The expansion pack is a direct update to the original app, and brings with it 4 whole new levels among a bunch of other cool new features. We're not going to bore you with details, because we know you'd rather be playing this. Hit the break for download links, and a trailer for "The Leftover."
The launch of Grand Theft Auto III on Android was a pretty big deal, but initially a lot of devices couldn't play it. Todays update among other features adds compatibility for the Asus Transformer Prime.
Support is also added for the Medion Lifetab, but even better is the added support for the Gamestop Wireless Controller. Controls are also improved for currently supported gamepads, and for the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play. New video display settings help you to tailor the visuals to your particular tastes.
And the final piece of the puzzle is that the game can now be installed to an SD card. For some this will be a most welcome update. Download links can be found after the break.
In news that will no doubt shake the very bedrock of your belief system, Apple has asked Toyota to remove its Scion theme and its advertising from ModMyi, a Cydia repository. The Scion theme has been available for weeks, but after it received a ton of press in the last couple of days, Apple finally lashed out.
It’s not like we should be surprised, considering Apple has claimed in the past that jailbreaking is illegal – but at the same time, did the Cupertino cronies hear about the ruling that made circumventing DRM, and thus jailbreaking, legal? Anyway, whether Toyota was supporting illegal, legal, or deliciously gray and ambiguous, activity, it doesn’t matter: Apple asked Toyota to remove the theme, and Toyota graciously bent over and capitulated.
This story raises a much more interesting topic, though: this is the first time a multinational company has publicly acknowledged and embraced the jailbreak community. Considering jailbreaking is technically legal, and Cydia’s creator, Jay Freeman, estimates that up to 9% of OS devices are jailbroken, it simply makes good, commercial sense to target jailbreakers with ads. Toyota was simply trying to make some money, for shame!
As long as Apple continues to throw around its increasingly-expansive mass, the legality of jailbreaking will continue to be inconsequential. It will be interesting to see if another big company dares embrace the jailbreak community after this, too.
SiriToggles Tweak Allows You to Control Settings with Siri It is indeed raining jailbreaks for iPhone 4S! Just days after the Absinthe Jailbreak of iPhone 4S, iPad 2 Untethered On iOS 5.0.1, here comes another iOS 5 untethered jailbreak – SiriToggles, that works as a voice-activated personal assistant exclusively on the iPhone 4S and promises to add new functions to Siri. SiriToggles as a [...]
It is indeed raining jailbreaks for iPhone 4S! Just days after the Absinthe Jailbreak of iPhone 4S, iPad 2 Untethered On iOS 5.0.1, here comes another iOS 5 untethered jailbreak – SiriToggles, that works as a voice-activated personal assistant exclusively on the iPhone 4S and promises to add new functions to Siri.
SiriToggles as a third party application works with any device running Siri, even comprising those that have had the voice-recognition assistant ported to them. It not only enables Siri to turn services like Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and Airplane mode on and off using vocal commands; but also to do tasks like adjusting screen brightness, launching applications, finding battery life estimate, etc.
SiriToggles is available for free in the Big Boss repository through the Cydia Store. This new jailbreak app has indeed opened up a gateway of opportunities for the jailbreaking developer community to create apps that can add more functionality to Siri.
Will SiriToggles inspire more jailbreak?
If you remember, the launch of Siri with the iPhone 4S had generated a lot of interest for the Nuance-technology enabled speech-recognition tool since its inception, including a few grievances too about Siri being selective to accents and even its limitations in catering to information about certain geographical regions.
SiriToggles, can be an inspiration to all the developers in business if more such apps can be developed for addressing the flaws in Siri. And going by the news of the US Government contemplating terming jailbreaking as illegal, some path-breaking apps at the Cydia Store must be definitely on your wishlist.
While we look forward to knowing your wishlist for the Cydia Store here, also do let us know if you could get the best of Siri with SiriToggles. But before you get SiriToggles, you’ll require to jailbreak iPhone 4S.
Kim Dotcom likes things. He used to have a serious collection of cars, until it got taken away. One of the rooms in his house apparently houses more than six TVs. Now, we hear he just had a huge inflatable tank, just like the one in the picture, delivered to his house. Too bad he’s still in jail and won’t be able to appreciate it. [Ars Technica; Image: Ria Novosti] More »
Distimo released an interesting report today that examined the overall effects of different app promotions across the iPhone and iPad App Store, as well as the Android Market.
We here at Android Central refuse to ignore a bargain, espcially one as great as this: Amazon is currently selling the Galaxy Nexus for a mere $99.99, a full $200 less than what you'll pay Verizon. The sale price is for new customers only, and you'll need to sign a two-year contract, of course. If you've held out for the current Android king, this is likely the best price you've seen to date, though the device is finally starting to see some respectable discounts (newegg.com, for example, is currently offering the Nexus for $200).
Given Amazon's name-brand and solid reliability, this deal is just too good to ignore for those who have been waiting patiently to take a bite out of Ice Cream Sandwich. Hit the source link for Amazon's product page.
The problem with a multi-user tabletop computer is that it’s difficult for the software to keep track of who’s using it. Unless you strap a Kinect sensor to the underside that lets it make note of their footwear choices. More »
And the Android news just keeps rolling in. Tonight on the Android Central Podcast, we're going to tackle Google's new privacy terms, we've got some new devices in hands, plus more of your e-mails and voicemails
So join Phil and the gang — and, of course, the chat room — live tonight at 9 p.m. EST / 6 p.m. PST for the live broadcast. You should be there. You will be there. You must be there. After all, you are what makes it the Greatest Android Podcast in the World.
Not at a computer? Pick up the free UStream Viewer from the Android Market [link] and search for Android Central a little before the show (it won't appear until we go live). We'll see you there! AndroidCentral.com/live
Color, the $41-million-in-funding location-oriented photo sharing startup, is susceptible to simple GPS spoofing. With nothing more than a jailbroken iPad or iPhone, you can use FakeLocation to trick Color into thinking you’re somewhere else. Within seconds you can be browsing photos that were snapped thousands of miles away. With a little digging, you can pore through photos not intended for your eyes.
Of course, such a hack isn’t illegal as such — every photo you take with Color is public. With FakeLocation you are simply circumventing Color’s very limited location-oriented security mechanism. It does undermine Color’s usefulness (and uniqueness), though — if nefarious types can sit in their bedroom or basement and eavesdrop on classy dinner parties and wild night club soirees, people might be less inclined to share personal photos with those around them.
Fortunately, both for Color and its users, this is an easy security hole to plug — at least in the short term. The app (or server-side) code simply checks to see if the user has ‘teleported’ an impossibly large distance, without any intermediate steps in between. In the long term, though, Color’s users must be aware that its social graph is completely public. Color’s users must realize that every photo they upload is visible by anyone, from any place.
After the break, just to elucidate a little on Color’s actual business model and ultimate intention, we have two amazing quotes from Bill Nguyen, Color’s founder.
Lingual Translates 35 Languages In Real-Time Using Siri (Cydia Tweak) The most astonishing feature in the iPhone 4S, believe it or not, has been the digital voice assistant Siri. Siri has been receiving new extensions since to iOS and has set apart the iPhone 4S from its competitors. The latest untethered jailbreak for A5 devices has opened up a world of possibilities and extensions to [...]
The most astonishing feature in the iPhone 4S, believe it or not, has been the digital voice assistant Siri. Siri has been receiving new extensions since to iOS and has set apart the iPhone 4S from its competitors. The latest untethered jailbreak for A5 devices has opened up a world of possibilities and extensions to Siri which has been evident with the released and upcoming tweaks.
Now a new Siri tweak by the name of ‘Lingual’ is going to offer functionality that is yet to be seen in other Siri-related tweaks. The tweaks will be available as a plugin for AssistantExtensions mod, which for released recently, enabling users to dictate a word or phrase to Siri and request translation real time for one of the 35 supported languages. ‘K3A’ released AssistantExtensions which is available for download at Cydia for free. It offers additional Siri functions and allow developers to write plugins to hook into the Extension tweak which is exactly what Lingual will do.
Before Lingual will function, users will need to have AssistantExtensions installed as a pre-requisite. Developed by CodeThemed, the Lingual plugin will then be activated using the standard Siri methods. Users can say “translate [phrase] to [language]” or “what is [phrase] in [language]” and Siri is going to respond instantly with the required translation. If the plugin works effectively, it is going to be very fruitful.
Lingual is now available in Cydia, and requires a pre-installation of AssistantExtensions which is free of charge.
You can follow our guide here to jailbreak your iPhone 4S or iPad 2 untethered.
It might not be making as much money as the competition in Cupertino, but that doesn’t mean Samsung isn’t raking in cash at an astonishing clip. We reported earnings estimates a few weeks ago, but now it’s official that the firm posted a 5.3 trillion won ($4.7 billion) operating profit in Q4 2011. That represents over a 2 trillion won ($1.8 billion) increase year over year. In all, it pulled in 47.3 trillion won ($42 billion) in sales, thanks in no small part to the over 300 million phones Sammy sold last year. While mobile accounted for roughly 40 percent of company sales and half of its operating profit (2.6 trillion won, or $2.3 billion), its semiconductor business did almost as well, raking in 2.3 trillion won ($2 billion) in profit over the same period. Samsung’s Display Panel business outperformed 2010 — buoyed by strong sales in LED televisions — as sales were up almost 20 percent, to 8.55 trillion won ($7.6 billion).
Well the call just finished up, and Sammy provided some prognosication for 2012. It anticipates the mobile business to continue to grow, with LTE and and new market segments (read: Galaxy Note) helping drive sales. TV sales are also expected to remain on the uptick, as Samsung anticipates demand to continue growing due in part to the London Olympics and roll-out of more Smart TVs. Feel free to check out all the numbers giving Samsung reason for its optimism at the source link below.
44% of iPhone apps lose revenue during sale Distimo released an interesting report today that examined the overall effects of different app promotions across the iPhone and iPad App Store, as well as the Android Market.
Distimo released an interesting report today that examined the overall effects of different app promotions across the iPhone and iPad App Store, as well as the Android Market. One of the most striking stats from the report was that “44% of the iPhone applications that have been on sale lost revenue during the sale, and 23% saw a decline in revenue by more than 20%”.
Distimo factored in how much of a price cut each app received, and put it into the above graph. As you might expect, the sharper the price cut, the greater the revenue. The graph shows that, among those that cut their price by 80%, just as many apps lost 20% or more revenue as gained more than 100% revenue. On the whole, putting apps on sale is still a good thing, though; the average iPhone app increased revenue by 22%, iPad apps increased by 19%, and Android app revenue went up by 29%. As you might expect, all three categories see a significant spike on the first day.
The report also examined the effects of having apps being featured. As it turns out, Android apps see a much higher boost in rank from being feature than on the iPhone or iPad. On average, an iPhone app has its rank bumped up 15 spots in the first three days of being featured, while iPad apps go up 27. Android apps? They climb 42 spots, on average. Only 11% of featured iPhone apps climbed more than 50 ranks, compared to 26% of featured Android apps.
Any app developers in the house reconsidering putting their app on sale now? I’m definitely more inclined to do my app shopping when cuts are down at the $0.99 range, but what about you guys?
Tweet from anywhere on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch with TwitkaFly [jailbreak apps] Twitkafly allows you to tweet from virtually anywhere with a quick swipe or tap on your jailbroken iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. Twitkafly will add a Twitter shortcut to your notification center and allow you to program a quick gesture for composing straight through Activator. The interface is clean and very iOS 5 like. It isn’t bogged down with too many buttons or cheesy graphics.
TwitkaFly allows you to tweet from virtually anywhere with a quick swipe or tap on your jailbroken iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. It will add a Twitter shortcut to your notification center pull down and allow you to program a quick gesture for composing straight through Activator. The interface is clean and very iOS 5 like. It isn’t bogged down with too many buttons or cheesy graphics either.
The utility supports the following features –
Tweet right from anywhere using Activator
QuickReply to Twitter, Tweetbot, and Tweetings push notifications
Retweet tweets
Tweet Photo
Open links from tweets
Custom animations/transitions
Amazing notification UI
Tweet #NowPlayingTrack
Landscape mode in iPad
100% retina display support
Blacklist users and more
Twitkafly ties into your existing Twitter app so you can handle notifications through it once you choose your client through Settings. Currently TwitkaFly supports the official Twitter app, Tweetbot, and Tweetings. I’m assuming more clients will eventually be added. It’s compatible with any iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch running iOS 4 or higher. The only issue I’ve had so far is when I link it with Tweetbot. Whenever I click a notification it re-springs my device. If I link it with Twitter or Tweetings, it works fine. Hopefully that’s just a bug that’ll be hammered out pretty quickly.
If you’re using LockInfo or IntelliscreenX you shouldn’t have any compatibility issues and it should just tie straight into your existing notification program. You’ll just notice the addition of a QuickTweet button in the bottom left or right hand corner of notification center.
TwitkaFly is already available for purchase in Cydia. They’ve got a lite version available for free and a paid version for $1.99. Hit the link below to check it out and then let us know what you think! You can also check out more jailbreak apps and utilities in our apps, hacks, and themes forum.
Looking for an excuse to buy a LTE-enabled superphone? Look no further. Online retail giant Amazon has priced Verizon’s iteration of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus at a paltry $99 for customers opening a new line of service. For those keeping score at home, that’s a full $200 less than the on-contract price ($299) currently being peddled by Big Red. Why are you still reading this? Hit the source link, hammer in your Amazon credentials and get yourself one of these lean, mean, Ice Cream Sandwich running machines.
SiriToggles Tweak Allows You to Control Settings with Siri It is indeed raining jailbreaks for iPhone 4S! Just days after the Absinthe Jailbreak of iPhone 4S, iPad 2 Untethered On iOS 5.0.1, here comes another iOS 5 untethered jailbreak – SiriToggles, that works as a voice-activated personal assistant exclusively on the iPhone 4S and promises to add new functions to Siri. SiriToggles as a [...]
It is indeed raining jailbreaks for iPhone 4S! Just days after the Absinthe Jailbreak of iPhone 4S, iPad 2 Untethered On iOS 5.0.1, here comes another iOS 5 untethered jailbreak – SiriToggles, that works as a voice-activated personal assistant exclusively on the iPhone 4S and promises to add new functions to Siri.
SiriToggles as a third party application works with any device running Siri, even comprising those that have had the voice-recognition assistant ported to them. It not only enables Siri to turn services like Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and Airplane mode on and off using vocal commands; but also to do tasks like adjusting screen brightness, launching applications, finding battery life estimate, etc.
SiriToggles is available for free in the Big Boss repository through the Cydia Store. This new jailbreak app has indeed opened up a gateway of opportunities for the jailbreaking developer community to create apps that can add more functionality to Siri.
Will SiriToggles inspire more jailbreak?
If you remember, the launch of Siri with the iPhone 4S had generated a lot of interest for the Nuance-technology enabled speech-recognition tool since its inception, including a few grievances too about Siri being selective to accents and even its limitations in catering to information about certain geographical regions.
SiriToggles, can be an inspiration to all the developers in business if more such apps can be developed for addressing the flaws in Siri. And going by the news of the US Government contemplating terming jailbreaking as illegal, some path-breaking apps at the Cydia Store must be definitely on your wishlist.
While we look forward to knowing your wishlist for the Cydia Store here, also do let us know if you could get the best of Siri with SiriToggles. But before you get SiriToggles, you’ll require to jailbreak iPhone 4S.
Jailbreaking May Soon Become Illegal, Act Now to Help If you’re a long-time jailbreaker, you should remember that the US government has declared legal for the act of jailbreaking on iPhone as well as other electronic devices like Android in July 2010. Jailbreaking does not violate the copyright law, as a result of new rules set by the Copyright Office. But according to the [...]
If you’re a long-time jailbreaker, you should remember that the US government has declared legal for the act of jailbreaking on iPhone as well as other electronic devices like Android in July 2010. Jailbreaking does not violate the copyright law, as a result of new rules set by the Copyright Office.
Smartphones, tablets, and video game consoles are powerful computers with lots of untapped potential. Yet many of these devices are set up to run only software that’s been approved by the manufacturer. Modifying a device to run independent software – known as jailbreaking – is important to programmers, enthusiasts, and users. But jailbreaking creates legal uncertainty. Some device manufacturers claim that jailbreaking violates Section 1201 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which carries stiff penalties.
As explained, if the exemption to the DMCA runs out, it would be illegal to jailbreak an iPhone. So how can you help to keep jailbreaking legal?
EFF is asking the U.S. Copyright Office to declare that jailbreaking does not violate the DMCA and they’re asking them to renew that exemption (otherwise it will expire) and expand it to cover tablets, as well as, video consoles. But they need your help.
If you’re concerned about jailbreaking, here is what EFF wants you to do:
The Copyright Office needs to hear from people who depend on the ability to jailbreak to write, use, and/or tinker with independent software (from useful apps to essential security fixes) for smartphones, tablets, and game consoles. You can submit comments online at this link.
Here are some questions you might want to address in your comments:
Which jailbreaking exemption are you supporting—smartphones/tablets, video game consoles, or both? What’s your background (i.e., are you a developer, hobbyist, academic, independent researcher, user, etc.)? What device do you want to ensure you have the legal authority to jailbreak? Please explain why you want to jailbreak this device. What limitations do you face if you aren’t able to jailbreak it? Is there software you couldn’t run, computing capabilities you wouldn’t have, cool things you couldn’t do, etc.? If you’re a developer, did an online application store or console manufacturer reject your app or game? If so, what reasons did they give? Is there anything else you want to tell the Copyright Office?
Your action will make a difference. It’ll help the Copyright Office to understand why they should renew and expand the exemptions for jailbreaking. So act now and send your comment the Copyright Office. Comments are due by February 10 at 5 PM Eastern Time.
With an employee headcount in excess of 45,000, Apple’s ability to manage news concerning its internal machinations sets a benchmark for corporate information control. It’s all described in fascinating detail in recent reporting from Fortune’s Adam Lashinsky. Yesterday, however, CEO Tim Cook held an all-hands meeting for the work force, and a little bit of [...]
If you used Windows XP for a long time (who didn’t?), one of the biggest changes when moving to Windows 7 or Vista was the massively-altered Explorer. While the new Explorer introduces some useful new features, it also removed just as many — which is where Classic Shell comes in!
We’ve covered Classic Shell before, but here’s the crib note: Classic Shell restores almost every Windows XP-era Explorer feature. The best change, in our opinion, is the reemergence of the ‘up’ arrow, meaning you now navigate without using the Windows Vista/7 ‘breadcrumbs’ address bar. The status bar yet again shows the total size of your selection, and — praise be! — the diabolical Windows 7 Copy File ‘copy and replace?’ dialog has been replaced with a Windows XP lookalike (image after the break).
New to the most recent version of Classic Shell is the ability to make IE9 look like IE8. With Classic Shell the title bar yet again has a caption, so you can see the full title of Web pages. The current security zone and loading progress indicator have been put back into the status bar, too. If you enable ‘Show tabs on a separate row,’ it’s almost like using IE8.
Finally, Classic Shell replaces the omnipotent Windows 7 Start Menu with the age-old ‘classic’ Windows 2000/XP-style Start Menu. Classic Shell makes the Start Menu skinable, too, if you’re into the kind of thing.
As awesome as it sounds, we’ve only touched on a small section of Classic Shell’s feature set. Check the Classic Shell site for a complete list. There’s a few more images of Classic Shell in action after the break.
Super social and incredibly integrated IntelliscreenX takes on quick content and plug-in powerhouse LockInfo in a battle of the jailbreak notification apps
Jailbroken on iOS 5 and wondering whether you should get LockInfo or IntelliscreenX? While both are utilities that aim to give you more control over your iPhone notifications and lockscreen, they do have key differences. Which is better for you?
LockInfo for iOS 5
LockInfo by David Ashman has been a long time favorite of mine when it comes to enhancing lockscreen functionality and gaining more control over native notifications. It still lives up to its reputation under iOS 5. LockInfo is really aimed at folks who’d like to have more control of how notifications behave and how they’re presented. If you don’t want certain information in notification center, you can disable it but still view it on your lockscreen, and vice versa. You can completely customize what appears where and how.
LockInfo also has built-in support for several different messaging applications including BiteSMS, Quickreply for SMS, iRealSMS, and more. Regardless what messaging replacement app you choose, LockInfo probably has you covered.
When it comes to content, LockInfo adds a few nice features that aren’t given to you stock. One of my favorites is access to your favorite contacts directly from notification center and your lockscreen. Tapping a contact allows you to call, FaceTime, or message them. It’s a nice little feature that you wouldn’t think you needed but quickly realize you don’t want to go without.
LockInfo also works in conjunction with many plug-ins. Some are distributed by David Ashman himself while others were created by other 3rd party developers. Given the amount of time LockInfo has been around, there are tons of plug-ins and add-ons for it. Some of the most popular ones include ToDo by Appigo, Twitter, Weather, and RSS.
You’ll find a few built-in themes that you can switch between such as a classic iOS version, the classic LockInfo version, and a few more. Since LockInfo has been around for quite a while many developers have made themes for it as well. Some complete themes will even have a LockInfo theme attached. Yes, it’s that widely accepted in the jailbreak community.
IntelliscreenX for iOS 5
Intelliborn has been around for a long time and has created many apps within the jailbreak community, including the original version of Intelliscreen. While I always preferred LockInfo over the original version, IntelliscreenX has come a long way in terms of functionality. Anyone who is heavy into social media and has to have quick access to Facebook, Twitter, and RSS feeds will want to look no further than IntelliscreenX.
You can add all these widgets as separate pages and reply or post status updates directly from your notification center or lockscreen. The only down side I’ve seen to this is the accelerated battery drain.
Messages+ also comes built-in to IntelliscreenX as well. While I’ve been a huge fan of BiteSMS for a long time, Messages+ will definitely give Bite a run for its money. I love the tight integration with the default messaging app. There’s nothing to install and very little to configure. It just works how it’s supposed to and adds quick reply support.
Considering Messages+ is typically $7.99 on its own, you get a pretty good deal considering IntelliscreenX is $2 more. So if you’re not keen on paying for LockInfo and Bite or Messages+, IntelliscreenX may be a better value for many people.
LockInfo vs IntelliscreenX — which is better?
Both LockInfo and IntelliscreenX are highly competitive jailbreak apps and which is better can change every time one of them is updated. For now I think IntelliscreenX has an an edge over LockInfo. LockInfo is an amazing utility, but users who are heavily into social networking and Facebook will benefit more from IntelliscreenX and its tight integration with iOS 5.
If you are more concerned with having control over plug-ins and where content is presented, go with LockInfo. But for now, I’m giving my vote to IntelliscreenX.
While I may personally prefer IntelliscreenX, I know there are tons of you out there who probably disagree. Let us know what you use and why! Make sure you also check out all our jailbreak resources below for more reviews, guides, and tips!
Today's free Android wallpaper comes to us from reader ishore, who got this nice shot of a sea of clouds at 39,000 feet, taken with a Motorola Droid RAZR.
In BattlePaint, you play a cube. In fact, you’re not even a cube — just a square. But boy, are you fast! And you can shoot in all directions. That’s important, because there are baddies coming in from all over the place.
The “baddies” are swarms of other squares, in all sorts of pretty colors. They track you all over the screen, and you run around very quickly and just shoot, shoot, and shoot some more. If that doesn’t sound very emotionally deep, it’s because it isn’t. But it’s fun!
After you shoot a baddy, it splashes paint as it disappears. You need to skate across this blob of paint and “eat it up” to get points. This game is fast. It clocked in at around 60-70 FPS on my system, and was loads of fun to play. It does tend to insult you when you die, though, but don’t be offended — I don’t think it’s personal.
Last night's update to the Google Authenticator app caused headaches for a few CyanogenMod users by force-closing at startup on their devices. However, CM users will be pleased to hear that a fix has been swiftly rolled out by Google just hours after the incompatibility came to light. To grab the fix, simply head on over to the Android Market and hit that "update" button.
Kudos to Google for making a fix available so quickly, especially given the critical nature of the Authenticator app for its users, and the fact that the glitch only affected unofficial custom firmware.
Continue past the break for the usual Android Market linkage.
In a holy crap stat o’ the week, AT&T sold a record setting 9.4 million smartphones in the fourth quarter of 2011. 7.6 million of that 9.4 million were iPhones. 7.6 MILLION. That’s a ridiculous 81% of all AT&T smartphones sold! That’s only 1.8 million phones left to split between Android, Windows Phone and BlackBerry (ha!). That is freaking nuts. More »
Jailbreaking May Soon Become Illegal, Act Now to Help If you’re a long-time jailbreaker, you should remember that the US government has declared legal for the act of jailbreaking on iPhone as well as other electronic devices like Android in July 2010. Jailbreaking does not violate the copyright law, as a result of new rules set by the Copyright Office. But according to the [...]
If you’re a long-time jailbreaker, you should remember that the US government has declared legal for the act of jailbreaking on iPhone as well as other electronic devices like Android in July 2010. Jailbreaking does not violate the copyright law, as a result of new rules set by the Copyright Office.
Smartphones, tablets, and video game consoles are powerful computers with lots of untapped potential. Yet many of these devices are set up to run only software that’s been approved by the manufacturer. Modifying a device to run independent software – known as jailbreaking – is important to programmers, enthusiasts, and users. But jailbreaking creates legal uncertainty. Some device manufacturers claim that jailbreaking violates Section 1201 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which carries stiff penalties.
As explained, if the exemption to the DMCA runs out, it would be illegal to jailbreak an iPhone. So how can you help to keep jailbreaking legal?
EFF is asking the U.S. Copyright Office to declare that jailbreaking does not violate the DMCA and they’re asking them to renew that exemption (otherwise it will expire) and expand it to cover tablets, as well as, video consoles. But they need your help.
If you’re concerned about jailbreaking, here is what EFF wants you to do:
The Copyright Office needs to hear from people who depend on the ability to jailbreak to write, use, and/or tinker with independent software (from useful apps to essential security fixes) for smartphones, tablets, and game consoles. You can submit comments online at this link.
Here are some questions you might want to address in your comments:
Which jailbreaking exemption are you supporting—smartphones/tablets, video game consoles, or both? What’s your background (i.e., are you a developer, hobbyist, academic, independent researcher, user, etc.)? What device do you want to ensure you have the legal authority to jailbreak? Please explain why you want to jailbreak this device. What limitations do you face if you aren’t able to jailbreak it? Is there software you couldn’t run, computing capabilities you wouldn’t have, cool things you couldn’t do, etc.? If you’re a developer, did an online application store or console manufacturer reject your app or game? If so, what reasons did they give? Is there anything else you want to tell the Copyright Office?
Your action will make a difference. It’ll help the Copyright Office to understand why they should renew and expand the exemptions for jailbreaking. So act now and send your comment the Copyright Office. Comments are due by February 10 at 5 PM Eastern Time.
SoulCalibur for iPhone review Classic arcade fighting game SoulCalibur has hacked and slashed its way onto the iPhone, with all of the vibrant characters and flashy moves you remember, but there are still a few gaps to fill.
“Classic arcade fighting game SoulCalibur has hacked and slashed its way onto the iPhone, with all of the vibrant characters and flashy moves you remember, but there are still a few gaps to fill.”
SoulCalibur recently launched for both iPhone and iPad, calling upon many nostalgic gamers to dive back into the classic 3D fighting title. The screenshots show many of the characters players will readily recognize, like the gruff samurai, Mitsurugi, the eccentric and mysterious Voldo, and the enlightened Kilik. There are 10 characters available from the get-go, with another 9 available through unlocks. All of ‘em have alternative costumes too, for those that are sensitive to combat fashion.
There are a ton of game modes, like the classic arcade style, where you plow through challengers one-by-one until reaching the final boss, a time trial where you try to get through them all as quickly as possible, and survival mode, to see how long you can play before being defeated. Practice mode is an essential and welcome addition for those that want to learn every little nuance of their favourite characters. Namco Bandai promises that even more game modes are on the way.
Unfortunately, SoulCalibur’s asking price at launch was a little on the high end: $12, and that’s with a 20%-off launch discount. That’s a hard pill to swallow when the game doesn’t offer multiplayer support, and sound quality is a little on the sketchy side…
SoulCalibur for iPhone has the traditional look, but with multitouch controls superimposed on top of the screen.
For the most part, the gameplay is fantastic and classic. You have an overlay of a joystick, and the four standard buttons – vertical attack, horizontal attack, kick, and guard. Control options let you customize button placement and opacity, as well as add a multi-button of your choice. This is particularly important, since a lot of SoulCalibur moves require you to hit two buttons at once, which is only really possible otherwise if you lay your device flat on a surface, so you’re playing with your fingers instead of thumbs. The extra button is helpful in that regard, but since you can only add one, a character’s full arsenal won’t be available to you when thumbing it out.
SoulCalibur's animations have been faithfully, beautifully reproduced
The animation is altogether great, and having played SoulCalibur plenty on the Xbox 360, I can say that all of the moves and animations have been faithfully recreated. The models themselves can be a little jagged at times, but given the speed and complexity of many of the animations, I’m happy enough that everything runs smoothly. Although the menus are laid out clearly, I occasionally had issues getting presses to register. Bigger buttons for each option would be really helpful.
Menu options are clearly laid out, though tap targets are small and can be hard to hit.
The one downer for SoulCalibur on the iPhone was the audio. The music was tinny and MIDI-style, the announcer’s audio files seemed low-quality compared to everything else, and the character taunts before and after each round are still in Japanese (even though the announcer and UI is in English). These are all things that could be fixed in a future patch, though, so I’m holding out for Namco Bandai to update the game sooner rather than later.
The lack of multiplayer is a a bit of a kick in the teeth, seeing as my favourite part of SoulCalibur, and really any fighting game, is beating the snot out of your buddies. There is Game Center support though, so at least your high scores are posted where your friends can see them and feel inadequate.
SoulCalibur supports Game Center leaderboards, but NOT multiplayer.
While SoulCalibur has buckets of nostalgia going for it, $11.99 is a lot to ask. While you won’t have as easy of a time playing on your iPhone or iPad as you would with a real console controller, you learn quickly and before long you’ll find your ass-kicking stride. There are some significant feature gaps, namely multiplayer support, but if Namco Bandai follows up with significant patches, SoulCalibur may very well merit this hefty pricetag.
Universal app, works on iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad
The Bad
Currently too expensive
No multiplayer
Voiceovers need improved quality and translation
The Conclusion
While SoulCalibur has buckets of nostalgia going for it, $11.99 is a lot to ask (and that’s the 20%-off release sale price). While you won’t have as easy of a time playing on your iPhone or iPad as you would with a real console controller, you learn quickly and before long you’ll find your ass-kicking stride. There are some significant feature gaps, namely multiplayer support, but if Namco Bandai follows up with significant patches, SoulCalibur may very well merit this hefty pricetag.
That gigantic yellow stained ball of goopness? It’s made from 95,200 piece of chewed Nicorette gum. It’s the love creation of Barry Chappell, who started rolling his chewed gum into a ball back in 2006. Six years later, it’s now 62 inches in circumference and weighs 175 pounds of rubber, saliva and nastiness. People are crazy. More »
Following their Q1 2012 results, Apple now has a staggering, mind-boggling, almost unbelievable $97 billion dollars in the bank. That’s cash reserves bigger than most other companies and countries… combined. That’s a money bin even Scrooge McDuck could drown in.
What would you do if it were your money? Return it to the shareholders? (Pfft, what fun is that?) Buy all of Apple’s competitors? Buy a Hollywood studio or carrier network? Buy your own subcontinent? Buy the moon? Or just blow it all on candy and dancers?
Seriously — or at least as seriously as such a question could be posed! — what would you do with Apple’s $97 billion in the bank?
Leave a comment below with your best, most comedic, most tragic, most utterly entertaining answer and you’ll be entered to win a $97 gift certificate for the iMore Store. (Yeah, $97 dollars, not $97 billion — we’re not made of Apple bucks!) Contest starts now and ends Sunday, Jan. 29 at midnight PT.
Remember the Pandora? Back when the likes of the PS Vita and the Nintendo 3DS remained conceptual sketches in top secret bunkers, this open-source handheld paired up a clamshell form factor with analogue game controls, a QWERTY keyboard and a dream. It’s been a slow-burning dream; last time we heard from the OpenPandora project, it had managed a limited (premium-priced) run, with manufacturing hobbled by problems. But, like its namesake, there was always hope and fans of the platform ponied up around half a million euros to bring the four-year-old project back to life. It’s now set to go into full production next month with a new manufacturer, but unfortunately the same specs. While the 4.3-inch 800 x 480 touchscreen sparkled a few years earlier, it’s now being supplanted by what we’re getting on our smartphones. However, those tempted by an open source OS, a battery life of over ten hours and a very faithful fanbase, can stake their claim to one at the source below. We’ve got our fingers crossed for you.
Despite Mountain View’s efforts to the contrary, neither Google Wallet nor Offers, have yet to set the payment sector alight. That doesn’t mean the search giant’s throwing in the towel, as it vehemently expands the latter into five additional cities here in the United States. Residents of Charlotte, Kansas City, Milwaukee, San Antonio and Tampa will soon be able to participate in all sorts of discounted debauchery, joining bargain-hunters in the service’s existing 33 locales. Those eager ought to hit the source links to begin, but before leaving, regale us with an outrageous tale involving a discount in the comments below.
The ZTE Optik just made an appearance in the latest issue of the Sprint Playbook, and it's coming in at the right price. Because Sprint is dropping their Wimax support and building out their new LTE network, this one is going to be a 3G-only device, and at $99 with a new agreement, of course, it's bound to turn a few heads. (Or not, we suppose. We'll see.) Its specs fall in line with any current generation 7-inch tablet:
1.2 GHz dual-core CPU
16 GB internal memory
1 GB RAM
7-inch display
microSD card support
4000 mAh battery
Android 3.2 (Honeycomb)
Of course, with the new generation of tablets already showing up, this one isn't going to sit atop the heap. But for 99 bucks, it really doesn't have to. The Optik looks like a solid performer and a decent mid-range buy on first impression. ZTE has had some success with Android in Europe, where the Blade is a pretty popular budget handset, and we're glad to see them bringing their wares to this side of the pond.
You'll be able to grab the ZTE Optik online on February 5, and expect to see it in stores on March 11. We'll be sure to get our hands on one ourselves and take it for a test-drive. See the full page from the Playbook after the break.
This morning, Corel released VideoStudio X4. We’ve already published a quick overview and hands-on of the application, and now is the moment you’ve all been waiting for: We’re giving away ten full licenses of this new version, each worth $99.99!
To enter our random draw, you just have to leave a comment. Full terms and conditions are after the break.
Flowtation Adds Transition Effects To Notification Center On iPhone In October 2011, along with the release of iPhone 4S, the operating system that powers it i.e iOS 5 was also released. Talking about Operating system’s capabilities, apart from surprising a few people, it really has a wonderful way to handle and display notifications. iOS devices can now manage all notifications and play with some [...]
In October 2011, along with the release of iPhone 4S, the operating system that powers it i.e iOS 5 was also released. Talking about Operating system’s capabilities, apart from surprising a few people, it really has a wonderful way to handle and display notifications.
iOS devices can now manage all notifications and play with some great widgets due to the introduction of the Notification Center. The jailbreak community has as usual found some modifications and ways to use this notification Center and thus added widgets, quick settings and additional buttons,which clears all notifications.
It may seem less important application, but the popular tweaks even in Cydia do the same i.e visual enhancement to some portions of iOS. This visualization does benefit certain parts of Operating System, same role is played by ‘Flowtation’ for Notification Center. Flowtation Operating System; same as if Notification Center is above the current screen of either device’s SpringBoard or within an application! Thus as the Notification Center is activated the flowtation becomes active and does the exchange from the existing screen and the notifications smoothly.
One of the main advantages of a Flowtation is it offers a smooth Transition without it being felt by the system. It has been tried and tested by the developer on various devices but it may so happen that user’s experiences may be different from him, though he is confident enough. He also claims that there are no compatibility issues and is even compatible with the popular IntelliScreenX Application. Flowtation’s setting application has some additional entries that make the user able to turn the tweak on or off and add an effect of that of a transition experience or a solid state.
The tweak is available in Cydia on ModyMyi repository and will cost $0.99. It is compatible with all iPhone and iPod touches on iOS 5 firmware and above.
You need to have a jailbroken iDevice for this purpose. You can follow our guide on how to jailbreak iPhone 4S/ iPad 2.
Despite losing two of its big kahunas, electric car maker Tesla is stepping on the throttle of its new Model S project like a battery-powered bat out of hell. While recently doing some ‘splainin with Autoblog, Tesla Vice President of Communications Ricardo Reyes confirmed that initial deliveries of the four-door sedan are still on track for mid-2012 in the United States, followed by a European launch six months later. Reyes also talked up the creation of Supercharging locations to help long-driving Model S users with higher-capacity 60kWh and 85kWh batteries charge their car from 10 percent to 90 percent in 45 minutes — Model S cars with the lower-end 40kWh battery won’t be able to Supercharge, though. Tesla already announced a tax-credit fueled $49,900 price tag for the base model in December. Folks who prefer their electric vehicle to come with some more chest hair will be happy to know that the Feb. 9 unveiling of the seven-seat Model X SUV is still on track.
It is indeed raining jailbreaks for iPhone 4S! Just days after the 
If you’re a long-time jailbreaker, you should remember that the 
![What would you do with $97 billion in the Apple bank? [Giveaway]](http://cdn.tipb.com/images/stories//2012/01/iscrooge.jpg "What would you do with $97 billion in the Apple bank? [Giveaway]")
