I will admit, this hack was a little confusing at first. With the stock auto-correct, if you tap on a suggested word, it keeps the word you have typed instead of using the suggested word. It corrects your words automatically when you hit the space bar to keep typing (hence the reason for some crazy conversations!). The ManualCorrect hack basically reverses this. When you are typing and your device suggests a word, you tap on it to select the suggested word. If you tap the space bar to keep typing, it will keep the word you typed. So, it’s basically the exact opposite of the stock auto-correct feature giving the user more control over corrections.

Personally, I like the stock auto-correct and I’m not sure I would use this hack on a regular basis. But, if you are one of the many people who are sick of being burned by the auto-correct, you may want to check out ManualCorrect. You can get it via the BigBoss source.

When you install this hack, no icons or settings are added to your device. It is automatically activated as soon as it is installed in Cydia. To remove the hack, you would need to uninstall it in Cydia or use the Mobile Substrate Addons option in SBSettings.

Available In: Cydia

Price: Free

Note:
    • Requires iOS 4+
    • Works in conjunction with Direct Closer
    • Settings are located in the stock Setting app.

Application Description:
DirectControl changes the way the multitask bar works, enabling you to go directly into the Now Playing-Controls instead of having to scroll. You can set it to always behave like this or only when there’s music playing.

Requires iOS 4+

Works great with Direct Closer

No new icons are created on your home screen. You can configure options from your Settings app.

ScreenShots

Available In: Cydia

Price: Free

I was totally stoked to hear that PocketTouch had made it into the App Store. PocketTouch was definitely one of the most popular jailbroke applications and I always love to see those apps make it to the App Store.

For those of you unfamiliar with the app, PocketTouch is a music controller for your iPhone or iPod touch. The beauty of PocketTouch is that you can control your music without having to look at your device… all the controlling is done through taps, swipes and shaking.

Once you have a song playing in your music player, you can launch PocketTouch.

Gesture Controls:
    • Double Tap – Pauses and Plays the song
    • Swipe Up and Down – Controls Volume Level
    • Swipe Right – Advances to Next Track
    • Swipe Left – Restarts Song
    • Triple Tap on Status Bar – Allows you to select any song from iPod

Shake Controls:
    • Shake Device – Advances to Random Track

If for some reason the stock control options do not feel natural, the app is extremely customizable. You can get into the app’s Setting by tapping on the “i” icon on the upper right side of the statusbar.

Additional Gesture Options:
    • Reverse T. Swipes – This will change the tracks controls so that swiping right restarts the song and swiping left advances to the next track
    • Reverse Vol Swipes – This will change the volume controls so that swiping up turns the volume down and swiping down turns the volume up
    • Swap x/y Axes – This will reverse the controls so that the track swipe is controlled by swiping up and down and the volume control is controlled by swiping left and right.

Additional Shake Options:
    • Randomize Shaker – If this option is turned off, shaking your device will advance to the next song instead of a random song
    • Vibrate While Shaking – If this option is turned off, your device will not vibrate when shook.

The appearance of the app is also very customizable.

Appearance Options:
    • Show Track Info – If this option is turned on, it will display the song artist, name and album title.
    • Random Transitions – If this option is turned on, the transitions will be random
    • Disable Auto-Lock – If this option is turned on, your device will not auto-lock
    • Volume HUD – If this option is turned on, the stock volume HUD (that is the little volume pop-up you get when you adjust the volume on your device) will display when you adjust the volume level
    • Themes – Here you can choose from 5 pre-designed themes or, if you double-tap on the little gray bar, you can create your own custom theme.

Overall, a very cool application that is perfect for those times when you want to control your music but, you don’t want to have to look at your device to do so. i.e. working out, driving…

PocektTouch hit the App Store today so, check it out!

ScreenShots

App Store Description:

PocketTouch, the FIRST alternate music controller for the iPhone or iPod touch has finally arrived on the AppStore.

PocketTouch is a gesture based control scheme for your device’s built in music player that allows you to quickly and easily control your music player via swipes and gestures. PocketTouch allows for a safer driving experience by allowing you to keep your eyes on the road while driving instead of on your iPhone or iPod touch. PocketTouch also comes in handy when working out, for quick easy track changes without breaking your concentration. And, of course, there are simply the times when you don’t want to take your device out of your pocket to change the track.

PocketTouch is a simple and intuitive application to use. While all controls can be customized, the default controls are as follows.

–Swipe left to restart the current track or skip to the previous track and swipe right to advance the current track. Swipe up or down to raise or lower the volume. Alternatively, you may use the built in volume slider to make quick changes to the volume. You can also shake the device to either advance the track or play a random track from your library.

–If any of those gestures doesn’t “feel right” to you, you can change any of the gesture options in the application’s built in settings.

–Triple tapping on the track status bar will present your music to you in a familiar interface. You can now select any song you’d like to listen to.

–Tap, tap, hold your finger on the status bar to see the built in playlist creator to create and play your own playlist!

PocketTouch is simply the most versatile gesture based music controller you can get on the AppStore. But of course, that’s what you can expect form an application that has been refined since 2007!

PocketTouch supports the English, French, German, and Dutch languages.

Q. You put a camcorder on the iPod Nano. Why not on the iPod Touch?
A. Originally, we weren’t exactly sure how to market the Touch. Was it an iPhone without the phone? Was it a pocket computer? What happened was, what customers told us was, they started to see it as a game machine. Because a lot of the games were free on the store. Customers started to tell us, “You don’t know what you’ve got here — it’s a great game machine, with the multitouch screen, the accelerometer, and so on.”

Q. How come the Nano can now record video, but can’t take stills?
A. The sensors for doing video are fairly thin. The sensors for doing a still camera, at much higher pixel resolution — and we’d really like to have autofocus — they are just way too thick to ever fit inside the Nano.

You can view the full interview HERE.

We have not heard rumors regarding the iPhone.

“Let’s Rock” “It’s only rock and roll, but we like it.” kicks off at 12:00pm CST (10am Pacific/1pm Eastern) on Wednesday, September 9th. (Sorry, for some reason last year’s September event, “Let’s Rock,” was apparently stuck in my head)

You can activate Voice Control by pressing and holding the Home Button on your iPhone. You can also activate it by pressing and holding the center button on your iPhone headphones. Once you hear the beep…you can start commanding. Below is a list of the available commands.

Things to Note:
    • Voice Commands uses your default language setting (Settings > General > International > Language Setting) however, you can change the language that the Voice Control uses for the spoken commands. Some languages even have different dialects and accents to choose from! You can change the Voice Control language by going to Settings > General > International > Voice Control and then selecting the language you would like to use.

    • You can turn off the ability to use Voice Control on the lock screen (for security reasons) by going to the Settings app, the General option and then the Passcode Lock option (Settings > General > Passcode Lock)….where you can then turn Voice Dial off.

    • When Voice dialing an (800) number you can say “eight hundred.”

    • Voice Control may not be available for all languages.

~ Info via iPhone User Manual.

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SBSetting Volume MC is a SBSettings toggle that turns your volume control into iPod controller. Once installed, the app is added to SBSetting (you may need to go into the More/Set Toggles options and turn it on). When it is activated, it turns your volume control on the side of your device into a controller for your iPod allowing you to scroll through your songs.

If you tap the volume up button on your volume control, it will go forward a song. If you tap the volume down button, it will go back a song. If you quickly tap the up and then the down button on your volume control it will pause the song. You can then either tap the up or down button to start the song again. One thing I like about this app is that it starts your iPod when you tap up or down. You do not have to go into your iPod start your music and then the app works. You can use SBSetting Volume MC to start your music.

The only problem I have with this app is that I am so used to using my volume control for my volume that I keep accidentally changing my song when really I want to adjust the volume. If you are going to use the SBSetting Volume MC app, I would suggest also installing the Volume Slider Widget. It is a SBSetting toggle as well which allows you to have an easy way to adjust your volume.

One thing that would be nice is if you held the volume button down, it affected the volume. So, instead of just a quick tap on the volume button to change the song, if you held down the volume up button, it would turn up the volume. Or maybe if you held the volume button up or down, it would fastward or rewind the song. That would be cool too….either one I guess!

ScreenShots

Rotation Inhibitor is a toggle for SBSettings (I seriously love SBSettings…sorry, tangent). The toggle allows you to turn on/off the auto-rotate feature. This includes the auto-rotating in Safari, iPod or anything else that changes orientation when you turn your iPhone or iPod Touch. I was SUPER excited when I saw this toggle in Cydia. I don’t know about you but, when I am laying in bed and surfing the web (you know you do it!), it is so annoying when my iPhone switches to landscape mode (or continues to rotate between portrait and landscape mode!). Anyway, once you install the application, you will then need to go into SBSettings and make sure that it is activated. If it doesn’t automatically show up, you will need to go into the More option in SBSettings and then the Set Toggles option and turn on Rotation.

If you want to stop the auto-rotating, you need to toggle the Rotation feature off. To get your auto-rotate back, toggle the Rotation option on. I am having a few issues with this app…whether it is a bug or just personal preference I don’t know! I have found that you cannot just toggle the Rotation feature off and have it stop all auto-rotating. You have to actually be in the application and then toggle the Rotation option. For example, if you want to stop auto-rotating in Safari, you have to open Safari and then open SBSetttings and toggle the Rotation option. If you then went into iPod…it would still auto-rotate until you open SBSetting and toggle the Rotation feature again. Personally, I just want to toggle the Rotation option from my SpringBoard and have it turn off all auto-rotating but, that is just personal preference!

ScreenShots

Instinctiv Shuffle was released a few days ago for firmware 2.x. It looks, functions and has the same user interface as the previous version of the application that was available for firmware 1.1.4 and below. For those of you who are not familiar with Instinctiv Shuffle, it is a “smart shuffle” application. When you install Instinctiv Shuffle and turn it on, it replaces the shuffle feature in your iPod with Instinctiv Shuffle. It then uses an “…advanced AI to analyze what music you want to hear based on the songs you skip and the ones you don’t. Within just a few skips, we can play only the right songs that fit your current mood and activity. Based on skipping behavior, Instinctiv Shuffle™ anticipates what you want to hear next.”

The app works exactly the same as before. All you need to do it open Instinctiv Shuffle and turn on the application. You can then go into your iPod and you will notice that it now says Instincitv Shuffle instead of the stock Shuffle. Now, it does all the work. As you skip songs it will anticipate which songs you would like to hear next.

Screenshots:

The MusicPlayer 8 Colours mod in Cydia is a mod that changes the color scheme of your iPod. There are eight colors to choose from; Yellow, Silver, Red, Pink, Green, Gold, Blue and Black. It actually is a pretty decent mod. Most themes do not mod the iPod so this could give your current theme a little boost. The only thing I do not like about the mod is that it changes you iPod icon which will overwrite your current theme’s iPod icon. However, you can fix this by moving your theme above the MusicPlayer mod in WinterBoard. Check out the screenshots below.