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How to use Siri's new features in iOS 6

Siri was useful on iOS 5, but it often felt like it should be capable of more. With iOS 6, Siri has gained some new capabilities, all of which are nice additions to the personal assistant on iOS.

Siri can now make reservations, give you movie info, keep you up-to-date on sports, launch apps, and post to Twitter and Facebook on your behalf. Let's start by taking a look at the process to make a reservation using Siri.

Twitter and Facebook

Having to type out a tweet or status update for Facebook is so 2011. In 2012 and beyond, … Read more

How to take a panoramic photo with iOS 6

When Apple unveiled the iPhone 5 during an event last week, a new feature to iOS 6 was also shown off -- panorama photos.

The new feature, which is specific to the iPhone 4S and iPhone 5, allows users to take 240-degree panoramic photos using the native iOS Camera app.

Taking a panoramic photo with iOS 6 is simple. Launch the Camera app and tap on the Options button along the top of the screen. Select the panorama button.

You'll then see some instructions on the screen. From there, it's easy. Move your phone in a slow, steady … Read more

How to set up Do Not Disturb on iOS 6

When Apple unveiled iOS 6 last June at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference, a new feature called Do Not Disturb was one of the key functions highlighted.

Do Not Disturb, when turned on, will not only completely silence your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch, but it will prevent the screen from turning on when an alert is received.

To enable or disable Do Not Disturb (DND), launch Settings, where you'll find a toggle switch. Alerts will then be silenced until you return to Settings and turn DND off. But there's more to it than that. Since you're … Read more

Apple delivers iOS 6

As expected, Apple today began pushing out iOS 6 to iPods, iPhones and iPads.

The update began going out to users this morning. Users can get it by plugging their device in and launching Apple's iTunes software, or -- if they're running iOS 5 -- over the air from within the settings menu.

According to Apple, the update adds "over 200 new features," to iOS 5, which was released last October. Chief among them is an entirely new maps application that uses Apple's own data, changes to Siri that add more information about movies, restaurants, … Read more

As iOS 6 debuts minus YouTube, video apps fight for attention

When Apple users start upgrading to iOS 6 this morning, it'll be missing an app that's been baked into the operating system since the release of the first iPhone: YouTube. For the first time, consumers will have to search for a video app on their own -- and that has developers eager to get their attention.

Most consumers will doubtless start by simply downloading the YouTube iPhone app that Google released last week. But for now, that one's iPhone-only -- an iPad version is months off. In the meantime, makers of other so-called video discovery apps are … Read more

5 things that surprised me about the iPhone 5

After a week of using the iPhone 5, I've posted my review of Apple's new phone on CNET. Which brings me to wondering: how much can a familiar-looking device that we've seemingly known about for months be capable of surprising anyone, much less a tech editor?

For me, the iPhone 5 surprised in the following ways.

The weight Shaving about an ounce off a phone's heft doesn't sound like a lot, and I've always been skeptical of incremental reductions (20 percent lighter!), but the first thing that shocked me when I picked up the … Read more

IoSafe unveils disaster-proof, Synology-based dual-bay NAS server

If you want the best network-attached storage (NAS) experience, get a Synology NAS server like the DiskStation DS412+. But if you want to guard data from even the worst disaster, an IoSafe storage device, such as the Solo G3, will fit your needs. In fact, you can use those two combined for the best of both worlds.

Now, what if you just need a single device that offers both a great user experience and top-notch data security? There's something you can look forward to: the N2 that IoSafe announced today.

This is a new NAS server, which the disaster-proof … Read more

App Store snub? Apple leaves YouTube off list of top video apps

Apple is leaving YouTube off more than its new operating system.

A new featured section of the App Store called "TV Time" launched yesterday to showcase top video apps across a range of categories: networks and services, shows, and sharing tools, among others.

But while there are dozens of video apps on display there, the most popular one is nowhere to be found. YouTube's standalone app, which it released Tuesday, is missing.

The news comes on the heels of Apple saying it would no longer include YouTube as a preinstalled app on iOS devices, a position YouTube … Read more

Developers scramble to ready apps for iPhone 5

As rumors of a big-screen iPhone 5 intensified late last month, engineers at the read-it-later app Pocket went into hacking mode, scouring the Internet for ways to tweak the iPhone's official software development kit so they could redesign their app for a bigger screen.

Ever since Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference in June, widespread speculation has held that the next iPhone would boast a 4-inch screen. For hundreds of thousands of developers, that posed a potential problem: Would their apps look strange on a bigger screen? And how would they build mock-ups when the official iOS simulator showed the … Read more