Imagine the fate of Apple’s iPhone 4S if it did not have Siri. It would have been catastrophic. Apple’s latest iPhone has no significant shape or design improvements over its predecessor the iPhone 4. Sure it has a great new processor, 8 megapixel camera and 64GB memory option but it still looks the same. Siri is the real defining feature of iPhone 4S. Ever since it was released developers have tried to somehow port it to iOS devices other than the iPhone 4S. Speaktoit Assistant app functions as an amazing Siri alternative for iPhone 4 as well as older generation iOS devices.

Other feeble attempts to get Siri working on older generation devices includes running unsigned and unverified code on the device through a jailbreak. Such procedures not only pose a threat to your device in terms of privacy and personal information, but also have a big question mark over their legality. It is always best to stay away from such solutions.

So what is Speaktoit Assistant? This app was originally launched for Android devices. The app is close to 1.4 million downloads in the Android Market which is living proof that this is the closest third party alternative to Siri. The developers describe Speaktoit Assistant as:

Speaktoit Assistant is a virtual buddy for your iPhone or iPod that uses natural language technology to answer questions, find information, and connect you with various web services, such as Google, Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, Evernote, and many others.

Probably the best thing about Speaktoit Assistant is that there are no specific commands to keep in mind. The Assistant is perfectly capable of understanding normal English. Users also have the option of changing the appearance of their assistant. Choices include a blond or brunette girl, an old professor and a ruggedly handsome agent.

Feature wise, Speaktoit Assistant is probably the most closest Siri alternative for iPhone 4 and older generation iOS devices. It can also search internet for latest news and images. Speaktoit can send emails for the user as well as get weather information and maps. The app is also capable of converting measures and currencies.

Speaktoit Assistant app for iPhone is available right now for download from the iTunes App Store. The app is priced at $1.99. You’ll need to have an iPhone, iPad or iPod touch that is capable of running iOS 4.0 firmware or higher.

Download Speaktoit Assistant Siri alternative for iPhone 4 and other iOS devices [iTunes App Store Link]

A very interesting discovery has been made. It turns out that the split keyboard for iPad, that was introduced with iOS 5.0, actually has six hidden buttons which are otherwise, well obviously, hidden.

Apple announced iOS 5.0 firmware last year at WWDC 2011. They then shipped seven beta versions and one gold master build before the final public release in October. iOS 5.0 is by far Apple’s biggest update to the iOS platform. It comes with over 200 new features that make the iOS experience even more amazing. The split keyboard is exclusive to iPad only, it comes with a nice little Easter Egg, which is developer slang for hidden functionality.

It is safe to say that iPad is the world’s most revered tablet. No other tablet comes closer to this particular one. So it is only logical for Apple to put as much, for lack of a better work, awesomeness in to it. The split keyboard that was included in iOS 5.0 firmware update is just perfect. One often grows tired of typing with one hand on the iPad. Split keyboard functionality actually allows the user to hold iPad at an angle convenient to him or her, while being able to type with both hands.

So what exactly is the reason behind these hidden keys? The six hidden iOS 5.0 iPad split keyboard keys represent letters Y,H,B,T,G, and V. These buttons have been added so as to prevent an accidental mis-touches during a typing frenzy. Also if you notice in the image above, it is going to be quite a stretch reaching for the aforementioned keys, so by hiding them at the points marked in the image, the user has the ability to continue typing with both hands at a pace of their suiting, while not having to stretch their fingers extraordinarily.

It is little things like these that make Apple different from almost every other manufacturer in the world. Maybe the competition should take notice and work on making devices that offer an amazing user experience. Instead they’re all just trying to make something that is going to take over the iPad.

Barely a week ago Apple seeded iOS 5.1 beta 3 to developers for iPhone 4S, iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPod touch 3G, iPod touch 4G, iPad 1 and iPad 2. As usual, developers went looking around in the code and found a number of interesting references sitting inside the iOS 5.1 beta 3 code. New references to two models of unreleased iPads as well as deep Facebook integration have been discovered.

Before you delve further in to this article, may I caution you that its not necessary for Apple to bring everything to life that it references to in any version of iOS firmware. For example many analysts are still not sure about Facebook integration in iOS 5 whereas the fate of iPad 3 is still undecided.

Regardless, the two possible iPad 3 references that we talked about earlier are J1AP and J2AP. The codenames refer to potentially two iPad 3 versions, JA1P being the WiFi iPad 3 and J2AP being the 3G iPad 3.

I agree that these references don’t exactly reveal what we don’t already know right now. We know for sure that a new iPad is up for release in the coming months. Apple follows its release cycles quite religiously and it would do great harm to itself by not releasing an iPad in the near future.

About Facebook integration on iOS 5.1 beta 3, this just one out of a couple of similar references that were discovered in previous betas of iOS 5 as well. Actually what happened was that Apple initially approached Facebook with the idea of integrating their social network deep inside iOS. However it is not known to many but Apple and Facebook aren’t exactly on the best of terms hence this deal could not materialize and Facebook integration was dropped from the final public release of iOS 5. While they were on the integration subject, Apple sat down with Twitter and both companies reached an agreement, so now you have Twitter integration on your iOS devices running 5.0 firmware, not Facebook. But is that all about to change soon?

As previously mentioned, it isn’t necessary that Apple will add Facebook integration in future versions of iOS 5. On the flipside, its possible that Apple just might. Only time will tell.

Anyone who has ever used an iPhone, iPad or iPod touch would know that having to use iTunes every single time for transferring files from an iOS device is a nuisance in itself. Luckily, there is a way to do that without having to use iTunes and in this post we’ll teach you how to transfer files from iPhone, iPad and iPod touch without having to use iTunes.

For this purpose, we’ll use a software called DiskAid, which has recently been updated to version 5.0 and now comes with even better content management options. DiskAid has a free as well as a paid version. The free version will allow you to transfer unlimited amount of files from your iOS device to your Mac OS X or Windows computer. Features of DiskAid 5 include ability to:

• Transfer music and video stored in any Apple mobile device and copy it back to iTunes or any folder on any Mac or PC
• Exchange files with any iPhone app to export files and documents to the app or save apps data to the computer
• Store files on using any iOS device, using it as an external USB storage device
• Access the mobile device’s data, such as, SMS text messages, contacts, notes, voicemail, call histories, and voice memos and save them to the computer
• Copy pictures within the Camera Roll and Photo Albums from the iPhone to the computer

The difference between paid and free version is that the paid version lets you transfer and and create backups of text messages, voicemail, call logs, voice memos, contacts list, music, videos, notes and podcasts. DiskAid gives you more control over the content on your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch, more than what iTunes normally allows.

To transfer your content, simply plug in your device via USB and use it as you would use a USB flash drive. DiskAid gives you root access to the iOS file system. You can drag and drop content to and from your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch. No jailbreak is required. The paid version of DiskAid costs $24.90 for a one time license.

Registered developers can now download iOS 5.1 beta 1 for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch right now and check out what’s new in the next major update to iOS 5 firmware. Since beta  firmware is not available for public, many of you don’t actually get to know what’s new in a beta firmware, iOS 5.1 beta 1 in this case. For you, we’ve posted the full iOS 5.1 beta 1 changelog down below so that you yourself can see what’s new in iOS 5.1 beta 1.

NOTES AND KNOWN ISSUES

The following issues relate to using the 5.1 SDK to develop code.

Earlier today Apple seeded the first beta of iOS 5.1 for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch to developers. Apple only releases beta firmware for registered developers. So if you’re not a developer, you can not legally download iOS 5.1 beta 1 for your iOS device. Registered developers can easily download this beta from the Developers Portal.

Apple formally released iOS 5 to the public on October 12. Since WWDC 2011, at which iOS 5 was first announce, seven betas of iOS 5 had been seeded to developers and with each passing beta, Apple’s latest and undoubtedly the greatest iOS platform update ever become less ridiculed with bugs. When the final public version dropped on October 12, there was such a downloading frenzy that iTunes activation servers were having trouble coping up with the activation requests.

The iOS 5 launch went smooth and after than on October 17, Apple started shipping its new iPhone 4S to consumers in seven countries. As people got down to using this new iPhone, a startling discovery was made. The iPhone 4S had pathetic battery timing for some users. It wasn’t a hardware issue, rather it was a bug in iOS 5 firmware that caused battery drainage issue on iPhone 4S. To cater to this issue, Apple started reaching out to iPhone 4S owners and got data from them, with their permission of course, that could prove to be helpful for them in developing a fix. Merely after a month had passed since public release of iOS 5, Apple released a minor iOS 5.0.1 update in order to fix iPhone 4S battery issue. However things didn’t turn out so well as many users claimed that they started facing battery drainage issues, not only on iPhone 4S this time but on other supported devices as well, after they had updated to iOS 5.0.1. Apple soon promised to release iOS 5.0.2 in a couple of weeks to fix this issue once and for all.

However now it looks like this battery drainage bug is bigger than we expected. Mind you, the release number, iOS 5.1 that is, indicates a major upgrade. Minor upgrades such as iOS 5.0.2 are usually pushed out as they normally only contain meager bug fixes and patches. This bug causing battery drain seems big enough to need a major iOS 5 update version, and its totally possible given the fact that its not only iPhone 4S in particular that’s giving pathetic battery timing. No definitive release date as yet for iOS 5.1, however sources claim that there will be a couple of further iOS 5.1 betas before public release, which can take place sometime around mid-December.