News on the jailbreaking front has been pretty slow as of late. With no release date in sight for a jailbreak compatible with Apple's latest devices and software, it seems like the rest of the community has sort of quieted down.
This afternoon, iOS hacker iH8sn0w broke the silence by releasing an update to his popular f0recast utility. Version 1.4 of the app brings about a number of new features, including the ability to view SHSH blob availability...
According to MoPub, which tracks over a billion ad impressions each day across over 12,000 apps and a dozen ad networks, the release of Google's Maps iOS app last Wednesday has benefited the iPhone maker in many regards, not least of which is a healthy boost to iOS 6 adoption rates.
The firm saw a 29 increase in unique iOS 6 users in the five days after Google Maps for iOS was released and a thirteen percent increase from Monday to Wednesday.
The reason: those who held off upgrading to iOS 6 because it removed Google's mapping software are making the jump now that the standalone Google Maps app is on the App Store...
It seems like for every report we hear that conditions are getting better in Apple's supply chain factories, there's another one that dispels the notion. Last week, French reporters snuck inside Foxconn's Zhengzhou plant, and things still looked pretty grim.
But that doesn't mean that Apple's not trying though. As proof of that, Apple has updated the supplier responsibility page on its website today to show that it is now personally tracking working hours for more than a million supply chain employees...
There has been a whole lot of hoopla surrounding Instagram's newly updated terms of services, with commenters warning the new rules might give the popular Facebook-owned photography service the right to share your data with third-parties and - worse - sell your Instagram photos without compensating you. Does Facebook really intend to turn Instagram into a stock photo service that doesn’t pay a dime to photographers?
Cowed by privacy outrage, hours after releasing the new terms the company's co-founder responded by shedding more light on the matter. In a blog post, he makes it clear that Instagram does not intend to sell its users photos while sharing interesting tidbits concerning Instagram's advertising strategy...
Google rolled out a new scan-and-match feature for Google Music, the search giant's cloud-based music store and storage service, to the US today. The feature, which was been available in Europe for a while now, will scan a user's music collection on their computer, and quickly rebuild it in the cloud for cross-device streaming. It's a lot like iTunes Match actually, except Google isn't charging for it...
Remember the App Center, a cross-platform application store Facebook launched ahead of its rebuilt iOS app? Hosted and curated by Facebook, the App Center is available as a link in the main menu of their iOS client, listing Facebook-enhanced apps and games that can be found on the App Store. Previously, tapping an entry yanked you out of the Facebook app and into the App Store.
That's no longer the case as it is now possible to install App Store software from a pop-up inside the Facebook app, which is an iOS 6 SDK feature available to all third-party developers who wish to implement it...
Before PC demand dwindled, software giant Microsoft was happy with licensing its Windows software to computer makers. Now that we are taking the first steps into the post-PC era, the Redmond firm still wants its profit. But how do you charge a $50 per-tablet royalty fee when the device itself costs $199?
Enter the $499 Surface, says one independent analyst. While Google's Nexus 7 and Amazon's Kindle Fire both sell for $199, the Surface carries the much higher price tag because Microsoft stubbornly refuses to give up the 30 percent profit margin it's accustomed to receiving for Windows and Office software licenses...
Forget about the iPhone, the best phone in the world - here comes the IPHONE, an Android-powered smartphone announced today by Brazilian electronics maker IGB Electronica SA (IGB). The company said in a securities filing that the first model will be called "Neo One". The firm claims to have a trademark for the "IPHONE" term in Brazil, originally applied for in 2000, way before Apple even began thinking about creating a phone. Somebody give Apple's lawyers a buzz...
Always keen on never putting all its eggs in one basket, Apple has been trying to mitigate risk by sourcing components from multiple suppliers. The same goes for product assembly. Though the firm traditionally outsources manufacturing to Foxconn, the world's largest product assembler, Taipei, Taiwan-based Pegatron Technology has been rising increasingly as Apple's other manufacturing partner. According to a report from an Asian trade publication, Pegatron will now get to build the majority of iPad orders for the next three years...
Just how important is China to the top two smartphone platforms: Google's Android and Apple's iOS? The Asian nation is now the largest single market for Android, with the United States a distant second. What's more, half of the smartphones sold in America next year could be Android-powered unless Apple "makes radical changes to its aging iOS", one research firm warns Tuesday.
China is rushing to turn in their feature phones for more powerful smartphones, according to Informa Telecoms & Media. Smartphones grew at an 85 percent clip compared to 2011. That's nearly double the 45 percent year-over-year growth worldwide. Just in 2012 alone, an astounding 786 million smartphones were sold in the 1.33 billion people market...
Apple has just released an incremental iOS 6.0.2 update fixing issues with wireless network connections on the iPad mini and iPhone 5. According to Apple, the software “fixes a bug that could impact Wi-Fi”. Previous reports have suggested that these devices suffer from a carrier-agnostic Wi-Fi issue that could result in unwarranted cellular data usage while on a Wi-Fi network. Unfortunately, Apple does not name the exact Wi-Fi bug that has been fixed with this update...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwd99PfFwpw
Curl up with some hot cocoa and a holiday song from Finnish mobile games developer Rovio. The team has just updated Angry Birds Rio, its marketing tie-in with the 20th Century Fox animated film Rio. The fresh content pack brings 24 new levels and power ups, including a "special delivery" TNT Drop, Samba Burst, Sling Scope laser targeting and Super Seeds to supersize your birds.
There are twenty free power ups in total to boot from, with an additional power up added each day. Plus, you can collect stars to unlock eighteen special Star levels and earn feathers to unlock six Mighty Eagle levels. Rovio also created an Angry Birds-themed holiday song titled “Fly Me Home Tonight” in honor of the festive season...