Getting his hands on the iPhone version of the feature for the first time, Ellis Hamburger of BusinessInsider noted back in November of this year that the version of the app which carried support for this feature was so good, it would “make you want to skip the desktop experience and just use Facebook on your iPhone.”

But the handset’s design also has one major downfall: its front and back glass panels. Its nearly all-glass outer casing has made the iPhone noticeably more fragile and susceptible to damages than other smartphones. But Apple is looking to fix that…

Patently Apple has uncovered yet another interesting patent application with Apple’s name on it. This particular filing describes a method of creating crack resistant glass solutions for portable devices. The document covers multiple ways of doing this, but there are two that really stand out.

The first method involves disposing a tunable shock mount between the cover glass and the main body. This would dampen the blow of a drop because it isolates the glass from the rest of the device. It would also help protect against water damage.

The second method is more complex, and pertains to a retractable glass cover that can sense when the device has been dropped. Using an actuator, control module, and sensors, the cover glass would be able to retract itself in the event that it detected a drop.

The application also talks about a method of strengthening glass by applying chemicals to it, which to me sounds like the most feasible solution. But regardless of how Apple does it, I just hope that crack resistant glass makes its way into iOS devices sooner rather than later.

Unlocking a device means that you are be able to activate it on other wireless carriers outside of the one you purchased the phone from. Initially, unlocking the iPhone required complexed baseband tweaking, but now it could be as easy as following these steps…

OSXDaily claims that several users have reported success with this unlock method, but it does warn readers to follow the guide at their own risk. We haven’t been able to confirm its safety or success either, so we are going to issue the same warning.

This tutorial describes how to unlock an AT&T iPhone 4S to work on T-Mobile’s network, so results with other carriers may vary. Obviously you’ll need a GSM iPhone 4S, and both an AT&T and T-Mobile SIM card (or one from a compatible GSM carrier).

“Step 1. Insert your AT&T SIM card. Dial 611 for customer service, and once it starts ringing, hang up.

 Step 2. Turn on your iPhone’s Airplane mode, take out the AT&T SIM card, and replace it with a T-Mobile SIM.

 Step 3. Make sure Wi-Fi is off, and clear any remembered networks to ensure it doesn’t auto-connect later.

 Step 4. Turn off Airplane mode. The handset will search for a network, and the Activation Required screen will popup.

 Step 5. Once you notice the device has found an EDGE network (E symbol), wait about 30 seconds and turn off the phone.

 Step 6. Power the handset back on, and you should see the same Activation Required screen.

 Step 7. Once you notice you have 1 bar of signal, tap on the Use Cellular Connection option. Then eject the SIM card.

 Step 8. The Activation Required screen should pop up again. Re-insert the T-Mobile SIM card, and you should be unlocked.”

 

It’s worth noting that some users had to repeat this process multiple times for it to work. We’ll keep you updated on our findings once we can test this out for ourselves.

You heard it right. This requires no jailbreaking because this app is available from the iTunes App Store. The app in question is called Icon Project by author Jae Hun Jeong. At the surface, Icon Project is an app that lets you create original icons in order to personalize your Home screen. But you can actually assign specific URL links to the custom icons you have created such as the call function, SMS/MMS, Facetime, Skype and so on. But how does this app have anything to do with the ever popular SBSettings tweak?

As it turns out, you can also assign shortcuts to your custom icons that links to certain Settings.app toggles. So just like with SBSettings, simply assign URLs for frequently accessed Settings toggles such as WiFi, Bluetooth, Brightness, Airplane Mode and so on. Now this isn’t exactly a full-on replacement for SBSettings because the functionality of this app is quite limited. Icon Project provides the shortcut directly to a specific Settings toggle rather than being able to configure the toggles on the fly like with SBSettings. But still, it’s a nice replacement for those who are looking to access their most frequently accessed toggles more quickly. And you can have it for only $0.99.

Here are the complete list of Settings.app Shortcuts:

About — prefs:root=General&path=About
Accessibility — prefs:root=General&path=ACCESSIBILITY
Airplane Mode On — prefs:root=AIRPLANE_MODE
Auto-Lock — prefs:root=General&path=AUTOLOCK
Brightness — prefs:root=Brightness
Bluetooth — prefs:root=General&path=Bluetooth
Date & Time — prefs:root=General&path=DATE_AND_TIME
FaceTime — prefs:root=FACETIME
General — prefs:root=General
Keyboard — prefs:root=General&path=Keyboard
iCloud — prefs:root=CASTLE
iCloud Storage & Backup — prefs:root=CASTLE&path=STORAGE_AND_BACKUP
International — prefs:root=General&path=INTERNATIONAL
Location Services — prefs:root=LOCATION_SERVICES
Music — prefs:root=MUSIC
Music Equalizer — prefs:root=MUSIC&path=EQ
Music Volume Limit — prefs:root=MUSIC&path=VolumeLimit
Network — prefs:root=General&path=Network
Nike + iPod — prefs:root=NIKE_PLUS_IPOD
Notes — prefs:root=NOTES
Notification — prefs:root=NOTIFICATIONS_ID
Phone — prefs:root=Phone
Photos — prefs:root=Photos
Profile — prefs:root=General&path=ManagedConfigurationList
Reset — prefs:root=General&path=Reset
Safari — prefs:root=Safari
Siri — prefs:root=General&path=Assistant
Sounds — prefs:root=Sounds
Software Update — prefs:root=General&path=SOFTWARE_UPDATE_LINK
Store — prefs:root=STORE
Twitter — prefs:root=TWITTER
Usage — prefs:root=General&path=USAGE
VPN — prefs:root=General&path=Network/VPN
Wallpaper — prefs:root=Wallpaper
Wi-Fi — prefs:root=WIFI

 

Buy Icon Project app from the iTunes App Store for $0.99. [via iDownloadBlog, pics via iPhoneAddict]

The tweak runs in the background; so pressing the Home button or interacting with other apps won’t stop the songs or even videos you may be listening to. While the tweak is running; you can control your music collection by many ways including by your headset, by Bluetooth or directly from your lock screen.

It also comes packed with SBSetting toggle options, dock metadata for car stereos and remote server support. The remote server allows you to control your music playing on your iPhone from another iPhone over WiFi. I’m still unsure how this would be useful although you can turn this particular feature off.

You can find Music Controls Pro in the Cydia store and is currently priced at $5.99 but if you’re not yet sold, give it a shot for free; you’ll have the option of downloading a full trial for 5 days. Plus, there are reports that the tweak is crashing or not functioning properly for some so it may be a good idea to check out the trial anyway before you cough up the dough.

With Apple already selling unlocked handsets on other countries, this is bringing the United States into line with everyone else. But if you’ve been waiting for the chance to buy an iPhone 4S without a 2-year contract, well, now you can!

All three capacities are available, along with both white and black models…

There is a price to pay for not being tied to a contract, and that’s a significant upfront cost. On Apple.com right now, the unlocked 16GB iPhone 4S will set you back $649. 32GB models weigh in at $749, with $849 required to pick up the top 64GB varient.

Apple also notes that the unlocked handsets will not work with CDMA carriers, meaning Sprint and Verizon in the United States.

“The unlocked iPhone includes all the features of iPhone but without a contract commitment. You can activate and use it on the supported GSM wireless network of your choice, such as AT&T in the United States.* The unlocked iPhone 4 or iPhone 4S will not work with CDMA-based carriers such as Verizon Wireless or Sprint.”

If unlocked is your preferred route, you’ll also need to wait 1-2 weeks for delivery, according to the Apple Store.

Apple has issued the new iOS 5.0.1 with some security patches to fix the iPad 2 smart cover security bug and to fix the iOS 5 battery issues. The new iOS 5.0.1 also brings the multitasking gestures to first generation iPad, as well as carries the general voice recognition for Australian users using dictation of Siri.

While Apple releases the new iOS 5.0.1, at the same time hackers warned users strictly not to update to latest version of iOS 5.0.1, because it carries some security fixes which kills the jailbreak life for always!

iOS 5.0.1 direct download links below (build number 9A405)

• iPhone 3GS
• iPhone 4 GSM
• iPhone 4 CDMA
• iPhone 4S
• iPad
• iPad 2 (also iPad 2 AT&T and iPad 2 Verizon)
• iPod touch 3rd gen
• iPod touch 4th gen

We’ve been hearing about Apple’s plans to implement some sort of a self-checkout system in its chain of retail stores for over a week now. As a matter of fact, we’ve been expecting to see the feature added in an Apple Store app update since November 3rd.

Well as they say, better late than never. MacRumors was the first to spot the update in the App Store, which must have been uploaded sometime late last night. As promised, Apple added a number of features to the app, including self-checkout…

What’s New in Version 2.0:

” – Personal Pickup: Buy in the app and choose to pick up your order at any Apple Retail Store. Most in-stock orders are available to pickup within an hour. (US only)

- EasyPay: Purchase select accessories in store quickly by scanning the barcode and completing your transaction right in the app. (US only, requires iPhone 4 or iPhone 4S)

- Track your stuff: View the status of current and previous orders from the order status section in the More tab.

- Additional international support (Canada, China).

- Requires iOS 4.2 or higher”

 

The tracking tool is a welcome addition, and would have certainly come in handy for tracking iPhone 4S pre-orders. Other than that, there aren’t too many surprises here. MacRumorsgave a detailed description of the update more than a week ago.

But now that the app has launched, it’ll be interesting to see how Apple’s EasyPay self-checkout system works out. Something about customers using their iPhones to purchase items without employee assistance just screams “shoplifters welcome.”

If you want to try it out for yourself (the app, not shoplifting), the new Apple Store application is now available for download.

Will Apple’s EasyPay system revolutionize retail? Or will it just increase theft attempts?

The iPhone hacker has the just-published couple of pictures showing iPhone’s hidden panorama picture mode, and interface. He and his team actually also uploaded the panorama picture which they take from iPhone’s hidden panorama mode of the camera.

The panorama mode of the iPhone does not carry any fancy thing to interact with the user. Users can simply enable the panorama mode on their iPhone running latest iOS 5 by tapping on a panorama button, present in the camera option’s popover. The iPhone gives a normal tutorial on screen which helps users in shooting their panorama pictures. You can simply capture the panorama by moving phone from left to right.

The iPhone’s official Mail.app is a fine email client, but it’s never played completely nice with Gmail. The Gmail app promises to give you the full email experience on the iPhone without hassling with the idiosyncrasies of marrying Mail.app with Gmail. Here’s the feature rundown:

• Push notifications and sounds give you alerts when new messages show up in your inbox (naturally). Unfortunately, there seems to be a bug in this initial release that’s preventing Gmail from working with notifications. If you see the no valide ‘aps-environment’ entitlement string error message when you launch Gmail the first time (which I did), you’re not going to see Gmail in your notifications options. Let’s assume they’re going to fix this, and we’ll keep our eyes open for any short-term fix we can find. (See update below.)
• Search your entire inbox from one universal search box. This seems like a no-brainer, but you couldn’t do that from Mail.app unless you headed to the All Mail label.
• Autocomplete from Gmail contacts or your iPhone’s address book means that if you’ve managed your contacts better in either place, you can choose whichever you prefer. (My iPhone contacts are synced to my iPhone anyway, so it’s a wash.)
• Upload attachments with an attachment upload button when you’re composing messages. Nothing terribly special about this, but it’s good to know attachments are an option. You still won’t be able to share directly from, say, the Gallery app. I wonder if copy/paste works?
• iPad has a fancy split view just like Mail.app and just about every other information-dense iPad app.

The app also supports the following Gmail-specific features:

• Priority inbox
• Threaded conversations: This is probably the most exciting things. Most Gmail users fell in love with threaded conversations a long time ago, and it’s the threaded conversations I most missed when I switched to the iPhone 4S from my Android phone.
• Archive, label, star, delete, report spam: You know, all the basics you use in Gmail but don’t have access to from just any email client.

The nice touchy elements include pull-to-refresh and swipe right to view labels (sort of like the left sidebar in Gmail on the web). Beyond that, it’s all like you’d expect. You can swipe left to archive a message (playing around with it, this gesture is actually a little buggy).

The bad: As far as I can tell, the app doesn’t currently support multiple Gmail accounts. Or offline caching of your email. Bummer. Also, the notifications bug mentioned above appears to mean that the app won’t do any notifying until Google gets an update out the door. Finally: The app has nice native elements, like swipe-right-to-view-labels, but the main interface isn’t all that native feeling. In fact, I’m pretty sure it’s just the web version wrapped in an app. That would be fine, except that when you try natural gestures, like swipe-left-to-archive, it’s jumpy and ugly—it doesn’t feel like the iPhone’s very satisfying native swipe-to-delete gesture, because it’s not. Hopefully Google will push it in better directions in subsequent updates.

Gmail for iPhone is a free download from the App Store, available now.

UPDATE: Looks like Google has pulled the Gmail app from the App Store, to be re-released once they’ve fixed the above-mentioned notifications bug:

The iOS app we launched today contained a bug which broke notifications and caused you to see an error message when first opening the app. We’ve removed the app while we correct the problem, and we’re working to bring you a new version soon. In the meantime, everyone who’s already installed the app can continue to use it.

We want to bring you a great Gmail experience, and we’re sorry we messed up here

Gmail for iPhone | iTunes App Store via Official Gmail Blog