The iWatch

The iWatch! Could it finally be on it’s way onto our super deserving wrists? Well, we think so. We’re almost as sure as we can really ever really be with an Apple product release, especially a completely new product release. Here’s a bunch of stuff we think we know about the iWatch.

Way, way back in 2008, Apple co-founder  Steve Wozniak confirmed to the Telegraph that “Apple’s future could lie in an ‘iWatch’.”

Then, in the midst of a thousand iWatch rumors, Apple trademarked ‘iWatch’ in Japan, Mexico, Russia and a number of other countries.

Tim Cook has said this about wearable tech:

“I think the wrist is interesting. I’m wearing this (Nike Fuelband) on my wrist…it’s somewhat natural. But as I said before, I think for something to work here, you first have to convince people it’s so incredible that they want to wear it.”

So we know it’s coming, and we know it’s going to be incredible, which is pretty exciting.

The iWatch is rumored to be out this year. Definitely, probably, this year. We think it will be if not announced, at least hinted at during the WWDC in June, and if not, definitely revealed  in the Fall, and released later in the year or early 2015.

The idea is that the iWatch will feature a small number of already established products combined into one, similar to the original iPhone when it came out.

It is said to be standalone with the option to be used in combination with your iPhone. It will most likely include watch, (duh) as well as fitness, health and phone functionality. Siri is a possibility, as is FaceTime capabilities, and maps, if not full iOS 8 functionality.

Fitness and health tech accessories were one of the big new industry product sectors at this year’s CES conference in Vegas. Many believe that it’s where the future of wearable tech lies.

Apple have recently made a bucketload of new roles rumored to be centered on the creation of the iWatch. Some of these are a little vague, others are quite telling. These include:

Sleep analysis experts who hold “several patents for integrating mobile devices with fitness equipment”

Biometric scientists.

Ben Shaffer (previously innovation leader at Nike) and Jay Blahnik, a health and fitness instructor who consulted on the Fuelband for Nike.

Sleep research expert Roy J.E.M Raymann, a scientist from Philips Research last month.  Raymann’s experience includes extensive research into non-pharmacological methods of altering sleep quality and in wearable sensors and miniaturization of sensors related to tracking sleep and alertness activity.

Nancy Dougherty was hired as a hardware engineer in late 2013. Previously she worked with technology-based medical products with Proteus Digital Health. Her work there included a health metric-reading wearable patch and ingestible, Bluetooth-connected smart pills for monitoring dosages and scheduling. Most recently, Dougherty worked as a hardware lead for Sano Intelligence, whose tagline reads ‘the API for the bloodstream,’ working on a wearable sensor system.

Apple recently advertised for an Exercise Physiologist to oversee cardiovascular fitness and energy expenditure tests at its main headquarters campus.

The ad read: Design and run user studies related to cardiovascular fitness & energy expenditure, including calories burned, metabolic rate, aerobic fitness level measurement/tracking and other key physiological measurements.

Michael O’Reilly, M.D. was recently added to the Apple team. Previously he was the  Chief Medical Officer of pulse oximetry (measuring the amount of oxygen in the blood)  for Masimo.

In the fashion line, Former Yves Saint Laurent CEO Paul Deneve, below, was hired last year to work under Tim Cook on a “special project”, and Angela Ahrendts, CEO of Burberry, joined Apple in a newly created position last year, as a senior vice president and member of their executive team.

Pretty promising stuff, right? So what else do we know?

A supply chain source indicated to Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Brian White in early October that it may also serve to integrate with home automation systems, allowing users to control heating and cooling, lights, and audio/video systems right from their wrists.

The design will come from the delightful brain of one Jony Ive (and his no doubt delightful team).

It is expected to have a 1.5-inch display, it will more than likely have a battery life longer than one day (Hi Galaxy gear!) and no one is brave enough yet to guess at a price.

What about competition? There are already a few smart watches, coming from the likes of Samsung with the Galaxy Gear  (1& 2), the Pebble, the Sony smart watch 2 and now Google who has confirmed to the Financial Times after filing a patent that they are indeed manufacturing a smart watch, possibly for release this year.

Apple will be looking to blow them all out of the water, obviously. This means that it has to be innovative in the same way that shocked the world with the original iPhone, and that all the components such as battery life, synchronization with other tech, wearability and functionality will have to be perfect.

So, no pressure, Apple. Also: hurry up, cos we really, really want one.

iWatch mock up photo by Brett Jordan Via www.adr-studio.it/site/?p=269 is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

iPhone Tip Of The Day! Safari Edition.

Got iOS 7? Yeah? Want to know a Safari feature not many people  know about? Yeah? Yeah?

Here you go: In Safari on iOS 7 devices you have the option to search within a page for a specific word!

Start typing the word you’re looking for into the URL bar at the top of the page. The results will show you the google search results first but if you scroll down it will show you “On This Page” and let you jump through the mentions of that page.

Sweet!

Images courtesy of Quickmeme & Troll.me

iPhone Tip Of The Day Camera Edition

Got iOS 7? You special little kitten you! Wanna know a camera trick?

You can now focus photos on iOS 7 without tapping the screen with your finger!

Instead, focus the photo by holding down the volume button for a few seconds, like you would do on DSLRs and point-and-shoots.

Nice!

Image courtesy of thedailytouch.com & OMGcutethings.com

iPhone Tip Of The Day! Camera Edition.

Ever feel the need to access your iPhone camera super fast?

Swipe up on the little camera icon in the bottom right corner of your home screen. The Camera app will open, bypassing the unlock screen!

So next time you see something like this:

Don’t bother running for your camera, or bother with unlocking your iPhone! Just swipe man!

Then you can be like this guy:

Images courtesy of Howto.cnet.com, Techeblog.com & Globalnerdy.com

iPhone Tip Of The Day Text Edition two

How to turn off ‘Find My iPhone & Anti-theft Activation Lock’ from the phone you’re selling!

If you’re thinking of selling or giving away a stinky old iPhone, you need to understand how to turn off the ‘Find My iPhone’ function. ESPECIALLY if the device has been upgraded to iOS 7, whereby it will also be loaded with Apple’s Anti-theft Activation lock.

That’s not it. The Anti-theft Activation Lock introduced with iOS 7 is however super awesome for preventing theft by rendering the phone basically useless and worth roughly one eighth of its proper resale price. However, it also does this if you forget to turn it off before you sell it or give it away.

For instance, here at iPhone Antidote, we cannot give you the total quoted amount for your iPhone unless the Anti-theft Activation lock is turned off.

So, you guys need to know how to turn it off! And luckily for everyone involved, whilst not being the funnest 3 minutes you ever spend (we hope) it IS super easy! High Five!

There is a couple of different methods depending on the condition and location of your iPhone. If your iPhone works and is with you, you should-

Remove your iPhone from Find My iPhone by turning  it off on the iPhone.

Simple! On your iPhone, go to Settings > iCloud, then tap to turn off ‘Find My device.’ It will ask for your Apple ID password ( The one you use in the App Store), then BAM, both Find my iPhone and the Anti-theft activation lock is turned off.

YAY!

If your iPhone is not with you, already sold or given away OR broken or water damaged so that it won’t turn on, it’s also, really, really easy. HIGH FIVE!

If you can’t use your iPhone because it’s too damaged, or you’ve already sold it or given it away, you can remotely remove it from Find My iPhone and remotely remove the Anti-theft Activation Lock.

Your iPhone must be powered off. Easy to do if it’s broken! Also easy enough to do if you’ve sold it to a company such as ourselves or you can get in contact with the friend that you gave it to.

Then:

Sign in to icloud.com/#find with your Apple ID (the one you use with iCloud & the App Store).

Click ‘All Devices’ at the top of the page. Wait for the website to locate your iPhone, then select it from the drop down menu. It should appear as offline and grey.

A menu of options will appear on the right hand side of the screen. IGNORE THESE ( Unless you want to remotely erase your iPhone)

Click back on the ‘All Devices’ button at the top of the page. There should now be an X next to your iPhone.  Click it. Click it good.

Click “remove” on the next screen to confirm.

Aaaaaand you’re done! Now someone else can now activate the device, making it worth a whole lotta more clams from us/high fives from the friend you gave it to!

If you guys have any problems removing the anti theft activation lock from your iPhone – please contact us and let us know! We’d LOVE to help you out! And we give hugs too!

Images courtesy of  Appleinsider, Doblelol, grandfather.com, bidorbuy.com, iPhonehacks.com, Cheezburger.com & Dashburst.com

iPhone Tip Of The Day! Texting edition.

The world of text can be an intimidating and confusing one.

Tone, intent and, well, the ability to spell can all be lost in translation when considering the great communication tool that is texting.

Hence, welcome to the first part of our  iPhone Tip Of The Day, texting edition. First up – timing!

You know, sometimes you just really need to know what time you sent that text to Billy to tell him that you really like his new Tricycle.

And maybe you weren’t paying attention when you sent it because your heart was racing too hard because what if Billy naturally understood that when you said you liked his Tricycle you really meant you want to hold hands? And now you might have sent him the message at the same time as Stupid Cathy from next door and we all know what Cathy likes.

Life can be hard.

But never fear, we’re here to help! To find out what time you sent a message swipe from right to left in the message stream and a time will appear next to each message. 

Also? We… we really like your Tricycle.

Images courtesy of  Catsmob, funnyjunk & Dailydot.

Top 8 apps we wish existed

We wish we may we wish we might, have the wish we wish tonight.

Tonight, we’re wishing on Apps ( cos we’re super fun and cool like that).  Apps have been around for so few years (5.5 to be exact) and yet we just don’t know how we would live our technocratic lives without a lot of them!

BUT. There’s some blank spots. Here’s our wish-list for Apps of the future.

1. An App that tells you when you’re being stupid.

2. An App that buys the perfect gift for people, and wraps it.

3. An App that tells you exactly how many calories is in a meal or specific food item by scanning it.

4. An App that helps you pick which charity is most in need

5. A Space-Time jumping App, obviously.

6. An app that learns your priorities and then organizes your to-do list accordingly.

7. An App that tells you exactly when you would really be missing out on the best time ever by choosing to stay home and watch Diners Drive-Ins and Dives.

8. An App so you can communicate with animals.

What Apps do you wish existed? Telekinesis would be nice, actually, now we think about it…

Copyright iPhone Antidote. Serious.

Images courtesy of Quickmeme, Lolsheaven & Gigaom.

Battery Saving iPhone Tips Of The Day!

Happy Sunday Guys! Hope you’re having an awesome day filled with endless mimosa’s, friends and laughter!

but…

Whatcha going to do when your iPhone dies? And you’re stuck full of mimosa’s and you can’t figure out how to get where you need to be!? Huh? huh Mr & Mrs Mimosa? Because…

We got you! If you’re worried about the battery on your beloved iPhone running out, there’s a couple of things you can do. Hoorah!

1. Are you in a cave? No? Turn your brightness down!  Settings> Wallpapers & Brightness ( Or Brightness & Wallpapers on pre-iOS 7).

2. At a concert? No? Turn your volume down! (uh… we hope we don’t really need to say this, but it’s the buttons on the side.)

2.  Sometimes you just don’t need to be sending diagnostics to Apple, you know? This eats up your battery life, so turn it off!  Settings -> General -> About -> scroll to the bottom of the screen.Click on Diagnostics & Usage and switch it to ‘Don’t send’.

3. Turn things off. Like Bluetooth. What, are you playing music through a wireless speaker while drinking mimosa’s? Well, that sounds pretty awesome actually. But if you need to save battery, turn it off!

We figure Unless you’re in a foreign country and relying on Wifi – turn that mother off! Settings> Wifi> switch to off.

If you’re down to urgent battery levels you can even turn your phone on Airplane mode until you need to use it, saves a boatload of battery!

4. Close out all of your Apps. in iOS 6 and below, double click the home button, press an App until it wiggles, then touch the red circles until it disapears. On iOS 7, double click the home button then swipe each image of an App that appears upwards until it disappears.

We hope these tips will help you out some, and we’ll be letting you know some more long term battery saving tips and tricks in the next week!

High five!

Images courtesy of Maypalo.com, Quickmeme.com, 8tracks.com, & Grandfather.com

Perfect Valentines Day iPhone Accessories & Apps!

Happy Valentines day! Here we have loads of lovey dovery, sweet fun & funky Apps and iDevice accessories especially for the day that celebrates love and all of it’s weird and small relations.

1. You can’t go past custom made iPhone cases on handicraft E-commerce site Etsy! Just look at these, you’ll either go ‘awwww’ or throw up. Like this one: 

2. Also on Etsy, romantic iPhone case designs that spread across both your and your partners iPhones. Awwwblurhg

3. Be Mine ($0.99) or Be Mine Lite (Free). An App for making Valentines day cards complete with the ability to use your own text, images and photos overlaid into one spectacular card that saved and exported. We made this one, because we’re pretty specially talented.

4. Nordstoms have a bunch of Love themed iPhone cases that are pretty radical.  $14.99

5. Valentine Radio. An App that lets you hear all the sweet dulcet tones of love songs from radio stations streaming live to your iDevice from all over the world. Free!

6. Foodie Recipes. Free App that has awesome recipe’s for two for that romantic valentines meal you’re cooking together/for each other. Homemade Ravioli, Croque Monsiur & Avocado Dark Chocolate Madeleines? Heck Yes I love you!!!

7. Cyclops iPad cover dude! Microfibre Arms! Makes your love one’s iPad cuddly and cute for when you’re not around to be cuddly and cute! Get it for $25 at ilovehandles.com

8. True Love – Cute Snail Cartoon Travelling Speaker from Zazzle – $22.95

9. Pink hearts pattern sleeves for iPads – A little bit expensive at $48.95, but what wouldn’t you pay to make your true love happy? Huh? HUH?

10. For those a little bit web-savvy, why not create a surprise website for the one your heart desires? It’s kind of like naming a star for them, but on the internet and in the future. No stars in the future! Godaddy.com has cheap domains for sale, like the following, which we may or may not own now:

11. For some, Valentines day is commercial and stupid. On Etsy, get something like this to tell them how you really feel:

12. And finally, if things are looking a little craptacious this year and you want a better valentines day date next year- Try out  Ok Cupid and Tinder. Eiffel tower with champagne and pearls / Monaco with poker and steak here you come!

If you’re going all out and getting him or her what they really really want (apart from the above, obviously) – an iDevice – check here to see when you need to order it online from Apple so it makes it to your place before the big V day!

( And then tell them that you know the perfect people to sell their stinky old iDevice to.. uh, Sell your iPhone with iPhone Antidote!  Cos then they can use that money to buy YOU something awesome because of the awesome gift you got them for Valentines Day! And because they love you. Yay!)

Also! VALENTINES DEAL OF THE DAY! The good old melting hearts over at iMore.com are giving everyone 14% off everything in the iMore store! Here’s the link, simply use coupon code VDAY13 at checkout!

Last but not least, Happy Valentines Day Guys. We… well, it’s hard to say this but.. we really, really, um, like you.

Images courtesy of  Petmd.com, Etsy.com, Nordstroms, Wisdomportal.com, Quickmeme, ilovehandles.com, Zazzle, Etsy, Viator & Inotternews.com