So here's something we haven't heard in a while: good news on the jailbreak front. It looks like now that pod2g has completed his first iOS app, entitled podDJ, the security expert has turned his attention to hacking iOS 6.
His return alone is great news, since it seems like he's been gone from the community forever. But to add to the excitement, the hacker just announced that he and planetbeing recently discovered two new vulnerabilities...
The Wall Street Journal published an interesting article today by Evan Ramstad entitled "Hype Builds for Smartphone, but It Isn't an Apple Device." Essentially, the whole piece is about how the commotion surrounding Samsung's upcoming Galaxy S IV handset is reaching iPhone-like proportions.
I didn't agree at first — I've seen leaked photos of Android handsets before, and heard rumors and speculation. But as I started to dig in a little bit I realized that Ramstad was right, there's something different this time around. A lot of people are talking about Samsung's next flagship handset...
One of the annoying quirks of iOS is there's no way to quickly toggle battery-draining and data-thirsty features and services we like to use selectively. Of course, that's without jailbreaking. Considering BossPrefs (the precursor to SBSettings) was released in 2007, it's about time Apple caught up with the demand for an official quick toggle panel. But how would Apple approach the problem?
Jean-Marc Denis posted one possibility to Dribbble. It's a concept called 'Lock Screen Drawer', which would allow users to access toggles by pulling on a tab under the lock screen clock. Pull the tab, and a small tray slides out. In the concept, the tray is equipped with toggles for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, airplane mode, and hotspot. We'd like to see GPS on the list too, so hopefully there would be a way to customize the toggles...
Following up on talk that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) is prepping to manufacture Apple’s A6X processor and whispers of Tim Cook & Co. negotiating a deal with the foundry to make mobile chips for iOS devices on its 20 nanometer process technology, China Times now quotes Chairman and CEO Morris Chang's words that TSMC is close to achieving a hundred percent market share on its 28nm process technology.
But why have TSCM's wafer shipments all of a sudden tripled, allowing it to achieve a virtual monopoly on the 28nm silicon? That's where the Apple link comes into full view...
This is probably one of the more interesting Steve Jobs-Apple anecdotes I've heard in a while. It comes from Aubrey Johnson, a former Color employee, who gives us a behind-the-scenes look at Apple's acquisitions of two startups: Lala and Color.
Apple purchased Lala, a streaming music company, back in late 2009, and it just completed its buyout of Color. And outside of the fact that both startups were founded by Bill Nguyen, not much else was really known about the two deals. Until now...
This photo is gold. Twelve of the most important people in Silicon Valley gathered for a dinner tonight, hosted by Nextdoor CEO and longtime Silicon Valley entrepreneur Nirav Tolia.
In attendance was Apple's design guru Jonathan Ive alongside a few other Silicon Valley celebrities.
Most notably, these include Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, Google X director Mike Cassidy, Twitter CEO Dick Costolo and CEOs of Yelp, Dropbox ("you're just a feature") and Path. Ive is just behind Yahoo's Marissa on the right.
Such a rare photo-op, and with an informal Jony Ive as a bonus? Priceless. At any rate, it's nice to see the world's most acclaimed industrial designer hanging out with Silicon Valley's most influential entrepreneurs, even if he doesn't look like he's having much fun. Perhaps you could write your own caption?
I didn't care much about cellular data tracking apps until I gave up my unlimited data plan, a couple months ago. Then all the sudden it became important to me to figure out how much data I was using and make sure I didn't go over my allocated amount. My wife and I share 4GB, and although we've historically never been close to using all of that, I like to keep an eye on my usage, just to feel safe.
So I downloaded the DataMan app, which has served its purpose wonderfully ever since as it provided me with real time data usage. One thing always bothered me about this app though: it just looked bad.
But this morning, I received an email from Johnny Ixe, the developer of DataMan, letting me know about his new app called DataMan Next. It serves the exact same purpose as DataMan, except it looks much better. I'd actually go as fasr as saying it looks beautiful, but you might want to see for yourself...
Back in 2011 a group of 29 people took action against Apple, claiming that the iPhone-maker was illegally enabling location-based features without their consent (you remember locationgate, don't you?). Today, however, they've backed down after failing to provide sufficient evidence.
The group had been seeking 800,000 won (or $757 USD) per person, but will now turn their attention to a separate class-action privacy suit filed with a regional court, which involves claims from roughly 27,000 iPhone owners in the country and could be worth up to $25 million...
There has never been so much hoopla surrounding Apple's supply chain like recent talk of a severe cut back in orders of screens for the iPhone 5, and now iPads as well. The negative sentiment in those unverified reports has already sent AAPL below $500 ahead of the impending earnings call.
But one analyst isn't worried at all. In his mind, the cutbacks are the result of an upcoming "evolutionary technology update" for the next iPhone rather than a sign of a lack of demand for the new Apple handset...
Earlier this week, we passed along a report claiming that Apple was looking to open up a new research and development center in Beijing. The news made sense, considering that on Tim Cook's recent visit to China, he was seen talking with high level government officials.
But according to a new report, which cites people familiar with the project, the R&D facility is actually going up in Shanghai. The campus, which Apple is expected to announce later this year, will feature three 6-story buildings, with over 100,000 square feet of space...
Amid all the negativity surrounding speculation of weaker than expected demand for the iPhone 5 (and now the full-size iPad) comes a glimpse of hope as buyers in China seem to be picking up their cellular iPads at a rapid clip. In fact, iPads are seeing shipping delays on the launch day in this massive market.
As promised, on Friday cellular versions of the full-size 9.7-inch iPad and 7.9-inch iPad mini went on sale in China. Immediately following the launch, however, Apple's online store in China is quoting a two-week delay for new online orders for both the Wi-Fi-only and cellular versions of the mini tablet...
Apple CEO Tim Cook will be questioned on February 20 alongside Google chairman Eric Schmidt, former Intel boss Paul Otellini and other top ranking officials of Silicon Valley companies in regard to allegations that these tech giants illegally instituted anti-poaching measures for financial gains.
U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh ordered Cook to be questioned by plaintiff attorneys for four hours. Five former employees of Apple, Google, Intel and others filed a civil suit alleging their former employers conspired to eliminate competition for each other's employees...