‘ON Voicefeed’ Makes Customizable Voicemail Greetings for iPhone Easy

When Sebastien suggested that I try out this new voicemail app from Orange Vallee, I was definitely skeptical. I've tried 3rd party visual voicemail apps before on Blackberrys and Android alike, and have always been disappointed. I've yet to try any on the iPhone though, and this promised a few new tricks so I figured why not.

The download is free and available here. Where the other visual voicemail programs floundered, this one shined. The most dreaded part about setting these 3rd party voicemail services up is the activation process. ON Voicefeed, like most other services, requires you to setup an account. This is done by entering in a tiny bit of info and authorizing it with a code that is sent directly to your iPhone via text...

OtterBox Defender Series Case: This is the Real Deal

This is a guest post by my friend Guy, who's owned more iPhones and cases than anyone I know. Because Guy is a heavy (and very picky) case user, I figured he would be the best person to review the OtterBox iPhone 4 Defender Series Case.

I have had more iPhones than I can count since my first $600 2G back in 2007. Of those, I've broken the glass on a half-dozen or so. Such was the case with my last iPhone which I broke last week. At the time, I was using the OtterBox Commuter. While it was pretty effective at absorbing most of the shocks caused by dropping it - even on concrete - it didn't do a thing to protect the screen when it fell and landed face down on a small rock...

TinyUmbrella Updated Again, Adds iOS 4.3 and iPad 2 Support

Now that the official version of iOS 4.3 has been released, @notcom has released an updated version of TinyUmbrella to support the new firmware.

In addition to iOS 4.3 support, the updated TinyUmbrella (version 4.30.00) also brings iPad 2 support for all models (WiFi, CDMA, and GSM), and a new tweak requested by the creator of Cydia, @Saurik. Notcom also mentions that users who do not update to the latest version of TinyUmbrella, may experience significant slowness when saving their SHSH blobs in the future...

iOS 4.3 Reveals Next-Generation iPhone 5 Will Have a Dual-Core A5 Processor

With the official release of iOS 4.3 today, Chronic-Dev Team member, @chronic has been digging deep into the code and has found some new details regarding the next-generation iPhone.

Looking deeper into the iOS 4.3 code reveals that the next-generation iPhone 5 will sport the same dual-core Apple A5 processor as the upcoming iPad 2. The devs have found references to a device with the model number N94AP, which supposedly is the next-generation iPhone 5. Taking a look inside the N94AP kernel reveals the model number "S5L8940", which happens to be the same model number as the A5 processor chip inside the iPad 2...

Bad News About the iPhone 4 Unlock

If you're one of those people patiently waiting for an unlock for iPhone 4 other than baseband 01.59.00, we've got some bad news for you.

According to a recent tweet from Dev Team frontman MuscleNerd, it is taking longer than expected to get the unlock figured out. With the official release of iOS 4.3 earlier today, the Dev Team most likely encountered new bumps on their road to unlock...

iOS 4.3 Brings iTunes Home Sharing

We announced earlier today that iOS 4.3 is now available to download. Among many of the new features highlighted by Steve Jobs and company during the iPad 2 announcement last week, was iTunes Home Sharing.

This will give you the ability to stream music from your iTunes library, to any iDevice in range of your WiFi. This is different than Remote, an iOS application by Apple, that lets you control iTunes playback on your computer with your iPhone. So what's the advantage of iTunes Home Sharing? That's easy....

White iPhone 4 Shipping Next Month?

Here we go again! The rare and much anticipated White iPhone 4 is supposedly coming next month.

According to a new report from Concord Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuofrom, Apple will begin production of its White iPhone 4 sometime this month, with the launch taking place sometime in early April...

iOS 4.3 is Now Live

As we reported yesterday, iOS 4.3 became available for download today at 10 A.M. PST.iOS 4.3 is available for iPad, iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iTouch 4G and 3G. Oh and I almost forgot, iOS 4.3 is for GSM iPhone only. That means that if you have a Verizon iPhone, then no iOS 4.3 for you!

As a reminder, jailbroken iPhone users, please stay away from the new firmware until the official 4.3 jailbreak has been announced. The new software could potentially disable some of your jailbroken applications.

With several jailbreak methods already working on beta versions of iOS 4.3, an official jailbreak can't be too far off. That being said, the long awaited iPhone 4 unlock shouldn't be too far off. As always stay tuned to iDB for the latest in jailbreaking information...

Control Your Mac From Across the Room with Your iPhone

Wireless keyboard and mouse solutions can be pretty expensive. So if you find yourself in need of controlling your Mac or PC from across the room, get ready to shell out some serious cash. Apple's own bluetooth keyboard will run you $69.99 and the bluetooth mouse the same price.

Other wireless solutions from Logitech and other hardware companies get a little less expensive, but nothing under $10. What if I told you, using your existing iPhone, you could control your Mac or PC for just $4.99? Here's how....

AT&T iPhone 4 Beats Android 4G in Upload Test

4G Android handset users are pretty upset over their not so 4G upload speeds. This past month, AT&T rolled out their first pair of 4G phones which operate on the carrier's 4G HSPA+ network. Even though AT&T has upgraded their entire network to HSPA+, it is only available in areas that have the new backhaul to support it.

How fast are these 4G devices? AT&T is claiming that in areas where 4G is lit up, they are seeing download speeds of up to 6 Mbps. There is no mention of upload speed. But Android users are flocking to web forums, claiming their 4G phones are losing to 3G iPhones in data speed tests....

Top 6 Reasons the iPad 2 Sucks

As usual, Apple has seemingly created a juggernaut as tablet competitors are already going back to the drawing board after the March 2nd announcement. But is all the media attention and strategic marketing enough to crown Apple the king of the tablets?

Maybe. Although they might have done enough to please the fanboys, I'm going to play devil's advocate and give you 6 good reasons why the iPad 2 sucks.

Screen Resolution

Rumors were flying left and right about the iPad 2 housing a Retina display, same as the iPhone. The iPad 2 will actually retain the same screen resolution from the iPad, so no upgrade there. With HD video recording capabilities and an iMovie.app, why wouldn't you want a nice, sharp screen to view your content?

Weak Cameras

Where's FaceTime HD? Apple's latest MacBook update added FacetimeHD, a High Def version of their popular video chat app. The rear camera on the new iPad says HD, but doesn't give megapixel count. There is also no LED flash. Apple mentions advanced backside illumination anyways for better low light shots, but I would prefer an LED flash.

Aging 3G Technology

We saw it with the iPhone. Apple tends to not jump on new wireless network technology. iPhone 3G came about a year after areas were seeing 3G speeds. The optimistic were hoping to see 4G LTE in the new iPad. But with battery life and reliability still questionable on the new technology, they decided to stick with the aging 3G technology. You could have at least built the hardware in and give users the option to upgrade at a later time, when 4G was in more markets, like the Motorola Xoom tablet

Still No Expandable Memory?

Some of the earlier iPad 2 rumors suggested it might have a Micro SD card slot for expandable, removable memory. Well we haven't seen it on a mobile Apple product yet. iPods, iPhones, and the iPad have all had SSD drives with no option to upgrade. Many, in fact all, of Apple's major smartphone and tablet competition house MicroSD card slots so it'll be interesting to see if they ever cave.

Still No I/O option?

We were hoping to see USB or even Thunderbolt (Apple's new lightning fast I/O) come to the iPad 2 but all we got was an HDMI chord. Which is nice, don't get me wrong, it just would have been nice to get an actual USB port to read jump drives, and attach cameras and other peripherals without the need for adapters and OS tweaks.

Still No Flash

Now there was nobody expecting this to change. Apple has made its beef with Adobe's dominant web platform, Flash, very public. In fact none of Apple's iDevices run Flash. But 80% of the 100 most visited websites use Flash. Although it hasn't seemed to affect sales at all, all of Apple's major competition in the tablet industry are Flash capable.

Now all that being said, I think Apple's new iPad will be very successful. In fact, I'll probably sell my original iPad on eBay and go and get the iPad 2. But I will only be paying $100 difference or so. If I had to shell out another $500 for the iPad 2, I wouldn't do it. This model doesn't have enough new features to justify spending that kind of money, again.

Do you think the iPad 2 sucks? If so, or if not, raise your voice by leaving a comment below.

Celeste Bluetooth File Transfer App for iPhone Coming Soon

CocoanutApps, the developers behind the popular YouTube/YourTube HD jailbreak app and Gremlin jailbreak framework, are set to bring us yet another awesome jailbreak application called, "Celeste".

Celeste is a jailbreak app which will enable you to send or receive files and photos via Bluetooth File Transfer from your jailbroken iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 3G, iPod touch or iPad running iOS4 or later.