iOS

In an Apple event this morning in New York, Phil Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide marketing, took the stage to introduce iBooks 2, an update to the popular e-reader for iOS devices that adds textbooks.

As Apple's flagship e-reader, iBooks is already a crisp-looking app and storefront that runs on iOS devices. But today, iBooks 2 moves into the world of education by adding interactive textbooks with the aim of keeping students' attention (and certainly adding yet another revenue stream for Apple). … Read more

What Siri will do next only Apple knows, but we just got a few hints.

A handful of future features headed to the software may have been outed in a new patent application, primarily that the sassy assistant could be headed to Web and e-mail platforms, and eventually help you buy things, control your home thermostat, and weigh in during conversations.

That application, published this morning by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and picked up by Patently Apple, details an "Intelligent Automated Assistant." The filing, dated January 2011, comes some nine months after Apple's acquisition of Siri the company, and includes numerous diagrams of the software in use.

In the application's abstract, Apple describes its invention as a tool that "engages with the user in an integrated, conversational manner using natural language dialogue," while making use of "external services when appropriate to obtain information or perform various actions."

Sound familiar?

That's Siri as we know it, the virtual assistant that translates user voice requests into actions--functionality that first appeared in Siri the app, and later extended to Apple's implementation of it in the iPhone 4S. Some of those external services have been tools like Yelp and Wolfram Alpha.

Where things get interesting is when Apple details where such a tool could be used.… Read more

Those of you disheartened because your older iPhone or iPod Touch won't support iOS 5 have an "unofficial" alternative.

Available for free, a piece of software dubbed Whited00r can install a custom edition of iOS 5.1 on the iPhone 2G and 3G as well as the iPod Touch 1G and 2G. The software works by tapping into the Restore feature directly through iTunes. And it automatically includes the latest release of Cydia to jailbreak your device. So unlike other hacks, Whited00r isn't too difficult to set up.

Most of the key features that iOS 5 … Read more

So you've got an original iPhone and you're hanging on to it for sentimentality's sake. I get that. But that doesn't mean you have to sacrifice all the cool, new goodies that accompany the latest versions of iOS.

If you're hanging on to your little piece of Apple history (whether because you have to or just want to) TechCrunch lets us know that you can now use a custom firmware called Whited00r to add some sweet features such as multitasking, app folders, and device syncing.

The best part about Whited00r? No jailbreaking.

Instead, Whited00r is … Read more

Apple's iOS is the most popular mobile platform among corporate workers, at least according to a survey from mobile security provider Check Point Software.

Among the more than 700 IT professionals polled for a Check Point study (PDF) released today, iOS accounted for 30 percent of the collective traffic on their networks. But RIM's BlackBerry was right behind with 29 percent.

As BlackBerry has long been a corporate standard, the rise of iOS is a clear sign of the consumerization of IT in which employees want to use the same devices at work that they use at home. … Read more

Apple's iPhone 4S proved to be the catalyst that jump-started iPhone sales last quarter, a new study from Nielsen has found.

Among Americans who bought a new smartphone in the last three months, 44.5 percent of those surveyed in December purchased an iPhone, putting Apple's handset just behind Android smartphones, which were picked up by 46.9 percent of December respondents, according to Nielsen. RIM's BlackBerry came in at 4.5 percent.

That finding stands in stark contrast to results from Nielsen's October survey of consumers who bought a new smartphone in the previous three … Read more

The fight to jailbreak Apple's A5-chip-powered devices, specifically the iPhone 4S and the iPad, is nearing its end. Hacker "pod2g" and his crew of iOS exploit seekers have released photos and videos of a jailbroken iPhone 4S and a jailbroken iPad 2, both running iOS 5.0.1.

The most compelling proof that an A5 jailbreak is close comes in the form of a video from pod2g and the Chronic Dev Team (via iDownloadBlog). The jailbreak, performed on the iPhone 4S, is completely untethered and seems to be working great.

Backing up the show of the iPhone … Read more

After iOS 5 was released alongside the iPhone 4S this past fall, Twitter accounts grew by more than 25 percent, largely because of its integrated place in Apple's mobile operating system.

Now, according to tech site iMore, iOS 5.1 could bring a similar integration for Facebook.

Not that Facebook really needs more users.

But, it should come as a nice addition to iOS for those of us who already use Facebook. It's unclear exactly how integrated Facebook might actually be, but iMore shows a look at the iOS 5.1 beta 3 Contacts app that has an … Read more

Rumor Has It gets the dubious honor of being the last show live on the CNET main stage of CES 2012, and we use it to cry, "The iPad 3 is coming! The iPad 3 is coming!"

After spending seven full days in the city of sin, covering a bazillion and two live blogs, running around the show floor looking for pretty objects, and editing the glut of content CNET produced from CES, we somehow slap on our fancy pants, shellac on some lipstick, and make this show happen.

This show is a record-breaker for many reasons; first … Read more