Apple's iOS 7 officially hits 90 percent adoption ahead of iOS 8 debut

Ahead of the forthcoming iOS 8 update, expected in the fall, Apple has told developers that iOS 7 is now running on 90 percent of iOS devices using the App Store, indicating a growth rate of about one percent per month. The penetration level of iOS 7 is consequently, like most other iOS versions before it, the most quickly-adopted operating system update ever, on any major platform. The result was garnered from visits to the App Store over a seven-day period that ended on July 13.

The company's previous update in April indicated 87 percent adoption, with 11 percent still on iOS 6. The latter figure has now dropped to nine percent with just two percent running an OS version below iOS 6. The ability of Apple to get users to adopt iOS updates in record numbers has strengthened the developer community, which can target future products to be exclusive to the latest OS at the expected time of launch without fear of wide compatibility issues. Ad marketing firm Chitika had previously posted that iPhones had achieved the 90 percent penetration at the end of May, but the average overall was brought down to 88 percent by the slightly-lower adoption rate of iPad users.

Most users update within the first few weeks of availability -- in December, iOS 7 had achieved 78 percent adoption within its first three months. The next update, iOS 8, will not only improve on existing features in iOS 7 (and share compatibility with most devices, except the iPhone 4), but add new features such as Handoff to OS X 10.10 Yosemite, smart home appliance support, the new Health app, better app integration with system services and much more.

Apple is expected to launch iOS 8 alongside the next generation of iPhone, presumably called the iPhone 6, which is expected to offer at least one model with a larger, 4.7-inch display. Currently, this is expected to happen sometime in September or October. There have been unconfirmed rumors of the company also developing a 5.5-inch model, but to date no solid evidence has been revealed that would indicate such a device is currently in or about to enter mass production.

Skype 5.1 For iPhoneAnnounced

Skype continues to improve on their iOS offerings by rolling out Skype 5.1 for iPhone (which is a 44MB download), where it will introduce a slew of new features and improvements, where among them include a new press and hold action so that users are able to do away with conversations from recent chats – pretty nifty for those “empty” chats, no? Apart from that, you are also able to perform an edit on a chat message. Sneaky! Apart from that, one is able to tap the “add favorites” link in order to easily fill up your favorites screen with those whom you happen come into contact the most. 

The People list is now capable of matching the desktop better, since there is a spanking new “Skype” filter, while the “online” filter will be able to include users set to online, away and do not disturb. 

These filter settings can be saved too, of course. Microsoft’s Skype intends to continue rolling out additional features to the app, and when the time comes, they will roll them out in order to deliver maximum benefit to the masses. 

Interestingly enough, it was just slightly more than last week that Skype introduced Skype 5.0 for iOS , so it is refreshing to see how fast the next update came about.

This is what the Apple iPhone 6 couldlook like

Recently, schematics allegedly showing the dimensions of the next two versions of the Apple iPhone were leaked. The 4.7 inch Apple iPhone 6 had dimensions of 137mm tall x 66mm wide x 7.0 mm thick. The 5.7 inch Apple iPhone phablet weighed in at 157mm tall x 77mm wide x 6.7 mm thick. With that thin form factor, we wouldn't be surprised if the larger screened model was the one rumored to be called the Apple iPhone Air .

MacRumors paid designer Ferry Passchier to develop renders of both phones, based on the schematics. We can see the more rounded corners, smaller top, bottom and side bezels, and a power button that is moved from the right side to the left side of the device. And similar to some iPhone 6 cases that we've seen, the flash has reverted back to a round design . 

There has also been talk that Apple will release the 4.7 inch Apple iPhone 6 this year, with the larger model coming to the market sometime next year.

iOS 7 beta 4 code 'confirms' fingerprint sensor in new iPhone

Looks like rumours of a new iPhone with
a fingerprint sensor might finally turn
out to be true, going by close analysis
of the latest beta of iOS 7.
According to a report by 9to5mac.com,
iOS 7 beta 4, which was seeded to
registered developers on Monday,
includes a folder named
"BiometricKitUI." The code present in
the Accessibility section of the OS
contains text strings related to a
VoiceOver tutorial with instructions on
using the fingerprint sensor on the
iPhone. The report is in turn based on
observations by Hamza Sood . The text
strings mention:
"Photo of a person holding an
iPhone with their left hand while
touching the Home button with
their thumb
Photo of a person holding an
iPhone with their right hand while
touching the Home button with
their thumb
A fingerprint that changes colour
during the setup process.
Recognition is %@ complete"
The string indicates that the
fingerprint sensor would most likely be
present on the iPhone's Home button
and it's likely that it would be
deployed in the unlocking mechanism of
the phone.
Previous reports had indicated that
Apple had selected Taiwanese chip
maker Chipbond for sourcing a number
of components for the iPhone 5S,
including the touch display driver and
hardware to support fingerprint sensor
and near field communications (NFC)
functionality. The report suggested
that Apple would integrate the
fingerprint sensor with NFC driven
mobile payments to strengthen
security, which remains a major
concern for the company.
Apple had acquired mobile security firm
AuthenTec, last year, in a deal valued
at about $356 million. AuthenTec makes
security software and chips including
chips for fingerprint recognition and
near-field communication (NFC) for
mobile phones that it licenses to
companies like Samsung. After the deal,
analysts and tech pundits have been
expecting Apple to use the technology
in its next generation iPhone. Another
report had pointed out to the
company's notice to its customers
saying that it won't offer its
technology to them starting 2013.
While the Apple iPhone 5 was also
rumoured to support NFC before its
launch, the company did not include it.
It does support mobile payments via
Passbook, Apple's software-based
wallet.
Earlier, KGI Securities analyst Ming-
Chi Kuo had also claimed in his new
research report that the Apple iPhone
5S would have a fingerprint reader
under the Home button for security.
Meanwhile, the iOS 7 beta 4 brings
several performance, usability and
cosmetic changes. In terms of UI
changes, the beta fixes the position of
the 'slide to unlock' arrow in the lock
screen, brings new buttons to the
dialler and call answer screens, a
Cancel option in universal search
(Spotlight) interface, ability to swipe
between different sections in
Notification Center, visual tweaks in
Safari and Mail apps, tweaked filters
UI and HDR button in the Camera app,
new Airplay icons, and improved
transparency and animations in
folders.
Usability wise, the new beta supports
unlimited apps in the multitasking view,
faster Compass calibration, new sound
alert for AirDrop, Siri Q&A feature,
new resolution switch in the iPad while
running iPhone apps, ability to shuffle
all songs in the Music app, and search
functionality in Reminders app,
amongst other changes.

iOS 7: Battery Saving Features

If you’re unhappy with the current longevity of your iPhone’s battery life, you might want to hold off switching to Android because, come fall 2013,iOS 7promises to make things better in this department.iOS 7 comes with a lot of aesthetic pleasantries but also with a bunch of under-the-hood optimizations that keep the phone from taxing the CPU and battery.For instance,Multitaskingin iOS 7 not only knows when to update your social networks with the latest news and messages from your friends, it also updates all your apps with all the latest bug fixes and new features, automatically, and in the background.The new iOS schedules updates during “power-efficient times,” as Apple itself puts it. For example, when Google publishes a new versionof its YouTube app and your device is on and connected to Wi-Fi, it’ll instantly download the updated YouTube to your device.This way you don’t have to move through different screens, tap buttons, and wait for the progress gauge to fill up. And, best of all, that App Store icon will never show a red badge again.Another power-saving feature isControl Center.That’s right. Although Apple doesn’tmarket Control Center as such, it too works to reduce power drain on your iPhone or iPod touch.The reason is simple too. Instead of having to navigate to the Settings app and then browse endlessly to find those On/Off toggles for Airplane mode, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, andDo Not Disturb, all you do is swipe upand tap once.The screen brightness slider is also there, allowing you to dim the lights in a second when your battery is running low. Everything is much easier to access in iOS 7, so you’ll waste less time performing actions (with the screen on).