Bad news, jailbreakers: as promised, Apple’s just released iOS 4.0.2 for the iPhone and 3.2.2 for the iPad, both of which close the PDF exploit used by JailbreakMe. That appears to be the only change — it’s definitely good news for anyone concerned about iOS security, although we’re guessing the Dev Team is hard at work finding a new way to crack iOS open once again. We’ll let you know if we find anything else — won’t you do the same?
Not only does a “death grip” cut into your phone’s ability to connect, it also increases the amount of radio-frequency radiation it’s pumping out.
Now you can see exactly how much more radiation your head is absorbing, with an app that estimates the RF output of your smartphone, in real time.
Israeli mobile-software company Tawkon released a video Monday that shows its app measuring the impact a “death grip” can have on a mobile device’s radiation. Using the app, an iPhone 4, BlackBerry Bold, and Google Nexus One all show a significant increase in RF radiation when held tightly in the user’s palm.
That’s to be expected: Whenever a cellphone has difficulty connecting with a cell tower, it increases its RF output in order to maintain the connection. Anything that interferes with that connection — be it a death grip, stepping into an elevator, or locating yourself in a low-signal area — will increase any phone’s RF output.
So is Tawkon suggesting that the infamous “death grip” can actually be detrimental to the user’s health?
“Tawkon doesn’t advocate that the death grip is necessarily unsafe, because final answers on the health ramifications of mobile phone usage won’t be known for decades, until researchers have had that time to track long-term usage and impact,” Tawkon co-founder Amit Lubovsky told Wired. ”However, recent studies do indicate a health impact of mobile phone radiation on mobile phone users, especially on people whose usage is termed excessive and cumulative. Until the long-term studies are concluded (decades from now), Tawkon believes consumers should have the right and ability to minimize their exposure to mobile phone radiation.”
Most ongoing studies cannot yet draw a causal link between cellphone usage and physical disorders, and Tawkon should know, since the company follows many of these studies.
The World Health Organization’s Interphone study, released in May, could draw no causal link between glioma or meningioma and cellphone use. However, it noted, “There were suggestions of an increased risk of glioma, and much less so meningioma, in the highest decile of cumulative call time, in subjects who reported usual phone use on the same side of the head as their tumor and, for glioma, for tumors in the temporal lobe.”
Currently, the group ranks the Motorola Droid, iPhone 3GS, Google Nexus One, BlackBerry Bold 9700 and Samsung Instinct HD as the top five most radio-emissive phones. All of them, however, fall within the FCC’s acceptable SAR (specific absorption rate) limit of 1.6 watts per kilogram (1.6 W/kg).
The Tawkon application gets all its information about the phone’s radiation from the cellular protocol stack that manages the baseband modem.
“We use this information in the form of different RF parameters extracted from the device itself,” Lubovsky said. “We then take into consideration the proximity of the phone to the user –for example if the phone is held against the user’s ear or on the user’s lap– to help determine the actual exposure level at any given time.”
“As part of the production procedure we have, each device goes through a long calibration process in an RF lab prior to its release to make sure that our measurements meet the actual values,” he continued.
Tawkon is available only on the BlackBerry platform via App World, Mobihand and Handango, but not on Android or iOS as shown in the video.
“It works on the iPhone, but we’re waiting for Apple approval to make it publicly available,” Lubovsky said. “Android is expected to launch very soon.”
Now here’s a surprise. Apple isn’t exactly known to be super friendly when it comes to video compatibility, and we can sympathize to an extent. However, for some inexplicable reason, Steve’s brethren decided to give this CineXPlayer app the green light for general consumption, thus finally allowing iPad users to load up their stash of Xvid AVI files — sans conversion — via iTunes. While this is worth a quick celebration, it’s still rather absurd having to resort to underhanded apps for such basic functionality — something that we’ve been able to do natively on many other tablets and PMPs for years. Let’s not also assume that this free app is staying for good, so grab it while it’s hot. Video instructions after the break.
The best part of the easy, web-based jailbreak exploit for iOS devices was that pranksters have been hacking iPhones inside Apple Stores. They have been walking into stores, visiting Jailbreakme.com in mobile Safari and boom, Apple’s own demo devices are hacked. It’s that easy.
Of course, Apple didn’t like this, especially as restoring a single phone to its defaults and re-loading its media library can take an hour or more. So Apple did what any parent would do if the kids were causing trouble: it blocked Jailbreakme.com from the in-store Wi-Fi. A simple, effective fix, right? Actually, no. One ne’erdowell, who goes by the name IT Geek, worked around it by using the mobile hotspot feature on his Nexus One to get an in-store iPad connected to the big wide internet. Here’s the video.
This is especially ironic, as he’s tethering the iPad to his cellphone data-connection, something AT&T still won’t allow you to do with your iPhone. We imagine that this kind of cat-and-mouse game will continue until Apple actually sends out a fix for this pretty terrifying exploit (jailbreaking is fun and all, but the two exploits it uses could give any web site full access to your iOS and all its data). A fix is promised “soon”.
Now maybe Apple should block FaceBook already, and stop those damn teenagers hogging the MacBooks all day long. And get off my lawn!
‘Tis true — we don’t often write about massage chairs here, but throw in some gadget connectivity and they’ll have our attention, just like this AcuTouch 9500. Discovered by Zedomax, this luxurious furniture from Human Touch claims to be the world’s first iOS device-controlled massage chair, meaning you can choose and store your desired routines and intensity — via the free HT-Connect app — on your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad. Just to give you more bang for the buck, there are also downloadable massage programs that are individually customized by doctors and sport stars — most of which you’ve probably never heard of. The price? No info yet, so you’ll just have to keep popping into your local massage parlour until later this year. Demo video after the break.
Fool us once, shame on us. Fool us twice? Fuhgetaboutit. Apple has a thing for introducing new iPods each fall, and given that the existing touch is being given away gratis with a new student computer (not to mention how long in the tooth it is), we’re guessing the tradition will continue in 2010. We’d heard earlier on in the year that Apple may toss FaceTime over to the iPod line whenever it finally gained a front-facing camera, and now the evidence is nearly too strong to ignore. In the latest iOS 4.1 beta (numero three, if you’re keeping count), there’s an option to connect to a contact via FaceTime by ringing their digits or by pinging their email address. We’re guessing that the latter is there mostly for iPod touch users (the ones without Apple Peel 520s, anyway), and it’s the most glaring sign yet that the next generation touch will flippin’ finally boast a camera (or just a way around that SMS-based activation?). Still, we wouldn’t get our hopes up too high — falling ain’t no fun, you know?
Jailbreaking is truly and totally back for every iDevice, and it hasn’t been this easy for years. But with iOS 4’s new features, is it worth the (minimal) effort? 16 times yes. More »
If there are still doubts about the Android juggernaut, the latest numbers from Google should help settle it. Some 200,000 new Android devices are being sold each day, up from about 100,000 just two months ago, says Google CEO Eric Schmidt.
Schmidt told attendees at the Techonomy conference, “Android is not just phenomenal but incredibly phenomenal in its growth rate.”
Google’s comment comes on the heels of data from Nielsen earlier this week that showed, for the first time, that people in the U.S. bought more Android phones than iPhones.
Research firm iSuppli predicts Android’s market share will surpass that of the iPhone’s iOS in 2012.
By 2012, Android will be used in 75 million smartphones, up from 5 million in 2009, says iSuppli. IOS will be in 62 million phones in 2012, up from 25 million in 2009.
That means in two years, Android will have a 19.4 percent market share worldwide among smartphone operating systems, up from 2.7 percent in 2009. Apple’s iOS for the iPhone will see its share go up to 15.9 percent in 2012 from 13.8 percent in 2009, says iSuppli.
Android’s rapid growth should come as no surprise to industry watchers. Since Google worked with HTC and T-Mobile to launch the first Android-based smartphone in 2008, the open-source operating system has been adopted by major handset manufacturers including Samsung, Motorola and HTC.
“The OS started with entry-level models in 2008, but the flexibility Android offers for hardware designs and its appealing business model in terms of revenue sharing have attracted vigorous support,” says Tina Teng, senior analyst, wireless communications for iSuppli.
Check out iSuppli’s forecast for Android and iOS usage worldwide:
Oh man. If the LiveRider is anywhere near as good as it looks, then it’s going to sell roughly one zillion units. It’s a hardware/software combo that turns your iPhone or iPod Touch into a cycling computer, and it looks pretty hot.
First, the hardware. It comprises a frame-mounted sensor which cable-ties onto the chainstay and senses speed and cadence via magnets attached to the wheel and crank. This beams its info via 2.4 GHz RF to a dongle plugged in to the iPhone. The iPhone itself sits snug in a shock-absorbing handlebar-mount.
You then fire up the free companion app and get access to all the usual data: speed, cadence, calories burned and so on, but on the big screen and in easy-to-view color. If you have GPS in your iDevice, it will also use that to let you know where you are.
My favorite feature is called “Chase Rider”, and it is like nothing so much as the ghost-driver feature in Super Mario Kart. It will remember past rides and play them back so you can race against your own best times. Neat.
The whole setup weighs in at just 3-ounces, and costs a very reasonable $100. You will, of course, need to supply your own iPhone (everything fits except the first and last iPhones). UPDATE the folks behind the LiveRider tell me that it will fit all iPhones, including the 1G and the iPhone 4. Available now.
JailbreakMe brought root to the iPhone 4-wielding masses, but also unearthed a nasty exploit in a PDF font. Thankfully for the rooted and those who never intended to root, Cupertino claims it has already patched the hole. “We’re aware of the reported issue, we have already developed a fix and it will be available to customers in an upcoming software update,” an Apple spokeswoman told CNET. We’re not sure exactly when it will arrive, but we’d lay odds on soon — in the meantime, don’t open any PDFs you don’t trust, don’t do anything illegal or immoral, and hit up Comex’s hack ASAP if your heart’s still set on that shiny new unlock.
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