SugarSync 3.0 iOS App Arrives

SugarSync announced an update to the company’s iPad app, jumping up to SugarSync 3.0 and bringing a collection of new features to justify the big bump.

Of course the new SugarSync app (iTunes) is optimized for the iPad display, thanks to an all out to re-write of the new app from scratch with features that take advantage of the large iPad display. The new SugarSync iPad app has a very nice looking interface that now relies on gestures like drag, swipe and more to make it easier to manage files stored in the cloud service.

Another cool new feature is the ability to see the contents of multiple folders at once. As you can see in the screenshot below, this allows you to see which folders you are browsing in, much like the accordion view on OS X’s finder. You’ll also find easier access to backup options that allow you to backup photos or videos to any folder on your computer. Sure, you have iCloud and PhotoStream, but it’s nice to have this extra ability to backup specific media files to your computer.

SugarSync is a free cloud storage service with 5GB of free storage for every user who signs up. The service offers more control about what syncs to each of your devices than Dropbox, which makes the larger storage plans attractive. SugarSync also allows you to share large files easily, and it doesn’t count the files you share against your co-worker or friend’s storage like many competitors do.

What is SugarSync?:

Sara Is The Latest Siri Clone That Works On All iOS Devices

Siri has always been of interest to developers and this escalated with the release of an untethered jailbreak for iOS 5.0.1 in December 2011 and the release of the A5 Absinthe jailbreak for the iPhone 4S and the iPad 2 in January. Up until now the best way to install Siri on an unsupported device has been Spire which was released in December 2011. That is all about to change with the introduction of Sara.

Spire is easy to set up and requires users to connect to a proxy server in order for the various commands to be answered by Apple's pocket slave. It was only a matter of time before more Siri alternatives became available and a Vietnamese Dev Team has produced a more advanced tool which goes by the name of Sara. This free voice recognition utility takes things a little further than merely setting reminders or driving users crazy with nonsensical conversation and it also appears to be much more versatile.

It has been described by its creators as having an open brain allowing those in the know to create plugins for special commands. Right now the feature set is still impressive and you can scan barcodes or QR codes. The most encouraging thing about Sara is that is works in a variety of countries and it has 37 languages. If you want to get your hands on Sara you will need to have a jailbroken iPhone and you will find it in Cydia.

Sara - A Clone Of Siri:

Mozilla Boot2Gecko Mobile OS Gaia UI Unveiled

Last year Mozilla announced it’s new mobile operating system Boot2Gecko (B2G), it was developing. The new Boot2Gecko OS has been built by Mozilla using just standards-based Web technologies and has been designed to run on top of Gecko. Which is the HTML rendering engine that is used in Mozilla’s popular Firefox Internet browser.

Since is announcement last year Mozilla has wasted no time constructing the new Boot2Gecko mobile operating system, which its going to showcase at the upcoming Mobile World Congress (MWC) starting at the end of the month. Mozilla hopes to roll out a finished product for its new Boot2Gecko sometime in the second quarter of 2012, according to the development roadmap that was recently unveiled.

In and interview with Ars Technica Mozilla’s Brendan Eich explained that Boot2Gecko mobile operating system had already attracted partners, including one that is developing its own custom home screen. Which suggests that multiple parties could be interested in developing and adopting the platform. For more information on the new Boot2Gecko mobile operating system jump over to the Ars Technica website for details.

Update - Mozilla to Release Own OS known as Boot2Gecko:

Display Your Now Playing Song’s Album Art In iOS 5 App Switcher

There is another great new jailbreak tweak called AlbumArt which allows you to display your now playing song’s album art in your App Switcher. This is a great tweak for music lovers so let’s see what all the fuss is about.

AlbumArt has been developed by deVbug on AppSwitcher and it looks to be one of the simplest tweaks we have seen in a long time. It is a one trick tweak and it does this very well. All you have to do is install it and it will replace the Music.app icon on your iOS 5 App Switcher with album art for the current song being played. Here’s is what it says on Cydia:

Requires iOS 5 or higher Show album art on app switcher. support iPod app and other music app (it should be show album art on lockscreen). No icons added to home screen. No options to configure. This new tweak has been tested on the iPhone 4 on iOS 5 and it works just as advertised. It is coupled with the back/play/forward button which means you basically get a full Android like widget for the Music app under the app switcher. This really is a great tweak and if you have album art associated with your songs you will love it. If you don’t have album art associated with your music all you will see is a black and which music icon. Thanks to the amazing retina display featured on the iPhone 4 this tweak looks really great.

In order to use this tweak you will need to have a jailbroken device and you can jailbreak iOS 5 using Redsn0w or Sn0wbreeze. AlbumArt on AppSwitcher can be downloaded for free from the BigBoss repository under Cydia.

Get iTunes Album Art Free Without Credit Card - T3ch H3lp Byte:

Apple OLED TV set to launch in April or May, Siri and iOS on-board

Apple TV rumors have been flying around the Internet for some time now, but most of them were based either on wishlists or on blind speculations.

This one, however, seems more on terms with reality, as Technobuffalo claims it has spoken with a “high-ranking source with a major electronics retailer”. He says that we should expect to see to see an Apple TV in flesh around April or May “at the latest”.

According to the source of the rumor, they’ve seen “gorgeous, very thin” pre-production TV units up to 42-inches in diameter with OLED panels. It’s all good and dandy, but I feel quite skeptical about the size of the rumored future Apple TV set.

As you might remember, LG and Samsung announced a 55-inch Smart TV sets at the last CES and I don’t think Apple will let it’s first TV be that much behind the competition. Remember, this is TVs we are talking and not smartphones, so the bigger the screen size, the better. At least in my opinion that is.

And, actually, according to Technobuffalo’s source, that’s why Apple has been delaying the purported Apple TV. The company wants to jam-pack the product with killer features in order to compensate the smaller screen. Another possible benefit of the 42″ OLED panel is that it is cheaper to manufacture than the 55″ ones. This will keep the price down, compared to the LG and Samsung alternatives.

Naturally, the expected Apple TV will run some variation of Apple’s iOS, with Siri obliging your every wish. Not only that, but there’s also going to be a face recognition feature, which will put the TV into power-sleep mode if you’re not in the same room.

So here’s what Apple has been (Tim) Cook-ing up – an iPad 3 in late February / early March, an Apple TV in late April / early May and an iPhone 5 in early October. It’s sure going to be an interesting year for Apple.