How Steve Jobs really felt about carriers and why they’re still like Soviet ministries

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 9, 2018

Before wrapping up his career-defining iPhone presentation on January 9, 2007, Steve Jobs invited Stan Sigman, then the CEO of Cingular Wireless, to join him on stage and announce a partnership that would send shockwaves of fear throughout the wireless industry. For the first time in history, a telecom would work in concert with a phone vendor to make a revolutionary phone possible without messing the user experience with junkware.

Stigman even confessed publicly that he agreed to take on the iPhone without ever seeing it, "because of the confidence I have in Steve Jobs to deliver his vision". Notwithstanding, a trained eye could tell the two men were worlds apart.

One was an archaic executive stuck in the old days and the other a forward-thinking unconventional manager with uncanny ability to figure out what consumers wanted before they even knew it.

Here's a reminder of how Jobs really felt about carriers, the way they go about their business and how virtually nothing's changed...

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Rumor: next iPhone to feature quad-core processor

Cody Lee ∙ July 5, 2012

The iPhone is widely expected to get a major upgrade this fall. Not only is the handset's current form factor more than two years old, but the competition is really heating up with handsets like Samsung's Galaxy S III.

Some of the upcoming smartphone's rumored features include a larger, 4-inch display, a redesigned casing, and LTE compatibility. But what about the processor? According to a new report, it's going to be quad-core...

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Malicious spam app discovered in the App Store [updated]

Cody Lee ∙ July 5, 2012

Apple has had a fairly spotless record thus far regarding iOS security. There hasn't been a single [serious] breach, or malware outbreak — aside from what jailbreak hackers have uncovered, of course.

But it looks like the perfect streak has finally come to an end. A Russian security firm announced this morning that it has discovered a malicious spam [aka a Trojan] application in the App Store...

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How to play music from within folders

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated February 25, 2013

Playing music from within a Home screen folder is now within the realm of possibilities, thanks to a recently released jailbreak tweak called FoldMusic. Once FoldMusic is installed on your iPod or iPod touch, you can easily add new albums or playlists to a Home screen folder.

From there you can open the folder, and tap to play the tracks within. You'll also find volume/AirPlay controls, and transport controls for previous, play, and skip — all located conveniently within each folder.

For a full video walkthrough of FoldMusic, check inside...

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Witty Judge likens Apple’s war on Android to “constant struggle for survival”

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 5, 2012

The U.S. Circuit Judge Richard A. Posner is known for his witty remarks in the courtroom. As in, he tossed the Apple-Motorola suit out of the window and told parties that they have to prove injury, adding "I’m sorry that it seems to be petering out like this".

And in announcing the dismal, he proclaimed that “no more can Apple be permitted to force a trial in Federal Court the sole outcome of which would be an award of $1”.

He's back now with candid remarks regarding technology giants going after each other's throat in the courtroom. He also opined that companies like Apple are acting as if they were in "constant struggle for survival". And wait 'till you hear his take on the broken patent system...

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How to jailbreak an iPhone with a broken Home button

Jeff Benjamin ∙ July 5, 2012

Although there have been methods in the past geared towards skirting around a broken Home button in order to jailbreak an iPhone, I don't remember any of them being as easy as this.

If your Home button is on the fritz, then chances are you have problems getting into DFU mode, which is a prerequisite to using most jailbreak software. Fortunately, the iPhone Dev Team has come up with a simple, yet ingenious method for easily pushing your device into DFU mode using their latest update to the RedSn0w jailbreak tool.

RedSn0w 0.9.14b2 allows you to create a firmware file that will push your device into DFU mode once a normal restore through iTunes is completed. Check out our full tutorial inside for the step-by-step video walkthrough...

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Apple said to tap AutoNavi to offer iOS 6 mapping services in China

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 5, 2012

Bloomberg just reported that Apple likely chose AutoNavi to offer mapping services in China. Citing "two people with knowledge of the matter", the publication claims that Apple chose AutoNavi, a Chinese maker of electronic navigation tools, to offer map services for "users of future iPhones and iPads in China" (what they meant is iOS 6-enabled devices)...

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Kickstarter project turns your iOS device into an old-school game console

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated May 16, 2018

If the iCade Mobile game accessory isn't your thing and you're a retro type, consider the GameDock, a cool new Kickstarter project which turns your iPhone into an old-school TV-based game console. It's simple, really: the GameDock, as the name suggests, is a game dock-like accessory where you plug your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch, akin to a game cartridge.

You can also pair your device with it over Bluetooth. It includes video output and comes equipped with an USB game controller with physical buttons and an HDMI adapter...

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Corrupt binaries in App Store causing crashes for some

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 5, 2012

Something went amiss in Apple's application stores for iPhone and Mac apps, causing newly updated apps to crash. Users are reporting that a number of popular apps quit immediately upon loading, though this issue only seems to affect freshly updated software.

Newly updated versions of Instapaper, Readdle Scanner Pro and Angry Birds Space HD Free have all been accused of crashing upon being updated to the latest version.

Instapaper developer Marco Arment pinpoints the issue over at his blog to a likely server bug with the App Store’s content distribution network. Apple has yet to acknowledge the problem or issue a statement...

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RedSn0w 0.9.14b2 released with improved baseband downgrading

Cody Lee ∙ July 5, 2012

Last month, the Dev Team released a new version of RedSn0w that allowed iPhone 3G (and some 3GS) users to downgrade their basebands. This was a big deal for users who had been stuck on the problematic 06.15 bb.

Today, the Dev Team has pushed out an update to the jailbreak utility that greatly improves on this feature. The downgrading process has been made simpler, and now works on a much wider range of devices.

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Gruber predicts iPad mini will use the same display as iPhone 3GS

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 4, 2012

Weighing in on a recent resurgence of the old iPad mini rumor, this time corroborated by credible news outlets such as Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal, Apple pundit John Gruber opined that Apple could use existing manufacturing processes to quickly - and more importantly, cheaply - churn out millions and millions of seven-inch display panels for the iPad mini...

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