The moment we’ve all been waiting for is finally here. A “Dream Team” of iOS experts have just rolled out an untethered jailbreak for Apple’s dual-core A5 iDevices, dubbed Absinthe A5, and designed to target iPhone 4S and iPad 2 running iOS 5.0.1 on board. Please note that it’s for Mac users only, at the moment, but a Windows version is probably going to be out very soon. As usual with most hacks, proceed with caution, but definitely proceed. Click the following link to learn more about the new release, get jailbreaking file here or hit the jump to watch the video.

Update: Well, that didn’t take long. Shortly after the Absinthe A5 untethered jailbreak released for OS X users, the Dream Team further extended their hacking solutions and returned back with a new jailbreak file, designed for Windows aficionados. So either click the source link below, or get the real thing right over here. Once again, you should plan carefully every step.

[greenpois0n]

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If you’re one of those very lucky guys, who have managed to put their hands on HP’s “not available anymore”  Touchpad devices, you need to pay close attention to possible opportunities arising from an early Alpha 0 build of CyanogenMod 9 that lets you run your own edition of Ice Cream Sandwich instead of the pre-loaded WebOS platform available on board. Of course you can have a triple boot tablet constructed from webOS, CM7 and CM9 all together, but that’s not really recommended. However, toying with the idea of bringing this new Android 4.0 into the Touchpad, definitely is (even though you may run into some minor issues when it comes to the camera, video acceleration and Android Market access). To learn more, please visit the RootzWiki link below, or click the jump to watch the video.

[via RootzWiki]

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BlackBerry has built its reputation on its relationship with the business world. More than any other smartphone, BlackBerry’s long association with the corporate market has provided a good base for its success. The success of iOS and the growth of Android in 2011 has undoubtedly left manufacturer RIM in a weaker position in the UK, having been pushed into third place. However, the release of the new Bold range in 2011, with the Bold 9790 at the centre of the campaign, and the release of the new operating system, BB7, means BlackBerry is taking on its competitors and reinforcing its position in the business world.

The Bold 9790 includes many of the same features that have made BlackBerry a popular business brand, including the ability to set up different email accounts and instant messages, to multitask and browse the web while working on other platforms. It also includes some new features, like the ability to separate a personal and business profile within the one device. There are also different apps that can be downloaded to further utilize and maximise the ability of the Bold 9790 to meet the needs of the business community. Here are the top five.

Social Media networks like Twitter are becoming increasingly important for businesses as they allow people to share their commercial knowledge and connect their brand with consumers. Apps like UberSocial are ideal for BlackBerry as they allow users to manage multiple accounts and tweet easily on the move using the devices QWERTY keyboard.

Dropbox is a feature many will use day to day in work, allowing them to share documents and material remotely. BlackBerry App world has a version of the software that allows users to share and read documents on their drop box on their device.

Battery Booster is ideal for those who need their BlackBerry from the beginning to the end of the working day and might not have access to a charger. The app stops different applications which are draining the battery to ensure optimum performance and saving battery life for those apps you need most.

BlackBerry Traffic provides an up to date service which can be vital to make sure you get to meetings and appointments on time. The app gives information about roads that are closed and plans routes, gives an idea of traffic congestions and provides an estimated time of arrival making it easier to plan a journey.

The business day can be a busy one and often it is difficult to keep up to date with what is happening in the world. BlackBerry News is an app providing an RSS feed of the latest news headlines, allowing users to scroll through and get an update on developments. Easily to scroll through and read it makes it easier to catch up on the train or over lunch.

Apple and Android have both been making inroads into the business market over the last twelve months. RIM has seen its BlackBerry phone deals fall below a 20% share in the UK smartphone market. Their new launch of the Bold range, in particular the 9790 and the new OS7 is designed to catch up with its competitors and provide a new and improved platforms for the business market. These apps are designed for BlackBerry to make the working day a little bit easier.

Ladies and gentlemen, the real untethered iOS 5.0.1 jailbreak y’all been waiting for is finally out and ready to open a wide range of your personal Apple iDevices (including iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPad 1, iPod Touch 3G and iPod Touch 4G), except the iPhone 4S and iPad 2, which carry inside an upgraded A5 chipset. No sign as to when these two might get their own jailbreaking release, but be sure we’ll have this one sooner rather than later. Those with the pre-A5 machines can use a combination of tools to approach their hack, such as Pwnage Tool,  redsn0w 0.9.10, and Chronic Devteam’s Cydia package (look for “Corona”). Hit the link below to learn even more or click the jump to watch the video (courtesy of Cydiahelp). Happy jailbreak!

[via iPhone Devteam]

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Google’s newest Android operating system version has had experts and users alike sitting on the edge of their seats, waiting impatiently for the Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) to be delivered on mobile devices with all the bells and whistles of the ice cream truck. Users have delayed purchasing new mobile phones and tablets until the new operating confection was available. After all the headlines and the anticipation, does Android 4.0.- finally beat Apple’s iOS?

In some areas and functions, the answer is a resounding, “Yes!” In other facets, it’s, well, “not yet.” While Ice Cream Sandwich does make user control of apps easier, animation less jerky and the interface more user-friendly, it can’t yet claim the fame of toppling iOS yet. But it’s getting there, and it’s our opinion that Apple should be getting very, very worried.

Improvements

First, the good news: Many of the Gingerbread snafus, glitches and hang-ups are gone. Smoother operations are the norm with Ice Cream Sandwich. However, there still are a few that we’ll outline below.

The separated, dedicated Function keys permanently resting at the bottom of the screen are tremendous time savers. You want to return Home? Press the key. Want to head back one screen? Press that key. Want terrific apps management? Press that dedicated key. Forget a screen full of icons that you can’t see when surfing or texting or writing a note: The dedicated function keys are offset and separated from the used screen area. They’re always there – unless you deliberately use a full screen operation.

The user interface is a major improvement from Gingerbread (2.3) to Honeycomb (3.0) to Ice Cream Sandwich (4.0). Logical organisation is the key phrase. While there is still a learning curve for new Android users, learning to navigate the device is much simpler and shorter than ever. It’s not quite as intuitive and familiar as Win 7 or as easy as iOS, but it’s a major step up from Android 2.2 Froyo, Android 2.3 Gingerbread or Android 3.0 Honeycomb.

Quirks and Glitches

Alas, while apps are much more easily managed in ICS, many apps don’t work with ICS: The apps are made for Gingerbread; many won’t even download onto an ICS-driven device. Overall, Android apps are much fewer in number than Apple apps, and with the ICS compatibility issue, the Android number just dropped even farther.

The touch controls for apps might be nicer, but the touch controls still have a minute lag that is absent in Apple iOS. It’s better than it used to be, but the lag is still there. Because of that barely noticeable but noticeable delay, Ice Cream Sandwich can seem rather sleepy at times.

Future Possibilities

Android developers are extremely responsive to glitch reports, so much so that Ice Cream Sandwich has moved from the 4.0 original version to 4.0.3 in just a few weeks. It won’t be long at all before Android OS is a true, heads-on competitor with Apple iOS.

Apple has just rolled out iOS 5.0.1  (build number 9A405) for its iDevices lineup, now available through your iTunes app. The new update, which many iphone 4s owners have been waiting for, fixes the pesky battery-draining problem that users were suffering from in iOS 5. In addition, the new release is offering a bug fix for uploading documents to the iCloud service and brings some new multitasking gestures for iPad’s first-gen. Happy updates!

Update: It’s a 790MB download if you’ll choose the iTunes path, or 44.6MB delta for those who will update wirelessly (OTA).

Apple has just pushed out iOS 5, one of its biggest updates ever, now available for download through your iTunes account, for  iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, third- and fourth-generation iPod touch, as well as both iPad 1 & iPad 2. iOS 5 includes more than 200 new features for your iDevices, among them: The notification center, iMessage, Newsstand, Reminders, integrated Twitter app, photo enhancements (plus grid & edit features), iCloud sync and backup for your mail/calender/contacts/notes/reminders etc. (you get 5GB of storage for FREE), WiFi sync capabilities, Airplay mirroring, multitasking gestures and more. In addition, Apple has also released iTunes 10.5 filled with iCloud support and plenty other goodies you will all get to try with iOS 5 on board. And speaking about the cloud, looks like iCloud.com is now officially LIVE and ready for use (in case you have iOS 5 or OS X  Lion client). Check out the video after the break.

Update: Apple has also released two new iOS apps, including AirPort Utility and Find My Friends, which can be downloaded via iCloud.

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HP TouchPad has been getting a lot of attention lately, as prices have “mysteriously” dropped to $99 – which seems like a heck of a good deal, to say the least. But pricing aside, the WebOS (TouchPad’s platform), as good as it may be, simply doesn’t have, at the moment, enough applications to offer. In fact, there’s not much to find if you are looking for quality usage, beyond the usual stuff (e.g music, internet surfing, emails). Now, if we could just get the Android version to match up with the 9.7-inch touchscreen display, eh? Well, it might actually happen, with recent Team-Touchdroid announcement, indicating a very cool tweak which enables the HP slate to fully support a 10-point multitouch frame. Neat, isn’t it? Make sure you scroll down after the break, there’s a short video that proves it.

Update: As a matter of fact, there’s an app for that, which lets you smoothly run Google’s Android platform on top of HP’s WebOS along with apps and some other goodies, as demoed in vid with just a few clicks away, after the break.

[via Liliputing]

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Some may say If you haven’t heard about Babylon you’re definitely missing out, and rest assured that there are lots of ways to prove it out. As a matter of fact, there are actually100 million, if one wishes to be precise. According to Babylon’s chief executive officer, Alon Carmeli, the online translation company, has recently set a new Guinness World Record for downloads for language solutions, reaching a staggering 100 million downloads, and officially joined Alexa’s most distinguished list of the top 100 websites.

Here’s what Guinness judge Rob Mollow had to say about it:

“This new Guinness World Records title reflects the significant reach and popularity of Babylon’s translation services. It is a major achievement for Babylon and comes hot on the heels of recent records for Firefox, Facebook and Ustream. We’ve seen Firefox 3.0 gain the title for Most downloads of a software application in 24 hours, Facebook reclaim the Most likes on a Facebook page title and Ustream named as the online service ingesting the most video content. After the tallest and shortest people in the world, digital records are now the ones that we get most enquiries about and it’s clear that the importance of these records will continue to grow and grow.”

Congrats to Babylon. Make sure to check out the 5:35 minute video after the break.

[Babylon]

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Apple has just rolled out a new firmware update for the myriad of iDevices, with the latest release of iOS 4.3.1 which should fix several pesky bugs that users have been experiencing in AV-out, enterprise apps, iPod touch graphics and mobile network connections. The new update is now available for download via iTunes, so hook your stuff and get it done right.

We were so fed up with the fact that we couldn’t have a descent flash player running on the Motorola Xoom, out of the box. Thankfully, the company (in partnership with Adobe) now has announced a new release update that will fix this well known issue, once and for all. Starting on March 18th, Adobe/Motorola will officially begin rolling out their latest OTA software upgrade, which supposedly includes required enhancements to support the upcoming Adobe Flash 10.2 player and many other things more. Huzzah!

Update1: Apparently, the OTA will hit XOOM tablets earlier than expected, and is likely to support Android’s most recent platforms, such as Android 2.2 Froyo, Android 2.3 Gingerbread and a beta version for Android 3.0.1 Honeycomb, which will soon enjoy the benefits of a smooth Android browser rendering engine that significantly improves the efficiency of data between images, H.264 playback, HTML coding, and GIF animation control.

Update2: There seems to be a manual OTA upgrade for the Motorola XOOM which can be downloaded directly from Verizon’s system update platform. The update is classed as version 3.0.1. An unofficial leaked update is now available for download here.

Update3: Meanwhile, before you rush and get your updates installed, feel free to hit the jump and take a look at the videos below. Full PR is also there for a read.

[Adobe]

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Is Dell hiding secrets from us? Well, one can pretty much assume that if the 5-inch Streak comes with integrated 3G phone capabilities, its bigger sibling, the Streak 7, most definitely has them too – but regretfully it doesn’t. Not exactly. According to the good guys at Streak Smart, Dell’s new 7-inch Android Froyo tablet does seem to have this hidden phone application transplanted under the lid, only that no one has been willing to share it with us, at least until now. True, it doesn’t really work the other direction. In other words, there’s not much to do with it right now, and calls just won’t go through or get connected. Still, it’s really something to hope for, right? Well, can’t wait till it finally happens (and be sure it would). Until then, make sure you hit the jump and watch the video.

[via Streak Smart]

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Wel…well…well, what do we have in here? Guess it’s Google’s future android 3.0 platform (Honeycomb) that Mountain View has specifically designed to compliment and match tablets UI. To put it in different words, the 3.0 version is “Entirely for Tablet” – and boy! it looks great! But instead of crafting words, just checkout Google’s video to get a better impression.

Update: Looks like Google has just issued an early build of its upcoming Android 3.0 Honeycomb operating system. So if any of you Android Developers just so happen to log on, make sure to check out the platform’s uncompleted SDK version including the APIs. Video preview after the break.

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Say hi to the new Cowon D3 Plenue: At first sight, it looks like a basic mobile phone, same size, same shape, same overall appearance. But beneath the 3.7-inch, 800 x 480 AMOLED face lies an Android 2.1 PMP with 32GB of storage, SD card expansion, a built-in accelerometer and a T-DMB tuner. And if it wasn’t already cool enough, it also comes with an HDMI output, WiFi connectivity and Bluetooth 3.0 support. Sadly, we’re still not sure whether it is going to include an Android Market access at this stage – though we’re surely going to see some sort of applications on board – but one thing’s for sure, you can definitely expect to hear more about it in the coming months, weeks or perhaps in early January, at the 2011 CES show. Stay tuned.

Update: Amazon has just now listed a pre-order page for Cowon’s latest and greatest Android D3 Plenue player, priced at $370 and set on an undetermined release date. Is it just us that think this is way too much for a player, at this point?

[Cowon]

Almost a year and couple of days after introducing it, Google has launched a new, stand-alone version of an operating system, which became known as Crome OS. Offering it as a “one-stop shop” for all manner of cloud-based laptop usage, one-year-old Chrome will let users run their day-to-day portable apps like any of the other ones available on rival platforms, such as Linux or Windows 7, this time with a mission to make the web work faster, safer, and easier than ever. Surprisingly, it takes only four simple steps to set it up and have it running: Picking up your Internet connectivity, choosing a profile image, getting online right away, and cruzing the web the moment you get it to load. As a matter of fact, it wouldn’t take more than 60 seconds, on average, to make it ready to work. Setting the OS to use multiple accounts is as easy as it gets, but there’s also a guest mode option that runs in Incognito mode (“Friends Let Friends Log-In Feature”). Of course you can use it offline as well if you want, but the most convenient way to use it, is probably when connected online.

On the same note, Google has just rolled out its very own Chrome Web Store which “like a phone app store,” features a gallery of different apps and extensions from different sources and vendors in various categories such as photos, music, games, news, blogging , fun, shopping, sports and web development. To test this new concept under operational circumstances, Google announced a test program for Chrome OS in which it will be offering 60000 Chrome Notebooks to those who registered. To find out more about the pilot program, just visit http://google.com/chromenotebook click in the boxes and fill in the missing answers.

Well guys, the day that iPhone 3G, 3GS users have been waiting for has finally come – Dev Team has just released their latest and greatest PwnageTool 4.1.3 and redsn0w 0.9.6beta5, which provide the first iOS 4.2.1 jailbreak that seamlessly works with carrier unlock support. Regretfully, it will only be useful with a baseband later than 05.13.04, but not to worry, fellow gadgeters, because the hack, that uses the 6.15.00 baseband from iPad firmware 3.2.2, will upgrade your modem during the quick and risky process, and hopefully turn it unlocked. Of course, it is not recommended to do this, only if you’re stuck on 05.14 or 05.15, and you’re willing to accept the risks it entails: no way back, you won’t be able to update again in the 05.xx sequence, warranty problems and inability to make a full stock firmware restore (You’ll need to only restore to custom IPSWs, which is what you’re probably doing right now).  If you’re still into it, after all, please proceed to the Dev-Team link below.

[Dev-Team Blog] 

Apple is finally pushing out its latest and most anticipated iOS 4.2.1, which technically can be downloaded right away via your iTunes dashboard app. The new version which weights about 624.3MB and supports miriad of cupertino devices, including iPad, iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 3G and iPod touch, is notable for being THE most important OS software update the iPad tablet has ever had. For those of you who are still trying to figure out what all the commotion is about, imagine having in one magical slate multitasking capabilities, along with folders, Airplay, AirPrint usability, Game Center arena, and unified inbox accounts. Want even more? From now on you can use the Find My iPhone feature, free of any charge (previously priced at $99 a year). Generaly speaking, it’s a GPS-based application that lets you remotely locate your missing Apple handhelds (iPhone 4, the iPad, and fourth-gen iPod touch), by using a web interface platform and online set of maps. You can also wipe important data, lock your device from far, display a messsage on it, or sound an alarm from any place you are – and it’s free, remember? Hit the jump for full PR.

Update: Dev-Team has just launched a new redsn0w version 0.9.6b4 jailbreak for iOS 4.2.1.Regretfully it’s a “tethered” update, which means that iPhone 4, iPad, iPhone 3GS and iPod touch users will have to reattach their personal devices, either to a PC or a Mac, to boot into a jailbroken state whenever they need a reboot or lose the battery power – bummer. In any case, that won’t unlock your handheld machines, if that’s what you were expecting for. Unlock hack for 3G and 3GS is expected to be out somewhere this week, while the iphone 4 solution should probably take a little bit more.

[Apple]

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For those of you who already purchased an unlocked version of Streak, you should check with your 5-inch slate immediately, as word on the street claims that Dell has finally started rolling out the Android Froyo update that you’ve all been waiting for. You may or may not find it available for a download right away but you’ll have to believe us, it’s there, so be patient. As for people who bought the locked version, make sure you check out again next month. In addition to that, the coming update will also include Dell’s new Stage UI layer, which I hope you’ll find useful in getting on top of Google’s Android 2.2 update. And finally, according to a StreakSmart report, unlocked Streak devices are said to arrive to the US, preloaded with Froyo OS platform, in the next month or so. Please stay tuned.

It was just a matter of time before somebody would pick up the gauntlet and put an Android Market access into the Archos 32 (and maybe some other devices) platform. Nothing official in here yet, but looks like one of Archosfans forum members has finally managed to hack the Android system, and tweak one of its files, the gApps4Archos.apk, in a way that should let you all free and direct access to Google’s app and Marketplace store. Mind you, it requires the latest 1.0.70 firmware installed, and the good news – it actually works!

[via Liliputing]

It looks like jailbreaking season has finally started folks, with Apple’s iOS 4.1 most anticipated hack tool, “Greenpois0n”, officially been announced and released to the pond. And while still available just for Microsoft Windows users at the moment (Macs should wait or use VMware/VirtualBox apps to install), this latest update, courtesy of Chronic Dev Team labs, will shine only with Cupertino’s iPhone 4 / 3GS, iPod touch (3rd / 4th generations), and iPad 1st gen devices, already preloaded with iOS 4.1 firmware which turns to be vulnerable to George “geohot” Hotz recent limera1in USB boot ROM jailbreak exploit, that Steve Jobs is likely to block. On his next firmware roll out, that is, of course.

Update: Well…it didn’t take long for both Geohot and the guys at Chronic Dev Team to introduce their own proprietary Mac format into the market (limera1n and greenpois0n), each with varying degrees of advantages and disadvantages of its own. As always, proceed with caution and back up your stuff first, you just never know where troubles might come from.

[Chronic Dev Team]