We reported back in September 2010 that Apple was gearing up to purchase Polar Rose, a Swedish company doing some pretty interesting things with facial recognition-based technologies. Polar Rose is also the company behind the Recognizr app, which detects people on live video. It’s been almost a year, and we’re now getting more of an idea […]
Under eight hours. That was the time it took to jailbreak beta 3 of iOS 5, which dropped back on July 11th and was unleashed later that day. Now beta 4 is out and, well, our stopwatches are ticking. A new beta of iTunes has also been included, though looking through the change log there’s nothing particularly amazing about this release. Among other minutia, the Twitter app will now prompt you if it’s unable to identify your location before you exit it, MobileMe local contacts are deleted instead of being merged, and iCloud file names are now case sensitive. Yes, we can hear you CamelCase lovers cheering.
Interestingly, this is the first version of iOS5 that is said to be able to be applied OTA — though that particular option comes with the warning that all photos will be deleted should you give it a try. We’re guessing that “feature” will not be present in the final release candidate, but we could be wrong. Would certainly make for a fun Easter egg…
Update: We’re actually having issues applying this on our many and myriad devices, and we’re seeing others reporting the same. We’ll keep trying, but let us know how you’re getting on in comments.
Update 2: Looks like we got it. We had to go back to 4.3.4 and then we were able to move up to beta 4. Maybe that’ll work for you. Maybe you’ll be still stuck in the doldrums of beta 3. Either way, you’re still okay by our book.
Update 3: Looks like the jailbreak is out in full force. Not too shabby, eh?
iOS 5 beta 4 released, we start the next jailbreak timer (update: time’s up!) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 22 Jul 2011 17:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Catch Clipper hopes to encourage repeat visitors to a website by letting them save content to read later
As society adopts mobile devices further and our ADD increases, “read it later” has practically become a part of our modern lexicon. Instapaper made it famous, but there’s another app in town that wants in on the territory.
Catch Clipper lets readers digest information on their own time. It’s a button that administrators can embed on their websites, so that those using the Catch Notes app can copy an article’s text and, you guessed it, read it later. The article appears in a Catch Notes user’s “lifestream,” which is essentially a curated list of text, pictures, voice recordings and other information you’ve captured. That list can be accessed via browser, tablet, or smartphone through the Catch Notes app.
“The Catch Clipper enables your readers to grab and save articles to their private journals, increasing the shelf life of your content and bringing loyal readers back to your website,” Steve Brown, CEO of Catch.com, said in a statement.
There are already several well-established players in or entering the save-it-for-later space. iOS 5 is a big one: It has built-in “read it later” function, as well as photo and document sharing capabilities. After iOS 5 is released, startups like Dropbox and Instapaper may have a tough time competing. But for now, Instapaper continues to lead the way in the “read it later” space.
So what benefit does Catch Clipper offer over these other services?
Clipper “makes content available across all devices” like iOS 5, said Andreas Schobel, CTO of Catch.com, via email. “But it differs in the fact that it then lets users organize them into topical streams.” So not only can you access your article across all the mobile gadgets you own, you’ll view it in the context of your curated — or “topical” — stream, almost as a sort of digital bookmark for a certain place and time in your life.
Catch Notes is free to download on the Android Market for Android smartphones and tablets, as well as free in the App Store for iPhone and iPad. A Pro version is available for $5 per month (or at a discounted rate of $45 per year).
Did you know that your second-gen Apple TV has a Bluetooth radio hidden inside it? Well it does but, until now, the only way to access it was with a little jailbreaking and some command line chops. That could all be changing though, with the release of iOS 5 this fall. 9to5Mac pulled some interesting code from the latest developer beta of iOS indicating that support for Bluetooth keyboards is coming to the Apple TV and, potentially, the ability pair other devices as well. In addition to making search without the iPhone remote app far less painful, a keyboard is an essential part of bringing apps to the tiny media box — something that has been rumored would happen for quite sometime. It’s possible these capabilities will only be unlocked on some unannounced third-gen streaming device, but we’re hoping this will bring a little life to our still reasonably new iTunes boxes.
Apple TV to score Bluetooth support with iOS 5, make search slightly less painful? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 13 Jul 2011 09:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Who needs sleep, right? Rather than putting in the tried-and-true “eight hours” that your mum still insists that you get, you’re going to be doing something a bit more adventurous this evening. Something involving a “jailbreak” of your recently updated iPod touch, iPhone or iPad. Just hours after Apple pushed out iOS 5 beta 3 to its developers, a Sn0wbreeze update has been confirmed to support jailbreaking on that very build. Sadly, it’s still tethered for the time being, and the iPad 2 remains unsupported, but those with nerves of steel (and gobs of vacation days) can hit the source links to get started. Furthermore, we’re just starting to see what kind of wacky tricks beta 3 has up its sleeve — things like custom alerts for text messages and what appears to be a shattering of the app grid on the iPad. For more on that, hop on past the break; for more on the jailbreak, we’d encourage you to talk amongst yourselves in comments below.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Continue reading iOS 5 beta 3 already jailbroken, new features come to light
iOS 5 beta 3 already jailbroken, new features come to light originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 12 Jul 2011 00:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Ready for a newly refined recipe for the next flavor of iOS? After dropping iOS 5 beta 2 on us on June 24th, Apple has now unleashed beta 3, meaning those with sensitive taste buds (and developer accounts) can start sniffing and sussing out what’s changed. Of note seem to be a bevy of toggles controlling location services in detail, while there’s also a new switch for voice roaming in settings. From what we’re seeing not a lot has changed visually anywhere outside of the gears icon, but don’t let that stop you from grabbing this savory download.
Update: In case you were wondering, yes indeed this new beta can still be jailbroken.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
iOS 5 beta 3 comes out of the oven, brings new fixes and toggles to the table originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 11 Jul 2011 14:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
It’s only been a few days since Apple released iOS 5 beta 2, but we’ve already received a bevy of tips from developers who’ve spent some quality time with the update and uncovered a few of its more salient features. Here are some highlights.
Update: We’re hearing from many of you that the gallery functionality was actually a part of beta 1. But, you’re encouraged to continue enjoying it here, in beta 2.
[Thanks to everyone who sent these in]
Continue reading iOS 5 beta 2 blocks Gevey SIM Unlock, brings photo album curation to iDevices
iOS 5 beta 2 blocks Gevey SIM Unlock, brings photo album curation to iDevices originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 27 Jun 2011 06:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Hey iOS developers, guess what? iOS 5 beta 2 is now available for your downloading pleasure, and from what we understand, it ushers in wireless syncing for Macs running iTunes 10.5 beta 2. So hop on over and download it already, and don’t hesitate to tell us how it’s treating you in the comments below. We’ll return the favor if we find anything remarkable — we promise.
[Thanks, Haseeb]
iOS 5 beta 2 now available for developers originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Jun 2011 18:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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MobileMe’s complete disappearance is still a good ways off, but it’s safe to say that the transition to iCloud is well underway at Cupertino (and Maiden, North Carolina, for that matter). A brief FAQ has emerged today over at Apple’s site, detailing answers to a few burning questions about the future of MobileMe. As stated before, all MobileMe users who had an account prior to June 6, 2011 will see their service extended through June 30, 2012 at no extra cost, but what’s new here is the amount of functionality that’ll also be available from a website. Starting at an undisclosed time “this fall,” icloud.com will allow users to access Mail, Contacts, Calendar, Bookmarks, Find My iPhone and Back to my Mac, relieving fears that iCloud was severing ties with the browser altogether. Unfortunately, iWeb, Gallery and iDisk aren’t making the cut, and while it seems that previously stored files will still be accessible, we wouldn’t count on being able to add anything new a year from now. Hit the source for the rest of the nitty-gritty.
Apple confirms iCloud web apps, impending death of iWeb and iDisk originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Jun 2011 14:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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It’s just one week after Nintendo unveiled dual-screen gaming on the Wii U at E3, but Apple’s iOS 5 beta is already bringing a very similar experience to the living room — many months before Nintendo’s latest console is expected to ship. We installed iOS 5 on an iPad 2 and Apple TV, and took the latest version of Real Racing 2 HD for a test-drive, which enables dual-screen gameplay over AirPlay without the need for Apple’s $39 AV adapter. Other games, like Angry Birds, simply mirror the iPad’s display (and aspect ratio) on your HDTV, but Real Racing streams 16:9 HD video.
For this game (and we imagine many more to come), you use the iPad as the controller — both while navigating through menus and in race mode — while the game appears only on your TV (though the tablet does display some vitals, and a map of the track). There’s noticeable lag between the iPad and Apple TV when using AirPlay, which may be an issue for games where timing is important, such as Rock Band, but didn’t seem to set us back while playing Firemint’s racing game. Overall, AirPlay offered a seamless gaming experience without a single hiccup — surprising, considering iOS 5 just hit beta last week. It’s difficult to do this hands-on justice without a video demo, so jump past the break for an exclusive look at wireless, dual-screen gaming on the iPad and Apple TV.
Continue reading Real Racing 2 HD wireless, dual-screen gaming with iOS 5 on iPad 2 hands-on (video)
Real Racing 2 HD wireless, dual-screen gaming with iOS 5 on iPad 2 hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 17 Jun 2011 11:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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