More casting details have surfaced today for the Steve Jobs indie biopic starring Ashton Kutcher. Actress Ahna O’Reilly, most known for her role in The Help, will star opposite Kutcher as Chris-Ann Brennan, the love interest of Steve Jobs.

The biopic, titled jOBS, is expected to start filming next month and be available later this year.

Chris-Ann Brennan, a painter from the Bay area, dated Jobs on and off during his college years and eventually gave birth to his first daughter, Lisa, whom he disowned for a time. Jobs later went on to marry Laurene Powell. Considering that jOBS takes place in the early years of Jobs’ career while he was still a ”impressionable youth and wayward hippie,” the character of Brennan will be a significant part of the film.

Ahna O’Reilly was previously seen in movies like Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Nancy Drew before her role in The Help.

It was recently revealed that jOBS will shoot scenes in the original Apple garage, and Josh Gad is set to play the role of Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak.

Sony is also working on a Steve Jobs movie with screenwriter Aaron Sorkin that will be based off Walter Isaacson’s official biography.

Source: Variety

Via: /Film

Today the Chronic Dev Team released a new version of Absinthe, the popular tool used to jailbreak iPhones, iPads, and iPods. In this video, I’ll show how to jailbreak your device running iOS 5.1.1 with Absinthe.

For an in depth guide about backing up your SHSH blobs and more, check out our guide here.

You can download Absinthe from this link.

Auction house Sothebys has just posted a memo written by Steve Jobs to his co-workers at Atari, where he worked before starting Apple. The memo was written to his then-supervisor Stephen Bristow, and suggested changes Jobs had for Atari’s World Cup Soccer arcade game to extend the shelf life for arcade owners.

Funnily enough, while the memo is typed on Atari letterhead, it includes a stamp with the name of Steve’s company, “All-One Farm Design” and the address of the garage in which he and friend Steve Wozniak would soon create history with Apple Computer. Imagine if he’d gone ahead with designing farms?

From the Sothebys catalogue itself:

After leaving Reed College in the winter of 1974, Steve Jobs began working at Atari (as employee number 40) under the leadership of Nolan Bushnell and chief engineer Al Alcorn. He worked night shifts to improve the designs of existing Atari games, isolated from the colleagues who believed him to be arrogant and offensively Bohemian. He was as unimpressed by his colleagues as they were by him, referring to them regularly as “dumb shits.” However, he was profoundly influenced by 41-year-old Ron Wayne, who had previously started a company and inspired Jobs to do the same. Indeed, Wayne is listed on the original partnership agreement for Apple Computer Company as holding a 10% share, which he soon relinquished.

By adding sounds or addressing the durability of hardware, Jobs contributed to the overall experience of the Atari user. Walter Isaacson points out that Jobs “intuitively appreciated the simplicity of Atari’s games. They came with no manual and needed to be uncomplicated enough that a stoned freshman could figure them out.” Jobs carried this lesson with him to Apple, creating technology easily accessible and appealing in its straightforwardness.

The last time Sothebys sold a Steve Jobs document was in December of 2011. It sold for $1.6 million.

Source: Sothebys

Great, free ebook for kids & grownups!

How many 7th Graders can say they best selling authors? Well this group of kids from Woodlawn Beach Middle School in Northern Florida can thanks to their teacher Andrea Santilli and iBooks Author.

Ms. Santilli, a self-professed “die-hard Mac girl”, was looking for a new way to not only challenge her Advanced Life Sciences class, but also leverage technology to make learning fun. Not to mention get some practical experience in the real world of writing, photography, video, and ebook publishing. Just a few minutes with this free ebook and you can see how much potential there is for iBooks Author and iPads in the classroom. Not to mention you’ll probably learn something interesting.

The ebook is very creative and well written (it’s for kids, but the fun facts are interesting for all nature geeks). Sure it’s from a 7th Grade class, and it isn’t like E.O. Wilson’s free book, but I think the kids and their teacher tapped into all the best features of iBooks author. They’ve included:

• Interesting layouts and nicely readable text with great info.
• Photo galleries of the plants and animals.
• Movies (made with iMovie, of course) … like feeding an alligator!

The student narrator starts with "don't try this at home". Okay.

When we talk about Macs in school or using iPads to help kids learn better, we like to cite examples of kids learning faster and reading better. Both of which are fantastic, but honestly, I think to really get kids ready for the world, this kind of project is just perfect. Create an entire book that uses the best interactive technology available? Write something interesting that people will like to read and combine it with pictures and video? These are the skills that these kids are going to need for the future.

This project hits very close to home because not only am I an author myself, but I’m also a teacher, a dad, and a scientist. I love to see teachers being able to take advantage of technology like this (the school has started a Digital Education Fund to get more tools like digital microscopes, iPads, and other media for classes). So for this holiday weekend, pick up this free ebook and then take some time to enjoy nature. And if you’re in Northern Florida, now you have things to look for!

Source: iTunes

Via: MacLife

Now that you’ve successfully jailbroken your iPhone 4S running iOS 5, what do you install? Whether you’re new to Cydia or a jailbreak veteran, we’ve gathered a list of the best jailbreak apps available for Apple’s latest smartphone.

Activator

Think of Activator as the key to unlocking limitless shortcut possibilities on your iPhone 4S. Many jailbreak tweaks use Activator to let you trigger actions from anywhere in iOS (double tapping the status bar, triple tapping the Home button, etc.), and you can also assign some stock actions in Activator for controlling basic aspects of iOS. Download Activator for free in Cydia. You’ll be glad you did.

SBSettings

SBSettings has long been the reason to jailbreak the iPhone. The simple shortcut utility allows you to access all of the system settings you toggle daily with a quick Activator action. For example, you could double tap your iPhone’s status bar to trigger a panel of settings, such as Bluetooth and WiFi, and turn features on and off at the blink of an eye. SBSettings is free in Cydia, and you can also download lots of free themes to change the panel’s look to match your Home screen.

Action Menu

As another staple tweak for new and old jailbreakers alike, Action Menu enhances your default iOS copy/paste menu with added features and options. You can tweet highlighted sections of text, look up definitions quickly, see your clipboard history, and more. While Action Menu is free, you can get the Plus Pack for $2.99 with added enhancements.

IntelliScreenX

If you need a legitimate reason to jailbreak your iPhone 4S, look no farther than IntelliScreenX. This insanely detailed extension takes your iOS 5 Notification Center to the next level. IntelliScreenX brings functionality to the Notification Center drop-down window that Apple should have included by default. Not only can you toggle settings like WiFi, 3G, Airplane mode and others, but you can view things like RSS feeds as well. There are multiple pages added to your Notification Center for quickly checking your Mail, Twitter and Facebook. Everything you need to see is in one place. Get this great tweak in Cydia for $9.99 with a free trial. When you purchase IntelliScreenX, you get a nifty tweak called Messages+ as well.

CyDelete

CyDelete is a dead simple tweak that lets you delete Cydia apps from your iPhone’s Home screen like regular apps from the App Store. You’d think that such a thing could be done by default, but you actually need CyDelete to make it happen. It’s a small annoyance, but one that can be easily alleviated with this free jailbreak tweak.

Winterboard

One of the many perks of jailbreaking is the ability to theme your iPhone. You can make iOS look like just about anything, whether it be Windows Phone 7 or even Android (we know, ew.) Winterboard is another jailbreak app that many other themes and mods rely on to work properly, so it’s probably best that you download it for free in Cydia.

Springtomize 2

It’s difficult to explain Springtomize because it literally does everything. Springtomize 2 is the combination of dozens of other miscellaneous jailbreak tweaks that have been in the spotlight over the years. You can change how many icons you have in your dock, what’s in your status bar, how your iOS folders behave, various animations, and much, much, more. If you’re itching to tweak your iPhone’s setup, there’s bound to be something worth while that Springtomize offers you. It’s available in Cydia for $2.99.

MyWi 5

MyWi is widely considered the ultimate tethering tool for jailbreakers. You can use your iPhone’s 3G connection to create a WiFi hotspot for your other devices. There’s also options for tethering via USB to a specific computer or even sending your 3G iOS device’s signal over Bluetooth. You can password protect your signal so others don’t steal your precious data. If you don’t have an unlimited data plan, be careful that you don’t go over your allowance while tethering. MyWi 5 is available in Cydia for $19.99 with a free trial, but hey, it’s better than having to pay your carrier monthly for the same functionality!

FolderEnhancer

As the ultimate jailbreak tweak for bringing your iOS folders to life on the iPhone 4S, FolderEnhancer is definitely worth its $2 price tag. You can add folders within folders, change folder backgrounds and animations, and add an infinite numbers of apps to each folder. Very nice.

iFile

Think of iFile as Finder for your iPhone. Apple hides the iOS filesystem by default, but iFile reveals all to devious jailbreakers. You can use iFile to perform manual installs or file edits on the iPhone 4S itself, or even use your device’s onboard memory as a USB drive of sorts. iFile is an essential jailbreak app for the power user. And it’s only $2 in Cydia.

biteSMS 6

As a long-time hall of fame jailbreak app, the latest version of biteSMS replaces the default iOS messaging system. You can quick compose and reply to incoming SMS messages from anywhere, including the lock screen. Version 6 has been optimized for iOS 5, and biteSMS is still the best way to text on the iPhone. The app replaces your default Messages app, but you’ll probably be glad you made the switch. The only downside is that biteSMS will cost you about $9 after the free trial. That’s nearly the price of two large coffees.

3G Unrestrictor 5

3G Unrestrictor says it all in its name. With this powerful app you can make FaceTime calls, watch HD YouTube videos, upload to PhotoStream, download large apps from the App Store, and more over 3G. Boom. Such magical powers will cost you $4 in Cydia.

PkgBackup

Jailbreakers don’t have the luxury of backing up their Cydia apps to iCloud or iTunes, but that doesn’t mean we can’t still have our configurations stored away for safe keeping. Although all of your Cydia purchases can still be downloaded again for free on another iPhone if you re-jailbreak, it’s still a good idea to have a secondary backup. PkgBackup can use Dropbox to wirelessly backup your data to the cloud. You can store all of the gritty, jailbroken details away for a quick restore later. It’s much better than installing everything manually when you jailbreak again, and well worth the $8 price tag. Peace of mind don’t come cheap.

Zephyr

Zephyr is a brilliant tweak that brings multitouch gestures the iPhone has always needed to jailbreakers’ fingertips. You can use simple, intuitive, iPad-like gestures to access the multitasking tray, switch between apps, and more on the iPhone 4S. Grab Zephyr for $3 now.

AssistantExtensions

You can think of AssistantExtensions as the ultimate jailbreak tweak for enhancing Siri on the iPhone 4S. With this incredible tweak you can use your voice to compose tweets, open all your of apps, search YouTube, and more. The best part is that AssistantExtension allows for developer plugins, so expect more great features from this powerful tweak. Did we mention that it’s free?

Reveal

Reveal lets you view longer messages in the iOS Notification Center. The $2 tweak enables the ability to scroll through long messages in notification bubbles and tap to expand messages from the lock screen. Banner notifications can be viewed in their entirety by scrolling from right to left.

Switchy

Switchy extends the iOS app switcher by offering two rows of icons. There’s also an enhanced music player interface and settings panel. Switchy costs $1 and is available now in Cydia.

Dashboard X

Adding widgets next to your app icons is super easy with Dashboard X; just tap and hold an icon to enter “jiggle mode.” Then tap a blank space on your Home screen (you may need to rearrange icons to create space) and hold your finger down for a couple seconds. A window will pop up with a list of available widgets to add. Tap the widget you want and you’ll be greeted with a couple options. You have the ability to disable “Interaction” and “Auto Center.” The former setting lets you interact with a widget or make it essentially part of your device’s wallpaper. The latter option snaps the widget into a centered position wherever you add it on the Home screen. Toggle these settings as you see fit and tap “Add Widget.” Said widget will suddenly float on your Home screen. Once you have it where you want it, tap your Home button to exit jiggle mode and lock the widget in place. Boom!

Dashboard X is the king of widget extensions for any jailbroken iOS device, and it costs $2 in Cydia.

Forecast

Forecast is a $1 Cydia tweak that gives you an overview of weather information right on your iPhone’s lock screen. The tweak is relatively simple, as there are no real settings to configure. To use it properly, make sure you go into the Weather app and turn off “Local Weather.” Then drag the location you wish to have displayed on your lock screen to the top of the Weather app’s list. Your lock screen will be immediately updated with the correct weather info for that city/region.

Sparrow+

Sparrow+ is a tweak, available to download now in Cydia for $3, that allows you to receive Sparrow notifications every time you receive an email, so that you no longer need to keep opening the Sparrow app and checking for notifications yourself.

What’s more, the tweak also makes Sparrow your default email client. This is something that Apple does not allow iOS apps to do, so unlike push, this will never be an official part of the Sparrow app. By making Sparrow your default mail client, the app will open automatically when you click on email addresses within other apps — just like Mail does right now.

Stride

A jailbreak tweak called Stride brings better-than-Android-like gestures to your iOS lock screen. Stride costs $3 in Cydia. Gone are the boring days of the ‘slide to unlock’ bar. Now you can unlock your jailbroken iPhone with a pre-set gesture of your choice!

Fusion

This nifty tweak integrates multiple social networks into iOS 5, and also lets you post updates to multiple networks with Siri. It costs $2 in Cydia.

Fusion comes with plugins for Facebook, Foursquare, MySpace, and Twitter. Since Twitter is already integrated into iOS 5 by default and you’ve presumably given the OS your password, you won’t have to set anything up for Twitter in Fusion. A bug I noticed is that you need to reboot your iPhone to have the Fusion plugins displayed in Settings. If you install Fusion and don’t see any plugins, respring your iPhone and everything should work fine.

For each social network, you can log into your account, give it access to your GPS location (that’s key for Foursquare, obviously), and enable Auto-Selection. When you post an update in the Twitter compose window, enabling Auto-Selection means that those networks will automatically be checked to also update.

Apple's update strategy can save companies lot of money over maintaining Windows XP

There are a handful of intrinsic beliefs that Apple has as company – most of which came from Steve Jobs. The constant focus on building experiences rather than just products is one of them. Another is that Apple looks forward and not backward when it comes to technology. The company simply acknowledges that to offer its users truly great new experiences (and products), it cannot hold onto (and be held back by) outdated technology.

Apple often gets criticized for pushing its technologies and its users forward, particularly in business and enterprise IT circles. Despite that criticism, Apple may be doing companies (and users) a big favor by not supporting older Macs and OS X releases indefinitely as Microsoft does with Windows XP – and that advantage isn’t just about better products.

An IDC study commissioned by Microsoft discovered that supporting XP now costs companies and schools five times what it would cost them to support Windows 7 – making Apple’s forward-looking policy not only technically advantageous but also significantly less expense in the long run.

In producing the study, IDC extensively interviewed staff at nine large enterprise companies to determine the actual costs associated with supporting XP more than a decade after its initial introduction. In the process, researchers discovered that on average 42% of business PCs are still running the aging OS. When Microsoft finally ends every vestige of support for XP a little under a year from now, 11% of PCs in business are likely to still be running what will then be a 13-year-old OS.

The expenses involved in supporting XP come from a mix of sources. The fact that supporting XP also tends to mean supporting hardware that’s beyond the three-year milestone that’s considered the optimal lifespan of a PC is a big part of the expense. Computerworld’s Gregg Keizer explains that after the three-year mark, PC support costs increase dramatically.

IT labor costs jump 25% during year four of a PC’s lifespan, and another 29% in year five, IDC noted, while user productivity costs climb 23% in year four and jump 40% during year five. Total year five costs are a whopping 73% higher than support costs of a two-year-old client.

Not all costs are hardware related, however. In fact some core IT tasks take nearly twice the time and energy when it comes to XP than to Windows 7. Security patching required 82% more time, mitigating malware took 90% more time, and help desk calls more 84% less time.

IDC’s projections taken to an extreme for large businesses, 230 PCs running Windows XP rather than Windows 7 essentially requires an additional full-time IT staff member. Put a slightly different way, transitioning a worker from XP to Windows 7 results in a 137% return on investment over three years.

The study essentially illustrated a common pro-Apple mantra in both the business and consumer markets – up front costs may be higher for a new Mac (and apparently a new PC) but total cost of ownership will be lower.

Unfortunately, the study doesn’t include Mac hardware or OS X as a comparison in addition to Windows 7. A direct comparison might even have been difficult given the sheer number of OS X versions released in the same eleven year time frame (Windows XP, Vista, 7 to… well every version of OS X – eight in all with the number nine due out this summer) and in the hardware transitions that Apple has made in the same time frame – the switch to Intel processors being the most significant. Still, it seems pretty clear from this study that Apple’s approach yields better products and delivers real cost advantages.

Source: Computerworld

Samuel L. Jackson may love Siri, but are every-day users as smitten? Find out what we think on our latest CultCast.

And someone call King Arthur, Jony Ive just got knighted. But is he ready to protect the realm?

All that and our thoughts on Facebook’s new Camera app on The CultCast! Subscribe now on iTunes and read on for our show notes.

Our Stories This Week

We’d like to thank Audible for sponsoring this episode of The CultCast – get your free audio book at Audiblepodcast.com/CultCast.

- This Police Chief Sent Out Ten Of His Officers To Find His Son’s Stolen iPhone

- Here’s the One iPhone prank everyone needs to know about (no link, you’ll have to listen!)

- Jony Ive Receives Knighthood At Buckingham Palace After His Most Revealing Interview Yet

- Facebook’s New Camera App Is Pretty Much A Bullet In The Head For Instagram

- Apple Now Airing New Siri Ads Featuring Actor John Malkovich, “Joke” And “Life” [Video]

- Faves & Raves – we pitch our favorite gear and apps then vote which wins the glory!

Some people are never satisfied. They are always searching for the app that brings just the tiniest advantage to their daily workflow. People like this might not want to just stick with the Reminders app that’s bundled in with iOS 5, no. They might want to try an alternative. One such alternative is NotifyMe. Let us tell you a bit more about it.

While the reminders app has the advantage of being already on your iPhone and iPad with iOS 5, NotifyMe has a few extra features for your task list creating pleasure.

First of all, NotifyMe takes less time to manually input a task. Their website, with video evidence, shows that it takes 7.8 seconds and 3 taps to use NotifyMe, while Reminders takes 14.5 seconds, 8 taps to input the same task. Siri has the advantage of no tapping, but comes in at a whopping 22.3 seconds.

NotifyMe will sync across versions and it has a website for web access, but both those features require a sign up with their cloud-based service. The other thing NotifyMe has that Reminders doesn’t is auto-snooze, custom repeating patterns, pre-alerts, and the ability to customize the sound of different reminders. Plus, NotifyMe provides its API for developers who want to hook in for their own apps. Overall, pretty great features for a fairly low price.

What NotifyMe does not have is location-based reminders, which may be ok for those of among us who don’t need that particular feature. For those of us that do, however, this might be the breaking point.

NotifyMe is on sale right now, coming in at $1.99 on the iPhone and free on the iPad. It’s even on sale for $4.99 on Mac OS X, but that’s not the point of this tips column. So, while it costs more on the iPhone that Reminders does, there might be enough features that you’d want to switch. Let us know if you do in the comments below.

Got an iOS tip of your own? Need help troubleshooting your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad? (sorry, you need Javascript to see this e-mail address) or leave a comment below.

The Chronic Dev Team has pushed out a minor update to its Absinthe 2.0 untethered jailbreak. The tool was only released this morning, but this new update addresses issues where the software can freeze up during the process of jailbreaking. If you’re having trouble jailbreaking your iOS device on iOS 5.1.1 with Absinthe, grab this update now.

Direct download links: Absinthe 2.0.1 for Mac (10.5, 10.6, 10.7), Absinthe 2.0.1 for Windows (XP/Vista/Win7), Absinthe 2.0.1 for Linux (x86/x86_64)

Official press release:

AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS – 25th May 2012 – Today @pod2g and the @ChronicDevTeam announced the highly anticipated release of Absinthe 2.0 at #HITB2012AMS held at the Okura Hotel in Amsterdam.

Known as the “iOS Jailbreak Dream Team”, @p0sixninja, @pod2g, @planetbeing, @pimskeks released the untethered jailbreak for iOS 5.1.1 on the final day of the week-long conference. Echoing Steve Jobs’ trademark WWDC encore of ‘… and one more thing’, the team announced the release of Absinthe 2.0 during the closing minutes of their 2 hours talk at the conference.

Absinthe 2.0 will affect the majority of Apple devices running iOS 5.1.1 including iPad 1,1 – 2,1 – 2,2 – 2,3 – 3,1 – 3,2 – 3,3, the iPhone 2,1 – 3,1 – 3,3 – 4,1 and iPod 3,1 – 4,1. The jailbreak does not support the third generation Apple TV and support for iPad 2,4 will be added at a later date.

The team announced that the new Absinthe 2.0 will be available immediately for download from the official ChronicDevTeam website: http://greenpois0n.com

The release announcement came after recent rife speculation spreading through online social networks  on the actual release date and scope of Absinthe 2.0. The jailbreak community’s interest was first piqued when the team announced they were scheduled to appear at HITBSecConf2012 – Amsterdam to deliver not one but two talks covering both the Corona (A4) and Absinthe (A5) jailbreaks for Apple devices. On the 20th of May, a tweet from team member @pod2g stating the release of Absinthe 2.0 was ‘in a matter of days’ led to further speculation that the final release would be made at HITBSecConf which ran from 21 – 25 May.

“We want to take this opportunity to thank Hack in the Box for giving us the chance to all get together for the first time, especially in the beautiful city of Amsterdam, it has been a great delight for us to announce our next release at this event. Thank you to all our supporters and keep jailbreaking!!”

“This was certainly one of the most highly anticipated talks we’ve EVER had at one of our HITB conferences, and we’ve done quite a few of these. The excitement from the Dream Team followers and overall Twitter and online buzz has been terrific!”, said Dhillon Andrew Kannabhiran, Founder and CEO of Hack In The Box.

“It was truly an honor to host the Dream Team in their first ever ‘real world’ meet up and we would like to thank them for taking the time and effort to make the trip over to not only join us at our third European outing, but to help kick-start our celebration of ’10 years of HITB awesomeness’  with the release of Absinthe 2.0!”, he added.

HITBSecConf2012 – Malaysia (#HITB2012KUL) marks our 10th annual event in Asia and runs from October 8th till 11th at the Intercontinental Kuala Lumpur featuring 42 of HITB’s best speakers of the decade in one massive event. Registration is already open: http://conference.hitb.org/hitbsecconf2012kul/

About iOS Jailbreak Dream Team: The group is made up of members from the Chronic-Dev Team and the iPhone Dev Team and consists of @MuscleNerd @pod2g @planetbeing @p0sixninja @pimskeks.

About iOS jailbreaking: iOS jailbreaking, or simply jailbreaking, is the process of removing the limitations imposed by Apple on devices running the iOS operating system through use of custom security exploits. Jailbreaking allows users to gain elevated access to the operating system. Consequently it also allows users to download additional applications, extensions and themes that are unavailable through the official Apple App Store.

Via: Nikias Bassen

With the release of the iPhone 4S and its super incredible camera, point-and-shoots were supposed to be dead. What’s the point of buying a compact digital camera if it only takes photos that are the same, or slightly better than the iPhone in your pocket? For the most part, I think we’re right in saying that the point-and-shoot is destined to become a relic. However, there are certain exceptions to that rule.

I love my iPhone 4S so much that I don’t want to endanger its gorgeous glass body. I also love hiking in the summer and water activities, and even if I buy a military grade case for my iPhone, I still get scared when taking it on outdoor adventures. That’s where the Olympus TG-820 point-and-shoot comes in. It’s waterproof and shockproof, and ready to go where you’re too scared to take your iPhone.

Every summer my friends and I take a trip to Havasupai – a beautiful Indian village oasis of waterfalls at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. It’s one of the most gorgeous places in the U.S. but it’s not easy to get to. To get to the village you have to hike 10 miles down the canyon on rocky trails, and then it’s another three-mile hike to get to some of the falls. We took the Olympus TG-820 with us this year and left our iPhones in the car, and had no regrets as Olympus’s rugged camera was able to capture pictures we’ve never dared to snap before.

The Olympus TG-820 can take a beating. It’s shockproof up to 6.6 feet, which was enough protection to withstand the poundings it got on the trail. We dropped it a couple of times on accident and it picked up a few scratches, but performance never waned. It’s also waterproof up to 33ft. Even though we didn’t do any deep diving with it, the waterproof and shockproof features allowed us to jump off a 60ft cliff into a pool of water and keep snapping pictures without hesitation. Rather than worrying about our camera breaking, the Olympus TG-820 let us do all the things we wanted, without having to worry about technology.

The Good

The image quality of the Olympus TG-820 is pretty good for its price range as a point-and-shoot. The colors are bold in average daylight, and the dynamic range is decent too. The camera also comes with a number of solid features, such as 20 different scene modes, Full HD video, Continuous shooting, two timers, and filters. The 3inch HyperCrystal LCD display on the back of the TG-820 is awesome and bright enough for daytime shooting.

The camera also has an optical zoom, which is great for shooting video without compromising on quality. The control scheme is very easy to use. The build of the camera actually looks pretty good. Most rugged outdoor cameras are built to be tough without much thought put into the design, but the TG-820 is one of the best looking waterproof cameras I’ve seen.

The Bad

Like most point-and-shoots, its sensor doesn’t do great in low-light conditions. As soon as you need to move above ISO 400, pictures start getting pretty noisy. Adding to the problem, the TG-820′s auto-mode had a tendency to raise the ISO above 400 when it didn’t really need to. Another problem we had was it seems as though the lens sharpness has a tendency to drop off on the left side of the camera.

Nitpicking on a few other things, we felt that the menu navigation knob was a bit too sensitive and meant for smaller fingers than ours. Battery life could have been an hour or two longer, but it was acceptable. We also had once incident where the two locking mechanisms that keep the battery, SD card, and other camera internals safe from water, seemed to randomly unlock themselves twice, but luckily we weren’t in the water when that happened.

The Verdict

There aren’t many reasons for iPhone owners to go out and buy a point-and-shoot camera, but the TG-820 might be one of them. It takes excellent pictures and has a great rugged design that can endure a lot of punishment where the iPhone can’t. If you’re planning on doing something adventurous in the outdoors, grabbing the Olympus TG-820 instead of your iPhone might be a better choice.

Rating: ★★★★☆ 

Price: $270

Olympus TG-820 Sample Image

Olympus TG-820 Sample Image

This retro-tastic camera case is good enough to use all day

Another day, another neat, camera-like iPhone case. But I promise you that this one is different. First, it manages to be highly functional without doing very much at all. Secondly, it’s actually a case you will want to keep on your iPhone and carry around with you all day.

It’s called the Bitplay SNAP!, but don’t let that put you off. The case is a retro-styled camera case for the iPhone, and it has three useful features. First is that big old grip, which makes it look a lot like Ricoh’s hi-end compact cameras and also makes it very easy to hold. On top of that is a shutter button which will click down the iPhone’s volume button to take a shot.

Those two features alone would be enough to get my $50, but there is also a tripod socket underneath. You probably won’t use this that often, but as it’s a feature that actually saves weight, it’s certainly worth having.

Other than this, it does little, although I guess having your iPhone disguised as an old crappy plastic camera helps with security when on vacation in pickpocket-riddled cities like mine. The Bitplay SNAP! is available now.

Source: Dynamism

Via: TUAW

Goodbye Entourage, hello Outlook

With Office 2011, Microsoft killed off Entourage—and I don’t think anyone shed tears over that—and brought in Outlook for Mac. Outlook 2011 for Mac brings a lot of the power of Outlook for Windows to the Mac for the first time, but the question is—can you master it?

In this special course you’ll learn Outlook for Mac 2011 for only $24! That’s over half off for three and a half hours of hands-on instruction on Outlook. This is an in-depth course that will make you an Outlook Jedi in no time.

What do you get for your $24? Well, a lot, actually…

What You’ll Learn:

• How to create professional quality emails, professional notes and boardroom-ready events and invitations with one of the world’s leading office communications tools.
• How to manipulate and implement contact and organizational data data across a wide range of projects and accounts.
• How to create fully compatible meetings, contact cards and messages that can be accessed by users working with Office for Mac products as well as Windows counterparts.

What People Are Saying About the Course:

“Email was one of the first things I learned as a computer user but it turns out I had been some simple mistakes for years…these videos make it easy to see how smart email policies can streamline a busy person’s work life. Kudos.” – Kelly McNessa

“Finally Microsoft has decided to create a REAL email client for Mac users. This was a great, simple way to get started with the application more quickly.” – Deval Gupta

Who Should Take This Course?

• Anyone who has used Microsoft Outlook in the past but wanted a better understanding of its full range of features.
• Anyone who has high demands for email organization, task management and communications requirements.
• Anyone who needs an understanding of Microsoft Office software as it applies to a professional work or academic environment.
• Anyone Mac user new to MS Outlook wanting a user-friendly guide that introduces the program from the ground up.

If you’re bringing your Mac to work in an PC-dominated office, you probably have to use Outlook. So, why not become the office power user for good measure?

Pick up the Outlook 2011 for Mac course now for only $24.

Cloud management can be a great option

Over the course of May, we’ve highlighted a number of different mobile management companies in our Mobile Management Month series. Profiling these companies made me realize how much the mobile management market has expanded to include cloud or SaaS options in addition to on-premise servers installed inside a company’s network.

That’s hardly surprising really – after all cloud models are being applied to almost every type of business computing need.

There are several significant and  attractive advantages to using a cloud service as your approach to mobile management, particularly for small businesses.

Business technology analyst Maribel Lopez highlighted four of these advantages recently.

• Functionality for a simple monthly fee – In cloud models, service is provided for a regular monthly fee without needing to consider costs involved expanding infrastructure or extending licensing.
• Try before you buy – Since cloud solutions don’t require you to purchase and configure hardware or software, companies can get a solid test drive with very little expense and effort.
• No need for patch and update management – Any updates are provided as part of a cloud service and handled by the vendor itself. IT doesn’t need to be concerned with downloading, vetting, or installing updates.
• No need to buy and install extra components/upgrades for new devices – IT departments don’t need to worry about buying/licensing and installing new components in order to support and manage new devices or mobile OSes as they enter the market and the mix of devices used within an organization.

In addition to her excellent suggestions, I’ll add a few of advantages of my own.

• Freedom from fault tolerance issues – Failover and fault tolerance becomes a simple matter of the service level agreement (SLA) between organization and vendor. There’s no need to develop plans to handle management server outages or failures.
• Easy and relatively unlimited scalability – Cloud services aren’t limited by on-premise infrastructure. As an organization’s needs grow, there’s no concern about adding servers or other hardware and infrastructure resources. So long as a corporate wireless network can support the additional devices, expansion is a simple and hands off affair.
• No need for existing enterprise infrastructure – Most on-premise technologies require some level of existing infrastructure be it an Active Directory forest, physical or virtual servers to run the software, or anything else. Cloud-based mobile management can integrate with such systems, but it doesn’t need to, which makes it an excellent option for small or growing businesses.
• No lock-in to a specific service or solution – Since there’s minimal hardware, software infrastructure involved with a cloud service, there’s no sense of being locked into a specific solution because of investment in it. As a result organizations can switch providers and solutions with little economic impact if and when they feel it’s necessary.
• Ease of setup and limited system requirements – Cloud service setup tends to be much simpler and less expensive that setting up on-premise solutions. There’s rarely major system requirements beyond a Mac, PC, or mobile device that can log into a web-based dashboard.

Cloud solutions aren’t for every organization and they can present some challenges as far as how deeply they can integrate with existing infrastructure and processes, but they also offer a range of solid options that make them well worth considering by most companies looking to capitalize on the boom of mobile technology and/or BYOD.

Source: Forbes

The Statc works great with camera or iPhones

Vowels are dropped from names so commonly these days that it can only end with the leftover consonants becoming so jammed together that they will densify and densify into some kind of alphanumerical black hole, dragging in all words until us humans will be rendered mute, and I will be forced to shut up once and for all.

And if you thought that paragraph had nothing to do with the next gadget, you’re dead wrong. It’s called the Statc (missing vowel) and it’s a camera “tripod” consisting of nothing but a big lump of super-strong magnet (black-hole-like attraction).

Matthew Baty invented the Statc when he decided he needed a camera support that was "no bigger than a golf ball" (presumably after waking up from some kind of fever-dream). So he set out to make it with the help of Kickstarter.

The device is milled from solid aluminum with a magnet on the bottom (covered in plastic to stop it scratching things). Inside is a ball-head, which is adjustable and lockable with a thumbscrew, and on the top is a standard tripod thread.

Thus you can use it with any camera (up to 2 pounds) or your iPhone, given a suitable case.

There are some drawbacks. The obvious one is that you’ll need some iron or steel nearby to use it. The second is the price — $60 is the minimum pledge to put you on the waiting list. And the third is that you’re carrying a big magnet in your bag, so be careful of your bank cards.

Other than that, it’s a pretty ingenious device. Too bad that it also spells the end of the world (did you see what I did there?)

Source: Kickstarter
Source: Statc

Via:PetaPixel

Yesterday, Apple yanked Airfoil Speakers Touch for unspecified reasons. A little birdie told us it was because Airfoil Speakers Touch duplicated inherent functionality in iOS 6. It’s possible that that’s still true, but if it is, it’s not why Airfoil Speakers Touch was pulled, as Apple has now gone on record saying it was actually because Rogue Amoeba violated a developer guideline against non-public APIs.

Confirming pundit John Gruber’s suspicions on the matter, Apple’s clarification makes clear that the reason the app was pulled has everything to do with new functionality introduced in version three that allows any iOS device running the app to play back audio from any source using Apple’s AirPlay wireless streaming protocol.

Since Apple only allows official and licensed products to do this, Rogue Amoeba hacked themselves together an API that allowed the app to do the same thing an Apple TV, say, can do: play music or media streamed from your Mac, iPhone or iPod. But that was the big “no no.”

Presumably Rogue Amoeba will yank or tweak the feature to be compliant, and all will again soon be well. As for whether or not iOS 6 will have the ability to beam audio from any Mac or iOS device to any other Mac or iOS device, only time will tell. Even if Airfoil Speakers Touch ends up being made redundant by iOS 6, though, it hasn’t been purged for that reason.

Source: The Verge

In the latest iPhone 4S ads that debuted earlier this week starring actor John Malkovich, Siri tells a joke upon request… and let’s face it, it’s a pretty lame one. Not bad for a computer, but the kind of thing that would get you beaten up in the men’s room at the local Laugh Emporium if you pulled it out during your set at open mic night.

What if Siri told a real joke? What if she told a dirty joke? Heck, what if she told the dirtiest joke there is? Here’s a great video parody of the recent ad, with a very, very clever (and totally safe for work!) take on that old blue comedy classic, The Aristocrats.

If you’ve never heard The Artistocrats before, Bob Saget’s version (go figure!) is generally considered to be one of the filthiest. You can compare and contrast Siri’s version to it here (NSFW!)

Thanks: Gil!

This app knows where you are, even if you don't

Don’t Panic is one of the better names I’ve seen for a GPS navigation app. It’s not a cheap app, but neither is it any more expensive than some of the other premium on-road satnav apps. The UI is a little quirky, but generally speaking it does the job well.

The app comes in different editions, depending where you plan to drive. The North America edition costs $30, but I tested the Europe edition, which will set you back $90. Whichever one you buy, all the map data is downloaded and stored on your device (so make sure you have plenty of space – both of the editions mentioned require over 1.5 gigabytes).

The maps themselves are detailed enough for most journeys, and displayed clearly either as a ground-level 3D view, or a more traditional top-down 2D view. Two buttons on either side of the map provide zoom controls (on the right) and a selection of view options (on the left).

What’s frustrating, and ironic, is navigating the controls and menus of this navigation app. It takes a while to get accustomed to the way this app lays out controls and displays information. There’s a button bar permanently visible below the map view. The right-most button opens a screen of shortcuts for things like “Take me home” and the settings panel. You’ll be using these shortcuts often.

The next button to the left on the button bar changes, depending which screen you last accessed using the shortcuts. It took me a long time to understand that, but once I did, the controls began to make sense. For a while, it seemed like certain functions were simply disappearing – not so. The app is trying to be helpful here, and get you back to the controls you were using last. But having buttons that disappear and reappear is confusing to start with.

As for getting you from A to B: it does well. The app copes admirably with mistakes and missed turnings, instantly recalculating a new route and directing you accordingly. It comes with a variety of options, such as alerts for speed traps, a nice night display mode, dozens of languages, four speaking voices, and a store where you can buy extra maps.

As with all GPS apps, you need to watch your battery if navigating for any significant length of time. Regular travellers will need an adapter for keeping the phone charged inside the car.

Despite a few quirks, Don’t Panic is a decent navigator with a good selection of global maps.

Pro: Clear mapping, plenty of extras

Con: Not cheap. Controls unclear and require some navigating of their own

It sure is ugly, but the SlateSHIELD makes up for it by being so useful

It looks like somebody finally answered my prayers for an iPad 3 case which would let me take photos without dropping the thing or looking like a complete dork. Instead, I can look like I’m some kind of clipboard-wielding
corporate drone taking a photo with an iPad.

The case is called the SlateSHIELD (I think you’re supposed to shout the last part whilst punching the air with your free hand) and it has a rotating handle on the back, as well as a flip-out kickstand. And crucially, it isn;t huge and fat.

The iPad slides in through the top end of the ABS case and is secured by a little tab. A flip-out kickstand will hold it in horizontal and vertical positions, as well as typing position, and the wraparound front part offers some degree of protection. But its the handle which I like the most: It’s a loop into which you slide your hand, and it is on a 360˚ pivoting turntable so you can hold it at whichever angle you like.

The only problem I can see is that the iPad’s screen is not protected if you sling it onto a bag, but that could be fixed with a screen protector, a padded sleeve, or taking an X-Acto knife to the case and cutting off the edge so you can use a smart cover (don’t laugh — I have done this to review units before).

From the publicity and PR material, though, it seems as though you’re supposed to be using it in a safe, corporate environment — just like a clipboard.

The SlateSHIELD (shout it!) will cost you $55.

Source: SlateSHIELD

Thanks: Xenia!

During today’s Jailbreak Live event at the Hack in the Box conference in Amsterdam, Pod2g and his “dream team” of iOS hackers took to the stage to unveil the long-awaited iOS 5.1.1 untethered jailbreak. The team also explained how the Absinthe 2.0 software works its magic and opens your device up to a world filled with apps and tweaks that Apple never wanted you to install on your device.

Here’s how it works.

GreenPois0n Absinthe was built upon @pod2g’s Corona untether jailbreak to create the first public jailbreak for the iPhone 4S and iPad 2 on for the 5.0.1 firmware. In this paper, we present a chain of multiple exploits to accomplish sandbox breakout, kernel unsigned code injection and execution that result in a fully-featured and untethered jailbreak.

Corona is an acronym for “racoon”, which is the primary victim for this attack. A format string vulnerability was located in racoon’s error handling routines, allowing the researchers to write arbitrary data to racoon’s stack, one byte at a time, if they can control racoon’s configuration file. Using this technique researchers were able to build a ROP payload on racoon’s stack to mount a rogue HFS volume that injects code at the kernel level and patch its code-signing routines.

The original Corona untether exploit made use of the LimeRa1n bootrom exploit as an injection vector, to allow developers to disable ASLR and sandboxing, and call racoon with a custom configuration script. This however left it unusable for newer A5 devices like the iPad2 and iPhone 4S, which weren’t exploitable to LimeRa1n, so another injection vector was needed.

If you’re interested in finding out more about the Absinthe 2.0 jailbreak and how it works, you can check out the official Hack in the Box website where all of the presentation notes are now available.

Source: Hack in the Box

Via: iClarified

Following the Absinthe 2.0 jailbreak for all iOS devices on 5.1.1, a new jailbreak has been released for the second-generation Apple TV running iOS 5.0.1. Firecore has released a big update to Seas0nPass, the tool used to jailbreak the Apple TV, with the latest unther. You can grab the updated tool for free to jailbreak your Apple TV.

Today we are happy to release a brand new version of Seas0nPass that provides an untethered jailbreak of the latest 5.0.1 (iOS 5.1.1) software for the 2nd gen Apple TV. Massive thanks goes to @pod2g and Co. for the countless hours that went into making this new release possible.

Plugins that are currently supported:

• Couch Surfer (works)
• Last.fm (works)
• Maintenance (works)
• Media Player (works)
• NitoTV (works)
• Plex (works)
• RSS Feeds (works)
• Rowmote (works)
• Weather (works)
• XBMC (works)
• Overflow (not working)
• Remote HD (not working)

You can download Seas0nPass for free from the Firecore website. You will need to connect your Apple TV to a desktop computer to perform the jailbreak. This is the first untethered jailbreak to be released for the new Apple TV interface Apple introduced in March.

Source: Firecore blog

Where are the changes?

The Chronic Dev Team released its Absinthe 2.0 jailbreak this morning for all iOS devices running iOS 5.1.1. This is the first jailbreak available for the newly-released third-gen iPad, and Absinthe 2.0 has already become the Chronic Dev Team’s most successful release to date.

Servers are getting slammed and folks are having a difficult time jailbreaking their devices. Cydia itself seems to be buckling under the weight of all the new jailbreakers today, as repos are failing to load. iDB has also noticed the Cydia errors, so don’t fret if you can’t immediately download jailbreak tweaks and apps.

If you’re having trouble jailbreaking with Absinthe, give it time. Don’t disconnect your iOS device in the middle of the jailbreak process, as Absinthe will fail to recognize it again unless you completely restore to iOS 5.1.1. iPad jailbreaks are taking an upwards of 60-80 minutes, while most iPhones seem to jailbreak in a matter of seconds. We’ll keep you updated on new developments.

In the meantime, check out some of the best jailbreak apps in Cydia. If you’re jailbreaking your iPad, we have a roundup for you too.

Box continues to lead the way in mobile and cloud options for business

Over the past several months, Box has reinvented itself. The company went from being a pretty basic cloud storage solution to true enterprise solution and a hub for storing, viewing, and editing all manner of documents on an iPad or other mobile device. Box’s journey continued this week as the company launched a series of new features for business and enterprise customers.

Box has offered business/enterprise document storage and sharing for quite some time. This week, however, it unveiled a series of improvements to its enterprise offerings that give administrators a much broader range of document and information management. It also improved the overall user experience for enterprise customers.

The administrator and IT improvements include:

• More granular controls for setting access to files
• Mobile-specific security features like passcode locks
• Support for multiple email domains
• Archiving capabilities for activity notifications

A broader addition that applies to users as well as administrators and IT staffers is enterprise-wide search of all Box accounts associated with an organization. This should reduce the tendency of files to get trapped in different data silos –  a common issue with public cloud services that can significantly limit collaboration. It should also address issues where a company needs to locate documents for managerial, financial, or legal reasons. Along those lines, the search functionality may even help prevent data leakage outside the enterprise into personal storage and data sprawl across multiple services or accounts.

These changes are momentous for many businesses, including those in some regulated industries, because they will close some data security and privacy compliance gaps.

In addition to the new features, Box also revamped its enterprise licensing agreement. The new agreement focuses on creating predictable costs to companies for situations where their needs and staffing levels change.

Source: TechCrunch

Don't laugh: This iPhone remote is actually really useful

I scoffed whan I first saw the PR e-mail for this Bluetooth iOS remote. Literally: I made a weird, half-snoring, half LOL-ing noise into my coffee. If that doesn’t count as a "scoff," I don’t know what does.

Anyhow, after my initial (and messy) reaction, I quickly changed my mind. This thing packs in so many useful funcions, and does it in such a (fairly) handsome package that now I’m considering buying one.

You know how the media keys work on your Bluetooth keyboard to control your iPad or iPhone? This is that, only without all the letters, and shrunken into a palm-sized lozenge. You can control volume, play/pause and mute, and there is a home button so you can trigger Siri — great for track selection on the iPhone.

There are even a bunch of number buttons hidden under a slide-open flap, presumably with good reason.

And because it is pretty much just a tiny Bluetooth keyboard, the remote has some other neat functions. You can use it to control slideshows in the Photos app, or presentations in Keynote. And you can also use the "volume-up" button to snap a photo (yes, this works with your Bluetooth keyboard too — try it now).

Best of all is the price. The remote, from Satechi, comes in at the reasonable, reasonable price of $40. Not super-cheap, but given that the Apple remote is half the price and offers much less than half the functionality with iDevices (ie. none, without a dock at least), it looks like a bargain.

Source: Satechi

Thanks: Velerie!

Install Rocky Racoon today and say goodbye to tethered boots.

As you probably know by now, today is the day that iOS hackers released the untethered jailbreak for devices running the latest iOS 5.1.1 software.

However, you may have already jailbroken yours using the tethered solution that was released some time ago. If that’s the case, you don’t need go through the whole process again — simply install the Rocky Racoon tweak to turn your tethered jailbreak into an untethered one.

You’ll find the ‘Rocky Racoon iOS 5.1.1 Untether’ in Cydia — all you need to do is install it and then reboot your device. It’s that simple. You’ll now have an untethered jailbreak and you’ll be able to reboot your device at any time, while you’re out and about, without having to hook it up to your computer.

Just be sure you don’t uninstall Rocky Racoon later, because you’ll lose your untethered jailbreak again.

Source: iJailbreak

The popular puzzle game follow up Cut The Rope: Experiments has been keeping Om Nom fed for quite some time, but many of you have been running out of experiments to perform. Thankfully, ZeptoLab has pushed out an update to challenge our wits and feed our precious Om Nom. The latest update features:

• 25 new levels featuring new game element – robo arms
• New photo of Om Nom in the Professor’s Album
• New achievements and a new leaderboard

Owners of Cut The Rope: Experiments will be treated to the update free of charge while anyone looking to get in on this sugary scientific insanity can purchase the game for less than an actual piece of candy. So head over to your respective app store and grab the latest version of Cut The Rope: Experiments.

[App Store: Cut The Rope: Experiments] [Google Play Store: Cut The Rope: Experiments]

Gizmon's Clip-On Lenses are lenses which clip on

Not only do Gizmon’s Clip-On Lenses offer a smart and speedy way to mount them on your iPhone, but they also break with the now-common fisheye-telephoto-wideangle triumvirate (mostly at least), instead coming in fisheye, polarizer and "3-image mirage filter" flavors. Better still, they will also play just fine with your iPad 2 or 3.

The lenses simply clip over the corner of your iDevice, and the clip is just the right length to put the glass over the camera lens (one clip is enough as the lenses actually screw into it). The fisheye ($35) speaks for itself, and these can be a lot of fun to play with. The 3-image mirage ($25) filter looks interesting too, although it’s doubtful you’d use it more than a few times after seeing the novelty image-splitting effect.

Best is the circular polarizer ($25). The polarizer, which cuts out or lets in polarized light depending on how you turn it, is the only photographic filter which can’t be applied in post using software. It will make blue skies bluer, cut the reflections from glass or water and generally make sunlit scenes more saturated. It also acts somewhat as a neutral-density filter, cutting out light which can help bring down exposures on bright days.

I’m a happy user of the magnetic lenses I have from Photojojo, but they are a real pain to mount on the iPad. This clip-on version looks so good that I might have to fashion a clip mount myself. Available now.

Source: Four Corner Store

Via: OhGizmo!

Now's the perfect time to stock up on new iOS games.

This Monday, May 28, is Memorial Day in the United States. And not only does that mean we all get the day off work (well, most of us) but it also means that iOS game developers are slashing the prices of their most popular titles. We’ve compiled a list of the best, including games from the likes of 2D BOY, EA, Firemint, and Rockstar.

2D Boy

• World of Goo
• World of Goo HD 

EA

• Battlefield: Bad Company 2
• Battlefield: Bad Company 2 HD
• Bop It!
• Bop It! for iPad
• Burnout Crash!
• Burnout Crash! for iPad
• Coconut Dodge
• Coconut Dodge for iPad
• Command & Conquer Red Alert
• Command & Conquer Red Alert for iPad
• Dead Space
• Dead Space for iPad
• Dragon’s Lair 2: Time Warp
• Draw Jump HD
• Fight Night Champion
• FIFA 11
• FIFA 11 for iPad
• FIFA 12
• FIFA 12 for iPad
• Flight Control
• Flight Control HD
• Madden NFL 12
• Madden NFL 12 for iPad
• Mass Effect Infiltrator
• Max and the Magic Marker
• Max and the Magic Marker for iPad
• Mirror’s Edge
• Mirror’s Edge for iPad
• Monopoly
• Monopoly Here & Now: The World Edition HD
• NBA JAM
• NBA JAM for iPad
• Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit
• Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit for iPad
• Need For Speed: Undercover
• Pictureka! HD
• Reckless Racing HD
• Risk for iPad
• SHIFT 2 Unleashed for iPad
• SimCity Deluxe for iPad
• Snood for iPad
• Spy mouse HD
• THE GAME OF LIFE
• THE GAME OF LIFE for iPad
• Trivial Pursuit Master Edition for iPad
• Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12 for iPad
• Trenches II for iPad
• Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 for iPad
• YAHTZEE HD

Firemint

• Real Racing
• Real Racing HD
• Real Racing 2
• Real Racing 2 HD
• Flight Control HD

Rockstar Games

• Grand Theft Auto 3
• Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars
• Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars HD

PikPok

• Dreamworks Dragons: TapDragonDrop

Note: While we’d like to include every single app that has been discounted, it’s near impossible for us to do that with so many apps to plough through. With that said, there may be some good games we’ve missed. If you know of one, leave a comment and tell us about it.

Now that you’ve had time to jailbreak and explore Cydia on your iPad, what do you install? If you’d like to rest assured knowing that you have the most incredible setup on your jailbroken iPad, then look no further. We’ve collected the very best jailbreak apps and tweaks for Apple’s tablet.

Activator

Think of Activator as the key to unlocking limitless shortcut possibilities on your iPad. Many jailbreak tweaks use Activator to let you trigger actions from anywhere in iOS (double tapping the status bar, triple tapping the Home button, etc.), and you can also assign some stock actions in Activator for controlling basic aspects of iOS. Get Activator for free in Cydia. You’ll be glad you did.

SBSettings

This simple shortcut utility allows you to access all of the system settings you toggle daily with a quick Activator action. For example, you could double tap your iPad’s status bar to trigger a panel of settings, such as Bluetooth and WiFi, and turn features on and off at the blink of an eye. SBSettings is free in Cydia, and you can also download lots of free themes to change the panel’s look to match your Home screen.

IntelliScreenX

This insanely detailed extension takes your iOS 5 Notification Center to the next level. IntelliScreenX brings functionality to the Notification Center drop-down window that Apple should have included by default. Not only can you toggle settings like WiFi, 3G, Airplane mode and others, but you can view things like RSS feeds as well. There are multiple pages added to your Notification Center for quickly checking your Mail, Twitter and Facebook. Everything you need to see is in one place. Get this great tweak in Cydia for $9.99 with a free trial.

Springtomize 2

It’s difficult to explain Springtomize because it literally does everything. Springtomize 2 is the combination of dozens of other miscellaneous jailbreak tweaks that have been in the spotlight over the years. You can change how many icons you have in your dock, what’s in your status bar, how your iOS folders behave, various animations, and much, much, more. If you’re itching to tweak your iPad’s setup, there’s bound to be something worth while that Springtomize offers you. It’s available in Cydia for $2.99.

Fullscreen for Safari

The iPad version of Fullscreen for Safari turns your tablet’s default browser into a multitouch, fullscreen experience. Like the Mac, you can configure two and three finger swipes, three finger tab, shake, double taps, and more. There are plenty of settings to configure once you install the tweak, including a translucent button bar and changeable popup theme. Fullscreen for Safari (iPad) costs $1.29 in Cydia.

SplitMail

When you’re in the iPad version of the Mail app, there are two different layouts based on your device orientation. Portrait mode has a hidden sidebar for browsing your inbox, while the landscape version of Mail has a sidebar that remains present on the left side of the screen. If you favor the landscape layout but want to hold your iPad in portrait mode while checking email, then SplitMail is for you. This tweak forces the landscape Mail layout into the portrait orientation at all times so you can always see your inbox. Grab this nifty tweak in Cydia for free.

Belfry

Apple decided to not create iPad versions for several of its stock iPhone apps. Installing Belfry on your jailbroken iPad will add 6 more Apple apps to your Home screen: Weather, Compass, Calculator, Clock, Stocks, and Voice Memos. Not all of the apps are scaled up for the iPad’s larger display, but you can use RetinaPad to enhance some of the apps. The Stocks and Clock apps will already be iPad-ready after installing Belfry, and the Calculator app can be resized properly with RetinaPad. Belfry is free in Cydia. Grab it by adding the following repo: www.rpetri.ch/repo.

FolderEnhancer

As the ultimate jailbreak tweak for bringing your iOS folders to life on the iPad, FolderEnhancer is definitely worth its $2 price tag. You can add folders within folders, change folder backgrounds and animations, and add an infinite numbers of apps to each folder. Sweet.

Gridlock

Gridlock frees your iPad’s app icons. You can move icons wherever you want on your iPad’s Home screen after installing this tweak. Instead of apps automatically aligning themselves, icons will remain in place until you move them. You can create different layouts for each page on your Springboard. If the idea of breaking Apple’s app column and row restrictions floats your boat, download Gridlock in Cydia for $0.99.

The latest jailbreak is officially out, but now that your device is nice and jailbroken, what are you supposed to do with it? What are the must-have jailbreak apps and tweaks you should download first?

In many ways, some of the most innovative and daring development work is happening on Cydia these days, so if you’re new to jailbreaking, we envy the discovery you have to come. Here’s our list of some of the best jailbreak apps and tweaks.

SBSettings – Free

It might take a little while for SBSettings to grow on you. At first blush, it doesn’t seem to do much but act as a little mini-dock for your most commonly used iOS settings. SBSettings quickly becomes indispensable, though, as turning on/off 3G, Bluetooth, WiFi and more become just a swipe and tap away… and with iOS 5 Notification support, 2011 was the best year for SBSettings yet.

MyWi – $19.99

MyWi may seem expensive, but if you want to tether your iPhone or iPad, it sure beats the $20+ a month your carrier wants to charge you to turn on the same functionality. MyWi’s just a hell of an app, allowing you to tether your iPhone or iPad via USB cable to your computer to access the Internet, or even set it up as a mobile WiFi router. Personally, though, what has always impressed me most is the battery life: I’ve used MyWi all day to work in the past without my iPad crapping out on me.

iFile – Free

iFile doesn’t do anything exotic. It’s the equivalent of Finder for your iPhone. But given the iPhone’s closed off architecture, that’s pretty amazing… and doubly so when you add the ability to navigate around, view different types of files, compress zip packages, bookmark folders, attach files to emails and more. Heck, iFile even has its own built-in web server, allowing you to theoretically host a website from your iPhone!

Lockinfo – $7.99

Lockinfo is conceptually similar to IntelliscreenX, giving you quick view access to new emails, upcoming calendar events, unread SMS messages and much more on your lockscreen. A variety of themes and plugins allow you to customize Lockinfo, but while IntelliscreenX almost operates as a springboard in its own right, Lockinfo is comfortable with simply being a dashboard for your iOS experience… not a launchpad for it.

Barrel – $2.99

Barrel’s a gorgeous little Cydia tweak that allows you to change the way iOS animates transitions between home screen pages. If you’ve ever seen Compiz on Linux or some Quicksilver themes, you have a good idea of how attractive this presentation can be, and over the last year, Barrel has consistently updated to add an increasing number of transition options, each more inventive than the last.

Springotomize 2 – $2.99

It’s truly astonishing how much functionality the developers packed into Springotomize 2. Think of it as a swiss army knife for tweaking every possible aspect of your iPhone or iPad, from animations to the way the dock works, from the lockscreen to the way icons are displayed. Springotomize 2 is the iOS 5 version, but if you’re still running iOS 4, Springotomize will do the same thing.

Dreamboard – Free

Dreamboard allows you to change every aspect of iOS’s default look the way you want it to, so if you have any interest in theming your jailbroken iDevice, you need this. It’s how OS X Ultimatum manages its impressive transformation. If you want your iPhone to look like Windows Phone 7, or your iPad to look like a Honeycomb tablet, you’ll need to get Dreamboard.

OS X Ultimatum – Free

OS X Ultimatum does something true Mac fans have been clamoring for ever since the first iPhone was announced: turns iOS into OS X. What do you get? What don’t you get? Fully usable Finder menus, stacks, launchpad, a scrollable dock, draggable windows, mission control, dashboard, and a customizable lock screen, for starters. This is the iOS theme that the Cult of Mac loves above all others.

BiteSMS – Free

BiteSMS is the Messaging app on steroids. It gives you tons of extra features like Quick Reply, Quick Compose, Scheduled Messages, Auto-Forward, Auto-Retry, Passcode Lock, Privacy, Delivery Reports, Contact Pics, Easy Pick Smileys, Templates, Signatures and much more. And if that doesn’t do anything for you, well, you can even use BiteSMS to save money on your texting bill by buying credits from them allowing you to send texts for just $0.12 apiece.

IntelliscreenX – $9.99

IntelliscreenX turns your iPhone or iPad’s “Slide To Unlock” screen into a Mission Control panel, allowing you to see at a glance everything you can possibly imagine without actually unlocking your phone: calendar, email, text messages, Twitter, Facebook, weather and more. You can even do things like read and delete your emails, or send out tweets, from IntelliscreenX, without ever unlocking your device. Highly recommended.

These obviously aren’t the only jailbreak apps and tweaks worth having, and in many ways, this list is out of date: we originally compiled it at the end of last year as part of our Best of 2011 awards. We have other roundups for the iPhone 4S and iPad.

In the meantime, got an app or tweak we missed? Tell us about it in the comments and help clue in your fellow jailbreakers to some of the best work that the App Store blackmarket has to offer.