Apple fixes iPad mini, iPhone 5 Wi-Fi bug with iOS 6.0.2 software update

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...

Rovio launches Christmas song, adds 24 levels and new power-ups to Angry Birds Rio

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...

AT&T’s LTE launches in Green Bay, Springfield, Tucson, Melbourne and Oxford

Another week, another expansion of AT&T's fourth-generation Long-Term Evolution (LTE) network. Having rolled out LTE to customers in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, Nashua, New Hampshire and Grand Rapids last week, the Dallas, Texas-headquartered US wireless company Tuesday morning announced the addition of five new LTE markets.

Customers in Green Bay, Springfield, Tucson, Melbourne and Oxford should start seeing AT&T's LTE on supported devices. These latest additions expand the carrier's LTE coverage to 125 metropolitan markets. By contrast, rival Verizon Wireless claims 470 LTE-enabled markets...

Instagram wants to sell your photos to faceless corporations. Great, now what?

As we told you yesterday, realizing it needs to start making money the Facebook-owned photo sharing service has added an interesting clause to its Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.

The updated rules give Instagram the right to sell access to your photos to advertisers and share your profile data with third-parties. The change enraged some to the point of closing their Instagram account.

The vast majority of users don't appeaer to oppose the decision with such drastic measures, but there's no doubt that the company is playing with fire. The move already has backfired. A major backlash ensued and the misstep is now threatening to snowball into a PR catastrophe...

8 out of 10 iPad owners plan to stick with Apple

In the latest round of 'is the iPad mini a cannibal?' we go to Morgan Stanley's Katy Huberty, who told investors the concern is "overblown." Huberty says nearly half of the 7.9-inch tablets are bought by new customers. While the Morgan Stanley AlphaWise survey also found slightly fewer purchases of the iPad mini are by new tablet owners - suggesting the small tablet is taking a bite out of larger iPad sales - the risk is "manageable", the analyst said...

Samsung drops its bid to ban Apple products in Europe

Is Samsung feeling magnanimous after a U.S. judge refused to ban its smartphones? That could be one reason why the South Korean firm Tuesday dropped its bid to ban Apple products in Europe. Although the company described its decision to withdraw requests to ban Apple devices in the UK, Germany, France, Italy and the Netherlands as "protect[ing] consumer choice", the Galaxy maker will continue to see Apple for licensing fees of patents it contends were violated by the company...

Apple now offering free next-day shipping on everything in its US web store

Apple has thrown in another nice perk that should appeal to last minute shoppers: the company's web store is now offering free next-day shipping on every item available in the store. Previously, only a select few products were eligible for free shipping, including the items listed on Apple's 2012 Holiday Gift Guide. Unfortunately, only US orders include free next-day shipping. Be that as it may, those that have not ordered their holiday gifts yet needn't despair as with this promotion your last minute purchases should be received in time for the holidays...

Viber gains emoticons, locations, stickers and group conversations with up to 40 participants

Viber, the popular IM and VoIP software for smartphones, joins a rash of holiday updates by releasing a new version of its iPhone and iPod touch client. Viber version 3.2, now available free from the App Store, makes text messaging more fun by giving you the ability to share stickers with friends and enrich your communication with emoticons. Also new is the enhanced group messaging feature supporting group conversations with up to 40 participants. You can also share locations in messages and the app is now optimized for the iPhone 5's taller display and plays nicely with iOS 6...

The Rokstand: a quality stand with attitude [giveaway and review]

iPhone stands are a dime a dozen. Like iPhone cases, there are millions of iPhone stands, small and large, powered and passive, plastic and metal, cheap and expensive. However, when pulling the Rokform Rokstand out of the package, I knew this stand was unlike any other stand I had ever seen or felt, for that matter. Quite simply, it is a machine, and a very elegant one at that. It owns your desktop. Just looking at it, I feel it glaring back at me. To get the full scoop, Rokform sent over a stand for review and offered to give one away to a reader in our contest below...

Judge denies Apple’s injunction request, throws out Samsung’s misconduct claims

While the high profile Samsung-Apple trial technically ended back in August, with Apple winning a staggering $1 billion judgement, the fallout is far from over. The two companies must still endure countless post-trial hearings and their subsequent appeals.

In fact, both sides met this month to discuss some of their post-trial demands. In addition to its large settlement, Apple wanted Samsung's infringing products to be banned, and Samsung wanted the whole trial thrown out on the back of jury misconduct.

Tonight, US District Judge Lucy Koh published her decisions on both requests in a pair of court filings...

The Daily Recap – Dec 17, 2012 edition

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvGKc823ZgQ

Welcome to The Daily Recap for December 17th, 2012. Watch our video for a quick look at some of the top stories from the day in less than two minutes. If you missed out on any of today's big news, this is a great way for you to get caught up fast.

For your convenience, you'll also find links to all of the stories listed in today's recap inside...

Nito Installer allows you to easily install nitoTV and XBMC on a jailbroken Apple TV

Thanks to the folks over at FireCore, both jailbreaking and installing useful jailbreak apps on an Apple TV 2 is about as easy as it gets. FireCore's jailbreak tool — Seas0npass — is incredibly simple, and it's free.

Likewise, FireCore's application package — aTV Flash (black) — is extremely simple as well, though there is a charge associated with using it. Pretty much everything that you can install using aTV flash (black) can be accomplished on your own with a bit of know how, but its simplicity makes the package worth the money.

Now Kevin Bradley, better known in hacking circles as nitoTV, has created his own easy to use installer, appropriately called, nito Installer. Unlike aTV flash (black), his version is free and runs directly on an iOS device like the iPhone or iPad.

Want to see how it works? Take a look inside as we take nito Installer for a spin...