The popular jailbreak tweak vWallpaper has received a pretty significant update that finally brings live home screen wallpapers to iPhones running Apple’s latest iOS 5 software.

This rare photograph of Steve Jobs demonstrates the Apple co-founder’s infamous rebellious spirit as he “flips the bird” outside an IBM building in New York City. It was taken in 1983 when the Macintosh team visited the city for a meeting with Newsweek, and was posted to Google+ today by Andy Hertzfield, a member of the original Macintosh development team.

A recently discovered Apple patent reveals that the Cupertino company could be planning to introduction facial recognition technology to its Mac and iOS devices. The system would allow users to login to multi-user machines using only their face, much like the facial recognition feature recently introduced to Google’s Android operating system.

While some reports have claimed that Apple’s iPad 3 will be thicker than its current-generation tablet so that the company can make room for a stunning Retina display, it seems that may not be the case. Sources in Apple’s supply chain claim that the Cupertino company will instead utilize IGZO (indium gallium zinc oxide) displays from Sharp that will allow the device to retain its slender form factor, while sporting a new “full HD level” display.

It seems it’s all RIM can do these days just to hang on to the, well, rim. A new report by Business Insider reveals the same predictable result in last quarter’s round of the Smartphone Wars: Apple’s subscriber base is growing, with Android also growing, but at twice the speed — and mostly at the expense of Blackberry-maker Research In Motion.

The Sennheiser HD 650’s ($500) audio performance is among the best available, but they won’t be worth their high price tag unless you’re willing to listen to them correctly, and for some, the hassle may not be worth it.

2011’s been the best year yet to be an Apple fan, absolutely flush with exciting new apps, products and accessories. Over the past couple of weeks, we’ve been letting you vote on the best Apple-related games, apps, accessories and products of the year, and we’ve come up with some truly fantastic finalists. Now it’s time to declare the best of each category: best Mac App, best iOS game, best iOS app, best jailbreak tweak, best Apple product accessory and best Apple product. As we all know from Highlander, there can be only one… but did your favorite app or product of the year get beheaded in our finalist rounds? Find out Cult of Mac’s picks for the best of Apple for 2011, after the jump.

A questionable report was making the rounds this morning from Taiwan-based publication Digitimes saying that Apple was planning to introduce two new iPads at the Macworld|iWorld conference on January 26th, 2012. The models were said to be targeted for the low-end and high-end consumer markets.

We voiced skepticism about this rumor (which also claimed that the iPad 3 would feature double the battery life and a higher-quality display), and now the Digitimes report has been debunked.

When we install new apps on our iOS devices, they don’t just take up the storage space needed for the app itself, but they also consume space needed for storing “documents & data.” This can be all sorts of things, including save files for your games, pictures, videos, and content downloaded through in-app purchases.

Here’s how to see how much storage space each of your apps is using for “documents & data,” and how you can reclaim that precious space.

First came the consumer wave of tablet users, now it’s the turn of small business. Almost 75 percent of small businesses plan to mark 2012 with a tablet — odds on an iPad. “The iPad, just in the consumer market, is synonymous for ‘tablet’ in the business market,” new research finds.

httpvhd://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwwWqRV2RsI

(Warning: video is NSFW)

All I wanted for Christmas was an iPhone. That’s it. But my parents went off and bought me a stupid Kindle Fire…those dumb bastards. Actually I’d be pretty happy with receiving a new Kindle Fire, and I already have an iPhone 4S with the fancy camera and everything so I don’t need a new one of those, but apparently a lot of people were disappointed on Christmas morning when they didn’t unwrap a shiny new iPhone. Taking the audacity of privileged consumerism to new heights of hilarity, comedy writer Jon Hendren compiled the stream of dejected tweets into a music video to express the world’s ingratidude.

“WTF?! I Wanted An iPhone” is a catchy (but NSFW) tune that captures little treasures of bitterness that bloomed on Christmas morning. The enormous display of ingratitude is a bit shocking. Hey @SamStandsFoSwag we’re sorry mom and dad got you the black iPod Touch instead of the white one, but maybe when you graduate high school and get a job you’ll realize, “Oh dang, spending $200 on a silly music player is not the funnest thing to do in world.”

While there are countless little-known videos on YouTube that are well worth a watch for any Apple fan, this Ghostbusters parody has to be one of the best. The clip was filmed for an International Sales Meeting held in 1984 and it sees a team called the “Blue Busters” free the world from IBM PCs and replace them with the Macintosh.

Just how popular were Kindles as Christmas gifts? Amazon said today it sold at least 4 million of the devices in December, or 1 million each week. Sounds great until we check Apple numbers and find the Cupertino, Calif. tech giant demolished the Internet retailer’s sales hype in about one day.

Despite slowly declining from June until September, the number of free apps downloaded from Apple’s App Store hit a record high during November, with 5.65 million downloads per day. And Apple has the iPhone 4S and iOS 5 to thank.

For the second month in a row since the fifth-generation device was launched, the App Store has seen record downloads among the top 200 free apps.

There are only 16 hours left to purchase our deal on the UX Course for Founders from Udemy. 

Steve Jobs held the belief that great design and user experience provide a significant competitive advantage. Apple’s products reflect this mantra and I think we’d all agree – it’s working. We’ve recently brought you some amazing instructional courses on how to build your dream startup ideas. Much of what those courses teach are the core mechanics or the “back-end” of projects.

Our newest deal is an instructional video course that focuses on the art of moving from the idea stage through the various steps of designing the user experience. But it doesn’t stop there, it goes on to provide you with specific actions to follow at the end of each stage. No creative skills needed, and no design tools required. Just a pen and paper or a whiteboard and markers, and you’re all set to go. Sometimes you don’t know what you don’t know and this course put that on display for me personally.

While there are many benefits to gaming on an iOS device, such as cheap games and an impressive handheld experience, there is one downside: no physical control pad. That won’t be much of a problem to some, but to gamers like me — who like to play first-person shooters and retro platformers — a physical control pad compatible with our iOS devices is truly missed.

That’s why the 60beat GamePad is a dream come true for iOS gamers.

Apple has a treat in store for us in 2012, according to one Digitimes report, which claims the Cupertino company will release not one but two new iPad models, one of which will boast more than twice the battery capacity of the current model, with a 5- to 8-megapixel camera.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZEypDIqekQ

One of the most useful little introductions to Apple’s iOS 5 software are the new multitasking gestures on the iPad, which allow you to use four-finger swipes to switch between the apps you have running in the background. Unfortunately we didn’t get these on the iPhone, but thanks to a new jailbreak tweak called Zephyr, we can add them ourselves.

Good ol’ Verizon, always passing the savings onto its customers. If you didn’t catch the sarcasm in that last statement, prepare yourselves for disappointment. Verizon apparently believes you should be charged a “convenience” fee for paying your bill. Yea, I know — what a convenience it is to shell out hundreds of dollars to a company that has three outages in one month. Okay, so the “convenience” fee really only applies to anyone trying to pay their bill online or over the phone with any method other than electronic check. You’re also safe from being charged a fee if you are enrolled in AutoPay.

Popular remote access service LogMeIn has released an updated App Store app that gives iOS device users basic remote access to a Mac or PC. Instead of the previous $30/month free, customers can have remote access from iOS for free.

Seems like there’s been an explosion of small, portable, Bluetooth speakers onto store shelves this last year — the most popular or well-known of which is probably the Jawbone JamBox — from the advance notices we’ve seen, in a few weeks the Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas will herald a whole new crop of the little tribbles.

Monster’s take on the concept is the Monster iClarityHD Precision Micro Bluetooth Speaker 100 ($100). And like pretty much everything the company puts out, the iClarity is bassy and L-O-U-D.

Famous director and producer JJ Abrams owns a special effects company called Bad Robot Interactive. Abrams’ company has released an iOS app in the App Store called Action Movie FX that allows you to create realistic special effects on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch.

Once you shoot video on your iOS device, Action Movie FX will let you choose a type of special effect to add. The end result is some pretty impressive footage.

A potentially sad story of a holiday gone wrong has a happy ending – two actually – thanks to a stolen iPad and some efficient police work. A homeowner in southern California heard some noises in his home at 3:30AM on Christmas Eve, only to find that the visitor wasn’t Santa.

The Redsn0w software by DevTeam has always allowed you to jailbreak your iOS device, giving you complete control over your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch (see why you should jailbreak here). This morning, though, redsn0w version 0.9.1ob1 was released with iOS 5 support, meaning you can now jailbreak devices and run Cydia apps on devices with iOS 5 installed. Here’s how to jailbreak iOS 5!

Ingredients:

• A compatible iOS device
• That same device updated to firmware iOS 5.0.1
• iTunes 10.5.2
• redsn0w 0.9.10b1 for Mac.
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British Prime Minister David Cameron is having a personalized iPad app built by programmers inside the Cabinet Office that will provide him with the latest information he needs to run the country, The Telegraph reports. The app, which was inspired by advisers after a trip to the U.S., will compile real-time information like NHS waiting-list figures, crime statistics, unemployments numbers, and more all in one place.