JailbreakCon 2012 exposed a great deal of content relating to every aspect of the jailbreaking scene. Of the many speakers, Saurik, the developer and maintainer of Cydia, released some interesting statistic and number around his alternative marketplace. Saurik estimates that $8 million dollars were distributed to developers and themers that use the Cydia Store over the last year.
These numbers are shocking considering the high piracy rate in some applications that can be well over 90%. That being said the developer of iFile told us that over its lifetime his app accumulated over 20 million downloads with many paid upgrades. If anything this is an indication that jailbreaking is far from dead.
Jay Freeman also estimated that around 6-12% of all iOS devices are jailbroken, the fluctuation mainly impacted by software updates.
Finally iOS 6 has been released to the public and therefore the devices that are capable of running 6.0 can go ahead and download iOS 6 for their iPhone, iPad or iPod touch. But before you do that, you should definitely read this post about downgrading to a lower firmware from iOS 6 for various Apple devices.
Downgrade iOS 6 To iOS 5.1.1
Musclenerd of the iPhone Dev Team tweeted telling us that Redsnow is soon going to be updated with pretty cool features such as the Re-restore. But before that most of you will be interested in downgrading from iOS 6 to iOS 5.1.1. So lets have a look at which devices can be restored to the lower jailbreakable firmware iOS 5.1.1 from non jailbreakable iOS 6.
iPhone 4/3GS iPod Touch 4 Downgrade From iOS 6 To iOS 5.1.1
Those of you who own A4 devices such as the iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS and the iPod touch 4 are in good hands, as downgrading to a lower firmware such as from iOS 6 to iOS 5.1.1 won’t be that hard. This is because restoring process in iOS 5.x can easily be exploited therefore giving the users ability to downgrade to a lower firmware.
Another good news is that this exploit can never be fixed by Apple, therefore making it a permanent restoring process for A4 devices such as the iPhone 4.
iPhone Dev Team mention:
A4 devices and 3GS will always be downgradable (and jailbreakable) with saved blobs due to limera1n. The tethered iOS6 jailbreak for those devices (and untethered for old-bootrom 3GS) will be out when Cydia and other important pieces are all working properly.
iPad 2 Downgrade From iOS 6 To iOS 5.1.1
iPad 2 owners can breath a sigh of relief as you are in the safe zone too. If you have an iPad 2 you can restore to iOS 5.1.1 from iOS 6 even if the iOS 5.1.1 window closes. But do remember that you must have iOS 5.x and 4.x blobs saved for your device.
iPad2 owners who have both 4.x blobs and 5.x blobs will always be able to downgrade to those versions, even once you come up to 6.0 and the 5.1.1 window closes (don’t do that yet though!). You need both 4.x and 5.x blobs to qualify for the 5.x downgrade even though you only wish to downgrade to 5.x (you need only your 4.x blobs to downgrade to 4.x)
iPhone 4S & iPad 3 Downgrade From iOS 6 To iOS 5.1.1
If you happen to own an iPhone 4S or iPad 3, well folks this is might not that be great for you. So let me directly jump in.
iPhone Dev Team is soon going to introduce a new feature called re-restore which will basically allow you to restore to iOS 5.1.1 from iOS 5.1.1. Confused? Well what it will allow you to do is; give you ability to restore to a fresh piece of IPSW file, might come in handy if you mess up your iPhone 4S or iPad 3 while being jailbroken or any other circumstances.
So lets say you have iOS 5.1.1 blobs saved and something happens to your iPhone 4S or iPad 3, you need to restore to iOS 5.1.1 but the window has been closed, so what do you do? Well that’s where Re-restore comes in. It will allow you to re-restore to iOS 5.1.1 from iOS 5.1.1. But if you happen to update to iOS 6, well you won’t be able to restore back to iOS 5.1.1. Note: This also applies to those iPad 2′s which can not be restored.
iPad3, i4S (and iPad2 owners who don’t satisfy #2) will always be able to RE-restore the current 5.x OS that’s already on their device. So if you’re at 5.1.1 when the window closes (and you’ve saved your blobs), you’ll always be able to RE-restore to 5.1.1 again. This makes the 5.1.1 jailbreak a lot less fragile — you don’t have to worry about messing up your install with funky extensions or getting into a boot loop, because you can always RE-restore from 5.1.1 to 5.1.1 again (or from 5.0.1 to 5.0.1 again, etc). But once you fall off the 5.x train by restoring to 6.x, you’ll be stuck there until the next jailbreak.
That basically sums most of the questions you had in mind about downgrading from iOS 6 to iOS 5.1.1. But if you still have any questions about downgrading then hit the comment section below and we will get to you.
The most amazing iPhone is out! Yes, we are talking about the iPhone 5 which was unveiled earlier after wait of more than one year. Apple has made many changes in the new iPhone including, Larger screen, thinner body, lightning, LTE technology and the improved Battery life. Have you seen the High Quality images of the iPhone 5 yet? Well, we know that it is almost the same as that of the rumored one. But you can check out the High Quality images by the Apple.
As rumored, iPhone 5 has the double toned back with Aluminum in the middle. We have also seen the completely redesigned and improved “Earpods”. You can check out the images of both colors of iPhone with and without “Earpods” after the Jump.
Are these images enough? Certainly not! You can head over to the Apple Website and watch all the High Quality images there too. What are your thoughts about this new iPhone? Let us know in the comments section below.
With just one day left until Apple’s massive iPhone 5 introduction tomorrow, it’s a mockups day today. This morning already saw us post a few nice dummies and mockups, from the iPhone 5 dummy with high-quality closeups of the handset’s controversial two-tone design to a concept video showing off its possible features to this nicely done mockup of a mini iPad in hand.
With some people expecting new colorful iPods at tomorrow’s event, designer Guilherme Schasiepen went about rendering half a dozen stunning mockups of what a fifth-generation iPod touch might look like. The renderings and more food for thought follow right below…
You gotta give it to Guilherme Schasiepen because I’m simply smitten by attention to detail glaringly evident in these renders.
Click on any of the images in this post for super high-rez versions.
It looks pretty darn thin, doesn’t it?
I love the four-inch Retina display with a 16:9 aspect ratio.
Of course, the smaller 9-pin dock connector gets a showing as well.
Here’s your black model.
I prefer my iOS devices in white
Guilherme’s also done a set of gorgeous renders depicting a 2012 version of the iPod classic, Apple’s music player that started the whole iPod craze a decade ago.
Here’s one of the iPod classic concepts.
Despite the crazy legal battles between Apple and Samsung, the two companies do a great deal of business with each other. Samsung makes a number of different components for Apple’s products including memory chips and display panels. However, things may be getting a little sour, as Apple is reportedly significantly reducing its iPhone 5 part orders from Samsung.
According to Reuters, there’s no doubt that Apple is indeed reducing orders from Samsung for iPhone 5 parts. However, this supposedly has nothing to do with deteriorating relationship between the two companies and is simply an effort to diversify Apple’s supply chain. The report claims that Apple has replaced Samsung with LG Display, Toshiba Corp, Elpida Memory and SK Hynix to make its memory chips and panels.
This may be a big hit for Samsung as it makes a ton of money from Apple. Digitimes predicted that this would happen back in May and caused Samsung to lose around $10 billion in market value. Frankly, the thought of Samsung losing business from Apple scares the hell out of investors.
I also don’t buy that this is simply a move to “diversify suppliers”. What’s happening with Samsung looks an awful lot like what happened with Google. Apple has been trying to rid Google out of its iOS platform by ditching Google Maps and even getting rid of the official iOS YouTube app. Is this Apple’s plan for Samsung as well?
The two companies have made a lot of money together and have helped each other a lot with business. But, it’s unclear how this whole battle beef will play out. We’ll keep you posted. Stay tuned.
I should have bought the black version.
In my quest to lighten my work backpack, I've been through Netbooks, ultraportables, tablet PCs, modern tablets, and even hooked up my smartphone to an external monitor and Bluetooth keyboard and mouse. Results have been either unpractical or under-powered.
Earlier this year, I "upgraded" from the original Galaxy Tab 10.1 to the Tab 2 10.1. With no major changes in processing power or in any other relevant category, the only benefit I got from the move was an SD card slot, which allowed be to supplement the small 16GB internal storage. The move was a step back in one very important aspect (for me at least), the Tab 2 10.1 would not stream archive videos using the MLB At Bat app--very confusing considering the relatively unchanged specs from the original Tab.
Anyway, armed with Samsung's optional keyboard dock and now a Logitech Bluetooth travel mouse, traveling light was finally achieved. I thought I was in geek heaven--until I picked up the Galaxy Note 10.1.
Oh man, was I in for a pleasant surprise. But first the disappointments. The first let down was my own fault, I should have preordered the black and not the white one. Secondly, looks may be deceiving and you may assume otherwise from the 10.1 moniker but the Note 10.1 is physically larger than both its 10.1 Tab predecessors. Slightly thicker and wider, it does not fit in docks, cases or other Tab 10.1-specific accessories. Luckily, Samsung has built compatibility into its keyboard dock which originally came with two docking inserts for the 10.1 and 7 inch tablets. Neither of these fit the Note 10.1 but if you remove it completely, the Note will fit the opening. Prop it up with something on the back, my monitor in this case, and you're good to go. If you're handy with a rotary tool, you can probably take enough material off the dock insert meant for the Tab 10.1 to make the Note 10.1 fit and have a less ghetto solution.
Performance should be no surprise for you readers. So many sites have been gushing over its specs and performance since its announcement--to try to write something original would be fruitless. What I can say is that the multitasking and almost zero lag input (keyboard, pen) is giving my MacBook Air more shelf- than work time.
What I do want to say is that this is the tablet Thai school children should have gotten instead of the budget friendly ones. While there are arguments against putting such a pricey device in the hands of children, but the benefits are endless in my mind. For what they are used for, the Note 10.1 coupled with a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse could easily replace the shared computers which most Thai schools now have. It would mean that computer classes could be more than a once a week affair. With its pen, I've managed to get my son to actually like practicing handwriting on Note 10.1--it was a struggle of wills and patience to get him to do simple exercises in the dozens of activity books we've bought for him.
The Note's Multiscreen feature essentially splits the screen into two sides and allows you to run compatible built-in apps. Quite useful but I would like to see third-party apps run in this mode as well.
The redesigned pen comes with several replacable tips for you to chose from with varying hardness. The pen on the Note 10.1 is now more rectangular than tube-like as seen on the original Note but does have the textured button to make locating it and clicking it much easier.
Though the screen's pixel density has not received an upgrade, I still have no complaints about it. Samsung has also included Smart Stay, which prevents the screen from turning off if it detects you looking at it. While this feature was first seen on the Galaxy S3 smartphone, it feels much more useful one a tablet, which sits on your desk while you ponder what to write next or reading a lengthy email without scrolling.
How chip designers are managing to shove four tiny mice and their tiny running wheels into such a small form factor still amazes me but they seem to keep up with almost anything I throw at it. Watching a video in multiscreen mode while typing up this blog post doens't seem to slow things down too much . While I have not done too much multi-layered editing with Photoshop touch, I don't see how even that would slow it down too much considering it is "optimized" for tablets and is not the full-blown desktop version.
It's funny to think how just a few years back, you'd purchase similarly priced Netbooks with dual-core processors and maxes out at 2GB of RAM for the same price. Sure you'd get at least double the storage but if you slide in one of the availble 64GB microSDXC cards into its slot, the Note 10.1 suddenly becomes a device that can surpass the capabilities of yesterday's Netbooks. The difference is that with its capabilities and compact size, you can take with you on vacation to store, edit, upload and share your photos.
