All A4 iDevices Untethered!!!

If you’ve been following the internet or pod2g’s blog you’ll know that he has completed his work on all A4 devices and the untethered jailbreak. This is huge news for anyone with an iPhone 4 and earlier (iPad 2 and iPhone 4S are still unverified). We’ve pointed to pod2g’s Twitter account on the updates and now his blog has given us constant updates on all A4 devices and their untethered state.

We’ll keep you up to date on the progress of A5 devices, hopefully we’ll see those soon. But I would recommend updating to 5.0.1 as that has been verified to be untethered. With Apple seeding the 5.1 update to developers, who knows if the exploit has been patched.

Use (Not Own) an iPhone 4S With O2 Lease

If you are interested in having access to a speedy Apple A5 dual-core processor, that beautiful 8 megapixel camera and the intelligent assistant Siri, but don’t want to actually own an iPhone 4S, then perhaps O2′s new scheme is just for you.

O2 Lease is the new plan from the British phone network for new or existing customers, offering a 12-month lease of the latest smartphone from Apple for a mere monthly fee of £55. The monthly cost includes 750 minutes, unlimited texts, 500mb of data, and insurance. At the end of the year-long contract, simply return the phone and move onto your next gadget adventure.

The new plan allows anybody to get hold of the latest smartphones with minimal cost, as O2 goes on to say in their blog, “[O2 Lease] provides certainty and predictability of costs for customers, a genuinely new way of engaging with those that want the latest smartphone and the latest technology every year, but either can’t afford the relatively high upfront cost of a normal 12 month contract or don’t want to be tied to a long contract.”

While the overall costs are relatively low, the monthly fee is far from paltry, especially when the user doesn’t get to keep the iPhone 4S at the end of it. Alternatively, as Apple often updates their popular smartphone yearly, this plan is a great way to keep on top of technology with a yearly upgrade.

Leaked Sprint Galaxy S II ROMs Void Of CarrierIQ.

Nobody’s favorite mobile tracking software, CarrierIQ, is getting the shaft in Sprint’s upcoming Galaxy S II update, according to this ongoing thread (more recent leak from today here) over at XDA which highlight two recently leaked ROMs: EK02 and EL13 — the latter removes Carrier IQ.

If Sprint/Samsung are going on the offensive by removing CarrierIQ on the Galaxy S II due to unanimous consumer (and governmental) condemnation, very soon we could see a carrier (or even a mobile landscape) void of the invasive software.

iOS UI Concept Designer, Jan-Michael Cart, Heading To Work At Apple.

Ever heard of Jan-Michael Cart? Don’t care? Well, you should. Cart has created some awesome concepts for iOS 5, but it is his Notification Center tweaks in particular that have us really excited. Apparently Apple has fell in love with Cart’s concepts as well — the company has officially hired him on as an intern for the UI/UX team.

After watching a few of Cart’s concept videos, we’re super excited to see what he brings to iOS in future versions. Though, it goes without saying we certainly hope the new additions come sooner (.x release) rather than later.

Hop past the break to check out Cart’s iOS concepts in their full glory…

Bolt BlackBerry Browser Is Dead.

Well this is sad — The Bolt BlackBerry browser, originally launched in 2009, is officially dead. A message posted to Bolt’s website simply reads:

“Dear BOLT User,

The free BOLT mobile browsing service will be discontinued. Unfortunately, the economic circumstances prevent us from running a free service going forward. We apologize for any inconvenience and thank you for your loyalty and support.

The BOLT Team”

The specific mention of “free service” seems to suggest that the Bolt team could be working on a new offering that would require some type of payment whether it be a one-time charge or recurring monthly payment. Though, at this time any such speculation is purely rumor.

While the BlackBerry browser has come pretty far since the earlier 4.x days, it’s still a pretty pathetic option, meaning 3rd party options such as Opera and (up until today) Bolt made web browsing on RIM’s smartphone platform bearable.

Now that one of the better 3rd party browsers for BlackBerry is dead, what will you turn to, dear BlackBerry reader?

Facebook Page Private Message Feature Leaks. Release Unknown.

Facebook page owners: Receiving/replying to followers’ comments is about to get a lot more private. The new feature was initially spotted by WeAreSocial.sg, and then later confirmed by Facebook to Read Write Web.

While some would compare the Facebook Page private messaging feature to Twitter’s own private Direct Message, there is one difference that could be highly useful — Facebook Page private messages will not require the page/page admin to be following hopeful commenters. On Twitter you can’t send someone a Direct Message unless they are following you.

For now, the image above and confirmation from Read Write Web are all we have proving said functionality is real. Once a release date for Facebook Page private messaging functionality is published we’ll certainly pass it along.

Dish Network Interested In T-Mobile Partnership/Spectrum Acquisition.

The story of AT&T and T-Mobile’s ill-fated merger plans are starting to get a bit more interesting with news that U.S. satellite TV provider, Dish Network, is interested in partnering with the country’s 4th largest wireless carrier (T-Mobile) in an attempt to better compete with the cellular giants, Verizon and AT&T.

The partnership would only occur if T-Mobile and AT&T fail, on all fronts, to hammer out a collective agreement or partnership. If AT&T and T-Mobile do manage to tie the knot in some form or fashion, spectrum almost certainly has to be sold off to keep governing agencies happy — spectrum that Dish Network would also be happy acquiring.

Hmm. Dish Network Mobile… agreeable name?