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The tale of my three days at the epicenter of the jailbreak community

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated April 10, 2018

I went to JailbreakCon full of good intentions. I was going to live tweet the event, I was going to write posts about every speak, and I was going to interview as many speakers as I could. As it turned out, I did none of that. Instead, I soaked in as much as I could from everyone around me. I did what I hadn't done for a long time: I socialized!

When I say that I socialized, I'm not saying that I pretended to be friends with some people I mostly knew on Twitter. No, I actually lived with these people for three days, learned about their lives, their habits, and their personality. I learned about the real "them", not the image they sometimes give of them on Twitter or IRC.

This is the story of my three days at the epicenter of the jailbreak community. You won't learn anything here about the iOS 6 jailbreak, because what happens at JailbreakCon stays at JailbreakCon, but hopefully, you will get a glimpse a the other side of the jailbreak community...

iPhone share rising, everyone else looks flat or down

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 2, 2012

Analytics firm comScore is out with new research data concerning the mobile landscape in the United States during August. Good news for Apple: the iOS is on the rise among smartphones, going from 31.9 percent during the three-month period ending in May 2012 to 34.3 percent in June, July and August.

During the same timeframe, Google's Android went from 50.9 percent to 52.6 percent smartphone market share. Better still, Apple grew at a faster clip than Google. Microsoft's Windows Phone, Research In Motion's BlackBerry and Symbian? All losing ground...

Consumer Reports says nice things of Apple Maps

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 13, 2018

Consumer Reports, an influential U.S. magazine published monthly since 1936 by Consumers Union, gave Apple's iPhone 5 a thumbs-up recently but initially slammed iOS 6 Maps navigation ("we were disappointed"). Melted bridges aside, the publication known for its reviews and comparisons of popular products took both Apple Maps and Google Maps for a spin, concluding that Apple's offering is "certainly more favorable than comments and articles that we've been reading online"...

Lawsuit against Apple’s Passbook is Lodsys redux

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated April 10, 2018

Apple is again in the sights of a company with patents and an itchy trigger finger. The iPhone's Passbook feature, which allows consumers to store tickets, loyalty cards, coupons and such digitally, is the target of San Diego-based Ameranth. The company is seeking triple damages, claiming in the lawsuit that the Cupertino, Calif. technology giant willfully infringed on Ameranth patents on wireless mobile payments.

The company has already sued the likes of Hilton, Marriott and Ticketmaster and gotten 14 other companies to ink licensing pacts. TechCrunch spoke to the CEO of one of the companies who'd rather pay than suffer some long drawn-out legal fight. The interview is enough to send cold shivers up Apple developers who survived the 2011 patent uproar from Lodsys...

New jailbreak app integrates Facebook and Google Chat into iOS

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

QuickIM is a new jailbreak tweak that allows you to quickly send Facebook messages and Google chat messages from anywhere within iOS.

Seeing as this feature is totally relegated to standalone apps on non-jailbroken phones, QuickIM is an app that's sure to catch the eye of fans of either of the aforementioned instant messaging services.

How exactly does it work? Check inside for a brief video explanation.

iPad mini parts: Nano SIM tray, anodized aluminum, headphone jack at the top

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated May 15, 2017

With two weeks left until the rumored October 17 presser, we're again beginning to see parts thought to belong to Apple's mini iPad. An Ukrainian publication today published four images said to depict the iPad mini chassis featuring a SIM tray, suggesting the device will come in both WiFi and WiFi + Cellular varieties, like its 9.7-inch sibling. Additionally, the images show front and back panels, display assembly and strangely no change for the headphone jack which remains on the top...

Study: Android tablets catching up on the iPad

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated April 10, 2018

We can deride the quality and culture of Android tablets, but the once ginormous lead Apple's iPad had is shrinking amid the rise of tweener tablets.

In a bit of a two-edge sword, a new study finds 25 percent of Americans own a tablet, with Apple's device claiming just over half of the US tablet market. A year ago, more than 8 out of 10 tablets purchased bore the Apple logo...

NYT introduces news web app for iPad

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 10, 2018

The New York Times today announced a new web app to read news, optimized for Apple's iPad and written using common HTML5 web technologies. The paper cautiously deems the app "an experiment" of sorts, though it looks and feels superb. The web-based software reminds us a lot of the Fortune 500+ and Financial Times web apps.

There's no denying these have effectively set the stage for what a decent web-based magazine / newspaper experience should be like. NYT's web app requires a subscription to NYTimes.com with tablet access and is available free of charge to home delivery subscribers who link their account for digital access...

Forbes runs ‘Untold Stories About Steve Jobs’, here are your highlights

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 2, 2012

Hailed as the master of catch phrases, Apple's late mercurial co-founder and CEO Steve Jobs was and continues to be a remarkable source of memorable quotes. Forbes shares some previously unknown tidbits about Steve Jobs life, leadership style and provides insight into some of the moves that marked his life in a featured article titled "Untold Stories About Steve Jobs: Friends and Colleagues Share Their Memories". Here are a couple of highlights...

Nest launches sleeker thermostat, CEO says he’d never compete with Apple

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

We covered the sexy Nest Learning Thermostat before , with Jeff saying calling it "the thermostat that Cupertino would have created if they were into that sort of thing". Today, the company took the wraps off a new version of the Nest thermostat which has been re-engineered for smaller footprint and now looks even more futuristic. Also, company founder Tony Fadell, a former Apple engineer who worked on the iPhone and iPod projects, explains why he doesn't plan on competing with Apple, despite hiring former Apple engineers on his 130-people team...

Apple could have wireless Lightning adapter in the works

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

Apple's new, miniaturized dock connector that debuted on the iPhone 5 under the Lightning moniker so far proved an annoyance as customers with legacy 30-pin dock accessories are required to purchase Apple's pricey adapter. Worse, as Apple's cable has an authentication chip, it has been concluded that third-party alternatives offered by places like Alibaba.com won’t work.

But as a patent filing indicates, Apple is researching an interesting solution that could help ease Lightning woes with a universal adapter for iOS devices which facilitates, as Apple wrote, "the transmission of wireless data to any accessory"...

Samsung gets even, sues Apple over the iPhone 5

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated June 13, 2016

The Apple vs. Samsung legal spat is far from over. Apple started this war but Samsung is determined to win in the long run. Making good on its promise and multiple threats to sue Apple over 4G wireless networking technology used in the iPhone 5, the South Korean conglomerate filed suit against Apple over the alleged patent infringements in the iPhone 5...