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Ask Andru: How to improve Touch ID and secure your iPhone
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Smartphones, Features, Software,
We're back for another installment of Ask Andru, where I take your burning tech questions and give you practical answers! This time, we have a two-parter as it pertains to securing your iPhone 5s (see our iPhone 5s review) and iPad, as well as making Touch ID work as well as expected. Here we go, these questions were sent in by Mike:
I have two questions,
- I have a two part question, what is the best security app for the iPad mini with Retina display & the iPhone 5s?
- Since I picked up my new iPhone 5s from the AT&T Store-Lynwood this past October and two exchanges for two new replacement phones from the Apple Store @ Alderwood Mall, the Touch ID still has not worked for me. Have other users had problems with the Touch ID? In regards to exchanging my 5s for a 5c or a Droid phone, I have been informed that it is past their respective fourteen day warranty period to facilitate an exchange because their operating systems will not allow this transaction to take place. So thus, AT&T and Apple have left me with a defective product.
Regards,
Mike
Let's start with that first one. When most people talk about security apps, I think they're asking about something that will protect them from viruses and malware getting installed on their mobile devices. For Android, for example, you might want to have something installed due to the rampant malware that can be found in the Google Play store. However, Apple sandboxes each app, and as such, none get full access to take over your device, no matter how hard they try. Apple also has a vetting process for each app as well, so there are no antivirus or anti-malware apps that you'll need. Yet, one app that I do love for security and protection is called 1Password. Let me explain.
Click to continue reading Ask Andru: How to improve Touch ID and secure your iPhone
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Apple releases iOS 7.1 beta 5 build 11D5145e to developers
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Smartphones, Handhelds, Software,
If you've got an Apple developer account, you should know that Apple has released iOS 7.1 beta 5 build 11D5145e, and you can go and grab it right now. Of course, you can log in to the Developer Center to manually grab the file, or head into the Settings > General > Software Update section on your iOS device for the over-the-air install. As far as new changes, the release notes point to international Siri improvements:
"This seed adds new natural-sounding Siri voices for English (Australia), English (United Kingdom), Japanese, and Chinese (Mandarin – China)"
Along with the new iOS software, Apple has also released new betas of Xcode 5.1, and the Apple TV software as well.
Click to continue reading Apple releases iOS 7.1 beta 5 build 11D5145e to developers
Gallery: Apple releases iOS 7.1 beta 5 build 11D5145e to developers
Facebook Paper brings elegance to your timeline
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Smartphones, Internet, Software,
Facebook has released its new Facebook Paper app, a free version of Facebook that introduces new ways of interacting with the social network. Similar to the popular Flipbook app, Facebook Paper is centered around eye-catching, full-screen images, and gesture-based navigation, bringing the topics and people you care about most to the forefront.
A product of Facebook Creative Labs, Paper looks great, and could likely replace the default Facebook app for most users, what with its magazine-style layout. To get users acquainted, Facebook Paper launches with a gesture tutorial, helping you become familiar with the new way of interacting with Facebook. It's a bold move, but it works. Facebook needs to constantly monitor the pain points that its users experience when using the service, especially on mobile. Paper solves a lot of those issues that the common Facebook user encounters in the more bloated full app, bringing a simple elegance and sense of ease with it.
Give it a shot, and let us know what you think in the comments. You can grab Paper now, for free.
Gallery: Facebook Paper brings elegance to your timeline
Here’s an iOS 7-style lock screen screensaver for your Mac
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Design, PC / Laptop, Software,
If you wanna have a little more visual parity between your iOS devices and your Mac, you may wanna check out this iOS 7-style screensaver. As you can see, it has an oversized digital clock with the default wallpaper found in iOS 7. It's also simple to install:
- You’ll want to download the screensaver from the developer’s website
- Open the downloaded file, and double-click on the installer.
- Launch your Mac’s System Preferences app and click the Desktop & Screen Saver icon. The new screensaver should show up towards the bottom of the list.
Select the new screensaver, and you are good! You can change the "Press any key to unlock" message to whatever you'd like.
Read More 
| iOS 7 Mac Wallpaper
Gallery: Here’s an iOS 7-style lock screen screensaver for your Mac
Apple just released iOS 7.0.5, which you can download through iTunes, or right on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch through the Software Update feature within the Settings app. iOS 7.0.5 is a fairly minor update, focused on correcting a few network provisioning issues that affect some iPhone 5s and 5c models in China.
Gallery: iOS 7.0.5 now available
Apple releases Numbers 3.1, here’s a look at what’s new
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Software,
Apple has released Numbers 3.1, and with the update comes the ability to sort data by column values of multiple areas, calculation progress indicator, and more. Here's the full list:
- Sort by multiple columns
- Sort a subset of rows
- Text autocompletes when editing cells
- Chart date and duration values
- Optionally highlight rows and columns on mouseover
- Progress indicator for calculations
- Custom number formats in charts are preserved on import of Numbers ’09 and Microsoft Excel spreadsheets
- Share password-protected spreadsheets via iCloud link
- Export password-protected spreadsheets to XLSX format
- Improvements to AppleScript support
- Improved compatibility with Microsoft Excel 2013 spreadsheets
- Bug fixes and stability improvements
You can download Numbers 3.1 now from the Mac App Store.
Gallery: Apple releases Numbers 3.1, here’s a look at what’s new
Apple just released Pages 5.1, which includes new features like alignment customization, vertical ruler, character counter, and more. Here's a list:
- Vertical ruler
- Share password-protected documents via iCloud link
- Customizable alignment guides
- Set keyboard shortcuts for styles
- View character count with or without spaces
- Improved precision for inserting and pasting objects
- Create charts with date, time, and duration values
- Delete sections from the page navigator
- Improved compatibility with Microsoft Word 2013 documents
- Export password-protected documents to DOCX format
- Custom number formats in charts are preserved on import of Pages ’09 and Microsoft Word documents
- Start a list automatically using new special characters
- Improved support for bidirectional text
- Improved ePub export
- Bug fixes and stability improvements
You can download Pages 5.1 now from the Mac App Store.
Read More | Apple Pages
Gallery: Apple releases Pages 5.1, here’s what’s new
Pixelmator 3.1 released with Mac Pro dual GPU optimizations
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Software,
One of our favorite Mac apps, Pixelmator, received a massive update today. Pixelmator 3.1 Marble brings a bunch of new improvements, the biggest of which might be full compatibility with the the Mac Pro's dual GPUs, as well as 16-bit support on Apple's flagship desktop as well. Both GPUs are used together when applying effects, and optimizations are in place for each model, including 4-, 6-, 8-, and 12-core Intel Xeon processors. Aside from all the new Mac Pro goodness, there are a lot of other improvements to layer styles, RAW image handling, and effects.
One other cool addition is the ability to order finished prints of your work right from within Pixelmator. You can download Pixelmator from the Mac App Store.
Also, if you're on the lookout for a new Mac Pro and don't want to wait the 2 months that it will take Apple to ship it, check out B&H Photo which has the Mac Pro in stock!
Read More | Pixelmator
Gallery: Pixelmator 3.1 released with Mac Pro dual GPU optimizations
How crazy is it that Pizza Hut sold over $1 million in pizza through the Xbox 360?
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Corporate News, Software, Video Games,
Amazingly, Pizza Hut has announced that it's sold $1 million worth of pizzas through its Xbox 360 app in just the first four months of the app's availability. The app allows Xbox 360 users to place orders for some cheesy goodness right from their game consoles, ensuring that they wouldn't have to pick up the phone and talk to another human being to conduct the transaction.
"It's been a source of unbelievable growth for us," Pizza Hut PR head Doug Terfehr told Polygon. "Just the explosion of people who wanted to download it, experiment with it, play with it with Kinect. As soon as we did one, everyone was contacting us to do the next [one]."
Earlier this month, Pizza hut celebrated the 20th anniversary of the first online pizza order, which took place in 1994 on Pizza Hut PizzaNet. Believe it or not, the large pepperoni, muchroom, extra-cheese pizza was the first item ever ordered online--not just for pizza, but anything. Pretty crazy.
Gallery: How crazy is it that Pizza Hut sold over $1 million in pizza through the Xbox 360?
Top 10 Gear Live stories of 2013
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Smartphones, Editorial, Features, Handhelds, Mods / Hacks, Movies, Software, Videos,
We've come to the end of another year, and as we wave goodbye to 2013, we figured it was only fitting that we share the most popular stories published on Gear Live this year, as determined by our readers (we've also got the top ten most read stories regardless of publish date, as well as the ten most popular Gear Live videos of 2013!) These are the ten stories that were read the most, and when you consider that fact, it's pretty surprising to see what made the list. Let's kick it off with our most read story of the year:
OS X 10.9 Mavericks Developer Preview 3 now available:
Anticipation for Apple's newest desktop operating system, OS X 10.9 Mavericks, trumped all other news here on Gear Live in 2013!
Click to continue reading Top 10 Gear Live stories of 2013
Gallery: Top 10 Gear Live stories of 2013
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