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JailbreakCon 2012 tickets now available to order

Oliver Haslam ∙ March 10, 2012

We told you yesterday that JailbreakCon 2012, set to take place in San Francisco this time around, is to go ahead on September 29th. We also told you about a raft of speakers who will aim to try and replicate the success of last year's event, held in London. Now we're here to tell you about the availability of tickets, along with an early bird deal for those wishing to get in nice and early.

Available to order right now from the JailbreakCon website, tickets start at $65 as part of that early bird deal, with discounts available for multiple orders. There is also a discount for those wishing to order a VIP ticket, with $155 getting you preferential seating, entry into competitions and a JailbreakCon WWJC goody bag amongst other things...

How much Google pays Apple to get its search onto iOS devices

Oliver Haslam ∙ March 10, 2012

While it's true that users can switch between Google, Bing and Yahoo when deciding which search engine to use in Safari on iOS, it's debatable as to whether anyone does actually change it. We're going to put our money on the percentage being on the low side!

That's why being the default search option on iOS is so important. If you're the one chosen out of the box, then the chances are you'll be the one that gets the vast majority of hits from users. Right now, that default choice is Google, and they pay handsomely for the privilege according to Macquarie analyst Ben Schachter.

Just how handsomely, you ask?

Apple pulls iWork.com, leaving iOS users to soldier on with iCloud

Oliver Haslam ∙ March 10, 2012

With iCloud continuing to grow with new features left and right, Apple has begun trimming the fat by announcing the imminent death of another of its cloud-based services.

The iWork.com service is set to be switched off on July 31st 2012, having never gotten out of the beta stage and barely registering for many, even those who are self proclaimed Apple fans.

Originally built to enable iWork users both on the Mac and iOS devices to share documents easily via the cloud, iWork.com became defunct as soon as the iWork iOS apps began to take advantage of the iCloud service, seamlessly syncing documents to the big server in the sky...

Sn0wBreeze v2.9.2 released to jailbreak iOS 5.1 on Windows

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated January 26, 2017

Hot off the heels of Thursday's RedSn0w iOS 5.1 compatibility update comes Sn0wBreeze v2.9.2, which makes the popular Windows jailbreak tool compatible with iOS 5.1.

If you're familiar with previous iterations of Sn0wBreeze, then you're not going to find any surprises here. It's still about creating a custom IPSW and restoring via iTunes to accomplish the jailbreak.

One of the advantages that you have with Sn0wBreeze is that it will preserve your baseband for those interested in maintaining an existing unlock.

This updated for Sn0wBreeze is compatible with A4 devices and below, and is of course, a tethered jailbreak. Check out more details inside...

New iPad rumors: what materialized?

Cody Lee ∙ March 10, 2012

I don't know about anyone else, but just seeing the word "rumor" at this point makes me cringe. It seems like we saw enough gossip regarding Apple's latest tablet over the last few months to write a novel. Or at least several chapters of one.

But was it really worth it, reporting each new rumor nearly every day? How much of the gossip ended up materializing? And how much of it didn't pan out? We answer these questions, and more, inside...

iTether returns as an HTML5 app [update]

Cody Lee ∙ Updated February 7, 2016

Late last year, a new application surfaced in the App Store called iTether. The software allowed you to share your iPhone's 3G data connection with your Mac or PC using a USB cable.

But the app wasn't even around for 48 hours before Apple pulled the plug on it. The company likely got pressured into removing it by carriers who didn't like subscribers getting unlimited data tethering for free.

But today, iTether makes its triumphant return...

Can’t update your iPhone or iPad over the air or using iTunes? We have a fix

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated January 4, 2016

I've been trying to update my iPad over the air to iOS 5.1 ever since it was released this last Wednesday. Unfortunately, it kept throwing an error saying "Unable to Check for Update. An error occurred while checking for a software update."

At first, I assumed that Apple's servers were being slammed, but it's now been two days and I still couldn't update, constantly getting this "unable to check for update" error.

So I decided to plug my iPad in to update it the good old way, you know, using iTunes. But iTunes was not very cooperating either as it kept throwing this error: "There was a problem downloading the software for the iPad. The network connection could not be established."

After a bit of googling, I found the solution to my problem:

iOS 5.1 brings back the “Enable 3G” switch for some

Oliver Haslam ∙ March 9, 2012

When Apple removed the "Enable 3G" switch in iOS 5, the decision was universally met with confusion, even anger by those of us that used it to save battery life in areas where 3G was flaky. By removing the option to disable it, Apple caused us all a headache we could do without.

Now, with iOS 5.1, Apple has reinstated the option quietly, once again giving us iPhone owners a little control over the speed at which our handsets connect to the internet. It may not seem like much, but this little switch is a big deal to many.

It's perhaps fitting that Apple has brought a power saving feature back in a release of iOS which is meant to increase battery life in the power-hungry iPhone 4S, too...

Apple has stopped signing iOS 5.0.1

Cody Lee ∙ Updated December 19, 2017

If your iOS device (or devices) is jailbroken, we hope you heeded our warnings not to update to iOS 5.1. As expected, the latest software update for Apple's mobile OS breaks both the Corona untether and the Absinthe exploit in one fell swoop.

Even though Apple released iOS 5.1 on Wednesday, alongside the announcement of its new iPad, it continued to sign 5.0.1 firmware over the last 48 hours or so. Well, now it looks like that window has closed...

Guess what the top selling smartphone in Japan is

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated January 25, 2016

Yes, you guessed it even before reading the end of the title. According to Electronista:

Apple now has the top-selling cellphone of any kind in Japan, IDC Japan determined late Thursday. The iPhone 4S launch helped Apple claim 26.6 percent of all cellphone shipments in the country this fall. It may have been the first non-Japanese company to top local ranks, ending a longstanding emphasis on local makers.

New iPad pre-orders sold out across all models

Cody Lee ∙ March 9, 2012

Well that didn't take long. Apple has now sold out of all new iPad models (here in the US at least) that were allotted for pre-order sales.

Yesterday, we pointed out that shipping times were slipping to March 19th on some models of Apple's latest tablet. But now it appears that all versions are seeing the delay...

Is the BBC planning to go head-to-head with iTunes?

Oliver Haslam ∙ Updated May 30, 2017

Content is king in the online media world, and while Apple currently has a lock on music and video distribution via iTunes, it seems one of the planet's oldest media companies may be set to mount a challenge.

The BBC, according to reports, is currently working on something it dubs "Project Barcelona" which, should it come to fruition, could see a huge amount of BBC content find its way to users via a download-to-own business model.

Currently, the BBC only allows streams content via its own iPlayer apps, but Project Barcelona would see an iTunes-like model, where viewers would pay a fee to keep a digital version of their favorite shows...