Saurik brings AFC2 support to iOS 8

For those of you who prefer to manage iOS's file system via USB, we have some good news for you. Saurik recently pushed an AFC packaged called Apple File Conduit 2 to jailbroken iOS 8 users. The package, which is downloadable from Cydia right now, allows users to browse the entire iOS root file system when your device is connected to your computer via USB.

HuddleLamp combines all your Apple mobile devices into a massive multitouch canvas

What if you could combine screens of iOS devices sitting on your table into one massive multitouch enabled canvas that you could interact with?

That's what researchers with the Human-Computer Interaction Group at the University of Konstanz in Germany set out to create with their noteworthy HuddleLamp project.

Basically a tabletop with a built-in 3D camera that sits above, the HuddleLamp uses smart software which analyzes RGB and depth data to not only detect your mobile devices such as smartphones or tablets, but also track hand movement and determine their relative position to one another.

The results are impressive: the HuddleLamp can detect interactions above and between displays so you can swipe and toss information from one device to another, render a huge map across the devices with each screen showing only a portion of the map and what not.

Video shows iPad Air 2 being subjected to non-scientific drop test

Every time a new Apple mobile product comes along, you can bet that prolific YouTubers will be first out of the gate with those silly, non-scientific drop test videos. As you may have guessed, the iPad Air 2 is no exception.

Courtesy of YouTuber TechRax, we now know that the latest 9.7-inch Apple tablet's screen won't survive being dropped on the front glass panel from approximately five feet high. Watch the video embedded right after the break.

Tim Cook: bringing Apple Pay to China ‘is on the top of our list’

Repeating his favorite line that China, home to 1.33 billion people, is a key market to Apple, CEO Tim Cook said bringing Apple's revolutionary mobile payments system to the country “is on the top of the list”.

“China is a really key market for us,” Cook told state-run Xinhua news agency Friday. ”Everything we do, we are going to work it here. Apple Pay is on the top of the list.”

Cook and his teams at Apple were still “seeking to understand” the steps needed to make Apple Pay a reality for Chinese customers, the report added.

iPad mini 3’s ‘hastily glued’ Touch ID Home button makes screen repairs difficult

Following their analysis of the iPad Air 2's innards, repair experts over at iFixIt have now perfumed their ritual teardown dance with Apple's iPad mini 3. As you know, the iPad mini 3 is basically the iPad mini 2 with the addition of Touch ID and a gold color option so there isn't much to be analyzed here.

That being said, iFixIt was able to make a few noteworthy observations regarding the new tablet's repairability. Specifically, they found that Apple engineers glued the Home button bracket to the front panel assembly, making Touch ID and Home button repairs difficult.

Apple Pay now accepts Amazon’s Visa Rewards card

In just two short days following Amazon's confirmation that it's been working to enable its Chasse-issued Amazon.com Rewards Visa co-branded card for use on Apple Pay, users can now load that card in Apple's mobile payments software, according to TechCrunch and reports on MacRumors forums, Reddit, Twitter and other social media channels on Friday.

Apple Pay users should now be able to add their Visa Rewards card in Apple Pay, either by entering the card details manually or snapping a picture of their card with the iPhone's camera. Twitter reports prove that doing so puts the correct card image with the Amazon logo in the Passbook application.

In celebration of 10th anniversary, Rockstar puts Grand Theft Auto games on sale

Rockstar Games is celebrating the 10th anniversary of Grand Theft Auto, the famous action-adventure video game franchise originally created by David Jones and Mike Dailly. And to mark the occasion, Rockstar has put the wildly popular Grand Theft Auto III, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City games on sale in the App Store.

This is a great limited-time opportunity to save as much as seven bucks on all three open-world action-adventure games.

HomeScreen Settings 7 lets you preview various settings from the Home screen

We've seen tweaks that provide quick access to various settings by making use of Activator gestures, however HomeScreen Settings 7 is a brand new jailbreak tweak by popular jailbreak developer Elias Limneos that offers a unique functionality to quickly access some of your settings directly from the Home screen.

HomeScreen Settings 7 allows users to add any settings to the Home screen and directly access them from there without opening the Settings app. The settings appear as icons on your Home screen which look quite similar to the folder icon. Tapping on any one of them displays a small folder-like settings page which you can interact with.

LockSpeed adds your favorite contacts to your Lock screen

One of the useful features of the Phone app is the 'Favorites' section which I frequently us  to quickly make calls to some of my contacts. LockSpeed is a new jailbreak tweak that goes a step further and allows you to quickly reach your favorite contacts directly from the Lock screen without even unlocking your device.

Developed by Alexandru Laurus, LockSpeed adds the first 9 favorite contacts from the Phone app to the Lock screen on a separate page which can be accessed by swiping the screen from right to left. Doing so displays a new page with the all the favorite contacts added, which are presented by a circular icon with initials or picture if the contact already has one.

RGB Express goes free as Apple’s App of the Week

Apple has named the popular mini truck puzzler RGB Express its app of the week for this week. This means that from now through next Thursday, you’ll be able to pick up the title for free in the App Store—a solid $3 discount from its normal price tag.

For those who haven't played RGB Express, the game is simple. Players are tasked with drawing routes for their trucks in a way that ensures every house receives the correct package. There are over 200 levels, which of course get progressively tougher.

10 great jailbreak tweaks that work on iOS 8 right now [video]

Now that Cydia Substrate has been updated, many jailbreak developers are rushing to update their apps and tweaks for iOS 8. But did you know that many jailbreak tweaks, although they've not been officially updated, already work with iOS 8?

Inside, we break down 10 jailbreak releases that already play relatively nice with iOS 8, even though they may not have been officially updated. Check out our list, and add your own favorite tweaks in the comments to share with other readers. Full video after the break.

Apple extends TestFlight beta testing to everyone

Apple's acquisition of TestFlight is about to make a big splash when it comes to the general public gaining greater access to developer betas. A short while ago, developers began receiving emails from iTunes Connect alerting them of the wider availability of beta tester invites.

Developers will be able to invite up to 1000 testers to beta test their iOS apps, and it's all done through a simple email invitation initiated through the iTunes Connect website. Once sent, recipients of the email can accept the invitation and can install the beta app on their iOS devices within the TestFlight app. It seems like a win-win situation for everyone involved. Developers get a super-simple way to manage and send out beta invites, and beta testers potentially receive broader access to the apps that interest them most.