Apple seeds iOS 6 beta 4 to developers

Apple has seeded the fourth beta of its new iOS 6 software to developers this morning. The release comes just three weeks after the previous update.

As usual, the new beta is currently only available as an over-the-air update, but the full version should come up on the iOS developer center soon.

Update: iOS 6 beta 4 is now available in the dev center, and we have the full change log after the break...

Apple to roll out smaller dock connector to all iOS products this fall

We've been hearing that Apple was going to be changing the iPhone's dock connector since February of this year. Not only has the change been confirmed by a number of news outlets, but we've seen several leaked next-gen iPhone parts with the smaller charging port.

Along with its new smartphone, Apple is also expected to be using the new port in its iPad mini, which is rumored to debut this fall. But apparently it's not stopping there. iMore has learned that Apple is rolling out the smaller dock connector across its entire iOS line...

Despite Samsung’s lead, Apple continues to rule profits

Though Samsung sold twice as many smartphones during the June quarter compared to Apple, the South Korean company still lags behind Apple in terms of the most important metric, operating profit. According to latest estimates, Apple took home more than three out of four dollars earned in the cell phone making biz.

That's despite shipping only a little more than six percent of all mobile phones in the world, mind you. Even more interesting than that, Apple and Samsung together took 108 percent of the industry's operating profit. Wait, what?

AT&T confirms Mobile Share plans, launching on August 23

U.S. carrier AT&T, the nation's leading telco by subscribers, today shed more light on its upcoming shared data plans available to new and existing subscribers later this month. The new plans are designed to help folks share their cellular data across up to ten smartphones, tablets and other devices while enjoying unlimited voice minutes and text messages domestically. First hinted at in mid-July, the new plans will be officially put into effect on Thursday, August 23...

DownloadMove: Adjust the position of the download progress bar

DownloadMove is a new jailbreak tweak that allows you to adjust the position of the download bar that appears when downloading apps from the App Store.

There are several positions included with DownloadMove; they include: Middle, Top, Bottom, Up, and Down. Sure, it's not the most impressive tweak from a functionality standpoint, but DownloadMove is a decent choice for those looking for this sort of change.

Why Foxconn must ensure survival of cash-strapped Sharp

Though the world's largest product assembler Foxconn is taking advantage of Sharp's financial woes, the company will want to offer a lifeline to the struggling Japanese giant, not just because it's one of the suppliers of mobile displays for iPhones and iPads, but also because Apple is seeking to reduce its dependency on Samsung, the world's largest maker of flat displays. That's the crux of today's report by Bloomberg, which also mentions the inevitable Apple television set rumor...

Is this a Nano SIM tray for the next iPhone?

Hot on the heels of recent news that European carriers were stocking up on a 40 percent smaller Nano SIMs as they got to test the new SIM card standard extensively ahead of the next iPhone's release in September, a French blog this morning posted a series of image depicting a purported Nano SIM tray for the iPhone 5. Also leaked, a slightly reworked and a bit smaller home button thought to be making an appearance on the next iPhone. More pics right after the break...

Nuance unveils Nina, the virtual assistant for iOS and Android apps

Nuance, the voice recognition engine that powers Siri, today announced a new kind of digital personal assistant aimed at mobile customer service apps. Called Nina, she "transforms iPhone and Android mobile apps into powerful engagement tools that allow customers to serve themselves". Nina promises to cover everything from paying your bills to getting answers to your questions to changing or adding service on the fly.

Built on the same voice recognition engine from Nuance that Apple licensed for Siri, Nina can be added to iOS and Android apps via a software development kit (SDK) issued today as part of the announcement. What's best, Nina doesn't require that you tediously type in your password for various services and instead recognizes your voice to provide secure authentication...

Introducing Bladepad, the detachable iPhone gamepad

A few days ago we asked the question, "Should Apple build a game controller?" It was a pretty fair question, considering that the graphics in iOS titles are getting closer and closer to console-quality, but the gameplay isn't.

We've seen several accessory-makers try to remedy this problem by building physical gamepads, but none of them have managed to gain consumer traction. The new Gamepad, however, is hoping to change that...

BrowseInApp: open links in-app without switching to Safari

When the developer for BrowseInApp contacted us, asking us to do a review of the tweak, I was a bit skeptical. I hadn't tried it before, and I feel like I've tried most of the jailbreak packages out there that are worth trying.

But boy was I wrong. After playing with BrowseInApp for a couple of days, the tweak has quickly become one of my favorites. It's well-built, convenient, and integrates seamlessly into iOS. Keep reading for my full review...

Apple gave hackers access to user’s iCloud account

As we continue to upload more and more of our lives to the web, the dangers of being hacked multiply. Our credit card numbers, our home addresses — they're all there for the taking. That's why so many security experts preach using a complicated password.

But sometimes, using a strong password isn't enough. Just ask former Gizmodo writer Mat Honan. Mat's world was turned upside down this weekend when a hacker gained access to his iCloud account, wiping his Mac, iPhone and iPad, thanks to Apple...

The top 10 iOS news of the week on iDownloadBlog

A new week is coming, but that doesn't mean you have to miss out on what happened last week. If you think you may have missed a few of the top stories from last week, don't sweat it, we've got you covered.

We've gathered the top 10+ most popular stories from iDB last week for you to check out. As always, make sure that you're friends with us on Facebook, Google+, and that you are following us on Twitter...