New Zealand police pick iOS over BlackBerry, Android in 10,000 device deal

The New Zealand Police Department has announced that it will be doling out 10,000 iOS devices to its officers over the next few months as part of a new technology push. It says that 6000 of its officers will be receiving iPhones, and 3900 of them will also receive tablets.

According to Police Commissioner Peter Marshall, the decision to go with Apple's platform came after field testing a range of different devices, including those running Android and BlackBerry operating systems. The deal is said to be worth in upwards of $5 million...

Scosche Lightning chargers arrive

Announced back in November 2012, Scosche's chargers based on Apple's Lightning I/O are now available for sale at the company's web store. The California-based accessory maker now sells a range of Lightning chargers for use with your car and home sockets. Wall chargers are priced up to $34.99 and car chargers start at $24.99. In addition, Scosche also sells the $24.99 three-foot retractable Lightning-to-USB cable. More on this hear right after the break...

The official Kickstarter app finally hits the iPhone

Funding platform Kickstarter is great for crowd-sourcing projects traditional investors may not be keen on supporting. I mean, Kickstarters gave us the majestic Pebble E-Watch, a foldable iPhone keyboard, mounts,  innovative stands and a whole bunch of accessories. We're not really sure what took it so long, but here it is: the official Kickstarter app. A free download for your iPhone and iPod touch (iPads are not supported natively), the app provides easy access to thousands of projects...

Apple closely trails Amazon in mobile shopping satisfaction

A new survey out Wednesday gives an intriguing snapshot of current mobile shopping. Naturally, the top Internet retailer, Amazon, takes the first spot in shopping satisfaction but Apple is close on its heels and ties with TV retail powerhouse QVC. In a survey by analytics player ForeSee taken during the all-important holiday shopping period, Apple scored 83 percent as consumers expressed increasing satisfaction with mobile shopping...

Vimeo takes on Twitter’s Vine, buys iOS animated GIF-making app Echograph

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ps-Hb8DyztI

Video sharing service Vimeo (which in March 2011 released an awesome, free universal iOS client) has snapped up Echograph, an animated GIF app for the iPhone and iPad by Clear-Media. Vimeo wrote in a media release that as part of the acquisition, the Echograph app, previously costing three bucks, is now a free download.

Echograph wants to be the Instagram of animated GIFs by providing easy to use tools to help make animated photography a reality. You can simply paint and touch up moving images as if they were stills and then use your creations in in Final Cut, Keynote, iBooks Author or the web, via HTML5...

New iOS 6.1 Lock screen flaw compromises your iPhone

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MP-w436CfvQ

The iOS Lock screen bug has reared its ugly head again. This time around, the security exploit isn't as straightforward as a 2011 issue which let intruders bypass your iPad's Lock screen using a Smart Cover. In a nutshell, this new exploit discovered by a YouTube user involves making and immediately canceling an emergency call and holding down the Sleep/Wake button twice.

As detailed in a video above by The Verge, the method enables an intruder to bypass the unlock feature on the Lock screen and gain immediate access to your private stuff, including iMessages, FaceTime, photos and more. The flaw is iOS 6.1-specific and since it involves using the emergency calling feature, it's likely that iPads and iPod touches are not susceptible. Go past the break for more information...

BookBook makes the iPad mini even more perfect for reading

As we covered previously, there are many versions of Twelve South's BookBook and the company is now equipped to deck out your new iPad mini with the new edition. Recently, Twelve South has been getting a lot of well-deserved media attention and the BookBook case for MacBooks helped put them on the map. If you are not yet familiar with the BookBook, allow me to introduce you to an Apple accessory classic...

Chitika: iOS 6 now accounts for 83% of all North American iOS traffic

With Apple releasing iOS 6.1.1 earlier this week—just two weeks after releasing iOS 6.1—ad network Chitika wanted to take a look and see where iOS version distribution and adoption was at in terms of overall percentage of iOS traffic.

To determine this, the firm's analytical arm Chitika Insights took a sample of ad impressions from millions of US and Canadian iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch users during a 24 hour period. And they found that over 80% are on iOS 6...

Rumor: 4.8-inch iPhone 6 arriving in summer 2014

Jeffries analyst Peter Misek is on a roll. First he wrote in a note issued to clients this morning that channel checks led him to believe that the iPhone 5S is entering production in March for a likely June/July introduction.

Then word came that Misek thinks Apple could be holding a media event next month to announce a software development kit (SDK).

The official SDK would enable programmers to write full-screen 1080p apps and games for the Apple TV set-top box. And now, we learn that Misek doesn't see the 4.8-inch iPhone launching this year at all. Instead, Apple is looking to release a bigger iPhone in mid-2014, he writes...

FireCore updates aTV Flash (black) with support for Apple TV 5.2

Now that Apple TV 5.2 can be jailbroken via the new Seas0nPass, FireCore has updated its popular aTV Flash (black) software suite to support the new firmware. Apple released 5.2 at the end of last month alongside iOS 6.1.

The aTV Flash (black) update, which brings the app to version 2.2, is fairly minor. But it does include several bug fixes, improvements to DVD playback, and of course, support for the new Bluetooth keyboard feature in 5.2...

Seas0nPass jailbreak tool updated for Apple TV 5.2

Good news for all of you second generation Apple TV owners out there. FireCore has just announced that the latest firmware for the set-top box, Apple TV 5.2, is now jailbreakable thanks to an update to the Seas0nPass tool.

Apple released the new software at the end of last month alongside iOS 6.1 for its other devices. The update includes Bluetooth keyboard support, Up Next and now, thanks to the jailbreak, pretty much whatever you want...

Xbox founder says App Store on Apple TV would ‘kill’ gaming consoles

Earlier today, Jeffries analyst Peter Misek told investors that Apple will hold a TV-related media event in March. And he suspects that the focus of the event will be the unveiling of a software development kit that will allow developers to finally make third-party apps for the Apple TV.

Well if that's really the case, major gaming consoles better watch out. In a recent blogpost rant entitled 'Stupid, Stupid xBox!!' Xbox founder Nat Brown says that if Apple opens up an App Store on the Apple TV, the platform would "simply kill" the Playstation, Xbox and the WiiU...