Absinthe’s “so-easy-your-grandma-could-do-it” jailbreak tool just got an update to version 2.0, enabling support for a handful of Apple portables running iOS 5.1.1. Absinthe 2.0, which was developed by the “Jailbreak Dream Team” (Chronic-Dev and iPhone Dev) joins Redsn0w’s tool, and will support all iPhone and iPad versions, with the exception of iPad2,4 — the most recent iPad 2 variant, shipping with a 32nm A5 chip. The jailbreak tool can also be installed on iPod3,1 and 4,1 models. Assuming your iOS device is up and running with firmware 5.1.1, you can hit up the source link after the break to get your download on. AppleTV (second gen) users can get in on the fun too, with the latest version of Seas0npass for 5.0.1.

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Apple has famously shunned the humble stylus, so it’s fair to say we’re more than a little curious about why it’s filed a patent application for one. The “optical stylus” mentioned seems simple enough. The claims outline the brains to interpret your doodlings, as well pressure and orientation. Beyond that, well, it’s more or less just a stylus. While we suspected the team at Cupertino were fans of Draw Something, we didn’t think they’d take it this seriously!

SOURCE via USPTO

Did you see the Google+ 2.0 update for iPhone and wonder if Google’s attention had drifted away from its own baby? Don’t fret, as the Android app has just been given similarly loving treatment. The interface shares the reworked stream look that we saw on iOS while keeping the swipe-to-switch category filters that Google+ has used from the start. There’s even small rewards for having to watch your iPhone friends go first: you can now start a Hangout video chat from the main menu, get ringing Hangout notifications, download photos directly from conversations and edit your posts after the fact. The new look has already proved polarizing, but if you’re the sort who revels in the purity of a Google social network running on a Google platform, you can now try the overhaul for yourself.

SOURCE via Google

There have been rumors of an Apple iCar for much longer than five years. But it was five years ago that there was enough heat under them for a German newspaper to report that Steve Jobs and Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn had met to discuss the idea. A year later another German outlet printed a photo of a VW concept (pictured above) alongside an iPhone, and a columnist in the New York Times kindly asked Steve Jobs to save Detroit.

But did the iCar ever really exist as more than an idea? Mickey Drexler is the CEO of J. Crew and sits on the board of Apple Computer, and at a recent conference in New York he said that Steve Jobs’ “dream before he died was to design an iCar.” Drexler doesn’t say when Jobs had this dream, whether it was just before he died or so long ago that it could substantiate the ancient rumors. No matter, Drexler said “He never did design it.”

The edited video of Drexler’s comments is posted below. And know that this doesn’t mean the rumors, nor the iCar itself, are dead.

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Smartphones have revolutionized how we communicate and the way we create, share and consume content. Yet there’s one aspect of using these devices that remains stuck in the last millennium, and that’s the calling experience — yes, apparently some people still make phone calls. Sure, there are plenty of VoIP and video calling apps out there, but few are simple and beautiful.

Enter Sidecar, a free app which aims to reinvent the way we make phone calls by adding messaging as well as real-time video, photo, location and contact sharing to that antiquated calling experience. It achieves this through an intuitive and polished user interface plus a handful of standards such as SIP and XMPP. Phone calls between Sidecar users are free anywhere in the world — the app even supports free WiFi calling to any number in the US or Canada.

While Sidecar’s been available in beta on Android for several weeks, it’s launching on iOS today with support for the iPhone and iPod touch.

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It’s been a long, long time since Apple undertook a significant redesign of the iPod touch, which hasn’t been looked at since 2010 and received just a splash of white last year. A possible front panel part leak we’ve just seen could overturn all that — and hint at the 2012 iPhone’s direction in the process. If we go by the claims of MacRumors’ supplier friends, the media player would be growing up, but not out, with a taller 4.1-inch screen. We’re skeptical, as the white part (black on the inside) seems almost too good to be true — we haven’t seen anything similar elsewhere in the unofficial parts market. Still, having heard murmurs of larger iPhone screens and knowing Apple’s own tendency to base the iPod touch on whatever iPhone flavor is new this year, we could be looking at iPhones and iPods growing for the first time since 2007. There’s also some as yet unconfirmed next-gen iPhone parts included by the source, although we’d hesitate to call them smoking guns unless they’re put together in Apple-like form later in the year.

SOURCE via MacRumors

NPD DisplaySearch is declaring Apple to be the undisputed champion of the mobile PC business for the first quarter of the year. The fruity phone flinger shipped (shipped, not sold) 17.2 million mobile PCs in the time, a figure that contentiously includes the iPad. Second place was taken by HP, which packed off 8.9 million units — enough to put it at the top of the Laptop-only chart.

It’s a familiar story over on the tablets leader-board, too. Cupertino pushed out 13.6 million iPads to maintain first place, while Samsung took the silver medal after packing off 1.6 million of its numerous Galaxy slates. Surprisingly, Amazon only needed to ship 900,000 Kindle Fires to take third, although given that the bookseller never discloses its numbers, we have to take that last number with a dash of disbelief.

Cupertino residents may have received an unsolicited package from their most prominent neighbor this week. No, it’s not a new iPad, or an early look at the iPhone 5 — instead, people close to Apple (from a physical perspective) opened the glossy mailing to reveal a detailed look at Apple Campus 2, which will consist of 176 acres currently occupied by “aging buildings” and trees. As we already know, the campus will feature one main circular four-story building with 2.8 million square feet of office and common space, along with an additional 300,000 square feet set aside for dedicated (secure) research buildings. There will be a restaurant, fitness center and other facilities aimed to “reduce automobile trips” as part of the company’s plan to protect the environment. Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer appeals to neighbors in a single-page letter, offering additional information upon receipt of a pre-stamped response card, which also prompts neighbors to add their name to a list of supporters, attend a public meeting or write a letter to show their support for the new Apple complex. You’ll find Oppenheimer’s letter in full after the break, along with additional photos at the source link. Read more…

Android and PlayStation Vita owners have felt the Music Unlimited love on their respective devices for quite some time now, but the Spotify / MOG / Rdio competitor has finally made its way to the App Store, bringing with it yet another option for streaming music on iOS. The free app appears to be optimized for iPhone and iPod touch (though it’s also compatible with iPad), and will enable on-the-go jammin’ with a $4-per-month Basic subscription over 3G, 4G or WiFi connections. You can pull in tunes from the millions of tracks in Sony’s collection, or access songs on your PC using the Music Sync service. The app is currently only available in the New Zealand App Store, but it’s expected to hit other Music Unlimited countries soon. For now, you can hit up the source link for the Kiwi App Store preview, or head over to the Music Unlimited site to sign up.

SOURCE via 9to5mac

Kodak hasn’t caught a break lately, and that trend isn’t easing up any time soon with a second rejection arriving in its main International Trade Commission (ITC) patent dispute with Apple and RIM. Despite having had its case remanded after a loss last year, Kodak is once more being told that BlackBerrys and iPhones don’t violate a patent on previewing photos. The one violation was rendered moot through “obviousness,” according to administrative law judge Thomas Pender. It’s still an initial ruling, and Kodak is trying to put a positive light on the situation — it’s “pleased” there’s still an infringement, even if the patent claim is invalid — but the patent wars aren’t looking good for a photography company that has already had to give up cameras to have a chance of staying afloat. Most of Kodak’s hope, then, will be pinned on a second wave of ITC disputes that might stand a better chance of putting at least Apple’s feet to the fire.

SOURCE via CNET