Thanks: http://www.dailyfinance.com]

The flaws, exploited by the Jailbreakme.com
project, essentially allowed remote code execution attacks via
specially rigged fonts and escalation of privileges to escape the iOS
sandbox.  The Jailbreakme.com project used rigged PDF files to deliver
the malformed fonts.

Here’s the skinny on the three vulnerabilities patched by Apple with the iOS 4.3.4 software update:

• CoreGraphics (CVE-2010-3855) – Viewing a
  maliciously crafted PDF file may lead to an unexpected application
  termination or arbitrary code execution Description:  A buffer overflow
  exists in FreeType’s handling of TrueType fonts.
• CoreGraphics (CVE-2011-0226) – Viewing a
  maliciously crafted PDF file may lead to an unexpected application
  termination or arbitrary code execution Description:  A signedness issue
  exists in FreeType’s handling of Type 1 fonts.
• IOMobileFrameBuffer (CVE-2011-0227) – Malicious
  code running as the user may gain system privileges. An invalid type
  conversion issue exists in the use of IOMobileFrameBuffer queueing
  primitives, which may allow malicious code running as the user to gain
  system privileges.

The iOs 4.3.4 update is available for iOS 3.0 through 4.3.3 for
iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4 (GSM); iOS 3.1 through 4.3.3 for iPod touch (3rd
generation) and later; and iOS 3.2 through 4.3.3 for iPad.

[Thanks: http://www.zdnet.com]

Earlier this week, Apple showed off the latest version of its mobile operating system iOS 5, the next generation Mac operating system OS X Lion and its new cloud-based music, photo, video and data back-up service called iCloud.

All three received a great deal of attention as they were the latest advancements in Apple’s software and services.

OS X Lion has 250 new features but only 10 features were presented by Apple at WWDC 2011. Some of them were Multitouch Gestures (which till now was only available in iOS), Full Screen Apps (the apps can be enlarged to fit the screen), Mission Control (combination of Expose and Spaces), Auto Save (Lion will automatically be able to save frequently what you’re working on), Resume (like iPhone users, Mac users will now be able to instantly resume an application where he/she had quit), Versions (the Lion can save all versions of the file you’re working on) and AirDrop (Wi-Fi based peer-to-peer file moving utility).

iOS 5 is also a formidable new mobile operating system. Apple said iOS 5 comes with 1500 new APIs and 200 new features, but walked the audience through top 10 features including improved Notifications, News Stand (similar to iBooks but dedicated to magazines and newspapers), Twitter Integration (Apple has integrated Twitter UI with the camera, Photos, Maps, Safari and Contacts), Reminders (the new Reminders app, which even has geolocation capabilities, now makes it possible to maintain multiple list and save them with dates to alert you), PC Free Function (no need to hook up mobile Apple devices with PC to access iTunes as iOS updates are now possible over the air), Delta Updates (now download only the necessary update and not the entire app/software) and iMessage (iMessage, which comes with read and delivery receipts and real time typing indication, allows iOS users to send text and multimedia messages over Wi-Fi and 3G).

As for iCloud, it could very well be Apple’s shot at redemption especially after it pulled a bummer with MobileMe service.

Though cloud-based services are not new, Apple’s iCloud is probably the first cloud-based service that automatically stores content in cloud and wirelessly pushes them out to all Apple devices.

Unlike Google’s Music Beta digital locker and Amazon’s Cloud Drive, iCloud will be able to scan a user’s library and make mirror copies available instantly.

iCloud, Apple co-founder Steve Jobs said, “is going to be pretty big” as everything is now automatic, seamless and effortless and it could mean the end of file storage system.

In iCloud, one can not only store contacts, calendars, mail and documents. One can also store music, photos, videos, apps, and e-books (iBooks) but iCloud can also be used to store APIs.

The App Store and iTunes are also now on iCloud, which means that any music, movies or apps purchased through iTunes or App Store can be pushed down to any Apple device.

The best thing, however, about iCloud is probably iMatch.

For just a flat $24.99 annual fee, iMatch will match the user’s ripped songs with 18 million+ songs in iTunes and upgrade them to higher quality 256kbps AAC DRM-free.

The remaining songs that could not be matched has to be uploaded manually. “First time we’ve seen this in the music industry,” Jobs said. “If you don’t think we’re serious about this, you’re wrong.”

However, despite all these, Apple has managed to disappoint millions of fans, especially those who were expecting the technology giant to present the much-awaited iPhone 5.

It has been nearly a year that Apple launched iPhone 4 and over the period, several high-end models of Android smartphones have reared their heads, threatening to topple iPhone from its lofty perch.

According to a recent ComScore report, the market share of Google’s Android surged to 36.4 percent even as Apple’s iPhone dropped down to second place with 26 percent market share. Apple was barely ahead of RIM’s BlackBerry (25.7 percent).

In terms of mobile phone sales in the U.S., Apple also lagged, ranking No.4 (8.3 percent) behind Google Android smartphone makers like Samsung (24.5 percent), LG (21 percent) and Motorola (15.6 percent).

A Nielsen survey has also revealed that Android smartphone users download more apps on average than iPhone users despite Apple’s App Store being more than twice bigger than Android Market Place.

Apple’s stubborn decision to say no to Adobe Flash, the “antennagate” issue and Foxconn sweatshop controversy have marred iPhone 4’s success even as emergence of high-end Android smartphones such as LG Optimus 2X (the first Android phone with 1GHz dual-core processor) and Samsung Galaxy S II and HTC Sensation 4G threaten to erode iPhone’s popularity.

Other Android smartphones lined up for launch and expected to give iPhone a run for its money are HTC Evo 3D, the Motorola XPRT, the Motorola Titanium, Samsung Gravity Smart and Samsung Exhibit 4G.

iPhone 5, though not expected to feature radical hardware changes, will come with beefy specs such as 8 MP camera, A5 processor, a 4-inch display, 1080p output, curved glass screen, a SIM-less design, 3-4 internal antennas for both GSM and CDMA networks and 4G connectivity.

Had iPhone 5 been released this month, it would have stood a chance, perhaps even stolen a march over Android rivals, thanks to iOS 5 and iCloud.

However, by not presenting iPhone 5 at the WWDC 2011, Apple could have just shot itself on the leg as by the time iPhone 5 is unveiled, Android smartphones will be boasting of similar features if not superior ones.

Apple is making a big gamble and Steve Jobs knows it. But Jobs is a man who hates to lose and so iPhone 5 could, after all, have a few tricks up its sleeve that the world does not know about.

Ticonderoga Securities analyst Brian White feel that Apple would probably put off iPhone 5 launch till September, when the company begins its new financial year, rather than launch it within months of the launch of the white iPhone 4, which is doing extremely well.

The September launch will also help Apple tide over problems related to supply delay, the analyst said.

Agrees Susquehanna Financial analyst Chris Caso. “Our checks at multiple levels of the supply chain point to a one-to-two-month delay in the production start for the next-generation iPhone vs. our earlier view of a July production start,” Caso wrote in a note to clients.

[Thanks: http://sanfrancisco.ibtimes.com/]

Running out of room on your 32 GB iPad 2 or just need to share files between several iOS devices simultaneously? Well Kingston has your back with its new Wi-Drive that comes in both 16 GB and 32 GB models that just launched at Computex today.

Wi-Drive is a wireless, portable flash drive that can transfer files to three different iOS devices within a 30 foot range at the same time. It definitely takes its design cues and form factor from the iPod touch, with rounded corners in a glossy case that measures 4.7″ by 2.4″ and only about 0.3″ thick. Like any USB flash device, the Wi-Drive does not discriminate between different file formats so you can carry everything from music, videos to office documents on one device. “It’s also a great companion for Windows users on iPads,” according to its website, “as it removes the frustration of using auto sync to view content.”

To use the Wi-Drive, simply transfer your files from your computer to the Wi-Drive via USB, as well as download the Wi-Drive app from the AppStore onto the iOS devices that need to link to the drive. Then use the Wi-Drive app to connect to the Wi-Drive by Wi-Fi, and enjoy the convenience of sharing content between devices without any wires or having to hover over your colleague’s shoulder as he clicks through his presentation.

The Wi-Drive sounds like a great idea but I’m not sure if it’s worth the money: The 16 GB version will set you back $130, while the 32 GB will cost $175. It will be available for purchase later this month. Unless you are sharing movies and high-resolution photos that are too cumbersome or too confidential to upload/download, cloud-based file storage services will probably be sufficient for most basic needs — and many (like Dropbox) are free.

How can the Wi-Drive fit with your use of the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch? Share with us in the comments.

Other technical specs are as follows:

• Compatible with: iPad, iPhone 3G/3GS/4, iPod touch (3G is limited to iOS 4.2.1+)
• Dimensions: 121.5mm x 61.8mm x 9.8mm
• Operating Temperature: 32°F to 122°F (0°C to 50°C)
• Storage Temperature: 14°F to 185°F (-10°C to 70°C)
• Rechargeable Battery: up to four hours of continuous use
• Wireless Network Interface: Wi-Fi 802.11g/n with wireless security (WPA/WEP)
• Configurable APN (access point name) and Key functions to connect to Wireless Access Point (Internet Connection)
• Supported File Formats:

• Audio: AAC, MP3, WAV
• Video: m4v, mp4, mov, Motion JPEG (M-JPEG), AVI
• Image: jpg, bmp, tiff
• Document: pdf, doc, docx, ppt, pptx, txt, rtf, xls

[Thanks: http://www.zdnet.com]

The app is meant for toddlers, offering a design and simple menus designed to hold their interest. It’s mean to offer an enjoyable viewing experience with minimal parental involvement.

The app offers both video download and streaming, and lets toddlers watch videos on iOS devices with minimal buffering or interruptions.

BabyTV, if you’re new to it, was founded in 2003 and is commercial-free. It was designed to support parents by providing shows that explore early learning themes with an emphasis on parent-child interaction. It airs in over 90 countries.

The app is free, but the in-app purchase you’ll need to enjoy the shows is $4.99 on the iPad and $3.99 on the iPhone or iPod Touch.

[Thanks: http://www.appscout.com]

That’s according to a research note by Jefferies & Company analyst Peter Misek, picked up by Forbes, which claims Apple’s next iPhone won’t sport LTE hardware from Qualcomm because the chipmaker “is currently not achieving yields sufficient for inclusion in the iPhone 5.”

So what’s destined to be different about the next device? Misek says the update will be akin to what Apple did between the iPhone 3G and the 3GS, boosting processor speeds and camera quality. Misek even goes so far as to call the device the “iPhone 4S.”

“According to our industry checks, the device should be called iPhone 4S and include minor cosmetic changes, better cameras, A5 dual-core processor, and HSPA+ support,” Misek wrote. HSPA+ being the standard that has a theoretical download speed of 21 Mbps, up from the 7.2 Mbps HSDPA/HSUPA 3G hardware that ships in the iPhone 4.

As for the 4G LTE issue, during the company’s most recent earnings call, Apple COO Tim Cook fielded an analyst question about the maturity of LTE chipsets, saying first-generation LTE chipsets “forced a lot of design compromises,” and that “some of those we are just not willing to make.” That answer did not rule out a chip ending up in a future product. Our look at where the 4G LTE world was near the end of last month showed that some of the first integrated chipsets weren’t expected to be arriving until 2012.

There is some silver lining, which is that this next iPhone should be available on more carriers, according to Misek. That includes Sprint and T-Mobile by the end of the year in the U.S., and possibly China Mobile after that. If Sprint and T-Mobile were added, that would finally bring the iPhone onto all four major U.S. carriers. AT&T, of course, announced plans to buy T-Mobile USA, pending regulatory hurdles. There have also been signs that T-Mobile USA is already testing the iPhone 4, lending more credence to an iPhone landing there.

The report is also reminiscent of one from 9to5mac last month, which said that Apple’s testing a version of the iPhone that looked just like the iPhone 4, but with an A5 chip, the dual-core processor that can be found inside the iPad 2. That testing was said to be done with game developers, who were being given an early shot to test and develop games with the extra processing power.

Apple is expected to unveil the iPhone 4’s successor later this year. Several reports, including Misek’s, say it will be sometime in September, the month in which Apple has historically unveiled its latest generation of iPods. The next announced Apple event is the Worldwide Developers Conference, which is now less than a month away. There, Apple has said it will show off “the future” of iOS and Mac OS X.

[Thanks: http://news.cnet.com]

As any efficient, organized, and focused person knows, finding the right note-taking app is crucial to getting the most out of your iPhone. But the very best note-taking apps are designed help disorganized people keep their thoughts and memos in tip-top order, too. We tested five of the best, including the most well-known apps and two of the newest ones to hit the app store, to help you sort out which one will offer what you need.

Note-taking apps for the Apple iPhone are plentiful, but they don’t all support the same features or offer equal functionality. Some let you sketch and draw directly with in the app, while others only let you type. Some let you record and save voice memos. Some dazzle the eye with visual layouts. Some are so plain-Jane, they are a complete bore to use. And not all help guide disorganized people to a more productive and systematic way of saving—and later finding—the information they need.

Whether you’re a disheveled and harried type, forever looking for those eyeglasses that are invariably on top of your head, or more like a Girl or Boy Scout, prepared for any situation, you need some kind of note-taking app, and maybe even two for two different kinds of things you need to remember. Before you download the wrong apps and waste your time jotting down dates to remember or directions to your mother-in-law’s house, only to never access them again, read through our advice to find the note-taking iPhone app that will best fit your lifestyle.

[Thanks: http://www.pcmag.com]