Ahead of Opening Day, MLB refreshes iOS apps with new features, revamped UI

Major League Baseball (MLB) has some of the most highly-regarded sports apps on the App Store.

Specifically, MLB.com's At Bat and At The Ballpark software includes rich content such as in-game audio, live video streams, highlights, news and more for the entire MLB season, from Spring Training to the World Series.

With just a few days until Opening Day, MLB has updated both apps with some welcomed and timely new features, including a revamped interface, even deeper Passbook support and more multimedia content, to name just a few of them. Jump past the fold for additional details...

Chatter hints June 20 iPhone 5S, budget iPhone launch

With Apple's annual developers conference approaching fast, we're starting to see some credible leaks pertaining to the iPhone 5S, Apple's seventh-generation iPhone. We've already seen the leaked Home button and vibrator parts earlier this week and claimed speaker parts from before. And with analysts predicting a June launch for the device and Macotakara claiming earlier this month that Foxconn has already started the iPhone 5S production, now the same Japanese blog issues a new report that gives as the reportedly official announcement date for both the iPhone 5S and a more affordable model for emerging markets: Thursday, June 20...

China’s oldest animation studio sues Apple over improper downloads

Apple's legal woes in the 1.33 billion people market of China have worsened as Shanghai Animation Film Studio filed a lawsuit over the allegedly improper iTunes downloads. The studio asserts that Apple's been illegally selling its content and is seeking north of half a million dollars in damages. Shanghai Animation is China's first and oldest animation studios and their complaint alleges in no ambiguous terms that Apple blatantly stole their content without paying any royalty at all.

Note that Apple doesn't offer movies on the Chinese iTunes Store so the issue is thought to involve App Store apps which bundle the studio's movies. Apparently, Apple made available as much as 110 unlicensed Shanghai Animation titles for download via the App Store back in July 2012. The suit was reportedly filed with the Beijing No. 2 Intermediate People's Court, which has allegedly accepted the case.

So what's going on here? Did Apple intentionally steal and pirate someone else's content through its content store?

P0sixninja says he’s discovered exploits for next jailbreak

This is kind of interesting. Well-known iOS hacker and (former?) Chronic Dev Team member p0sixninja says that he has discovered enough exploits in iOS 6 to build a new jailbreak. The previous one, as most of you know, was recently shut down by Apple.

But it appears that p0sixninja has discovered some vulnerabilities that were not patched by the company's security team in the latest iOS update, as he tweeted out earlier tonight: "Well, so far it looks like the next jailbreak might be created entirely by me..."

Facebook reportedly preparing to launch a smartphone

Just a little bit ago, Facebook sent out press invitations for a media event next week. The keynote will take place at 10:00am PST on Thursday, April 4, at the company's headquarters on 1 Hacker Way in Menlo Park. What is it going to be talking about? Maybe its new smartphone.

Yes, I know. We've heard this rumor enough now that it's almost meaningless. But it sounds like it's for real this time. A new report says the handset, which is being built by HTC, has a 4.3-inch display, an iPhone-like Home button and is running a forked version of Android...

Spice up your device’s unlock animation with LiveWire

Tired of the standard zoom out animation that you see when you 'Slide to Unlock' your iOS device? You're not alone. Developers have created a number of jailbreak tweaks to spice up the unlock animation. And today, we're adding another one.

Introducing LiveWire, a new jailbreak tweak that modifies your device's behavior as it moves from the Lock screen to the Home screen. Where the default method kind of uses a zoom out effect, LiveWire looks more like stage curtains opening...

Apple rolls out new ‘Why iPad’ web campaign

Hot on the heels of its recently launched 'Why iPhone' web campaign, Apple has rolled out a similar advertising theme for its iPad. And as before, it showcases a number of reasons why the tablet has been so popular.

The new ‘Why iPad’ page highlights everything from awards, to features, and of course the iTunes ecosystem. Unlike tablets on other platforms, there are 300,000+ iPad-specific apps available in the App Store...

Limit your usage of up to 5 apps with AppCapPro

When we reviewed AppCap, a jailbreak tweak that offers digital willpower by allowing you to place limitations on the amount of time you spend using apps, back in February, we said we'd like to see multiple app support.

And it looks like the developer Binh Tran heard our plea, because he's just released a new 'Pro' version of the tweak that allows you to set up usage limitations—date, time, frequency—on up to 5 different applications...

Grab your Arc reactor and suit up: Iron Man 3 smashes onto iOS on April 25

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKflXaTdszs

Tony Stark is back, in style! Not only is he the star of a second Iron Man sequel, Iron Man 3, but you also get to play as the eccentric billionaire in a movie tie-in launching on iOS and Android soon, in time for the flick's domestic May 3 release.

French games maker Gameloft did a nice job on the original Iron Man and Iron Man 2 games so small wonder they're behind this latest installment, too. And if the first gameplay trailer is an indication, we're in for a surprise: Iron Man 3 appears to incorporate juicy graphics and fast-paced action as you lead Tony fighting the AIM around the world to prevent their dark schemes from succeeding...

Apple launching redesigned ‘Report a Problem’ tool for iTunes purchases

Earlier this month, Apple started rolling out a new 'Report a Problem' tool to a select group of customers. The feature, for those who haven't used it before, allows iTunes users to report a problem with a recent purchase of an app, song or other iTunes content.

And the tool's been redesigned this month to be easier to use, and more accessible to users. The previous version was only available in the actual Mac/Windows iTunes app, and the new edition will be available through any device with a web browser...

Jailbreak hack lets you enjoy T-Mobile LTE speeds on your iPhone 5

Yesterday, iDB reported that T-Mobile's iPhone 5 is actually a factory tweaked version of the existing AT&T model A1428 device, with support for T-Mobile's LTE AWS bandwidths. As a result, existing AT&T customers cannot use their iPhone 5 to take full advantage of T-Mobile's LTE speeds until after the Deutsche Telekom-owned telco launches its iPhone 5 on April 12, at which point Apple will replace the existing A1428 hardware with this re-tooled version.

But a hack has come along claiming to make AT&T's A1428 iPhone 5 - jailbroken and unlocked (officially or unofficially) - work on T-Mobile's LTE on the 1700MHz band. It accomplishes this by using a custom carrier firmware that enables support for T-Mobile's LTE AWS bandwidths. However, it won't make your AT&T device compatible with T-Mobile's speedy 3G DC-HSDPA on the 1700MHz band nor will your Verizon iPhone be fooled into accepting T-Mobile's LTE bands...

Apple updates Find My Friends app with new UI

Apple has released an update to Find My Friends this morning, bringing the app to version 2.1. This is the first Find My Friends release since 2.0.1 came out last October, which added new location-based notifications.

Today's update adds what Apple is calling a "New UI to search for and set location-based notifications." No, that doesn't mean that the ugly leather texture is gone. But it does mean that some parts of the app look better...