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Latest Gear Live Videos
Apple releases iOS 4.0.2, fixes PDF exploit
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Smartphones, Handhelds, Mods / Hacks, Software,
Following up on their promise to quickly plug the gaping hole in MobileSafari that allowed a PDF exploit to jailbreak your iPhone using the JailbreakMe website, Apple has just released iOS 4.0.2 for the iPhone, and 3.2.2 for the iPad. There don’t seem to be any other changes other than plugging that hole, and remember, if you are already jailbroken and want to stay that way, hold off on updating. To anyone else, go for it—the update awaits.
Gallery: Apple releases iOS 4.0.2, fixes PDF exploit
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Win a copy of Bartleby’s Book of Buttons for iPad
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Announcements, Apple, Features, Handhelds, Software,
We’ve covered Bartleby’s Book of Buttons a few times here on the site, mostly because we think it’s a great app that has a lot of potential to set the stage for some truly interactive storytelling on the iPad and other gesture-based devices. Okay, enough of all that future talk, let’s talk about what we’ve got going on today. We will be giving away two copies of Bartleby’s Book of Buttons Vol. 1: The Far Away Land for iPad at the end of the day to two randomly chosen entrants.
Here’s how to enter:
- Follow the Gear Live Twitter account
- On Twitter, post this tweet about our contest: “Hey @gearlive hook me up with Bartleby for iPad! http://gear.lv/e-bartleby-ipad-i” (Click here to tweet this now)
That’s it! We’ll announce two winners later on, and get them download codes that’ll score you Bartleby from iTunes at no cost. You can check out our Bartleby photo gallery and our Bartleby video interview with Monster Costume for more - and you can also check it out on the App Store.
Gallery: Win a copy of Bartleby’s Book of Buttons for iPad
Apple Battery Charger makes wireless devices less annoying?
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Accessories, Apple, Editorial, Features, Wireless / WiFi,
I was thinking about why Apple would want to release their Apple Battery Charger product, since you can pretty much get batteries anywhere, and I think it comes down to Apple wanting to do their part in eliminating the annoyance that many have with changing batteries when a device runs out of juice. With the introduction of the Magic Trackpad, Apple now has three devices that are powered by AA batteries, with the other two being their wireless keyboard and Magic Mouse. According to Apple, they were able to come into the battery market with a few key advances. One such feature is an intelligent power management system so that once the batteries are charged fully, it goes into a low power state, using about 90% less power than your average charger. That’s nice. The batteries also have a long service life, which Apple says is up to 10 years. Also nice. Still though, this isn’t really a market that Apple needed to be in.
In our opinion, Apple’s goal here was to innovate a bit for the benefit of their own products. They sell you six batteries so you can have two in a wireless keyboard, and two in a Magic Trackpad or Magic Mouse, and then you can also have two always in the charger, ready to be swapped. It pretty much eliminates worry of running out of juice, which gives you all of the benefits of having wireless devices with none of the drawbacks since you always have two fresh batteries ready for you (unless you somehow have both the wireless keyboard and the pointing device run out at the same time.)
We like the strategy. You can pick up the Apple Battery Charger for $29 from Apple.
Read More 
| Apple Battery Charger
Gallery: Apple Battery Charger makes wireless devices less annoying?
Apple readying Facetime-capable iPad mini?
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Handhelds, Rumors,
Our pals over at iLounge have gotten a few iPad-related tibdits from one of their sources, and we thought it was interesting enough to pass on. They are hearing that, in conjunction with the regular September ipod event that Apple conducts each year, that the company may announce a smaller version of the iPad. They say it’ll have a 7-inch display, making the screen closer to that of the Amazon Kindle (Amazon released a new Kindle last week.) We’ve also been hearing that a smaller iPad was on the horizon, but we didn’t hear anything about a date. Other sources are claiming that the next iPad will definitely ship with a front-facing camera as well, turning them into Facetime devices (the next iPod touch will likely include similar functionality.) Even if it doesn’t happen in September, we fully expect to see a smaller iPad by January.
If Apple wants Facetime to catch on, they definitely need to get it into more devices than just the iPhone 4, and this would be a good way to accomplish that. A smaller iPad with increased functionality launching so soon after the original could result in buyers remorse for some, but it’s not like Apple hasn’t made similar moves in the past, especially with the iPod a few years ago.
Read More | iLounge
Gallery: Apple readying Facetime-capable iPad mini?
iPhone 4 unlock now available with ultrasn0w!
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Smartphones, Handhelds, Mods / Hacks, Software,
We knew that once the iPhone 4 jailbreak dropped, it would be just a matter of time before the unlock method would be made available. Well, two days later, it’s here. Ultrasn0w, the software unlock we’ve come to know and love over the years, has been updated to version 1.0-1. With that update comes support for the iPhone 4 baseband 01.59 and iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS basebands 04.26.08, 05.12.01, and 05.13.04. If those numbers confuse you, no worries, this basically just means that any iPhone 3G/3GS/4 device that you have in your hand as of today is unlockable. Just download ultrasn0w through Cydia, and you’re all set!
Read More | Dev-Team
Gallery: iPhone 4 unlock now available with ultrasn0w!
How to jailbreak your iOS 4 devices
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Smartphones, Handhelds, Mods / Hacks,
We know that ever since iOS 4 hit the scene, many users have been clamoring for a jailbreak release so they can install hacks and apps that Apple won’t approve, or frowns upon. Well, that time has come, as an iOS 4 jailbreak has arrived—and it’s super-simple. To do the deed, just head on over to JailbreakMe.com. You’ll see the image above. All you need to do is swipe, and the jailbreak process will begin, directly on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. After a couple of minutes, the process will be complete. Couldn’t be easier!
Gallery: How to jailbreak your iOS 4 devices
Ballmer unhappy with iPad sales figures, says Windows slates are job one
Posted by John Kilhefner Categories: Apple, Corporate News, Handhelds, Microsoft,
Microsoft is frustrated by the success of Apple’s iPad. Well, who wouldn’t be if you were once the greatest thing to ever happen to computer technology? Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer let the world know that he is quite jealous of the iPad’s success in the market, quoted as saying that the iPad sold “certainly more [units] than I’d like them to have sold.”
This open admission of envy doesn’t come without a back up plan however, as Ballmer unseals his lips just enough to mention a future Microsoft tablet in the works. The only other tidbit of info he let slip was that “the operating system is called Windows.” That’s a no brainer.
Whether or not Microsoft’s Windows 7 tablet will be able to capitalize on the iPad’s success and beat it at it’s own game is unclear at this point, but Ballmer has high hopes. “It is job one urgency. No one is sleeping at the switch,” states Ballmer in reference to the Microsoft tablet. Expect this Windows 7 based tablet to hit the market in time for the holiday sales rush.
Read More | Cnet via The Next Web
Gallery: Ballmer unhappy with iPad sales figures, says Windows slates are job one
Newegg Deal: $50 off iPod touch
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Handhelds, Hot Deals, Music,
Newegg‘s got a great deal on the 8GB iPod touch going on right now. If you buy an iPod touch in conjunction with the Newegg promo code “APPLE727B” they will knock $50 off of the total cost, bringing the total down from $199 to $149. That’s a nice bargain for entry level access to the world of the App Store. Go ahead and check out the Newegg iPod touch sale yourself. The deal ends on August 8.
As always, you can find all sorts of Newegg promo code and deals on our forums.
Read More | Newegg iPod touch promo code
Gallery: Newegg Deal: $50 off iPod touch
Safari 5.0.1 released, brings Extensions Gallery with it
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Internet, Software,
Apple has released an update to Safari to finally enable the Extension Gallery that they’ve made mention of a few times since Safari 5 was released. Safari 5.0.1 lets you peruse through a bunch of extensions that add to your Safari experience, including stuff from big names like Bing, Amazon, Twitter, eBay, and more. There are bug fixes and secutiry updates as well in this release:
- More accurate Top Hit results in the Address Field
- More accurate timing for CSS animations
- Better stability when using the Safari Reader keyboard shortcut
- Better stability when scrolling through MobileMe Mail
- Fixes display of multipage articles from www.rollingstone.com in Safari Reader
- Fixes an issue that prevented Google Wave and other websites using JavaScript encryption libraries from working correctly on 32-bit systems
- Fixes an issue that prevented Safari from launching on Leopard systems with network home directories
- Fixes an issue that could cause borders on YouTube thumbnails to disappear when hovering over the thumbnail image
- Fixes an issue that could cause Flash content to overlap with other content on www.facebook.com, www.crateandbarrel.com, and other sites when using Flash 10.1
- Fixes an issue that prevented boarding passes from www.aa.com from printing correctly
- Fixes an issue that could cause DNS prefetching requests to overburden certain routers
- Fixes an issue that could cause VoiceOver to misidentify elements of webpages
You can download Safari 5.0.1 now.
Gallery: Safari 5.0.1 released, brings Extensions Gallery with it
Apple (finally!) releases 27-inch Cinema Display
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Accessories, Apple, Displays, PC / Laptop,
We’ve been waiting a long time-seriously, years—for Apple to release some sort of update to the top-end of their Cinema Display line, and they’ve finally gone and done it. Today, Apple announced their new 27-inch Cinema Display. It boasts a resolution of 2560x1440 and costs $999, just $100 more than the 24-inch model that is is replacing. In fact, Apple is also discontinuing the 30-inch LCD model, which currently sells for a whopping $1799.
You get the same ports that you had on the 24-inch model, but pick up a brighter panel with an improved response time (12ms, down from the older 14ms of the 24-inch model.) Apple will be shipping these in September.
Read More | Apple Displays
