Which Instagram Filters Are Most Popular

Instagram has changed the way we take our pictures. Ever since it was released, its popularity in the social networking world has been staggering. Well, Facebook wouldn't have splurged so much dough to buy the company if it isn't so popular. Releasing the Android version when the iPhone version was at its peak is the best thing that it did. Right timing and I think that was really the final motivation for Facebook to make a move to buy the company.

I'm not such an avid user of Instagram myself though. Only the odd occasion here and there and I don't really share it on my social networking accounts (Facebook, Twitter, etc..). I am however curious as to which of its many filters are more popular? Well, I did a quick research on Google and found this...

Absinthe 2.0 Jailbreak for iOS 5.1.1 is Released!

Just a brief and quick note, the latest jailbreak, Absinthe 2.0 has been released to jailbreak iOS 5.1.1 on the following devices:

Solution: Restore and Update button greyed out in iTunes after upgrade to iOS 5.0.1

I recently ran into a problem after upgrading an iPhone to iOS 5.0.1 where the Update and Restore buttons on iTunes are greyed out (not allowing you to click on either). I believe this problem is not related to the iOS version, but rather the network service provider. Usually if there are any setting changes to the network providers' network, you will receive a notice in iTunes when you plug in your phone the first time after upgrading, that tells you an update to the carrier settings is available and offers to upgrade it for you. If you do not upgrade, you may not be able to receive a signal and your iPhone/iPad may show "No Service" on the status bar.

Especially with iOS 5.x where you can activate your device without connecting to iTunes, this issue may happen more easily. Or if you are using an iPhone which is locked to another network other than the one on your SIM card, this could happen also. So what happens now that you have No Service on your iDevice and you are unable to even Update or Restore?

iOS 5.0.1 Untethered Jailbreak for pre-A5 devices released: RedSn0w

If you have been following the development on the iOS jailbreak community, you would probably know by now that the untethered jailbreak has been released for iOS 5.0.1 for all iDevices (except for iPhone 4s and iPad 2). Few hours right after the release announcement, I jumped in immediately to restore my iPhone 4 (which was on iOS 4.3.2) and jailbreak it. Dev-team has release the latest RedSn0w tool (version 0.9.10b2) that includes the exploit to jailbreak the iOS 5.0.1.

There are some pre-requisites before you try and jailbreak your iDevice. Click on for more...

How to enable CAPS LOCK on your iOS keyboard

I'm sure many people use capital letters when typing messages on their smart phones. And iOS (iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad) does a good job at automatically capping your first words right after the last fullstop. It will also capitalize certain words automatically like, ASAP, FYI and also all the first letters of names or days, like Michael, John, Monday, Tuesday, etc... You get the drag. But besides that, when and if you want to type a whole word in capital letters for whatever reasons (for example, trying to show that you are shouting, gasping or just want to stress a certain word in your sentence), many would repeatedly type in the "SHIFT" key repeatedly for every letter being typed. There is an easier way...

iPhone 4S - Maxis & DiGi registration now available

Maxis today just put up in their iPhone website the availability of the iPhone 4s in Malaysia. Although it is not specified on the site when exactly it will be available, I presume it won't be too long because its already all over the world except for Malaysia. Of course it is already available in other mobile phone suppliers, but Maxis, DiGi and Celcom would be their official distribution network.

1112 Ep. 1 - Free on Appstore for Thanksgiving

One of my favorite games on the iPhone is 1112. This game has an engrossing storyline and will keep those who like mystery and who-dunit games happy and content. The gameplay is mostly of puzzles and only solving the puzzles will allow you to progress in the game. Its graphics is made mostly of static images but they are beautifully drawn and definitely sets the mood for the game. The sound department is also very befitting.

Free GPS App with Waze

There are many GPS apps available for our smart phones nowadays. Just to name a few is Tomtom, Papago, Sygic, Navigon, PapaGo, Garmin, etc... the list goes on. But how many are free? Its safe to say they are mostly quite costly, Tomtom for example, sells for at least US$49.90, Sygic at least US$19.90 and Navigon around US$29.90. And to top it off, they are sold separately for each region. So if you have Tomtom USA and wants to go Singapore and use it, you'll have to buy a separate app at US$69.90! Same goes for the other GPS apps, they are all sold separately according to region.

Get it cheap. Groupon iPhone App now works for Malaysia too!

The Groupon app has been available for a very long time now but it wasn't available for Malaysia before. Maybe because Groupon wasn't in Malaysia yet. Groupon is now tied up with Malaysian website Groupsmore and it was only a matter of time before their app is updated to support Malaysia as well.  The latest update of the app, version 1.5.5, now lets you view deals available in Malaysia and that is good news for bargain hunters here!

Transition from iOS 4.x to iOS 5 and Jailbreaking

I have recently made a transition from iOS 4.x to iOS 5 on my iPhone 3GS and I can say it wasn't a particularly smooth sailing journey. Of course we're talking about jailbreaking it as well. My plan was to do this:

1. Sync & backup iPhone 3GS with iTunes
2. Fully restore iPhone to iOS 5
3. Jailbreak iOS 5 with redsn0w
4. Install AppSync 5.0+ from Cydia
5. Restore from backup to iPhone with iTunes.

Sounds easy right? Wrong! Now usually when after I sync and backup the iPhone before an upgrade of the firmware, I will do a backup of the backup first so I can do it again if I screw it up. I have written an article on how to do this before and you can see it here: [Restoring from a backup for iPhone, jailbreak or not!]

eBuddy XMS vs. WhatApp... FIGHT!

Blackberry's BBM service may be popular, but it is limited to BB-to-BB messaging. iMessage maybe supported by a monstrous Apple, but again limited to iOS-to-iOS messaging. In our imperfect world of multiple mobile OS platforms, you can't seriously expect everyone to own multiple devices just so they can send free messages to all their friends, can you? Well, maybe some will answer, yes you can, but not all of us are so fortunate. That is where apps like eBuddy XMS and WhatsApp comes and save the day. Of course there are a thousand more apps out there that does similar functions, like Pingchat, Facebook Messenger, TextPlus, etc,  but these are my 2 favourites. I also wrote a review on Viber, that has also added text messaging functions, but its more popular for its free VoIP calls service. Check out that review here: [LINK]

But today, I'm going to compare just XMS (ver 2.0.1) and WhatsApp (ver 2.6.7) on the iPhone iOS (that's the only one i own)... jump in!

Jobs quits job

Steve Jobs of Apple Inc. just announced that he is relinquishing his post as CEO of the company and will remain only as chairman and employee. This has been a long term speculated many months back when he first took a long leave of absence and many have suggested that it may be for health reason (as can be seen from his significant lost in weight). Today, this news came through and you might say the rumor mill may have its truth in it. But even with this news, Apple's stock has not suffered any disastrous effect. In fact, it went up a few dollars during trading hours.

 This I believe may be because he still remains in Apple Inc. as chairman and still significant enough to lead the company. And even as chairman, I believe no one will deny the fact that he will hold considerable influence in what steps the company takes next. Jobs have single-handedly brought Apple back from the brink of death with the first release of the new generation iPod (new then) and then the iPhone. Of course the rest as they say, is history. Not only is Apple Inc. back to life, but it is today the most valuable tech company in the USA (if not the world!). The release of the iPad only propelled it to further unimaginable heights.

Viber, now on Android!

Good news for Android users (and iPhone users too!), Viber has launched their Android app which will certainly be a welcome for the iPhone users alike. iPhone users can now also call their friends who are on Android phones far far away in another continent, for FREE!

Read my previous review of Viber for iPhone version 1 here and version 2 here. I don't have an Android phone, so I couldn't possibly give an accurate enough review of this new app for Android. But I'm sure it will work great and save for some bugs (its new on Android, so give them some slack).

Apple's new iOS5, anything else new?

It was the Apple's WorldWide Developer Conference (WWDC) yesterday. There were no new consumer hardware introduced as some have expected, but there were 3 main things. No iPhone 4S or iPhone 5 that was rumored to be announced. The 3 things were the OSX Lion, iOS5 and iCloud. I'm not going to talk about OSX Lion as I do not own a Mac (but I am surprised at the $29 upgrade price!). I'm going to talk mainly about the new iOS 5 and some of its main new features that they have added.

Restoring from a backup for iPhone, jailbreak or not!

Here's a myth that most people believe, "You cannot backup or restore a jailbroken iPhone". The fact is, you can. And yours truly have done it a million times (over exaggerated of course). I personally do not use AptBackup, PKGBackup or any Cydia apps to help me backup my apps' settings and data. iTunes can do all that for you. What does that mean? It means that not only are you able to backup your iPhone's settings, the legitimate apps and its data (and settings), but you will be able to also backup your Cydia apps' settings. I will tell you how...

What's The Big Fuss About White iPhone 4?

Recently there has been news that says the white iPhone 4 will be out by end of April. Well, we have been hearing its "intended" release dates ever since the black iPhone 4 was released. Seriously though, what is the big fuss about the release of a white colored iPhone??

The white iPhone 4 has been delayed time and time again and the speculations on the Internet over its release has sprout like mushrooms on every tech sites you can imagine. So what if the white iPhone 4 is being released? I certainly won't care. Definitely not when we're close to a new iPhone 5 being released. Would you get the white iPhone 4 knowing that iPhone 5 may likely be released in 3 or 4 more months later?

Angry Birds Rio 3 stars guide/walkthrough for Jungle Escape (Part 1)

Once again Angry Birds series has proven as addictive and as playable (very much if I may say) in the new title Angry Birds Rio. It has again topped the bestsellers in Apple's Appstore, unsurprisingly. With this new title, there is again the prospect of finishing each and every level with 3-Stars. With even more levels promised within the next year, we will see new obstacles and new achievements to be obtained. This will certainly help to quench the thirst of all Angry Birds fans.

I have personally finished all the levels in the first two themes (Smuggler's Den & Jungle Escape) and to tell you the truth, the levels are not that difficult to obtain the 3-Stars. You just have to keep on trying and keep going back until you hit that sweet spot. Walkthroughs are here to guide you on where to hit and how to hit them, but there are definitely many other ways in order to strike the 3-Stars. As before, I would advise that you try each levels yourselves first before seeking the walkthroughs.

Here are the walkthroughs...

Angry Birds Rio 3 stars guide/walkthrough for Smuggler's Den (Part 2)

Once again Angry Birds series has proven as addictive and as playable (very much if I may say) in the new title Angry Birds Rio. It has again topped the bestsellers in Apple's Appstore, unsurprisingly. With this new title, there is again the prospect of finishing each and every level with 3-Stars. With even more levels promised within the next year, we will see new obstacles and new achievements to be obtained. This will certainly help to quench the thirst of all Angry Birds fans.

I have personally finished all the levels in the first two themes (Smuggler's Den & Jungle Escape) and to tell you the truth, the levels are not that difficult to obtain the 3-Stars. You just have to keep on trying and keep going back until you hit that sweet spot. Walkthroughs are here to guide you on where to hit and how to hit them, but there are definitely many other ways in order to strike the 3-Stars. As before, I would advise that you try each levels yourselves first before seeking the walkthroughs.

Here are the walkthroughs...

Angry Birds Rio 3 stars guide/walkthrough for Smuggler's Den (Part 1)

Once again Angry Birds series has proven as addictive and as playable (very much if I may say) in the new title Angry Birds Rio. It has again topped the bestsellers in Apple's Appstore, unsurprisingly. With this new title, there is again the prospect of finishing each and every level with 3-Stars. With even more levels promised within the next year, we will see new obstacles and new achievements to be obtained. This will certainly help to quench the thirst of all Angry Birds fans.

I have personally finished all the levels in the first two themes (Smuggler's Den & Jungle Escape) and to tell you the truth, the levels are not that difficult to obtain the 3-Stars. You just have to keep on trying and keep going back until you hit that sweet spot. Walkthroughs are here to guide you on where to hit and how to hit them, but there are definitely many other ways in order to strike the 3-Stars. As before, I would advise that you try each levels yourselves first before seeking the walkthroughs.

Here are the walkthroughs...

iPhonography

It's been a while since I last posted some photos taken from my iPhone. The last time I posted, it was from my 3GS. This time it's from and iPhone 4. Comments please....

Edited using Photoshop Express app