A group of internationally known jailbreak developers and security experts which includes such names as @0xcharlie (Charlie Miller), @i0n1c (Stefan Esser), Vincenzo Iozzo, Ralf Weinmann and others are launching a new book on the iOS hacking skills.
Apple’s mobile computing operative system, better known as iOS which is used for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch has proved as a fertile ground for jailbreak development. After Apple has launched iOS 5, many security exploits were found by the jailbreak community for safe jailbreaking purposes. This new book will cover many, if not all exploits used for breaching Apple’s iOS fortress. It dives deeply in the basics of iOS, it’s security structure and how the security holes can be used with help of various tools including: exploits, root kits and other techniques.
As the authors are among the best experts in the world on this topic you can certainly learn a lot if you are so inclined. Who wouldn’t be interested in such interesting topics as pursuits of iOS vulnerabilities and basics of jailbreaking? Another big name which adds its reputation to this hacking guide is a prominent member of iPhone Dev team known as @MuscleNerd. MuscleNerd is appearing as a tech editor for this work.
This book will cost $29.24 which is a small price if you want to learn how iOS really works. We are somehow sure that Apple wont be happy about this book, but on the other side, this book could become a valuable tool for recruiting and engaging a wave of new iOS jailbreak developers.
Siri is an amazing technology and so is iPhone 4S which is the only device which features Siri at the time being. iFixit, the famous DIY iPhone repair website has just put up an interesting video explaining how exactly Siri knows the position and distance of your iPhone from your face. It turns out that Siri uses an infra-red proximity sensor.
This sensor isn’t something new, as it was existing in previous iPhone models too. The difference is that this time the sensor is always on whenever you activate your iPhone. On your iPhone 4 or iPhone 3GS this proximity sensor would work only when you start a voice or Skype call on your device.
With iPhone 4S, the infra red proximity sensor is always on whenever your device is activated. As you already know if you got yourself an iPhone 4S, Siri is always ready to serve you. So in order for it to always be prepared, Apple has devised this little trick with the proximity sensor. Kind of interesting thinking by Apple isn’t it? We are sure Android device manufacturers will soon try to copy this hack on their smartphones too, but until then, iPhone 4S with Siri is definitely the best handheld device on the planet. Do you agree?
As you probably know Apple is upgrading iOS 5 in order to address the battery life issue which became apparent soon after the launch of iOS 5. iOS 5.0.1 is tackling the problem as Apple has seeded the new iOS to Apple developers for testing purposes. If you are among users which have installed iOS 5.0.1 you can now download the latest jailbreak solution from iPhone Dev Team, the Redsn0w version 0.9.9 b8.
Dev Team has added the firmware beta keys to the jailbreak so now users don’t need to point RedSn0w to iOS 5.0 as it now easily works with iOS 5.0.1 beta. If you for some reason want to get the latest iOS without waiting for the official release, all you need to do is to browse to Apple’s dev center and pay the annual fee. No other requirement is needed.
Redsn0w 0.9.9b8 is a tethered jailbreak, so when you restart your iPhone you will need to start it again with help of RedSn0w. This jailbreak is compatible will all Apple iOS devices except iPhone 4S and iPad 2. Jailbreak for those two devices is still in work and we hope it will soon be available to the jailbreak community.If you have upgraded to iOS 5.0.1 and want to jailbreak your iPhone you can do so by downloading RedSn0w 0.9.9 b8 for Mac here, or RedSn0w 0.9.9 b8 for windows here.
Apple’s innovative adds are certainly one of the better adds in the tech world. This time Apple has again stretched its creative powers to create these interesting new adds featuring their latest and best products: iPhone 4S, Siri and iCloud.
If you check out the add bellow you will see it is an add featuring iPhone 4S integration with the iCloud service. You will see iPhone 4S in action when a user downloads a song from iCloud to the an iPhone 4S and the song appearing on a Mac, syncing bookmarks between iPhone and iPad 2, document syncing and Photo Stream sharing between devices.
The next add is about iPhone 4S superb 8 MP camera which features highly advanced optics. Add also features deep integration with Twitter and photo editing options existing with the iOS camera app.
New advertisement on iPhone 4S and Siri show Siri in action including listening incoming text messages, integration with Google maps, weather updates and more.
These adds clearly show why Apple is at the top of the food chain in the industry. Do you agree?
Did you ever dream about unlocking your iPhone only by having it scan your face and recognize you as the iPhone owner? Neither did we. Sounds like a stuff from the a Star Track episode in a positive way of course. If you have jailbroken your iPhone, which is a must for getting cool apps these days, you will be able soon to get a new app appropriately named RecognizeMe. This apple introduces Biometric facial recognition to iPhone 4.
After you jailbreak and install this app you will be able to unlock your iPhone 4 with the front camera scanning your face. You will be able to tighten security if you choose higher security option but this will increase the processing time needed for scanning and will lessen the chance of unauthorized access to your iPhone by someone who has similar face. This app looks somewhat slow at the beginning but it can certainly do what it claims.
The app will probably be upgraded and work faster once the bugs are worked out. It should be soon available in Cydia store.
It seems that the location tracking problem is not something happening only on iPhone iOS. New rumors and reports indicate that Google is following these questionable practices to with their Andoid OS for mobile devices. Korean police has Lunched an investigation which included raiding of Google’s offices in Seoul, South Korea in order to find out more. The investigation was probably caused by widely held concern that the search engine giant is also involved in tracking smartphone users without any permission.
One of the most interesting areas for police work was Google’s Ad Mob advertisement system. It seems that there are reasonable doubts that Google’s Ad Mob mobile advertising system has been gathering sensitive personal data without any legal permission by South Korean government agencies. Google has confirmed that the their Seoul offices have indeed been raided by local police. No other informations have been released by Google except that the company has fully complied to all requests by the investigators.
Every technology can be used for different purposes, so for example location based services are excellent if you want to locate nearby stores or restaurants, but the same technology can be used for tracking you personal location. There are open possibilities for abuse of sensitive personal data and the companies involved should be pressured to ask for permission for collecting such data.
On the other side, Apple is preparing a new update to the iOS firmware with one of the main goals being removing the location tracking bug from the iOS.
What is your opinion on data privacy in iOS and Android world? Are you concerned about your own privacy?
A software development company has just recently launched an interesting project: Pieceable. Pieceable enables you to run iPhone apps within your ordinary web browser. The interface, Pieceable Viewer will work with most iPhone apps out there, and even better is you wont need to modify any code for this to work. You only have to build your app for Simulator (not for the Device). Next step is to upload the .app file to the Pieceable servers and then you will receive the link to the app. This will easily integrate your app development process. This process will work for almost any iPhone app. Basically if you have a binary file which runs in the Simulator it will also run with Pieceable.
Please note: applications based on UI Kit integrate best. Map View and Open GL content will run but please note that it wont be rendered at all. It is expected that this should be better supported in the near future. So far iPad apps don’t work but this should also be changed with the next upgrade.
There will be different packages offered by Pieceable:
1. Trial version which is free but offers limited options: one app only, only one user can see the app and the link will be available only one hour.
2. Basic version priced at $30 monthly which allows three app viewers, up to five applications and app links are permanent.
3. Pro version which costs $60 monthly and allows ten viewers, as many applications as needed and app links are also permanent.
If you are an app developer or perhaps you want to became one here is your chance to test your apps in a simple way. What do you think about this? Will this be useful? Let us know!
There are already several outlets selling remote iPhone unlocking services without any code software or unlocking sim card. Can this be true? Or even more important is this safe and legal? So far this is not clear yet although many iPhone users have flocked to purchase the remote unlock. This unlock is based on IMEI which is an identification number by which your network carrier recognises your device and allows it to connect to the network.
The price for this unlock varies but seems to float around the sum of $180 and purportedly you only have to send the IMEI number of your device to the unlockers and they will answer you in no more that 48 hours stating that your device is unlocked.
But is this for real? It seems so as some reliable sources have tested this and have successfully unlocked their iPhones. So this means that this method of unlocking solves all your problems: No more fear from upgrading, preserving baseband jailbreaking or anything else. Onve you unlock your iPhone becomes permanently unlocked. So far courts in US have decided that jailbreaking is legal, but messing with IMEI could be completely different thing. In most places changing IMEI is illegal activity. Developers form the Dev Team said that this no hack, instead it seems that someone has access to Apple‘s databases and if this is true Apple will certainly react and could lock the devices as easy as they have been unlocked. Apple will certainly act to counter this unlocking approach and their legal team is probably already actively researching this issue and will soon act against these unlocking services.
It would be probably safest strategy not to hurry with this unlock but wait and see how will Apple react. How will Apple respond? Let us know did you try this unlock out and what do you think about this.
Since iPad 2 was recently released alarming number of new Verizon iPad 2 owners have trouble connecting to the Verizon 3G network. This problem appears after manually disabling the 3G network. When they want to reconnect to the 3G network it’s not possible.
The only solutions so far seems to be rebooting of the device. Users reported that restoring the device didn’t solve this issue nor did the replacement in the Apple store help. No reliable data on number of users with this bug is known but it seems that this affects many iPad 2 owners.
Meanwhile Apple has acknowledged the problem and had started to investigate this problem. Hopefully it wont be too long until they solve this. After all this is Apple we are talking about. Highest quality is a must for all Apple products.
It is quite possible that Apple will try to solve the problem with the upcoming iOS 4.3.2 , that is, if this is a software based problem. Meanwhile you will have to be patient and if you cant connect to your 3G network, just reboot your iPad 2and wait until it finds the network. Are you a Verizon iPad 2 owner? Did you had the problem with your tablet?
Let us know about your experience and what do you think about this problem.
AT&T has recently offered a fabous price for their iPhone 3GS 8GB. The price offered was $49 for this basic model of iPhone. But now other network carriers are offering this handset for even lover price. In fact the price cant be better as it comes at $0. On the other hand this kind of price goes only for very long period of time for the contract. If you want such a device Canadian providers Telus and Bell will you give one, if you commit yourself for three year contract. But the decision to get iPhone 3GS 8GB pales when you get to know that iPhone 4 cost only $159 for same plan. And in order to remind you, Apple sells its iPhone 3GS, factory unlocked for $549 which is a considerable amount of cash.
I guess it all depends on personal choice and how much do you need to have. Are you an average iPhone user using it as a phone and occasionally for an email or game play? Then its OK to go with the lower end iPhone. If you are on the on the other side a heavy app user you will want to have new model of iPhone 4 with latest iOS version which will be supported by Apple at least next couple of years.
Note: iPhone 3G users cant upgrade to 4.3 iOS so they are already out of the game regarding new apps out there.
What do you think about the $0 pricetag for iPhone, do you feel it compelling? Or do you prefer a new model? Let us know.
