Apple and Google asked to help NYC solve mobile device thefts

Is Apple doing enough to prevent an upsurge in thefts targeting the iPhone? That's the question New York State's Attorney General is asking the smartphone maker, citing several violent incidents involving thefts of mobile phones. In a letter to Apple, Android-maker Google, Galaxy manufacturer Samsung and others, Eric Schneiderman wants details on what the companies are doing to prevent thefts of handsets.

The state's top law enforcement official noted thefts of Apple products in New York City between January 1 and September 23 rose forty percent while major crimes in the Big Apple increased by just four percent...

How ‘Uncarrier’: T-Mobile increases iPhone 5 down payment to $149

When T-Mobile, the nation's fourth-largest wireless carrier, started selling the iPhone 5 back in April, it offered the iconic smartphone for $99 down payment and 24 monthly payments of $20 to cover the full cost of the phone. And in an effort to push the device and lure would-be consumers into signing up, the Deutsche Telekom-owned telco last weekend started offering the device for the $0 down payment, with trade-in.

Unfortunately, the launch promotion for new users has ended now. As a result, the 16GB iPhone 5 now has a $149 payment, $50 more than before. Wait, the $99 down thing was actually a promo offer?

Samsung unveils 5G mmWave tech for ‘tens of gigabits per second’ wireless downloads

When you just can't wait a minute to download that huge video, Samsung comes to the rescue. Sort of. Eventually. Reports Monday indicate Apple's rival has found the key to delivering gigabit download speeds through a new fifth-generation cellular radio technology, dubbed 5G mmWave. It's unclear whether the new tech can gain acceptance to eventually overtake 4G networks still rolling out.

For the iPhone maker, however, Samsung breaking today's wireless speed barrier may mean more court wrangling as the two companies seek any advantage in the lucrative smartphone market...

SoundCloud now has Google+ Sign-In and sharing

Nearly a year ago, the Internet giant rolled out Google+ Sign-In as a way to counter Facebook Connect, a feature web site owners predominantly tap to simplify the sign in and account creation process for their users.

The Google+ SDK for iOS was released shortly after, giving Apple's registered iOS developers a set of tools and social plugins to write programs that are deeply integrated with the Google+ thing.

Although apps that support Google+ Sign-In are few and far between, at least relative to Facebook Connect-enabled mobile software, more and more developers are integrating Google+ features into their warez. The latest example: SoundCloud, an online audio distribution platform that today updated its iOS app with support for Google+ Sign-In and sharing...

Flipboard update brings SMS sharing, revamped profile pages, Friends category

Flipboard, the social news reader for iOS and Android, was updated today with a bevy of features and improvements. The new version includes the SMS sharing option which lets you send story URLs to your friends via text messaging.

Moreover, the app's Share menu has been re-worked for better usability so you can now share content with fewer taps than before.

Another welcomed (and way overdue) feature: if you seen an image you like, Flipboard now finally lets you save it to your Camera roll by tapping its Share icon and tapping 'Save to Camera Roll.' Go past the fold for improvements to Flipboard's custom magazine feature and other tidbits...

Bill Gates recounts emotionally on final meeting with Steve Jobs

Microsoft co-founder and chairman previously reflected on his meeting with Steve Jobs shortly before his death on October 5, 2011 at the age of 56. According to Walter Isaacson's official bio book on Jobs, the two talked about their 30-year relationship and rivalry, including the early days of the Macintosh.

Last night, Gates sat down with 60 Minutes' Charlie Rose to once again recount his final meeting with Jobs. In an emotional outpouring, teary-eyed Gates reflected on the wide range of topics they discussed, including admitting their failure to re-innovate educational through technology. Your video is right after the break...

Apple said to move from Foxconn to Pegatron

Hon Hai Precision Industry aka Foxconn, Apple's contract manufacturer of choice and the world's largest product assembler, is under threat to losing orders to rival Pegatron, which has been building older Apple products Like the iPhone 4S and 4.

According to a new Reuters report, Pegatron "wants to grab more orders to assemble the fast-selling iPhone and iPad." And in order to achieve this self-imposed goal, the Taiwanese manufacturer, which also builds the iPad mini, is reportedly ready to offer "more competitive pricing," even if it has to sacrifice its margins. The news gathering organization reports that Pegatron "appears to be succeeding" in pulling in more orders from Apple...

ABC to start live streaming content via iOS apps this week

This is kind of interesting. ABC, a TV network under the Walt Disney umbrella, is set to revolutionize its iPhone and iPad apps this week. It's going to be adding a new 'Live' viewing option to the software, which will [obviously] play live programming.

The live stream will work anywhere in a local market—as long as it's supported— the same way an old-fashioned antenna would. And according to The New York Times, this is the first time that a major broadcaster has turned on this kind of technology...

Message Send Percent is a status indicator for your outgoing messages

We try to cover as many new jailbreak tweaks as we can here at iDB, from game-changers like Velox to the smallest of UI changes. And this next one we're going to be talking about definitely falls in the latter category.

Message Send Percent, by developer greensnow, is a simple little UI tweak that adds a percentage indicator to your Messages app. This enables you to get a more precise readout on the progress of your outgoing messages...

Axis could be the iPhone’s best Lock screen launcher

There's no shortage of new Lock screen launchers as of late. You have Atom, Grabby, JellyLock, and a plethora of others. But there's a newcomer on the block that's trying to stake claim as the king of Cydia's Lock screen launchers — it's called Axis.

Axis is a jailbreak tweak designed by Sentry, and coded by an enigmatic, but an obviously talented young man by the name of rud0lf77. We've had our share of run ins with Mr. rud0lf77 in the past, but talent's talent, and he's apparently got some of it.

Sentry really needs no introduction. He's been a part of a string of hits on Cydia as of late, and has even more in the way of concepts. He's been the inspiration for numerous tweaks that have made their way to the Cydia store, and he's showing no signs of slowing down.

At first glance, his new Lock screen launcher tweak may seem familiar to you. It's actually pretty similar to the aforementioned Grabby Lock screen launcher tweak recently released by Ryan Petrich. In what seems to have been nothing more than a pure coincidence, both tweaks take the same basic idea, but the approach is different enough to make each tweak stand on its own.

Take a look inside, as we break down what makes Axis such an appealing new tweak. We go hands-on in this detailed video walkthrough.

iPhone, iPad granted security clearance for Pentagon’s network

It appears that all of that talk regarding iOS devices being close to gaining Pentagon clearance was spot on. Bloomberg is reporting this weekend that the US Department of Defense plans to give Apple security clearance later this week.

As we've discussed before, the DoD's approval would mean a lot for the Cupertino company, who has been trying to get its iPhone and iPad into government buildings, that were once reserved for BlackBerry, for quite some time now...

Kill apps in a single swipe with Slide2Kill

Like Sebastien, I uninstalled the popular jailbreak tweak Auxo earlier this year. Though beautifully designed, the app switcher replacement felt a little too bloated for me, and I was convinced that it made my iPhone slower.

I do miss a few of Auxo's features though, like its revamped iPod controls and the ability to swipe down on an app icon to close it out of the switcher. But luckily, a new tweak just came out that takes care of the latter for me...