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Tag: ipad

  • Absinthe 2.0: How to Jailbreak Your iPhone

    Absinthe 2.0: How to Jailbreak Your iPhone

    iPhone, iPad, and iPod users who want to use their devices more freely have always been in a race with Apple to keep ahead of updates. Because of that, the release this week of Absinthe 2.0 was exciting news for the Apple hacker community.

    Absinthe 2.0 is the jailbreak for Apple’s latest mobile operating system, iOS 5.1.1. It was released during a presentation by a “dream team” of Apple crackers in Amsterdam. The team is already working to crack Apple’s upcoming iOS 6, scheduled to release along with the new iPhone this fall.

    Those who have been jail-breaking their Apple devices for a while will know how to use Absinthe to jailbreak their iPhone or iPad,. However, Apple is still seeing increasing sales, and many new users do not have experience freeing-up their new toys. Luckily, Absinthe is one of the easiest tools to use when jail-breaking an Apple device.

    First, users should make a back-up of their phone using iTunes, just in case something goes wrong. This can be done by going into the “Devices” menu in iTunes and right-clicking on the device, which reveals the “Back Up” option.

    Next, users should navigate to the “Settings” iTunes menu and find the “Reset” option inside the “General” options. There, an option to “Erase all Content and Settings” should be used to wipe the device clean.

    After that, start up Absinthe 2.0 (actually 2.0.1 now – the software has already been updated) and click on “Jailbreak.” The process may take a while, but users should be sure not to disconnect the device from its USB connection to their computer.

    Once the process has finished, users can restore their settings, apps, and files by right-clicking the device in iTunes and using the “Restore from Back Up” option.

    That’s it. It’s a very simple process that gives Apple users extra freedom and functionality on their devices. Users of jail-broken Apple devices can enjoy extra features and customization, while still utilizing essential iOS elements such as the App Store and voice calls. Keep in mind, though, that Apple believes jail-breaking your device will void your warranty.

    (via Green Poison)

  • iOS 5.1.1 Jailbreak: Absinthe 2.0 Gets An Update With Bug Fixes

    This morning we brought you news that the long-awaited jailbreak for iOS 5.1.1 was ready for download. The public jailbreak tool, Absinthe 2.0, was released to the public this morning.

    Now, though, just a few hours later, Absinthe has gotten an update. It seems there were some bugs in the initial release that were preventing some users from jailbreaking their devices. Absinthe 2.0.1, which is available now, should fix those bugs.

    In case you missed it this morning, the new jailbreak supports all models of the iPhone from the iPhone 3GS to the iPhone 4S, the third- and fourth-generation iPod Touch, and all models of the iPad except for the newest models of iPad 2 that have gotten an upgraded processor. Support for that iPad 2 model, the iPad 2,4, should be coming in an update sometime over the next few days.

    You can download Absinthe 2.0.1 from greenpois0n, though you might have to wait awhile. The site appears to be down at the moment. Considering the high demand for the new jailbreak, that’s not at all surprising. If you’ve already jailbroken your device, you shouldn’t need Absinthe 2.0.1. If you’re still waiting to download Absinthe, then you might want to hold off until tomorrow, in order to give greenpois0n a little breathing room.

  • App Store Gets Free App Of The Week, Editor’s Choice

    Apple has taken some extra steps to promote new apps in the iOS and Mac App Stores. If you go to the Featured section of the App Store on your iOS device or your Mac, you’ll see a few apps marked Editors’ Choice, and one marked Free App of the Week.

    As you might expect, the apps aren’t the same across the board. The iOS App Store has four Editors’ Choice apps – two each for iPhone and iPad. The iPhone apps are the newly-released Facebook Camera and Extreme Skater. The Editors’ Choice apps for iPad are Sketchbook Ink and Air Mail.In the Mac App Store, the Editors’ Choice apps are CoBook and Deus Ex: Human Revolution. The Free App of the Week appears to be unique to the iOS App Store. This week’s is the ever-addictive Cut the Rope: Experiments.

    Mac App Store Editors' Choice

    The addition of an Editors’ Choice category is hardly surprising. Apple has advertised certain apps as Staff Picks for years, and setting some up as Editors’ Choice apps makes good sense. What’s intriguing is the addition of a Free App of the Week. The App Store, after all, is not like your average retail outlet. As you may remember from the great e-book kerfluffle, Apple’s App Store and iBookstore operate on an agency model for pricing, rather than a wholesale model. Apple isn’t the kind of retailer that can discount products on its (figurative) shelves whenever it wants. Developers set the price of App Store apps, not Apple.

    That, of course, raises the question of how Apple can be offering a paid App Store app for free. Presumably some sort of a deal was struck, but the details of such a deal are unclear. Requests for comment to Apple and ZeptoLab (the maker of Cut the Rope: Experiments) have not yet been returned.

  • iOS 6 Jailbreak Already In The Works

    With this morning’s news that the untethered jailbreak for iOS 5.1.1 was finally available, you would think that those responsible for it might be inclined to rest on their laurels for a while. Apparently you’d be wrong.

    Several members of the Dev Team sat down with Softpedia at the Hack In The Box conference going on now in Amsterdam to talk about what’s coming next in the world of iOS jailbreaking. The interview consisted of pod2g (who’s given name is apparently Cyril), Joshua Hill (p0sixninja), and Nikias Bassen (pimskeks). They revealed several interesting facts about the jailbreaking process, including the fact that they’re already working to make headway on the jailbreak for iOS 6, which should be releasing later this year alongside the new iPhone.

    Apple is expected to unveil iOS 6 at this year’s Worldwide Developer Conference, which is scheduled to start in just two weeks in San Francisco. At the moment, though, Apple hasn’t released anything iOS 6-related at all. No developer betas, no previews, nothing. So how could they already be working on jailbreaking it? According to pod2g, some exploits that the team finds are kept secret. These are meant to allow them to quickly get into the new version of iOS and start digging around for the kind of vulnerabilities they need to jailbreak the device.

    Now, that doesn’t mean that the jailbreak of iOS 6 will be available as soon as the firmware goes public. Pod2g also explained that the team waits until the public release to begin working on a new jailbreak so that their work on earlier beta versions isn’t undone by later betas.

    While there won’t be a jailbreak for iOS 6 as soon as it launches, it’s good to know that the people working on it are prepared to hit the ground running when the time comes.

  • iOS 5.1.1 Jailbreak: Absinthe 2.0 Now Available

    As expected, the jailbreak of iOS 5.1.1 has been released this morning, and is now available for download. The public jailbreak tool, Absinthe 2.0, can be downloaded from greenpois0n. You can download Absinthe for Mac, Windows, and Linux.

    Absinthe currently supports all versions of the iPhone going back to the iPhone 3GS, the third- and fourth-generation iPod Touch, and all versions of the iPad, with the exception of the newest iPad 2 with the upgraded processor. Support for that iPad should be coming soon. That version of the iPad 2 is quite rare, though, so the odds of that being a problem for most jailbreakers are pretty low.

    As noted above, you can get Absinthe 2.0 from greenpois0n, where you’ll also find instructions on how to jailbreak your device. Interestingly, this time around the jailbreak requires you to erase the data on your device (back your stuff up first!) before jailbreaking, then restore from the backup.

    Yesterday we told you that the release of Absinthe 2.0 might be the Dev Team’s “one more thing” for their keynote at this year’s Hack In The Box conference in Amsterdam. That appears to have been the case. Several members of the team tweeted just a little while ago that the jailbreak was ready. Pod2g appears to have gotten the honor of posting the first tweet:

    pod2g
    @pod2g     Absinthe 2.0 is out guys. The end is over. Rush on the download 😉 http://t.co/oaYfUo4d
    47 minutes ago via web · powered by @socialditto
     Reply  · Retweet  · Favorite

    You should know, too, that erasing your data and then restoring isn’t strictly necessary, though it apparently speeds the process along quite a bit:

    Nikias Bassen
    @pimskeks     For Absinthe 2.0 it’s not really required to erase all content & data, it might just take A LOT longer to complete without showing progress
    28 minutes ago via Twitter for iPhone · powered by @socialditto
     Reply  · Retweet  · Favorite

    Of course, the problem with any new jailbreak is that when iTunes backs up your device’s data, it doesn’t keep any account of the apps and tweaks you’ve installed from Cydia, so jailbreaking your device means starting all over again. Fortunately, there’s an app for that. Or, more accurately, there are several apps for that. The good folks at iJailbreak have put together a list of the best options.

    One more thing: greenpois0n appears to be handling things pretty well at the moment, but a big chunk of the U.S. is still asleep at this point. As the day goes on the Dev Team’s servers are bound to get slammed, which could make jailbreaking your device a little harder. So if you have trouble getting Absinthe downloaded, you may have to be a little patient.

  • New iPad Passes Original iPad In The U.S.

    New iPad Passes Original iPad In The U.S.

    The new iPad is about to overtake its aged predecessor in in device share just two months after its launch, according to recent data. The data from Localytics shows that the new iPad and the original iPad now each account for 20% of the total iPad market, while the iPad 2 accounts for the other 60%.

    Perhaps not surprisingly, most of the new iPad’s growth has come at the expense of the original iPad, instead of the iPad 2. Within a week of the new iPad’s launch, it had claimed 14% of the total iPad market, while the iPad 2 had 62% and the original iPad had 24%. In the two monts since, the new iPad has taken a further 6% of the market. Of that 6%, 2% came at the expense of the iPad 2 (which dropped to 60%), and the remaining 4% came at the expense of the original iPad.

    iPad Device Share

    Though it certainly comes with its share of cool features – retina display and 4G LTE not least among them – the new iPad is not actually a major upgrade over its predecessor. Nevertheless, it has proven immensely popular, selling 3 million units in its first weekend. Given the overall similarities between the iPad 2 and new iPad, though, it is perhaps not surprising that much of the new iPad’s growth has come from those who were still hanging on to their original iPad from two years ago. At current rates, it shouldn’t be long at all before the new iPad takes the majority of its elder’s remaining device share. The big question is how long it will take the new iPad to make a significant dent in the share of the iPad 2.

  • Yahoo! Axis May Mean Big Changes For iOS Browsers

    Yahoo! has made big news today with the launch of the new Axis browser. Axis is available today as an iOS app, though an Android version is said to be in the works. In an interesting twist, Yahoo! has decided to mostly forego the desktop browser market. Axis’s only desktop presence is an add-on for Google Chrome.

    By all accounts, Axis is an excellent browser – something most people seem to be saying with an air of surprise. The reason for that is simple: third party browsers on the iOS platform have, until now, been anywhere from bad to mediocre. While there have been a few decent entries, the iOS browser market overall is decidedly lackluster. Safari isn’t necessarily a great browser, but it’s a far sight better than most of the options in the App Store. Now, though, Axis has changed all that by publishing a slick new browser that’s easy to use, nice to look at, and with a much more intuitive search function than Safari. That creates a very interesting situation for iOS users, one that may have significant implications for the future of the iOS platform.

    You see, apart from an overall lack of quality, there’s another thing that’s kept third party browsers from mounting a serious challenge to Mobile Safari. Unlike Android – and Windows, and OS X, for that matter – iOS does not allow the user to change the default browser. Even if you find a browser in the App Store that you love (like Axis, or the rumored Google Chrome for iOS), you can’t make it your default browser. Bookmarks you put on your home page still have to come from Safari. Links you get in an email or find in an app still open in Safari.

    The launch of Axis, though, may mean a change to all of that. If Axis grows in popularity – and even if it doesn’t – Apple may wind up having to allow other browsers to play in its sandbox. Otherwise it could wind up facing the same sort of antitrust troubles Microsoft faced in the 1990s when trying to keep people using Internet Explorer instead of some of the other alternatives available at the time.

    There are indications, though, that Apple may be okay with this. Ethan Batraski, head of product for Yahoo’s Search Innovation Group, told CNet that Yahoo! had Apple’s “blessing.” What’s more, Apple’s people told Batraski something that’s pretty obvious when you think about it: Apple isn’t too focused on improving mobile Safari. In the days of the first iPhone, Safari was absolutely crucial to the iPhone – there were, after all, no third party apps. If you wanted to do much of anything on the original iPhone other than the basic stuff you could do with Apple’s apps, you needed Safari. Now, though, all that has changed. These days, you can do almost anything you could possibly want or need to do with your iOS device and never touch Safari. And Apple knows this. The last few versions of iOS have included only the most basic improvements to Safari on the iPhone (the iPad version got more goodies with iOS 5, but still not a vast improvement).

    With Axis now out there, and Google Chrome possibly on the horizon, it may well be that Apple is ready to start making iOS more open to other browsers. Could we see such change in iOS 6? It’s certainly possible. On the other hand, it’s possible that Apple will stick to its guns and keep iOS locked on Safari, possibly drawing the ire of the government. One hopes, however, that they learned from Microsoft’s mistakes and will be a little more willing to see reason.

    A request for comment sent to Apple has not yet been returned.

  • iOS 5.1.1 Jailbreak Coming Tomorrow?

    iOS 5.1.1 Jailbreak Coming Tomorrow?

    On Monday we brought you news that the long-awaited untethered jailbreak of iOS 5.1.1 was “a matter of days” away. Pod2G tweeted that the public jailbreak tool – dubbed Absinthe 2.0 – was nearly ready for release.

    Now it looks like “a matter of days” means tomorrow. Pod2g and the rest of the Dev Team are scheduled to give a keynote tomorrow afternoon at the annual Hack In The Box conference. A tweet from the official HITB Twitter account seems to confirm that they’ll be unveiling the new jailbreak during the keynote. Check out the tweet below:

    HITBSecConf
    @HITBSecConf     SPECIAL @chronicdevteam 1-day passes for #HITB2012AMS @ EUR699! Come see @pod2g @p0sixninja @planetbeing @nikias JAILBREAK LIVE (Pls RT)
    7 hours ago via TweetDeck · powered by @socialditto
     Reply  · Retweet  · Favorite

    Now, the fact that they’re (apparently) showing off Absinthe 2.0 doesn’t necessarily mean that the jailbreak will be publicly available tomorrow, but there’s a pretty good chance it will. So if you (like me) have been eagerly waiting to update your jailbroken device to iOS 5.1.1 – or to jailbreak your new iPad – then tomorrow may be your lucky day.

    On a related note, pod2g tweeted yesterday that he had added the iPad 3,3 (the international 3G version) to the list of supported devices for the upcoming jailbreak. The only device that hadn’t been tested was the iPad 2,4, which you may remember has a different processor than earlier versions of the iPad 2. Apparently pod2g expects the jailbreak to work on the upgraded device, but hasn’t actually tested it, and so put out a call for any HITB conference-goers who had one to allow him to test it.

    pod2g
    @pod2g     OK just added iPad3,3 support to Absinthe thanks to @flawlessfox. Only remains iPad2,4 now but we need the actual device.
    15 hours ago via web · powered by @socialditto
     Reply  · Retweet  · Favorite

    pod2g
    @pod2g     Any people of #HITB2012AMS has an iPad2,4? Model number: either MC954 or MC989. Please check in Settings / General / About.
    15 hours ago via web · powered by @socialditto
     Reply  · Retweet  · Favorite

    Check back regularly over the next couple of days – especially tomorrow – for more news about the new jailbreak.

  • Microsoft Office Coming To iPad, Android In November?

    Microsoft Office may finally be making its way to the tablet world in November, according to recent reports. It seems that Microsoft has working versions of the apps and is preparing them to launch for the iPad and for Android tablets not long after the first Windows 8 tablets will (probably) be hitting the market.

    BGR, citing “a reliable source at Microsoft,” says that the company is planning to release the “full Office suite” for both iOS and Android. What’s more, the iOS version may not be iPad only. The source said that the app’s startup screen reads “Office for iOS,” instead of “Office for iPad.” That suggests that an iPhone/iPod Touch version could be coming as well.

    An iPad version of Microsoft Office is one of those rumors that’s been around for ages and never actually come to pass. People have been expecting Microsoft to bring their ridiculously ubiquitous productivity suite to the iPad for almost as long as there has been an iPad. Every once in awhile, a fresh rumor pops up, keeping hope alive. The Daily has reported twice in recent memory that Office would be coming soon to the iPad – once in November, and again in February. The report in February included claims that The Daily’s source had actually gotten some hands-on experience with the app, though Microsoft denied everything. According to BGR’s source, though, the version that Microsoft is preparing to launch in November bears a strong resemblance to The Daily’s February version.

    Given the consistent cycle of rumors that don’t amount to anything, it wouldn’t be all that surprising if Microsoft never releases a version of Office for iPad. On the other hand, you have to wonder why in the world they wouldn’t. Office is easily the most widely-used productivity suite in the world, and the fact that Microsoft has failed to bring it to the increasingly large tablet market is mind-boggling. You can bet that Windows 8 tablets will have their own version of Office. But unless Microsoft honestly expects Windows 8 tablets to knock the iPad off its lofty perch in short order (which isn’t likely, to put it mildly), they’d be crazy not to publish an iOS version at least.

  • Yahoo Axis: How It Works With iOS

    Yahoo Axis: How It Works With iOS

    Yahoo revealed its new browser called Axis today. Well, it’s a browser for mobile, at least. On the desktop, it’s more of a browser extension. While it’s noteworthy that Yahoo would even put out a browser, it’s also noteworthy that Yahoo has loaded the browser with a huge emphasis on search, and a different take on search.

    While there have been some issues with the launch for the desktop, Yahoo Axis is live and available for the iPad and iPhone. The company put out a couple of videos demonstrating how it works on both devices:

    The way it works is that if you have a webpage up, you can enter a web address to navigate, like any other browser. You can slide the page down, however, and reveal the search feature, where you can enter keywords and slide through results horizontally.

    It works pretty much the same way on both the iPad and the iPhone, though after trying it on both, I have to say the tablet better lends itself to Axis. You could really say that about any mobile browsing experience though. Browsing is just better on a bigger screen. In fact, Adobe put out a study a couple weeks ago, finding that the share of website visits from tablets grew about 10 times faster than the rate of smartphones within two years of market introduction. About 80% of that traffic came from iPad devices, the company told WebProNews at the time.

    One may wonder why Yahoo hasn’t released Axis as a full desktop browser, but it would be hard to enter the market and immediately compete with Chrome, Firefox and IE. Yahoo seems to be going for an area where Chrome isn’t yet widely available. If it can gain traction with iPhone and iPad users (and potentially Android users), perhaps a full desktop browser might stand a better chance.

    Yahoo itself does have a huge audience. According to its realtime homepage counter, the Yahoo Homepage already has over 52 million views today (at 6:30AM Pacific). I’m guessing a good chunk of that audience has an iPhone and/or an iPad.

    Of course, rumor has it that Chrome will be making its way to iOS.

  • iPhone Rules The Smartphone Market By Wide Margin [STUDY]

    iPhone Rules The Smartphone Market By Wide Margin [STUDY]

    In the smartphone wars it’s often very hard to tell who’s winning and who’s losing. Often it depends very much on what metric you use. If you go by total market share, Android is the clear winner. If you go by units sold in the last quarter, it’s the iPhone by a sizable margin.

    Millennial Media’s Mobile Mix report adds another angle to the debate by gathering data on impressions from mobile ads. Millennial Media is a mobile advertising platform company that specializes in mobile apps and the mobile web. The data collected from mobile device impressions on their ads provides a pretty good clue as to which devices are the most popular. Their data reveals some interesting trends in the mobile market.

    In terms of overall market share, the Mobile Mix data confirms what most similar reports have shown: the Android platform is the top mobile operating system overall. According to the report, Android makes up 49% of the smartphone market, while the iOS has 33%. BlackBerry is in a distant third with 13%.

    OS Mix

    The fact that Android is the top OS, though, doesn’t mean that an Android phone is the top smartphone. In fact, the iPhone is the top smartphone by a considerable margin. That shouldn’t come as a surprise, however. The Android platform’s 49% market share is divided among a plethora of smartphones, while Apple’s iPhone has the iOS portion of the market all to itself (well, along with the iPod Touch and the iPad, of course).

    Top 20 Mobile Phones

    Where this data gets interesting is when you start trying to figure out who the top smartphone maker is. You may recall a story we did earlier this month wherein we reported that Samsung is the world’s top smartphone vendor. That report was based on data that showed that Samsung shipped just over seven million more smartphones last quarter than Apple (42.2 million for Samsung, 35.1 million for Apple). The Mobile Mix data, though, paints a slightly different picture. While Samsung may have sold more smartphones than Apple overall, Apple still maintains the top spot based on the the report’s data.

    Top 15 Manufacturers

    Given the fact that Millennial Media is works with mobile app developers, as well as with mobile website developers, you might expect the report to spend a little time dealing with data related to mobile apps. In that, you would not be disappointed. The report ranks the top ten categories of mobile apps across all platforms. Not surprisingly, the top mobile app category is games. In second is music and entertainment, followed by social media.

    Top Ten App Categories

    The report also had some interesting insights into the current tablet market, as well as some predictions about the tablet market in the coming years. The data showed that 20% of Millennial Media’s impressions in the first quarter of 2012 came from “non-phone connected devices,” i.e., tablets. Of those tablets, the iPad held a significant lead over its competitors as the most popular tablet overall. The other tablets in the top five were the Samsung Galaxy Tab, the Amazon Kindle Fire, the Motorola Xoom, and the BlackBerry PlayBook. Of those five tablets, the top three were also on the list of the top 20 overall mobile devices, meaning that each beat out at least a few smartphones in terms of popularity (and it’s likely that the iPad beat out quite a lot of smartphones).

    Top 5 Tablets

    The report also used current sales data from the tablet market to project what that market will look like over the next several years, and the results are pretty interesting. Tablet sales are expected to grow by 54% in 2012, reaching 106 million units sold. Based on that, the Mobile Mix report predicts that by 2016 the tablet market will see almost 100% growth over the next 4 years, reaching 198 million units by 2016.

    Global Tablet Shipments

    The Mobile Mix report may not settle the question of which smartphone (or smartphone platform) is best. It may not even answer the question of which is winning the great smartphone arms race. Nevertheless it does provide some important insights into the current state of the market. For more information, you can check out Millennial Media’s research page here.

  • Does iPad Impact Children’s Learning Curve?

    While researchers scramble to determine whether it is good or bad idea to allow children to use iPad’s or similar touchscreen devices for extended periods of time, many children already have access to the devices and can navigate them quite well. Some researchers have an inclination to generalize what they know about television watching and apply it to our touchscreen interactive devices. I am not an expert on child learning and psychology, but I will tell you we are looking at two totally different animals.

    Technology and more specifically the internet and communication has made the world a much smaller and more informed place. by that I mean that knowledge is all around us and if you want to visit somewhere to see what it is like, you don’t have to organize a grand expedition and spend thousands of dollars. You simply jump on Google and search images and read stories. You can even network socially with people all the way across the planet.

    Imagine how long it took cavemen to communicate a simple concept or discovery. That time decreased with the establishment of a common language and written communication system. The learning curve decreased even more once books and other media started disseminating the information on a large scale. Soon we could take advantage of technology and keep ourselves warm and well-fed without communicating directly with the person who made the discovery.

    Fast forward a couple thousand years to the invention of the internet and eventually the modern day iPad. Now we have volumes of information literally right at our fingertips. Do you think intelligence has the potential to progress and grow even faster? Hell yes it does. Tons of research suggests we aren’t even tapping a fraction of the potential of our minds to process and utilize information. Interactive devices are technologies answer to that challenge.

    Guess what parents? Our brains are already formed and the evolution isn’t gong to happen with us, but our children are still capable of harnessing the power the technology affords. Of course, it isn’t healthy to let our children get fully observed into our iPads 24/7 but, it isn’t hurting them unless you’re exposing them to inappropriate information.

    Face it folks, you aren’t exactly the picture of entertainment and education after you get done with an eight hour workday and 45 minutes of stressful grocery shopping and running errands. Kids need something to stimulate their imaginations and facilitate creativity. You bitching about the office isn’t it.

    What they are learning while they’re using your iPad depends on what you give them access to, but if you’re wondering if it is making them smarter? The answer is yes.

    (Top Image Courtesy of ParentsExpert.com)

  • Dell Expects Revenues Under Analyst Projections

    Dell Expects Revenues Under Analyst Projections

    Back in February, computer hardware giant Dell projected a revenue growth of 5 to 9 percent for 2012, though now the company reports that it’ll likely miss this estimate.

    Dell has just projected that 2nd quarter revenue would sit between $14.7 billion to $15 billion, while Wall Street analysts predicted $15.4 billion, mainly due to a lull in business purchases of tablet devices and smartphones. More specifically, businesses have been switching to iPhones and iPads in droves, replacing traditional notebook PCs. CEO Michael Dell stated during a conference call with investors, “In my own interactions with larger customers, we are seeing a delay and a pause in spending activity.”

    Still, Dell points out that it will be selling tablets running Microsoft’s Windows 8 OS come fall, which should work to boost sales. The company reported a Q1 net income of $635 million, compared to $945 million in Q1 2011, at 36 cents and 49 cents per share respectively. Revenue fell 4% during this time period, to $14.4 billion, short of an analyst-projected $14.9 billion.

    In related news, a recent report from CNET suggest the first tablets powered by Windows 8 will debut in November.

  • ZooGue Promotes Free iPhone Case By Freezing An iPad

    While it’s generally advisable to put your iPad in a case of some kind, it’s not always strictly necessary. After all, Apple designs the things to be pretty tough, what with that aluminum back and all (we’ll ignore the rear panel on the iPhone 4S for the moment). So even without the case, the iPad can stand up to your basic daily wear and tear – bumps, scrapes, the occasional drop, being frozen in a blog of ice. You know, standard stuff.

    Okay, so maybe freezing in a block of ice isn’t your daily wear and tear. It turns out, though, that it is something that the iPad can take. How do I know that? Well, it seems that the folks at ZooGue, a company that specializes in iPhone and iPad cases, decided to freeze an iPad. Now, if you’re a rational person – and I’m going to assume you are – you’re no doubt wondering why anyone in their right mind would freeze an iPad. The answer in this case is that ZooGue is trying to promote a free new case. So it makes sense, right? You’re promoting a new iPad case, so you show the kind of punishment your case lets the iPad take. Except they’re not promoting an iPad case. They’re promoting a free iPhone case offer. It seems they’re giving their iPhone 4S Social Shell Case away for free, and froze an iPad to promote it.

    No, don’t bother trying to make sense of it. Just watch the video.

    Note that they put the iPad in a plastic bag before pouring in the water. Because the iPad may be freeze-proof, but it definitely isn’t waterproof. It’s also worth noting that they keep it plugged in throughout the process, which may have helped keep the internal temperature of the iPad up.

    At any rate, if you’ve ever wondered if your iPad will freeze, the answer appears to be yes, it will. Your move Blend-Tec.

  • Apple Vs. Proview: Hong Kong Court Dismisses Some of Proview’s Evidence

    Apple has scored a significant victory in its ongoing legal battle with Proview. A Hong Kong judge has excluded some of the evidence filed by Proview in the case.

    According to Shanghai Daily, Proview had submitted reports from two experts, but did not follow the court’s instructions in doing so, making the reports inadmissable. Proview chairman Sun Min told Shanghai Daily that his company had not yet decided whether it would appeal the ruling.

    Proview has suffered a string of setbacks in its crusade against Apple in recent weeks. The company’s suit in America was tossed out by a U.S. District Court judge earlier this month. Later we learned that the company had rejected a $16 million settlement offer from Apple, likely because the offer did not make a sufficiently large dent in the $400 million Proview owes its creditors.

    In 2010 Apple purchased the “iPad” trademark from Proview via a shell company. In 2011, Proview took steps to block the sale of iPads in China, claiming it still owned the trademark. Apple filed suit, accusing Proview of attempting to get more money from a trademark it had already sold.

  • iPhone 5 Rumor: Redesigned iPhone Will Closely Resemble iPad

    Last week we brought you all sorts of news about Apple’s upcoming iPhone. Reports were coming fast and furious from major news agencies that the iPhone 5 (or, more likely, “new iPhone”) would be getting a major redesign, the main feature of which would be a screen at least 4-inches long on the diagonal, and which was designed in large part by Steve Jobs himself before he passed away in October.

    Today, a report from PiperJaffray analyst Gene Munster provides some more information about the redesign. In a note to investors, Munster discussed the redesign, as well as the potential problems Apple could have with the iPhone’s release due to shortages of 28 nm chips manufactured by Qualcomm (which produces the cellular baseband chips for the iPhone 4S and new iPad). Munster said that he did not expect these shortages to negatively impact the iPhone’s launch, and estimates an 80% change of Apple meeting Wall Street’s December quarter expectations of 49 million iPhone sold.

    As to the redesign, he said that the new iPhone will have a metal rear panel like that of the iPad, rather than the glass panel found in the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S. The metal rear panel is a long-anticipated change, and would be welcome to those who feel that the glass rear panel on the current iPhone is too fragile and a poor design choice.

    Munster also said that he expects the new iPhone to sport LTE functionality. Given the increasing size of the major carriers’ 4G LTE networks and the proliferation of 4G-capable competing smartphones, that seems extremely likely. The fact that the third-generation iPad also has 4G capability makes a 4G iPhone a virtual certainty.

    [Lead Image: Concept Photo from ADR Studios]

  • iOS 5.1 Jailbreak “A Matter Of Days” Away

    It seems there was quite a bit of jailbreak-related news over the weekend. First and foremost, it looks like pod2g’s jailbreak of iOS 5.1.1 is nearly ready for public release. Second, it looks like the public tool that will be released is going to be named Absinthe 2 (the tool that was released for jailbreaking iOS 5.0 back in January was called Absinthe).

    The Absinthe news isn’t especially surprising. What’s really exciting is the fact that, according to pod2g, the public jailbreak of iOS 5.1.1 is “a matter of days” away. Yesterday he posted the following tweet:

    pod2g
    @pod2g     Thanks to awesome work of @planetbeing and @pimskeks, we’re near ready for a release. Now it’s a matter of days.
    1 day ago via Twitter for iPad · powered by @socialditto
     Reply  · Retweet  · Favorite

    Since then, more information has been coming fast and furious. Yesterday iPhone hacker xvolks, who is a good friend of pod2g, tweeted that he had tested Absinthe 2.0 on his iPhone 4 running iOS 5.1.1. He even posted a video of the tool in action, though pod2g asked him to remove it:

    xvolks
    @xvolks     I’ve tested Absinthe v2 on my iPhone 4 GSM, iOS 5.1.1. It jailbroke it flawlessly.I’ve took a (bad) video of it 😉
    14 hours ago via Twitter for Mac · powered by @socialditto
     Reply  · Retweet  · Favorite

    xvolks
    @xvolks     I’m currently uploading the (poor) video on youtube : http://t.co/fLL58QYLI have to wake up in 4 hours now, so good night.
    13 hours ago via Twitter for Mac · powered by @socialditto
     Reply  · Retweet  · Favorite

    Today, some more information is being released for those who plan to jailbreak their devices. Last week pod2g posted a list of tested devices for the jailbreak. Today Musclenerd has tweeted an info sheet with some basic details about the upcoming release:

    MuscleNerd
    @MuscleNerd     Quick info sheet for 5.1.1 jailbreak+untether: http://t.co/8ar9chXB
    1 hour ago via web · powered by @socialditto
     Reply  · Retweet  · Favorite

    Pod2g posted the same info sheet to his blog, and advised that those who wished to do so could go ahead and update their devices to iOS 5.1.1:

    pod2g
    @pod2g     Some facts about 5.1.1 jailbreak : http://t.co/Tk6Rrpow . You can safely upgrade to 5.1.1 now if you want to be ready.
    28 minutes ago via web · powered by @socialditto
     Reply  · Retweet  · Favorite

    Now, updating to iOS 5.1.1 will kill the jailbreak on an already-jailbroken device, so if you’ve got a jailbroken iPhone or iPad (or iPod Touch) you might not want to click the update button until Absinthe 2.0 actually releases. Fortunately, though, it’s looking like that’s going to be very soon indeed. We’ll let you know when it actually releases, or if any new information about when it will release becomes available. You can keep track of our jailbreak-related coverage here.

  • Amazon’s Next Kindle Fire May Be Coming In A 10.1-Inch Model

    With all the news and rumors zipping around about new Apple products, Samsung’s next phone, and other tech-related goodies, there hasn’t been a lot of attention paid lately to the top Android tablet on the market: Amazon’s Kindle Fire. With Amazon’s popular tablet having just passed the six month mark since its release (on November 15th, 2011), people are starting to wonder what might be next from Amazon.

    A report from DigiTimes today suggests that a 10.1-inch version of the tablet might be on its way. While earlier rumors had suggested that Amazon might launch an 8.9-inch version alongside the current 7-inch model. This rumored 10.1-inch tablet, which would be targeted at Apple’s iPad, would replace the 8.9-inch model. DigiTimes’s “industry sources” also said that they expect Amazon’s orders of Kindle Fires to start increasing toward the end of the second quarter and beginning of the third.

    While Amazon certainly wants to compete with the iPad, and other larger tablets, it seems unlikely that they’ll move all the way up to a 10.1-inch model. After all, the Kindle started out as a dedicated e-reader, and grew into the tablet market. It seems unlikely that a tablet that got its start from a line of e-readers could fare quite as well in the larger tablet market. It’s also worth noting that the source for this information is DigiTimes, a publication with a less-than-stellar record for accuracy in such matters.

    On the other hand, there are fewer large tablets in the Android market as a whole. If Amazon expands the Kindle Fire into that segment of the market as well, its current popularity is bound to give it a significant advantage over those tablet makers that are already in the space.

    At any rate, we’re not likely to see the launch of a new Kindle for awhile yet, assuming Amazon follows anything like a yearly schedule. So for now we’ll have to just keep waiting and watching.

  • Weather Channel iPhone App Gets Facelift, Social Integration

    Some apps in the iOS App Store are unique. There’s only one, maybe two apps that do just what that particular app does, and if you want to get that particular functionality, your choices are limited. Then there are weather apps. Weather apps, frankly, are a little like fart apps, flashlight apps, and, to a degree, Twitter clients: there are lots and lots of them, and though there may be a few standouts, they pretty much all do the same thing. There are scores of weather apps out there, and they pretty much all sport the same standard feature set. Some have a few neat gimmicks, occasionally you’ll find one with a really useful and unique feature, but for the most part, if you’ve seen one weather app, you’ve seen them all.

    That said, one of the best and most popular apps in this oversaturated category has always been The Weather Channel. Published, as you probably know, by the people behind the cable network of the same name, The Weather Channel for iPhone is the go-to weather app for an awful lot of iPhone users. If you’re one of those users (and even if you’re not) you’re in for a bit of a treat: The Weather Channel 5.0 went live in the App Store today, and it looks nice. The new app gets a pretty major design overhaul, along with deeper social integration.

    The first thing you see when you log into the new app (apart from the lovely sky scene and Weather Channel logo in the lead image above) is your basic weather information screen. This is the most obvious difference between the old version of the app and the new, and it’s definitely a very pretty interface. Here you see, well, what you see on the corresponding screen of just about every weather app: current temperature, what it feels like outside, the low for the evening, etc. You can also access forecast data. The camera icon lets you take a picture of the current weather in your area and upload it to a variety of social networks (more on that in a bit). The little plus-sign box underneath the basic weather info brings up a box with some more detailed information, including the time of sunrise and sunset, current wind direction and speed, humidity, and the like. As you can see below, it’s quite a lovely day here in Kentucky (that background, by the way, changes with the weather conditions, though you can change it from the settings screen):

    New Weather Channel iPhone App

    The other major update to the app is social integration. You can sign in to your basic array of social networks – Facebook and Twitter (sorry, Google+) – as well as iWitness, The Weather Channel’s own little social network for sharing pictures and video of weather.

    New Weather Channel iPhone App

    Another nice social feature is the ability to see what people around you are saying about the weather in your area. This view shows you a series of tweets about what’s going on weather-wise near you. Unfortunately, this particular feature isn’t quite perfected. Though the top tweets about the weather in my area were fine (see below), there were several that weren’t weather related at all. Also, this screen is a bit crowded. The need to include all the various interface elements – the buttons along the bottom, the settings and search icons, and the all-important banner ad – mean that you can only see about two tweets at a time, maybe three if they’re all very short.

    New Weather Channel iPhone App

    Another important feature of the new Weather Channel app is improved severe weather alerts. Now the badges display much more prominently on the main weather information screen. Unfortunately – or rather, fortunately – there weren’t any severe weather alerts nere me, so I couldn’t get a screenshot of the new notifications.

    All in all, the new Weather Channel app is a nice update to an app that’s looked basically the same for several years now. The new feature set definitely makes it worth a closer look as a possible replacement for your weather app of choice. You can get The Weather Channel for free in the iOS App Store.

  • Viacom, Time Warner Settle Mobile App Dispute

    Viacom and Time Warner Cable have settled their legal dispute over Time Warner’s TWC TV iOS app. Time Warner customers will begin to have access to a variety of Viacom programming both in their homes and on the TWC TV app soon, as the new programming is added during the next few weeks.

    The terms of the settlement are not known, and neither company is talking apart from the joint statement released yesterday afternoon. All either company is saying is that users of the TWC TV app will begin having access to programming from channels like VH1, Comedy Central, MTV, and others, and that both companies are pleased at the deal. Here is the joint statement the two companies issued:

    Viacom and Time Warner Cable have agreed to resolve their pending litigations. All of Viacom’s programming will now be available to Time Warner Cable subscribers for in-home viewing via internet protocol-enabled devices such as iPads and Time Warner Cable will continue to carry Viacom’s Country Music Television (CMT) programming. In reaching the settlement agreement, Time Warner Cable and Viacom were also able to resolve other unrelated business matters to their mutual satisfaction. Neither side is conceding its original legal position or will have further comment.

    Reading between the lines, it looks like both companies realized that continuing the legal battle would be both costly and time consuming, and that each stood to make considerably more money if they settled.

    The dispute started last year when Time Warner released their TWC TV app. The app allows Time Warner subscribers to watch live TV programming on their iOS device anywhere in their house (i.e., on their home wi-fi network; nowhere else). Content providers like Viacom reacted poorly to the app’s release, however. To them, the streaming app represented a new method of distribution that was not covered by their agreements with Time Warner. In short, they felt that Time Warner had the right to pipe their programming into your TV, but not into your iPad. The companies sued each other in Federal court. Viacom demanded (PDF) that Time Warner be ordered to cease its “unlicensed distribution” of Viacom’s content, while Time Warner asked (PDF) for a ruling declaring that streaming to a subscriber’s iPad was covered by existing distribution agreements.

    Interestingly, it appears that neither company actually budged on the legal question. Note the bit at the end of the statement: “Neither side is conceding its original legal position.” In other words, Viacom still thinks Time Warner doesn’t have the right to stream Viacom’s programming. The fact that Viacom has agreed to let them do it anyway raises very interesting questions about the terms of the settlement.

    At any rate, if you’re a Time Warner subscriber with an iPhone or iPad, you can get the app for free from the iOS App Store. You should be able to see programming from MTV, Comedy Central, and other Viacom properties over the next few weeks.

  • Intel Windows 8 Tablets to Debut in November

    Acording to sources at CNet, the first Intel based Windows 8 tablets will be out in stores by November. There will be over a dozen different designs, ranging from tablets to hybrids (a design that combines laptops and tablets) showcased just in time for Christmas, as Microsoft tests the tablet/hybrid market in earnest.

    All of the devices will utilize the upcoming “Clover Trail” atom chip from Intel. Clover Trail is a dual-core Atom design based processor with 32-nanometer process technology. Hybrid designs are expected that utilize Intel’s “Ivy Bridge”, but this is more on the “just a rumor” side of speculation, as sources have not commented on the validity of these claims.

    Windows 8 will be powered by chips from Intel and AMD. Windows RT, a separate release with many of the same companents of Windows 8 will be powered by ARM, Nvidia, Qualcomm, and Texas Instruments. Windows 8 will run on older Windows “legacy” applications, RT will not.

    Intel is currently working on a chip called “Bay Trail”, a 22-nanometer of Clover Trail, but it will not be available in the upcoming line of tablets and hybrids. The new chip will come with security features built-in and will include Infineon [3G/4G] silicon. It will use Intel’s graphic technology, not borrowing from Imagination, as other chips have done.

    The November release will test the market for Windows tablets and hybrids in time for Christmas, and could point out consumer trends in the tablet vs. ultrabook vs. laptop markets. Once new high-tech chips and a new OS come into the picture to challenge Apple, we will really see the staying power of tablets and hybrids.

    If Microsoft is truly capable of combining the portability and touch screen functionality of a tablet, with the ability to run desktop software, it will be a real contender in this emerging market. Right now rumors are circulating that the Windows tablets will be larger and more expensive than the iPad. If they make that trade with advanced computing power, they could still see big sales. Otherwise we will continue to see lesser tablets struggling to compete with Apple.

    If you don’t own an iPad but are still intrigued by the tablet, I would wait until November to see this new line.