RIM Severs All Ties, Revokes Developer Keys for Kik Messenger. #kik #rim

Remember that whole RIM vs. Kik Messenger quarrel from last week? At the time, RIM wasn’t very talkative about the matter, instead giving very vague statements saying simply that “Kik was doing some questionable things”. Well the cat has now come out of the bag — kind of. RIM has come forward with an official statement. Unfortunately, it is just as vague as their previous stamtent —

RIM became aware of a number of issues and customer concerns regarding the Kik app and service. Following discussions with Kik, the app was removed from BlackBerry App World on November 12. Upon further investigation, RIM concluded that Kik had breached contractual obligations. Based on the broad scope and seriousness of the issues and concerns, RIM terminated its agreements with Kik and withdrew RIM’s support for Kik’s service.

Seeing as how no other app or developer has really garnered this kind of action before, whatever Kik was doing with their app must have been pretty bad for RIM to sever all ties. Then again, with as many security concerns that crop up day after day, taking extreme measures to protect users and users’ data is certainly a valid concern.

Any Kik users have anything they want to say?

iOS 4.3 Rumors Flare Up. #ios

The servers at Apple are still warm from the onslaught of iOS 4.2.1 downloads and already iOS 4.3 rumors are heating up. According to a Macnn source, Apple is hard at work at a quick 4.2.1 follow-up with iOS 4.3. While the number jump may signal a rather significant upgrade in features, early rumors suggest otherwise. Instead, the biggest addition to iOS 4.3 will supposedly be in-app subscriptions — a major feature that news organizations and magazine publishers have been pursuing for quite a while.

The release, according to the source, is looking to likely drop between December 9th and 13th. The 9th is important already because that is the day in which Apple and News Corp are supposed to announce “The Daily”, a special, just-for-tablets digital magazine. Having a new version of iOS that can make use of in-app subscriptions coinciding with a major digital publication announcement would certainly please news organizations, publishers, and end users alike.

Early to mid-December certainly sounds a bit too soon for another major update so close to the last. Though as we mentioned earlier, in-app subscriptions on their own are hardly cause for that much hype. But Apple has surprised us before with such things. What does everyone out there think? Could Apple push out another rather major update so close to their last one, and especially focusing so much on one feature?

Jailbreakers Beware: Apple Employs Baseband Requirement in Latest iOS 4.2.1. #ios #jailbreak

Jailbreaking iOS devices, while not as popular (or needed) as once before, is still a popular activity among a smaller group of users. For them, cracking open their beloved device is liberating. Not to mention, if you want to tweak the UI at all, it’s the only way to do so. And over the iPhone’s last three years of existence, Apple and jailbreakers have gone back and forth trading bug patches and new hacks. Unfortunately for jailbreakers, Apple pushed out a new requirement with iOS 4.2.1 that will make their fun time hobby a bit harder from here on out.

More specifically, all versions of iOS 4.2.1 and newer will require a base level baseband to function. What that means is that jailbreakers, specifically those seeking to unlock their iPhones for use on other carriers, will want to be much more cautious when upgrading to newer firmwares. Rolling back a baseband or preserving an old one is the sole means of exploiting a baseband hack to unlock an iPhone. Now that Apple is requiring a certain baseband, rolling back to older ones or avoiding an upgrade altogether could lock out certain users from new updates and iOS versions.

Moving forward, jailbreakers and unlockers will want to tread much more carefully when new updates are released. However, I do expect the iOS jailbreaking community to find a way around this new security feature in due time. That usually how these cat and mouse games go.

**As Jordan mentioned below, DO NOT use TinyUmbrella to upgrade. You’ll be tossed into Recovery Mode limbo and need either need to restore to stock 4.2.1 or use Cydia w/ saved SSH blobs.

Preliminary Review: UberTwitter Beta for iOS. #ios #ubertwitter

Fans of the popular BlackBerry Twitter app, UberTwitter, have a new sibling in the family. Today, the official UberTwitter iOS app launched in the App Store. With literally dozens of Twitter apps to choose between on iOS, how does UberTwitter stand out? That and more are just after the jump…

Android-Powered ASUS Smartphone Packs 4.8″ 1024 x 480 Display. #android #asus

ASUS is currently unveiling a bunch of new digital goodies in New York City at their official press event. But this particular gem stole the show — an unnamed smartphone that features 4.8″ 1024 x 480 display. For movie buffs, it falls nicely into that 21:9 aspect ratio meaning no black bars! On top of the gorgeous screen, a 1GHs Snapdragon, 802.11n WiFi, HSPA+ support, HDMI output, 8-megapixel rear camera/2-megapixel front-facing camera, and a flurry of accelerometers and gyroscopes all point to a monster of a phone.

Unfortunately, ASUS wasn’t as forthcoming about price. For that, we’ll have to wait until we get a little closer to the April 2011 release date. With that time frame in mind, Android 3.0 could be a possibility. Excited?

[Update] Angry Birds: Christmas “Confirmed” With Screenshot. Coming “Before December”? #angrybirds

Well lookie there — Angry Birds all decked out for Christmas. With a seat atop Apple’s App Store going on months, it’s easy to see people love Angry Birds, and for iOS users, Angry Birds Halloween. Looks like we’ll have another flavor of everyone’s favorite flinging birds very soon. As for release date and pricing, we don’t have any. Though so far, I’ve seen dates claiming both before December as well as into early December. Pricing should be $0.99-$1.99 as it has been before.

For now, feast your eyes on this screenshot from Japanese site, mtv3.fi. Stay tuned. We’ll go down into the trenches to try and dig up some more info.

Update

There’s also word that a 15-level mini-update is supposed to go live within the next few days bringing new, desert-based levels as well as “The Mighty Eagle”. This bird of epic proportions will allow you to skip levels that you deem too hard. However, you can only call the eagle once an hour. So plan wisely. Also, a new destruction meter will appear on previously completed levels giving you new reasons to play everything many times over…again.

Angry German, Pro-Google Posse Throwing Eggs at Blurred Houses. #weirdnews

If there’s one thing Germans really like, it’s Google’s Street View technologies and services. Unfortunately, the latest wave of crackdowns in European nations are forcing Google to blur domiciles that don’t want to be featured online. Apparently, some people have a problem with this. But instead of lobbying government (rarely works), the disgruntled group choose eggs instead — hurling eggs to be more exact. Attached to those little eggs were notes that simply stated “Google’s Cool”. Confused?