Jeff Benjamin

Jeff has been with iDownloadBlog since 2010, acting as resident video specialist, and tutorial expert. He earned his degree in Computer Network Systems back in 2001, but decided Cisco routers and the like just weren’t for him. Since then, he’s been heavily involved with online writing. He’s written for numerous tech and video game sites since the late 1990′s, and has a knack for explaining things in a simple, clear, and concise manner. Jeff works primarily from the east coast on his Retina Macbook Pro, and shoots video with a Canon DSLR. During downtime he likes to travel the world, visiting the various Apple Stores across the globe. You can email him at jeff [at] idownloadblog.com and follow him on Twitter @JeffBenjam or on Google+.

More iPhone 5 Rumblings From the Wall Street Journal

Jeff Benjamin ∙ April 8, 2011

Surprise! The Wall Street Journal posted some more gossip about the iPhone 5 this morning, and I think it's safe to say that at this point, no one really knows when the iPhone 5 is going to launch.

Will it be June? Will it be September? Anyone's guess is as good as mine, but be rest assured that Apple has a plan in place at this point in the game

In fact, one analyst quoted in today's Wall Street Journal tidbit seemed to reiterate the fact that no one really knows. Due to a variety of factors, including the recent launch of the Verizon iPhone 4, Apple is holding its cards tightly this go round...

Clorox Employees Prefer the iPhone By a Wide Margin

Jeff Benjamin ∙ April 8, 2011

If this isn't telling about the state of the smart phone industry, I don't know what is. It's particularly bad news for the folks at RIM -- the company behind the BlackBerry brand.

Sensing that his employees were unsatisfied with their company issued BlackBerry smartphones, Clorox CIO Ralph Loura decided to give his employees a choice.

They could choose between three different smartphone brands: the iPhone, Android, or Windows Phone 7.

Guess which platform the smart folks at Clorox selected en-masse?

‘MT Gestures’ is an Easy Way to Add Multi-Touch Gestures to iPhones Running iOS 4.3.1

Jeff Benjamin ∙ April 8, 2011

Well perhaps I should have restated that. MT Gestures will (hopefully soon) be an easy way to add multi-touch gestures to your iPhone 4 running iOS 4.3.1. That's because the developer, although they tout iPhone 4 compatibility within Cydia alongside the iPod touch G4, has admitted that the iPhone 4 compatibility isn't exactly working yet.

I can attest to this assertion, it isn't working yet. But I will say that it has plenty of promise for those of you who shy away from manually editing .plist files in order to enable multi-touch gestures on your iPhone 4.

What is working, however, is the new iPad-esque mute switch assignment options in the Settings.app. That's a pretty decent consolation prize while we wait for the developer to iron the bugs out for iPhone compatibility...

‘AlertArtist’ Lets Digital Picassos Spruce Up Their iPhone Notifications

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated May 5, 2011

I've never been a big themer; in fact, even though it's jailbroken I take pride in the fact that my iPhone looks pretty much stock most of the time.

Besides a few obvious omissions from my iPhone's Home screen, I try to keep it as clean as I possibly can.

With that in mind, it's no surprise that I'm not really big into WinterBoard, and other apps that allow you to customize the look of your iPhone.

There's a new exception to that rule, though. A new jailbreak app by the name of AlertArtist piqued my interest, and I've been hooked ever since...

‘ManualCorrect Pro’ Adds More Options to Maneuver Around Auto Correct’s Blunders

Jeff Benjamin ∙ April 6, 2011

Oh auto correct, how we all do loathe thee.

A couple of months ago I walked you through a jailbreak tweak entitled ManualCorrect -- a tweak that aimed to tame the iPhone's native auto correct and make it functional.

The tweak was met by rave reviews by yours truly, and even garnered a few votes on Nick's Top Five Jailbreak Apps post.

Now a new version of the tweak -- ManualCorrect Pro -- has been unveiled that seeks to further subdue the iPhone's nefarious auto correction; but is it worth paying for?

Leaked iPod touch Image Could Potentially Paint a Picture of the iPhone’s Future

Jeff Benjamin ∙ April 5, 2011

The iPod touch, with a "touch to home" feature. How obvious, when you think about it?

This new leaked photo of what is apparently an iPod touch is making waves around the Internet today due to its lack of a mechanical Home button.

Although it's a bit different than the rumors that suggested that the Home button would go away completely, a capacitive touch sensitive button is certainly one step in said direction.

Of course Android phones have been doing this for quite some time now, but it'll be interesting to see -- assuming the photo is the real deal -- if this feature will ever make it to the iPhone...

Surprise. Verizon iPhone Users Drop Fewer Calls

Jeff Benjamin ∙ April 5, 2011

Well thank you Captain Obvious! In a recent poll it's been revealed that Verizon iPhone's drop fewer calls than AT&T iPhone users.

A ChangeWave survey consisting of 4,068 participants found that Verizon users have experienced 3% less dropped calls when compared to AT&T users.

While it's not the greatest sampling of customers, it does reinforce the overall notion that Verizon features a more stable and robust network.

In other news, the sky is blue, and I had to pay my taxes this year as well...

Jailbreak iPhone iOS 4.3.1

Jeff Benjamin ∙ April 4, 2011

After much anticipation, the iOS 4.3.1 jailbreak was released early this morning, but I guess the actual time depends on where you live.

This is the first untethered jailbreak solution for iOS 4.3.1. There have been other jailbreaks for iOS 4.3.1 but they were tethered and had issues with stability.

Finally, we have a stable and working iOS 4.3.1 solution; actually we have many solutions, as you'll see below. Big thanks to @i0n1c for his untether, and the iPhone Dev Team for their hard work at making this a reality...

More Details About iPhone 4.3.1 Unlock Emerge

Jeff Benjamin ∙ April 3, 2011

Just to preface this before anyone gets the wrong idea; there is still no new baseband unlock available.

Now that the formalities are out of the way, I think it's safe to tell you that new details have been revealed about the existing baseband unlock and its compatibility with the soon to be released untethered jailbreak for iOS 4.3.1.

Depending on when the jailbreak is actually released, if you rely on an unlock, you may have to wait a while until a new version of UltraSn0w is released. This is due to some compatibility issues between iOS 4.3.1 and the current version of UltraSn0w.

Fortunately, you won't have to wait long, as the latest tweets from members of the iPhone Dev Team confirm...

Top 10 iPhone News You Might Have Missed This Week

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated May 2, 2011

This is a summary of the most popular articles published on iDB and our sister, ziPadBlog, this past week.

Please make sure to spread our iPhone wisdom by sharing our posts on Twitter and Facebook.

Angry Birds Movie Trailer Parody Use Skype as a Home Security System Gevey SIM iPhone 4 Unlock Deemed Illegal iOS 5 to Make Its Debut on June 6th New Video Shows Off iOS 4.3.1 Untethered Jailbreak Apple Patches Comex’s Exploit in iOS 4.3.1 iPhone 5 Probably Won’t Be Seen this Summer Has iOS 4.3.1 Improved Your iPhone's Battery Life? iPhone Dev Team Testing Untethered Jailbreak Apple Hasn’t Even Ordered iPhone 5 Parts 9 Reasons Not to Buy the iPhone 5 Sony Confirms Making 8-Megapixel Camera for the iPhone 5

From our sister iPad Blog, ziPadBlog.com:

iPad 2 Competition Heating Up? iPad 2 Lacking Moisture Indicators President Obama Carries an iPad Apple Buys Man a Free iPad iPad Wireless HDMI Hack Allows for Wireless 1080p Output The Dev Team’s 4.3.1 Jailbreak a No Go For the iPad 2

iOS 4.3.1 Untethered Jailbreak Will Be Released When #SundayIsFunday Trends on Twitter

Jeff Benjamin ∙ April 3, 2011

Get your Twitter hats on folks, and start promoting #sundayisfunday!

Stefan Esser, the hacker who found the untethered exploit in iOS 4.3.1, says that, "Maybe that would make the dev-team release."

As we previously reported, Esser, who goes by i0n1c on Twitter, provided the untether to the DevTeam so that they could use it in the upcoming releases of RedSn0w and PwnageTool -- the jailbreak supports all devices capable of running iOS 4.3.1, except for the iPad 2...

Cydia Gets a Special New Feature – Introducing the QuickBar

Jeff Benjamin ∙ April 1, 2011

If you loaded up Cydia today to peruse the latest selection of jailbreak tweaks and apps available to download, you might have rubbed your eyes a bit to make sure you weren't seeing things.

Yep, Cydia got a special new feature, and no doubt for a limited time only. It's called the QuickBar. Yes, that QuickBar.

It looks like Twitter's panned QuickBar made the move from Twitter's official iPhone app to Cydia.

Don't believe us? Check it out for yourself, or take a look at the proof inside...