Archive for 2011
Aluminum iMac survives fire, water
Many businesses in Malaysia have been lost due to incidents of arson. Though, one business owner managed to save some of his belongings. A pair of his iMacs survived not only the intense heat of the blaze, but also the subsequent water that firefighters used to extinguish the flames. The iMacs were of the mid-2007, 20" aluminum variety. The computers are still work and almost undamaged. About one year ago, a Swedish man was also hit by a house fire that destroyed his home and everything in it except for his iMac.
Apple hired Naval Security Expert to be its Director of Global Security
As reported Apple has hired Naval Security Expert David Rice as their new Director of Global Security.
With iPhones and iPads penetrating the enterprise in ever more impressive numbers, companies want to know they’re secure. Late last year Apple started working with Unisys to help it sell Apple products to corporations and government agencies, all of which are concerned about the security implications of iPhones and iPads running on their networks. Those who know Rice describe him as a deeply respected name in IT security circles.
New Cydia Feature: Theme Center
Jay Freeman (better known as Saurik) has reported that he added a new feature to Cydia, the jailbreak application store. “Cydia Theme Center” provides easer search of for Retina and non-Retina themes. Right now, you will find a selection of free and paid themes popular in Cydia, as well as themes selected by the employees of MacCiti and ModMyi. Soon Cydia user also will be able to vote their favorites into Theme Center. Freeman has predicted that the feature would be really popular. After release of Theme Center he posted to Twitter: The second feature to use my Whole Package Index, the “Cydia Theme Center”, went up an hour ago, and 15,000 people have already tried it! ;P
Apple iPhone 5 may be launched “during summer at the earliest”
New rumors about the next-generation iPhone claim that Apple may launch the iPhone 5 “during summer at the earliest”. In October, rumors suggested the iPhone 5 had hit the engineering verification testing stage. Moreover the company has also added new suppliers to the iPhone 5 production chain. Foxconn is said to become the new earphone supplier. Foxlink will produce earphone jack sockets for the iPhone 5. GCE will be added as a HDI board supplier.
Untethered Jailbreak for iOS 4.2.1 announced
The Chronic Dev-Team has announced via twitter an untethered jailbreak for iOS 4.2.1. This should work for iPhone 3GS (new bootrom), iPhone 4 and iPad. And it will not require saved iOS 4.2b3 SHSH keys.
The untether is demoed in the video below. It's a result of a collaboration between @0naj, @p0sixninja, and @pod2g. P0sixninja has previously said it will not require iOS 4.2b3 SHSH blobs.
A small bug with wifi still remains. They will release utility as soon as they fix it.
Here is a video proof:
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1 Megapixel Rear Camera On The iPad 2
The latest iOS SDK code for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad revealed evidence that shows that the next-generation iPad will in fact offer both front- and rear-facing cameras. The first one will be a 1 MP rear camera capable of shooting photos and videos, and the second one will be a VGA front-facing camera for FaceTime and other camera functionalities. Such camera is pretty close to the fourth-generation iPod touch’s 0.7 megapixel back camera. That means you’ll be able to take 720P video with your new iPad. A 1-megapixel camera on the iPad 2 would be significantly lower than expected 5-megapixel lens on the iPhone 4.
App Store: 10 Billion Apps Downloaded
Recently Apple launched the “10 Billion App Countdown”. 10 billion apps have been downloaded from the App Store for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. The competition Apple launched to celebrate the new milestone has ended. Someone downloaded the 10 billionth application is going to win a $10,000 iTunes Gift Card from Apple. As of this moment, we don’t know who won the contest. Apple plans to announce the winner at a later time. Apple is now projected towards the next milestones, 15 billion apps and 20 billion apps.
Apple patent suggests Magic Mouse with display panel
A new patent from Apple shows a display embedded in the Magic Mouse touch surface. Such display will be able to present some information or allow contextual input options. The display on the mouse would change according to what the user may be doing on their Mac. The display will be working in conjunction with actual Mac apps. For example, it will be showing a calculator when using the Numbers app on Mac, or a magnification of text when using Pages. The application notes that the dynamic touch-display input method could be employed on other devices like a keyboard, or even a mobile device like an iPhone or iPod touch.
Larry Page Will Become Google CEO on April 4
New Google's quarterly earning report has revealed not only the company's current financial situation but also the fact that Google's chief executive (and by the way former member of Apple's board) Eric Shmidt will be soon replaced by Google's cofounder Larry Page.
Another cofounder Sergey Brin will also participate more actively in strategic projects and product development. These management shakeup are announced to become effective on April 4.
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iPad 2 May Get a Proximity Sensor
This week another blog about iPhones called blogdoiphone.com found a mention of a proximity sensor in the beta-version of iOS 4.3. Its developer build includes two strings entitled "PAD_CASE_LOCK_FOOTER" and "PAD_CASE_LOCK".
Both of them were found in the Settings application for the iPad. They allow user to enable or disable a new feature, which is described in description:
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First Verizon iPhone Commercial: It Begins
Verizon has posted its first iPhone TV commercial conforming that after years of speculation and rumors, Verizon will be launching the iPhone 4 to the general public on February 10, 2011. Existing Verizon customers will be able to preorder the device on February 3rd with general availability on February 10th. The commercial stars with shots of various clocks ticking, building anticipation for what is revealed to be the simple text of “iPhone 4,” accompanied by an Apple logo without depiction of the iPhone 4, followed by the Verizon logo in red, “it begins,” and “2.10.11.” Check the video above!
iOS 4.3 Multi-Touch Gestures For iPhone
The iOS 4.3 first beta revealed Multi-touch gestures for iPad but they also fit for the iPhone and iPod touch. Although Apple already announced that Multi-Touch won’t actually be available to the public with the iOS 4.3 release, some rumors claim that the company may be willing to implement the multitasking gestures both on the iPad and iPhone. Somebody believes that they could even replace a Home button on the next-gen iPhone and iPad. But such four and five-finger gestures on the iPhone’s screen look a little bit troublesome, as your hand easily covers the entire screen. Watch the video proof above!
Apple Working on 'Photo Streaming' and Other Social Features in iOS
Apple seems to be working on integrating more social features to iOS. The code (see below) found in the latest iOS 4.3 beta 2 has revealed that Apple is planning to bring Photo and Media Streaming to its devices. There are several files and folders references to two new features related to MobileMe called “Photo Stream” and “Media Stream”. Apple is likely to be working on a serious MobileMe overhaul to offer social networking functionalities that would appear in iOS 5.
Apple to Announce the iPad 2 on February 9th
An image found in the iOS 4.3 beta 2 reveals not only icons of FaceTime, Photo Booth and Camera applications but also indicates a day when the rumored iPad 2 may be announced. If you take a look at the image above, you may notice that the left iPad wallpaper has a 27 on the Calendar app icon. That’s because the first-generation iPad was released on January 27, 2010. When looking at the preview for a chosen background in iOS 4.3 beta 2 you can see that the calendar-icon shows a 9. Someone believes that this is clear evidence confirming that the iPad 2 will be unveiled on February 9, 2011. It is possible that this could be the 9th of a more distant month.
FaceTime, Camera and PhotoBooth Icons Confirm Camera in iPad 2
Apple's developer release of iOS 4.3 Beta 2 includes the three new app icons. This includes FaceTime, Camera and Photo Booth. The images were found in the latest beta and are used by iOS to show a preview of your wallpaper selection. These icons do not exist on the images contained in iOS 4.2. Such icons might be new evidence confirming that the next iPad will carry both a front facing and rear facing camera as well as the Apple Camera App and Photo Booth App.