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.
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.
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.
iH8Sn0w has announced the release of iREB r5, an update to his Windows utility that helps you get past iTunes errors when restoring to a custom firmware.
Release Notes:
● Much smaller file size (390kb).
● Fixed USB 3.0 issues.
● iREB's speed for the iPhone 2G/iPhone 3G/iPod Touch 1G has increased significantly!
● Fixed rare DFU detection issues.
● Updated limera1n/steaks4uce payload to not hook "cmd_go" on 4.x images (nothing severe, but useless here).
Last week AppleInsider exclusively reported that Apple would plan to open 25 specialty stores inside Target's largest stores this year. The retailer confirmed those exact details in a presentation in New York on Thursday, according to The New York Times.
The concept is called "The Shops at Target," and the dedicated Apple ministores coming to 25 Target locations will not be alone. The Minneapolis-based retailer has also partnered with Boston's Polka Dog Bakery and Miami's The Webster, among others, for its specialty shops.
iTunes had for a long time been the only marketplace for iOS-device owners as third-party storefronts was prohibited by Apple’s rules. Giving way to government regulators, Apple last year changed its policy related to third-party stores and allowed subscriptions. This opened the way for music apps from Shazam and Spotify that have recently appeared on the iOS platfrorm. Currently another major music service is going to compete with iTunes.
iTunes had for a long time been the only marketplace for iOS-device owners as third-party storefronts was prohibited by Apple’s rules. Giving way to government regulators, Apple last year changed its policy related to third-party stores and allowed subscriptions. This opened the way for music apps from Shazam and Spotify that have recently appeared on the iOS platfrorm. Currently another major music service is going to compete with iTunes.
On Tuesday Kodak has filed lawsuits against Apple and HTC claiming infringement of patent violations regarding the sharing of digital pictures between various electronic devices. The claim accuses Apple of violating four digital photography patents Kodak said it obtained after "concluding it would be desirable for people to easily share pictures" from digital cameras without having to first upload them to a central PC. Apple and HTC are likely to cooperate with each other over the Kodak suit, although the companies are suing each other.
Essentially, any Apple product with a camera is affected by the proposed suit, but specifically cited examples include the iPad 2, iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, and the iPod touch (4th generation).It is unclear whether software like Apple's Photo Stream, which allows digital images taken on one iDevice to be pushed to other devices through the company's iCloud, or other third-party apps that allow for image transfer over Bluetooth or WiFi are being targeted in the suit.
9to5Mac has reported a couple of hours ago that has discovered something potentially major: Siri Dictation references inside the iOS 5.1 beta 3 released today. Sonny Dickson (9to5Mac’s tipster) was looking through the iOS 5.1 beta 3 settings application on the iPad and discovered a new section in the keyboard menu called “About Privacy and Dictation.” When he opened it, as shown above, the iPad provides the user with the standard legal literature and feature information for Siri Dictation.
Dictation is not actually functional on the iPad 2 running iOS 5.1 beta 3, so perhaps this will be an iOS 5.1 launch feature for the iPad, or it may be an iPad 3-exclusive feature; a similar process to the iPhone 4S exclusively gaining Siri and Siri Dictation support in iOS 5.0. We’re also hearing this link/document is also appearing on retina iPod touches as well.
The iPhone Dev-Team has updated PwnageTool with support for the iOS 5.0.1 untethered jailbreak. PwnageTool lets you easily create a custom ipsw for upgrading to iOS 5.0.1.
Unlockers can use custim firmware to preserve baseband version and unlock with ultrasn0w or gevey. Depending on your device you can also configure the ipsw with boot logos and Cydia packages.
PwnageTool 5.0.1 supports iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPad 1, Apple TV 2G, iPod Touch 3G, iPod Touch 4G.
You can download the new version of PwnageTool 5.0.1 from here.
UPDATE: Here are our step-by-step tutorials that will guide you through all the process of untethered jailbreaking iOS 5.0.1 with PwangeTool 5.0.1:
Citing an anonymous source who worked at Apple, USA Today revealed that 50-inch Apple television is said to be housed in the secure California studio of Jonathan Ive. The same source also said that Apple is looking to build an LCD television sized 42 inches or larger with built-in Wi-Fi functionality, because Apple is not interested in building an HDTV with a screen size of less than 42 inches.
Author Scott Martin notes that Apple's rumored TV set is going to receive "big buzz" at next week's Consumer Electronics Show, even though the Cupertino, Calif., company isn't attending the event.
The story also features a quote from Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, who said he expects Apple will make "an attempt" to build a TV. He believes the living room will "remain a center for family entertainment, and that touches on all areas of consumer products that Apple is already making."
The report offers little else that is new about Apple's anticipated television set. Some reports have indicated that Apple plans to use custom chips, like it does with the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, others suggested that Apple could include AirPlay and iCloud into its new product. Rumors also claim that Apple wants to be able to offer customers customized channel lineups with its anticipated television set to choose whichever channels or shows they want for a monthly subscription fee.
Apple early today updated its investor relations page to officially state that it will report its fiscal first-quarter (fourth calendar quarter of 2011) earnings on Tuesday, Jan. 24, when it will reveal the results of the iPhone 4S launch and holiday shopping season.
Apple’s conference call webcast discussing Q1 - 2012 financial results will begin at 2:00pm PT/5:00pm ET on Tuesday, January 24, 2012.
Please note that comments made during this call may include forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties, and that actual results may differ materially from these forward-looking statements. For more information on the factors that could influence results, please refer to Apple’s SEC filings.
Current expectations on Wall Street call for Apple to report profits of $9.83 billion on revenue of $38.16 billion. A total of 46 analysts polled skew as high as $10.74 billion and as low as $8.88 billion in their predicted revenue. The company is also predicting all-time record iPhone sales as industry sales estimates have been pointing toward a similar record for Mac sales. iPad sales are also expected to be strong with a record number of sales. As for iPod sales, this quarter remains the company's strongest while iPods remain ones of the most popular gifts.
UPDATE: Apple released iOS 5.1 that is only tethered jailbreakable with redsn0w. Apple has stopped signing iOS 5.0.1, so you can NOT restore to 5.0.1 any more (both original and custom), unless you have saved your SHSH keys for 5.0.1. If you are on 5.0.1 you can jailbreak with redsn0w.
This is step-by-step instructions on how to perform untethered jailbreak of youriPad on iOS 5.0.1 firmware using RedSn0w 0.9.10 for Windows.
Untethered jailbreak means that each time you restart your device you will NOT need to connect it to a computer and run utilities.
Like the controversial face unlock functionality in Google’s Galaxy Nexus, a new Apple’s patent application points out that the company is developing similar but more sofisticated face detection solution. As PatentlyApple reports, Apple said that these user detection system could be included in a future MacBook, iPad, iPod touch and iPhone. Read the rest of this entry »
There have been a few attempts at releasing a physical game contrloller for Apple’s smartphone. ThinkGeek iCade has apparently been the most successful among them.