Year: 2012

iPhone 4S Battery Improvement Tweak Proven Fake

Over the past week or so, there has been a lot talk regarding a recently-released iPhone 4S jailbreak tweak that supposedly fixes the handset's battery problem. We've neglected to mention the utility here on iDB for a couple reasons.

One, the tweak has only been available on the insanelyi repo — a Cydia repository known for hosting pirated applications. And two, it simply sounded too good to be true...

Yummy! These Apple Products Look Delicious

It appears that Apple's popular products haven't just "inspired" the competition, but they've also influenced a certain Taiwanese bakery. It's obvious that the cake-makers over at Comte have taken their packaging cues from the Cupertino company.

Their most popular product, the iFong, is a pineapple-flavored cake cut into 6 pieces and served up in an all-too-familiar iPhone-shaped box. But that's not all this bakery is offering...

Foxconn Employee: iPhone 5 is Ready for Production

Rumors are part and parcel of an Apple device, but 9to5Mac just dropped something of a bombshell, with the news that a Foxconn employee has apparently told them that the iPhone 5 – or whatever it ends up being called – is ready for final production, leaving a summer launch a possibility.

Rumors of just what the iPhone 5 will be have been around for quite some time now, but this latest round comes with added weight, assuming this supposed Foxconn employee's information is accurate.

The source also shared some other interesting information, including the size of the screen and other structural tidbits that could alter the smartphone landscape considerably...

The Kindle Fire Did Not Affect iPad Sales

Amazon's Kindle Fire was expected to have a detrimental effect on Apple's iPad sales leading up to the Christmas season, but according to the company's CEO, that isn't actually how it panned out.

During Apple's quarterly earnings call yesterday, new CEO Tim Cook shared that he has been keeping a close eye on iPad sales since the release of Amazon's competing product just in case it managed to take a bite out of Apple's sales.

According to Cook, that didn't actually happen. In fact, the Kindle Fire didn't affect iPad sales at all...

Huge iPhone 4S Sales Knock Android Off Top Spot

Apple yesterday announced its sales numbers for the latest quarter, and what results they were. 37 million iPhones sold is not a number to be sniffed at, and it's one that was enough to see Apple overtake Samsung once more as the top dog in smartphone sales.

The huge number of iPhones sold has also seen Apple's smartphone overtake Android handsets, with the competition – HTC, Motorola – reporting less than stellar figures themselves...

Tim Cook: We Underestimated Chinese Demand for iPhone 4S

When Apple's iPhone 4S went on Sale in China on January 12th, many were taken by surprise at the sheer number of people that turned up to buy one.

The chaos was so bad in fact, that Apple was forced to close its stores amid safety concerns – a move which simply angered those who had queued for hours, resulting in eggs being hurled at the store's windows.

Now Apple CEO Tim Cook has admitted that the company had underestimated the "staggering" demand for its iPhone in the country, and that they thought they had already overcooked sales estimates...

Belfry Lets You Install Stock iPhone Apps on Your iPad

Back when the iPad launched in 2010, many people complained that it didn't have any of the native apps found on the iPhone and iPod touch. However, a new jailbreak tweak by Ryan Petrich called Belfry is about to change that.

Belfry is a simple tweak that will install 6 stock apps on your iPad: Clock, Calculator, Compass, Voice Memos, Stocks, and Weather...

Upcoming Jailbreak Tweak Lets You Tweet With Siri

It was only a matter of time, but the inevitable has finally happened. Even though you could already use this workaround to send status updates to Twitter using Siri, you can now tweet with Siri courtesy of an upcoming jailbreak tweak.

The yet to be named tweak is making its way around the blogosphere, and should be released to the public in the very near future.

We're pretty impressed by how accurate tweeting with Siri actually is, but that should be expected since Siri is very precise when it comes to dictation.

Check out our hands on video as we tweet with Siri inside...

Inside Apple: Apple’s Dirty Little Secrets Now Available for Download

Inside Apple is a new book by Adam Lashinsky that takes a shot at revealing how the Cupertino company works from the inside out. A few excerpts have been released within the last couple days, but now, the whole book is available to everyone.

According to the book's description, "INSIDE APPLE reveals the secret systems, tactics and leadership strategies that allowed Steve Jobs and his company to churn out hit after hit and inspire a cult-like following for its products."

The book is available from various sources:

Download it from the iBooks Store for $12.99 Download it from the Kindle Store for $12.99 Order the hard cover copy from Amazon for $16.19

Jailbreaking Could Become a Legal Violation This Year

Back on July 26th of 2010, the US government made the act of jailbreaking electronic devices legal by federal law. This cleared up a lot of the confusion surrounding jailbreaking, and opened the door for folks worried about its legality.

Over the last two years we've been enjoying this freedom, most recently hacking our iPhone 4S and iPad 2 devices. But according to the EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation), we could lose that freedom this year if we don't act...

Tim Cook Calls Special Town Hall Meeting for Apple Employees Tomorrow

Hot on the heels of Apple's blowout quarterly earnings report this afternoon, 9to5Mac is reporting that Tim Cook has sent an internal email out to Apple employees regarding the company's success.

In the memo, Cook congratulates his team on a record-setting quarter and thanks them for all of their hard work on Apple's new iBooks initiative. He also asks the employees to join him for a special meeting tomorrow at Apple's Town Hall...

With 85 Million Users, iCloud Plays Big Part in Apple’s Next 10 Years Strategy

Apple's quarterly earnings call has certainly raised a few eyebrows this time around, with the company reporting huge sales, huge profits and just all around awesomeness. If you're an Apple shareholder, then you're probably very happy right about now.

Many interesting tidbits came out of the earnings call, but one that may not be getting that much attention is the news that there are now 85 million iCloud users, making it clear just why Apple needed that fancy new data center after all.

We suspect Apple wishes it was charging them all the same $99 it charged for MobileMe...