Top stories - page 862

You never meant for this to happen. In your rush to dive into the ocean, you forgot to take your iPhone out of your pocket, and didn’t realize it till you came out of the water. It’s a disaster. You leave your drowned iPhone 4S in a bag of rice for three days, praying to God, Allah, Jehovah, Moses, Shiva, and Oprah Winfrey that some magical power will make it work again. It doesn’t. You blow-dry it. Nada. Every conceivable way to resurrect your iPhone is met with failure and a blank screen.

Because you know the iPhone 5 is coming out in three months you decide not to waste your money and upgrade eligibility. Once you get home you rummage through your desk and find the Galaxy Nexus Samsung sent you three months ago. You sit in your chair staring at it almost hesitant to turn it on. You run your hands along the contours of its plastic grey body, pop in your new SIM card, take a deep breath, and then you dive in. This is it – your new digital home and the beginning of a three month exile into Android.

SAN FRANCISCO, JailbreakCon 2012 —Jailbreak hacker extraordinaire Cyril, or “pod2g,” just took the stage to talk about jailbreak techniques and the future of iOS 6 jailbreaking. After giving a technical run-through of his past exploits in iOS 4 and 5, Cyril explained that there is no working untethered jailbreak for iOS 6.

Considering that this is the world’s only jailbreak convention, many speculated that Cyril and the Chronic Dev Team would announce an iOS 6 jailbreak today, but that is not the case.

Cyril opened the iOS 6 section of his talk with, “Will I release the iOS 6 jailbreak today? No! Of course not!”

Remember how I was talking recently (like, umm, yesterday) about getting good tools in your toolkit? Apps that you might not need right now, but you’ll certainly need later? Not to mention that the apps (or bundle) are at a great price. Right. Well today is another of those times/deals—The Web Dev Power Pack Bundle: Get Three Mac Apps + 1,001 Design Assets That Will Turn You Into a Master Web Developer.

You get three solid apps plus a ton of clip art (don’t think for a moment that you won’t need some clip art at some point) for $89. It’s a nice, and inexpensive, way to get a solid dev environment started.

Apple did something unprecedented today.

I’m not talking about Tim Cook’s apology for iOS 6 Maps. While it’s rare, Apple has apologized before, especially recently: see John Browett’s admission that the company had “messed up” when cutting shifts among Retail Employees, and Apple’s public about-face when pulling out of the EPEAT rating system. One of the things that makes Apple great is they’re not afraid to be as harsh on themselves as they are on the competition when they’ve fucked up.

No, what Apple did today is far more uncharacteristic than an apology. They suggested that you use a third-party app instead of their own.

Earlier this morning Tim Cook published an apology letter to all Apple fans for how horrible Apple Maps have been. Not only did he apologize, but he actually told users that they should try some alternatives while Apple fixes their mapping fiasco.

It’s great that Apple is taking responsibility for their shoddy work, but now that they’ve kicked Google Maps out of iOS 6, what are the best alternative? We took a quick look at the alternative map apps that Tim suggested, to find out which one you should use if you plan to ditch Apple Maps for a while. Here’s what we found out.

Not only has Apple apologized for the embarassing state of iOS 6 Maps today, and not only has Tim Cook personally advised users to try competing app products like Bing, Mapquest and Google Maps as they get iOS 6 Maps’ shit together, but Apple is now promoting Maps alternatives at the very top of the iOS App Store listings. This is an unprecedented admission of fault by Apple. It’s mea culpas all the way down.

Via: Twitter

If there were ever a time for Google to play “good guy” it would be now. Apple has simply been piling up the negative criticism with everything from its ridiculous legal attacks to its latest Mapsgate debacle. While Google has been going down the wrong path by setting itself up to bite back (see Motorola Mobility), I believe now to be the perfect time to turn the other cheek. Specifically with their Maps service.

Apple CEO Tim Cook has today issued a letter to customers regarding the issues they have been experiencing with Maps in iOS 6. Cook says Apple is “extremely sorry for the frustration” the new service has caused to its customers, and he insists the company will continue to work incredibly hard until Maps is fixed. Cook even suggests a number of alternative services users can try in the meantime.

The full letter is below.

No need to adjust your volume—that really is the Steve Wozniak you’re hearing on episode 34 of our all-new CultCast!

And what an episode it is! Hear Woz’s thoughts on Apple’s new Maps app; his opinions on Apple’s shiny new iPhone 5; and of course, the hot topic on everyone’s mind: EarPods.

Plus, with the anniversary of Steve Job’s death on the horizon, Woz tells us why a post-Jobs Apple is stronger than ever, but needs us iFans to keep it in check.

Note: Some of you have let us know that episode 34 is not showing up on iTunes yet. We’re not sure what’s taking so long, but if you subscribe to The CultCast on iTunes or with Apple’s Podcasts App, it downloads just fine.

Read on for the show notes!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=445DW89GO2c&feature=youtu.be

I’ve never actually played Taboo (which is apparently massively popular; shows you just how much I get out); so when Clucks‘ PR guy referred to this new game as “video Taboo for iPhone,” my reaction was: Huh? So I looked up the game on Wikipedia (and finally realized that I had, indeed, heard of Taboo before), and it turns out that’s a perfect description for Clucks. But he might have called it “the next big social media craze on the iPhone,” because that might turn out to be an even better description.

Like Apple itself, jailbreak innovation is constantly evolving. Hackers and developers are continually pushing the boundaries of iOS. When Apple releases a major new version of iOS each year, jailbreakers immediately start finding new ways to enhance and improve upon the experience.

After iOS 5 was announced last summer, many believed that jailbreaking was starting to lose its appeal. The same questions are being asked this year with the release of iOS 6, mainly due to the fact that Apple continues to add and implement features that were previously exclusive to jailbreaking.

JailbreakCon, the only convention solely dedicated the jailbreak community, is happening this weekend in San Francisco, and Cult of Mac will be there. Jailbreaking iOS 6 and the iPhone 5 will be hot topics at the convention, and a huge underlying thread of conversation will be the future of jailbreaking itself.

On Tuesday, The New York Times reported that Google is currently working on a native Google Maps app for iOS, which is expected to make its debut before the end of the year. But in the meantime, it will be bringing Street View to its web app so that you can enjoy the much-loved feature in mobile Safari.

It seems Apple’s new Maps app isn’t the only thing frustrating iOS 6 users right now. A 91-page thread on Apple’s Support Communities forum is full of users who are also complaining about Wi-Fi connectivity issues, which are said to be plaguing the iPhone 4S and the new iPad after upgrading. It’s not just that Wi-Fi performance is poor; some users can’t enable it at all.

With the iPhone 5, Apple abandoned the existing aspect ratio of the iPhone (3:2) and embraced a true widescreen aspect display (16:9) instead. Now an analyst is saying that multiple people “close to Apple” have told him the iPad is going widescreen as well.

There’s a common misconception about jailbreaking. Many believe that people jailbreak just to pirate apps. While many do undoubtedly jailbreak for the sole purchase of stealing, the reason jailbreaking exists is definitely not piracy.

At its heart, jailbreaking is about staying ahead of the curve. In this case, the curve is Apple itself. Innovation is key. Jailbreak developers create hacks, tweaks, and extensions for iOS that go beyond the boundaries of what Apple allows. Jailbreaking exists for the same reason Apple exists: to challenge the status quo.

The world’s first jailbreak convention, JailbreakCon, is happening this weekend in San Francisco, and Cult of Mac will be there reporting from the show floor. We sat down with a couple jailbreak designers who will be attending JailbreakCon to get their thoughts on jailbreak innovation, good design, and why iOS is the best mobile platform on earth.

The iPhone 5 is a cutting-edge device with a lot of impressive new technology, from Apple’s incredibly fast new A6 chip to impressive new in-cell touch display technology and a brand new Lightning dock connector. It’s a certainty that Apple will use some of this technology in the fourth-generation iPad, which is likely due in March of next year. Here’s what the iPhone 5 tells us about what the iPad 4 will be.

The iPhone 5’s new camera is supposed to be incredibly amazing with improved low-light performance and a fancy crystal sapphire lens that is less prone to scratching, but for many users though, the new camera is having a weird issue where a purple halo or flare splashes across a photo when a bright light source is just outside the frame, and there’s no way to get rid of it.

Lens flair is a common occurrence with all camera lenses, but it’s generally not purple and this issue never happened with the iPhone 4 or iPhone 4s which is why many iPhone 5 users have been upset by the purple halo discovery.

Back in 2007, Steve Jobs used a famous quote from ice hockey player Wayne Gretzky to summarize Apple’s commitment to innovation: “I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.” That’s long been true for Apple and products like the iPhone and iPad. But for more than four years, jailbeaking has pushed the boundaries of iOS even farther.

If Apple skates to where the puck is going to be, then jailbreakers have usually already been there and left. The hackers and tinkerers that find security loopholes in Apple’s software are some of the most brilliant, innovative minds in the tech world.

We’ll be covering JailbreakCon 2012 this weekend in San Francisco, the world’s first convention dedicated solely to the jailbreak community. What better way to get ready for the future of jailbreaking than to examine the past? Let’s start from the beginning:

A new report suggests that Apple is making deals in the carbon fiber business, possibly ahead of next year’s iPad launch.

Japanese site Macotakara can be a hit or miss source. They were one of the first sites to leak images of what would prove to be the iPhone 5’s new display, but they habe also said that the new iPod nanos would have WiFi and that Apple’s making a Galaxy Note like phablet. So their rumors need to be taken with a grain of salt.

Now Macotakara is reporting that an anonymous source is telling them that Apple is buying huge amounts of carbon fiber. This makes sense, as Apple has shown a lot of interest in carbon fiber in the past, patenting an iPad design made out of the stuff and making key hires with the expertise necessary to mass produce carbon fiber gadgets.

By using carbon fiber for future devices, Apple could create products that weigh significantly less than the aluminum and stainless steel devices they produce today, but be just as sturdy. So it’s obvious Apple’s got a lot to gain by making this switch. The question is when it will happen? In time for next year’s iPad debut, or is carbon fiber still far off in the future?

Source: Macotakara

We’ve heard a lot of rumors surrounding a Google Maps app for iOS over the past week, and now The New York Times is weighing in with information from its own sources. Fortunately, it’s good news: it claims Google is indeed working on a Maps app for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch, and that the company is hoping to have it ready and released by the end of this year.

Why’s it taking so long? Well, Google had no idea Apple was kicking Google Maps out of iOS until Apple first previewed iOS 6 back in June.

While the vast majority of us couldn’t be happier with our new iPhone 5s, a number of users who decided to purchase the black & slate model have noticed that its anodized aluminum finish is prone to chipping and scratching. Unfortunately, it’s not an isolated issue affecting a certain batch of black devices, either — it appears to be affecting them all.

Could this be an issue Apple quickly needs to address? No. Apparently not. According to the company’s senior vice president of worldwide marketing, Phil Schiller, those chips and scratches are “normal.”

After months of rumors and speculation, the iPhone 5 is finally here, featuring a thinner, lighter design, a taller 4-inch display, LTE, the new Lightning connector, redesigned EarPods, and more. It’s the first major iPhone redesign in twenty-seven months, and the first iPhone ever to change the aspect ratio of the device, to have LTE, to use a new connector or to have new headphones, but despite this, many have criticized the iPhone 5 for being boring.

What’s the truth? Is the iPhone 5 dull, or is it a major leap forward for Apple’s most iconic device? We’ve spent the weekend reviewing a 64GB white-and-silver iPhone 5 on Verizon’s LTE network, and put it through its paces. Here’s what we thought.

With Google Maps gone from iOS 6 in favor of Apple’s own solution, many are hoping Google will bring its own Maps app to the App Store — as it did with YouTube a couple weeks ago. A recent report claimed that it was already on its way, but according to Google chairman Eric Schmidt, that’s not the case at all. In fact, Google hasn’t even submitted a Maps app to Apple for approval yet.

Earlier today, we reported on the Foxconn riot that broke out at the company’s Taiyuan, China, plant on Sunday evening. More than 2,000 employees were involved, and it took more than 5,000 police several hours officers to bring the disturbance under control.

Although many were injured, it was first thought that there were no deaths. Unfortunately the riot was much worse than initially reported, and ten workers have now been pronounced dead, according to reports.

iPhone 5 is selling like hot cakes covered in chocolate sprinkles.

Apple has announced that iPhone 5 sales surpassed a whopping five million units in just three days following the handset’s launch on Friday, September 21. Demand for the device has exceeded Apple’s initial supply, and while the majority of pre-orders have been shipping, many are scheduled to arrive in October.