With the latest GreenPois0n release, we are now able to jailbreak the latest iOS update, iOS 4.2.1. All iDevices including the Verizon iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch and now Apple TV 2, can undergo untethered jailbreaking. The latest GreenPois0n, RC6, can be applied over RC5 and will fix general bugs with the emulators. → Read More
Back in March, on the eve of SXSW, Plancast got an iPhone app out just in time. Now, with more time to work, they’ve perfected it with the launch of version 2. And that’s not all they’ve been working on.
Over the past couple of weeks, Plancast has rolled out a new site design, a new plan social invitation system, and Eventbrite integration. On top of that, they’re also testing out two other new features: local plans and a recent activity feed. Each of these features make a great service even better. → Read More
Despite their clear commitment to the hardware version of the Kindle, Amazon continues to make the Kindle apps that run on the iPad and iPhone better. Today, version 2.2 of the app brings a full dictionary with it. This matches the functionality of Apple’s own iBooks app, but the Kindle implementation is even a little better.
Now in the Kindle app when you highlight a word, a definition will automatically appears at the bottom of the screen. And that’s not all — there you’ll also find links to further investigate the word on Google or Wikipedia. Though this dumps you out of the app and into the iPhone/iPad web browser, it’s a pretty nice feature. → Read More
“Foursquare gets all the hype.” It’s something I hear just about every day from just about every other location-based startup. And it’s true, though I would argue that it’s warranted — and investors seem to agree. But it’s also important to keep some perspective. While Foursquare is just shy of 2 million users, other services like MyTown have quickly surpassed that number. Same with Google Latitude, which is at 3 million. And you can put Loopt on that list as well, as today they’ve hit 4 million total users.
Loopt was one of the first location-based services to get a lot of hype — even getting on stage at the Apple event first talking about the App Store way back when. But as we’ve noted numerous times, they started out at a disadvantage because the iPhone didn’t allow third-party apps to run in the background. And that was Loopt’s model, continuous location updates. But with iOS 4, the iPhone does finally allow for that functionality — and specially for background location. And Loopt is benefiting from it. → Read More
JiWire has been watching their 30K hotspots throughout the U.S. to see how popular iOS 4 is. The results are interesting, if not entirely predictable. As you can see from the slide above, iOS 4 accounted for just over 22% of all iOS WiFi traffic on JiWire hotspots. That’s a pretty respectable number for a brand new operating system’s first week of existence. I think it’s also a testament to Apple’s development team that new versions of their mobile OS enjoy such quick adoption rates. More data after the jump. → Read More
The iOS 4-compatible apps continue to roll-in. The latest is Foursquare which now includes fast app switching and high resolution artwork for the iPhone 4′s retina display. And this latest version, 1.9, includes a little bonus: a new map view. One thing not included, however, is background location.
The new map view allows you to see avatar representations of your Foursquare friends overlaid on a Google Map. You can also hit the locator button to show off where you are and see which friends are actually closest to you. Clicking on their images brings a pop-up that shows their current location (which you can click on to go to that location’s page in the app). → Read More
Well, it took a bit longer than other iPhone apps that aren’t, you know, the most downloaded apps of all time, but Facebook has finally today updated its iPhone app to be iOS 4-compatible.
A couple weeks ago, I ripped Facebook for releasing an update without this support (and a broken UI to boot). Competitors like Twitter and LinkedIn were iOS 4-compatible either before or immediately after the launch of the new OS on the 21st. Facebook version 3.1.4, which has just gone live, finally gets Facebook up to speed. → Read More
When it comes to mapping applications, Waze is probably the most fun one out there. It turns turn-by-turn navigation into a social experience, and a game (think: Pac-Man). It also happens to be free. And a few new features rolling out in the updated iPhone app today make it even more interesting.
The biggest new feature is the use of geolocated tweets for realtime traffic updates. One of Waze’s core features is the ability to send and get realtime traffic info as you use it in your car on the road. But that obviously requires that people use Waze to send those reports. But with Twitter integration, Waze can scan tweets sent from anywhere to find information about things like bad traffic or accidents on the road. → Read More
By now, many of you have your new iPhone 4s. And even more of you have an iPhone equipped with the latest iOS 4 software. So you want to find the apps tailored to run on it, right? Well, now Apple has a section of the App Store for that.
Apple has singled out 36 apps that it dubs “Awesome iOS 4 Apps” to get you started with the new OS. Not surprisingly, they highlight many of the ones we highlighted last weekend right before the OS came out. Included here are are apps such as Pandora, Dropbox, Twitter, Loopt, How To Cook Everything, and GodFinger. → Read More
When Twitter bought Atebits, the company behind the excellent iPhone Twitter client, Tweetie, there was some concern it would slow down development of that app. Luckily, it doesn’t look like that has happened. As today, Twitter for iPhone version 3.0.1 has just launched, and with it comes suport for both iOS 4 and iPhone 4.
In fact, while other huge apps on the iPhone, such as Facebook, lag behind in supporting the newest iPhone functionality, Twitter is one of the first to implement some of the useful new features. → Read More
Don’t worry, this isn’t that post. You know, the one where it turns out Apple is Big Brother, in league with the NSA and Interpol. I expect that shortly, though. No, this is just an update to let you know that unless you opt out, you’re likely making your exact location available to anyone in Apple’s rolodex. Here’s the relevant portion of the privacy policy, recently updated. → Read More
The tech world is buzzing about iOS 4, the latest version of the iPhone operating system that Apple released today. And rightly so — it’s an improvement over the previous version in every way. In fact, once you’ve been using it for a while, it’s hard to go back to using iPhone OS 3.x. And there’s an unfortunate casualty there: the iPad.
I’ve been using developer builds of iOS 4 (then called iPhone OS 4) for weeks now. I’ve grown very used to using things such as the new app switcher and folders. In fact, I’ve grown so used to using them that when I switch back over to the iPad now (running iPhone OS 3.2), I can’t help but feel that it in some ways seems antiquated. Yes, I know that’s ridiculous for a device that’s not even three months old yet. But the feeling lingers. → Read More
As you’ve undoubtedly heard by now, iOS 4 is out and spreading across iPhones like wildfire. With it, comes the ability for third-party apps to run certain tasks in the background. One of those tasks is background location — an awesome feature which we previewed in our review of Loopt 3.0 earlier today. But Loopt has been in the location game for a long time — what about startups that want to get into location right now and support the newest functionality? SimpleGeo has you covered.
The location infrastructure startup is today adding to its array of options, iOS 4 location support. With it, companies will be able to implement background location services for iOS 4 with a few simple code tweaks. How easy is it to implement with SimpleGeo? Geofencing, the ability to track when a user crosses a certain location-based plane, will take about six lines of code, co-founder Joe Stump tells us. Background Tracking will take about 30 lines of code. From what I hear, this is much, much simpler than trying to write this stuff yourself. And this is all done in SimpleGeo’s cloud. → Read More
When Loopt first launched on the iPhone alongside the App Store in 2008, it looked to be an awesome new location-based service. Apple clearly agreed, as they gave the app plenty of face time: demo slots on stage at major events, appearances in commercials, promotion in the App Store, etc. But the early version of Loopt had a fatal flaw: to work properly, the app had to be running all the time. Now, this wasn’t really Loopt’s flaw, since the iPhone did not allow third-party applications to run in the background — but it was still a flaw. Today, that flaw gets corrected — sort of.
The new version of Loopt, 3.0, which is set to appear in the App Store at some point today, is built to use Apple’s new iOS 4 software (formerly known as iPhone OS 4). The biggest new addition to the software is the ability for third-party apps to run processes in the background. Yes, this is somewhat limited, but included in what you can do is location-updating in the background. And Loopt 3.0 takes full advantage of that. But at the same time, it also still offers the functionality that proved to be more popular on the iPhone: check-ins. → Read More
We all know that the iPhone 4 launches this coming Thursday. But on Monday, current iPhone users get an early treat in the form of iOS 4, the new iPhone operating system (formerly known as iPhone OS 4). It comes with several enhancements, but the ones people seem most excited about involve multitasking (or background tasks). A little over a week ago, Apple began urging developers to submit their iOS 4-ready app, and a number of them have. And actually, some have already been approved, or will be shortly.
The component that all of these apps share is the ability to do fast app switching. What you may traditionally think of as multitasking isn’t the same on iOS 4. Multiple apps aren’t running all of their functions in the background at once — obviously, this would take up resources and eat up battery life. Instead, Apple allows third-party apps to do certain functions in the background now, as well as create an easy way for all apps to save their states to enable this fast app switching. Basically, these apps get paused, put in the background, then un-paused when you come back to them. That may sound a little lame, but the effect is actually quite nice and will end up saving users a lot of time if all app makers implement it. → Read More
Okay, they aren’t really going to sell out. For those who will receive the new iPhone next Thursday, you need to first update iTunes to its new version. In it, you will find mostly minor updates that prepare you computer for iPhone 4.
Click ahead to find out what. → Read More
Yesterday, Robert Scoble wrote a post about “Foursquare’s Yelp problem.” It’s an interesting read, with some good thoughts about how Foursquare can withstand feature-copying from a much larger rival. He asked for my thoughts, so I figured I’d jot some down here. Most importantly, his post got me thinking about the next phase of location, which I think we’re just about to enter.
First, Scoble’s thought that Foursquare might be in trouble because Yelp copied its check-in badge idea seems a bit premature to me. It was a much bigger deal when they added the whole check-in concept back in January, but the fact that Foursquare has started growing faster than ever since that point shows they have an advantage over Yelp in the realm. That advantage is that they have a social graph built for location, Yelp does not (yet). → Read More
Today, Apple has begun emailing iPhone app developers to let them know they’re now accepting iOS 4-compatible apps in the App Store. Just as it does each time before a new OS launches (such as earlier this year with the iPad OS, which was iPhone OS 3.2 — yes, it’s a little confusing), Apple wants to make sure it has apps to show off when the new OS hits on June 21 (three days before the iPhone 4 launch).
And this launch is important because it brings the ability for third-party applications to run in the background for the first time. Earlier today, Pocket-lint noted that “massive delays” were expected for multitasking apps. But there were two major problems with this report. First, it seemed to suggest that the iPhone 4 was the key to multitasking. In fact, it is iOS 4 that brings the ability to multitask, and it brings it to the iPhone 3GS and latest generation iPod touch as well. More importantly, they noted that “in our initial testing, only Apple apps, like the Clock, Mail and Safari, can multitask. That’s it!” Um, that’s because there are no third-party apps available yet that have this built in. That’s exactly why Apple is sending out emails that they’re going to start accepting them now. → Read More
Our buddy Jack Deneut of Nelso looked at some of the AdMob mobile metrics reporting and came away with an interesting look at the penetration of iPhone/Touch/iPad (iOS) around the world. The biggest user of iPhones by population? You’ll never guess. → Read More
If you’re the excitable type, you may want to try the iOS 4.0 Gold Master right now. This is probably the most dangerous thing you can do to your phone aside from run over it with a car, so don’t say we didn’t warn you. There are many sources, obviously, so do a Google search. → Read More
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