16 things you didn't know about iOS 7, Apple's new operating system

News.com.au's Claire Porter has a hard time finding anyone who wants to buy Apple's budget model Phone, the 5c.

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THE big day is finally here.

After more than a year of rumour and speculation, the iPhone 5S and 5C have finally hit the shelves. At 8am AEST the Sydney Apple Store threw open its doors to iPhone fanatics.
While not as lengthy as last year, the line at the George St store was still 500 strong and was already rolling around the corner at opening time.
The line began forming around midday yesterday as Apple fans camped with hoodies, rugs and paper bags of McDonald's for sustenance.
News.com.au spoke to Jimmy Gunawan, the first person in line, who said he queued to test his stamina.
He told news.com.au he was buying the iPhone 5s because it was better than the 5C.
His favourite feature?
"The AirDrop ... because it lets you share images and video easily across my devices".



His decision to buy the 5S instead of the 5C was shared by many others in the line. News.com.au was met with jeers from the crowd when we asked them whether they wanted to purchase the 5C.
"The iPhone 5C is just the 5 wrapped in plastic," said Bob, an IT contractor who skipped work to be here and lines up each year. "I'm meant to be in a meeting."
Bob said he was buying the iPhone 5S for its "new technology".
"I've got the 5 at the moment and I've always wanted to upgrade," he said. "I'm upgrading for the finger print scanner and the new (A6 chip).

IT consultants Aaron and Kieran agreed they were fans of the iPhone’s fingerprint scanner. Picture: Claire Porter Source: NewsComAu

Two IT consultants, Aaron and Kieran, also said they planned to get the iPhone 5S. Their favourite feature was the fingerprint scanner.
Kieren told news.com.au that buying the 5C was a "waste of time" but said he was impressed that app developers had already updated their programs in preparation for Apple's new operating system, iOS 7.
Fellow IT worker Paul Payne queued since early in the morning and said he liked the multi-tasking features and speed of iOS 7.
"It's fast, it's easy, my five-year-old can use it so that's great," he said.

A present for his daughter ... Nice one, Bruce. Picture: Claire Porter Source: NewsComAu

And then there's Bruce, who may just be the best dad in the world.
Bruce queued up at the Apple store from 6am so that he could buy a 5S for his 16-year-old daughter for her birthday.
"She's going overseas next week and instead of a camera she's going to be taking the iPhone 5S with her," he told news.com.au.
The phone was meant to be a surprise but unfortunately she found out about it, Bruce said. Never mind, we still think you're tops Bruce.

Ahead of the curve ... Diehard fan Kieran Egan. Picture: Claire Porter Source: NewsComAu

Kieran Egan is an avid Apple fan who was so keen he set up a developer account just so that he could get the new operating system iOS7 three months earlier than the rest of us.
Not that he has actually created any apps yet.
His favourite feature: the multitasking.
"It's better because it lets you see which apps are actually running instead of just the wiggly apps down the bottom of the screen," he said.

News.com.au's Claire Porter chats to Jimmy Gunawan, the first in line for the new iPhone 5s outside Sydney's Apple store.

The iOS 7 upgrade caused excitement and some angst among users.
This morning tech sites reported that Jose Rodriguez, 36, from Spain's Canary Islands, had found a way to break though the operating system's passcode feature.
With a simple set of swipes he was able to bypass the lockscreen to gain access to the phone's control centre and to email, Twitter, and photos.
He shared the video here:

Breaking through the iOS 7 passcode

While the demand for the operating system sent the tech giant's servers into meltdown, causing delays and download failures, news.com.au had a play, trying to discover all the hidden features that may not be immediately obvious to users.
Here are 16 things you didn't know iOS 7 could do:

Fingerscan and slow-motion features on the iPhone 5s 1:26

• Play video

News.com.au's Claire Porter tests out two of the new features on Apple's iPhone 5s.

1. Regular time stamps

Picture: Apple Source: Supplied

One of the most frustrating features of Apple's old operating system was the infrequent time stamps featured in the messaging app. With iOS 7 you never need question what time you sent or received that message ever again.Every single text is delivered with a timestamp next to it.

2. Toggles for everyone

Picture: Apple Source: Supplied

Finally! Apple has fixed one of the most annoying issues with its operating system, cutting down the effort to access basic functions such as accessing wi-fi, bluetooth, aeroplane mode and music.Now instead of having to go into settings to change these features, or tap into music to change your playlist, just swipe up to access a new control panel.
The new panel gives you instant access to buttons for aeroplane mode, wi-fi, camera, clock, calculator, bluetooth, music, do not disturb, a slider for brightness and media control. It also has a flashlight button. Nifty.

3. Someone annoying you? Block them

Picture: Apple Source: Supplied

Everybody has that person they just don't want to hear from. But until now there has been no way to block phone numbers on the iPhone.With iOS 7 Apple has finally introduced a way to block calls, texts and FaceTime-ing.
To block calls go to settings > phone > blocked.
To block text messages go to settings > messages > blocked.
To block FaceTime calls go to settings > FaceTime > blocked.
The downside is once you block someone from calling you, they also can't text or FaceTime you. Or if you block someone from FaceTime-ing you then they can't call or text you either.
Choose carefully.

4. Siri searches for tweets

Picture: Apple Source: Supplied

On top of your standard web searches, and things such as movie times and restaurant reviews, Siri now searches tweets and displays them within the Siri interface. No more switching between Siri and your web browser of choice.
Siri can now also display images from Google and Bing within its interface.

5. Teach Siri to speak properly, pedant

Picture: Apple Source: Supplied

Siri is a great little know-it-all but her ability to pronounce basic words that you take for granted is a little lacking. Now you can call Siri out on her elocution issues and train her to pronounce words correctly.
6. Tweets you may have missed

Picture: Apple Source: Supplied

Within the Safari bookmark menu is a little @ symbol which, if you click on it, will display tweets from your Twitter feed that contain links. It's a great way to catch up on tweets you may have missed while you were busy having a life.But why this feature is hidden within Safari's bookmarks and not somewhere more visually prevalent is a mystery.

7. Save your data, block apps from using 3G/4G

Picture: Apple Source: Supplied

Data consumption is one of the biggest issues facing iPhone users today. If you're worried one of your apps is chewing through your data you can block it from working over 3G or 4G, ensuring the only time it works is when it has wi-fi access.Simply go to settings > cellular and scroll down to view a list of apps which use the most data and select which ones you want to block.

8. Bubble compass

Picture: Apple Source: Supplied

If you find yourself lost in the bush and your saviour is Apple's Compass app, you'll be happy to know you can now also work out if you are on level ground. Swipe to the second page and the app contains a "bubble interface" which lets you measure whether a surface is level or not.Handy to architects and builders. Save your self $2. Never go looking in the app store for a spirit level app ever again.

9. FINALLY! Unlimited app folders!

Picture: Apple Source: Supplied

Apple's old operating system already let you group apps into folders but until now, each folder could hold a maximum of 16 apps.In iOS 7, Apple has lifted the cap on app folders, meaning you can chuck as many apps as you like within a folder.
It's amazing it took this long really, but we're glad Apple came to its senses.

10. Spotlight search goes front and centre

Picture: Apple Source: Supplied

Previously if you wanted to use Apple's Spotlight search you had to swipe to the right from the home screen. Now the search function is available on every page. All you have to do to bring the search bar into view is swipe downwards.
11. Automatic app updates

Picture: Apple Source: Supplied

Until Apple released iOS 7, if you wanted to update your apps you had to click into the App Store and hit the update button.
With iOS 7 you can set your phone to automatically update every app. Just go to the App Store settings and choose automatic updates. Worried about chewing through your data? Fear not. There is also a separate button to prevent your iPhone from updating your apps while you're using 3G or 4G.

12. Wish yourself happy birthday

Picture: Apple Source: Supplied

Tell your iPhone your birthday and it will send you a lovely message on the day, congratulating you on surviving another year of being alive.Also if you give Siri your address it will provide you with traffic updates tailored to your area in the notification centre's 'Today' screen. Giving Siri your address has additional benefits, like she can sense when you're home and remind you to do things as you step in the door. Yeah, Siri can be a bit of a nag.

13. Tell Big Brother to go away

Picture: Apple Source: Supplied

Last year Apple quietly introduced a feature that tracked your browsing activity in order to deliver targeted advertising to your phone. Naturally, this made folks a little paranoid and annoyed that Apple snuck this one through the back door without properly informing users.The option to disable this feature used to be hidden within the 'About' menu in the settings app.
Apple has now moved this feature to the privacy category in settings. To prevent prying eyes from spying on your browsing history, go to settings > privacy > limit ad tracking and hit "on".

14. Closing apps gets a little tricky

iOS 7 Multi-tasking and Closing Applications

It used to be that when you closed an app you either tapped the home button or held your finger over an app and waited for the little X icon to appear.
That has all changed with iOS 7. To close an app, double tap the home button to bring up a carousel of side-scrolling apps which are running in the background, and swipe up on the screenshot of the app you want to close.
Closing apps you're not using will help to preserve battery life so it's best you learn how to do this early on. This carousel also doubles as a multi-tasking menu that lets you switch between apps. Pretty handy.

15. New and improved photo gallery

Picture: Apple Source: Supplied

Until now the iPhone's photo gallery has been one long grid of photos you scroll through. Now the photo app organises your photos into 'Moments' and 'Collections' which show images by day and location. The photo app also contains a 'Years' view which, as the name implies, shows you every picture you took over an entire year. If you hold your thumb over the collection of images you can preview individual photos and then jump right to them.
16. Camera app has been blunged out

Picture: Apple Source: Supplied

Users can now take rapid shot photos by tapping the shutter button. The camera app also features a 'square' option which comes with built-in features so you can take photos already designed for Instagram. The app also features a HDR mode which you can toggle on and off. You can also take photos while you're recording video, a feature which is very similar to a feature on HTC's android phone. Watch this space. We sense a lawsuit coming.

10 Secret iPhone Powers

With few exceptions, your iPhone can do everything your desktop PC can do. Here are 10 easy ways to unlock your iPhone's full potential.

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Your iPhone came loaded with great software that lets you get driving directions, listen to music, watch YouTube, surf the Web, keep your appointments, and of course make phone calls. But the iPhone can do far more than that—it truly is a full-fledged computer that fits in your pocket. With few exceptions, your iPhone can do everything your desktop can do, often at no cost. Here are ten things you might not have thought of, all of which you can do without spending a dime.
Apple iPhone Tips 1-5
1. Send free SMS messages, or "fake" MMS messages.
If you find yourself running over your text message limit on your cellular plan, don't despair! As long as you know your friends' cell-phone company, you can send them text messages free using e-mail via their carriers' e-mail-to-SMS gateway. In most cases, you send an e-mail to your contact's phone number @[their carrier's URL]. We've compiled a list of the proper format for each carrier's SMS gateway. For example, to send a text to the AT&T phone number (555-595-5244), you'd e-mail 5555955244@txt.att.net. It takes a bit longer than traditional texting, but it will get there, and you won't have to pay the standard text-message rate. Using these gateways lets you get around one of the biggest limitations of the iPhone—the lack of multimedia messaging. Since you're sending e-mails, you can attach a photo, and your image will be delivered as an MMS message. Just add the e-mail-to-SMS address to your contacts as a second e-mail address so that you can access it easily, and you can stop worrying about whether iPhone 3.0 will support MMS or not.
2. Sync your iPhone's calendar with Google Calendar.

This new sync capability was announced by Google just before we were set to publish this tip roundup. Yes, you can now sync your Google Calendar with your iPhone without resorting to any third-party services, but it won't happen automatically. First, you need to make sure your iPhone firmware is Version 2.2 or later. Then you visit http://www.google.com/mobile/apple/sync.html, and take a few proactive steps. Don't ignore the step of backing up your contacts, as the Google Sync setup will delete them from the device. There are a couple of disadvantages to backing up your contacts to Google Contacts—doing so means you're no longer syncing with Outlook or MobileMe contacts, if you'd set one of those up. And you're sharing all your contacts with Google, which may or may not be a problem, depending on your comfort level. Finally, don't be confused by the fact that you actually set up your Gmail account as a Microsoft Exchange account rather than the Google Mail choice—Google Sync uses an Exchange server to accomplish the syncing. In the next 13 steps of the process, you'll enter Google's server name and choose whether you want Contacts, Calendars, or both synced; and finally pass a couple of scary red warning screens reminding you that you'll lose the existing contacts and calendar entries on the phone. Thereafter, your contacts and calendar entries will sync with the beta Google services rather than MobileMe or Exchange. If you've enabled Push in your iPhone's Fetch New Data control panel, you won't have to do anything for the info to update. Otherwise, you can sync every 15 or 30 minutes, or manually when in your Gmail inbox.
3. Make your own ringtones.

Find that paying double to convert your song to a ringtone cramps your style? With this trick, you can make free ringtones from virtually any audio file. Just convert it to the AAC format (if it isn't already there): Set iTunes to import using its AAC filter, then right-click your file and select Create AAC version. Next, edit the file in any music editor (such as GarageBand on a Mac, or Audacity on Windows or a Mac) to select the 20 to 30 seconds that you want for your ringtone. Rename the file extension from .m4a to .m4r, then double-click it and iTunes will import it as a ringtone and sync it to your iPhone. The only catch: It doesn't work with DRM-protected songs. But now that iTunes offers DRM-free music, just buy the unprotected version and you're good to go. 4. Keep a photoblog.
The iPhone has everything you need to keep a visual diary online. Many blogging platforms, such as Blogger, allow you to e-mail photos directly to the site. In fact, you can create a "moblog" on the fly by e-mailing go@blogger.com from your phone (they'll e-mail you back with log-in details so you can edit your blog later on, when you're at a computer). Posterous is another service that will let you set up a blog directly from your phone—e-mail post@posterous.com to set up a new blog or to add an existing one.
If you already have a blog and it doesn't accept posts by e-mail directly, you can e-mail images to your Flickr account and use the "Share This" link to post to most blogging platforms. Just set up a post-by-e-mail address at flickr.com/account/uploadbyemail and add the address to your iPhone's address book.
5. Find open Wi-Fi networks.

If you have an iPhone, you don't need a separate dongle to find an open wireless connection for your laptop. Simply take out your iPhone, tap Settings, select WiFi, then open Choose a network to see which Wi-Fi networks are available wherever you are. Perfect for checking to see if it's worth hauling out and booting up your laptop in your local library or coffee shop, or for checking whether your home network is visible from that corner of the garage or basement where you're considering moving your desktop.

Want to find the nearest wireless access point wherever you are? Try searching for "wifi" in the Maps application. Google will plot the nearest hot spots around your location based on the GPS (or cell-phone tower location).

6. Give great speeches.
Your presentation is in 10 minutes and you just realized that you forgot to print out your presentation notes. Don't want your laptop obscuring your face while you speak? Save your document with a large typeface in Word, e-mail it to your iPhone, and open the attachment on your phone. You can easily scroll through your presentation with a touch while you're talking.
7. Scan documents.
The iPhone is no Canon Mark III, but it's pretty sweet for taking pictures of your friends or some cool scenery. Trouble is, its lack of a focus control makes it impossible to get clear close-up shots. Which is a shame considering there are services like Evernote and scanR that let you use the camera on your mobile phone as a scanner, even converting images into text or sending images as faxes.
What to do? Just put a magnifying glass or one of those credit-card-size magnifying sheets in front of the lens when taking close-up pictures. The improvement in the quality and clarity of your image will be stunning.
8. Take screenshots.
Capturing screenshots from any application or from the home screen is easy on the iPhone. Hold down the Home key and click the lock/off button on the top of the unit and you're done. The screen will flash white, and your iPhone will make the same shutter snap sound you get when you take a photo. Your screenshot will be added to the Camera Roll under the Photos app.
9. Slim down your wallet.
If you're like most people, your wallet contains far more cards than you use every day: grocery club cards, insurance cards, frequent flier cards, auto club cards, and who knows what else? Here's a cool idea: Scan or photograph these cards and store them on your iPhone instead. The screen is large and crisp enough that you can even scan barcodes from it—so if you scan, say, a grocery store customer loyalty card, you can simply hold the image of the barcode up to the barcode reader and get your sweet discounts. You might get some odd looks now and again, but your wallet—and your buttocks—will thank you for it.
10. Make it louder!
If you forgot your headphones or want to share your discoveries with your friends, try this neat trick: Lay your iPhone across the top of a cup to boost the sound. Since the speaker is at the bottom of the iPhone, you need to lay it off-center so the speaker projects into the cup. You'll get a nice boost to the iPhone's normally tinny sound. For more casual sound-boosting that's still guaranteed to make you look like a schmo, try cupping your hand around the speaker-end to direct the sound toward your ears.
Become a Tapping Master
Learn these special taps and button clicks to bring your iPhone to heel:

• Tap the Status bar at the top of the screen (where the clock usually is) to return instantly to the top of long pages.
• Hold a finger on a link in Safari to get a pop-up saying where the link goes.
• Tap the bottom left or right corner to scroll left or right.
• Tap with two fingers to zoom out in Maps.
• Drag inside text boxes with two fingers to scroll without scrolling the whole page.
• Double-click the Power/Lock button to send incoming calls straight to voice mail.
• Double-click the Home button in any app to bring up the iPod controls.

It is not Adobe Photoshop, or Adobe Illustrator, its Aviary

Did you know? You can create, edit, store and share graphics and sound files right in your Google Apps account?
It is not Adobe Photoshop, or Adobe Illustrator, but close enough! Oh yeah, and it’s free. Aviary is a very powerful suite of browser-based design tools, now available right from within our Google Apps account! If you are looking to do some basic image editing (crop, resize, rotate, effects), or if you are looking to edit some audio recordings, create a business card, or something similar, but don’t have these tools on your home computer, look no further. Give the Aviary suite of applications a try – right in your browser.

Aviary is a suite of FREE web-based design tools. There is an ‘educational version’ hosted on their website (www.aviaryeducation.com), but now Aviary can be embedded in your own Google Apps account! You can use Aviary to create, edit and share a variety of digital files in your classes or offices.
Aviary offers the same power and capabilities of leading desktop editors and design tools, with the freedom and flexibility of browser-based applications. Whether you are trying to edit a screen capture of your website, remix a music track or create a logo for your new program or extracurricular, Aviary has the right tool for you. Additionally, any new projects you create will be stored as a document in your “Aviary Files” folder in Google Docs! From there, you can share your Aviary files with colleagues and students.
Over the next few days I will be highlighting one specific Aviary application to focus these emails a bit. For now, if you are interested, you can start a new project using any of their preset templates available. To access Aviary’s tools, log in to your Ignatius email account, and in the top left menu (to the right of ‘Documents’ and ‘Sites’) you will see “more”. Click the “more” link, and from that list you will see ‘Aviary’. The Aviary page will display, giving you access to start a new project from scratch – or choose from a template.
Some of the project templates available include:

Edit and Markup Images

• Business Card
• Letterhead
• Powerpoint slide
• Label
• Powerpoint slide
• Screen capture
• Add arrows/text
• Annotate image

Create Vector Illustrations

• Make a logo
• Create a tshirt
• Create icons for your website

Edit Audio

• Mix a podcast
• Record audio
• Audio filter effects
• Remix music

PlayStation 4 outsold Xbox One by nearly double last month

Sonyy is off to a solid start in 2014 as January sales of the PlayStation 4 were nearly double those of Microsoft’s next generation Xbox One according to the latest report from research firm NPD Group. It’s unclear exactly how many consoles were sold during the month, however.
Conversely, Microsoft took the top spot in terms of overall game sales but it’s worth pointing out that this includes Xbox One and Xbox 360 sales. Narrowed down to include Xbox One games only, Sony topped Microsoft in all of the bestselling games except for Call of Duty: Ghosts and Lego Marvel Super Heroes.
The two consoles launched within a week of each other late last year, just in time for the holiday buying season. The software lineup for each console was limited at launch with very few exclusives to sway buyers one way or another, something that’ll change pretty soon starting with the highly anticipated release of Titanfall in March.
Microsoft isn’t exactly hurting for hardware sales, however, as the company recently said their new console is selling 2.29 times faster than its predecessor during the same time span. At that rate, the Xbox One could go on to become Microsoft’s best selling console ever.
Regardless of which camp you support, it’s good news for gamers and the market in general. Blockbuster titles like the aforementioned Titanfall, Destiny, The Crew and Watch Dogs are all slated for a 2014 release as well which will no doubt drive console sales even higher.