Following today's announcement of the first iPad 2 jailbreak by @Comex, iPhone hacker @i0n1c has updated us with the status of his untethered iOS 4.3 jailbreak, which was revealed late last week.
i0n1c has updated his original YouTube video showing off the jailbreak, with an ETA for the untethered jailbreak which he states will be released "before next weekend"...
Late last week, we saw our first iOS 4.3 jailbreak shown off on video by iPhone hacker @i0n1c, which claimed it to be in the "Alpha stage".
And now, famous iPhone hacker, @Comex has found another exploit in iOS 4.3, being the very first to jailbreak the new iPad 2 with the updated bootROM. In addition to announcing it on his own Twitter account, the official @iphone_dev account has also announced Comex's huge accomplishment.
It's true. Apple moves their launch products so quickly that, sometimes the glue isn't done drying, by the time it hits consumer hands. We saw it with the iPhone 4 and MacRumors is reporting similar issues with the iPad 2.
The good news is, with the iPhone 4, the yellow tint went away within the first couple of days. Other sites are also reporting that besides the yellow film, users are claiming that light actually leaks in some areas around the iPad 2 display bezel.
Are these units really defective? No. Like we mentioned earlier, the yellow tint and the gaps in the display bezel are likely due to the bonding agent, used in production, not being completely dried.
Consumers should continue to use their iPad 2's like normal, and if these issues don't disappear within the first week, take it back to the retailer you purchased it at and have them look at it.
Has anyone seen either of these issues with their iPad 2? Tell us below!
Me too. After almost three hours of waiting (I know that's not much compared to some) at my local Best Buy, I was told there were no more WiFi-only models left at that location. Not only that but there were no more white iPad 2 available.
With only about 25-30 people ahead of me in line, and almost none of them walking away with white iPad, I had to wonder how small their drop shipment actually was. It also would have been lovely to know the model availability before I wasted most of my afternoon, waiting on the impossible. Determined to not accept defeat, I then proceeded across the street to Target....
My hopes that they somehow had some iPads left were crushed when I made my way to the electronics department. Not only were they sold out, they only had 6 units to start with, and none of them were the 16GB WiFi-only model I lusted after. So I went back to my car and although frustrated, quickly dialed every Walmart in town.
It was about 5:30 P.M. at this point, but I was desperate, and was hoping that the general public wasn't much aware of Walmart carrying iPad 2's on launch day. But with every phone call, reality crept a little bit closer. Finally, it was time to give up the chase, and I headed home. I had completely failed, or did I?
Yesterday morning, I mentioned that I had a feeling iPad 2 stock was limited, and I was spot on. So, did Apple drop the ball on their big launch day, or did everything go as planned? I'm going to go with the latter, because although the iPad 2 was just announced a week ago, original iPad sales had to give Apple some kind of insight to what demand was going to be for their new tablet.
Apple's plan, like many other major product launches, may have just been to release a limited number on launch day. Even though they may have warehouses packed with iPad 2's, they could be choosing not to ship to create a higher demand. Releasing iPads in rounds also makes Apple more agile. If they release a million units at a time, and there is a defect, they can quickly repair the problem.
But whatever the reason, I know that the hundreds of thousands of loyal Apple fans that flocked to their respective Apple stores and retailers, deserved better. My one opportunity to purchase an iPad 2 was a 64GB Black AT&T model, $829. That's almost double what I was wanting to spend, and I just didn't have any use for all the extra memory.
Were you able to snag an iPad 2 on launch day? Or did you have a similar, disappointing experience like myself? Tell us below!
It's no secret that Apple's system for notifications in iOS sucks. Many other mobile operating systems, like Google's Android, use a more unobtrusive method for delivering new notifications.
Apple is definitely working on making the notification system in iOS better, but until then, we can only gawk at interesting concepts of what a complete iOS notification redesign would like like. The latest and greatest concept uses the iPad 2's new Smart Cover...
If you weren't one of those people that got online at 1 AM this morning to snag an iPad 2, you may be waiting a while. Apple's second version of its popular tablet went on sale early this morning online, and will be available at 5 PM at retail stores today.
It appears it didn't take long for Apple fanatics to snatch up the first round of shippable iPad 2's. At about 7 AM PST this morning, customers trying to order the new iPad online were met with a 2-3 week ship time.
People who got their orders in before that, were able to have the product shipped in 3-5 days. After noticing the lengthy ship times, I decided to call my local retailers, and see what would be available for local purchase.
To my surprise, the wireless dealers I contacted stated they would have limited quantity on hand. They also stated that they wouldn't have any iPad 2 WiFi only models on hand for the big launch day.
When Apple announced a ship date of less than 2 weeks after the iPad 2 was made public, I expected them to be a little more prepared. Especially considering that the original iPad, was one of the fastest selling consumer electronic products in history.
Did you snag an iPad 2 this morning? Will you be venturing out to a retail store today? Let us know below!
Although we mentioned some things we didn't like about the iPad 2 yesterday, many first round reviews are still calling it the best tablet on the market. That could also be due to lack of competition.
While there will be many competitors launching their first tablets this year (HP, Blackberry, Microsoft?), Apple is on the brink of releasing their 2nd iteration of their smash hit, the iPad. Selling 15 million iPads in its first 9 months, Apple's iPad hoarded 73% of the tablet industry in the 4th quarter of last year. But do the folks at Cupertino have another juggernaut on their hands?
It would appear so. Judging by the general consensus amongst early iPad 2 testers, the new features make for a better tablet experience. Confirming Apple's claims, many reviewers are finding the new iPad to be noticeably lighter, especially with extended use.
Macworld is also reporting that this is the fastest iOS device ever, by a long shot. Other testers seem to agree. Slashgear even brags that their iPad 2 was able to software decode a side loaded 1.4GB .avi file on the fly using Oplayer, while watching it, without lag or stutter. Something, they say, the original iPad more than struggled with.
There were mixed reviews on battery life. Some sites reported the iPad 2 exceeded the original by giving them 10 hours and 26 minutes of continuous playback. Others reported just under the 10 hour mark.
So it's faster, it's lighter, it has the same 10 hour battery life, but what about those new cameras? Well it's easy to see why Apple doesn't go too much into detail about the cameras. Multiple sources are describing the new cameras as taking mediocre stills and only decent video. I assume we'll see higher resolution cameras in the next iPad, in conjunction with better display.
Love it or hate it, Apple seems to have another hit on their hands. Starting at $499, the iPad 2 has a more attractive entry price than most of its competitors. Though the iPad 2 is more evolutionary than revolutionary, it still has to be the best consumer tablet on the market right now. Walter S. Mossberg, of The Wallstreet Journal, thinks the new features aren't enough to warrant upgrading from the current iPad, what do you think?
Will you be in line tomorrow at 5 PM ? Let us know below!
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...
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...
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.
The iPad 2 will be available this Friday as of 5pm, wherever you are in the United States. For once, Apple has several sales channels in place. I guess this is to make sure they can sell as many iPads as possible in the shortest amount of time.
This is where you will be able to buy the iPad 2 on March 11:
Your local Apple Store AT&T Verizon Best Buy Walmart TargetSo, we'll you be getting the line, or will you order it online?
Some guy wants his iPad 2 so bad that he's already started camping in front of an Apple Store somewhere in Texas. I really want my iPad 2 too, but am I gonna be camping in the street for 4 days for it? Probably not.
I guess I'm not as much of an iPad lover as this guy is.
[Mac Observer]