Announced at last year’s Google I/O conference, Google Now is now bringing the personal assistant service and predictive search to iOS users. It has arrived as an update to the Google Search app for iOS and is available for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.

Google Now’s response via voice recognition is much quicker, compared to Siri. And iOS users will get predictive “cards”, whether you asked for it or not, for stuff such as weather, traffic, navigation and sports scores (you can choose what comes on), and this service depends on the way you use Google services. So it’s like getting an answer before you know you want one.

Unlike the Google Now on Android (4.1 and later), the iOS version requires you to log into your Google account for using Now. It also won’t run in the background, and there will be no notifications. This might not be a perfect version, but it certainly gives iDevice owners a taste of what Google Now has to offer.

To get your hands on Google Now for iOS, head over to the App Store.

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Microsoft needs to hurry up and confirm its new multimedia gaming system, the Xbox 720 (or Xbox 3 or Durango or whatever have you). Why? Because similar to gossip around Windows Blue early on, things are getting pretty wild when it comes to speculation regarding always-on DRM, used gaming abilities and other related issues.

IF Microsoft goes with an always-on policy for its next Xbox console, there are some strong negatives here. There are also some positives hidden underneath. So let’s talk about that for a bit, shall we? Let’s start with the biggest ‘negatives’ in regards to the next Xbox always being on.

Always-On Xbox: Cons

Not everyone has high-speed Internet: I know it’s hard to believe. Even in developed countries in Europe, North America, Asia and elsewhere, some people still use dial-up or only have Internet access through their smartphone.

As tablets and smartphones become more commonplace, many folks are turning to cellular connections and cutting the cable/DSL cord at home.

If you don’t want/need a powerful laptop or desktop, you might have no need for home Internet. It seems like a pretty big pain in the ass to pay for online connectivity in your home if your only device using it is the Xbox.

There is also the concern about if you have high-speed Internet but it goes down for whatever reason. The main time I seem to play my console systems or even PC games is when the Internet is out of commission for a little while. I would personally hate the idea of my expensive console pretty much just being a shiny brick when my net connection is down.

Concerns about used games: Just yesterday, Nowgamer published an article where they claim that a source close to Xing’s interactive managing director has unofficially confirmed the next Xbox 720 will not only require always-on but will also have DRM that could make it so used games are a thing of the past.

While I’d take this assertion with a grain of salt, it is something to think seriously about. In a perfect scenario, maybe Microsoft would only require you to ‘register’ your game once and lock it to the console, where it would install and not require the disc to play. Then if you didn’t want it anymore and wished to sell it, you could simply ‘de-register’ it and it would remove all the files from your system, making it a clean disc copy that could then be resold.

In a nightmare scenario, Microsoft locks the game to your system and checks every time you play. It can be delocked and so there is no reselling it if you decide the purchase wasn’t a good one.

Just the idea: With SimCity have server issues because many of the game’s elements where in the cloud, you might feel that a time could come when the next Halo isn’t playable the day or even week you buy it because the single-player campaign (for those of us that actually play it) requires you to be online and the servers are bogged down.

We are no doubt moving to a computing future that fully lives in the cloud, and that’s means an “always on” lifestyle. Some of us aren’t ready to make that change right now, however.

Always-On Xbox: Pros

Is always on DRM all doom and gloom? Not necessarily. There could be positive aspects as well.

Better online integration: Xbox Live is already an immersive experience with plenty to do, but allowing it to go fully to the cloud for save files, social interaction and other elements could make the experience even better.

Even single-player games could be enhanced with social features and perhaps even the ability for friends to jump in and ‘help’ a little. Though some of us (myself included) like single-player experiences where we are truly left alone to handle ourselves.

An always updated experience: In its lifespan, the Xbox 360′s software has changed so dramatically (multiple times) that you almost feel like a late-2005 Xbox 360 and that same Xbox 360 today are two different systems with the addition of tons of apps and other experiences that weren’t there from day one.

With an always-on experience, your console could turn itself on to pre-fetch these changes and ensure that you always have the latest software. That means you won’t turn on your console, go on live and then find you have to wait to play because you need to download some patch first.

No need for them pesky discs: With always-on DRM, you could just install your game from the disc and then archive it for later. That means no need to worry about discs when it is time to play your favorite Xbox title.

How often aren’t we online? For the vast majority of us, we log into our PS3 Network or Xbox Live the second we start our console even if we aren’t planning on playing multiplayer, heading to the store, or doing anything else that requires an online experience.

Not to mention so many of us use our consoles as a multimedia gateway almost more than we do for gaming, from movies to music and even television.

Going always-on doesn’t seem like a huge stretch in this case and makes us more open to receiving messages and other social data from our friends and family.

Summing it all up…

In short, there are a few positive reasons to give in to an always-on Xbox, but do they outweigh the negatives? While I personally am leaning towards “no”, it really depends on your own personal feelings. For some people, the idea might not be perfect, but it wouldn’t be a deal breaker either.

Others would absolutely say that if Xbox goes down this path, they aren’t interested. Ultimately I feel that Microsoft will evaluate the opinion of its gaming and multimedia-viewing audience before doing anything too drastic, but you never know.

How do you feel about the always-on Xbox? Would you still buy one or not?

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The post Next Xbox: Is Always-On Functionality All Bad? appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Samsung’s Galaxy S4 is official, it has some pretty awesome specs and it is going to sell like hot cakes. These are the facts, people. Apple doesn’t seem to like this so much though. Samsung has outdone the iPhone once again though, so they have posted up a webpage which details a few reasons why they believe the iPhone 5 is still the best smartphone you can own.

You don’t need to visit the link as I have taken the time to pick out some of the rather lame reasons for and have listed them below:

• Only the iPhone and other Apple products have Retina display.
• The iPhone has a long battery life.
• The iPhone has “ultrafast” wireless and LTE.
• Only the iPhone and other Apple products have access to the iTunes Store and the App Store, which offers over 800,000 apps. What’s more, they are all reviewed by Apple to protect against malware.
• Only the iPhone has Siri, the intelligent personal assistant

I can think of a number of phones which offer a fantastic screen, have great battery life, access to thousands of apps and run Android. As for Siri, I never use it on my iPad Mini, and LTE? There are still places around the world that do not even have access to it yet, not to mention that Android devices have been offering LTE as a feature for way longer than Apple.

I have a suggestion for Apple, rather than spending time making lame articles about the iPhone 5, why not make a truly amazing iPhone 6 which will have ex-iPhone users (like me) flocking back to iOS? What do you think of the iPhone 5, how does it compare in your opinion to other phones out there running Android, Windows Phone 8 and Blackberry 10?

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Have a Raspberry Pi? Love Minecraft? If so, you are going to be happy to know that Minecraft: Pi Edition is now available for free from pi.minecraft.net. Why is it free for Pi when elsewhere it is paid? Mojang says they see it as a way of getting more folks interested in the hobbyist/programming board.

Although you have probably heard of the Raspberry Pi before – especially if you frequent our site – we will refresh your memory: the Raspberry Pi is an awesome credit-card sized PC that easily hooks up to your PC and is pretty open for programming, modding and anything you want to through at it.

Sure with its low-end processor and paltry amount of RAM (256MB for older versions, 512MB for model B) it isn’t a super-device, but it also generally comes in at under $40 so it is really pretty hard to complain. Check out the video below to get a better idea of what this “programming friendly” version of Minecraft is all about.

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In its current form, Siri can certainly be quite useful as a digital assistant, but what if you want something even more amazing out of Apple’s assistant, like the ability to control your smart house? That’s exactly what Youtube user “Elvis Impersonator” set out to do using his iPhone and a SiriProxy-loaded Raspberry Pi.

The results are that he can now control the thermostat at his home, shut off and dim lights, open/close the garage and even change TV channels, all from Siri.

Here’s a quote from the man behind this project:

I have been following the development of SiriProxy since its initial appearance in November 2011 and even got it installed and working on an Marvell SheevaPlug ARM based plug computer. I spent countless nights dreaming of the day I could use voice commands to control my home, but I was still under a long term contract on my existing iPhone. I already had been experimenting with IP2IR control in various forms, but the controller I use in the video seemed to offer the most features which the manufacturer added a REST API in March 2012.

Wishing you could do something like this yourself? You can. All of this user’s SiriProxy plugins are open sourced and available via his GitHub page. Pretty cool stuff, wouldn’t you say?

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We’ve heard all sorts of rumors about the supposed specs on the next Xbox, but that’s on the hardware side of things. On the software side of things, it seems that Microsoft wants to make an even bigger push for the “Xbox 720″ to be the focal point of your living room. It’s not just about games. It’s a full-on multimedia and web-connected hub, getting you to watch Netflix and Hulu, search for information on Bing, and yes play multimedia games via Kinect.

Word on the street is that the Xbox 720 can be in sleep mode and you turn it back on with a simple “Xbox on” voice command. You can use the natural language processing to check on what your friends are currently playing or continue watching a movie that you paused yesterday. The Kinect sensor can also detect when there are multiple people in the room, suggesting fun multiplayer games for those situations and more solo games when it only detects one person in the room.

I’ve seen voice-based user interfaces on certain smart televisions these last couple of years and they all make me reach for the traditional remote instead. I’m not sure how different Microsoft can be on that front–I never use the voice commands on my Kinect–but perhaps this “Siri-like” experience will finally be what we wanted it to be in the beginning. In either case, the new Xbox is expected to make its debut at GDC or E3 with a launch in time for the 2013 holiday shopping season. Now we just have to see what Sony has up its home console sleeve.

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A series of job postings have been put up by Apple and these seem to indicate that Jony Ive and his team are preparing to completely overhaul both iOS and OSX. It’s hard to say when the final products will be ready, but it’s quite possible that this is when we’ll start to see a deeper marriage between the two Apple operating systems. I don’t think it’ll be a merger of the two, per se, but they’ll likely have much more interplay.

First, Apple has a listing for senior software engineers to revamp the iLife software suite. Shipping with every new Mac, iLife has such staples as iPhoto, iMovie and GarageBand. The listing calls for an engineer to “help us re-imagine how user interfaces should be built and work.” Similarly, there’s a listing for someone to overhaul Siri and develop more of a “distinct personality” for the digital assistant. Sticking with iOS, there’s another listing looking for new APIs and frameworks. This certainly sounds like big changes are ahead.

And I think they’re due. For a company that’s supposed to be slick, shiny and on the cutting edge, Apple has remained a little stagnant recently. It’s time to change everything… again.

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Apple iPad and iPhone users rejoice, an iOS 6.x jailbreak solution for all iDevices has finally arrived. Now that you can get your jailbreak on, what are some of the jailbroken apps you are most looking forward too?

We’ve put together a list of some of the apps and tweaks that are considered the “best”, and could likely end up as must-haves. Keep in mind that while most of these should already work with iOS 6, they might not be quite yet optimized for the iPhone 5 and there may be some other issues to work out.

That said, most of the developers are working hard to ensure their apps are compatible with iOS 6 and 6.1 as soon as possible.

NowNow

What’s Now Now? Basically this is a jailbreak tweak that allows you to press and hold the home botton and launch Google Voice search as an alternative to Siri. Keep in mind that this isn’t the full “Google Now” experience as you would get with an Android Jelly Bean device– but it is as close as you’ll find with iOS.

Also worth mentioning, Google Voice Search doesn’t communicate with other iOS apps, so no setting appointments or anything of that nature. Instead, this is a way to get more accurate voice search than perhaps you feel you’d get with Siri.

Browser Chooser

Although Safari is a solid browser choice, for whatever reason, you might decide to go a different route. Maybe Google Chrome, maybe Firefox OS or even something else.

Regardless of what alternative you use, you’ll notice that clicking on links will still often end up bringing you to Safari. With Browser Chooser you can actually set a different browser as the default.

A simple tweak, but a useful one nonetheless.

Auxo

This unique app switcher favors small cards instead of app icons, additionally it adds alot of extra functionality including the ability to easily kill multiple apps, a great new music player integrated and easy access to settings like Wi-Fi, Airplane and much more.

IntelliScreen X

IntelliScreen X has been around for a while now, but it is still one of the most useful programs out there, providing a great Notification Center ‘tweak’ that allows you to read status updates, post new tweets, quickly respond to SMS, Email and much more.

5 Icon Dock

This one isn’t that “impressive” of a tweak, but it is nonetheless useful. Basically it adds the ability to add a 5th icon to the dock. Simple, but ultimately rather useful.

AssistantLove

*According to one of our readers, this one is confirmed to NOT be compatible with iOS 6.1 just yet, hopefully soon.*

AssistantLove has several unique features that extend the functionality of Siri. The two biggest features have to do with GPS and music.

For music, AssistantLove takes Siri beyond controlling music directly on your device, giving you the ability to force the playback of any Spotify track as well. Of course you’ll need to have a Spotify Premium account.

As for GPS? With AssistantLove there is integration for Waze, MotionX-GPS, Navigon and TomTom. This means Siri can ask for directions and the program of your choice can launch with the current device location and specifcied destination information already in place.

Ifile

This is exactly what it sounds like, a file explorer. Ifile makes it easy to create, modify or explore anything and everythign with iOS’ file structure. This also makes it easy to install packages without having to know terminal commands.

Summing it up…

Is that it? Of course not, there are unlimited possibilities out there when it comes to apps and tweaks for your jailbreak iDevice.

This is a good starter list, and one that I hope to expand with the help of our readers. Is there a specific tweak or app that you’d recommend to those new to the jailbreaking scene? If so, mention it in the comments below. App suggestions with a high amount of upvotes will be added in as an edit to this guide.

The post Recommended Apps for your iOS 6.0 or iOS 6.1 Jailbroken Device appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Today SIRI is known as one of the most impressive features found on Apple hardware, yet did you know that before Apple bought the technology, SIRI was preparing for a very different path: a home on Verizon’s Droid range.

That’s right, in late 2009, Siri’s founders signed a deal with Big Red to bring Siri to Android devices as part of their Droid line-up. The news originally comes from Huffington Post, which reports that Verizon even began filming early commercials that showed off SIRI technology on its Android phones such as the original Droid.

How different things would be if that deal had went down. Instead, Apple acquired SIRI and the technology re-emerged in October of 2011 as an exclusive feature of the iPhone 4S.

While it doesn’t change the way things are today, it does make you think about how just a few small changes in the history of mobile tech could have really had massive affects on the way things played out.

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NORAD and their Santa Tracker effort recently jumped ship from Google Maps over to Microsoft’ Bing Maps and the power of Windows Azure technology. What does that mean for Google exactly? It means that Google has decided to make a tracking app of their own, available for Android devices and Google Chrome.

Google’s Santa Tracker doesn’t do much right now, just like the NORAD version. The real fun begins at 2:00 PST on Christmas Eve as Santa begins his epic journey to deliver this year’s batch of toys. Once the app starts its departure, you’ll see the number of presents delivered, his route plan and when he’ll arrive to your part of the globe. As you probably have figured out by now, the app is powered by Google Maps.

Interestingly enough, you can also use Google Voice to request a personal call from old Saint Nick as well, though only for those of us in North America.

It remains unseen how many people will choose this app over the official NORAD one, but it is still an interesting option for those that feel NORAD should have stuck with Google Maps.

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