iPad 2

Everything You Need to Know About iOS 4.3.3 Jailbreak

Cody Lee ∙ May 7, 2011

Apple released iOS 4.3.3 (4.2.8 for Verizon iPhones) last Wednesday, less than three weeks after the previous software update. The new firmware included a fix for the location tracking file that Apple has gotten into so much water over (is that considered Cider?).

Chances are, most of you didn't consider 4.3.3 big enough to update from 4.3.2. But with the Verizon iPad 2 problem fixed and the infamous tracking bug patched, we may not see another update until iOS 5 is released. If that's the case, then this will likely be the last jailbreak for several months, so why not update?

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The Dev Team Gives iPad 2 Jailbreak Update

Cody Lee ∙ May 6, 2011

Less than 3 days after Apple released the new 4.3.3 firmware, leaders of the jailbreak community have already provided provided several way to hack the new software.

The infamous Dev Team updated their popular PwnageTool and RedSn0w applications to jailbreak all iDevices that support Apple's latest firmware, excluding the iPad 2.

I know, the wait is becoming unbearable. Luckily, the Dev Team gave us an update on the current status of the iPad 2 jailbreak:

The iPad2 jailbreak remains under development. As you may know, the original exploit @comex developed in the first week of the iPad2 release was mysteriously fixed by Apple within days of its development. Partly because of this, don't expect much public discussion of the iPad 2 jailbreak until its actually finished and ready for release (and please avoid asking about it). In all likelihood, it will be a userland exploit like the first (unreleased) one, not dependent on bootrom dumps.

For those of you wondering why hackers have the ability to jailbreak the iPad 2 and haven't shared it with the masses yet, the Dev Team explains:

The first one can't be released even for those with the original 4.3 firmware due to legal (distribution) reasons.

It's good to know the Dev Team has not forgotten about us folks who are starving for a jailbreak solution for Apple's latest tablet. It'll be interesting to see if members of the Dev Team can beat Geohot and the Chronic Dev team to the iPad 2 jailbreak, who are reportedly using a method that requires a bootrom dump.

What do you think?

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iOS 4.3.3 Just Went Live, Jailbreakers Stand Down

Cody Lee ∙ May 4, 2011

If you've been living in a cave the last few weeks, you may have missed all of the controversy involving Apple's iOS. A research team uncovered a hidden file deep within Apple's mobile operating system, that kept a record of users' travels. When they broke this information to the public, a lot of curious folks turned to Apple for answers.

The secret file was just a programming glitch, but the public has a tendency to be really concerned about their personal privacy. In the wake of the discovery, Apple decided to patch the bug in a new firmware update, which just went live a few minutes ago.

Original iPad owners who are jailbroken and iPad 2 owners that hope to jailbreak in the future should avoid upgrading to the new firmware. As with any new software update, Apple could have patched the exploit that the current jailbreak is using, and you could be stuck with stock iOS for a while.

Although a jailbreak for the iPad 2 has not been released yet, owners of Apple's latest tablet are encouraged to stay away from the new software as well.  There are members of the Chronic Dev team and others that currently have jailbroken iPad 2s, the exploit is just not ready for the masses. Updating your firmware could disqualify you from the possibility of a future jailbreak.

iOS 4.3.3 was specifically released to erase the file that was recording locations. While I don't think we'll see any surprises in this update, I would still recommend holding off until we have official word from the community that it's safe. We'll keep you updated.

Are you more worried about Apple's location bug or your jailbreak?

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New iPad 2 Commercial

Cody Lee ∙ May 4, 2011

About a month ago, we brought you Apple's first official TV ad for their latest tablet. Although the new iPad certainly hasn't needed any assistance from their marketing team, the commercial was really well done. It basically laid out the Cupertino company's formula for making electronic products for the masses, which is focusing on the user experience and not so much on the technology behind it.

It looks like Apple's ad agencies have done it again. In their follow up 30 second spot for the iPad 2, Apple repeatedly completes the sentence, "If you asked..." The two most interesting lines come at the end of the commercial when the voiceover reads, "If you asked a child, she might call it magic. And if you asked us, we'd say it's just getting started." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdSCCwJWwXQ

Although I'm not sure that there's anyone in the world capable of imagining what Apple will come up with next, the last line of the advertisement certainly makes you think. The iPad is still very early in its life, imagine what it will look like in 5 years. Just look at the current iPod line and how much it has changed since Steve Jobs unveiled the original model back in 2001.

What do you think the iPad will look like in 5 years?

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Amazon Looking to Compete Head to Head with Apple's iPad?

Cody Lee ∙ May 3, 2011

You might not have seen this one coming. Amazon has been a long-time competitor of Apple's popular tablet, but never on even grounds. While Amazon was first to market with their Kindle device, Apple showed up with a product that was almost as portable and had way more functionality.

Amazon's Kindle currently sits as a black and white, e-ink reading device. The different models don't get more expensive than $200 bucks, with the Special Offers edition coming in at $114. Although Apple's tablet contains a book store, the 2 devices don't compete in any other features. The Kindle's main function is to read books and the iPad can... (where do I start?)

DigiTimes reported yesterday that Amazon is ready to take on Apple's popular slate with a full fledge Tablet PC all their own. According to their sources, Taiwan-based notebook maker Quanta Computer has recently received OEM orders from Amazon for an iPad 2 competitor.

Quanta Computer is currently the tablet OEM parter for RIM and their PlayBook, so they certainly have the means to produce a worthy iPad opponent. Upstream component makers expect Amazon's mystery device to be available as early as the 2nd half of 2011 and initially ship between 700,000 and 800,00 units.

While the sources point out that Amazon's Kindle is still selling strong, apparently the eBook reader isn't too popular outside the U.S. and parts of Europe. They go on to say that Amazon is planning to cut the price of the Kindle to attract consumer demand, and then push a tablet out to meet the iPad 2 head on.

Since they will be arriving almost 2 years late to the party, Amazon better have something really special up their sleeves.

What do you think? Are you interested in an Amazon tablet?

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GeoHot to Help with iPad 2 Jailbreak?

Cody Lee ∙ May 1, 2011

If you don't recognize the name GeoHot, you must be new around here. The infamous electronics expert first garnered public attention when he traded his ground-breaking, unlocked iPhone for a brand new Nissan 350z. Did I mention he was 17 years old at the time?

Since then, the New Jersey native has been in and out of the jailbreak scene, more recently grabbing headlines for dismantling Sony's PS3 system. The electronics giant took the young hacker to court over his PS3 exploit, and since then, GeoHot has been laying relatively low.

Chronic Dev team member, p0sixninja, is hoping he doesn't stay gone for long. The talented iDevice hacker has recently tweeted, "Damn, this one of the slowest progressing jailbreaks ever. I think I kinda miss geohot a bit."

It seems that p0sixninja and other jailbreakers are having a tough time with the iPad 2's A5 processor and associated bootrom. Apparently p0sixninja feels like GeoHot could be of some help, as he publicly challenged him in a race to see "who could dump the iPad 2 boot rom" the fastest. GeoHot has reportedly accepted.

p0six mentions that having a worthy opponent might motivate him to work harder, let's hope he's right. We are now venturing into the 3rd month since Apple launched its latest tablet, and there still doesn't seem to be an official iPad 2 jailbreak in sight. As always, we will keep you updated on the latest iPad 2 jailbreak news.

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How to Spot a Failbreaker

Cody Lee ∙ April 30, 2011

For those who haven't been keeping up with the latest iPad 2 jailbreak news, let me bring you up to speed. Last week there was an unknown Twitter user proclaiming that he had created an iPad 2 jailbreak. He uploaded videos and pictures of what seemed to be an iPad 2 running Cydia.

He built up close to 1000 Twitter followers, and even had media outlets (including us) mentioning his work on Apple's tablet. Although we maintained a certain level of skepticism, a part of us wanted to believe the photos and the videos were real.

Some people got so wrapped up in their beliefs, that they blindly downloaded an unknown EXE file from the hacker. He claimed that this was the iPad 2 jailbreak everyone was waiting for. Luckily, it was nothing more than a simple app designed to error out. It could have easily been something much more malicious.

For folks who are looking for help to dismiss future fakes, the Chronic Dev Team have posted a video on their GreenPois0n website that educates the average joe on how to spot a fake video of a jailbreak.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=4St2eJA6geQ

The Chronic Dev Team's GreenPois0n software has been a staple in the jailbreak community for the last few years. They are currently working on a real iPad 2 jailbreak, but have stated as recently as last week that it is no where close to being done.

While the fake jailbreak from last week can be written off as a bad prank, the next time folks may not be so lucky. We encourage you to check back here for the latest information on an official iPad 2 jailbreak.

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Foxconn Employees Arrested for Leaking iPad 2 Information

Cody Lee ∙ April 28, 2011

Have you ever wondered how case designers and analysts always seem to know information about Apple products before they hit masses? It seems like every solid piece of evidence we get about upcoming devices are from accessory makers or market analysts that have sources inside Apple's supply chain.

Being one of these "tipsters" could make for a really good side job, as long as you are compensated well and you don't get caught. Well, it looks like a couple of Foxconn employees missed the memo, as they were recently arrested on related charges.

For those who don't know, Foxconn manufactures electronics and components for many large tech companies including HP, Sony, and obviously, Apple. Many of the company's iDevices are constructed at Foxconn's factory in Shenzhen, China. You may recall all the negative attention the plant received last year after a string of work-related employee suicides.

Digitimes has translated a report from Chinese-langague sznews.com that tells the latest story. Apparently several online retailers in China had iPad 2 protective cases available to sell, well before the device was announced. This led Foxconn to believe that there were employees leaking information on Apple's latest tablet, and they reported it to the police.

After a brief investigation, local law enforcement arrested three suspects on December 26th of last year. Since then, the police have gathered enough evidence to officially charge the three former Foxconn employees for violating the company's trade secrets. The charges were filed at the end of last month, and the three defendants are currently awaiting trial.

Since Apple thrives on the secrecy of upcoming products, I can assume they are looking to prosecute to the full extent of the law. The fact that a Foxconn employee reportedly committed suicide 2 years ago after losing an iPhone, suggests that most folks would rather not cross the Cupertino company.

What do you think?

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GarageBand Running on the iPhone 4

Alex Heath ∙ Updated May 11, 2018

Thanks to a new hack for running iPad apps on the iPhone, someone has been able to successfully run GarageBand on the iPhone 4. GarageBand is a relatively new addition to iOS that was introduced alongside the iPad 2.

Although the App Store's GarageBand is specifically designed for the iPad, it can also be hacked to run on a jailbroken iPhone.

The app seems to function pretty well once ported. The guy says he used OpenSSH to change the app's underlying metadata so that it would run on the iPhone.

There are some obvious scaling and interface issues, but this is still a cool experiment to check out. You can do this yourself through the magic of OpenSSH on a jailbroken iDevice, you just need the right information.

Apple will probably make GarageBand a universal app in the future. It's going to be really interesting to see how the iWork suite (Pages, Numbers, Keynote) work on the iPhone through this method.

What do you think of GarageBand running on the iPhone 4? Pretty cool, huh?

[9to5Mac]

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The iPad 2 Jailbreak Situation [Updated]

Cody Lee ∙ April 27, 2011

Yesterday we reported that an unknown hacker by the name of d0nfyxn announced via Twitter that he was almost finished with an iPad 2 jailbreak solution. This was fairly significant because well known iDevice hackers like Comex and p0sixninja have been having problems with Apple's new tablet.

The French hacker announced yesterday that he would be releasing beta software today that could jailbreak your iPad 2. Obviously there were a lot of skeptics, calling the videos and photos that were uploaded as proof of the jailbreak, completely fake. Most people were calling his bluff that he would release anything.

Even MuscleNerd chimed in last night, saying that the only iPad 2 jailbreak available to date is the one discovered by Comex. While Comex was the first to post pictures of a jailbroken iPad 2, he has since announced that he is no longer working on the project.

Well, to everyone's surprise, d0nfyxn actually posted a link a few minutes ago that he claims is an alpha release of his iPad 2 jailbreak software. He notes that it covers all versions of 4.3 firmware, and is only available to Windows users. Is it legit?

While we only have Mac computers here, we more than likely wouldn't attempt to download this file anyways. The file size seems too small to be an application. Known iDevice expert, MuscleNerd, warned the Twitter world that d0nfyxn is a known fraudster and that the download could possibly contain a malicious payload.

We definitely recommend waiting on an official release to come from the Dev Team or at least somebody more reputable than an unknown Twitter user. We'll keep you updated as this situation continues to develop.

Did anyone try downloading the mysterious jailbreak? What were the results?

UPDATE: Once again it's MuscleNerd to the rescue. It looks like he did some investigating and just tweeted a few moments ago that the mysterious file from d0nfyxn is indeed fake. Apparently the tiny app was written to display a message box that says "Failed to connect the device, please try again."

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Possible iPad 2 Jailbreak in the Next Few Days?

Cody Lee ∙ April 26, 2011

iPad 2 owners, hoping to jailbreak, have had a rough go of it. Initially, we thought the exploit for Apple's latest tablet would be available soon after launch. Now, 2 months after its release, the latest Apple tablet has yet to have a stable solution.

If you haven't been keeping up with the iPad 2 jailbreak situation, let me quickly fill you in.

Comex posted a picture of his iPad 2 jailbroken last month, but he has since quit working on the exploit. With Comex out, all eyes turned to p0sixninja, who tweeted that he and the Chronic Dev team were working on the exploit. However, he has since commented that the iPad 2 jailbreak has been progressing extremely slowly.

Enter d0nfyxn, an unknown hacker with no previous history of jailbreak-related work. Over the last few days he's been uploading videos and pictures of his iPad 2 running Cydia and Installous, which are well known jailbroken applications.

He's not just bragging about his exploit either, he's promising an alpha release by tomorrow. Only time will tell if he's for real or not.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iraAK5yS2qg

I'm definitely marking this down as a rumor until I see it working for my own eyes, it wouldn't be too difficult to fake something like this. The fact that this guy came out of no where, and has only been a Twitter user for a few days, also makes the whole story pretty sketchy.

We'll keep you posted on how this all unfolds, and let you know as soon as a stable jailbreak is ready.

Is anyone excited about the possibility of an iPad 2 jailbreak?

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