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Mobile Miscellany: week of February 6th, 2012
Not all mobile news is destined for the front page, but if you're like us and really want to know what's going on, then you've come to the right place. This week, we've learned that T-Mobile is offering some of its best phones free after rebate (today only), and we've also spotted a new power management feature that seems destined for BlackBerry 7.1 OS. These stories and more await after the break. So buy the ticket and take the ride. Let's explore the "best of the rest" for this week of February 6th, 2012.
NoMute reclaims iPad orientation lock in iOS 4.2, but only if you jailbreak
If you've yet to upgrade your iPad to iOS 4.2.1, and you're head-over-heels with your orientation lock, you've got two options: upgrade and lose that functionality altogether, or upgrade / jailbreak and get it back. Naturally, we'd recommend the latter. In what can only be described as "so typically Apple," the software engineers at Cupertino figured that they'd convert the perfectly acceptable orientation lock switch into a mute switch. We lamented this fact in our review of the update, but rather than Apple creating (non-fiddly) alternatives within its software, we're left to look for a solution in the jailbreaker's app store. NoMute has just emerged under the BigBoss repository in Cydia, promising to reclaim the switch you've already become accustomed to using. It's available now for absolutely nothing, but users are encouraged to cast a wicked glare in Steve's direction as the download ensues. Update: After installing the tweak and doing our own testing, we came one minor issue. Some apps decided to mute when the physical orientation (er, mute) switch is flicked on. So, when we played Angry Birds and physically locked the orientation, we lost sound. However, the sound remained when we locked our screen and tested videos on YouTube via Safari.
iPhone OS 4 beta 3 adds orientation lock, iPod controls to multitasking bar
9to5Mac reports that new features have been added to the iPhone's multitasking bar as of the release of iPhone OS 4 beta 3 earlier today. Swiping left from the multitasking bar now accesses a new set of controls. On the far left is an orientation lock, which disables the iPhone's auto-switching between portrait and landscape orientation. This achieves via software the same thing as the iPad's dedicated orientation lock hardware switch. It will make using the iPhone in a reclined position much easier; no longer will the iPhone switch between orientations seemingly at random as you're catching up on e-mails just after waking up. And there was much rejoicing. To the right of the orientation lock is a set of three controls for play/pause and track skipping in the iPod app, as well as a dedicated icon for the app itself. It seems likely this will replace the current "notification window" method for accessing iPod controls via a double-tap of the Home button. Cool bit of functionality coming soon in the iPhone OS 4.0 release. [Via MacRumors]
iPhone OS 4 beta 3 brings iPod widgets to the dock
Apple may have pulled iPhone OS 4 beta 3 soon after it went live, but we're living recklessly -- and hey, is that a set of iPod controls and a screen orientation lock hiding out in the app switcher? The control is accessed by swiping to the far left, and it all does pretty much what you'd expect. That's good news, since we were missing the old pop-up iPod controls pretty badly. We're hunting around for more new stuff, we'll let you know if we find anything.
