Confirmed: Apple’s new R&D center going live this summer in Shanghai

Earlier in the month, the major Chinese web portal Tencent claimed Apple was looking to establish a research and development center in Beijing and last week Cnet China corroborated the story, but noted that the rumored six-story facility with over 100,000 square feet of space is actually going up in Shanghai. Today, a new report from another Chinese news site give us more in way of details...

Cydia developers rush to update their apps and tweaks as iOS 6.1 jailbreak looms

One way that I can always tell that a jailbreak is getting ready to be released, is when I see a bunch of apps and tweaks being updated to support the latest major firmware. That's exactly what's happened in the past, and that's exactly what's happening right now.

Since there's been no untethered jailbreak for iOS 6.x, most developers haven't bothered to update their tweaks and apps to support this firmware. Makes sense. That is all about to change, as soon as this week, even. Hence, many devs are scrambling to get the needed updates out to support the latest version of iOS.

The upcoming iOS 6.1 untethered jailbreak will support almost all devices [Updated]

Some very good news was made known today by one of the members of the evad3rs — the team responsible for the upcoming evasi0n jailbreak. MuscleNerd, who is a well respected part of this team, has made it known that nearly all iOS 6.1 compatible devices will reap the benefits of the upcoming jailbreak.

This means that only the Apple TV 3, and possibly the Apple TV 2 will lack support. As far as every other device goes, they're fair game. Take a look at our full list of iOS  devices that will be jailbreakable on iOS 6.1 after the break...

128GB iPad 4 to start at $799

A brand new SKU (Stock-Keeping Unit) in the full-size iPad lineup that one blog obtained from retail sources suggested that Apple's readying to add a new top-of-the-line fourth-generation iPad model with 128 gigabytes of storage. The development corroborates an earlier finding of code hooks in iTunes 11 and iOS 6.1 that points to the new 128GB full-size iPad model. And now, the same publication that leaked the 128GB SKU claims to have pinpointed the prices for this "Ultimate" iPad model...

iMac shipment constraints to ease soon as manufacturing improves

Apple's boss Tim Cook in last week's conference call with analysts acknowledged that iMacs were down by 700,000 units year over year because the company was "significantly constrained" of inventory of the refreshed, thinner all-in-one desktop. Back in December, the online Apple store pushed back iMac deliveries to January amid the reported manufacturing issues stemming from the fact that Apple has never had to laminate a display this large...

12 Apple users in UK sue Google over Safari tracking

Although US District Judge Susan Illston recently approved the $22.5 million fine Google agreed to pay in order to settle the FTC claim that it illegally bypassed user privacy settings in Safari, the Internet giant is not yet off the hook over in the United Kingdom, where a group of twelve disgruntled users decided to take the search behemoth to the court over the scandal. A group called "Safari Users Against Google's Secret Tracking" hired a law firm to file a complaint conveniently timed ahead of the sixth annual Data Privacy Day in the country...

Designer celeb iPhone cases support charity

We all love a nice iPhone case. We all love to help charity, at least I hope you do. Now, why not get a slick new tech gadget and help support charity at the same time? Thanks to the 21st Century Leaders Foundation, technology meets charity through the Whatever It Takes merchandise line. I stumbled into Whatever It Takes at CES earlier this month and am inspired by their story...

Unlocking your phone could cost you up to $500,000

Last week, we reported that unlocking your cell phone was going to become illegal in the US on January 26th. And it did. While there are some exceptions to the law— you can still unlock pre-2013 phones—it's still devastating for cell phone owners.

And it gets worse. According to a new report, the penalty for breaking this new unlocking law is a fine of up to $500,000, 5 years in jail, or both. That's right, half a million dollars for unlocking your phone. And yes, that includes first-time offenders...

GeoHot enters the app development biz with ‘Reactions’

It seems like everyone is getting into the business of developing iOS apps these days. First there was pod2g, and his digital music-mixer podDJ. And now it appears that ex-iOS hacker GeoHot is following suit.

GeoHot's app, as noted by MuscleNerd, is called Reactions. It's a camera app with a twist—it takes pictures with your iPhone's front and rear cameras to capture your 'reaction' to the situation in your photo...

How to install MAME ROMs on a non-jailbroken device with Gridlee

As we reported on Saturday, Gridlee is a freeware arcade game from 1982 which was re-released on the iTunes App Store by David Loureiro. This would have been unremarkable, if Gridlee was a straight port from the source code and if it wasn't actually powered by an up-to-date and fully featured version of MAME4iOS Reloaded.

This means if you have a program capable of tunneling into the iOS file-system through USB, you can once again have a working version of MAME on a non-jailbroken device, complete with your own ROM images. As I can't think of anyone who would legitimately want to play Gridlee on an iPad, this was likely an intentional attempt to sneak the emulator back into the App Store, so we're guessing Apple won't be hosting the file for too long. Grab it while you can...

Apple readying new ‘Ultimate’ iPad with Retina display

9to5Mac's Mark Gurman has received word from sources, which indicate Apple's eventual release of a brand new SKU in the full-sized iPad lineup. The report aligns well with the 128GB iOS device finding that we posted in the early hours this morning.

Interestingly, Gurman's sources pinpoint the exact device lineup that the SKU is targeted to hit — the full-sized forth generation iPad with Retina Display.

How to have iOS screenshots automagically appear in your Mac’s Finder

I've always loved the simplified iOS approach to screenshot taking just by pressing the power and home button simultaneously. This oft-used feature works in absolutely any app and, as an added bonus, iOS stores my screenies in the Camera Roll as crisp, lossless PNG files.

An indispensable part of my daily blogging workflow, I grab app graphics on a daily basis for use in reviews, news articles and guides such as this one. The old-school approach to syncing iOS screenshots (along with your photos) entails connecting your device to a Mac or PC via USB. But if you're anything like me, you've long cut the cord to enjoy the benefits of wireless sync.

Now, iCloud makes photo sync a no-brainer: that is, unless the very thought of firing up iPhoto or Aperture on your Mac just to access your Photo Stream drives you nuts.

There must be a better way to bypass these resource-intensive apps and have the screenshots taken on your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch automagically appear just a mouse click away in your Mac's Finder. Read on for the full breakdown...