Twitter plugs security gap and adds a few features in the process.

The interwebs were ablaze this morning over a malicious, cross-site scripting security hole in Twitter.com that took over countless accounts and filled millions more with meaningless spam and porn. Perfect way to wake up, eh? By early this afternoon, Twitter PR issued a statement saying that everything was patched, and that it was safe to return to using Twitter.com directly. What Twitter didn’t mention, however, is that they tossed in a couple of new features to boot — “Reply to all” and “Auto-complete”.

Replay to All will now include all @users in replies. For those who simply want to reply to one — it looks like you’ll have to manually delete them from here on out. +1 for some users, -4 for others. You win some and you lose some. The auto-complete feature looks more neutral though. Now when you’re on Twitter.com and start typing the “@” symbol and a letter, the people you most frequently reply to will now pop up.

If you only use 3rd party services to access Twitter, you’ve no doubt had the aforementioned features for some time now. But for those who still call Twitter.com home, it’s a nice little surprise. Thoughts?

TerreStar satellite phone finally seeing light of day on AT&T.

One of the things most consumers look for when shopping for a new phone usually has to do with physical attributes such as the style, color, layout of the keyboard, and as of late, the number of apps one can get. The last point is still a rather small consideration, as it is generally the more nerdy folk who care about such things. But one thing I know for a fact that is no where on anyone’s list is satellite calling. For the 3 people on the planet who do care, the new TerreStar Genius smartphone on AT&T does just that.

The phone is the culmination of 2+ years of development and testing. For data-hungry users in remote locations, a cellular signal is hard to come by. (Even more-so if you’re on AT&T. /cheap shot) A couple of things that may turn potential customers off is the older design of the device and reality that it’s powered by Windows Mobile 6.5.3. Of course, when you’re in a geographic location with spotty/no coverage, you’ll take what you can get. And what you can get is a TerraStar Satellite phone from AT&T.

It’s worth noting that the TerreStar Genius does away with the traditional radio tower-esque antenna that usually adorns your typical satellite phone. It’s no less than a major feat. Still, AT&T has stated that in some of the darker corners of the earth, a separate add-on external antenna will need to be purchased to continue on your merry way. Whatever it takes I guess. Any consumers biting or is this strictly a love child for emergency/outdoorsy people?

**For interested parties, visit AT&T’s site for more information.

100 VZW corporate stores preparing for R2-Droid 2 costume party/device launch.

What are you doing at 9:30pm on September 29th? If you’re the pinnacle of nerds, you’ll be at your local VZW corporate store. That’s where a special R2-Droid 2 launch party will be kicking off and lasting long into the hours of the night. What’s different about this seemingly standard line waiting affair is that their will be a “Best Costume Contest” being held, in which the winner will net themselves a brand new R2-D2 phone. Those who are more on the shy side/don’t want to dress up can sleep easily though. A separate raffle will take care of the party poopers non-dressed R2-D2 hopefuls with a second R2-D2 device as the winning prize.

You’ll want to call your local VZW store to see if they’re participating. If not, you’d best get your tush to the nearest one if you have any hope of nabbing one — Verizon is only releasing a limited run of 50,000 devices. I guarantee we’ll see a ton of these on eBay on September 30th with bids in the 4-digit range easily. On that note, the most R2-D2′s any one body can walk out of a VZW with is 2. So instant riches won’t be had with a pilferage of VZW stock and then reselling it online. But honestly, who’d want to get rid of an R2-D2 themed Droid 2? I’d use the hell out of it! Even more bizarre however, there’s apparently an option for customers to activate the phones without having to remove them from the box. How? Why? I understand big cash later on down the road. But still…

The price is up in the air for now. However, with official Star Wars branding on these things, price really isn’t a concern for hard core collectors or devoted geeks alike. The 50,000 units will be sold out in no time. Better get in on it!

Are you dressing up?

Apple suing 3rd party accessory maker, HyperMac, for patent infringment.

Uh-oh. If you like long running Macs or iDevices thanks to HyperMac’s excellent 3rd party external batteries, you better order one up while you can. Looks like their claims of “using actual Magsafe and dock connector parts from Apple” are coming back to bite them. As it turns out, Apple is non too pleased with HyperMac repackaging their proprietary parts — so the legal hounds must be unleashed. That’s a problem because HyperMac does make some awesome products that no one else (including Apple) does. It would surely be a shame to see them sued out of existance. Hopefully Cupertino and HyperMac can come to some kind of agreement/settlement and keep all parties happy.

The lawsuit as posted by AppleInsider:

“Defendants manufacture, distribute, and/or sell products that infringe patents related to Apple’s proprietary MagSafe connectors used to connect power adapters and other products to Apple portable computers, such as the MacBook,” the suit reads. “Defendants also manufacture, distribute and/or sell products that infringe patents related to Apple’s 30-pin connectors and receptacles , used to connect cables to Apple iPod, iPhone and/or iPad products.”

“Defendants’ infringing conduct has damaged Apple and inflicted irreparable harm for which Apple seeks, among other remedies, an award of its actual damages, disgorgement of Defendants’ profits from the sale of infringing devices and injunctive relief.

How many are you going to order…?

Would you switch to Verizon for iPhone?

It’s a simple question brought up by a new survey whose results are pretty interesting, though not surprising. Specifically, the survey conducted by Credit Suisse asked users if they would switch to a different carrier if the iPhone became available on that carrier. The big news isn’t the 2% who said they’d switch to T-Mobile or the 3% who would jump ship for Sprint. Instead, the focal point is the 23% of respondents who claim to love Verizon and nothing more.

Surveys such as this have been conducted many times over the last few years, and yet each time I’m slightly amazed at how many people are only on AT&T for the iPhone. (Granted, I’m not loyal to any carrier. I go where the phone is.) With that said, I’d consider T-Mobile’s low score as somewhat inaccurate. A fair share of iPhone users are running unlocked iPhone’s on T-Mobile already, so they’re not in any rush. Nevertheless, it doesn’t have any substantial effect on the numbers — people want options for iPhone carriers. Come on Apple…

iPhone 3G iOS 4.1 jailbreaking: redsn0w 0.9.6b1 and Sn0wbreeze 2.0

One OS and two different ways to crack it wide open. That’s what redsn0w and Sn0wbreeze aim to accomplish. For starters, what system do you run at home? redsn0w is Mac-only for the time being while Sn0wbreeze is Windows-only. The former has a Windows version in the works, but the Dev-Team hasn’t announced a release date just yet. Enough chit chat. Let’s get started.

redsn0w version (0.9.6b1) allows you to jailbreak your already upgraded iPhone 3G and iPod Touch 2G running iOS 4.1. Any other iDevice is currently not supported. Furthermore, if the iPhone users out there want to keep their unlock, they’ll want to continue avoiding iOS 4.1 until the Dev-Team has updated PwnageTool.

Sn0wbreeze 2.0 is also a Windows-only tool for the time being. But on the other hand, it is a bit more resourceful. The official release is tomorrow, September 23rd, so it’s not quite available yet. But once it drops tomorrow, users of the following devices will be able to create custom .ispw files, bypassing the baseband upgrade and allowing users to keep their unlocked status.
(Redmond Pie)

iPhone 2G
iPhone 3G
iPhone 3GS (old bootrom) – Must be already jailbroken. (If you are jailbroken using Spirit or JailbreakMe, use Spirit2Pwn from http://repo.woowiz.net)
iPhone 3GS (new bootrom) – Must be currently jailbroken on 3.1.2.
iPod Touch 1G
iPod Touch 2G (Non-MC Model)
iPod Touch 2G (MC Model) – Must be currently jailbroken on 3.1.2.
iPod Touch 3G – Must be currently jailbroken on 3.1.2.

If you want to keep your unlock, go with Sn0wbreeze when it is released tomorrow or wait for the Dev-Team’s official PwnageTool solution. If you don’t care about unlocking your device, redsn0w is your beast. Happy hacking!

T-Mobile G2 working on Halloween costume, staying inside until October 16th…

Bad news for T-Mo G2 hopefuls if this rumor transgresses into reality… A comment made on a forum within T-Mo’s own walls claims that the G2 release date is being pushed back a couple of weeks to October 16th. Supposedly, hardware and software bugs discovered late in game are to blame. Now, I shouldn’t have to remind you take such claims with a grain of salt. It’s in a freakin’ chat forum. Nevertheless, plenty of big stories have started from simple, one line comments within some random forum as well. So this one could in fact be legit.

The original September 29th release date is bearing down on us, so we’ll see just how steadfast that really is. Anyone G2 squatters feelin’ a bit nervous tonight?