iPhone 5 To Have Major Redesign, With Announcement And Availability In August [REPORT]

Earlier today, we reported that Apple is cutting its iPhone 4 orders ahead of the launch of a new iPhone model. Based on the information previously available, we speculated that the next iPhone would be a relatively small upgrade. Now, reports are indicating that in fact it will actually be a major one, likely to be known as the "iPhone 5".

Although not much information is known at this point, the new handset is expected to include a brand-new case design, despite previous rumors that it wouldn’t. According a "reliable source", the new case design will be "radically new", which makes us wonder what it will actually look like.

Just last month, we reported that Apple had purchased 200-300 glass cutting machines to be used by suppliers. That immediately points to a future handset with a curved glass screen. While glass cutting is expensive and can often lead to unexpected results, Google’s Nexus S already includes a curved-glass screen for better comfort. As Apple looks to other makers for ways to improve its user experience, a curved glass screen could definitely make sense.

Other sources are also pointing at a larger screen while not increasing the size of the device, possibly making it edge-less, for better movie viewing experience. HTC has experimented with this before, although larger screens have always led to larger devices. The size of the current iPhone is seen by many as "perfect", I’m not sure how well a larger form factor would sit in with the iPhone user base.

It’s not clear what the rest of the casing will look like, although we can speculate that it will likely reverse some of the exterior antenna design found on the iPhone 4, which led to dropped calls when the handset wasn’t "held properly". Could the new design be even thinner than before?

This new report has also revealed a possible new release time frame. The consensus was that we’d only see a new device in September, but this source estimates that we’ll see an unveiling at a special event in mid-August, along with a release later that month. It’s not clear whether the traditional September Music event will happen a little sooner, or whether we’ll see an actual separate event the month before.

Of course, there’s also the possibility that there might be no truth to this story, but the source who leaked this is allegedly very credible. We’ll have to wait and see, folks.

Angry Birds For Free Right In Your Desktop Web Browser

Rovio Mobile, the makers of smash hit mobile game Angry Birds announced a new browser-based version of the game at today’s Google I/O event.

The new release was built using WebGL and uses local-caching so players can continue to cause mayhem even when not connected to the internet.

The survival of the Angry Birds is at stake. Dish out revenge on the green pigs who stole the Birds’ eggs. Use the unique destructive powers of the Angry Birds to lay waste to the pigs’ fortified castles. Angry Birds features hours of gameplay, challenging physics-based castle demolition, and lots of replay value. Each of the 70 levels requires logic, skill, and brute force to crush the enemy.

Available to download now from the Chrome Web Store for absolutely nothing, the game features all-new Chrome inspired levels and the Mighty Eagle add-on will be available via the new Google Payments in-app purchasing feature at a later date. The game will also work in other browsers should Chrome not float your particular boat.

Angry Birds is available for almost all platforms at this point with the franchise going from strength to strength. And it’s not just games either – Angry Birds merchandise is a license to print money, be it iPhone cases or cuddly toys.

Download

Google Android vs Apple iOS

Throughout 2010 there were escalating tensions between Google Android and Apple iOS, as the two platforms emerged as the rising superpowers in the mobile world. But, if you thought things were heated between them last year, then as the saying goes, you ain’t seen nothing yet. These two ecosystems are on course for a massive collision in 2011 and the stakes are about to get a lot higher.

The arrival of the iPhone on Verizon is a major incursion into what had previously become Android territory. Android 3.0 “Honeycomb” (the tablet OS) is about to unleash an army of Android tablets in a full frontal assault on the iPad. There is going to be blood, but as my colleague Larry Dignan notes, the carnage is likely going to have a greater impact on the other competitors in the mobile market more than on Apple and Google themselves.

To help evaluate the race between Android and iOS in 2011, I’d like to approach it from the perspective of where the two platforms are vulnerable. That will help give us an idea of where they might go after each other and where upstarts may try to challenge them.

Weak spots for iOS

For the iPhone and iPad the number one draw is ease of use. Your toddler and your grandmother (the one who is intimidated by computers) can both pick up one of these devices and figure out how to use it. As Jerry Pournelle says, with Apple products “everything is either very simple or it’s utterly impossible.” The utterly impossible side is where we find Apple’s first weak spot.

1. Software inflexibility: There is very little tweaking and customization allowed by iOS. You have to do it Apple’s way or else it’s probably not an option. These limits allow iOS products to function very well within the protected space carved out by Apple. However, if you have the need or desire to do something that is not within the boundaries Apple has set for iOS (and can’t create an app to handle it), then you’re out of luck.

2. Productivity limitations: Both the iPhone and iPad are far better devices for consuming information than creating it. Part of the problem is with the on-screen keyboard, which works magnificently for short bursts of data entry but is not something you want to use for writing an email or document of greater length. The operating system itself is not especially tailored for multi-tasking or work-focused tasks such as building presentations, editing files, and juggling several bits of information at once.

3. Fewer hardware choices: Some people prefer really big screens while other people like ultra-small and portable devices. Some want a high-resolution camera lens and all the multimedia bells and whistles in their mobile device, while others don’t need any of that stuff (and don’t want to pay for it) but want a really nice hardware keyboard so that they can do longer data entry more comfortably. With Apple products, you have very few choices. In fact, with both iPhone and iPad there are really only two choices to make when buying the product: storage and connectivity. You get to pick how much storage you want and you get to pick the wireless carrier on the iPhone or the Wi-Fi only model vs. the mobile broadband model on the iPad. That’s it.

Weak spots for Android

The best thing about Android is that its Open Handset Allianceincludes some of the biggest and best vendors in the mobile world, including Samsung, Motorola, HTC, LG, Dell, Sony-Ericsson, and many more. The Android partners make devices in all shapes and sizes and in virtually every iteration you can imagine. That’s also part of the problem.

1. Ecosystem chaos: The Android operating system is open source and so hardware makers can take it and do almost anything they want with it. The only real carrot-and-stick that Google has is whether to allow the hardware makers the ability to include the Android Market for applications on their devices. And, frankly, Google has not used this as effectively as it could to keep vendors from doing bad things like launching with long-outdated versions of Android like the Dell Streak did and loading up the device with a bunch of uninstallable crapware like AT&T did with the HTC Aria and Verizon did with the Samsung Fascinate.

2. Wildly inconsistent experiences: One of the main consequences of the ecosystem melee is that there is not enough of a consistent experience across different Android devices. For example, nearly all of the hardware vendors put the Android menu buttons in a different order at the bottom of the screen, and many of them even use different types of button icons, further confusing users. Then there’s the issue of Android software updates. Google releases major updates to the Android OS at least twice a year. However, in 2010, the only device that got those updates right away was Google’s Nexus One, which runs the stock Android OS. All of the other Android devices have a vendor-supplied skin (which typically makes the devices worse instead of better) that runs on top of Android. The hardware vendors have to update their custom Android skins to make them compatible with the newest Android software and then submit it to the wireless carriers, who have to make sure it doesn’t conflict with any of their Android apps, and then it finally gets pushed to the consumer. The timing of these updates is very inconsistent across the Android ecosystem.

3. Leadership vacuum: A lot of these Android problems boil down to the fact that Google needs to show stronger leadership of its ecosystem. Even if it can’t ultimately force the hands of hardware vendors since Android is open source, it can use the Android Market as a bigger stick against gross violators and it can publicly suggest best practices that it would like to see Android vendors adopt in order to pressure (and occasionally inspire) the hardware makers and wireless carriers into better behavior.

How will it turn out?

In the smartphone market, you have to wonder how well these two will be able to market against each other to exploit their weaknesses. The two are fairly well solidified in people’s minds. Unless more people get sick of being locked into the iTunes ecosystem on iPhone (no sign of that yet) or get fed up with the crapware and delayed updates with Android (only a few instances where the masses have noticed), then the 2010 growth trajectory of both platforms will likely hold.

The game is a little more wide open in tablets. Companies like ASUS are targeting Apple’s weak spots in productivity and hardware choices. Hewlett-Packard could combine its long experience in tablet hardware with Palm’s webOS to create a tablet with much better multi-tasking and business features than Android and iOS. But, again, Apple has a big lead here and Google’s tablet OS that it showed off at CES looked very impressive and there are already a lot of big hardware vendors that have lined up to use it.

The bottom line is that both Android and iOS are going to be wildly successful in 2011 and continue to gobble up mobile marketshare. In most cases, it won’t come at the expense of each other, although we should expect Apple to initially steal some Android sales on Verizon and Android will eat away at some iPad sales when its first wave of tablets hit the ground in the spring.

Nevertheless, there will be a ton of new customers coming into the market in both smartphones and tablets in 2011. Look for Google and Apple to dominate most of the new sales in both of those markets. That will keep both Android and iOS on major growth trajectories. Android will have a lot more devices and a lot more companies pushing its devices, so it will ultimately grab greater market share in smartphones, although Apple is very competitive on price (unlike in the Mac vs. PC battles of 1980s and 1990s) so it won’t just be relegated to the high end of the market. It will take a much larger chunk of market share than it did in the PC wars.

And, in tablets, Apple is out to a huge lead with the surprising success of the iPad. Android and others will start to eat into that cushion in 2011, but Apple will still command a majority of that market by the end of the year.

What about Microsoft, HP, BlackBerry, and Nokia?

Unfortunately, it looks like all four of these behemoths are on the wrong side of history. These guys are all going to be reduced to challenger status in 2011. They’ll be on the outside looking in. Both Microsoft (with Windows Phone 7) and HP (with Palm webOS) could have snatched some of the momentum away from Apple and Google a year ago in the smartphone market, but they’re a little late now. Even though both have solid products, their timing is off and they have a lot of ground to make up in winning over software developers to their platforms.

As for BlackBerry and Nokia, they both have a large installed base of customers to draw on and build from, but it’s not going to be enough to stem their losses in 2011. They are both too far behind when it comes to product innovation. Oh sure, they will continue to hold on to nice chunks of old market share in some places, but both will likely continue their decline at accelerating rates in 2011.

How To Jailbroken iOS 4.3.2 Already Using PwnageTool

The just released iOS 4.3.2 firmware update for iPhone 4, iPad and iPod touch 3G/4G has been successfully jailbroken using custom PwnageTool bundles. The jailbreak though is tethered only for now, which means that you will have to boot it into jailbroken state every time you reboot.

Cydia running on iOS 4.3.2, iPhone 4 (GSM)

Support for iPhone 3GS and iPod touches is on the way ! Simply follow the instructions posted below to jailbreak iOS 4.3.2 on iPhone 4 using a combination of our very own PwnageTool bundle for iPhone 4, PwnageTool 4.3, and tetheredboot utility.

Here’s what you will need:

• PwnageTool 4.3
• iOS 4.3.2 firmware
• iTunes 10.2.1
• Mac OS X
• PwnageTool bundle for iOS 4.3.2
• tetheredboot utility

Note:

• There is no unlock for the new baseband on iOS 4.3.2. If your iPhone relies on a carrier unlock, DO NOT update to stock iOS 4.3.2.
• iPad 2 users on iOS 4.3 should stay away from iOS 4.3.2 until further confirmation.
• Cydia is fully working on iOS 4.3.2
• It is a semi-tethered jailbreak.
• Your baseband will not be upgraded during restore process.
• Hacktivation is supported.

Modifying PwnageTool

Step 1: Download PwnageTool bundle for your version of iOS device. Extract the .zip folder, in there you will find a .bundle file, for this guide, we are using iPhone 4 bundle iPhone3,1_4.3.2_8H7.bundle. Move this file to your desktop.

Step 2: Download PwnageTool 4.3 and copy it to /Applications directory. Right click, and then click on “Show Package Contents” as shown in the screenshot below.

Step 3: Navigate to Contents/Resources/FirmwareBundles/ and paste iPhone3,1_4.3.2_8H7.bundle file in this location.

Building iOS 4.3.2 Custom Firmware
Step 4: Download iOS 4.3.2 firmware. Move this file to your desktop.

Step 5: Start PwnageTool in “Expert mode” and select your device:

Step 6: Browse for iOS 4.3.2 firmware for your device as shown in the screenshot below:

Step 7: Now select “Build” to start creating custom 4.3.2 firmware file:

Step 8: PwnageTool will now create the custom .ipsw file for your iPhone which will be jailbroken.

Step 9: Now follow the following steps to enter DFU mode using PwnageTool:

• Hold Power and Home buttons for 10 seconds
• Now release the Power button but continue holding the Home button for 10 more seconds
• You device should now be in DFU mode

Restore iOS 4.3.2 Custom Firmware Using iTunes
Step 10: Start iTunes, click on your iOS device icon from the sidebar in iTunes. Now press and hold left “alt” (option) button on Mac, or Left “Shift” button if you are on Windows on the keyboard and then click on “Restore” (Not “Update” or “Check for Update”) button in the iTunes and then release this button.

This will make iTunes prompt you to select the location for your custom firmware 4.3.2 file. Select the required custom .ipsw file that you created above, and click on “Open”.

Step 11: Now sit back and enjoy as iTunes does the rest for you. This will involve a series of automated steps. Be patient at this stage and don’t do anything silly. Just wait while iTunes installs the new firmware 4.3.2 on your iOS device. Your iOS device screen at this point will be showing a progress bar indicating installation progress. After the installation is done, your iOS device will be jailbroken on iOS 4.3.2.

Booting in Tethered Mode
Last but not the least, since there is no untethered jailbreak for iOS 4.3.2 yet, we will have to boot it into a tethered jailbroken state. To do this, we will make use of a utility named “tetheredboot” as shown in the steps below.

Step 12: Download tetheredboot.zip utility for Mac OS X and extract the .zip file.

Step 13: First, we will need two files from the custom iOS 4.3.2 firmware namely: kernelcache.release.n90 and iBSS.n90ap.RELEASE.dfu. To do this, make a copy of your custom iOS 4.3.2 file that you created above, change the extension of this file from .ipsw to .zip, and then extract this .zip file.

Now copy kernelcache.release.n90 file, and then copy iBSS.n90ap.RELEASE.dfu files which are found under /Firmware/dfu/.

Move all these files, and tetheredboot utility to a new folder named “tetheredboot” on the desktop as shown in the screenshot below.

Step 14: Turn off your iOS device, and start Terminal on OS X and run the following commands:
sudo -s

enter your administrator password, then:

/Users/TaimurAsad/Desktop/tetheredboot/tetheredboot
/Users/TaimurAsad/Desktop/tetheredboot/iBSS.n90ap.RELEASE.dfu
/Users/TaimurAsad/Desktop/tetheredboot/kernelcache.release.n90

You will have to of course replace “TaimurAsad” with the name of the directory on your computer.

now press enter.

NOTE: If the above fails, try ‘tetheredboot -i ibss -k kernel’ instead of ‘tetheredboot ibss kernel’:

/Users/TaimurAsad/Desktop/tetheredboot/tetheredboot –i
/Users/TaimurAsad/Desktop/tetheredboot/iBSS.n90ap.RELEASE.dfu -k
/Users/TaimurAsad/Desktop/tetheredboot/kernelcache.release.n90

Tip: Simply drag and drop in Terminal – tetheredboot file, then iBSS file and then kernelcache.release file.

You should now see some code running in the Terminal window, at some point, it will ask you to enter DFU mode. Now follow the following steps to enter DFU mode:

• Hold Power and Home buttons for 10 seconds
• Now release the Power button but continue holding the Home button for 10 more seconds
• You device should now be in DFU mode

Now wait for your device to boot, Terminal at this point will be showing “Exiting libpois0n” message. After a short while, your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch will be booted in a jailbroken tethered mode !

 

You may also like to check out:

• How to Downgrade iOS 4.3.2 to 4.3.1, 4.3, 4.2.1 on iPhone 4, 3GS, iPad 2, iPad, iPod touch

How to Downgrade iOS 4.3.2 to 4.3.1, 4.3, 4.2.1 on iPhone 4, 3GS, iPad 2, iPad, iPod touch

If you upgraded to iOS 4.3.2, and now you want to downgrade back to iOS 4.3.1, iOS 4.3, iOS 4.2.1, simply follow the instructions posted below to downgrade iOS 4.3.2 on iPhone 4, 3GS, iPod touch, iPad 2 and iPad 1 to iOS 4.3.1, iOS 4.3, iOS 4.2.1, 4.1, 4.0.x.

NOTE: This guide will only work if you have SHSH blobs saved for the respective firmware you downgrading to.

Step 1: Download the required old ipsw firmware files.

Step 2: Put your device into DFU mode (not recovery mode).

• Connect your iOS device to your computer.
• Turn it off.
• Start iTunes.
• Hold Power and Home buttons together for 10 seconds or so.
• Release Power button but keep holding the Home button until your computer recognizes a new USB device.
• iTunes will now recognize your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch.

Note: Your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch screen at this time should be blank (black in color), if not, then you are most likely in Recovery Mode, not DFU mode.

Step 3: Now trick iTunes into thinking that it is watching Apple servers, while in real, we are going to change the address to Saurik’s server. To do this:

• Navigate to C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\ and locate “hosts” file.

Mac OS X users can get to “/etc/” directory by going through “Go –> Go to Folder” from Finder.

• Open this “hosts” file in Notepad (for Windows) or TextEdit (for Mac OS X) and add this

74.208.105.171 gs.apple.com

line as shown in the screenshot below:

Now simply save this file and you are good to go!

NOTE for Windows 7 and Vista: Start “Notepad” with Administrator privileges by right clicking on “Notepad” app, and click on “Run as Administrator“ option.

NOTE for Mac OS X: Make sure you have full read and write access on your account when you are saving the host file. If it still throws permission error, simply copy the host file to desktop, make the required changes, and then replace it with the original file in “/etc/” directory.

Step 4: Start iTunes, click on your iOS device icon from the sidebar in iTunes. Now press and hold left “alt” (option) button on Mac, or Left “Shift” button if you are on Windows on the keyboard and then click on “Restore” (Not “Update” or “Check for Update”) button in the iTunes and then release this button.

This will make iTunes prompt you to select the location for your iOS 4.3.1, iOS 4.3, iOS 4.2.1 or 4.1 firmware file. Select the desired ipsw file and click on “Open” to restore your iOS device.

Now sit back and enjoy as iTunes does the rest for you. This will involve a series of automated steps. Be patient at this stage and don’t do anything silly. Just wait while iTunes installs the requested firmware on your iOS device. Your device screen at this point will be showing a progress bar indicating installation progress. Once done, it will reboot automatically.

Now in some cases while restoring to iOS 4.3.1, iOS 4.3, iOS 4.2.1 or 4.1, iTunes might throw 1013 error at you as shown in the screenshot below. This is normal, just ignore this error as the firmware has already been successfully installed on the device.

Incase of the above mentioned error, your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch will be stuck in Recovery Mode, showing that “Connect to iTunes” screen.

To exit your device from Recovery Mode, download this program called TinyUmbrella (Windows/Mac), and Fix Recovery (Windows/Mac). Run it and the click on “Exit Recovery” button. Your device will now restart normally.

That’s it, you should now be able to jailbreak and unlock your device on the older iOS 4.3.1, iOS 4.2.1 or iOS 4.1 firmware.

Last but not the least, you must now remove 74.208.105.171 gs.apple.com line from the host file so that you are prompted for future updates from Apple via iTunes.

iOS 4.3.2 for iPhone, iPad, iPod touch [Direct Links Download]

Apple has just released iOS 4.3.2 update for iPhone 4 (iOS 4.2.7 for Verizon iPhone 4), iPhone 3GS, iPad 2, iPad, and iPod touch 4G/3G. This is just a minor update to fix bugs, DNS issues, fix document viewer, FaceTime issues, vulnerabilities and some battery life woes on all iOS devices.

To update to iOS 4.3.2, all you need to do is to connect your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch with your computer via USB and start iTunes 10.2.1. You should now see a message prompt as shown below. Simply click on “Download and Install” (Mac OS X) or “Download and Update” (Windows) button to get on to the new firmware 4.3.2.

The final version of the last major update, iOS 4.3, was released back on March 10, followed by iOS 4.3.1 on March 25th, 2011.
Direct Download Links for iOS 4.3.2 / 4.2.7 (Official from Apple)

• iPhone 4 (GSM)
• iPhone 4, iOS 4.2.7 (Verizon)
• iPhone 3GS
• iPad 2 WiFi
• iPad 2 GSM
• iPad 2 CDMA
• iPad
• iPod touch 3G
• iPod touch 4G

Download iTunes 10.2.1 for Windows and Mac

When is IPhone 5 Release Date?

Everybody is still talking about when it will be possible to own the Apple iPhone 5. The often-predicted release date has been moved back repeatedly. The last word about the iPhone 5 release date is that it may be delayed until later in 2011. One source says the iPhone 5 will not be available for purchase until 2012.

Comparing this indefinite date to years past, it will be a change from Apple’s tradition of releasing a smartphone in the summertime. According to a blog named MacRumors, one reader heard from an AT&T employee that the long-awaited iPhonecould be delayed beyond 2011. The blog entry states that the AT&T source cannot pin-down an exact date. This second-hand news has not been confirmed or denied.

The report indicates that the iPhone 5 release date will definitely not be in June or July. The only definite facts say that a new version is in the works and will be available at a future time. Apple confirms that it will be released. Apple does not confirm the date when this release will occur.

The next version of the iPhone will have cameras that have higher resolution, Apple’s A5 processor and hardware that will allow smartphone owners to make FaceTime video conference calls. In addition, it will serve as an electronic wallet.

The iPhone 5 release date may increase the market percentage, which is currently ten percentage points lower than the Android. Both are leading the Mobile/Windows Phone 7 and the BlackBerry.