Use your iOS device as USB flash storage with roqyUSB

One of the features I've missed from the classic iPods is the ability to plug the devices into a computer in order to directly access their hard drives or flash memory. When I was in school, I didn't carry a USB key around with me because I always had my iPod and everyone had the cables handy. While there is software that can transfer files between an iPhone and a PC, we're generally not permitted to install programs on shared computers.

One solution is roqyUSB, a jailbreak utility that allows users to create virtual hard disks which can be accessed by USB. This isn't the first virtual USB drive we've seen for jailbroken devices, but it is the first we've seen in a default repository...

Four days later, 26% of iDevices run iOS 6.1

Apple acknowledged in a press release Monday that there are now more than 300 million devices on iOS 6.0 and above, concluding it “may be the most popular new version of an OS in history”. Logs and various other data points support Apple's data. OnSwipe, a service which presents traditional web sites in a format better suited to touch screen devices, found iOS 6.1 installed on nearly 21 percent of iPad and iPhone devices in less than 24 hours following its release.

By comparison, it took a week for 44 percent of users to update to iOS 6. The firm on Friday re-analyzed their logs comprised of thirteen million monthly active users, reporting that iOS 6.1 adoption has now passed the 25 percent mark in the first four days of availability...

Food for thought: translucent iPad concept

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEBS0s3kXqg

When I stumbled upon a translucent iPhone concept, my first thought was "OMG, somebody apply this to a 9.7-inch canvas". Looks like 3D artist  Ricardo Afonso listened to my prayers, creating this iPad concept which calls for a radical transparent screen that incorporates a pair of metallic stripes at the top and bottom, for the home button and FaceTime camera.

In theory, the iPad's motherboard might be small enough to fit inside the top stripe, but we'd need some breakthrough, ultra-thin, ultra-efficient battery design to turn such an extreme concept into a reality.

Regardless, I'm loving how this guy's brain works. An all-screen transparent design - talk about total immersion...

Apple overtakes Samsung as top US mobile phone vendor

According to market research firm Strategy Analytics, strong iPhone 5 sales and a record-breaking holiday quarter have pushed Apple ahead of Samsung in US mobile phone marketshare with a brawny 34%.

For the first time ever, the Cupertino company has become the largest mobile phone vendor in the United States. And for the first time since 2008, Samsung is not. We've got more on the report after the fold...

Flex now available on Cydia

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XG-dICc0i0o

Flex — the jailbreak app that allows you to create your own jailbreak tweaks — is now available for download on Cydia's BigBoss repo. As we showed you in our hands-on walkthrough, the app allows you to create patches and run them on the fly to modify aspects of iOS.

Flex has been met with a bit of controversy. Some developers believe that the tweak is too powerful for the average user, and thus shouldn't be released. Others believe it's an awesome attempt to get users familiar with how iOS works on a low-level. Wherever you stand, it can't be denied that Flex is an awesome looking tweak with an excellent UI to boot.

Flex can be had now for $3.99 on Cydia. Let me know what you think about it in the comment section.

Apple execs met with Turkish president to talk iPad education deal

We learned in August 2011 that the Turkish government was looking to place an order for 15 million tablets over the next three years in a bold educational project known as FATIH.

The project was supposed to put tablets in over 40,000 Turkish schools and was initially thought to be worth an estimated $1.7 billion.

The country's president even visited Apple's 1 Infinite Loop headquarters last May to discuss tablets and education. We haven't heard much regarding the initiative since, until today's report published by a Turkish blog which claims that several Apple executives met with Turkish president Abdullah Gül to talk the country's tablet project, now estimated at $4.5 billion...

NPD: iPhone 5 was top selling smartphone in the US last quarter

Strategy Analytics reported earlier today that Apple passed Samsung as the top US mobile phone vendor for the first time ever last quarter. The move was attributed to the company's big holiday push and strong iPhone 5 sales.

How strong? Well according to the NPD Group, Apple's latest handset was the top selling smartphone in the final quarter of last year. It accounted for 43% of all iPhone sales, and nearly 2/3 of all post-paid smartphones above $199...

AAPL for a second time passes Exxon, GOOG hits new all-time high

Look, these things are not the be-all, end-all for business performance, but obviously market capitalization reflects investors' expectations concerning Apple's future performance. The iPhone maker last Friday hit a 52-week low and as a result ceded its top spot as the world's most-valued publicly traded corporation to the oil giant Exxon.

AAPL shares have slowly been recovering since and today has surpassed the oil conglomerate for a second time in after-hours trading. The Cupertino firm now leads Exxon with a $10 billion market cap difference, but is Apple's valuation sustainable in the long run?

Samsung doubles down on the stylus, goes into bed with Wacom

And just like that, Samsung of South Korea buys a five percent stake of the stylus maker Wacom in a transaction valued at $58.2 million. Samsung of course is riding high on the popularity of its pen-based Note devices and Wacom suggests that Samsung with this acquisition is aiming to incorporate its stylus tech into Galaxy smartphones and tablets.

Note that Wacom also makes digital pen accessories for iPads and Mac-compatible digital tablets that are popular with professional designers and illustrators. I'm holding my breath for an Apple-made stylus because pen-based mobile devices are gaining traction, in spit of Steve Jobs disdain for the stylus...

New theory makes a case for a larger iPhone

It's easy to write off the recent rumors of the iPhone Plus (English translation of 'iPhone Math') as 'crazy.' After all, Apple just increased the iPhone's screen size to 4-inches last year, why would they go to 4.9-inches now and force developers to redesign their apps again?

Well according to the latest theory to make its way around the blogosphere, they wouldn't necessarily have to. Apple could theoretically make an iPhone with a 4.94-inch display, while keeping the iPhone 5's resolution, and developers wouldn't have to change a thing...

Android market share falls 13 percent amid Apple increase

We have long believed that many Android devices wind up in desk drawers, gathering dust, while Apple gadgets go bopping around on the web. That suspicion was confirmed Friday morning by new browser data showing Android usage is down 13 percent while iOS use is up. The figures by Net Applications once more illustrate the many ways to pick winners and losers.

According to Net Applications, an Internet measurement firm that tracks browser usage, the percent of mobile browser using Android has fallen 13 percent after peaking at 28 percent in November 2012. By contrast, browsers on iOS rose since October 2012 following Apple introducing the iPhone 5 and iPad mini...

FTC issues app privacy guidelines, proposes ‘Do Not Track’ for mobile

A patchwork of online privacy measures should be standardized to form a 'Do Not Track' list for mobile app users. In guidelines issued Friday, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission says mobile devices such as Apple's iPhone "facilitate unprecedented amounts of data collection."

Both devices and app developers should obtain users' consent before obtaining personal information such as location, photos or contacts. The set of guidelines accompanied Path's $800,000 settlement with the FTC over grabbing iOS users' personal address books without their consent...