It seems like we are not too far off now from a public release of an untethered jailbreak for both iPhone 4S and iPad 2. Pod2g, who is the genius behind this iOS 5 exploit for both A4 and A5 devices, has posted a video on his blog which shows jailbroken iPhone 4S running Cydia, on iOS 5.0.1, fully untethered.


Pod2g posted on his blog:

My friend @DHowett made a video of an untethered 4S iPhone 4,1 running iOS 5.0.1 some days ago.
@DHowett is a famous iOS developer and a member of the Chronic Dev Team.
Only a few to wait now.

Earlier today, a member of the so called “Dream Team”, the legendary iPhone hacker PlanetBeing, tweeted out some more progress on A5 jailbreak (for iPhone 4S and iPad 2), confirming unsigned code running successfully on his iPhone 4S.

@planetbeing: Finally got unsigned code running on my 4S with the stuff that will go into the new jailbreak!

While there is still no official ETA from either of the Dev-Teams for this most awaited jailbreak in recent times, but if the “hint” in Pod2g’s blog post is anything to go by, it is only a matter of few more days now before we can all get our hands on jailbreak for both iPhone 4S and iPad 2.
In the meantime, if you still haven’t upgraded your iPhone 4S or iPad 2 to iOS 5.0.1 yet, it is highly advisable to do so now as Corona untethered jailbreak exploit has been reportedly patched by Apple in the latest iOS 5.1 Beta. You MUST upgrade your device to final version of iOS 5.0.1 now before iOS 5.1 is released to public. This is important because once final version of IOS 5.1 is out, you wont be able to downgrade your device back to iOS 5.0.1 and hence will be out of luck for any jailbreak until the next one pops out – which probably wont be available anytime soon.

And those of you who are sporting A4 devices, you can follow our complete step by step guide posted here to jailbreak iOS 5.0.1 untethered on iPhone 4, 3GS, iPad 1, and iPod touch 3G/4G using Redsn0w.

It’s finally here folks, today is the when Apple has flipped the switch on iOS 5, and millions upon millions of iPhones, iPads and iPod touches are in the process of being updated to the latest and greatest mobile operating system to come out of Cupertino.

This fifth iteration in the iOS saga is perhaps the biggest change that Apple has made to the software that runs on all our iDevices, since the implementation of the App Store. We’ve been playing with iOS 5 for quite some time now, and we’re sure you’re going to like what you see when you have finally installed iOS 5.
In order to give you an idea of what to expect, what has changed and what to look out for when your iDevice restarts post-update, we’ve put together a video showing just what Apple has added to iOS this time around, and there’s quite a bit.


The vide covers everything we could think of: there’s iMessage, the new messaging service that Apple believes is on a par with the likes of BlackBerry Messenger, offering instant messaging for free across all iOS devices running iOS 5.
Then there is the vastly improved Notifications Center, improvements to Camera app, the all new Reminders and Newsstand apps, Twitter integration, and lots more. Mail client has also got a significant update! It now supports rich text for adding bold, italic or indentations to your emails. Flagging messages is also now part of Mail in iOS 5 too, something that many Exchange users have been crying out for recently.
The list of changes goes on and on. Possibly the most trivial, yet something that we still can’t quite believe has taken Apple five versions of iOS to get working, is the landscape calendar. Yes, it’s finally there, and, well, it’s your calendar, but sideways. No surprised there, then.
We could go on forever talking about the new additions to iOS 5, but the best way to get the lowdown is to watch the video.

We have got some really sad news. Steve Jobs has passed away at 56. He truly changed the way we live our lives each and every day.




CEO of Apple, Tim Cook, has sent an email to all Apple employees regarding passing of Steve Jobs:

Team,
I have some very sad news to share with all of you. Steve passed away earlier today.
Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing
human being. Those of us who have been fortunate enough to know and work with Steve have lost a dear friend and an inspiring mentor. Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple.
We are planning a celebration of Steve’s extraordinary life for Apple employees that will take place soon. If you would like to share your thoughts, memories and condolences in the interim, you can simply email rememberingsteve@apple.com.
No words can adequately express our sadness at Steve’s death or our gratitude for the opportunity to work with him. We will honor his memory by dedicating ourselves to continuing the work he loved so much.
Tim

Steve’s family has also issued a statement:

Steve died peacefully today surrounded by his family.
In his public life, Steve was known as a visionary; in his private life, he cherished his family. We are thankful to the many people who have shared their wishes and prayers during the last year of Steve’s illness; a website will be provided for those who wish to offer tributes and memories.
We are grateful for the support and kindness of those who share our feelings for Steve. We know many of you will mourn with us, and we ask that you respect our privacy during our time of grief.

Apple has also set up an email address, rememberingsteve@apple.com, for condolences and memories.
We, at Redmond Pie, are lost for words here. Thank you Steve for being an innovator and sharing your genius with the world. You will be truly missed. Rest in peace.

UPDATE x1: Robert Scoble has posted a picture of Apple HQ in Cupertino with all flags at half-mast.



UPDATE x2: An excerpt on death from Steve Jobs’ commencement address at Stanford (June 12, 2005)



When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something. Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart. About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn’t even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor’s code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you’d have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes. I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I’m fine now. This was the closest I’ve been to facing death, and I hope it’s the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept: No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true. UPDATE x3: Barack Obama, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg and Eric Schmidt on Steve Jobs’ passing: Barack Obama (President, United States of America) Michelle and I are saddened to learn of the passing of Steve Jobs. Steve was among the greatest of American innovators – brave enough to think differently, bold enough to believe he could change the world, and talented enough to do it. By building one of the planet’s most successful companies from his garage, he exemplified the spirit of American ingenuity. By making computers personal and putting the internet in our pockets, he made the information revolution not only accessible, but intuitive and fun. And by turning his talents to storytelling, he has brought joy to millions of children and grownups alike. Steve was fond of saying that he lived every day like it was his last. Because he did, he transformed our lives, redefined entire industries, and achieved one of the rarest feats in human history: he changed the way each of us sees the world. The world has lost a visionary. And there may be no greater tribute to Steve’s success than the fact that much of the world learned of his passing on a device he invented. Michelle and I send our thoughts and prayers to Steve’s wife Laurene, his family, and all those who loved him. Bill Gates (Founder, Microsoft): I’m truly saddened to learn of Steve Jobs’ death. Melinda and I extend our sincere condolences to his family and friends, and to everyone Steve has touched through his work. Steve and I first met nearly 30 years ago, and have been colleagues, competitors and friends over the course of more than half our lives. The world rarely sees someone who has had the profound impact Steve has had, the effects of which will be felt for many generations to come. For those of us lucky enough to get to work with him, it’s been an insanely great honor. I will miss Steve immensely. Mark Zuckerberg (Founder & CEO, Facebook): Steve, thank you for being a mentor and a friend. Thanks for showing that what you build can change the world. I will miss you. Eric Schmidt (Chairman, Google) Steve Jobs is the most successful CEO in the U.S. of the last 25 years. He uniquely combined an artists touch and an engineers vision to build an extraordinary company… one of the greatest American leaders in history.

When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.
Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.
About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn’t even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor’s code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you’d have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.
I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I’m fine now.
This was the closest I’ve been to facing death, and I hope it’s the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:
No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

UPDATE x3: Barack Obama, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg and Eric Schmidt on Steve Jobs’ passing:
Barack Obama (President, United States of America)

Michelle and I are saddened to learn of the passing of Steve Jobs. Steve was among the greatest of American innovators – brave enough to think differently, bold enough to believe he could change the world, and talented enough to do it.
By building one of the planet’s most successful companies from his garage, he exemplified the spirit of American ingenuity. By making computers personal and putting the internet in our pockets, he made the information revolution not only accessible, but intuitive and fun. And by turning his talents to storytelling, he has brought joy to millions of children and grownups alike. Steve was fond of saying that he lived every day like it was his last. Because he did, he transformed our lives, redefined entire industries, and achieved one of the rarest feats in human history: he changed the way each of us sees the world.
The world has lost a visionary. And there may be no greater tribute to Steve’s success than the fact that much of the world learned of his passing on a device he invented. Michelle and I send our thoughts and prayers to Steve’s wife Laurene, his family, and all those who loved him.

Bill Gates (Founder, Microsoft):

I’m truly saddened to learn of Steve Jobs’ death. Melinda and I extend our sincere condolences to his family and friends, and to everyone Steve has touched through his work.
Steve and I first met nearly 30 years ago, and have been colleagues, competitors and friends over the course of more than half our lives.
The world rarely sees someone who has had the profound impact Steve has had, the effects of which will be felt for many generations to come.
For those of us lucky enough to get to work with him, it’s been an insanely great honor. I will miss Steve immensely.

Mark Zuckerberg (Founder & CEO, Facebook):

Steve, thank you for being a mentor and a friend. Thanks for showing that what you build can change the world. I will miss you.

Eric Schmidt (Chairman, Google)

Steve Jobs is the most successful CEO in the U.S. of the last 25 years. He uniquely combined an artists touch and an engineers vision to build an extraordinary company… one of the greatest American leaders in history.

With the announcement of the iPhone 4S, it was never going to be too long before the comparisons with other smartphones on the market began to surface. A comparison chart thrown up by ThisIsMyNext (aka TheVerge) puts everything into perspective by comparing Apple’s latest iPhone with its predecessor, along with Samsung’s Galaxy S II.



The iPhone 4 has been Apple’s most successful yet, so its hardly surprising that expectation is extremely high once again this time around. Samsung’s Galaxy S II is a powerhouse of features, so how does it measure up to the latest from Cupertino?


The introduction of Apple’s A5, dual-core chip first seen in the iPad 2 enables the 4S to really compete in terms of power. Having said that, whilst the A4 processor is only single-core, it has still been a performance marvel during the course of the last 16 months, and could hardly be criticized for being slow.
One of the key features of the iPhone 4S is the ability for both GSM and CDMA users to roam worldwide on one device. The iPhone 4 launched as GSM only, and it wasn’t until the start of this year that Apple finally introduced a CDMA iPhone, allowing Verizon users to hop onto the iPhone bandwagon.
The 4S’ much-improved camera matches the Galaxy S II in terms of megapixels, although it’s hard to tell which is better until we’ve seen some actual shots from the yet-to-be-released device. Once suspects that Apple has done its homework on its friend/foe Samsung, and the improved light sensitivity could mean the latest iPhone’s snapper will be the best on the market.
On the topic of storage space, the 4S doubles the possibilities of its older brother by including a 64GB model. The Galaxy S II, although limited to a maximum of 48GB, does have the overt advantage a microSD slot – a freedom which consumers would love – but don’t expect – to see present on any iDevice. Ever.
Siri assistant, one of the main talking points of today’s keynote, is one of those features that could separate the iPhone 4S from all of its rivals – including the iPhone 4. Although voice control is not exactly a new idea, Siri covers most aspects of the device through voice alone. If adopted by the mass

Did we all enjoy today’s Apple event? We know we did. With Apple unveiling a whole new iPhone, refreshed iPods and more iCloud and iOS 5 info, it’s been a rather eventful day so far.
While live blogs and photos are a good way of keeping up with the event by proxy, there’s nothing quite like watching the event unfold live before your very eyes, but Apple has just given us the next best thing – a video of their ‘Let’s Talk iPhone’ right on their very own website.



The event can be watched in all its streaming glory right here, and although there isn’t currently a downloadable version, we’re keeping an eye out on Apple’s Keynote Podcast feed, as that’s usually where the company posts the full HD versions of all its live events. Don’t expect that to appear until later today, or tomorrow, though.
Those who have been hiding under a rock, or, perhaps, an oversized Android phone, here’s a quick rundown of what you can expect to see in the event video.

• iCloud recap – watch as the Apple team take us through iCloud once again, highlighting document syncing, iCloud backup and all the other funky little features we can expect from this free replacement for MobileMe.
• iOS 5 refresh – one half of the new iPhone experience, iOS 5 re-imagines the whole iPhone experience. New, much improved notifications are present, as are a host of new camera features.
• New iPods – an update for the iPod nano sees a selection of new watch faces, with Apple almost admitting that more people use the nano as a watch, than a music player. New iPod touch as well, with a white model being added for good measure.
• iPhone 4S – Twice as fast thanks to twice the CPU cores, twice the graphics cores and more memory. iPhone 4S also includes Siri, Apple’s new digital assistant that promises to change the way we interact with out iPhones.

All this and more, plus Tim Cook’s first Apple keynote, all available for you to watch for free via Apple’s web site.
One little tip, too – fire up Mobile Safari on your iPad, iPhone or iPod touch and watch the keynote via the wonder that is AirPlay, right on your big screen TV.

Infographics. Everybody loves ‘em. They’re like great big pictures that tell a thousand, and often more words, all in a colorful and image-laden way.


The latest infographic to come out of AllAreaCodes charts the barrage of iPhone 5 rumors that started almost as soon as its predecessor, the iPhone 4, found its way into stores worldwide. The image covers a bit of that too, and mentions the much delayed, and highly anticipated release of the white iPhone 4, as well as Verizon version of the black handset just beforehand.


After that, it’s purely a rumor-fest. with all the major talking points thrown in for good measure.
Remember all those claims that the next iPhone would be a smaller, lighter handset dubbed the iPhone nano? That soon went by the wayside didn’t it? And they really had to since they weren’t backed up by solid evidence.
Talk of an iPhone sporting a new, larger screen started to gather pace as well, with an edge-to-edge screen believed to give us the larger screen without the need to increase the overall dimensions in the process. That’s a rumor we liked in particular, and we’re still holding out hope for that to turn up come the Apple iPhone event on Tuesday.
Other rumors that just won’t go away include the 8 megapixel camera, supposedly manufactured by Sony, a Sprint CDMA version of the iPhone to launch alongside AT&T and Verizon, and everyone’s favorite – will Apple launch two handsets next week?
The belief that we will see a cheaper iPhone be released alongside a flagship model is one that has come from numerous rumors from various sources over the last few months, and the iPhone nano probably started that one off. We’re not convinced about that here at Redmond Pie, with Apple usually choosing to keep the outgoing model around as its entry-level iPhone, and the iPhone 4 would make one impressive entry-level handset.
Could we be wrong? Yes, yes we could, and if we are we’ll be the first to hold our hands up.
The best thing about all these rumors? In just five days time, we can put them all to bed for once and for all. Then we can get started on the iPad 3, can’t we?

If you’ve ever dabbled with the world of jailbreaking, or even if you’re a jailbreak aficionado like so many of our readers, the chances are that at some point you’ve struggled to find what you’re looking for in Cydia.
Cydia, the official unofficial app store of sorts for jailbroken iOS devices like iPads, iPhones and iPod touches, has been around for a good few years now, and it’s improved greatly since its early days. The problem that it’s always had, and so far hasn’t really managed to rectify, is app discovery.

If you fire up Cydia right now, you’ll be faced with a barrage of different categories – some which seem oddly similar to each other – with sub-categories galore. Eventually, after drilling down further than an app-hunting mole, you’re faced with a long, long list of apps and tweaks. It’s worked so far, but the shear number of apps, tweaks and other little pieces of code that have been added to various repositories has left the system broken at its core. It needs fixing, and that’s where the Cydia Developer Directory comes in.
Put together by the lovely people of ModMyi, the directory lists developers who write apps or tweaks for the jailbreak community.


The directory lists developers, as well as their released software, and there’s even a handy little biography section so we can get to know the people behind the code. The whole thing is searchable, and developers can request to be added, should they wish.

Interestingly, there is actually a list of requirements to fulfill before a developer will be considered for adding to the directory, which shows ModMyi intends to keep the riff-raff out.

Are you a jailbreak developer who would like to be added? We are looking for developers who have released products within Cydia, whether free or paid. We look at each submission manually to ensure that high quality products are listed. Some examples of apps we don’t count are apps built purely with UIWebViews in tabs, unpolished/buggy ‘crapps’, and items which are or promote illegal activity.

If there is one argument that is often leveled the jailbreak community, it’s the seeming lack of cohesion and organization. Initiatives like this can help to go some way to fixing that, and we’re all for it.

According to two reports published today, Apple will be launching their new iPhone on October 14th in the U.S along with several other countries on the roster.


The news comes from Boy Genius Report in a post where they cite Macotakara’s report which claims that the next iPhone will be launched in selected markets on October 14th.
The October 14th release date seems quite likely to us, especially in the wake of Apple’s official announcement regarding their media event, which will be held on October 4th at their own campus in Cupertino. The event invite image has “Let’s Talk iPhone” written on it which, well, very obviously suggests that we’ll be seeing iPhone-related hardware announcements, reportedly in a keynote from new CEO Tim Cook himself.

From BGR:

Apple will launch its next-generation iPhone 5 in five initial markets on October 14th according to a new report from Macotakara. The site, which has a mixed track record, reports that Apple will release the new device in the United States, the U.K., Germany, Japan and France on that date, with launches in additional markets to follow. The date aligns closely with earlier comments from France Telecom CEO Stéphane Richard, who said the iPhone 5 would launch from Orange on October 15th, a Saturday.

Traditionally, Apple announces the iPhone at an event and then launches it within 2-3 weeks. This was the case with the last two iPhones: the 3GS and 4. We, then, honestly believe that there really isn’t a report from inside sources required to suggest a release date in the second or third week of October. Still, we’re thankful that the reported date is October 14th and not for sometime in November, otherwise we’d start seeing more “reports” suggesting other made-up release dates.
Another report from BGR also claims from a trusted source over at AT&T (in the United States) that they are seeing a vacation blackout in mid-October which adds even more weigh to the whole thing.

With reports circling that Apple’s next iPhone is due to launch on October 14th, BGR has received new information from a trusted AT&T source that seems to confirm a mid-October launch. AT&T has started to block all employee vacation requests for the first two weeks of October in order to have “all hands on deck.”

We here at Redmond Pie are astonished by just how accurate All Things D’s report on Apple announcing new iPhones on October 4th was. Later on, the same outlet claimed that the event would be held at Apple’s own campus in Cupertino; this turned out to be true as well as the event will be held at Apple Town Hall Auditorium in Cupertino, CA.

We will be covering the iPhone 5 Media Event live on October 4th at 10AM Pacific Time, so stay tuned to HackStor!

Before I wrap up this post, I would like to publicly thank Apple for making things official. It is about time those iPhone 4S/5 rumors ended.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last few months, you’re probably aware that Apple is getting ready to unveil an update for its iPhone hardware, currently dubbed by the rumor community as the iPhone 5. While Apple hasn’t officially announced the new product yet, several reports by anonymous sources, as well as estimates by analysts, have provided much information about the future iPhone to those willing to find it.


Many of you might already be wondering whether you should ditch your current iPhone and get the iPhone 5, and some of you might already be waiting in line at your nearest Apple Store to get one. Market research group AYTM has gathered data from 1,000 iPhone users based in the United States, owning all generations of the device ranging from the iPhone 4 to the original iPhone, and of all usage patterns, as you can tell from the infographic below:



Among the users surveyed, almost half (48.6%) were using Apple’s latest-generation iPhone, the iPhone 4, while only 3.9% were using the original EDGE-only 2007 iPhone. As expected, the members of the latter group claimed to be less likely to upgrade to the iPhone 5, while iPhone 4 users showed the most interest: indeed, many stated that they were “extremely likely” to obtain the new device once it finally hits the shelves. Over three quarters of the owners surveyed were on AT&T, which was the iPhone’s default network until earlier this year, while only 19.5% are on Verizon. Another 5% of users were on unlocked devices, legitimately or otherwise, and on unsupported carriers such as AT&T and Verizon. If you like interesting statistics, wait for this one: from all the users surveyed, almost 20% of them had a jailbroken device.
According to recent rumors, Apple is planning to show off the iPhone 5 at a media event in the first week of October, perhaps on the 4th or 5th, although no date has been officially confirmed yet. Reports over the last few months have consistently pointed to a device with a larger screen, much like other Android smartphones, as well as a larger 8-megapixel rear-facing camera, as opposed to the iPhone 4′s 5-megapixel one. A dual-core A5 processor, similar to the one found on the iPad 2, is expected as well.
What about you? Are you planning on upgrading?

It is finally official folks: Apple will be holding their next media event on October 4th at their own campus at Infinite Loop, Cupertino, CA. The event will begin at 10:00 am Pacific Time.


The news comes straight from Apple as the company just sent out invites to media outlets for their event.
We’re really, really glad that Apple has made things official. The number of reports regarding this event, its proceedings and the new product announcements were starting to mess with our heads. This event will end the influx of all those reports; that is until we near potential announcement dates for the iPad 3 and iPhone 6.
This is going to be a very important event for Apple for a couple of reasons: it is the first event that will be under the new CEO Tim Cook who is expected to present the keynote and that it is expected to be where next-generation hardware will be announced.

We have been hearing a lot about this event recently. Two important reports came from All Things D which correctly claimed that the iPhone event would be held in early October and that it would be held on campus in Cupertino, CA unlike previous events which were held in San Francisco.

While we won’t know for sure until the actual announcements are made, the blogosphere is rife with predictions and reports, all of which suggest different things. Discussing each and every one of them would be a useless activity, but we will, however, enlist the possibilities in the next paragraph.

According to the reports, and one member of Apple Board of Directors, there are a total of four possible handheld products that can be announced: a 3G-ready fifth generation iPod touch, a low-end iPhone 4 look-alike meant for folks who can’t afford high end smartphones, a souped-up iPhone 4 with a dual-core A5 chip (that powers the iPad 2) and, lastly, the next generation high-end iPhone (referred to as iPhone 5).

Stay tuned to HackStor, folks. We’ll be bringing you all the updates as soon as they happen.

According to a new report published today, Apple will be holding a media event on October 4th, where new CEO Tim Cook will take center stage to unveil Apple’s next generation iPhone.

The report comes from All Things D’s John Paczkowski who cites “sources close to the situation” which claim that Tuesday, October 4 is when Apple will be holding their next media event.
We won’t know for certain which product will be announced at this media event, but all reports are pointing towards either a revised iPhone 4, an all-new iPhone 5,or both.

From All Things D:

Tuesday, October 4.
That’s the day Apple is currently expected to hold its next big media event, according to sources close to the situation, where the tech giant will unveil the next iteration of its popular iPhone.
While Apple could certainly change its plans anytime, sources said that the October 4 date has been selected by the company to showcase the iPhone 5. Sources added that the plan is now to make the new device available for purchase within a few weeks after the announcement.

We won’t know for sure until Apple actually announces the new hardware but according to different reports, there are three different possible new iPhones: a low-end version of the iPhone 4 for folks who cannot afford a high-end smartphone, a “revised” iPhone 4 (called the iPhone 4S) which features the dual-core A5 chip used in iPad 2 and a high-end next generation iPhone (called the iPhone 5) with the A5 chip, more RAM, higher battery life, all new design, larger display and a higher-resolution camera.
All Things D previously published a report which went against previous reports in saying that the next iPhone would be unveiled in October which, as it stands, turned out to be true: there are only nine days left in September and there is clearly not going to be a new iPhone this month.
The upcoming media event is pretty important for Apple and its new CEO Tim Cook, who is expected to give the keynote along with help with other executives like Scott Forstall and Phil Schiller.

Redsn0w, the prominent jailbreaking tool developed by veteran of the scene MuscleNerd, has today been updated to version 0.9.9b1 and brings with it some key improvements, rendering it one of the most significant updates to date.
Whilst Redsn0w has done a terrific job of enabling the jailbreak of any iOS device bar the iPad 2, the process is somewhat elongated by the necessity of downloading the entire .iPSW file specific to the device in order to carry it out. The joy of using the likes of Comex’s JailbreakMe or the Chronic Dev Team’s Greenpois0n tool is that one doesn’t have to download those bulky (600mb+) files in order to quickly free the iPhone, iPad or iPod touch of that metaphorical ball and chain.
MuscleNerd has addressed this issue with the very latest update, released just minutes ago. Redsn0w detects and automatically downloads the essential files from Apple’s servers required to perform the jailbreak. Additionally, it stores those files in its cache, preventing the need to re-download for the purpose of carrying out the jailbreak again in the future. The system works for both tethered and untethered jailbreaks depending on the progress that has been made with said version of iOS.
Please note that the ‘scan and store’ of the essential files does NOT apply to the iOS 5 Beta releases. Those wishing to jailbreak one of the several incarnations of iOS 5 Beta will need to go about it the old school way and provide the full .iPSW in order for it to work. This limitation is placed because iOS 5 Betas are not available to public.

Here’s the full change log:

• uses DFU mode to try to automatically determine which device and FW you have
• fetches pieces of public IPSWs from Apple (once).  Non-public IPSWs must be provided manually (once).  It then caches those pieces for future use.
• “Just boot” is a tethered boot.  Uses whatever “Preferences” you’ve set for boot logo and kernel boot-args
• “Pwned DFU” puts your device in a pwned DFU state for some of the iTunes stuff detailed below
• “Recovery fix” gets past 1015 types of errors (when baseband portion of restore fails).  Should work on iOS5 beta too
• “Select IPSW” is for picking non-public IPSWs, or overriding auto-detection
• “SHSH blobs” has a bunch of options…
• “Fetch” – fetch current PARTIAL blobs on device.  Should complete in under 10 or 15 seconds.  Puts the set of PARTIAL of blobs on your computer as a plist.  Checks if Cydia already has a full set for this device and build.  If not, it submits this PARTIAL set and returns Cydia’s acknowledgement or rejection
• “Verify”  – cryptographically verifies existing blob files from either redsn0w, TinyUmbrella, or Cydia server.  You can select a whole bunch of blobs to verify at once if you want (like the TinyUmbrella directory)
• “Submit”  – both verifies and submits one or more blob files to Cydia.  This lets you copy your entire TinyUmbrella cache of blobs up to the Cydia server
• “Query” – queries the Cydia server for all available FULL or PARTIAL blobs for a given set of ECIDs
• “Stitch” – stitches either FULL or PARTIAL blobs to a STOCK or CUSTOM IPSW

1. FULL blobs stitched to a STOCK IPSW gives you a completely self-contained signed IPSW that iTunes will accept without any tricks (no need to go into pwned DFU mode, no need to start TinyUmbrella TSS server, no need to redirect to Cydia server for blobs)
2. PARTIAL blobs stitched to any IPSW requires you to go into pwned DFU mode before running iTunes.  No need to start TU or use Cydia though.
3. stitching either FULL or PARTIAL blobs to a CUSTOM IPSW also requires a pwned DFU start before iTunes restores.  No need to start TU or use Cydia though.
4. stitching is NOT yet supported on iPhones (well, at least not tested).  Need to work out the baseband part of the restore process.
5. will eventually support fetching the blobs directly from Cydia instead of a file on your computer

Redsn0w 0.9.9b1 will jailbreak any device except the iPad 2, which can be jailbroken on 4.3.3 using the jailbreakme.com method. Here’s how to use:

Step 1: Download the new Redsn0w 0.9.9b1 for Windows (direct link) or Mac (direct link).


Step 2: In order to just jailbreak your iOS device, simply click on “Jailbreak” button and follow the standard onscreen instructions to enter DFU mode in order to install Cydia on your device.



If you are not using any Beta firmware (like iOS 5), Redsn0w 0.9.9 will automatically fetch all the important bits from the required firmware files without bothering you to download those large IPSW files.


If you are using iOS 5 Beta firmware, you will need to provide the .IPSW firmware file manually.


Step 3: That’s it! You are done with the jailbreak. Optionally, you can use extra features found under “Extras” option. This includes options such as entering DFU mode, booting in tethered mode (required by all tethered jailbreaks: iOS 4.3.5, 4.3.4, iOS 5), fetching, verifying or using SHSH blobs, changing boot logos and more.



With the end-user release of iOS 5 just around the corner, it would be nice to see a swift update enabling the time and bandwidth saving technique to be applied to the latest firmware. Would be even nicer if we saw an early untethered though, wouldn’t it? Would almost be like Christmas coming early – new iPhone, new firmware and fully untethered jailbreak! Things don’t tend to run that smoothly in the cat and mouse world that pitches the Cupertino company up against the jailbreaking community; But hey, we can hope!

According to an all new report published today, production of the iPhone 4S and  a completely redesigned iPhone 5 with 8MP camera is ramping up, all in preparation of an October 7th release date.

This might not sound like a new piece of information, but the reason we decided to pick this news up was because of the source: The New York Times, according to which a “fairly different” iPhone 5 is “just weeks away” from release.

We’re just weeks away from the announcement of the new Apple iPhone 5, according to an Apple employee who asked not to be named because he was not allowed to speak publicly for the company.
.. an engineer familiar with the new iPhone said it would be fairly different from the iPhone 4 — including on the inside.
The new iPhone will come with an eight-megapixel camera, this person said, an upgrade from the five-megapixel camera in the iPhone 4.

Another report from 9to5Mac claims that there are indeed going to be two different iPhones launched next month. There will be an “iPhone 4 look-alike” which is expected to, well, look like the iPhone 4, but potentially have dumbed down specs to keep the price low. This low-end iPhone is in full production and Apple is reportedly going to launch it on October 7th with 10+ million units in hand. It will be aggressively priced and “be everywhere”.

We’ve heard that there are indeed two different models of iPhone coming out next month (announced this month?) We still think October 7th is the scheduled release date give or take any delays. We’ve heard the low-end model, which is essentially an iPhone 4 look-alike (glass front and back), is rolling off the assembly line in big numbers right now. Apple expects to have 10+ million of these things on hand for launch and full ramped production into the holiday shopping season. These will be priced aggressively and be everywhere.

9to5Mac also talked about the mythical iPhone 5. They say that it is indeed going to be “tear-drop” shaped, with a larger screen and slimmer body. However, it is seeing delays on at least one assembly line, so there is a chance that the iPhone 5 might be delayed or that its initial supply will be limited.
Talking about the iPhone 5’s design and features, the source suggests that it will be a beautiful device, as light as a Galaxy S II, but without the plastic build quality (which even I think is a bit cheap). The iPhone 5’s camera will rival dedicated point and shoot cameras and this feature will be heavily marketed.

The iPhone 5 itself is a sight to behold, we’ve been told. It is impossibly light, yet much firmer than Samsung Galaxy phones which are backed in plastic. The camera rivals point and shoot cameras and will be a major marketing point for this device.

Both models are expected to be announced this month and released in the next, according to the report, that is.

Jailbreak developer MuscleNerd has announced that a major update to popular jailbreaking tool Redsn0w is on its way which lets users jailbreak without needing to point at an IPSW and also lets users submit SHSH blobs to Cydia.

The news come from MuscleNerd himself. The famous jailbreak developer sent out the following from his Twitter account:

Will be pushing out a major redsn0w feature upgrade before my trip to Korea: http://is.gd/PMAdT1 (and look, no IPSW selection button!)

As MuscleNerd said, this is a significant feature upgrade to Redsn0w. Its main new feature is how people looking to jailbreak their iOS device will not have to download those humongous .ipsw files that current and previous versions of Redsn0w required. How does it work then?
Well, the new Redsn0w will only download the essential bits and pieces required for the jailbreaking an iOS device. These “bits and pieces” will be downloaded automatically from Apple’s servers and Redsn0w then applies the jailbreak. The tool automatically finds out which iOS device and which iOS version number is being run and it then applies tethered or untethered jailbreak depending on which kind of jailbreak your device supports.
From MuscleNerd himself:

@mahockey1 it automatically fetches the important pieces directly from Apple (and caches them so that it never needs to re-fetch them again)

However, this auto-downloading and auto-selection of IPSW files is not for beta versions of iOS, so this will not work any of the iOS 5 betas. Instead, you will have to provide the IPSW file yourself. Once it has been selected from Redsn0w, it will be cached so you won’t have to download/select it again.



The updated version of Redsn0w will be released as early as Monday. We will let our readers know about it as soon as it is available!
The current release of Redsn0w which is 0.9.8b7 is one of the best tools for jailbreaking an iOS device, since it supports all iOS devices ever released, save for the iPad 2 which is can only be jailbroken on iOS 4.3.3 with JailbreakMe.
In related news, one of the people behind Redsn0w i.e. MuscleNerd (same guy who announced new Redsn0w) was seen visiting Apple Headquarters at Infinite Loop, Cupertino, CA. This has started rumors of Apple potentially hiring him as a part of the iOS security team. If this turns out to be true, the jailbreaking community will lose another key member (after comex and Peter Hajas).

Folks, this is big, big news. In fact, we’d call it the biggest news of the week: jailbreak hacker p0sixninja of Chronic Dev Team has announced that five userland exploits have been discovered for the iPad 2 and is strongly expected to be used in the next generation iPhone.

The news comes from P0sixninja talk at jailbreaking convention MyGreatFest. P0sixninja looked ecstatic when he gave the announcement a few minutes ago, in which it was stated that iPad 2 and the iPhone 5 can be jailbroken using five userland exploits which have been discovered over time.

Yes, you read that right. Not one, not two, but five exploits have been discovered for the iPad 2 and iPhone 5. What is even more fantastic about this news is how all of these exploits are userland ones. And as quoted by P0sixninja himself “it’s the record breaking number of exploits found”.
These userland exploits are, as suggested by the name, related to software. Unlike hardware-based exploits, these can be patched. A hardware revision wouldn’t matter that much in this case.

As per my knowledge, Apple has only revised hardware once and that was with the iPhone 3GS which received a new model back in late 2009 having an updated bootrom that patched pod2g’s 24kpwn exploit. But since it’s a software exploit then the hardware revision won’t mean much for the jailbreak itself.

What does this mean for you? Well it basically means that iPhone 5 (and iOS 5) should get an (untethered) jailbreak sooner than what was previously expected.

The exploits were discovered by the Chronic Dev Team. A key member of the team itself namely: P0d2g, found exploits like 24kpwn, steaks4uce and also discovered an exploit in the Apple A4 chip, used in iPhone 4, original iPad and iPod touch 4G. p0d2g and p0sixninja are members of the Chronic Dev Team, who were the key developers/hackers behind the famous jailbreak tool Greenpois0n, which back then was the only method available to jailbreak iOS 4.2.1 completely untethered.

Since the jailbreak will be userland, it will work on all iOS devices on all exploit-ready iOS versions, and as mentioned earlier, get an untethered jailbreak for iOS 5 at launch. P0sixninja also quoted that the it will be the most amazing jailbreak yet! So we have high hopes for this one, we’re sure the Chronic Dev Team is bound to please the jailbreaking community with said jailbreak. So yes, the iPhone 5 will highly likely be jailbreakable soon after launch, though the Chronic Dev Team said that they would need the new iPhone 5 itself to see whether the exploits work or not, but, fingers crossed!
Stay tuned as we will keep you updated as soon as we get more info about this!

If you’ve been a frequent reader of this website for the last few months, you’re likely aware that Apple is getting ready to release iOS 5, the next version of its mobile operating system. After months of uncertainty, it now seems that there is at least one team which is actively working on an untethered jailbreak for iOS 5.

This revelation was made in a tweet by @pod2g, one of the members of the iOS hacking group Chronic-Dev Team, authors of tools such as GreenPois0n, confirming that the team was alive and well and working on breaking into iOS 5.




As you might recall, current versions of iOS 5, dating all the way back to Beta 1, could only be jailbroken using the so-called "tethered" methods, such as Redsn0w or Sn0wbreeze. Tethered jailbreaks are similar to untethered ones as far as features go, except for a big difference: tethered jailbreaks require the jailbroken device to be plugged into a computer running Rednsn0w every time it’s powered on or rebooted, in order to launch iOS into a jailbroken state. While this process takes just a few minutes, it can be rather inconvenient, especially for users who are often on the road.
If you’re hoping for an untethered jailbreak for the current version of iOS 5, you might be out of luck, since the developer has made it clear that it wouldn’t publish exploits for pre-release versions of the system. This makes sense, since an early release would only cause Apple to patch the exploit in the final version, and therefore render all the work useless for all of those who might have been unwilling or unable to get their hands on beta releases of iOS:




As with any "announcement" of this kind, no release timeframe was given, yet we will likely see an untethered jailbreak method once the final version of iOS 5 is released to the public, which could anytime between later this month to early next month.
iOS 5 is the next generation of Apple’s operating system that runs on the iPod touch, iPhone and iPad. First introduced and thoroughly showed off at this year’s WWDC back in June, iOS contains many new features, such as a revamped notification system known as Notification Center and system-wide Twitter integration. According to rumors, iOS 5 will be released around the same time frame as the next iPhone, currently known as the iPhone 5.

The lion’s share of information we’ve collated over the past few weeks has indicated an early October release of the fifth-gen iPhone. Although, there’s still no word from Cupertino to report, a fruit company of the Orange variety, or moreover its CEO, has dropped a clinger by appearing to reveal a specific release for the highly-anticipated smartphone.


Stéphane Richard, Chief of Orange, was heard on the radio as stating, "If I believe what we heard, the iPhone will be released Oct. 15," before backtracking somewhat by adding,‘To date, no date is known for its commercial launch even though its production seems to have started in several echoes in the press."
It could just be that he’s an avid HackStor reader and has been keeping tabs on the extensive array of leads we’ve been tracking. Somehow though, that doesn’t seem likely. Stéphane’s more in the "know" than Joe Average, and he would have been briefed at this late stage of the release date rather than relying on Chinese Whispers. It’s just not feasible that the CEO of a multi-billion dollar company would be left in the dark of the projected release date of a product about to be added to its roster. Unless he has been personally misinformed, October 15 appears to be the date to jot down in your notebook (or reminder app – who uses pen and paper?).
With 150,000 iPhone 5 units reportedly being pumped out daily over at Foxconn, it seems only a matter of time before we get a leak of the device, which whilst isn’t as exciting as the actual release, is the next best thing.
What with the distraction of the iPad 2 and the early inquiries into the iPad 3, compounded with the development of iCloud and iOS 5, the release of the iPhone this time around is has been the most delayed yet. The Cupertino company is still basking at the top of the smartphone sales charts as well as the consumer satisfaction polls with both the iPhone 3GS, which is in it’s third year on the market, as well as the gracefully aging yet power-selling iPhone 4, so it’s no wonder there doesn’t seem to be that much urgency.
Not long left to wait now guys, hang on in there!

Folks at NoWhereElse have produced a very nice looking infographic that illustrates all the rumors and possibilities for the next-generation iPhone 5.




An all new design? 4-inch display? Dual-Core CPUs? iOS 5? HDMI output? NFC? LTE? Well we will have to wait for WWDC 2011 in June to find out exactly what are the folks in Cupertino up to this time around. Personally, I would love to get one in white!

It was noted from the beginning by the skeptics that the iPad was merely a big iPhone which didn’t really bring anything new to the table. What with the iPad tablet series coming with 3G technology (if you can afford it), it was surely only a matter of time before the creative minds tried to turn it into quite literally a big iPhone.

Despite a few attempts which didn’t quite make the expected waves such as TruPhone, that time appears to have come with a soon-to-be-released app, which turns your iPad into an all-singing, all-dancing communications device. The aptly named ‘Line2′ app has a tidy interface and costs just $10 a month but you can try it out for a week at no cost. It’s coming out on 28th July and will enable you to make calls via built in speaker and mic or a wired headset, as well as send SMS and listen to voicemail. The app, which works on both 3G and WiFi, utilizes VoIP, and subscribers will get unlimited calls and texts nationwide and allows you to port a preexisting number or create a new one.

Here is a teaser video of Line2 in full flow:



It’s a nice-looking app on the face of it, and the ambient music does well to make it seem like a flawless app. But, The Hulk aside, I cannot really see a huge market for such technology. It could potentially be of good value if a future iPod Touch with 3G was to be released. But until then, an image of people walking down the street talking into a tablet-sized device seems ridiculous and unlikely. Some argue that it would benefit those who have poor eyesight, but the iPhone already has solid features which cater to those who are hard of vision. What do you think? Would you find it in any way useful?

To wrap it all up, there’s also another way of making phone calls from your 3G iPad, but this method of course requires you to be jaibroken, it’s a nifty tweak called PhoneIt-iPad. The best thing about this jailbreak tweak? Well, you just pay $19.99 up front for calls over 3G, but keep in mind that it will use up your minutes or credit, depending on the type of plan you have.