Facebook buys Instagram

Instagram, the photo filter sharing wonder that started under two years ago. Instagram started with 4 employees and 0 users. To this day there are more than 150 billion photos shared and over 7 million users.

In the next few days, Facebook Inc. is set to buy the social media network for 1 billion dollars. For a network that has no significant source of revenue, that has become this infectious and still growing as we speak.

By buying Instagram, Facebook Inc. has not only eliminated a huge competition potential, but has also acquired the chance to implement the Instagram filters within it's own iOS and Android apps, but also it's website's image uploading sequence.

With every acquirement, there's always the fear of change. Instagram users enjoy the way the apps work and enjoy their ecosystem of sharing. Upon arrival of this upsetting news, there are various services that have appeared that permit users to export their Instagram image library for instant download. There is still no news on whether Facebook intends to change anything or even take down the Instagram network completely, but we're interested to find out.

We're also interested in some feedback. Do you guys think Facebook's going to change anything or is there belief that they will leave the network untouched? Leave your comments in the section below.

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iPhone 4S and iPad 2 Untethered Jailbreak Released!

As you may have already known, a Jailbreak "Dream Team" was compiled in order to complete the A5 (iPhone 4S and iPad 2) Untethered Jailbreak. Well, guess what guys? They finally finished it after we waited for so long with baited breath.

There has been quite a bit of anticipation for the jailbreak, especially after the iOS 5 A4-and-less unthethered jailbreak was released. Now, here it is, the iOS 5, A5 Unthered Jailbreak. Pristine in all it's glory, Absinthe. 

You can download Absinthe for Windows: [Direct Link]

Absinthe for Mac is available for download: [Direct Link]

Alternatively, if a guide is necessary, follow this one written up by CydiaHelp.

---

Although I do not own an iPhone 4S, or any iPhone to begin with, or an iPhone, I'd like to give a big thanks and congratulations to all the members of the iOS 5 A5 JB Dream Team.


Thank you Joshua Hill, aka @p0sixninja


Thank you @pod2g


Thank you Nikias Bassen, aka @pimseks


and last, but most definitely not least, thank you Yiduo David Wang, aka @planetbeing


Thank you for all your time and effort put into this jailbreak and congratulations on the huge improvement. We hope all this work does not go to waste and is fixed in the next iOS release. Good luck on all your future endeavours!

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Triple Booting Windows, Mac OS X and Ubuntu

Ever wanted to have all three different worlds on your computer at your fingertips? Or did you ever want to have a computer that only has Mac OS X and Ubuntu? Don’t hold your breath, it’s possible! Here’s how.

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iPhone 4S Untethered Jailbreak Update

As you guys might have heard, there's an iOS 5 Jailbreak "Dream Team" that's been assembled that consists of @planetbeing, @pod2g, @MuscleNerd, and @p0sixninja.

The guys at Dream Team JB iOS5 have really been focusing in the past few days/weeks on the A5 Jailbreak and it seems they put more work into it than they would in a 40 hour a week daytime job!

Let's get to the point. The iPhone 4S is JAILBROKEN! Yes, the iPhone 4S finally has an untethered Jailbreak. Here's a video demonstration:




Now, I assume, all that's left is to compile the jailbreak method into an easy to use and simple jailbreak tool.

Happy waiting!

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A Must Have in Notification Center Tweaks [Jailbreak Tweaks]

There are quite a few Notification Center tweaks out there, some I'm fond of, and others not so much. But there's one I would definitely recommend to novice and advanced jailbreakers out there. This particular tweak is named Omnistat for Notification Center.

The tweak provides an at a glance display of useful and commonly searched-for information. Here are some screenshots:

Tapping the R.A.M. Pie Chart will free up as much space as possible without interfering with apps running in the background


Considering the iOS 5 Battery Percentage just won't show even if checked off in redsn0w, here's a good alternative :)


Tapping the "Wifi logo" will bring up a menu that allows you to turn on/off: Airplane Mode, Wifi, Bluetooth, and Location
Tapping the power button will allow you to: Kill BG Apps, Restart Springboard, Reboot and Shutdown


There's not much to do in this page except for view running processes and copy your UDID. This page would be most useful for iOS developers.



Swiping left or right will change the display from page to page. OmniStat for Notification Center is available from the BigBoss repo (a default repo for Cydia).

Happy Tweaking!

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iOS 5 Untethered Jailbreak

It was a few days ago that the iOS 5 untethered jailbreak was was released both as a bundle from greenpois0n AND redsn0w (sorry sn0wbreeze, get with the program.)

This jailbreak is available thanks to @pod2g and his dedicated time and work done on this exploit.

Along with the chronic-dev and iPhone-dev team releases, the corona release is also available from cydia. (no need to re-jailbreak my friends ;) ).

You can jailbreak with either greenpois0n or redsn0w:
redsn0w: http://blog.iphone-dev.org/tagged/redsn0w
greenpois0n: http://greenpois0n.com/?p=150

The process should be clearly explained within the apps but feel free to contact me at nolet.brandon@gmail.com if there are any issues.

Another method (redsn0w users only) that is possible is directly through cydia. Go to Cydia and search for "corona".

I advise restoring then rejailbreaking your iDevice just because it would give a clean slate. But it's not completely necessary.

Note: This jailbreak is only available for pre-A5 devices (iPhone 4, iPod Touch 4G, etc.) with iOS 5/5.0.1

Happy Untethered Jailbreaking!!

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Use a USB Key to Install Windows on Any System

Putting the Windows installation on a USB thumb drive has a few advantages—a small USB key is much more convenient to carry around than a DVD. The Operating System will install much faster, and you can use a USB key to install Windows on systems that do not have a DVD drive, such as a netbook. All it requires is some work in Command Prompt and your USB will be Windows installation ready.

 

 

Don’t put the USB drive in yet, that will come later.

 

First, you’ll need to make sure that you have DiskPart utility on the system, it comes free with Windows, but if you don’t have it, you can download DiskPart here.

 

If you are using Windows XP, it is advisable that you run Command Prompt and type the following and hit enter to run it.

DiskPart

Otherwise, for Windows Vista and Windows 7 users, launch the DiskPart utility by typing diskpart in the Start Menu.

 

Now, run the list disk command by typing the following in Command Prompt and hit enter to check the status of your drive.

list disk

You will see all of your drives but the USB which is handy because you will run list disk again after inserting the USB.

 

 

 

Now run select disk 1 by typing the following and hit enter where the number is the corresponding number of your USB drive.

select disk 1

Then you will clean the disk by typing the following and hitting enter. This will erase everything off the disk in the process.

clean

Now, you can run create partition primary by typing the following and hitting enter.

create partition primary

Make the partition active by typing the following and hitting enter.

active

 

 

Next comes the file system, type the following and hit enter.

format fs=fat32 quick

OR

format fs=ntfs quick

Next, you need to be able to access it from Windows Explorer by assigning it a drive letter. Type the following and hit enter.

assign

 

Now, go to Windows Explorer, and copy the contents from the Windows setup disk to the USB. You can do so by dragging and dropping. You can close Command Prompt and DiskPart since the USB is now complete.

 

Once the copy is done you can eject the USB and use it to install on other systems. To boot off the USB, at boot, hit whatever key it says will run set up. Once you are in the BIOS, you will go to Disk Priority, a small exploration won’t hurt and set the removable disk to first priority. If that doesn’t work, then you will look for the hard drive priority and make the USB priority over the main – the USB will be recognized as a hard drive. Once the install is done, or it reboots, enter the BIOS setup again and reverse what you did and let the rest of the setup and the Operating System finish installing itself and run on its own.

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iPhone 4S Untethered Jailbreak Looks To Be A Go!

Earlier today pod2g, an iOS "Hacker", reported that he was close to untether jailbreaking the iPhone 4S but was having issues.

"The untether fails right now because I'm having processor cache issues.

I'm close, but I can't figure out what happens. It certainly has something to do with the Cortex-A9 cache management.

I could sort it out quick, it's a matter of chance."

Now, things seem to be looking up as he notes in his latest blog post:

"OK, figured it out, the A5 cache is not a problem anymore.

I sorted it out by doing the untether in a single thread and by flushing all the dcache then all the icache in a row at a strategical point of the process.

It took me like a hundred of tests to find the key. Hard for the nerves."

Congratulations pod2g, you're a huge hero.

Stay tuned for more information on the iOS 5 Untethered Jailbreak

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iPhone/iPod Touch Backgrounds 2 [Download]

A few weeks ago, what was started was a series of iPhone/iPod Touch backgrounds
(sets of ten) that were available for download and selected by yours truly. Here is the second installment of the series.

http://fileape.com/dl/mPKaCIkuV7b8vnpZ

Happy Backgrounding!

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iPod/iPhone Backgrounds Selection 1 [Debut]

Here at CSIYF, we're passionate about the backgrounds we use and I've compiled a big selection of my favourite iOS backgrounds. Over the next few months or so, I will be uploading a batch of 10 backgrounds at a time.

As a debut, I have already uploaded 10 and you can download them here.

We at CSIYF hope that you will enjoy these backgrounds as much as I do.

Happy Backgrounding!

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New Feature Found In iOS 5: Panorama Camera Mode [Update: It's up!]

In the early days of the iOS 5 beta, there were bits of code that showed a panorama feature. Now, Conrad Kramer has found a way to enable this feature.

 Why this wasn't added in the original iOS 5 release? We have no idea. However, Conrad intends to release a tool (jailbreak tweak) that would allow any user to easily enable it:

Here are a few screenshots:

and here's the image taken in panorama mode:

Note: The jailbreak tweak has now been released. It is called firebreak and is available in the BigBoss Cydia repository.

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sn0wbreeze Jailbreak Works With iBooks :)

I've been trying to get an alternative to iBooks for quite a while. While I found a way by using BlueFire, unfortunately, it required me to SSH the files over to my iPod and move them around using iFile. However, iH8snow, seems to have found a way to get iBooks working in perfect fashion (without using some complicated method). He has implemented the fix in his latest of jailbreaks into sn0wbreeze which would require you to do a restore with a custom IPSW made by the tool.

Here's a demonstration:

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Features Apple Could've Implemented in iOS 5 (But Didn't)

As I delve into my usage adventure of the update to the iDevice software iOS 5, I seem to find little features that could have made iOS 5 just a bit better. Here's my list:

• Multiple voices for Siri, the iPhone 4S vocal aided assistant
• Ability to launch apps from the notification center (Aka, some sort of favouriting system)
• Facebook integration as well
• Tweeting from the notification center
• Colored "Reminders" lists
• Color custimization
• Icons that represent certain "waiting" notifications, in the status bar

These are just a few improvements that could be added, but I'm sure there are much more.

Happy iOS 5'ing

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Windows 8, iTunes, and your iDevice

There have been numerous complaints that people's iDevices aren't working with Windows 8+iTunes and I have experienced the same thing. iDevice is detected, but doesn't show up in Windows or in iTunes. This could be due to driver errors that could occur during operation due to incompatability. I believe I've found a fix.

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iOS 5 is officially out for update and restore! [Update: iOS 5 GM]

iOS 5 Software Update

Update: If you have loaded your iDevice with iOS 5 GM, you will be unable to upgrade to the official release as it will read as the "current version". There are no "feature" changes between the two, but I'm sure performance tweaks and bug fixes were applied.

This update contains over 200 new features, including the following:

Notifications
◦ Swipe from the top of any screen to view notifications in one place with Notification Center
◦ New notifications appear briefly at the top of the screen
◦ View notifications from lock screen
◦ Slide the notification app icon to the right on the lock screen to go directly to the app

iMessage
◦ Send and receive unlimited text, photo, and video messages with other iOS 5 users
◦ Track messages with delivery and read receipts
◦ Group messaging and secure encryption
◦ Works over cellular network and Wi-Fi*

Newsstand
◦ Automatically organizes magazine and newspaper subscriptions on Home Screen
◦ Displays the cover of the latest issue
◦ Background downloads of new issues

Reminders for managing to do lists
◦ Syncs with iCloud, iCal and Outlook
◦ Location-based reminders when you leave or arrive at a location for iPhone 4S and iPhone 4

Built-in support for Twitter
◦ Sign-in once in Settings and tweet directly from Camera, Photos, Maps, Safari and YouTube
◦ Add location to any tweet
◦ View twitter profile pictures and usernames in Contacts

Camera improvements for devices with cameras
◦ Double click the home button when device is asleep to bring up a camera shortcut on iPhone 4S, iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS and iPod touch (4th generation)
◦ Volume Up button to take a picture
◦ Optional grid lines to line up shots
◦ Pinch to zoom in the preview screen
◦ Swipe to camera roll from preview screen
◦ Tap and hold to lock focus and exposure, iPad 2 and iPod touch (4th generation) only support exposure lock

Photo improvements for devices with cameras
◦ Crop and rotate
◦ Red eye removal
◦ One tap enhance
◦ Organize photos into albums

Mail improvements
◦ Format text using bold, italic, or underlined fonts
◦ Indentation control
◦ Drag to rearrange names in address fields
◦ Flag messages
◦ Mass mark messages as flagged, read or unread
◦ Customize mail alert sounds
◦ S/MIME

Calendar improvements
◦ Year view on iPad and new Week view for iPhone and iPod touch
◦ Tap to create an event
◦ View and add event attachments

Game Center improvements
◦ Use personal photos for your Game Center account
◦ Compare your overall achievement scores with your friends
◦ Find new Game Center friends with friend recommendations and friends of friends
◦ Discover new games with custom game recommendations
• AirPlay Mirroring for iPad 2 and iPhone 4S
• Multitasking Gestures for iPad
◦ Use four or five fingers to pinch to the Home Screen
◦ Swipe up to reveal the multitasking bar
◦ Swipe left or right to switch between apps
• On-device setup, activation and configuration with Setup Assistant
• Software updates available over the air without tethering


iCloud support
◦ iTunes in the Cloud
◦ Photo Stream
◦ Documents in the Cloud
◦ Apps and Books automatic download and purchase history
◦ Backup
◦ Contacts, Calendar, and Mail
◦ Find My iPhone
• Redesigned Music app for iPad
• Hourly weather forecast
• Real-time stock quotes
• Wireless sync to iTunes
Keyboard improvements
◦ Split keyboard for iPad
◦ Improved autocorrection accuracy
◦ Improved Chinese and Japanese input
◦ New Emoji keyboard
◦ Personal dictionary for autocorrection
◦ Optionally create keyboard short cuts for frequently used words

Accessibility improvements
◦ Option to light LED flash on incoming calls and alerts for iPhone 4S and iPhone 4
◦ Custom vibration patterns for incoming calls on iPhone
◦ New interface for using iOS with mobility-impairment input devices
◦ Option to speak a selection of text
◦ Custom element labeling for VoiceOver

Exchange ActiveSync improvements
◦ Wirelessly sync tasks
◦ Mark messages as flagged, read or unread
◦ Improved offline support
◦ Save a new contact from a GAL service
• More than 1,500 new developer APIs
• Bug fixes

Products compatible with this software update:
• iPhone 4S
• iPhone 4
• iPhone 3GS
• iPad 2
• iPad
• iPod touch (4th generation)
• iPod touch (3rd generation)

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iOS 5 Feature that Apple never announced!

There's a few new features that were left out in the announcements, which were smart to be left out considering their lack of importance. That said, there's one feature that shouldn't have been left out.

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How to get iOS 5 before the release date (Without a developer account)

iOS 5 has probably been one of the most anticipated iOS releases ever. If you're like me, then you can't wait til next Wednesday, October 12th. Luckily, for us non-developers, the iOS 5 Gold Master (aka pre-release) was released yesterday right after the Apple "Let's talk iPhone event". iOS 5 GM does not require activation on any part. Here's how to get it!

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iOS 5 Drops October 12th [Update: Assistant, Video Coverage Link]

 Click to enlarge - Apple's invitation picture to the event (Clever eh?)

The Apple "Let's Talk iPhone" event has just finished and there are a series of huge announcements. Here's what you missed:

• Going against many of the famous rumors, there is no iPhone 5, only an iPhone 4S
• iOS 5 is going to be released just 8 days after today (along with iCloud), unlike the original 10 days that Apple usually gives
• iOS 5 will feature a brand new (and unannounced) feature called Assistant [Only available for the iPhone 4S]
• A new app is going to be released by Apple dubbed Cards
• The iPod touch will be available in a (unexpected) white version
• A brand new iPod Nano with a price drop. "Most affordable nano ever!"

iPhone 4S

Click to enlarge - Image source: engadget

The iPhone 4S boasts capabilities of being compatible with both CDMA and GSM cellular service providers. On top of that, inside the iPhone 4S is the Dual Core Apple A5 processor and an 8 Megapixel camera with improved auto-white balance and face detection. 

Apple plans to release the iPhone 4S in over 70 countries and to over 100 mobile service providers by the end of the year.   (Sprint finally gets an iPhone!) Apple calls it "the most amazing iPhone ever."

iOS 5 + iCloud

Click to enlarge

iOS 5 has so many new features, too many to go into, so I'm just going to go through a few of my favourites.

Camera's Lock Screen Trigger

iOS 5 will now let you take a picture, straight from your iDevice's lock screen! No more finagling to get to your camera as quick as possible. 

Assistant

Assistant is no regular voice recognition system. It enables you to speak naturally and do anything your iDevice could do before, handsfree. It can answer texts, make appointments, perform Google searches. I imagine that many new apps will emerge based on assistant.  (According to Gizmodo, Assistant will only be available for the iPhone 4S. Damn you Apple, damn you.)

Notifications (a la Android)

A new system called notifications will be released in iOS 5. Think Android's notification system, but from Apple (aka less buggy and much more sleek and sexy).

iCloud

iCloud is everything it was thought up to be. Online storage for all your images, music, contacts, calendar events and much more. It wirelessly syncs to the cloud and pushes your data to all your other Apple Account enabled devices. 

Cards

A new app that Apple will be boasting, is one dubbed Cards. This will let you send greetings cards (and other types I would imagine), a la Apple design. All you need to do is select a picture and text,  and Apple does the rest for you (even mails'em too!). To mail to the US it costs $2.99USD and anywhere else in the world is set at $4.99USD

White iPod Touch

There's nothing much to say about the iPod Touch except that it's getting a bit of a price drop and a new white version will be available. The 8GB at $199USB, 16GB at $299USD, and the 64GB at $399USD.

Release Dates

• iPhone 4S:
  Pre-order: This Friday, Oct. 7th
  Available: Next Wednesday, Oct 12th
• iPod Touch White
  Pre-order: Now
  Ships by: Next Wednesday, Oct 12th
• iOS 5: October 12th

Watch the Apple event here! : http://bit.ly/r8DQ2v

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iOS [Quicktip]: Notes backup

If you didn't already know this, then this will be a shocker.

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Snow Leopard on Acer Aspire One: Part 11: Activating and Using Spaces

Both Mac OS X and various distros of Linux have one thing in common that Windows doesn’t: The ability to create multiple desktops. Out of the box, Mac OS X will not have spaces activated, but it is easy to set up and to use.

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