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App enables iPad 2 jailbreak from your browser

Methods for jailbreaking the iPad 2 have been out there almost since the device's release in the spring. Now, with the official release of JailbreakMe 3.0, jailbreaking the Apple tablet can be done in minutes from a Safari browser window via the JailbreakMe Web site. Other methods have typically required connecting the iPad to a computer, which then does the heavy lifting to gain root access to the tablet.

Once jailbroken via JailbreakMe, the Cydia app store is installed on the device and adventurous users can install a variety of apps not screened by Apple, as well as use a few other features. The whole process takes just a few minutes and can be done from the iPad 2--or most other iOS devices--without any other hardware.

Comex, the Apple hacker behind the jailbreak, initially broke into the iPad 2 in March, and has apparently been working to polish the JailbreakMe Web app ever since. The key is a vulnerability in iOS 4.3 tied to how the system displays PDF files. The folks at Cydia, having a healthy sense of irony and service to Apple, offer a fix for the vulnerability in their app store.

JailbreakMe's developers swear it won't damage your device or make it more vulnerable to intruders, but as always, jailbreak at your own risk.… Read more

3 apps that uninstall apps on OS X the right way

As a new Mac user, you are taught to uninstall an app by dragging it to the trash. While this method does uninstall an app for your computer, often associated files are left behind. These files can add up and hog space on your Mac.

There are much more efficient ways to uninstall an app on your Mac. Here we round up three apps that help you uninstall software on your Mac. … Read more

iCloud's senior product manager departs Apple

The senior product manager for Apple's iCloud service has left the company to take a spot as vice president of product at health education company HealthTeacher.

John Herbold, who joined Apple in early 2006, was most recently the senior product manager for iCloud, having previously worked on MobileMe.

HealthTeacher announced the news of his joining the company this morning, saying that Herbold will be helping to extend its digital efforts.

"John has a proven background of engaging audiences across the devices we use to learn, play, socialize and be entertained," said Scott McQuigg, CEO of HealthTeacher, in … Read more

T-Mobile boards daily-deal bandwagon with More for Me

Daily deals are big business, and an opportunity that T-Mobile is grabbing with its new More for Me application.

Beginning today, Android smartphone owners can download the T-Mobile More for Me beta app from the Android Market. Groupon competitor LivingSocial is one deal broker supplying the app's offers, along with Tippr, Goldstar, and other social coupon services.

Just like other services, you can tailor your preferences by category and location. Offers range from discounts on food, magazines, services, and recreation to even tech-specific things like accessories.

In addition to manually checking in on deals, you'll can opt to … Read more

iCloud, iTunes Match: Your questions answered

When Steve Jobs announced iCloud last week at WWDC in San Francisco, he left us all asking questions about how exactly the product will function.

The books, apps, and music (U.S. only) components of iCloud are already available, but since the full product will only launch in September, Apple won't provide any support until then.

Below are your questions from throughout CNET, including e-mails, Twitter, and Facebook. Apple will offer complete details in September, but here's what we know so far.

iCloud

Q: Can I use iCloud as a backup service for my music if my computer … Read more

Multiple 'No Name' contacts showing up in Address Book

Recently some OS X users have experienced problems in which their contact lists end up getting a number of No Name vCard entries. When this problem happens, these entries seem to accumulate over time to the point where thousands will fill the Address Book. In addition, the entries also show up on iOS devices that are being synced to the Mac.

One user on the Apple Discussion Communities suggested the issue may be from a MobileMe server error, as he was informed of by MobileMe support, so if you are experiencing this issue you might try contacting Apple's support … Read more

Apple's iWeb to be shelved with MobileMe?

Apple's iCloud announcements at last week's Worldwide Developers Conference had one product casualty in the form of MobileMe, but a piece of software the company ships with every Mac could be on the chopping block, too.

In a purported e-mail response to a customer asking if they should plan on going elsewhere to build their sites and get them hosted, Apple CEO Steve Jobs confirmed that the company is doing away with its iWeb site building software and connected hosting services.

As with other e-mails allegedly from the CEO, Apple does not comment on their authenticity and did … Read more

FitBot robot mannequin gets bodacious

Va-va voom! The FitBot just got busty.

The shape-shifting robot mannequin, previously only available with a male physique, now comes in female form too. Score one for robot gender equality.

The robot is part of a virtual fitting room service for online retailers created by Estonian start-up Fits.me. Customers shopping for clothes at a participating site enter their measurements online (height, chest, arm length, torso, and so on), then see photos of a real-life mannequin shaped just like them (only headless) "trying on" items in various sizes and styles.

To be clear, shoppers are not watching the robot try on clothes in real time. When a retailer signs up for the service, Fits.me snaps pictures of the bot trying on the garb in the shop's inventory and stores those photos in an online database that shoppers access later. (Watch the vid below for a safe-for-work demonstration of the naked lady FitBot trying on clothing.)

The FitBot aims to tackle online fashion retail's biggest hurdles--the lack of a fitting room and resulting hassle of having to return ill-fitting clothes. Instead of just eyeballing clothes online and guessing which size would work best, shoppers can get a more accurate sense of whether a garment will look fab or get them nominated for "What Not to Wear." … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 1484: The Wii U explained (kind of) (Podcast)

Brian Tong joins us live from the E3 show floor to try to explain this cool-looking new Wii U console/controller thing. Even Cooley seems at least slightly impressed. Also, Sony delivers an apology but kind of a snoozefest of a press conference, 25% of U.S. hackers may be informants (including Antuan Goodwin) and reasoned discussion of Apple's iCloud, iOS, and OS X updates. No, really. --Molly

MobileMe is dead. Long live iCloud

Like a Hollywood movie studio trying to bring back an ailing superhero franchise, Apple today killed off one of its products by resurrecting it with something else that promises to fix many of the original's shortcomings. At the same time the company acknowledged that MobileMe has been a dud. Can iCloud put the bad memories of MobileMe in the past? Apple sure hopes so.

iCloud, in case you missed it, is Apple's new cloud sync service. It succeeds MobileMe, the $99-a-year service Apple introduced three years ago, which will close down on June 30, 2012. iCloud syncs files, … Read more