The following devices are supported (Pretty much every iPad, 3G+ iPod and 2G+ iPhone):

• iPad: 1,1 – 2,1 – 2,2 – 2,3 – 3,1 – 3,2 – 3,3
  (Support for iPad2,4 will be added at a later date)

• iPod: 3,1 – 4,1

• iPhone: 2,1 – 3,1 – 3,3 – 4,1

Download Absinthe 2.0: Download Absinthe 2.0 – greenpois0n

Via: @Chronic

A recent tweet from the @HITBsecConf twitter account for said conference says that on Friday, May 25th, pod2g and friends will be showing off a live demonstration of the new jailbreak, with a public release hitting the interwebs (reportedly) shortly thereafter. The event is kicking off at 11:30am CET (5:30am EST) and will begin with a few discussions and other demos before the real meat of the day, Absinthe 2.0, is shown off.

Needless to say, a lot of iOS users will be hunched over their keyboards tomorrow, anxiously awaiting a download link for the new jailbreak — it’s been a longtime coming.

Source: conference.hitb.org | Via: ModMyi, @MrRobinson

Good news. We’ve found a way through for iPod 3G and iPhone 3Gs users. Upcoming jailbreak will be compatible.

— pod2g (@pod2g) May 18, 2012

A few days ago we reported that infamous jailbreak hacker, pod2g, had found a way to jailbreak the latest versions of iOS (5.1.1) on pretty much all devices. The only devices that weren’t working at the time included the Apple TV 3, 3rd-gen iPod Touch and iPhone 3GS.

Today we can thankfully scratch the latter two off the list. A tweet made earlier today by pod2g reveals that the iOS hacker has found a method to get the 3rd-gen iPod Touch and iPhone 3GS jailbreak compatible on iOS 5.1.1. This should make a lot of people who either purposefully or accidentally updated their devices and whom don’t want to have to downgrade to re-live the jailbreak experience.

All that said, the Apple TV 3 is still on the “not supported” list. Hopefully pod2g’s recent success can translate to cracking the final holdout in Apple’s iOS lineup so that everyone can jailbreak on the latest and greatest OS.

(Oh, and you can stop asking for ETAs. It’ll be done when it’s done. Give the guy a break.)

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Apple will unveil new photo sharing features within iCloud at WWDC in June. The service, as the WSJ describes it, will allow sharing to other users (services unknown) and also allow said users to comment on shared photos.

If Apple is looking to expand on iCloud/social sharing of pictures, it will be yet again another attempt by Apple to get hot and heavy into the social arena. If you look back just a couple years ago, Apple unveiled “Ping” in iTunes, a service that was supposed to make finding and sharing music with friends on iTunes a lot more social and fun. Labels/artists were also supposed to be heavily benefit from increased sales due to more exposure as well as creating a much closer relationship with fans. So far Ping has been a non-story. No one cares about it and even fewer use it.

In the mobile social/photo market, Instagram is as we said above, a huge player despite the company’s tiny size. If Apple can finally get their foot in the door, it will open up an entirely new avenue for Apple to tap into for both new products and revenue.

9to5Mac speculates that the WSJ’s story could possibly tie in with Apple’s Phil Schiller recently leaving Instagram. When questioned on his departure, Schiller simply stated he left Instagram because it had “jumped the shark”, an obvious hit at the company’s embracing of Android by releasing a new Android app. In actuality, it very well could simply be a matter of removing himself from the competition in preparation for his company’s own in-house solution.

It goes without saying that this years WWDC is looking like the biggest one yet.

Source: WSJ | Via: 9to5 Mac
Image Source: Pocket-Lint

]]> http://gadgetsteria.com/2012/05/14/rumor-apple-preparing-in-house-photo-sharing-service-for-wwdc-reveal/feed/ 0 http://gadgetsteria.com/2012/05/14/pod2gs-ongoing-untether-exploit-doesnt-work-on-3rd-gen-ipod-touch-iphone-3gs/ http://gadgetsteria.com/2012/05/14/pod2gs-ongoing-untether-exploit-doesnt-work-on-3rd-gen-ipod-touch-iphone-3gs/#comments Mon, 14 May 2012 12:58:40 +0000 Mike Norris http://gadgetsteria.com/?p=81452

Sad news. Just tested the untether on an iPod 3G. The kernel vulnerability don’t happen on this one. I think iPhone 3Gs is out too.

— pod2g (@pod2g) May 14, 2012

According to a tweet by infamous iOS hacker/jailbreaker, pod2g, the latest untether exploit he’s working on for an eventual (assumed) iOS 5.1(.x) jailbreak does not work on the 3rd-gen iPod Touch. He also speculates that the iPhone 3GS could be out too.

A post-iOS 5.1 untether jailbreak (more-so A5 devices like the iPhone 4S, iPad 2 and iPad 3) is being anxiously awaited upon by a vast number of iOS users who either accidentally or purposefully updated to the latest iOS 5.1/5.1.1 on their devices. Over the last week pod2g has tweeted several things pointing to a possible untether jailbreak release in the not too distant future (“a few weeks”).

pod2g’s latest tweet signals that users of now-legacy iOS hardware may find their once grand dreams of jailbreak freedom shattered. That said, there still may be hope. If a downgrade solution is found (such as with redsn0w) to allow someone to downgrade to an older, jailbreak-able version of iOS, things won’t be quite as bad.

On top of the 3rd-gen iPod Touch and iPhone 3GS woes, it was also previously revealed that the Apple TV3 was also immune to the latest jailbreak attempts.

More on pod2g’s current progress: pod2g-ios.blogspot

Heya! My iPhone 4 running iOS 5.1 is now untethered

— pod2g (@pod2g) May 3, 2012

An official iOS 5.1 unether is a little bit closer today after a new tweet by infamous iOS hacker/jailbreaker, @pod2g. The hacker claims to have an iPhone 4 untether jailbreak up and running. Success! So how soon until you can slap it on your iPhone 4? A while(ish).

Going from a usable untether that a hacker uses to an end user package/program that is mostly seamless and generally free of bugs takes an immense amount of refinement and tons of man hours testing and re-testing. Add to that the dwindling amount of exploits being found in iOS for iOS hackers to use for jailbreaks which creates an environment where jailbreak hackers are less willing to “waste” exploits on minor upgrades means any public release may never happen.

Pod2g pushed out a poll a few days asking the internets if we all want the untether release now or to wait to get the frying pan out until the bigger fish (iOS 6) arrives. We notice the increasing workload Apple is putting on jailbreak hackers by locking down iOS more and more with each release. That’s why we’re plenty happy to wait for an iOS 6 jailbreak with the current exploits. But that’s just us.

What do you think? Apple will very likely patch the newly found exploits in iOS 6 and render all this time we waited for naught.

iPhone 4S/iPad 2/iPad 3 (A5 and A5X) users, keep waiting.

Via: CultOfMac

iLounge Editor-in-Chief Jeremy Horwitz comes out with his own claims this morning, citing numerous inside sources. What makes his information a tad more believable (as noted by 9to5 Mac) is that Jeremy (and iLounge in general) has legitimate sources within a ton of companies that specialize in iPhone accessories thanks to their ever-growing iLounge section at CES.

All that said, according to Jeremy, Apple will cut the iPhone’s overall thickness down by another ~20% compared to the current iPhone 4S. The next-gen iPhone will also reportedly carry a metallic back (see iLounge render above). Finally, the new iPhone will grow in length by 10mm to make room for the taller screen and gain a new, smaller dock connector that is more oval/round in shape. This new connector will supposedly be used on all of Apple’s mobile devices going forward – iPad, iPhone and iPod.

Jeremy also speculates that because of the taller screen, Apple will, “for the first time since the original iPhone”, change the aspect ratio of the device. The immediate result will be a slew of iPhone specific apps that will need to be updated as without it, black bars and/or cropping will be needed to either see the full app/image or fill the screen respectively.

Our Thoughts

Quite frankly, it’s extremely hard to guess what Apple will do next. While we’d like to see a moderately larger display, the current rumors that claim a screen that is the same width but simply taller don’t sound very appetizing. We’ve always preferred the iPhone’s more square-ish aspect ratio to that of a taller, thinner one. Not to mention, we’re not looking forward to the multi-month long wait for apps to upgrade images for any potential resolution/aspect ratio changes.

As for the render of the proposed redesign of the next iPhone’s backside, we’d certainly hope (and suspect) that a frankenstein glass and metal back isn’t used, at least not like the render suggests. It looks pretty chaotic and well, just plain ugly.

The dock connector will likely cause the most controversy, however. If it is indeed smaller or at the very least re-designed, legions of people will cry out over Apple killing legacy accessories. But honestly, such arguments are stupid. The dock connector as it is now has been around for years. Really, we’re surprised Apple has kept it as long as they have. In its current form, the dock connector is incredibly compared to the increasingly thinner devices Apple pumps out. A re-design is needed for Apple to continue reducing size. Not to mention, Apple is usually pretty headstrong and progressive with killing off “old” hardware/specs. (Remember the first Macbook Air and the backlash over its lack of a physical DVD drive?) We on the other hand gladly welcome a smaller dock connector/port. It’s time.

As always, we’re eagerly awaiting to see what Apple has in store for us next.

Source: iLounge | Via: 9to5Mac

News: aproductive week-end. Found 2 big vulnerabilities. 1 kernel land and 1 root land.

— pod2g (@pod2g) April 30, 2012

Even though Apple has dramatically opened up (relatively of course) iOS since the days of iPhone OS 1.0, there are still a handful of legitimate reasons to enjoy jailbreaking your iOS device. For us, we simply like the added utility that can be added by way of WiFi toggle switches on the lockscreen/NC pulldown as well as quick reply options for Twitter and iMessage via TwitkaFly and BiteSMS respectively. Whatever your reason for jailbreaking might be, it’s hard to deny that the jailbreak scene is still very much alive and well.

Getting that jailbreak, however, takes countless hours of sifting through code, testing possible security holes and lots of caffeine. One such iOS hacker who has consistently cracked Apple’s secret code is @pod2G.

Yesterday pod2g posted a tweet telling of his fruitful weekend in finding two new iOS vulnerabilities that could be used on the next jailbreak exploit. The exploits, one giving access to the kernel with the second giving pod2g root access, weren’t discussed in detail as pod2g is pretty much holding off on burning the known exploits on 5.1 when 5.2 could come in a month or two and see Apple patching said exploits. iOS 6.0 isn’t likely to hit the public until later this fall (October-ish). And if Apple missed patching a new jailbreak in iOS 5.2 (or whatever the next
update is), they’d almost certainly fix it for a major release like 6.0.

As bummed as you might be knowing that an iOS 5.1 untether jailbreak (for A5 devices) isn’t likely on the horizon, take comfort in knowing that there’s a very good chance iOS 6 could see the hallowed jailbreak access from day 1 provided Apple doesn’t find what pod2g and friends already have. We don’t know about you but a jailbroken iOS 6 > wasting two exploits on iOS 5.x.

Via: YourDailyMac

My desk (purchased from Ikea – yeah, I’m a hipster) is sleek and contains no bells and whistles, just pure simplistic beauty. Atop the desk lies a sexy 27″ iMac and an iPad. Other than my Magic Mouse and keyboard, there really isn’t much else to it. So when something comes a long that will add to my simplistic Apple-esque designed desk, I get all hot and bothered. And that is exactly what this LIL KIKR+ does. It adds a much nicer way to dock and charge your iPhone or iPod. Apple’s offerings are nothing to gawk after, so I am always in the market for something that will match my iMac and iPad.

Designed by Mike and Ellie Kemery who have designed for companies including Nike and T-Mobile, comes a limited edition ceramic white dock made of premium aircract grade aluminum material, lathered in a smooth matte white finish.

LIL KIKR+ is a versatile and portable dock that fits the latest generation iPod or iPhone with or without a case. Featuring non-slip rubber caps on the back and bottom of the dock, LIL KIKR+ is a strong and stable dock that prevents the iPhone or iPod from wobbling or sliding across a table. Additionally, LIL KIKR+ features a foam pad support back for maximum stability.

LIL KIKR+ is available for pre-order now at their Kickstarter.com page, for only $60. Along with the matte white finish, red, black or silver can also be made. This pretty little desktop accessory should be in customers’ hands by June 2012.

We recommend jumping over to that Kickstarter page now to contribute to a reasonably priced gorgeous iPhone charger!

We’ll start with the iPod Touch, the non-cellular version of an iPhone essentially. You’ll recall that late last year Apple chose not to even give the touchscreen iPod any love whatsoever. This year will be different, however, as a new iPod 5,1 has been spotted in builds of iOS. While the exact changes aren’t known, we’d have to assume at least some form of the iPhone 4S’ A5 chip as well as perhaps a small bump in RAM and/or improved display (quality not resolution) will make the cut as well.

The iPhone on the other hand is a bit more guaranteed to happen — the update that is. That said, 9to5Mac is reporting new versions of the iPhone are surfacing within Apple’s hallowed walls, specifically ones packing a tweaked version of the A5X processor and 1 GB of RAM. In true Apple fashion, the new prototypes testing the new hardware are being hidden within iPhone 4/4S-like hardware as not to give off the design of the next-gen iPhone’s true hardware design.

While the jury is still out on exactly what Apple will bring to the 6th-gen iPhone in terms of processor, Apple’s continuing advancement means we likely won’t see them simply slap another A5 inside. Instead, we’ll see the iPad 3′s A5X chip get some magic re-engineering to either (1) fit inside the next-gen iPhone in full form or (2) be trimmed down to fit within the next-gen iPhone. The A5X after all is rather large in terms of physical size; Apple basically took the A5 and added more cores to the GPU increasing overall size.

And the countdown to October continues…

Via: 9to5Mac

Which dock? How about Sony’s RDP-X500ip dock for iOS (and older iPod) devices?

Features & Hardware

Tucked away inside the X500ip is a single 3-5/8 inches main woofer on the unit’s frontside along with two similarly sized passive radiator on the right and left sides of the units rear. The radiators are essentially speaker cones that aren’t wired up to anything. Instead, they act as amplifiers of sorts to boost volume of certain sound frequencies — in this case, bass.

Upper-mids and the higher frequencies are handled by a pair of 1-15/16 inch satellite speakers, also on the dock’s front, that for the most part do a decent job of reproducing relatively clean, diverse music.

As touched on above, Sony has created a free app in the App Store that allows you to configure the app’s main display (undocked) which features options for a timer, alarm, clock and time/alarm-based music playing schedules. While docked, the app provides additional utility by allowing you to choose from various preset EQs to adjust audio quality as needed.

The hardware itself has a few tricks up its sleeve, too. Take for example the damperless Magnetic Fluid that surrounds the speakers. Typically, speakers have a dampener which helps control sound pressure levels and try to prevent distortion caused by rouge audio frequencies. The X500ip’s magnetic fluid barrier is far and away a much better method (see audio quality below).

The dock that your iDevice sits in is actually a sliding draw that can be pushed back into the device when not in use. If you’ve ever knocked a dock off of a table because you clipped the actual dock tray jutting out from the unit, you’ll appreciate the hide-away feature.

Finally, no self-respecting audio dock can ship in 2012 without a remote control of some type. The X500ip’s isn’t anything special; is allows your normal set of controls for music playback and volume control. But leaving a remote out would be a far worse situation than simply have no remote at all.

Audio Quality

Good looks and a lengthy feature list are great and all, but when it comes down to something like an audio dock, it is the audio quality that matters above all else.

Firing up a vast range of music — everything from DMB, Metallic Man, In Flames, Florence + The Machine — rewarded us with countless hours of semi-enjoyment. In Metallic Man’s self-titled album, bass was strong and deep. Though, things got a bit weak (and rather abruptly we might add) in the ~30Hz-50Hz range. So if you’re looking for uber deep rumble, the X500ip isn’t quite there. However, we did find that after a few days of switching rooms and locations that the X500ip responds very well to being placed in a corner, amplifying bass from the back-firing subwoofer and dual passive radiators. At the same time, while bass response is improved depending on placement, the better the bass gets, the worse other mid- and higher-end frequencies become.

That said, the mid-range is warm, and at times too warm, allowing the upper ranges to be overshadowed. The high range is a bit dull to our ears. Various tracks by Muse, Florence + The Machine and DMB sounded as if they were missing certain pieces and sometimes entire sections simply because we couldn’t hear them or they blended (too much so) into the background. Using the free iOS app available in the App Store (D-Sappli) complete with additional EQ presets helped to some degree. That said, it’s clear that bass was the primary focus with this dock. (The D-Sappli companion app also features a programmable alarm function and customizable UI for different alarms/now playing screens.)

One thing we must touch on is that while the overall ability of the X500ip dock to reproduce the full range of our music was rather average, the volume level and lack of distortion near (and at) max volume is truly impressive. Miniature sound systems, whether they are shelf systems or audio player docks, have always had so-so audio quality that worsens as you approach the volume dial’s limits. The X500ip on the other hand, will gladly crank to max volume with extremely little to no discernible distortion — very impressive. The only downside to maxing out the volume is that bass performance drops off a cliff.

Conclusion

At $299, the X500ip dock by Sony is pretty much smack dab in the middle of the road. It’s not overly expensive, though at the same time not a simple “meh, let’s get it” price. While it’s sonic characteristics can be a bit bland, the amount of bass in particular that it pumps out as well as the distortion-free playback is something we find highly enticing. We only with the rest of the frequency range were attended to as well.

Because the $299 price point is extremely competitive, we’re easily swayed by other options. Quite honestly, the RDP-X500ip is for you only if you prefer bass over true sound signatures and need something that can be cranked to 11 and still keep distortion at bay. Otherwise, there are better docks there.

Gadgetsteria’s Rating: 6.5/10

Gallery

iOS 5.1 meanwhile has been rumored as nearing release for well over month now, though is just now actually getting close. ChronicWire is reporting that the Golden Master of iOS 5.1 (build 9B176) has officially passed internal QA testing meaning a public release is potentially only a couple weeks away.

As rumors have claimed previously, Siri now supports Japanese, though more interesting are the “couple of new, previously unrevealed” features that have also found their way into the upcoming release.

With all the pent up jailbreak demand from the iPhone 4S’ late entrance to the opened up garden, and subsequent record number of jailbreaks with Absinthe, we have to ask: Are you going to upgrade to iOS 5.1 as soon as it’s released or are you going to sit tight with your jailbroken device?

Source: ChronicWire | Via: 9to5Mac

If you let your mind wander a bit more, one could deduce that March 9th is also the date in which Apple will announce and/or release the iPad 3 seeing as how it is supposed to get its grand reveal in the February/March timeframe. But of course, Apple release rumors are always to to be consumer with a heaping pile of salt.

But as awesome as Tweetbot is, we (as well as many other potential Tweetbot customers) are still left waiting for an official iPad version as well as the elusive #006 app. Another day, perhaps. But for now, enjoy Tweetbot 2.0 and let us know what you think.

Available now in the App Store for $2.99 to newcomers or as a free upgrade to current users.

New Features & Tweaks

• Updated timeline view along with support for inline thumbnails within timeline

• Links within timeline are now easily discernable by a different color and single-tappable

• “Retweeted by” bar now integrated and tappable

• Cell colors have been tweaked for better contrast

• New DM view

• “New Tweets” bar has been redesigned — (Can be dimissed by tap and configured in Settings > Display)

• Timed auto-refresh. Set the timeline, mentions, and DMs to refresh every 5 minutes

• Readability support added as mobilizer service

• “Much improved” tweet replies view

• Links in user profiles are now tappable

• “Huge” font size option in Settings

• Improved scrolling performance

More: Tabots.com/Tweetbot

Gallery

From the leaked pictures, the only physical improvements appears to be the addition of a camera and a camera alone.

In other Nano news, a patent filing back in November eludes to an iPod Nano featuring a built-in speaker of some sort, possibly for future Siri integration. Bluetooth 4.0 has also been name dropped a few times. Maybe the iPod Nano will become the new “iPod Touch Nano/iPhone Nano” if Siri, internet capabilities, and a camera end up making an appearance, no?

It seems like it would be kind of weird taking a picture with something as tiny as the iPod Nano (with camera) would be. Of course, on the opposite end of the spectrum, taking pictures with an iPad isn’t exactly natural looking either.  

If the rumors pan out, look for the new iPod Nano to hit stores sometime in March/April.