ProTube HD Lets You Experience YouTube As It Should Be On Your iPad

A few weeks ago the reinvention of the YouTube application for the iPhone was made public as it was imagined by developer Jonas Gessner. This is available to all those who have a jailbroken iPhone and is available through the Cydia store. This new app has a number of features and additions that many feel should have been native in Apple's stock implementation of YouTube. ProTube has been a huge success for jailbroken devices and following on from this Gessner has released a HD version of the app for the iPad. If you are not familiar with the ProTube app then all you need to know is that it is a complete reinvention of the YouTube application which combines a professional look with a powerful feature set.

ProTube HD is not just another tweak, it is a full self sufficient application and when you launch it ProTube presents the standard mobile version of the YouTube website with some really powerful features. By taking advantage of the mobile version of YouTube and then coupling this with the iPad screen and the recognized interface controls, ProTube HD represents what many people are saying is a superior alternative to the native experience. This application has some great features including all of the expected YouTube activities such as commenting, sharing and rating videos, you gain control over your user account, you get high and standard definition video downloads and the option to save only the sound track of a video in high quality MP3 format. There are plenty more features built in and you can view the full list in the Cydia store.

ProTube HD is a bargain price at just $1.49 and it is available now through the Big Boss repository. It is compatible with iOS 4 and above.

ProTube:

New Improved A5 Chip And Brand New A6 One On The Way

According to rumors Apple is reportedly working on an improved A5 chip as well as a brand new A6 offering. This comes as part of the speculation on what the reported Apple media event due to take place in early March will bring. This media event will let everyone know what the new iPad 3 is gong to hold and many think that Apple could be planning more.

A large number of the rumors around the iPad 3 seem to be in agreement that it will feature retina display and have an improved rear camera. Over the past couple of days there has been disagreement over the processing power that the new iPad 3 will have. Some say it will be the quad-core idea whilst other believe that Apple will stick with the current A5 offering as a base but improve on the existing chip by possibly adding an improved graphics engine.

If these latest reports are to be believed, Apple could be planning a double barrelled approach by improving the A5 chip and developing an improved quad-core processor which is likely to be called the A6. 9To5Mac are reporting that the A5X chip is a halfway upgrade between the current a5 model and the next model which will be the Apple A6. Evidence has also been found within the iOS 5.1 beta releases that points to Apple working on the S5L8950X and S5L8945X model numbers which would seem to point to two individual processors with the current A5 model being the S5L8940x number.

The fact that two separate processors are being worked on by Apple will be enough to produce plenty of rumors and possibilities but if this is what is happening then logic reasoning would point to the fact that the A6 chip would be used in the new iPad 3 while the A5X processor could be used in the revamped Apple TV set top box. As with all rumors this is just speculation and it could be that Apple is deciding which processor to use. Only time will tell and we are all waiting anxiously for the March media event to see which rumors are in fact true.

iPad 2 Review:

How To Bypass iOS 5.1 Restriction When Installing iMovie v1.3 on iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch Running iOS 5.0.1

The Apple media event last week caused quite a stir and Apple announced the release of a brand new iPad and Apple TV. Both of these new products are going to be released to the public on the 16th of March at 8am. The pre-order section of the Apple website was inundated with pre-orders and this caused a number of server and store down issues. Apple also took the opportunity to announce some of their apps at the media event that have been updated so that they are now compatible with the new iPad Retina display and these include the iWork Suite, GarageBand and iMovie.

For those of you that can’t live without your jailbreak the update of iMovie is going to be tough. This new app benefits from a great deal more functionality and an improved user interface but it also comes with a requirement that iOS 5.1 be installed. This means that jailbroken users who wish to keep their untethered jailbreak on iOS 5.0.1 won’t be able to download it. That’s what most people thought anyway.

It seems that the App Store makes a quick reference check against a .plist entry saved in the CoreServices directory of the device to determine what version of iOS is installed. If the check returns a value less than the minimum version required, an alert is displayed advising that it requires a specific iOS version.

If you have a jailbroken device it is simply a matter of using a program such as iFile or SSHing into the device and changing the version string in the SystemVersion.plist, which will fool the OS into believing that iOS 5.1 is installed and this will allow you to download iMovie. This means that jailbroken devices can benefit from the great new features and additions to the newly updated iMovie App. All you have to do now is head over to the App Store, download the iMovie app and enjoy all the cinematic goodness that awaits.

Sony Xperia S Now Available From Three UK

Three is the first carrier to offer the shiny new Sony Xperia S in the UK. The sexy device is available both to Pay as you go and Pay monthly users, with contract signing being required for the latter group.

Don’t like long customer agreements? You’ll have to pour out 369.99 GBP (about $580) and then grab the tariff that works best for you with any operator you like. Three suggest two options: All in one 15, which costs 15 GBP and offers 300 any-network minutes, 3,000 texts and unlimited data for the first 30 days; and All in One 25, that gives you 500 minutes, 3,000 texts and the same all-you-can-eat data for one month.

If you, however, want to get the phone free of charge, you’ll have to commit on a two-year contract costing at least 30 GBP a month. Even better (Three thinks so), go for the 36 GBP/month tariff with unlimited data.

Sony Xperia S Android smartphone live from CES 2012:

UK Mobile Provider Three Abolishes Out Of Bundle Data Charges

There's an announcment from UK Mobile Provider Three that, they are getting rid of out of bundle data charges, which is good news for their customers and smartphone users. Previously if you went over you monthly data limit, you would be charged more for any data you used over you allowance, and this has in the past been standard across the mobile industry here in the UK with the exception of T-Mobile, but this could change as Three is one of the first companies to remove the excessive charges.

Now when you go over you monthly data allowance on your smartphone or tablet, Three will basically stop you from using any more data for that month, and also give you the option to buy more data, with 250MB of data costing you £2, or the option to buy all you can eat data for £5, which will last for thirty days. Three have also announced that they will be launching a new range of price plans, you can find out more information over at the Three Blog.

The fastest growing mobile network; Three UK:

Instaprint Location Based Photobooth

A small company called Breakfast that specialises in creating devices to bridge the gap between online and the real world, unveiled their new Instaprint location based photo booth. Its been designed to transform parties by allowing anyone to print photos using Instaprint that has been set look out for specific locations or hashtags. The photos are then printed on ink less paper automatically. Watch the video after the jump to see Instaprint in action.

Over the past year the team at Breakfast have been creating prototypes and have now perfected their device. The team have now published it on Kickstarter and are looking for help to make the jump from concept to production. The team behind Instaprint explain:

“Going from prototype to consumer product is a massive step, and is something BREAKFAST has been working on for almost a year. It’s a huge endeavor that will require us to bring on more staff and dedicate many months to make it all happen. Some things are sure to change as we get into the thick of it, but that means things will only get better.”

If you would like to see the Instaprint location based photobooth become a reality jump over to the Kickstarter to make a pledge and help it on its way.

Keshot Social Media Photo Booth: The Picture Collection:

SprintTV iPhone App Launches

SprintTV has finally launched an iPhone application for users, enabling iPhone owners to now view selected live and on-demand programming from partners such as ABC, CBS, NBC, ESPN, The Disney Channel, MTV and Comedy Central to name a few.

SprintTv also provides premium packages allowing you to watch to more than 40 paid premium packages with popular shows including “Keeping Up With The Kardashians,” “SpongeBob Squarepants” and “The Daily Show with John Stewart.” Which start at $4.99 rising to $9.99 per month. You can now download the new Sprint TV Applcation for free from the iTunes App Store. The entire lineup of options available through the Sprint TV App can be viewed over on the MobiTV website.

Use of Sprint TV is included in plans with unlimited data. Sprint is the only national wireless carrier offering truly unlimited data plans for all phones, with no throttling or overages. Casual data charges of $0.03/kb and standard text messaging charges will apply to customers not on a plan with unlimited data and messaging.

Sprint TV App Review:

iFrogz Boost Speaker Uses Near Field Audio Technology

This week iFrogz unveiled their new iFrogz Boost Speaker which is equipped with near field audio technology. Which enables the little black box to be able to amplify a smart phones audio without the need for a connecting cable, Wi-Fi or Bluetooth connection.

Though the near field audio technology might sound very impressive. The reality is that iFrogz have embedded a microphone into the speaker system which takes up the audio from your smartphone and feeds it directly to the speaker.

So if you were expecting high quality reproduction you may be a little disappointed. But if you would like to just increase the volume of the audio from your cellphone, this little iFrogz Boost Speaker might be just the thing. The new iFrogz Boost Speaker system will be arriving in the spring of 2012 and will be available to purchase for around $40.

ifrogz Boost Near-Field Audio Amplifying Speaker: First Look:

HTC One V To Join Mobile World Congress Party

Here’s another reason to watch out for the upcoming Mobile World Congress: HTC One V. The new phone was previously called the HTC Primo. It’s the third device HTC will be unveiling at the Mobile World Congress, with the HTC One X and the HTC One S also reported to be the names for HTC’s new line of phones.

The HTC One V is one of the company’s music-centred phone and as such, will come with Beats Audio, which is part of HTC’s collaboration with the brand known for their bass-pumping headphones. Other details for the One V is that it will come with Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich), a 5-megapixel camera, 1.0 GHz processor and 1GB of RAM, not really top-end specs but more than enough for the average user. Besides, it’s targetted for those who often use their phones as their music player.

MWC 2011 - HTC Press conference - part 1/15:

SBSettings To Your iPhone Home Screen Like Shortcuts Without Jailbreaking

SBSettings are usually given as a primary reason for people to jailbreak their idevices. It is one of those things that once you become accustomed to having it, using your idevice without it become very difficult. iOS 5 can be jailbroken using an untethered jailbreak and many hacking groups have been looking for various exploits in order to pwn the software. iPhone 4S users whilst they have many advantages such as Siri and 64GB of flash storage cannot jailbreak their iPhones at all.

there is a way that those of you who are running untouched firmware can create shortcuts of the toggles found within SBSettings. These include WiFi, Airplane Mode, Brightness and Bluetooth and this can be done without jailbreaking. Icon Project which is available for just 99 cents in the App Store can help you to create custom icons with specific URL links to various settings. This is a great app that will see everyone through until every iDevice is able to use SBSettings.

There are lots of editing options available and these allow you to create some great icons. These include Auto-Lock, Brightness, Bluetooth, Date & Time, FaceTime, iCloud, Location Services, Music, Music Volume, Notes, Notification, Photos, Profile, Safari, Sounds, Twitter, Store, Usage and more. You can find the full list by visiting the App Store and looking for the Icon Project App.

How To : SbSettings Toggles For Non-Jailbroken iDevices (Icon Settings):

Sony Ericsson Xperia Handsets To Get Android 4.0 ICS In January?

Sony Ericsson recently confirmed that they would be releasing the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich update for their 2011 range of Xperia smartphones, although they didn’t give any specific details on when the update would be available. It would appear that we may see the Android 4.0 update land on the Xperia devices as soon as January 2012, according to a recent tweet which was posted to Twitter by a Sony Ericsson employee, although this has yet to be confirmed officially by Sony Ericsson.

Sony previously told us that the Xperia devices that would get Ice Cream Sandwich would include the Xperia Arc, Xperia Arc S, Xperia Play, Xperia Neo and Neo V, Xperia Mini and Mini Pro, Xperia pro, Xperia Active and Xperia Ray, plus the Sony Ericsson Live Walkman.

More information's:
http://www.gsmarena.com/ics_landing_to_select_xperia_phones_in_january_2012-news-3483.php

Android Ice Cream Sandwich on Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 (Alpha):

ITC hands HTC a win against former Apple subsidiary's patent claim

Chalk up a win for HTC in the ongoing patent wars: the International Trade Commission handed a win to HTC. HTC’s products do not infringe on a patent held by FlashPoint Technology. FlashPoint had been an Apple subsidiary, had taken its patent case to the ITC in an attempt to quickly obtain an import ban against HTC's phones. This case originally started with two patents related to camera technology. FlashPoint asserted them against RIM, Nokia, and LG, as well as HTC. The other three companies settled out of court, and FlashPoint dropped one so they could concentrate in asserting “patent 769” against HTC. Unless the implementation of the cameras made by RIM, Nokia, and LG are significantly different from HTC's, we imagine those companies may feel a little sheepish now that they agreed to pay royalties.

HTC is surely relieved, although this is just one of many cases in this global sue-fest. This case highlights one difficulty with patents – they are often vague enough that it isn’t clear whether or not infringement is taking place, and the only way to settle it is with a lawsuit. Flash Point may still elect to sue HTC in a U.S. federal court, although those cases tend to take longer and be costlier. Not to mention the defeat handed to them by the ITC may inspire confidence about going in for another round.

More information's:
http://www.usitc.gov/secretary/fed_reg_notices/337/337_726_notice11292011sgl.pdf

Intuit GoPayment for AT&T processes credit card payments right there on your smartphone

With the volume of mobile payments expected to skyrocket over the following years, it is not surprising that more and more companies are trying to grab a piece of the pie. Well, the steadily growing list includes AT&T now, which has partnered with Intuit in delivering a solution of its own to the U.S. market. The newly-introduced Intuit GoPayment for AT&T is a mobile payment system tailored with small business owners in mind. It allows for easy processing of credit and debit card payments on the go by using a smartphone and a portable Bluetooth card reader.

Here is how the magic happens: first you fire up the GoPayment app on your smartphone and log in. The next step is entering the amount, after which you swipe your customer's card through the reader and let them approve the payment by signing on the device's display. That's it! The transaction confirmation will be sent in a matter of seconds, and an invoice can be sent straight to your customer's email inbox, shoud it be required. Those concerned about their personal data will be pleased to know that the communication is encrypted and no private information is stored in the phone or tablet's memory.

More information's:
http://www.wireless.att.com/businesscenter/business-programs/small/solutions/industry-solutions/mobile-productivity-solutions/intuit-gopayment.jsp?wtLinkName=IntuitGoPayment&wtLinkLoc=LN
http://www.electronista.com/articles/11/11/08/deal.could.pose.threat.to.squares.mobile.service/

Intuit GoPayment for AT&T:

GameChanger Combines Apple’s iPad With Traditional Board Games

If you miss playing traditional board games now that everything seems to have gone digital. A new gaming accessory called CameChanger has been designed for the iPad which allows you to enjoy both digital gaming and the more traditional boardgame style in one. GameChanger comes supplied with 2 games Animal Mania and Magic Schoolbus and can be played by two to four players of ages six and up. Both games combine education and entertainment and use the 48 pressure sensitive feels that are embedded into the gaming board.

The GameChanger games board has been designed by Dutch company Identity Games and has been created to provide an interactive electronic games board merging both traditional and new gaming styles. More information about the games and the GameChanger device can be found over on the companies website. GameChanger measures 25 x 11 x 1 in (63.5 x 28 x 2.5 cm) in size and is now available to purchase from the Apple Store and Amazon.

More information's:
http://www.gizmag.com/gamechanger-ipad-board/20375/

GameChanger US:

Gameloft Modern Combat 3 iOS Game Launching Next Week, Complete With Multiplayer

Gameloft has today announced that their new Modern Combat 3 iOS game will be arriving in the Apple iTunes App Store on October 27th. Fallen Nation promises 12 strong multiplayer, a fully fledged single player campaign and some fantastic graphics for an iOS game.

The announcement was made via Gameloft’s Twitter and Facebook pages which also stated that an Android version of the new Modern Combat 3: Fallen Nation will be launching very soon. Watch a trailer showing the new in-game multiplayer experience, after the jump to see exactly what style of gameplay it will be bringing to the iOS platform. Modern Combat 3 was first announced back at the end of August and will be optimised for Apple’s iPad 2, but is expected to be playable on the first generation iPad as well.

More information's:
http://www.pocketgamer.co.uk/image.asp?ids=uni_16569_34427
http://www.touchgen.net/modern-combat-3-fallen-nation-multiplayer-preview

Modern Combat 3 - Multiplayer hands-on: