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Posts tagged with "iPhone"

redsn0w Untethered Jailbreak Now Available For iOS 4.3.1

The Dev-Team today released version 0.9.6rc9 of their jailbreaking tool redsn0w, which jailbreaks all iOS devices running 4.3.1 - except for the iPad 2. So effectively that includes the iPhone 4 (GSM), iPhone 3GS, iPod Touch 4G, iPod Touch 3G, iPad 1 and the Apple TV 2G (PwnageTool only). However if you depend on ultrasn0w you must wait until there’s a compatibility fix, which is currently in the works.

The key (untethered) exploit is all thanks to Stefan Esser (@i0n1c) who is a security researcher in Germany that is experienced in vulnerability research. He was previously known in the iPhone jailbreak community for his “antid0te” framework which actually improved security by adding ASLR support for jailbroken iPhones, and before Apple had even implemented it. Needless to say the Dev-Team is pleased to see Stefan help them with jailbreak exploits.

As for the iPad 2, Apple unfortunately patched the two bootrom exploits that the Dev-Team had ready (SHAtter and limera1n) and so until a new one is found, no untethered jailbreak can be developed.

You can download this latest edition of redsn0w for either Windows or Mac. You can also get the latest PwnageTool (Mac only) here, and the latest edition of sn0wbreeze (Windows only) here.

 

iPhone Has 25% Market Share In The US, Verizon iPhone “Most Acquired Handset” in February

Data released yesterday by market research firm comScore for the November 2010 - February 2011 period details smartphone market share numbers in the United States and provides additional insight into platform vendors’ stats and performances. First off, the study “study surveyed more than 30,000 U.S. mobile subscribers” to find Samsung the top cellphone manufacturer with a 24.8% market share; comScore also claims for the three month period detailed by their study 234 million Americans “ages 13 and older used mobile devices”. As far as OEM market share goes, Apple ranked 5th behind Samsung, LG, Motorola and RIM with a 7.5% share in February, up 0.9% from November 2010. As comScore notes Apple saw the “strongest gain” thanks to the release of the Verizon iPhone 4, which was the “most acquired handset in the month of February” in the United States.

The situation is different from the smartphone OS point of view, with Google’s Android operating system seeing the strongest growth:

69.5 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones during the three months ending in February 2011, up 13 percent from the preceding three-month period. Google Android grew 7.0 percentage points since November, strengthening its #1 position with 33.0 percent market share.

Data from Nielsen referring to the last months of 2010 indicated Apple’s iOS and Android were on the same level of market share in the United States with approximately 28% and 27%, respectively. Another report from January indicated Android had become the most popular smartphone OS worldwide with a 33% share in Q4 2010. comScore’s new numbers place Apple at 25.2% market share behind RIM with 28.9%. RIM, however, saw a 4.6% decrease from November 2010, whilst Apple had a 0.2% increase – not as significant as Google’s Android but still growth.

It’s also worth considering that, as comScore only tracks iOS’ market share on the iPhone, Apple can’t compete by the numbers with the variety of Android and BlackBerry devices available. It would be interesting to see statistics about iOS and Android total market share on every mobile device (media players, smartphones, tablets) to gain better insight into the US’ market trends and sales.

10 more useful iPhone tips & tricks→

10 more useful iPhone tips & tricks

5. Screen zooming… To enables this gem, go to your Settings app and tap General. Then tap Accessibility and then tap Zoom. Flip the switch to on and then you can three-finger-double-tap your way to screen magnification bliss whenever your heart desires.

We’re supposed to be iOS geniuses here at MacStories, but a few of these tips & tricks I wasn’t aware of. Mainly some of the obscure ones such as the one above I didn’t know about, and the two finger tap to zoom out in Maps is just awesome. John Casasanta over at tap tap tap has put together a really beautiful and well written blog post about becoming a pro at using your iPhone or iPod touch, and I recommend that seasoned pros and beginners (maybe new Verizon iPhone owners) alike stop by and check it out - I’ve tucked this away for quick reference in Yojimbo myself.

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#MacStoriesDeals - Friday

Happy birthday Apple! If you didn’t already know, we’ve set up a new twitter account for Deals, it’s @MacStoriesDeals. We’ll tweet the daily deals there as well as exclusive weekend deals too. Help spread the word! Here are today’s deals on iOS, Mac, and Mac App Store apps that are on sale for a limited time, so get ‘em while they’re hot!

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Typeplace - Share Your Typeface Passion: Review and Giveaway

Serif, San Serif, letterpress, kerning - typenerds of the world know these terms and know them well. Everywhere we travel, we see interesting uses of fonts in public places. Many of us even take pictures of them for inspiration and interest. What if you could use your iPhone to share these interesting findings within your social circle?

Typeplace is a new and cool way to discover, share, fave, and even share geo-tagged noteworthy pieces of typography with friends. Like Gowalla, Typeplace also awards virtual “badges” and certificates. The app has a nice interface, a familiar bottom tab bar and subtle brown and wood color scheme.

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Kickstarter Project - GoPano micro: A Panoramic Lens for iPhone

There are lots of Kickstarter projects aimed toward the iPad and iPhone but this is the first optics one I have seen. It’s called the GoPano micro; it’s a lense for the iPhone 4 that takes 360 degree panoramic videos. You attach the device to your iPhone and record from the free 360 video app.

The GoPano Micro will record everything all at one time. After recording, you can review the video and choose to view any perspective simply by swiping the screen, and view any angle at any point (pan and zooming too). With the app you can also upload your video on a web platform (not yet finished) and share your videos as well. You can also view other videos uploaded by anyone via the web too.

Video after the break. Read more

#MacStoriesDeals - Thursday

If you didn’t already know, we’ve set up a new twitter account for Deals, it’s @MacStoriesDeals. We’ll tweet the daily deals there as well as exclusive weekend deals too. Help spread the word! Here are today’s deals on iOS, Mac, and Mac App Store apps that are on sale for a limited time, so get ‘em while they’re hot!

Read more

Rolando Comes Back with iOS 4 Support and Retina Graphics

Back in 2009, Rolando was one of my favorite games on the iPhone. The game featured fancy colored graphics and the whole gameplay revolved around these cute tiny creatures called, indeed, “rolandos” that you had to control with your fingers to avoid enemies, and complete levels. The game became an instant hit in the App Store, with game publications posting raving reviews about it and Apple featuring it for weeks in the App Store. The success was well-deserved: top-notch graphics and a great gameplay had been implemented into a multitouch experience that, back then, was an example of true excellence for the platform.

Then the iPhone 4 and iPad came along, iOS 4 was released, Retina Displays pushed into the market and, like many other 2008-2009 games, Rolando disappeared from the charts due to lack of updates from the developers. Finally, this is changing today with the release of new versions of Rolando 1 and Rolando 2 for iPhone that support the latest iOS 4.x and the Retina Display, and also fix an issue with corrupted saved games. I’ve just installed the apps on my iPhone (again), and they really shine on the Retina Display. The gameplay is still the same as this is just a “technical” release aimed at enhancing OS compatibility and graphics, but it’s enough to let me play Rolando all over again.

If you’ve never tried Rolando and you need a new game in your collection, here’s your chance. Both Rolando 1 and Rolando 2 are currently available at $0.99 in the App Store.

Viber 2.0 Brings Free Text Messaging Between Users

Viber, the iPhone app that lets you make free calls to other Viber users was today updated to version 2.0 and brings with it free text messaging. Admittedly there are a lot of free messaging apps in the App Store but the advantage of Viber is that it now offers both texting and calling in the same app and already has a user base of 10 million people.

The messaging service becomes one of the bottom tabs and will store all your messages in a very similar manner to that of the iPhone’s ‘Messages’ app and can effectively replace the need for SMS messages between any other friend or colleague - if you can convince them to download Viber.  There has also been some redesign of various screens in the app including the contacts interface which can now refine your contacts list to just display those who have Viber or those which you have “favorited”.

Finally the basic calling mechanism has been tweaked to give the user more information about the state of a call. When you first place a call the app enters a “Calling” state, once contact is made with the other person’s Viber app it will enter a “Ringing” state to let the user know that there is a connection.

[Via TechCrunch]