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Recon Instruments partners with Contour, makes MOD Live into ski slope viewfinder
As if capturing your downhill plunge in full HD and tracking your positioning coordinates wasn't enough, Recon Instruments and Contour are teaming up to make their respective, extreme slope accessories work in tandem. Slated for release in the coming weeks, the Camera Connectivity app for MOD Live allows feeds sent from a Contour+ or ContourGPS helmet cam to display on the goggles' 14-inch virtual 428 x 240 display, giving gnar enthusiasts easy access to recording and settings options. But that's not the only cross-tech handshake being announced here. The company also plans to make the various info (altitude, speed, temperature, etc.) collected by its Android-powered mask available to iPhone 4S users, although you'll have to wait until year-end for that feature to launch. So, if you fancy yourself a connoisseur of the powdery white stuff or even the ski slope version of Bond, be sure to pack these Q-approved goodies and download that app before your next trek to Vail. Official PR after the break.
AT&T reports 'blow-out' Q4, revenues up 3.6 percent, 7.6 million iPhones activated
AT&T is all smiles again, as it announces a quarter in which it managed to sell 9.4 million smartphones. It nearly doubled handset sales from Q3 and managed -- perhaps unsurprisingly -- 7.6 million iPhone activations, with the majority being Apple's latest flavor of phone. It looks like the loss of its exclusivity tag hasn't hurt its sales, with Ma Bell quick to note that it sold far more iPhones than its Big Red rival. Total consolidated revenues were up $1.1 billion from last year, that's a 3.6 percent increase and it's up just over $1 billion from last quarter. However, due to the failed T-Mobile acquisition (and the subsequent pay-off) net income was a loss of $6.7 billion, with $4.2 billion of this going to its previously potential partner. Aside from bumper smartphone sales, AT&T's attributed its revenue increases to a year-on-year increase in wireless subscriptions in all their forms -- including wireless internet. An additional 208,000 AT&T U-verse TV subscribers has tipped the viewer count to 3.8 million. See AT&T's own take on its results below.
Motorola after an injunction against iPhone 4S, iCloud
Motorola has filed a new patent suit against Apple and now seeks an injunction against both the iPhone 4S and iCloud. FOSS Patents notes that the terms of Google's proposed acquisition of Motorola stipulate that Motorola can't initiate new intellectual property suits without Google's approval; that makes it sound a lot like Google is using Motorola's patent portfolio in a proxy war against Apple. Motorola already has one patent suit against Apple in progress, but that suit is too far along in the judicial process for the company to stack on the iPhone 4S and iCloud. Motorola has asserted six patents in its claim against Apple; all six are asserted against the iPhone 4S, and four are claimed to apply to iCloud. Companies seeking sales injunctions against rivals in patent suits may be an attention-grabbing move, but in fact those injunctions rarely go through. To date, no company has successfully gained a sales injunction against Apple despite numerous attempts, and Apple's own attempts to get injunctions against its rivals have also rarely succeeded. What's most interesting about Motorola's move is that it's occurred with Google's approval. Apple's suits against various Android handset manufacturers have often been viewed as a suit against Google itself in all but name, and from the beginning it's seemed inevitable that we'll see Apple v. Google on a docket eventually. With Google in the process of acquiring Motorola and giving its consent to new suits against Apple, that may happen quite soon.
Belfry brings Stocks and Weather, other native iPhone apps to jailbroken iPads
Rounding out the honeymoon period with that freshly jailbroken iPad 2? Well now we have some new apps for you to play with, and you may already be acquainted. iOS hacker Ryan Petrich's most recent project, dubbed Belfry, lets you install stock iPhone apps that are otherwise absent from both versions of Apple's tablet including Clock, Voice Memos, Stocks, Calculator, Compass and Weather. As to why these aren't included already is beyond our knowledge, but at least there's an alternative. Users can install Belfry directly within Cydia for free from the BigBoss repository. If you're looking for proof to seal the deal, you can catch the bashful Belfry and his silent film antics after the break.
Apple overtakes Samsung as largest smartphone maker
Apple floored the tech community when it announced on Tuesday that it sold 37 million iPhones in the last three months of 2011. This staggering figure was well over the 17 million it sold in Q3 2011 and may be high enough to make Apple the number one smartphone manufacturer in the world. Apple climbed over its rival Samsung, which is expected to announce later this week that it sold 35 million handsets worldwide. Apple beat out Samsung because it had fantastic momentum going into the holiday quarter. There was pent up demand for the iPhone 4S which launched at the beginning of the quarter. Customers lined up for the phone and Tim Cook confirmed in the earnings call yesterday that demand exceeded inventory. Samsung, however, had several models on the market, but none of its phones were on fire like the 4S. The Galaxy SII was older and on the down side of its sales. The flagship Galaxy Nexus also debuted overseas in the quarter, but it didn't garner the attention of the international crowd like the iPhone 4S. The Nexus also arrived in the US with Verizon, but it launched late in the quarter and its sales won't contribute heavily to Samsung's Q4 numbers.
Study shows iPhone 4S customers' buying habits
If you recently bought an iPhone 4S, chances are you sold an older model iPhone to fund that purchase. You also probably stayed on your current carrier and purchased the lower capacity models. These trends are gleaned from a Consumer Intelligence Research Partners survey conducted in October, November and December of 2011. According to CIRP, 21 percent of iPhone 4S owners bought the 64 GB iPhone 4S, which means most 4S owners (79 percent) opted for the lower capacity.CIRP also found that 36 percent of 4S owners migrated from another platform, which is up from the 18 percent reported in earlier surveys. This increase is impressive and shows the 4S is gaining traction among Android, BlackBerry or Palm users. It also shows that most customers (64 percent) stick with the iPhone once they make the switch. It's not just customers who benefit from the iPhone. The CIRP survey suggests the iPhone is good for carriers that carry the handset, bad for those that don't. The results show that AT&T, Verizon and Sprint have maintained their iPhone user base and customers are not switching among the big three just to get the iPhone. New customers come at the expense of T-Mobile and other smaller carriers like US Cellular, which don't carry the iPhone.Though I wasn't one of the 365 people who participated in the questionnaire, it describes me perfectly. I'm a 4S owner who sold my iPhone 4 on Craigslist. I stayed with my current carrier Verizon Wireless and purchased the lower capacity 16 GB model. How about you, do you fit into this survey?
VoiceUtils makes your iPhone 4S wish into a Siri command (video)
In the event you haven't tired of Siri hacks, here comes yet another unintended use of the ole robo-handmaiden. This time, however, her jailbroken powers of automation are strictly for vanilla iOS purposes, so you won't find any demonstrations of car stereo or TV channel changing here. Instead, recently liberated iPhone 4S owners can look forward to a software package called VoiceUtils, available through Cydia, that allows Cupertino's best gal to open first- and third-party apps, unlock your phone (barring password protection) and even reboot. See? It's not exactly the most exciting exploit of Apple's much-touted software, but it is resoundingly practical. If you haven't taken a swig of greenpois0n's Absinthe just yet and are keen to extend your iDevice's voice recognition functionality, now might be the time to drink deeply.
Absinthe A5 Jailbreaker for iPhone 4S / iPad 2 now available for Windows
When the Absinthe A5 untethered jailbreak solution hit yesterday it opened Apple's iPhone 4S and iPad 2 for more creative uses by their owners -- as long as they were on OS X. Now the team has returned with a version of the tool built for Windows users who enjoy iLife mixing and matching. All the usual restrictions, warnings and directives apply, but you know what you're here for -- hit the source link below to download a ZIP file straight from greenpois0n's servers and get going, or check the other links for more information on the exact steps to follow.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Absinthe A5 jailbreak released for iPhone 4S, hacker Dream Team makes untethered dreams come true
Been waiting with bated breath to liberate that dual-core A5 within your shiny, white (we presume) Jony Ive-designed device? Well, you can exhale now, as a "Dream Team" of iOS hackers have just released Absinthe A5: an untethered solution for the iPhone 4S and iPad 2. For the uninitiated, this particular hack will not only free your handset or tablet from Apple's controlling grasp, it'll also retain the jailbreak upon reboot. But don't just thank this hacker collective for the successful effort, you can direct some of that applause to yourselves, as over ten million users submitted crash reports which led to the discovery of the exploit. But enough of the backstory -- head on over to the source to get your download started.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Camera-less iPhone 4S now available in Singapore, military approves
Rhyming schemes aside, it's hard to imagine why anyone would want a camera-less iPhone 4S. But that's exactly what Singaporean operator M1 is offering today, with the launch of a new line of "non-camera" iPhones. As it turns out, Singapore's military prohibits its soldiers from owning camera-equipped cellphones, which presents problems for the many men who have to serve a mandatory two-year term. With M1's new modified iPhone 4 and 4S, though, they'll be in the clear, since both devices have been approved by no less an authority than Singapore's Ministry of Defense, or MINDEF. According to the provider, both front- and rear-facing cameras have been completely removed from the devices, and "may not be reinstalled." They're all available now on a two-year plan, for about $38 more than their fully-outfitted counterparts. Singapore's two other operators, SingTel and StarHub, tell CNET that they're also looking to roll out a line of MINDEF-approved iPhones, though neither could offer a timeline for their release.
Nielsen: Android still top dog, but Q4 buyers preferred iPhone 4S
Nielsen crunched Q4 numbers today, and the results will likely have Apple analysts jumping up and down. The findings, focused on those who've purchased a smartphone within the previous three months, indicate a huge spike -- from 25 percent in October to 45 percent in December -- in iPhone purchases since October as an obvious result of the launch of the 4S. Conversely, the number of recent Android buyers fell by 14 percent in the same period. Of course, these numbers are directly affected by Apple's latest product launch and by no means should be any indicator that Apple is poised to win the battle against its bitter rival, as iOS continues to trail Android by over 16 percent in market share. Looking at the war for the third spot, RIM's US market share declined by 2.9 percent from Q3 to Q4, falling to 14.9 percent -- not a surprise, since it only captured the hearts of six percent of recent buyers this quarter -- and Windows Phone slightly increased from 1.2 to 1.3 percent. Full press release and chart can be found after the break.
iPhone 4S ship times drop to 3-5 days
Electronista noticed this morning that shipping estimates for the iPhone 4S have dropped to three to five business days for all capacities. This shows that the despite the ongoing rollout of the iPhone 4S in other countries, production has caught up to meet demand. If you've been waiting to upgrade because of thin supplies since its release and the holiday season, now is a good time to consider ordering one.
iPhone 4S jailbreak demonstration video
The A5 jailbreak for the iPhone 4S is making excellent progress. Chronic dev team member @DHowett posted a video to YouTube that shows an iPhone 4S with an untethered jailbreak for iOS 5.0.1. The short video shows Cydia running on the handset and the phone resetting without the need to connect it to a computer. Pod2g, who's working on the jailbreak along with @planetbeing, @MuscleNerd and@p0sixninja, confirmed the video is the real deal and hinted that the jailbreak will be released soon. [Via The Verge]
Apple stops selling iPhone 4S in China to protect its staff
Apple says it's suspending iPhone 4S sales in mainland China following the violence we reported earlier, in which angry customers threw eggs at the company's flagship store in Beijing. The crowd had queued in freezing temperatures to purchase the newly-arrived 4S, but were subsequently told the store would not be opening for business -- hence their angry response. It seems that many in the mob weren't normal consumers, but were workers put in place by resellers who wanted to buy up devices and sell them on at a profit. There was similar disorder when the iPad 2 went on sale in China, and now an Apple spokesperson has said the risk to its staff is too great, forcing it to halt 4S sales "for the time being."
Spotted at CES: Skech Trax iPhone 4 case
Today, while checking out the variety of iPhone case options available in the iLounge Pavilion at CES, I saw a display that caught my eye: iPhone 4 cases made from recycled bicycle tires. As a Portlander, I am legally obligated* to follow up on any product that is recycled or bike-related, so I went over and checked them out. They are made by a company called Skech, and I actually got my hands on the Skech Trax case. This is a flip style case (like a steno pad, not like a book) with a nice soft interior and the exterior is made of the aforementioned used tires. This is cool because all the cases are a little different and have some cool texture to them. I also liked that the inside material is available in a variety of colors, and the flap that covers the screen also includes a couple of card sleeves for business cards or ID and a credit card if you need to travel light. It has a hole for the camera, and the top is open for access to power or the headphone jack. There is a magnetic clasp to hold it shut the rest of the time, and the whole thing feels really well put together. Be aware that it is not the most protectionary of cases, but it will keep your keys off the screen while your phone is in your bag, and look reasonably nice outside your bag too. Skech makes a variety of other iPhone cases, but this one stood out and I wanted to show it to all of you. *There was an ordinance passed in 1998.** **Yes, I am kidding.
China launch of iPhone 4S goes awry as crowds overwhelm Beijing flagship store (Updated)
The mainland China launch of the iPhone 4S hasn't gone as planned in Beijing, according to reports from Bloomberg, MIC Gadget and other sources. When massive lines of people waiting overnight in sub-freezing temperatures at Apple's flagship Sanlitun store in the capital city began to cause crowding problems -- and when Apple employees and Chinese security personnel realized that the vast majority of the queued would-be buyers were scalpers looking to purchase & then resell the in-demand phones -- the store opening was delayed. Angry linewaiters began chanting for the store to open, eventually throwing eggs at the store facade. Now the announcement has apparently been made: no more queuing, and no iPhone 4S sales at the Beijing flagship store today. Other stores in the capital and in Shanghai apparently had no such crowd control issues, and China Unicom sent text reminders to subscribers that they could order the iPhone 4S for free home delivery. Update: The New York Times reports that Apple has officially suspended in-person sales of the 4S at its China stores, although phones are still available from China Unicom. [via MacRumors]
iPhone 4S launch in China draws large crowds, unnecessary violence and SWAT teams (video)
No Apple product launch is complete without long lines, frustration and utter exhaustion. Unfortunately, the arrival of the iPhone 4S has escalated this reality to a new level in China. We're now reading reports of fights breaking out between competing gangs of scalpers in the country, each hoping to get their hands on large quantities of Cupertino's latest smartphone. The conflicts have been significant enough to attract the attention of Chinese police, and we now hear that the Apple Store in Beijing is keeping its doors locked in attempt to make the crowds leave. While we've yet to hear of any significant injuries, it seems the company's storefront is now coated with plenty of eggs. If you're interested to keep track of the unfortunate situation, you'll find more coverage below and a video after the break.
iPhone 4S customers lining up in China
With only hours before sales begin, customers are lining up to buy the iPhone 4S in China. There are five Apple Stores in China, and Tech In Asia reports that each location already has "hundreds" of eager shoppers waiting for doors to open. As we've seen elsewhere, Apple employees are using a ticket system to deter would-be line jumpers. China Unicom will begin selling the iPhones at 12:01 AM as well, but Tech In Asia believes many customers are interested in getting unlocked phones from Apple. If you're in the queue at one of China's Apple Stores, let us know! We'd love to see your photos and hear your stories. [Via MacRumors]
Siri finds new employment in Crestron's home automation biz (video)
It was with mild curiosity that we witnessed Siri control a thermostat, but thanks to an integrated setup from Carnes Audio Visual -- a custom installer of home automation systems in Little Rock -- we couldn't help but gawk as Apple's soft-spoken assistant reigned supreme over an entire house. With help from Crestron's AMS-AIP home automation equipment and an intermediary proxy server, we're shown voice control of lighting, temperature, home theater equipment and more. You'll definitely want to check the video after the break, which is likely to make the folks at Control4 more than a bit nervous.
iPhone reportedly ready for China Telecom's CDMA2000 network
The iPhone 4S is set to launch in China a few days from now via China Unicom, a GSM-based provider that has been the sole iPhone-compatible Chinese carrier thus far. According to AllThingsD, China may be getting ready to add a second carrier to the mix: CDMA-based wireless carrier China Telecom. Apple has reportedly received regulatory approval for a device compatible with China Telecom's CDMA2000 network, and with the iPhone 4S being a true world phone featuring compatibility with both GSM and CDMA networks, it seems it's only a matter of time before China Telecom starts offering the iPhone to its 123 million customers. Apple has to clear a couple more regulatory hurdles before sales can begin through China Telecom, but in the meantime, the iPhone 4S will go on sale in China via Unicom on January 13. If iPhone 4S sales are as brisk in China as they have been everywhere else, it's going to be a good day for Apple.
