The iPad 2 Jailbreak is finally here, courtesy of JailbreakMe.com, but will you use it? iOS 4.3 is solid and iOS 5 is just around the corner with Notification Center, iMessages, and more. So is the need to Jailbreak still compelling?
I’m still on the fence myself, so help me make up my mind before iPad Live this Sunday. If you’re going to Jailbreak, let me know and tell me why. If not, same deal.
Help me TiPb Nation, you’re my only hope!
JailbreakMe.com (third edition), which finally offers a Jailbreak for iPad 2 (and all other iOS devices on current firmware) has hit the 7 figure milestone:
Just passed 1,000,000 jailbreaks from http://t.co/hm5eSyO — be sure to share a link with your friends while it’s still available!
Chris has a Jailbreakme.com tutorial posted if you need extra help, and our Jailbreak forums are always at your disposal.
(Though it’s really easy to use. Took me only a few minutes, and half of that was filling out the donation form while I waited.)
If FBR Capital Markets analyst Craig Berger is correct, in lieu of the much-rumored ipad 3 we may see another iteration of the iPad 2 this year, complete with a beefed up display. According to Berger, Apple is currently shopping around for quotes from manufacturers in China. The current iPad 2 sports 132 pixels per inch. The iPad 2 Plus will supposedly increase the pixel density to around 250 to 300 pixels per inch. (Though, as we’ve said repeatedly, Apple will have to pixel-double it exactly, the same way they did with iPhone 4, if they don’t want to cause headaches for developers.)
Considering new iPhone hardware hasn’t even been announced yet, and we’ll almost certainly see a new iPhone iteration before the end of the year, it’d be surprising to see another new iPad this soon after iPad 2. Apple knows how consumers work and upgrading a $500+ device more than once a year isn’t really going to fly for most average consumers. Since TiPb — and others — keep hearing about it, however, one possibility is that this new iPad isn’t designed to get existing customers to upgrade, but to get a whole new set of customers buying iPads for the first time. The question then becomes, what changes do they make to do that?
While there’s no word yet on whether these new features will come to the existing Facebook for iPhone app, or the upcoming Facebook for iPad app, Facebook announced new ways to keep in touch with your friends today.
The video calling competes with both Apple’s FaceTime, and Google+’s Huddle, now on the web and perhaps coming soon in the Google+ iPhone app. Whether or not Facebook can get all this new junk into the mobile app’s trunk is the question…
[Facebook]
Amazon announces Cloud Music. Apple announces iCloud. Apple shows that iCloud is better than Amazon Cloud. Amazon announces some major Cloud Music escalation, including Cloud Player for web getting iPad support, unlimited storage for music, and free storage for all Amazon-purchased MP3s. Yeah.
“Customers are already enjoying Cloud Drive and Cloud Player and now for just $20 a year, customers can get unlimited space for music,” said Craig Pape Director of Amazon Music. “Additionally, we are adding free storage for all MP3s purchased from Amazon MP3, and support for the iPad. Our customers love Cloud Drive and Cloud Player and we’re excited to innovate these services on their behalf.”
It’s the iPad part that interests us the most, of course.
Also new, Cloud Player for Web on iPad. Cloud Player, combined with unlimited space for music in Cloud Drive, enables customers to play music stored in the cloud on any Android phone, Android tablet, Mac, PC, and now on their iPad. Cloud Player for Web has been optimized to offer customers streaming playback of their Cloud Drive music using the Safari browser for iPad. To access Cloud Player for iPad, customers simply open their Safari browser and visit (www.amazon.com/cloudplayer) to start listening to their music.
Apple’s iCloud is in beta right now and will launch this fall alongside iOS 5. Whether or not Apple makes any changes in response to these Amazon’s announcement, iCloud will offer far more services for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad users than Amazon can, including backup and restore, apps, documents, and more. But strictly for music, for users in the US, Amazon Cloud might just have gotten a lot more compelling.
Awesome web-based jailbreaking app JailbreakMe has just hit version 3.0, accessible from JailbreakMe.com. Just point your mobile browser to the website, and you can install Cydia. That’s it, from any iOS device. This new version not only jailbreaks iOS 4.3.3, but is fully functional with the iPad 2.
Installing is painfully easy. You literally just head to the website and hit the FREE button, then INSTALL. Then Cydia will load on your homescreen, and you’re free.
Apparently there have been some traffic woes with the new service catching up to all the interest, so if it doesn’t work for you immediately, give it a couple of hours and hopefully things will die down a little.
[via RedmondPie]
We’ve previously covered the upcoming official bio of Steve Jobs with the rather unfortunate name “iSteve: The Book of Jobs”, by renowned biographer Walter Isaacson. Thankfully, we’ve just heard word that Isaacson managed to get a slightly better name. Apparently the original name was chosen by publishers Simon & Schuster, and Isaacson was never a huge fan. So, what will the title be called now?
Steve Jobs, by Walter Isaacson.
Full points for understated elegance. You can pre-order the book on Amazon, but it’s not set to be released until March of 2012. When it first went up for pre-sale on Amazon, it briefly landed in the Amazon bestseller list, but has since quietened down.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the new iPhone will be thinner, lighter, and consequently significantly harder to make. According to their supply chain sources, Apple is gearing up for a 3rd quarter launch, it will be smaller, and have an 8-megapixel camera.
Their sources say Apple is planning 25 million units by end of the year, but their are issues because the Foxconn/Hon Hai assembly lines are having problems putting together the small and complex handsets. Calling it ”complicated and difficult to assemble,” this could lead to delays and shortages — a familiar situation for Apple users wanting the newest generation of Apple product.
Michal Bencur, has released his computer programming iPad app, Coders. If you’ve ever wondered what all that code does in the background of all your gadgets, you may want to check it out. It’s an extremely simple coding app with an easy to understand interface. There are a few sample programs built in for you to poke around and you can also create your own. Coders is based on the Lua programming language, which is a pretty easy language to learn.
This app isn’t meant for hardcore developers, nor should you expect to learn how to code iPhone and iPad apps. This app is mainly geared towards beginners that want to learn to understand the very basics of programming. Developers still may enjoy it even if it’s just to jot down quick notes while they’re on the go. And if all else fails, I had a lot of fun just creating little programs purely for entertainment.
Coders is currently priced at $4.99 in the App Store. Screenshots after the break.
Have an app you’d love to see featured on TiPb? Email us at iosapps@tipb.com, tell us about your app (include an iTunes link), and we’ll take a look.
Two analysts have released notes to investors today, both of whom are making wild claims about what we’ll see this year from Apple.
FBR Capital analyst Craig Berger believes that the 3GS will get a revival as a low cost or free phone, but far more bizarre he thinks there will be an HD iPad released this year, which he calls an “iPad 2 Plus”
“We hear Apple could migrate the iPad’s display resolution from a current pixel density of 132 ppi to 250-300 ppi for the ‘iPad 2 Plus’ (note that the iPhone 4′s screen is 326 ppi). If this device does come out as a high-end iPad for the holidays, then Q4 production volumes could diminish somewhat as screen constraints again arise as LG and/or Samsung would likely have difficulties ramping screen yield rates for these high resolution displays right out of the gate. While we find this new commentary interesting, we await more confirming data points from other supply chain contacts before fully believing a new iPad device is coming in 2011.”
Yeah, I’m not seeing.
Far more believable is Citidel analyst Shing Yin who claims that we might see a Spring iPhone before the end of the year. Because Sprint has lower cost plans, they believe that it would be a good push towards “price-conscious users”.
“We believe Sprint could capture more than its fair share of iPhone sales, especially if it gets the new model at the same time as AT&T and Verizon.”
I could definitely see a Sprint iPhone as a possibility, especially if Apple’s next iPhone is truly multiband. The lower price they offer on plans would definitely be a significant draw, and if rumors are true that the 3GS might drop to $0 on contract, you suddenly have a much more affordable way for people to get into iOS.
That’s right folks, the waiting is now over — JailbreakMe has now gone officially live, and the iPad 2 jailbreak we’ve been waiting for since March is finally here. Even better, JailbreakMe also supports the iPhone, original iPad, and the iPod touch runinng iOS 4.3.3. (And yes, it will also work on the Verizon iPhone running iOS 4.2.6 to 4.2.8.)
There are a few caveats, however, as the Dev-Team Blog points out:
Will I permanently lose the jailbreak if I need to restore my device? For all except the iPad2, saving your SHSH blobs should let you always restore your device to iOS versions where this jailbreak works. The iPad2 is a little more complicated. If you have a wifi-only iPad2 and saved SHSH blobs, you’re in good shape. But if you have the GSM or CDMA iPad2, you won’t be able to restore to 4.3.3 or lower once Apple stops signing its baseband. There are a few ideas that might work to get around this limitation, but for now it’s best to assume there’s no going back to 4.3.3 once 4.3.4 is out for iPad2 GSM or CDMA owners.
I heard this new unionfs stuff is dangerous? Define dangerous 
Seriously though, although unionfs is a huge improvement to the install time of the jailbreak, it is brand new code and there is the possibility something will go wrong. Just keep regular backups of your media and content and you should be fine. If there are any problems, they should appear within the first few days, so hold off and let “everyone else” test the waters if you’d like.
If you’re new to Jailbreak, check out our Jailbreak starter guide and if you need extra help, head on over to our Jailbreak forums.
Now excuse me while I run off and Jailbreak my iPad 2…
Apple left iOS 4.3.3 vulnerable to a PDF exploit, which allows JailbreakMe.com to jailbreak your iPhone. This takes place over the air via the Safari mobile browser. The good news is that you can close this hole very easily, once you have jailbroken your device. Just Jailbreak and then search Cydia for PDF Patcher 2 v1.0, this little tweak will make you secure from any potentially malicious hacks using the same hole as JailbreakMe.
Remember, In the wrong hands, this vulnerability could allow access to your device for other, more nefarious reasons. No doubt Apple will soon release an iOS update (4.3.4?) which will close this vulnerability for non-jailbroken devices but in the mean time this Jailbreak tweak will allow you to be more secure than the current, stock firmware.
Are the iPhone and iPad letting employees sneak a peek at porn while on the job? Recently, Harris interactive was commissioned by video surveillance company Qumu to survey 2,500 employees and ask them, “what do you search on your mobile device at work that you cannot do, or are afraid to do, from your work computer?” These are some of their top responses:
Harris also asked how employees sneaked a peek at their mobile devices while at work, and the most popular answers were:
While the results seem amusing, this is part of a growing trend affecting the workplace. A majority of Americans believe they should bring their own mobile devices to work to watch videos. This fits in the larger trend of a majority of Americans using more than one computing devices weekly, with 15% using 4 or more devices a week!
Obviously, Qumu’s intent is to generate interest in their video solution, but it’s not hard to imagine that democratized, popularized, ubiquitous internet connectivity will provide as many challenges for business as it does opportunities for individuals. Be that quickly scanning email at home, or the nudie-pic-of-the-day at work.
[Qumu]
Wondering how to jailbreak using the just-released JailbreakMe.com exploit? It is probably the easiest jailbreak yet, and we will walk you through it step by step after the break.
There is no need to use your computer; it is all done on your iOS device. We would recommend that you fully backup your device using iTunes prior to any jailbreak. This is always a good thing to do, just in case something should go wrong.
If you do have questions or issues, feel free to visit our Jailbreak Forums for help and tips.
It’s been a long wait, but starting today
Jailbreaking removes restrictions placed on your iOS devices, and allows you to download apps or themes not approved by Apple. JailbreakMe 3.0 is reversible, legal and you can still purchase approved applications from the App Store. The download is free, however, Comex does accept donations via Jailbreakme.com. Please be sure to thank him.
A beta version of
3DTOPO Inc. has released their new comic book creation app, ComicBook! After designing your realistic comic featuring you and your friends, you can tag everyone and share to Facebook.
Excuse me – I have a comic about a pack of Ewoks who set out to steal Rene’s Mac Pro but are surprisingly greeted by an angry, green version of our Editor who was recently hit with a Gamma Bomb to write. You’re not going to want to miss this one!
ComicBook! is available for $0.99. Screenshots after the break.
Have an app you’d love to see featured on TiPb? Email us at iosapps@tipb.com, tell us about your app (include an iTunes link), and we’ll take a look.
It’s not the wink-wink, nudge-nudge controlled leak we’ve come to expect from The Wall Street Journal, but according to their supply chain sources “familiar with the situation”, iPhone 5 might indeed have a new casing:
According to some suppliers of components to Apple, the new version of the iPhone is expected to be thinner and lighter than the iPhone 4 and sport an 8-megapixel camera. One person said the new iPhone will operate on Qualcomm Inc.’s wireless baseband chips.
Though not the Qualcomm chips that run on LTE, as those aren’t expected to be small and power-efficient enough until 2012. The WSJ is also rumoring that Apple intends to manufacture 25 million of them. That is, if manufacturers can produce them fast enough. Despite Apple having nearly $70 billion in the bank, enough to finance factories, get cut rate prices, and lock their competition out of next-generation production techniques and components, they’ve struggled to produce enough iPad, iPhone 4, and iPad 2 units to meet the skyrocketing demand.
That, and not making a wafer-thin, anti-gravity iPhone is going to be the key problem for Apple to solve moving forward.
3DTOPO Inc. has released their new comic book creation app, ComicBook! After designing your realistic comic featuring you and your friends, you can tag everyone and share to Facebook.
Excuse me – I have a comic about a pack of Ewoks who set out to steal Rene’s Mac Pro but are surprisingly greeted by an angry, green version of our Editor who was recently hit with a Gamma Bomb to write. You’re not going to want to miss this one!
ComicBook! is available for $0.99. Screenshots after the break.
Have an app you’d love to see featured on TiPb? Email us at iosapps@tipb.com, tell us about your app (include an iTunes link), and we’ll take a look.
Verizon Wireless announced that it’s discontinuing unlimited data plans for new smartphone customers. Starting Thursday, July 7, new customers will be offered four tiered plans: $10 for 75MB, $30 for 2GB, $50 for 5GB, and $80 for 10GB. Current Verizon customers with a plan, along with those who upgrade on or after July 7 will not be affected by the change. Upgrade-eligible customers will be able to retain their plans when switching to a new mobile device.
Customers who exceed their capped plan will be charged $10 per gigabyte or $10 per 75MB on the entry-level plan.
[via
What makes this screen shield different from the rest? It’s manufactured to prevent fingerprints, hence the oleophobic in the name. TheHiShop’s
Yes, those claims are true. The film is an easy-to-apply adhesive shield that is available for $6.50. It comes in one piece for only the front of your device.
I’m not the best at applying shields, so I was pretty glad when this one went on smoothly. There were hiccups in the process, nor did I have to reapply. Once you peel the backing off, the adhesive side instantly sticks to your device. The bubbles didn’t stay for too long; in just a few hours, the front of my device looked pristine and clean.
Along with the film, there was an installation cloth, which is meant to be used to clean the front of your device before applying. It’s nothing special, but it was helpful that it was included.
I really do hate when oil from your fingers smudges on the screen. This shield does a considerably good job in keeping your screen smudge/fingerprint-free. And that would be the only separation between this film and the whole plethora of films available for the iPhone and iPod Touch. You can check it out on
As a member of the rumor mill and blogosphere, leaked product information is my bread and butter here at EiC — but for tech companies, that information is priceless, and leaks can cause major losses. Now a former exec of a supply company inside Apple’s chain has pleaded guilty to sharing privy information to outside sources. Walter Shimoon, formerly of Flextronics plead guilty to telling Apple’s plans to Broadband Research and some ten other hedge funds.
Shimoon earned at least $45,000 by leaking information about the iPad and iPhone 4 before they were widely known, earning the cash for himself and allowing the hedge funders to perform some shifty insider trading.
This is part of a widespread crackdown on information leakers and insider trading.
Shimoon pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of security fraud, but won’t be sentenced until July 2013.
[via NYT, Electronista]
Bing for the iPad has just updated to version 1.1, and has brought an intensely cool new feature: “Lasso” search. You can check it out on the video above, but if that won’t play on iOS (I’m pretty sure it’s a Flash only vid), then here’s how it works: you press the lasso icon on the top right corner. You circle a word of phrase. Bing searches for that word of phrase.
How freaking cool is that? It far and away beats Apple’s clunky selection mechanism.
Right, Apple, you happily steal other awesome ideas, right? Lets get this implemented for more apps! Maybe even systemwide!
[via GeekWire]
Coffee has become a part of our modern lives and no other business does it better than Starbucks. It is already one of the most popular franchises in the US supplies millions of Americans all over with the heavenly brew to get us through the morning of a tough week. Now the company is moving towards a new digital era dominated by smartphones and Wi-Fi, hence it is moving to release yet another innovative app to increase online usage and interact with customers directly in the hopes creating new revenue streams and moving its costly marketing campaign to more tech-savvy users (who also happen to be big fans of caffeine).
Now the franchise is launching an enhanced app for the iPhone, which combines features from its existing apps: myStarbucks and Starbucks Card Mobile. The exciting thing about the new app is the Starbucks eGift Feature. This helps streamline everything into one single app and makes things easier for Starbucks fans.
The new app will allow users to access their beloved Starbucks Card Features, track their My Starbucks Rewards, make payments via mobile and send a mobile gift. Other innovative features that will be further incorporated include the Starbucks store locater and access to nutrition information of the food and beverages featured in the shops. If you are a real coffee aficionado then you even build your own virtual drink with the Drink Builder. For all your college students (amongst others) looking for part time jobs, do not forget that the app also allows you to search for jobs.
The Starbucks eGifts also make full use of Facebook and allows senders to add a personal message if necessary. The gift cards can range from $5.00 – $100.00 (depending on the generosity of the sender). You can get the app free from the App store or the Starbucks Website. We can add this app to the daily list of essentials.
iOS 5 has been released to developers and the result has been more than positive. However, one class of users who are slightly upset: users of the iPhone 3, iPhone 3GS and let us not even talk about the iPhone 2.
What is known is that most of the new features will certainly work on these devices, but the effectiveness of these updates is questionable. The infamous update that almost crippled earlier versions of the iPhone is a credible example. Analysts say that regardless of what Apple says, it is not very concerned with older models of the iPhone, since it makes all of its money via hardware sales. Therefore, customizing updates for older models is not exactly part of the bigger picture. A more sinister motive (Seldom said aloud) is that new updates try to act as incentive for users to upgrade their iPhone.
As we know, functions like the Twitter integration, camera grid update, Newsstand and Safari reading list, will all work just fine with older devices. What may not work are the new Safari Tab options and even the photo editing features.
The concern has many people asking themselves if this is the time to jail break their iPhones to get full access to the updates on the iOS 5. While there is a possibility that some of these features may cause more harm than good, we recommend waiting for the official test results before resorting to jail breaking. If you do plan on jail breaking your iPhone right now, then it is best that you do some research online and ensure that you use the best method currently available. Also, remember that once you have jail broken your iPhone there may be no coming back. Apple plans to come down hard on all jail breakers despite recent legal battles that have gone against its way.