Google released an updated version of Gmail for iOS (2.0), both for the iphone and iPad. The much desired updated features include the following:
Set your calendars – Apple announces WWDC keynote for June 11th – 10am PST. Why should we be excited? iOS 6 and a possible new mapping app – Apple’s exodus from Google Maps is upon us. Most likely there will be no new hardware announcements but we’re hoping the boys from Cupertino and Devs have been up to some new shenanigans. Stay tuned!
Source: Apple
9To5 Mac has posted supposed leaked images of Apple’s next-gen iPhone (back side). The images confirm long running rumors of a larger physical design, smaller dock connector, moved earphone jack (bottom corner) and larger speaker grill. The design looks more refined – more modern and more in-line with Apple’s unibody (metal) macbook line. More info coming….
Source: 9To5Mac
Just as promised, the hard working boys over at the Chronic-Dev Team and iPhone Dev Team have brought home the goods – Absinthe 2.o! The iOS 5.1.1 untethered jailbreak with un-hinder your favorite i-device if it is one of the blessed: iPad 1,1 – 2,1 – 2,2 – 2,3 – 3,1 – 3,2 – 3,3 - iPhone 2,1 – 3,1 – 3,3 – 4,1 - iPod 3,1 – 4,1. Still interested, go and get your hands of that absinthe goodness.
After copious amounts of work and many sleepless nights Absinthe 2.0 is finally here to jailbreak your device. This release has been a large collaborative effort between Chronic-Dev Team and iPhone Dev Teams (Jailbreak Dream Team)
This jailbreak supports firmware 5.1.1 ONLY and is again one of the most easiest jailbreaks to use (so easy your grandma could do it ;D)
Source: Greenpois0n
It looks like the jailbreak community is at it again and this time their target is iOS 5.1.1, so all of you that have been anxiously waiting for a crack to Apple’s newest update – it looks like it’s coming this week. BTW: this is an untethered jailbreak!
Source: 9to5Mac
Stalkers Rejoice!!! IZE Ltd, the company behind the app: “Find my Facebook Friends” has finally got Apple to accept their app for the app store but the reason it was twice rejected might surprise you. Find My Facebook Friends is straight forward, it allows you to see all your Facebook friends on a google map interface, similar to Apple’s own “Find My Friends” app.
While the app seems like a personal privacy nightmare, Apple didn’t really have an issue with the app’s functionality, they were more concerned with the naming (Facebook) and graphics (similarity to the official Facebook logo) it used. Regardless, now the app is live, so go out and start stalking your high school sweetheart, whether she wants it or not or whether your current parole officer knows it or not.
FEATURES:
• Easily locate Facebook friends and family.
• Friend proximity alerts.
• Privacy settings based on friend lists and individual friends.
• Manage your Facebook friend lists.
• Integrates with the native Facebook app to send messages.
• Supports multiple devices.
• Keeps running in the background after you quit. Note: Continued use of GPS running in the background can dramatically decrease battery life.
Source: IZE
In just three days, Rovio’s new Angry Birds Space game has already been downloaded 10 million times. Everyone’s favorite Birds Vs. Pigs game is going absolutely viral and is already at the top of Apple’s Paid Apps and #2 on the desktop. So, what’s the lesson learned here: Learn Objective C and start building apps!
Square, people’s favorite personal payment system has rebranded itself overnight – is now known as “Pay With Square.” In the wake of last weeks PayPal mobile payment system announcement (essentially a less attractive Square copy) Square has gone with a slight make-over and somewhat of a massive app update – both for iOS and Android.
Here are the major updates: Rebranded to “Pay with Square” - New UI Changes Make The App faster & simpler - Discovering Merchants & Businesses Much Easier - Add businesses you love to your Favorites list & Share with friends. Essentially, the UI changes allow for better and faster functionality, both in terms of performance but also in terms of finding businesses that use Square. The new UI also allows you to bookmark merchants and businesses that you have used, adding them to a favorites list and then share with friends - personalizing your whole Square experience. Solid update and smart slight re-branding by a very forward thinking company – get your iOS update here & your Android update here. Check out the hipster video below for a visual run-through of the update or visit Square for more info.
Source: Square
The “Madness” starts March 13th and while this years tournament promises to be as spectacular as years past, we’re always presented with the same problem: How can you watch all 67 games? Well, that long standing issue just got solved – big time! The NCAA has released a mobile app (iPad,iPhone,iPod Touch, Android) which allows fans to tune in to all 67 games and watch them live, right on their favorite devices. If this wasn’t good enough, the price for all 67 games is just $3.99 – that is madness! Good to see a consumer friendly solution – looking right at you TV/Movie studios. Get your iOS app here or your Android app here.
Source: NCAA
Apps like PhotoSynth are amazing tools that help your create stunning panoramic photos and now we can add SpinCam to the list of apps that make iOS so powerful. SpinCam’s UI couldn’t be easier – essentially it has an onscreen guide that helps you along, as you spin around the object you wish to capture. After it has registered that you have gone 360 Deg, it processes the image data and produces the complete 360 photo. From there, you can share it across your favorite social media networks. Go and grab it….
…Go beyond a still photo and create visual real-time 360° captures anywhere and everywhere—and share with everyone. Now you can capture a moment with friends or family, a stunning view, or a piece of art, in a 360° Spin with your iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad 2 camera…
Path, the small but increasingly popular mini-social app has just announced a major update to its iOS app. The new version of Path has added music match, which listens to music playing in the background and then tells you who the artist/song is. Secondly, they have added Nike+ to the App, so you can do your workouts, runs, activities and then track and share that data. Essentially, Path has now cut out two popular iOS apps shazam for music matching and RunKeeper for tracking your activities – as they grow. Last but definitely not least, especially for developers, Path has released an API for devs – let the coding begin. Get your update now -click here.
Source: Path
Well, that didn’t take long. Apple released iOS 5.1 yesterday, alongside the “New iPad” and already it’s been jailbroken. The “tethered” jailbreak uses the existing RedSn0w app to free up your iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch from Apple’s lockdown. The Dev-Team has issued a post describing the “how” and “what” you’ll need to know/do – please read the post carefully before doing anything. On a side note, iBooks will not work with the jailbreak but that might not upset too many people. If you want a step by step guide to jailbreaking your i-device, iClarified has it here. Good luck.
Source: Dev-Team – Source: iClarified
By far, one of the best apps in Apple’s ecosystem (iPhone & iPad) has been Flipboard – hands down. For those not really familier with Flipboard, it essentially allows you to aggregate all your favorite content (on the web) into a simple to use flipbook app. Still unsure, check out the video below:
Version 1.8 brings several cool features: 1) The much loved “Cover Stories” feature is now on the iPad version as well – 2) The addition of a third content page for you to place your favorite web information – 3) New full-screen images and typography make for even more beautiful layouts – 4) International Content Guides with hundreds of recommendations for readers in the UK and Ireland, Canada, Australia, France, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Tap on the red ribbon to choose your Content Guide Edition – 5) Pick topics of interest when first using Flipboard, instantly setting up your Flipboard with great stuff to read. Go and get the update – click here.
Source: Flipboard
Yesterday, Twitter released an update for their iOS app – version 4.1 doesn’t have a lot of changes but it has two much requested features. “Swipe Shortcuts” and “Copy/Paste” for tweets and profiles are features people have been asking for since the first Twitter app and while the first (Swipe) doesn’t sound that useful, with some practice, it’s a great help. As for “Copy/Paste” – every app – on every platform should have this feature……it’s frickin’ 2012!
Source: Twitter
Right on the heels of Microsoft releasing a “consumer preview” of Windows 8 (Feb 29th) and a much rumored iPad 3/HD event during the first week of March, this morning Apple dropped a bombshell – previewing Mac OS X Mountain Lion (10.8). Up until now, there wasn’t a whole lot of chatter about the next big cat update, since rumors of new iMacs, MacPros, Macbook Pros and iPads had drowned out what little noise Mountain Lion brought. Regardless, unlike the move from Leopard to Snow Leopard, Mountain Lion is a very significant release – furthering even more the marriage between Mac OS and iOS - scheduled for Summer 2012 as a paid upgrade.
Bamn! Apple has just released a desktop version of iMessage or as they call it: Messages. Essentailly, this is a Mac OS X version of what iOS 5 has had for some time but now you can:
- Send unlimited iMessages to any Mac, iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch.
- Start an iMessage conversation on your Mac and continue it on your iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch.
- Send photos, videos, attachments, contacts, locations, and more.
- Launch a FaceTime video call and bring the conversation face-to-face.
- Messages supports iMessage, AIM, Yahoo!, Google Talk, and Jabber accounts.
While this is just a beta release, it’s stable enough to play around with and up until now, I haven’t seen any issues. This is yet another step in the direction of desktop/mobile integration. Get your hands on it here – make sure you’ve updated to Mac OS X 10.7.3.
Source: Apple
Following in the footsteps of Path, the wildly popular photo taking/sharing app Instagram has re-designed the iOS version of its app. The changes include a massive UI facelift (much more sleek), tappable notifications, a new filter and additional features. One of the additional features is an opt-in feature for uploading your contact list, something most likely leaned from the Path App debacle. The free update will most likely make taking filtered picture and sharing them even more popular….something I’m still on the fence about.
Source: Instagram
The Chronic Dev Team has just released an officially working jailbreak for the iPad 2 and iPhone 4S, which up until now have been crack proof mostly due to their A5 processor architecture. So what does Green PoisOn get you? Well, besides voiding your warranty, it allows you to essentially load non-sanctioned apps onto your i-device. So, this can include apps you’ve made, downloaded from Cydia or gotten by other means… Jailbreaking also allows additional access to your i-device’s OS (SSH) and deep customization, something the boys in Cupertino aren’t to happy about. If you wanna join the fun, click here.
Source: Chronic Dev Team
If you’ve never herd of Skitch but work with web graphics, especially sharing screenshots within your workgroup or business, you need to get Skitch. Up until now, Skitch was just an OS X app but recently it was bought by Evernote (Another Great App) and made free! So what does Skitch do: It easily allows you to edit, alter and share you screenshots with anyone – now available for the iPad and Android. Check out this video for more info:
I find myself using the desktop version of this all all day, whether it’s for this blog or for web design, it’s an extremely versatile app…..and it’s free.
Source: 9To5Mac
While the United States got a taste of iTunes Match earlier this year, it looks like Apple is rolling the service out to the rest of the globe as we speak. If you’ve never heard of iTunes Match, here’s the low down:
iTunes determines which songs in your collection are available in the iTunes Store. Any music with a match is automatically added to iCloud. Since there are more than 20 million songs in the iTunes Store, most of your music is probably already in iCloud. All you have to upload is what iTunes can’t match. Which is much faster than starting from scratch. Once your music is in iCloud, you can stream and store it on any of your devices. Even better, all the music iTunes matches plays back from iCloud at 256-Kbps AAC DRM-free quality — even if your original copy was of lower quality…
For those that want an easier explanation: It allows you to make all the songs you download illegally – legal for $25/Yr (no questions asked) and then access those songs in the cloud, on your iOS devices. Seems to good to be true….
Source: 9To5 Mac
Flipboard for the iPad is amazing! It makes looking at content from Facebook, Twitter, New York Times and all your favorite websites so much more enjoyable than the static desktop/mobile versions. With its unique magazine+Minority Report style UI, Flipboard has really changed the way people consume and interact with digital content. Yet, there was always one thing missing…..
Today, Flipboard has announced the release of its great tablet app for the iphone – conpletely built, from the ground up, to be every bit as usefully, even on the iphone’s smaller screen. If you’ve never heard of Flipboad, check out the video below and if you have an iOS device – get downloading.
Source: Flipboard
Well, it looks like TJ Maxx is at it again - Apple’s iPad 16GB Wifi model will be $399 for one day only at participating TJ Maxx stores December 3rd! This was the same stunt they pulled last year, with the original iPad and it looks like the trick worked. Please be aware of the dangers involved with this type of fire-sale – remember “Black friday”? Wanna know if a store near you has any iPads in stock – here is your friendly store finder. Good Luck.
Source: 9To5Mac
Here is Robin Williams on Ellen, talking about Apple’s Siri intergration and how he wishes there would be a French version of Siri’s voice….with a French attitude of course. Reminds us of why we love him.
Source: 9To5Mac
Following in the footsteps of their smash hit Infinity Balde, Epic Games has just released the long awaited sequel and in the process, has solidified the iOS ecosystem as a true gaming platform. Like the first, Infinity Blade 2 is built upon the unreal engine, making the game highly portable but also perfect for first person type control. Yet, most of all, Infinity Blade 2 shines on Apple’s mobile OS – rendering stunning looking graphics and gameplay – shockingly, this includes the iPhone 3GS. That’s right, the 3GS, iPod Touch, iPhone 4 & 4S, iPad 1 & 2 are all capable of running Infinity Blade 2 – as long as the OS is at least updated to version 3.2. Interesting in more info - check it out here!
Source: TheVerge