Archive for November, 2011

The iPad 3 with Retina display will unlock very valuable capabilities for professionals, for example, for pilots who use tablet for electronic charts and doctors who use it for medical imaging. Many airlines replaced conventional flight bags weighing 40 pounds or more with light-weight iPad. But the iPad is not allowed to be used further than a 50-mile radius of the originating and destination airports, because the charts are quite complex to be displayed on any electronic device.

While "about 75 to 80 percent of a flight is done using the autopilot, in conjunction with the flight management system," according to Flight Safety Foundation executive vice president Kevin Hiatt, the ability to use an electronic device to navigate highly complex flight maps could be expanded with the additional resolution in a "Retina Display" iPad.

And this is only one example how the iPad 3 with Retina display might be used. Other professionals would similarly benefit from such a doubling improvement in resolution of 2048 x 1536 pixels.

Appleinsider obtained an email that was reportedly a bug report where the company confirmed that it currently has "no plans" to support its Siri personal assistant feature on older devices and would keep Siri as the iPhone 4S exclusive feature. Some analysts view Siri as the main selling point of the newest iPhone, so it would be quite irrational to provide support for Siri on older devices in first months of iPhone 4S sales.

"Engineering has provided the following feedback regarding this issue: Siri only works with iPhone 4S and we currently have no plans to support older devices," the email read.

But it is not surprisingly, when Apple introduced Siri last month, the company made it clear that the feature was exclusive to the iPhone 4S alone. There were some speculations that Siri might require faster processor implemented in the iPhone 4S, but a hack we reported about denied that fact and show that Siri works on the iPhone 4 also quite well.

According to an internal document, Apple on Tuesday launched a new mandatory training program for new store managers. All managers will also be required to take it biannually.

"This course is intended to provide managers with a practical understanding of how unions affect the workplace, how and why employees organize, and the legal do's and don'ts of dealing with unions," the course's description reads. "This is a mandatory class for all new managers, and is required biannually for all managers." The training is also billed as a "great opportunity" for managers to meet the company's legal team and ask any questions.

This program could be Apple’s response to action of group "Apple Retail Workers Union" that struggle against "unfair treatment" at Apple's retail stores.

iOS hacker Conrad Kramer, better known as Contradev, have discovered a way how to enable the hidden panorama mode within Apple’s Camera application of the iOS 5. But, he noted, the feature seems to be not completed and in ongoing development by Apple. It offers settings for a grid and HDR when creating a panorama photo. A user can capture individual photos from left to right and the software will stitch it together. Kramer has said that the function is easily activated by "EnableFirebreak" key in a preference file within the mobile operating system.

Another hacker Grant Paul, also known as Chpwn, posted a screenshot (see above) of the panorama mode and has already submitted an application, called Firebreak, to Cydia to enable the panorama mode for Jailbroken iPhones.

It is obvious that Apple has been testing the Panorama mode that could appear in the iOS 5, but it is unclear why Apple did not include the feature in the final release.

The newest Apple’s iPhone 4S became available for preorders in Hong Kong last Friday and sold out almost immediately. As Brian White, analysts at Ticonderoga Securities, said, iPhone 4S preorders sold out in their first 10 minutes of availability.

"In our view, this is a very positive sign for iPhone 4S demand in Greater China has Hong Kong represents the first entry of the new smartphone in the rapidly growing region, and we expect the 4S to reach Mainland China in December," White said in a note to investors on Monday.

"We believe this rapid sell out will rest concerns surrounding the uptake of the iPhone 4S in the Greater China region that were driven by the limited language capability of Siri, which did not launch in Mandarin or Cantonese."

Although, the current version of Siri understands only English, French and German, Apple plans to start supporting additional languages in 2012, including Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Italian and Spanish.

A successful start of the iPhone 4S in Chine is good news for Apple. Of course, the nation of over a billion people is an important part of Apple’s international policy and growth.

There has been concerns over the design of iPhone 4S that shares the same stainless steel and glass enclosure with iPhone 4. Because of that, some questioned if iPhone 4 has the same flawed antenna as iPhone 4.

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Despite the fact that iPhone 4 was launched last month, it seems that consumer Interest in the newest Apple’s smartphone is still increasing. Chris Whitmore with Deutsche Bank polled about 30 Apple retail stores and found out that between 85 percent and 90 percent of stores polled are experiencing stock-outs of the iPhone 4S.

"Apple employees are directing customers to make an online appointment (first come first serve) for next day pickup at nearby Apple retail stores as stocks appear to be refreshed daily at most locations," Whitmore said.

In-store Apple representatives advice customers to order the iPhone 4S on Apple's website between 9 p.m. and 12 p.m. Now most number of iPhone 4S units is sold via reservation, leaving a very little stock for customers who want to buy the device at a store.

Whitmore believes strong demand for the iPhone 4S both in America and abroad shows that supply remains the only factor in determining how many handsets Apple will sell this quarter. He has forecast sales of 28 million iPhones during the holidays, but admitted that number appears "increasingly conservative."

Tomorrow disabled voters in five Oregon’s counties will be able to cast their votes from an iPad in U.S. House election. Election official with an iPad will visit disabled voters in parks, nursing homes and other places so that they can vote easier. The preloaded app will allow the voter to tap the display to select a candidate and an election official then print out the ballot. For the voters who can’t do it themselves, officials will touch the device for them. For the voters who have poor vision the app let them change the font color and size.

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Video where Miller demonstates this exploit

According to Forbes, security specialist Charlie Miller has found an exploit on iOS devices, which allows developers to put malware apps onto the App Store without detection. These malware apps can be used to steal user’s contacts, photo and other information, play a ringtone, make the device vibrate and more at any time the developer chooses.

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UPDATE: With the release of iOS 5.0.1, you might get troubles restoring to iOS 5.0. Don't worry, new sn0wbreeze is already available. Our tutorial for iOS 5.0.1 is available here.

Using this tutorial you will be able to create a custom firmware, jailbreak and unlock iOS 5 running on iPhone 3GS. This tutorial uses Sn0wBreeze 2.8b10 for Windows.

If you have iPhone 3GS with an old bootrom version 359.3, the jailbreak is untethered. If your device has bootrom version 359.3.2 and higher, jailbreak will be tethered. You can detect your bootrom version using this tutorial.

Sn0wBreeze will also preserve baseband version if you need carrier unlock. It can also update your modem version to 06.15 if you need unlock and stuck with 05.14 or higher baseband.

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Today Barnes and Noble announced its Nook Tablet, the next-generation version of their current $199 Nook Color. Compared to its main competitor $199 Kindle Fire, a dual core $249 Nook Tablet has 10GB more storage and the capability to add up to 32GB through micro SD card. Also it includes a superior screen and the popular Neflix and Hulu Plus for watching videos. The app library makes up a considerably smaller part of the Android market, but it better controlled so only quality applications are allowed in.

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In July Adobe for the first time entered the Mac App Store, releasing Adobe Photoshop Elements 9 Editor, scaled-down version of its image editing software. When the company pushed out boxed version of Photoshop Elements 10 in September, Adobe noted that the development of the version for Mac App Store is under way but under a different timeline as it is a separate application.

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Until Siri is able to snap pictures with your iPhone on your signal, snapping up perfect group pictures is not an easy task that involves using camera apps with timer capability (such as Camera+). Accessory producer Belkin has addressed this issue and designed an accessory for iPhone that allows you to remotely release the camera shutter on your device.

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Famous hacker Pod2g has recently announced that he discovered a bug that can untether the iOS 5 jailbreak! He posted via twitter:

Hey jailbreaking friends, I've found a bug that can untether iOS 5. Don't expect a release soon, but I'm gonna work hard in it.

Pod2g has found many vulnerabilities in the past including famous SHAtter.

Asian trade publication DigiTimes reports, citing it sources, that Apple is exploring two alternative backlight design for the rumored Retina Display on iPad 3, as the single LED light bar currently used in the iPad 2 doesn’t provide enough brightness for the display.

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