iTunes 10.5.2 is adding a number of incremental improvements for iTunes Match on all iOS devices. Besides new improvements some bugs get solved with this new upgrade including the audio distortion bug, where playing some particular CD caused decreased audio quality. Apple did not reveal other improvements coming with this upgrade but we believe three are other ones well hidden.
So if you by any chance discover something interesting let us know and we will share your findings in our blog. You can easily get this iTunes update if you decide you need it. To do so, you can simply use the usual way: through Apple’s update utility or alternatively you can grab it as a direct download from Apple‘s website.
Will you upgrade your iTunes to get this new features? Let us know as always, in the comments section bellow! Stay tuned as we walk you through all the latest news, rumors and reviews of all things on Apple and jailbreaking.
We are quite happy to announce to our readers that the untethered jailbreak is underway as it is being tested and developed by Pod2g, one of the best jailbreak developers out there. Hi has just confirmed in his Twitter stream that the jailbreak he tested on his iPod 3G works also on iPhone 4 iOS upgraded to 5.0.1. According to this news, this jailbreak will work only on A4 based devices, meaning that if you have iPhone 4S or iPad 2, this wont work for you at this time. Here is his tweet about the breakthrough:
Please be careful: if you are iPhone user depending on the carrier unlock with UltraSn0w, you should not upgrade to iOS 5.0.1 with Apple‘s official firmware file. As always it is quite important and highly recommended to users to save their SHSH blobs. You can use TinyUmbrella (Mac and Windows) or iFaith (Windows only) apps for this.
We certainly hope we wont wait too long for this new untethered jailbreak tool to be released! What is your opinion on this? Are you eager to get an untethered jailbreak for iOS 5.0.1?
So far, the jailbreak community has released a tethered jailbreak for iOS devices on iOS 5.0.1 and 5.0 but the untethered version is still not available. As you probably know, the difference between those two is that with an untethered jailbreak you can use your iPhone or iPad without any issues, while if you have only a tethered jailbreak you need to use your computer to restart your iPhone or iPad. This isn’t really a problem for most jailbreakers, although it can become annoying after some time. The whole issue becomes more troublesome if you need to travel around and you don’t carry your computer with you.
So what most of jailbreakers wait eagerly right now, is a stable untethered jailbreak. And we are happy to say that jailbreak developers are indeed working on this problem. Jailbreak developer known as @Pod2g is working on the jailbreak he demonstrated on a video earlier. He is at the same time blogging about his efforts at his own blog. He tries to regularly update the community on his upcoming tasks and goals.
According to his blog, his next step will be to upgrade all iOS devices he has (iPod 3G and 4G, iPhone 4 and original iPad) to iOS 5.0.1. The exploit he used for his jailbreak needs to be thoroughly tested and probably re-engineered on every single device. After the jailbreak becomes stable enough he will continue with the dev work on the jailbreak for iPhone 4S and iPad 2.
Let us know, are you eager to get a new untethered jailbreak as much as we are?
After a long period of development and testing phase, Google has just launched a new social network service for reading. Google Currents is a new product which aims primarily to serve social network publishing. The project was earlier known as “Propeller” and it is actually an app for Android and iOS mobile devices. With this app publishers can push their content inside an HTML 5 based web app accessible on smartphones and tablet computers.
Publishers can access Currents with a simple web browser, which makes it possible for them to easily upload, edit or remove content, work with Ad Sense adds, monitor patterns of use and much more. Currents can be served in different styles which include multiple layouts and various formats for different devices. Users can easily navigate through the table of contents, articles, images and videos.
Besides providing app users with rich media content in an accessible format, Currents will also provide publishers with a great content providing platform. Every publisher will receive complete instructions for solving any occurring technical problems. Users will be able to purchase chosen articles through Google’s own payment system, Google Checkout. Currents is obviously trying to provide a service similar to what is already available within iOS world with Flipboard, which is an iPad app, launched only a couple of days ago for iPhone too.
You can see a short Youtube video on Google Currents bellow.
If you are an iPhone or iPad owner and want to check your Xbox 360 profile you can do it now from your favorite iOS device. Microsoft has just pushed out their frist Xbox Live app for iOS devices named My Xbox Live.
Users can now exchange messages, manage contacts, edit their onlline profiles and view their gaming results directly from their iPad or iPhone. So wherever you are you can always check your status in the Xbox gaming community. Besides all this you will also receive a stream of gaming related news tips and tricks. This new app is created with the help of Microsoft’s new design which is known as ‘Metro’. Metro is a new user interface design concept which is pushed by Microsoft on their other platforms as well. Metro was already introduced on Xbox’s website, on the Windows Phone 7 and even on Microsoft’s latest Windows 8 operative system.
If you are a devoted gamer, My Xbox Live will be a great addition on your iPhone. While some people may look down on Microsoft made apps on their iOS device, if you are serious about your Xbox, you should definitely try out this app. You can get it right now as a free download in app store.
Here is another jailbreak option for iPhone users. It is an alternative to well known ReedSn0w jailbreak (for Windows and Mac) and Sn0wBreeze jailbreak (Windows PC only) solution. It was developed and released by group a of jailbreak developers which is known as Pwn Dev Team. This is the second version of the jailbreak as the first version had some serious flaws. Namely Ac1dSn0w has originally contained many lines of Apple‘s proprietary code, thus making the software vulnerable to copyright disputes.
This upgraded version is certainly a step in good direction as Apple’s code is now completely removed from the software. Some other bugs are also removed as a number of users reported earlier that this tool didn’t work for them. The console view of Ac1dSn0w has also being upgraded and now it displays more precisely what is really going on during the jailbreaking process.
So it seems that Ac1dSn0w is now as good as other jailbreak tools, as it provides a flawless tethered jailbreak for iPhone on iOS 5. Unfortunately, same as other jailbreak solutions, it still doesn’t work for iPhone 4S. This jailbreak tool supports following iOS devices: iPhone 4, iPod Touch 4G and the original iPad. Another interesting information coming from Pwn Dev Team is that in the future this jailbreak could be done over the internet, meaning that you will be able to help your friends to jailbreak their device no matter where they are located, providing that both of your devices are connected to the internet.
Another improvement with beta 2 of Ac1dSn0w is that the download file is much smaller now. After all being done and said, Ac1dSn0w is working just like any other jailbreak already available, with the difference being only in the user interface which looks somewhat different. We probably see soon enough how will it work in the real world! Please note: Ac1dSn0w works only on Mac computers at this moment.
@Semaphore, the developer behind TinyUmbrellla app has just released an upgrade to his superb software for saving SHSH blobs which is fully compatible with the beta version of Apple iOS 5.0.1.
To remind you SHSH blobs are essential whenever you want to downgrade your devices iOS version. Namely, Apple is not allowing users to downgrade iOS, as this procedure helps in some cases with the jailbreak and unlock procedures. So to counter Apple, jailbreak dev community has found some other ways to downgrade the firmware, but it is essential for users to save SHSH blobs or otherwise they wont be able to go back to older jailbreakable and unlockable iOS versions.
To remind you, TinyUmbrella is available for both users on Mac and Windows PC. So hurry up and save the SHSH blobs of your devices just to be on the safe side, and to be able to jailbreak and unlock your device when you decide it is time to do so!
While patent submissions are not a definite sign that a company is working on some exciting new technology, it often can indicate the direction to which a company is focusing its attention. So it is interesting to note that Apple has again submitted a patent which looks quite promising. This time Cupertino company is developing new ways for sharing data between devices which are close to each other. This technology will exploit cameras for authentication and starting a safe data exchange.
It seems that the cameras are used for recognition of specific details or images shown on the screen of the device. Each of two devices can use some predetermined image for generating a specific digital key. This key is later used for initiating a secure communication path between these devices. This could be very useful in different areas like: social networking, gaming, payment processing and much more.
Another interesting side idea is that you could use this process for logging into your computer with your iPhone. The whole process can be most precisely described as a digital handshake where two devices are recognizing each other through some image. Isn’t this better than what we have now? Apple is again pushing boundaries with such interesting ideas.
Jailbreaking isn’t a skill which is needed only on those fabulous Apple devices, as it can become quite useful kind of enhancement on other devices too. If you are a frequent reader on our blog ,you will probably be aware how jailbreaking can improve your device in a hundreds of small ways. Besides being able to use a ton of unofficial apps which would never be allowed into Apple app store, you can also enjoy in myriad of small tweaks which can fully customize your iPhone and make it way cooler than possible with only Apple approved apps. Now it seems that other devices and tablets will enjoy such future as well. We are quite glad to inform our readers that RIM’s PlayBook tablet has just being jailbroken for the first time in the history of RIM. Jailbreak developers have finally gained complete access to PlayBook’s QNX operative system.
This is a large success for the jailbreak community as it is known that RIM is very conscious about their enterprise level of security. Developer which made this significant breakthrough is Chris Wade also known by his nickname @cmwdotme. @cmwdotme is by the way a well known and reputable iOS jailbreak developer. He decided to call his new jailbreak ‘Dingleberry’.
You can see in this Youtube a demo of Hulu app on Playbook. As you perhaps know, Hulu is not officially available on RiIM’s Playbook at the time being. It is unclear how will this impact RIM’s image as it has always built its brand on the security it’s devices offer. Many government institutions prefer Blackberries instead of iPhones because of their so far impermeable operative system. All in all we, are sure many PlayBook users will soon have the chance to enjoy in jailbroken devices! Perhaps there will be a Cydia app store for Playbook and Blackberry soon?
Sources from Microsoft Co. claim that the Richmond based company is working on a iOS version of their famous Microsoft Office suit. According to the rumor, Microsoft is preparing a version of the software for iPad as wells as a version of Office compatible with Mac Lion OS X. This is not a big surprise as former head of Microsoft Business Unit, Stephen Elop who is now CEO of Nokia, has already pointed that Microsoft had strong plans for such development.
At the time being iWork apps such as: Numbers, Keynote, Pages and others have been the primary office apps on iOS devices. The same apps were also widely used as a office suite on Mac’s. If Microsoft surprises us and does a good job with their Office package for iOS devices, they could easily take a chunk of the market from Apple‘s own iWork package. Microsoft will probably target the price range for the app to be competitive with iWorks suite.
A well designed Microsoft productivity package of apps priced at 10$, which is the current price of iWork, could be a great alternative to Apple’s iWork.
Would you consider using Microsoft Office on your iPad if it ever becomes available? Let us know in the comments bellow.
