Archive for February, 2011

The  Amazon UK website placed several manuals for the upcoming Mac OS X 10.7 Lion  that will be released late in July. That fact might suggest that the operating system will also launch around that time. It seems that the OS will be released right after WWDC, this year expected to be from July 5 to July 9. The cover of one of the Mac OS X Lion manuals makes reference to the already announced Launchpad and Mission Control features but also references the dock, most of which was demonstrated last year at the Lion announcement. Noteworthy to say that the release date of these guidebooks is a good indication of product launches. For example, Amazon information predicted the release date Microsoft Office 2011 for Mac.

Cult of Mac reports that Apple is working on a new notification system for iOS.

Apple’s pop-up notification system for new text messages, voicemails and the like has often been criticized as one of the weakest parts of the iOS. Notifications are intrusive, modal and often cryptic. It’s a mess.

And to build new technology into the operating system, the company is going to acquire a small iOS development firm that currently offers a notification system in the App Store. Cult of Mac suggests that it might be Boxcar, which offers an iOS application providing push notifications for a variety of services.

Rumors say that display of future iPad 2 will be updated to Super PLS. It does not mean it will have a better resolution. iPad 2 will utilize the same 1024 x 768 display as the current iPad, Super PLS is just a different technology and it is better.

Current iPad, as well as the iPhone 4, use a technology called IPS. It provides outstanding viewing angles. However Samsung’s PLS technology is even better. The viewing angles provided by PLS are improved. In addition to that Super PLS display is generally 10% brighter than the IPS technology. And the best part is that they cost around 15% less to manufacture than IPS displays.

iPad 2 is expected to launch sometime this quarter.

Recent rumors claim that Apple plans to update its MacBook Air line with Intel's new Sandy Bridge processors. The company is going to replace the Core 2 Duo chip, found in the current generation of MacBook Air, which is two generations behind Intel's processor. So it will be a significant upgrade for Apple's MacBook Air. The refreshed is expected in June, sometime during the WWDC 2011. Remind you that last fall the MacBook Air was already updated. It received a new, thinner design, and flash memory drive.

If you want to look cool to the opposite sex becasue of your gadgets, you should first buy an iPhone, than a cool MacBook, than a regular book. And only after that you can consider buying an iPad. This is becasue according to the Retrevo Gadgetology study using an iPad is lower on the list of things men and women find attractive than even reading a book.

We’re not sure why this is so, perhaps there is an element of resentment toward iPad owners among those unfortunate to be iPad-deprived. 50% of men under 35 say they find people with cool phones more interesting, 46% say they are more interested in people with cool laptops. Women under 35 on the other hand, are less impressed by people’s gadgets. Only 36% saying they find cool cell phones impressive while 38% of the same group of women like people with cool laptops more.

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New iPhone Nano rumors! Bloomberg is reporting that Apple is working on a smaller, cheaper version of the iPhone. The prototype is about one-third smaller than the iPhone 4. Rumors say it will be sold without any contract for just $200.

This sounds more like a fairy tale. Currently iPhone 4 costs approximately $600 without a contract.

These are step-by-step instructions on how to jailbreak iOS 4.2.1 on iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPad, iPod Touch 2G, iPod Touch 3G, iPod Touch 4G using Greenpois0n for Windows. Tutorial for Mac OS X users is available here. All the steps are the same for all devices, we will cover iPhone.

Greenpois0n has been updated to support the iOS 4.1 and iOS 4.2.1 firmware. Use Limera1n if you want to jailbreak iOS 4.0, iOS 4.0.1, iOS 4.0.2.

Remember: Greenpois0n recommends a clean restore before continuing.

Unlockers: do not update to iOS 4.1 or iOS 4.2.1 if you need the unlock. Ultrasn0w does not support that baseband yet. The only exception is the iPhone 4. Experienced users can also try update to iOS 4.2.1 without upgrading your baseband by using TinyUmbrella. Start TSS Server->Start iTunes->Plug in your iPhone->Restore 4.2.1->Error 1013->Put phone into DFU Mode->Launch Greenpois0n.

We are not authors of this app. We do not promise that everything will go well, use this tutorial at your own risk.

UPDATE: Please, consider reading our Jailbreak & Unlock FAQ, especially if you have questions or troubles.

Step One
Open your web browser and download the latest Windows version of GreenPois0n from here.

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This Wednesday HP announced its three new webOS-based devices - the TouchPad tablet and two smartphones named Pre 3 and Veer. Before they were unveiled general manager and senior vice president for the Palm Global Business Unit at HP Jon Rubistein told that the company is at the beginning of new epoch.

"Today we're embarking on a new era of webOS with the goal of linking a wide family of HP products through the best mobile experience available. The flexibility of the webOS platform makes it ideal for creating a range of innovative devices that work together to keep you better connected to your world."

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Table 1
Worldwide Mobile Device Sales to End Users in 2010 (Thousands of Units)

Source: Gartner (February 2011)

Today Gartner revealed the results of another research, where it was found that Apple's achievements in 2010 had led to the situation when the company's competitors experienced reduced sales and eventually lost significant market shares.

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Engadget have posed a very interesting comparison table of the most interesting tablets that are known today. Have a look at specifications for HP TouchPad, Apple iPad, Motorola Xoom and BlackBerry PlayBook. Unfortunately there is no Apple iPad 2 in this table, becasue iPad 2 specs are all just rumors for now.

HP TouchPad

Apple iPad

Motorola Xoom

BlackBerry PlayBook

Today Mike Abramsky, who is an analyst from investment firm RBC Capital Markets, released a note to investors, where he said that Apple and Verizon will sell more than 1 million iPhones in a week after its launch. He also forecasted that in the first quarter of device availability both companies will sell approximately from 3 to 4 million handsets.

He also took available inventory and estimated pre-order numbers and found out that Apple, Best Buy and Verizon may stock out completely as soon as in the first week after the launch of the device. The analyst believes that Apple has 1-1,5 million units for the launch in its channel inventory.

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Apple recently added a small but useful tweak to the Mac App Store. Now when you are going to purchase any application, there will appear a window asking you to confirm your decision. Helpful thing for those who might already spend some money accidentally purchased an app. Now the Mac App Store doesn’t allow you to toggle the purchase confirmation off, as in the iOS App Store.

The New York Observer reports that Apple may be looking to build a retail store right in the middle of New York's Grand Central Terminal. Reliable sources tell The Observer that the company hopes to open a store in the transportation and retail hub, though it has yet to begin the long approval process necessary for opening in a city landmark. Obviously, Grand Central Terminal is prime real estate for pretty wealthy shoppers. No information about how long it would take for an Apple Store to get approved and built, is available.

Wall Street Journal reports that the next version of the iPad is now in production. The new iPad will be available through both Verizon and AT&T but not Sprint or T-Mobile, according to the newspaper.

The new device will be thinner, lighter and will come with a faster processor, more memory and a more powerful graphics processor, said the people familiar with the matter. It will have a front-facing camera for the first time for features like video-conferencing, but the resolution of the new iPad's display will be similar to the first iPad, they said.

iLounge has discovered that despite having a brand new antenna, the Verizon iPhone 4 also has antenna issues when held in a “Death Hug”. The “Death Hug” is when the phone is cupped by both hands and held in landscape orientation. A position is common when playing games or using the widescreen keyboard. The CDMA iPhone 4 still lose substantial cellular signal strength, as well as Wi-Fi signal when loading web pages.

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