Month: July 2011

SpotEnhancer: Quickly Launch Apps with Spotlight Commands

For his final TweakWeek entry, Andrea Oliva gives us SpotEnhancer. This unique jailbreak utility puts a different spin on quick launching apps, by allowing users to open apps with Spotlight Search commands.

SpotEnhancer gives you several commands that can do anything from open a new text message, to launch a Google search. There are even commands for your favorite social networking apps...

TSA Agent Caught with iPad in His Pants

Yes, you read that headline correctly. While Americans have plenty of complaints with our nation's Transportation Security Administration, we can't deny that one agent in particular has... gonads (pardon the pun).

That's right, the now-convicted TSA agent, Nelson Santiago, was caught attempting to steal an iPad by means of stuffing it in his pants...

iPhone Owners Love Games More Than Other Smartphone Users

The "Games" section of the App Store hold thousands of awesome titles for our iPhones, iPods and iPads. We all love to play games on the iPhone, and a recent study from Nielson shows that iPhone users actually like playing games more than anyone else.

According to Nielson, the average iPhone owner spends twice the average time of any other smartphone user playing games. The iPhone actually beats out its closest competitor, Android, by nearly double the percentage time spent on mobile games from the App Store. We're not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing...

AT&T Memo Hints at an October 4th iPhone 5 Launch Date

If you think iPhone rumors are bad now, just wait until we get into August and September. Until Apple unveils its next smartphone, the entire tech industry is in a game of "guess what and when" for Apple's next announcement.

While the answer to the first question seems to vary depending on who you ask, most folks tend to agree that the device will launch sometime this Fall. Now the exact date is anybody's guess, but 9to5Mac just received an interesting tip that could suggest we'll see the new iPhone launch on October 4th...

iOS 5 Beta 3 Set to Expire on August 18

If you updated your iPhone, iPad, iPod or Apple TV to the latest iOS 5 Beta 3 release, you need to know that, according to iH8Sn0w, it will expire on August 18, 2011 at 8pm EST.

So what will happen at that time? Well, your iPhone might explode, your iPad will implode, and your Apple TV will fly back to its original factory in China. More seriously, I'd assume that it wouldn't let you use your device until it's updated to a newer beta or maybe even the official firmware... 

TinyUmbrella Updated for iOS 5 Beta 3 [Save Your SHSH Now]

A quick update to let you know that Notcom has updated TinyUmbrella to version 5.00.04 with iOS 5 Beta 3 support. This update also seems to fix a visual bug that some users may have encountered in the previous version.

As usual, we recommend you download TinyUmbrella and save your SHSH blobs asap to avoid being locked out in the future. Obviously, if you're not a jailbreaker, you shouldn't care about TinyUmbrella...

Verizon Will Let Unlimited 3G Customers Upgrade to 4G Plans for Free, Good News for iPhone Users?

We've got good news for folks on the nation's second largest network. Verizon Wireless will not only continue to grandfather customers into its unlimited 3G data plan, but these customers will also have access to the carrier's new 4G unlimited data plan at the same price.

If you've got the old $29.99/month unlimited plan for your iPhone, you will get to keep that plan as long as you stay on Verizon. Big Red's unlimited 4G data plan will also be available to you at the same price, that is, whenever a 4G-capable iPhone becomes available...

AT&T Makes International Data Plans “a Bit Less Very Expensive”

If you're planning to travel overseas with your AT&T iPhone, you've probably already looked into international data plans, and figured out it was a complete rip off. And yes, you are right, international data usage on AT&T will cost you an arm and a leg.

In order to make this slightly less ridiculously expensive, AT&T has revamped its international data plan options, basically doubling their offering while keeping the same prices. It's still way overpriced, but at least you get more data...

Gaming Giant Claims Mobile Devices Will Outpace Today’s Consoles Within Two Years

John Carmack, the man behind id Software (the team responsible for the likes of Quake and Doom) believes it won't be long before our portable devices are more powerful than the games consoles we're playing on today.

In an interview with IndustryGamers, Carmack shared his views on the current state of the iOS gaming world, claiming that while the current crop of best-selling titles are smaller, lighter titles, such as, Angry Birds, the time will come that we find ourselves using out smartphones and tablets to play the full-fledged titles currently reserved for home consoles...

VirusBarrier: The First Malware Scanning App For iOS

It had to happen sooner or later, and we now have our first iOS application designed for catching and eradicating malware.

While there are currently no known malware threats to iPhones, iPads or iPod touches, VirusBarrier is aimed at scanning the files we all find ourselves sharing around our local network...

New Jailbreak Tweak Easily Displays Song Lyrics on Your iPhone

We've got another TweakWeek entry for you. This one comes from Andrea Oliva and might just be a godsend for folks who enjoy a good impromptu sing-along.

PlayingLyrics is a unique jailbreak utility that can instantly bring up the lyrics of a currently playing track. The cool thing is that you can use Activator to assign a button or gesture to the function, so your song lyrics are available at all times...

iOS 5 Beta 3 Introduces New AssistiveTouch Feature

The third beta release of Apple's iOS 5 firmware was seeded to developers yesterday, and in addition to a number of fancy new sounds and some welcome bug fixes, there's also a new 'AssistiveTouch' feature.

With AssistiveTouch enabled within the Accessibility Settings on your iOS device, you're presented with a new button on your home screen, which gives you access to a menu overlay with a number of features that may mean you never have to touch your device's buttons again...