As you all know since the Jailbreak 5.0.1 came out all iPhone 4 and iPad users have been able to install “Siri” the awesome Apple assistant onto their devices but now Apple may be taking steps to block Siri on unauthorized devices, according reports circulating online.

This is a big deal and I don’t think Apple will be able to do anything about it but they are trying to make an attempt to stop all Unauthorized users from using Siri.

Wolvy, a moderator on iHackMyi, reports that a new “SetActivationToken” has disabled Siri for most users.

Previously, you only needed Spire, a host and a certificate and you were away. Now Apple have added a “SetActivationToken” which has disabled Siri for almost everyone on illegitimate devices.

A temporary (hopefully) workaround of deleting “com.apple.assistant.plist” from the device appears to resolve the issue for now, but will this become another game of cat and mouse for apple, just like in Jailbreaking?

For those experiencing the issue you can use iFile to delete the /var/mobile/Library/Preferences/com.apple.assistant.plist file.

We’ll let you know if any further information on the issue comes to light.

Read More [via iDB]

iPhone Techie

AssistantExtensions is a new tweak that lets you extend Siri’s functionality. It includes built-in support for additional commands including tweet, launch app, search YouTube, toggle switch, and more.

Using a plug in architecture developers can add custom functionality to Apple’s assistant.

Extensions can very easily react to recognized speech and present a text response. In addition to a simple text response, extensions can also create embedded Apple snippets like Clock, Weather, etc and can also create a brand new, custom snippets with custom graphics. For snippets, the extension loads its resources from a bundle or loads a nib which can be created in XCode’s InterfaceBuilder. No private frameworks are needed. There is no limit to what kind of extension you can develop.

AssistantExtensions includes a few built-in extensions including:

● System commands: tweet ‘text_of_the_tweet’, open ‘application_name’ or launch ‘app_name’, brightness to ‘XX %’, restart springboard, generate a random number, say ‘what_to_say>’, should I ‘do something?’.
● Toggles: turn on ‘toggle_name’, list toggles or list switches to get a list of toggles and their states.
● Chat Bot: You can chat with Siri. To start, just say “Let’s chat” and wait a moment. Loading times will be improved a lot in future releases.
● YouTube – searches YouTube and shows results with thumbnails, example: “Search Lady Gaga on YouTube”

You can download AssistantExtensions from the BigBoss Cydia repository.

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iPhone Techie

Lingual is a new tweak by the CodeThemed team that adds translate functionality to Siri. In my example below you will find that it has no issues translating things into Russian language or 30 other languages of your choice and that are supported

Translate to over 30+ languages using Siri. Created by the CodeThemed team, designed by Mazalthan and developed by TheNickF

To use, say to Siri: “translate something to [language]” or “what’s something in [language]“. For example, “what’s how are you in Spanish?”

Lingual is made possible thanks to AssistantExtensions which has built-in support for tweeting, searching YouTube and more.

Check out Lingual in the Big Boss Cydia repository.

iPhone Techie

The iPhone 4S and iPad 2 owners waited patiently, then they waited some more, and finally after a little more waiting welcomed the Absinthe jailbreak software to the community.

The ‘Dream Team’ of hackers have just released their untethered jailbreak for the iPhone 4S and the iPad 2.

P0sixninja details some of the background in a post on the Greenpoison blog:

The ridiculously complex combination of exploits-within-exploits that make this iOS jailbreak possible have consumed thousands of hours of brain-power & effort from a legion of world-renowned hackers, several of whom have been working diligently on this project since the dual-core A5 processor was unveiled by Apple last March. Ten months ago, I myself was live tweeting from a tediously long line at the nearest Apple retail store, where I anxiously waited to become one of the world’s first owners (& hackers) of the newly-released iPad 2.

Despite new tools to help with finding exploits they realized a team effort was necessary.

We finally admitted that the escalated obstacles presented by Apple’s new A5 processor would not likely be overcome by one individual or team – but all together, we should be more than able to conquer any challenges encountered. As such, a diverse group of iOS hackers all decided to set aside our personal goals & egos, relax our die-hard team loyalties, and pool our respective skill-sets, talents & exploits to form an iOS Super-Hacking “Dream Team.”

The initial release is currently for Mac OS X only but Windows is coming soon!

Below you can find links to download Absinthe, a tool released by the Chronic Dev-Team to jailbreak the iPhone 4S and iPad 2.

absinthe-mac-0.1.2-1.zip

The supported devices and firmware for Absinthe are:

• iPhone 4S running iOS 5.0, 5.0.1 (9A405 and 9A406)
• iPad 2 Wifi/GSM/CDMA running iOS 5.0.1

A considerable amount of effort has been put into ensuring Absinthe is of the highest possible quality, but be aware that unforeseen bugs may exist due to this being the first time the development teams have used the backup / restore process within iTunes to install software, in other words; the jailbreak process is something which is alien to all. If you are an iPhone 4S owner who is ultimately looking to achieve a software based unlock, it is also worth heeding the advice given by the iPhone Dev-Team and remaining on iOS 5.0 if possible.

We can’t emphasize more on the fact for iPhone 4S users who are willing to unlock their devices on iOS 5. It’s a safe bet that you do not update to iOS 5.0.1 in any case as the unlock tool in development will not be compatible with iOS 5.0.1 upon release, hence stay on iOS 5 if possible since the original release of iOS 5 which was pushed out in October is not being signed by Apple anymore, therefore you cannot downgrade your iPhone 4S to iOS 5.0.1 along with your sacrificed baseband.

As mentioned by the Chronic Dev Team on their official blog post regarding the jailbreak itself, the tool is as ever simple to use and is a one click heaven for those yearning for a quick jailbreak.

Download Absinthe for Mac

Windows and Linux versions of the tool will be available in a short while. Stay tuned for a complete step by step guide on how to jailbreak your iPhone 4S and iPad 2 on iOS 5.x untethered along with a video walkthrough.

Its better for our readers to wait for a complete step-by-step guide on how to jailbreak their iPhone 4S and iPad 2 on iOS 5.0.1, so they go through a smooth jailbreaking process without facing hurdles along the way.

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iPhone Techie

Pod2g’s untethered iOS 5.0.1 jailbreak for the iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPod Touch 3G, iPod Touch 4G, and iPad 1, has been released, according the iPhone Dev-Team.

A few days ago, @pod2g gave the untether to both the iPhone devteam and the chronic devteam. We’ve put it into redsn0w 0.9.10 and PwnageTool, and the chronic devteam put it into a Cydia package (the same set of exploits is in all three).

It has been almost 8 weeks since the first declaration by pod2g that he had found a bug that he believed could provide an untethered jailbreak for iOS 5. We find ourselves exactly fifty days down the line, and what I imagine has been a lot of sleepless nights for the developers involved, but we now officially have the release of an untethered jailbreak for all A4 devices running iOS 5.0.1.

Basics:
● The untether is for iOS 5.0.1 on iPhone3GS, iPhone4, iPhone4-CDMA, iPad1, iPod touch 3G, iPod touch 4G
● If you have one of those devices and are not on 5.0.1 yet, update now! The SHSH window is still open for 5.0.1 If you unlock via ultrasn0w or gevey, make sure you only get to 5.0.1 via a custom IPSW! See the guides at places like iClarified.com if you don’t know how. Once you’re at 5.0.1, use the latest redsn0w 0.9.10 to both jailbreak and untether.
● If you’re already at 5.0.1 with a tethered jailbreak, you have two choices: either run redsn0w 0.9.10 over your current jailbreak (deselect “Install Cydia” if you do that), or install the Cydia package prepared by the chronic devteam. The patches are the same regardless of which you choose.
● Some of you are using a hybrid 5.0/5.0.1 configuration. If so, do not attempt to install this untether over that setup! You will most likely get into a reboot cycle. Do a sync and fresh restore to 5.0.1 then install the jailbreak + untether.

On December 22nd, pod2g announced via his official blog that would be passing all of his work and details across to the researchers at the Chronic Development Team partly to allow him to concentrate on progressing the development of an A5 jailbreak, and partly because he believed that the Chronic Dev Team could integrate and package all of his work into a distributable jailbreak.

It seems that his instincts were correct as only five days after that decision was made, we are seeing a release of a jailbreak for A4 devices on iOS 5.0.1 which has been implemented by both the Chronic Dev  and iPhone Dev teams.

The iOS 5.0.1 untethered jailbreak contains the exact same set of files that pod2g provided to the Chronic Dev Team, and can be distributed as either a download via Cydia by searching for a package named ‘Corona’, for users who are already jailbroken tethered, or through a Redsn0w bundle for users who have running stock iOS and have been waiting for this untether.

At the time of writing, it is worth noting that this jailbreak currently only supports iOS 5.0.1 with Chronic Dev Team member p0sixninja tweeting out that 5.0 will follow soon after a number of small bugs have been eradicated and more testing has been carried out. Pod2g has also released some advice to A4 and A5 users advising not to update their devices to iOS 5.0.2 or 5.1 when released as this would cut their chance of a future jailbreak.

Note: The jailbreak released is supported on all A4 based (and below) devices like iPhone 4, 3GS, iPod touch 3G/4G and iPad 1. Newer A5-based devices like iPad 2 and iPhone 4S are currently not supported.

If your device is running stock iOS 5.0.1 then you can use download the latest Redsn0w 0.9.10b1 to for either Windows or Mac to give yourself an untethered jailbreak, instructions for which can be found below.

Step 1: Download the latest version of Redsn0w from the links given above.

Step 2: Start Redsn0w, select “Jailbreak” then check “Install Cydia”. Follow the onscreen steps to place your device into DFU mode.

Step 3: Wait for Redsn0w to apply the full untethered jailbreak!

Once done, your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch will be rebooted into fully untethered jailbreak mode!

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iPhone Techie

RedSn0w and Corona have been updated to resolve a launchctl related error experienced after jailbreaking, thanks to help from saurik and planetbeing.

The b2 version of redsn0w includes the launchctl-related fix by @planetbeing as mentioned by @saurik here and here. As usual, you can just re-run redsn0w in jailbreak mode over your existing 5.0.1 jailbreak (even a PwnageTool one), making sure to de-select “Install Cydia” if you do. Always be sure to do a controlled “slide to power off” shutdown of your device before running redsn0w.

You can download the new version of redsn0w from here.

• redsn0w 0.9.10b3 for OS X
• redsn0w 0.9.10b3 for Windows (be sure to run in Administrator mode)

PwnageTool Official Bittorent Releases

• PwnageTool_5.0.1.dmg

SHA1 Sum = 32e90607378988cdebb6c76d3acf8ffac6366e35

Saurik also notes that updated version of Corona can upgrade redsn0w users who are experiencing this issue. You can find instructions on how to use Corona here.

The launchctl issue also affects you if you used redsn0w to install the 5.0.1 untether. I have built 1.0-3, which can upgrade redsn0w users.

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iPhone Techie

Have no fear ‘Corona’ is here and no we aren’t talking about the (8) Coronas / Beer. Chronic Dev Team has made things very simple for those of you that have a Jailbroken iOS device but are having to boot tethered and watch your battery hourly.

Corona is a simple Cydia package that uses Pod2G’s latest untether exploit to give you the long awaited iOS 5.0.1 untethered jailbreak. Yes ladies and gentlement it’s as easy as that:

Step One
Launch Cydia from your Springboard.

Step Two
Select the Search tab at the bottom of the screen.

Step Three
Type Corona into the search field and press to select the Corona 5.0.1 Untether package once it’s found.

Step Four
Press the Install button at the top right of the screen.

Step Five
Press the Confirm button to begin installation.

Step Six
Once installation has completed successfully you can press the large Return to Cydia button.

Step Seven
You can now reboot your device with an untethered jailbreak!

iPhone Techie

It’s Christmas day depending on which part of the world you are reading this in, and that means it is time for some paid-for apps to be offered at a huge discount on the App Store and by huge discount, we mean 100%! We’ve chosen three apps which would previously have set you back some cash, but are now available for absolutely nothing. Some are free for a limited time, and one has changed its business model completely.

The end result is still the same though, and that is three great apps for zero money. Read on for the lowdown.

WhatsApp Messnger

WhatsApp Messanger is a bit of a legend in the mobile app world, offering a free way to send messages to your friends and family, so long as they have the app installed too.

That might seem like a limiting factor – what if the recipient does not have a phone that is supported by WhatsApp? Well, given the fact WhatsApp is available for the iPhone, Android, Nokia and BlackBerry handsets then the chances are your friends can at least give WhatsApp a try. At the usual price of .99 it was worth a punt, but for the risk-free price of free, it’s a no-brainer.

• Download WhatsApp

LogMeIn

LogMeIn is roundly accepted to be one of the best remote desktop applications on the planet, and at its previous price of it was still considered something of a bargain. At the new low price of free, then you really can’t go wrong.

The reason for the new price tag is a change in business model, which has left the app being offered for absolutely nothing with a basic – still plenty for most – feature set, with more options made available via an in-app purchase subscription model. It’s an interesting move to the freemium model, but if you can make do with the free version then you are onto a winner.

• Download LogMeIn

Jetpack Joyride

There is not really that much to be said about Jetpack Joyride, and we are willing to bet a small sum that you already own this wondrous little game.

The critically acclaimed game by the same developer as Fruit Ninja has been taking the mobile gaming world by storm of late, and if you do not already own this little gem then you really should, especially considering it is absolutely free!

• Download Jetpack Joyride

Everyone loves free apps, especially when they are super awesome apps!

iPhone Techie

Developer Eric Day has removed Siri0us, an app that enabled Siri Dictation on the iPhone 4, from his Cydia repository.

Day posted on his Twitter today that he removed the package so that he wouldn’t get into trouble, presumably from Apple or Nuance.

My site is down, PLZ DONOT try to access my site any more. Siri0us is removed. I have to keep my site up for activating iBluever!

@myRepoSpace Can you please remove this package? As it uses unauthorized service. Please do not make me getting sued. thanks.

Day is looking for an alternative voice recognition provider and could bring back Siri0us if he can find one.

If I found a better voice recognition service, I will release it again. Thanks everyone!

Nuance’s service is great. I asked them if their will sell this service to Cydia app and what the price is. They just ignore my question.

Read More [via iDB]

iPhone Techie