Month: February 2013

Bureaucracy preventing French from getting LTE on their iDevices until year’s end

Owners of LTE-enabled Apple devices in France won't get to enjoy the benefits of speedy cellular downloads before the end of 2013 amid lobbying between the country's wireless carriers and the agency for telecommunications ARCEP.

The country's local carriers like Orange and SFR last year spent to the tune of €1.2 billion, or approximately $1.6 billion, to acquire the 800MHz band.

The problem is, this radio frequency is supported neither by the iPhone 5 nor by many mobile devices from other vendors, including Samsung. Moreover, these carriers are now asking the ARCEP to wait until at least end of 2013 before refarming the 1,800MHz spectrum, which is compatible with Apple's handset...

The iPhone moniker is in jeopardy in Brazil

When Apple acquired rights to the iPhone moniker from Cisco ahead of the 2007 iPhone launch, the company probably never dreamed that it could face losing naming rights in Brazil. Reuters in December 2012 relayed a local report explaining that the Brazilian electronics maker IGB Eletrônica SA owns a trademark for the “IPHONE” term in Brazil. And now, another report has it that IGB could indeed be the rightful holder of the iPhone trademark in the country...

iPad mini shipping times drop to 1-3 days in some countries

Apple has had a hard time catching up with demand for its new iPad mini. Since the tablet debuted last November, supply has been extremely constrained, and shipping estimates only recently dropped below a month.

But things are starting to even out now—either due to Apple ironing out supply chain issues or a recent drop in demand—because the mini is now showing shipping times (in some countries) of just 1-3 business days...

Apple introduces new short AppStore.com URLs

Apple last week posted an announcement to its developer portal, informing app-makers that they can now use short (or 'vanity') URLs to send out links to their App Store apps. For instance, a link to the iWork app would be appstore.com/iwork.

Typically, links to Apple-hosted software are comprised of lengthy URLs with ID numbers—nearly impossible for anyone to remember. But Apple is hoping that these new short URLs will make it easier for developers to market their apps...

Evasi0n could drop at noon EST tomorrow

By now, most of you have probably already heard that Evasi0n will not be arriving today. The evad3rs tweeted this afternoon that the final countdown towards 'tomorrow's release' has begun.

Of course, they didn't give us any idea of what time to expect it tomorrow. But, as a few folks on Twitter have pointed out, the progress bar on the Evasi0n page is set to expire at noon tomorrow...

Evasi0n will be released tomorrow – status moves to 91%

Apparently, Sunday isn't exactly Funday after all. Contray to popular belief, the iOS 6 untethered jailbreak will be released tomorrow (Monday), instead of Sunday. The evad3rs team just sent out a tweet confirming it.

In the meantime, evasi0n.com shows a status of 90% complete. All that's left to do now is to perform final tests and preparation.

Apple specialist Sam Sung gets a mention in Samsung’s Super Bowl commercial

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ae7E8J7h7Y

If you live outside the United States, you could be wondering why all the fuss about Super Bowl. But to many of our U.S. readers, Super Bowl is America's favorite national pastime. Regardless of the camp you belong to, pretty much all of us love big-budget Super Bowl commercials, that much is a given. And speaking of advertising, Samsung ahead of Sunday's Big Game has "leaked" its anticipated commercial.

Conceptualized by the Los Angeles-based creative shop 72andSunny and directed by Jon Favreau, it features Knocked Up stars Seth Rogen and Paul Rudd who are called in to pitch their concepts for Samsung's Next Big Thing.

But despite their best effort to bat around crazy ideas with Bob Odenkirk (example: "crowdsourcing... we won’t have to think of ideas!”), Miami Heat star LeBron James makes a tablet cameo and lands the gig instead. Though it takes jabs at both the NFL and ad industry and mocks Psy and his Gangnam Style, interestingly enough the commercial isn't about Apple at all, sans a subtle reference that almost escaped my attention...

Football helmet sensor sends concussion warnings to your iPhone

This is pretty interesting, and fairly relevant considering the Super Bowl is later today. The folks over at Impakt Protective have come up with a g-force sensor that fits inside a helmet, and measures the impact a player sustains from a tackle or collision.

If a player is hit too hard, the sensor, which is appropriately named the Shockbox, will send a color-coded alert to a designated iPhone or other mobile device. Impakt is hoping that this will help curb the growing rate of sports-related head injuries...

The iDownloadBlog top news stories of the week – Feb 10, 2013 edition

Like every Sunday, we bring you the stories that were the most popular on iDB during this past week. Whether it is a news piece, an editorial, a tutorial, a new jailbreak tweak, or an accessory review, we sum it all up in one convenient place. If you like what you're reading, please make sure to spread the love by sharing our posts on your favorite social network. We're usually hanging out a lot on Twitter and Facebook, more rarely on Google+... 

iOS 6 Jailbreak imminent – status now at 85%

All of the signs are pointing to a very imminent iOS 6 jailbreak release. Many of the important Cydia packages have just been updated, the first round of testing has concluded for the major platforms, and now, a new Read me section has been added to the evasi0n.com home page.

As it has been stated before, it is believed that Sunday — today — will be the day that the jailbreak will be released by the evad3rs. It could come at any time, but now we feel that we could be, perhaps, very close to the actual release.

Evasi0n jailbreak wallpapers for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch

We are all excited the Evasi0n jailbreak is around the corner, with a predicted, but not confirmed, release date of Sunday, February 3. The anticipation is high and everyone is getting pumped about finally jailbreaking their iOS 6.1 device, including me! As we prepare for the imminent release, I put together a few iOS wallpapers for everyone to enjoy...

How to save SHSH blobs for iOS 6.1

Every time there's a new jailbreak, the same message is preached: Save your SHSH blobs! In fact, even when there is not a jailbreak, it's a good practice to always save your SHSH blobs. These files are absolute must haves if there ever opens up the possibility to downgrade back to iOS 6.1 once newer firmware is released. If you don't save your blobs for a specific firmware, then the possibility of ever being able to downgrade to that firmware is slim to none.

So please, be proactive. Save your SHSH blobs right now. That way, when Apple drops iOS 6.1.1, or whatever its next firmware will be called, you will already have your blobs saved. Apple has been quick about closing its firmware signing window as of late, so once the new firmware is released, it might be too late to save the iOS 6.1 blobs.

If you haven't already done so, there's no need to feel ashamed, but act now. Take a look at our easy to follow step-by-step walkthrough inside, and we'll show you just how simple the process is.