HzO, the maker of a "WaterBlock" technology,” was promoting its nano-scale film barrier at last week's Consumer Electronics Show, pitching it as a potential solution to waterproof expensive electronic equipment. HzO's WaterBlock technology protects the insides of devices on a molecular scale. It has been used in demonstrations to protect a number of Apple products, including the iPhone 4S, iPads and iPods, after the material has been applied to the devices in a vacuum deposition process they were submerged into water and remained in working proper order. The company also confirmed that it is in talks with Apple about using its material in future devices, including the iPhone.

While speaking to attendees at the show, officials with HzO said that Apple is among the companies that have shown interest in the water repelling technology, according to Pocket-lint. Company officials said Apple was interested in making a future iPhone waterproof, potentially with a sixth-generation model expected to be released later this year. "We expect HzO to be in next season's phones," the company reportedly said.

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This week, on Thursday, January 19, Apple plans to hold its education-related media event. Last week Apple sent out invitations for the event with a tagline stated that the company would make an "education announcement in the Big Apple." The multiple reports are claiming that the company could announce an initiative to help textbook makers produce interactive ebooks for the iPad, with some sources calling the initiative "Garageband for e-books."

ArsTechnica reported on Monday that its sources are claiming that Apple will release a simple app that makes e-book publishing as easy as recording a song in GarageBand. Inkling CEO Matt MacInnis, who worked on education projects at Apple before leaving to focus on interactive e-books, also confirms the rumors, because he dosn't believe that Apple would start releasing content to replace, for example, textbooks, the company is likely to provide content production tools, similar to its own Logic or Final Cut Pro software.

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iH8sn0w has released new version of popular jailbreak utility Sn0wBreeze 2.9. Sn0wbreeze is used to create a custom firmware with jailbreak and preserve iPhone modem (baseband) version for unlock. New version 2.9 adds support for untethered iOS 5.0.1 jailbreak as well as support for all firmwares supported by previous versions of sn0wbreeze.

For now Sn0wBreeze 2.9 supports untethered jailbreak for iOS 3.1.3, 3.2.x, 4.0.x, 4.1, 4.2.1 - 4.2.8, 4.3 - 4.3.3 and 5.0.1. Supported devices are: iPhone 2G, iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPad 1, iPod Touch 2G, iPod Touch 3G, iPod Touch 4G.

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Research firm IDG published a new survey showing that iPad is very popular tool among business and IT professionals. According to the global survey, which is available for download, 91% of respondents "always" or "sometimes" use the iPad at work. Consumers and professionals both use the iPad for media consumption, and in the case of pros is chiefly work-related and text-based.

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UPDATE: Apple released iOS 5.1 firmware. Apple has stopped signing iOS 5.0.1, so you can NOT restore to 5.0.1 any more. If you are on 5.0.1 you can jailbreak with RedSn0w.

Using this tutorial you will be able to untether jailbreak iOS 5.0.1 running on iPhone 4. Pwnagetool will also preserve baseband version if you need carrier unlock. This tutorial uses PwnageTool 5.0.1 for Mac OS X.

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UPDATE: Apple released iOS 5.1 firmware. Apple has stopped signing iOS 5.0.1, so you can NOT restore to 5.0.1 any more. If you are on 5.0.1 you can jailbreak with RedSn0w.

Using this tutorial you will be able to untether jailbreak iOS 5.0.1 running on iPhone 3GS. Pwnagetool will also preserve baseband version if you need carrier unlock. If you have updated the baseband to version 06.15, you can use this tutorial to update to iOS 5.0.1. This tutorial uses PwnageTool 5.0.1 for Mac OS X.

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As French magazine AixEnProvence.fr reports (via ifoAppleStore), Apple plans to build a new store in Aix-en-Provence in France. According to the renderings, a one-store building will be relatively small one compared to other Apple stores and will be constructed on a broad stone plaza. Apart from the tan-colored rear wall, the store will be entirily encompassed with transparent glass. A second rendering depicts the store with a fountain that is similar to the the Fifth Avenue plaza fountain in New York. Reports note that the new location could be open in the end of 2012 or in early 2013.

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We do not recommend to do that

42 Wall Street and independent analysts polled by Fortune's Philip Elmer-DeWitt have found that all of them expect Apple to report record iPad sales when it releases its December quarter financial results on January 24. The estimates are ranging from 11.73 million to 19.47 million iPad units sold during the most recent quarter. According to Wall Street, the concensus has been reached on 13.5 million units. The previous record numbers of iPad sales were reached by Apple in the September 2011 quarter with 11.2 million units.

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Saurik has announced that an update to the Corona Untethered Jailbreak has been released in Cydia.

The update fixes issues for iBooks and launchd and it's recommended that users who previously jailbroke their A4 devices install the Corona package from Cydia.

Corona (5.0.1 untether) 1.0-4 is now out: users of redsn0w or the older packages should install. This fixes both iBooks and launchd (again).

As many users don't realize that untethers only affects boot, I just released 1.0-5 of the Corona package, which forces a reboot on upgrade.

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Pod2g has posted a video made by DHowett showing the successful untethered jailbreak of the iPhone 4S on iOS 5.0.1.

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iPhone Dev Team have just released a new version of RedSn0w 0.9.10b4. It includes a fixes for iBooks and launchctl. As always, you can simply run the new redns0w over your current jailbreak, just make sure to uncheck Cydia. To fix iBooks and launchctl errors you can also simply install new version of Corona from Cydia.

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DigiTimes reported on Friday that HTC, Research in Motion, Sony and Motorola Mobility are planning to change their strategies by reducing the number of new handsets that they produce in an attempt to repeat success of Apple’s products. As far as we know, the company releases just one iPhone model each year, while other mobile manufactures produce plethora of smartphones, which often differ from each other with minor changes.

Such strategy will allow increasing sales and saving money on development and marketing costs. The companies also expect to be more efficient in obtaining components and shipping products.

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John Sculley, former vice-president and president of PepsiCo and CEO of Apple between 1983 and 1993, and a Silicon Valley investor nowadays, believes that Apple is the only company that would be able to change the first principles of the television experience. In an interview with BBC Sculley confessed that has not read Walter Isaacson’s authorized biography of Apple’s late cofounder and CEO, but admitted that the television industry is about to experience Apple’s magic touch:

I think that Apple has revolutionized every other consumer industry, why not television? I think that televisions are unnecessarily complex. The irony is that as the pictures get better and the choice of content gets broader, that the complexity of the experience of using the television gets more and more complicated. So it seems exactly the sort of problem that if anyone is going to change the experience of what the first principles are, it is going to be Apple.

Rupert Murdoch confirms Sculley’s words about Apple television, writing on Twitter this morning: “All talk is about coming Apple TV. Plenty of apprehension, no firm facts but eyes on their enormous cash pile”.

Bloomberg reports that Apple has joint to the Fair Labor Association (FLA). By joining the FLA, Apple agrees to have the association independently assess facilities in its supply chain and report detailed findings on the association's website. Apple is the first technology business to sign up to the FLA as a participating company currently.

The FLA already worked with Apple last year on the company's training programs regarding labor rights and worker standards, and that Apple will bring all of its workplace compliance standards in line with the FLA's guidelines over the next two years.

"We found that Apple takes supplier responsibility seriously and we look forward to their participation in the Fair Labor Association," Auret van Heerden, FLA's President and CEO, said in a press release. "We welcome Apple's commitment to greater transparency and independent oversight, and we hope its participation will set a new standard for the electronics industry."

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