Apple’s ‘transparent texting’ tech aims to make it safer to walk and text

Last week, the United States Patent and Trademark Office published a patent application entitled ‘Transparent Texting’ that Apple filed in late 2012. In it, the company proposes to replace the background image of messaging applications with a live video feed from the device’s camera.

This effect would create the illusion that the device has a transparent display, allowing users to see what lies in front of them while they are texting. The goal of the invention is to make it safer for iPhone (and other mobile device) users to text and perform other functions while walking…

From the Abstract [description] ofApple’s patent (via AppleInsider):

“An electronic communication device’s camera can continuously capture and present video images as a background within a text messaging session currently being displayed by the device. The camera can be a rear-facing camera on the device, so that the video images represent the views that the device’s user would see if the device’s display were transparent. The camera can continuously capture and present the video images as the background in the text messaging session, so that the device’s user continuously can be aware of the environment beyond the device’s display while still focusing on the text messages being communicated.” 

Now there are a few things worth mention here. For one, this is not at all new technology. There are tons of third-party apps available in the App Store right now that offer up the ability to stream live video from your iPhone’s camera in the background while you type out a message or e-mail.

But the fact that Apple is working on a native implementation of the tech is still notable. Believe it or not, texting while walking causes more [although often far less severe] accidents per year than texting and driving, and the government has asked the company repeatedly to deliver solution.

Auxo 2 jailbreak tweak coming to Cydia April 2nd

Good news jailbreakers. The dev group A3 tweaks announced earlier today that Auxo 2, the highly anticipated sequel to their originaljailbreak tweak, is nearing completion and should be ready for release sometime this week.

We first saw evidence of Auxo 2 at the beginning of the month, when the group’s UI designer Sentry posted apair of 6-second video clips teasing some of the tweak’s features. And today, a much longer trailer has been posted…  

For those unfamiliar with the original Auxo, it was a tweak that extended the functionality of the app switcher in iOS 5 and iOS 6 by adding music controls, Settings toggles and other stuff. You can read our full review of it here.

So when will Auxo 2 be available? Well if you look at the above image, the reflection of the words reads April 2nd, which we’ve confirmed with Sentry to be the official launch date. We’ll obviously let you know as soon as it hits Cydia.

For a more in-depth look at Auxo 2 and other new jailbreak tweaks, make sure to tune in to this week’s episode of Let’s Talk Jailbreak.

PowerDown Pro: add more options to the iPhone’s power down interface

PowerDown Pro is a jailbreak tweakthat adds extra options to the power down screen that appears on your iPhone after holding the sleep button. Normally, this menu contains a single option—slide to power off—but with PowerDown Pro, three additional options are put into play.

Each of the available options—reboot, respring, safe mode, and shut down—can be accessed using swipe gestures on the red rectangle box found on the power down screen.   

Once you install PowerDown Pro, you’ll find a new panel for the tweak in the stock Settings app. PowerDown Pro’s preferences contain a kill-switch and a separate panel for rearranging or hiding the four power options. 

PowerDown Pro is a simple tweak, but it’s good looking, integrates like a native iOS feature, and it’s practical. You can find it on Cydia’s BigBoss repo for $0.99. If you decide to give it a shot, please share your thoughts about the tweak down below in the comments section.

How to disable “Cover Flow” in the iOS 7 Music app

The traditional Cover Flow feature that’s been a staple of the Music app for many years was finally retired in iOS 7. It was replaced with a cool new album art view that appears when placing your device into landscape orientation.

While the new-fangled Cover Flow view (I’ll just call it Cover Flow for lack of an official name) is pleasing to the eyes, some may find it to be an annoyance at best and a hinderance at worst. Needless to say, its usability is questionable, and it arguably places style over substance and convenience.

With that being said, there is a way outright prevent the Cover Flow view from being displayed when placing your device in landscape mode. The solution to the problem is a newjailbreak tweak entitledNoCoverFlow7. 

Once you install NoCoverFlow7, it’s ready to go. There are no options to configure and no settings to adjust. To test out the tweak, place your device into landscape mode while inside the stock Music app. The Cover Flow view, which will look similar to the image below, should no longer display. 

I don’t know if this view is annoying enough to warrant downloading a dedicated tweak just to disable it, but it’s here for the taking if you’d like to try it. NoCoverFlow7 is available for download right now on Cydia’s BigBoss repo. If you decide to try it, be sure to share your opinions on it in the comments section below.

Recent ‘ProWidgets’ update adds a simple Grey theme

A few weeks ago, we reviewed ProWidgets—a tweak that I believe is amongst the best of jailbreak releases. The tweak by itself is very well done, but my sentiments were also based on ProWidgets’ potential with regard to expandability.

The version of ProWidgets that I reviewed didn’t include the simple grey theme that’s now available with the latest ProWidgets update. Although it’s not technically a third-party theme, this is one of the first big changes that we’ve seen to ProWidgets since our initial review.   

Like the rest of the themes available for ProWidgets out of the box, the new grey theme can be selected directly from the themes panel of the tweak’s preferences. Like most preferences for jailbreak tweaks, you can find ProWidgets’ inside of the stock Settings app. 

Honestly, I have to say that the grey theme is a bit on the conservative side. Here’s hoping that more developers and themers hop on board and begin to support this amazing jailbreak release, else it would be a huge shame. 

What are your thoughts on the simple grey theme included with the latest build of ProWidgets? Do you, like me, share the opinion that it’s too conservative? Sound off in the comments below.

If you’ve yet to purchase ProWidgets, you can do so for $2.99 on Cydia’s BigBoss repo. Be sure to read and watch our full video walkthrough of the tweak as well.

How to remove the slide to unlock arrow on the Lock screen

Have you ever wanted to remove the little arrow icon that resides to the left of the text on the Lock screen? Well, you can now do so by means a newjailbreak tweak entitled NoSTUArrow. As you may have already put together, the “STU” stands for slide to unlock.

Admittedly, this is one of the simplest jailbreak tweaks that you’ll find on the Cydia store, but that’s what’s wonderful about jailbreaking; there’s truly something there for everyone. Interested to see how NoSTUArrow works?   

Once you install NoSTUArrow, things just start working. There are no options or settings to configure, just install it and go. Below, you’ll find two comparison screenshots to show what the Lock screen looks like with and without the tweak installed. 

Which look do you prefer? Depending on your Lock screen wallpaper, I think that the subtle change could work out for the better. If you’d like to take NoSTUArrow for a test drive, then venture over to Cydia’s BigBoss repo where you can download it today without cost.

What do you think?

Ultrakam lets you shoot film-like 2K video on iPhone 5s

As you know, the iPhone 5s’s iSight camera can shoot full HD 1080p video (1,920-by-1,080 pixels) at 30 frames per second, as well as slow-motion clips at 120 frames per second at a reduced resolution of 1,280-by-720 pixels (720p). The back shooter can also take eight-megapixel stills at the image capture size of 3,264-by-2,448 pixels. 

But what if the handset could take a series of stills in a rapid succession and stitch them together to form an ultra-resolution footage? 

That’s what Ultrakam, a novel iPhone application by Hassan Uriostegui, does for you. Available in the App Store for $6.99 for a limited time, the software brings 2K film resolution to your iPhone 5s at 30 and 20 frames per second. 

It also includes a handy film-like 24 frames per second preset and can automatically smooth rack-focus during recording. Read on for the full reveal… 

As noted by The Next Web, Ultrakam shoots 2,240-by-1,672 pixel video, which is around 75 percent more pixels than the regular full HD resolution of 1,920-by-1,080 pixels. Taking 2K images at 24 frames per second and encoding them into a Motion JPEG format in real-time requires a lot of horse power so Ultrakam works best with A7 devices like the iPhone 5s and iPad Air.  

The app also supports previous-generation devices such as the iPhone 5, iPhone 5C and iPad mini, though you’ll have to settle with 2K video capture at 20 frames per second on these gadgets. 

Ultrakam is anything but your ordinary camera app: your 2L clips get stored as either Motion JPEG or H.264 iFrame encoded files. Motion JPEG is a video format specifically created to compress each frame separately as a JPEG image, which quickly increases file size. 

Specifically, a minute of 2K Motion JPEG footage at 24 frames per second will consume up to three gigabytes of storage space so the top-of-the-line iPhone 5s with 64 gigabytes per storage will fill up after mere 20 minutes of 2K video capture.  

Ultrakam also shoots slow motion footage at 120 frames per second on the iPhone 5s, or 60 frames per second on the previous-generation iPhone 5/5c. 

Advanced video capture settings let you choose your bit-rate for video and audio, with the built-in player offering a variety of editing tools that allow you to share your videos and stills, apply color correction, set while balance and focus/exposure values independently, generate stills from a video and more. 

Note that setting lower-quality presets will let you slow down your recordings by up to ten times. Playing back 2K footage directly on the device comes with a caveat. “As with high end cameras, 2K recordings are tough to playback, so you may need to use the ‘Render Proxy’ function in the player to create a more playable version,” the developer notes. 

Of course, it makes no sense to render a 2,240-by-1,672 pixel video on the iPhone’s 1,136-by-640 pixel Retina screen so you’ll want to use iTunes file sharing to copy the clips over to your desktop and edit them using a pro video editing software such as Apple’s Final Cut Pro X.  

It’s also nice that Ultrakam includes remote control on another device, using Bluetooth 4.0 and a separate Ultracam Remote Control app for $2.99.  

Learn more about the app at the official Ultrakam website.

Grab Ultrakam in the App Store for $6.99, a 60 percent discount for a limited time.

The app is universal and iOS 7.0 or later is required.