London Underground's mobile plans hit buffers

Plans to offer mobile phone coverage on the London Underground have been derailed because of high costs.
Talks between Chinese telecoms provider Huawei and the UK's operators have broken down.

They had agreed to examine the idea of getting coverage on the tube in time for the London 2012 Olympics.

But putting antennas throughout the Tube's antiquated network have proved too costly.

"As a group we will continue to positively explore all other avenues available to us in order to provide a service at a later date," they said in a joint statement.

Vodafone, O2, Everything Everywhere and Three are believed to have already spent several million pounds on the project.

Huawei had offered to donate some of the necessary equipment.

"We are grateful to the companies who explored the possibility of getting full mobile coverage on the Tube, although disappointed that the genuine problems encountered could not be overcome on this occasion," a statement from the Mayor of London said.

Plans to expand wi-fi coverage on Tube stations will continue.

Obama's got an iPad, and he tethers too !!

Despite calling Apple's iPad, among other modern-day entertainment gadgets, a conduit for distraction less than a year ago, U.S. President Barack Obama has been outed as an iPad owner himself.

As The Wall Street Journal reports, Obama detailed that fact during a town hall meeting with Spanish-language network Univision, which took place earlier today.

During an interview with Univision anchor Jorge Ramos, Obama said he does in fact have an iPad, and even tethers it to his high-security BlackBerry cell phone. Obama also noted that he owns his own computer, joking to Ramos and the audience about the idea of him having to borrow one from someone else:

Ramos: Not long ago I was having a conversation with my son. He's only 12 years old, and he couldn't believe that I grew up in a world where there were no cell phones, no Internet, no computers. (Laughter.) So do you have your BlackBerry with you, or do you have an iPhone? What do you have?

Obama: You know, I took my BlackBerry off for this show, because I didn't want it going off, and that would be really embarrassing. But usually I carry a BlackBerry around.

Ramos: Do you have an iPad?

Obama: I do have an iPad.

Ramos: Your own [a] computer?

Obama: I've got my own computer.

Ramos: Very well. (Laughter.)

Obama: I mean, Jorge, I'm the President of the United States. You think I've got a -- (laughter and applause) -- you think I've got to go borrow somebody's computer? (Laughter.) Hey, man, can I borrow your computer? (Laughter.) How about you? You've got one?

In a commencement speech to students of Hampton University last May, Obama admitted to not knowing how to work Apple's iPod or iPad, or Microsoft's Xbox and Sony's PlayStation game consoles. Obama had also referred to the devices as turning information into a "distraction, a diversion," and "a form of entertainment" that kept people from empowering themselves.
The flip-flop on that particular topic is certainly a testament to the iPad being more than an entertainment device, even if that's what Obama is using his for. Perhaps we'll soon have a list of Obama's favorite apps if he's as happy to share them as he was with his NCAA basketball tournament picks.

Social TV [VIDEO]

Interactive television experts gathered on Saturday at SXSWi in Austin, Texas to discuss the future of social TV.

Panelists, which ranged from the likes of Chloe Sladden of Twitter to Gavin Purcell from Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, discussed ways in which they incorporate social media into popular television shows such as:

“No Reservations with Anthony Bourdain” and “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.”

Fred Graver, the senior VP of Travel Channel, spoke to the audience about his initial skepticism regarding the integration of Twitter into “No Reservations.” “It wasn’t a no brainer for us.” said Graver. “The whole thing here is if you have 36-48 hours before the show premiers, do you want to spend your time talking about Tony (Bourdain) live-tweeting? And that was a big discussion but we decided, yes lets do it.”

Doing it proved to be successful for Graver and the Travel Channel, with “No Reservations” currently at more than 1 million “likes” on Facebook and an increasingly active Twitter following.

Watch the video for more highlights from the discussion.

After Tahrir: Egypt 2.0

Editor’s note: Guest author Seth Goldstein, @seth, is a San Francisco based angel investor and start-up entrepreneur. Christopher M. Schroeder,@cmschroed, is a Washington, D.C.- and New York-based angel investor and CEO of the online health start-uphealthcentral.com.

We were in Cairo the week before Tunisia fell, meeting with dozens of Egyptian technology start-ups on behalf of the US State Dept’s Global Entrepreneurship Program. The quality of their ideas thrilled us, as did their skill sets, vision and quiet resolve.  It did not surprise us to hear that many of those we met shut their laptops in recent weeks to march through the streets throughout Egypt. Through email, cell, texts and social networks, we have remained close with them throughout this remarkable upheaval.

Even before Tahrir Square became forever etched in the global consciousness, a new generation of entrepreneurs had been emerging as a third voice in Arab politics and society.  Rather than just engaging in political debates or religious interpretations, they have had their heads down focused on building new products, and by extension new industries.  While their frames of reference include successes from Silicon Valley to India, they are a movement distinctively and culturally attuned to their country and region. These young men and women are the progenitors of what we are calling Egypt 2.0.

Who are these pioneering innovators?  Most are college educated, some with advanced technology degrees even from the States.  Many are working on Arab-versions of proven US businesses models: social networks, mobile apps, dating sites, travel engines and alike.  However, many others are inventing entirely new models.   Would you be surprised that the largest selling iPad weather app, a breakthrough chip that improves server processing,  and even a direct assault on Google are all started by entrepreneurs in Egypt?   As one founder who wished to remain anonymous told us, “A start up is great even if it’s a copy of something that exists, but it’s even greater to think about a start up as a platform for innovation because it will inspire more people.”

The events of recent weeks have hardened their commitment. Nader Iskander, CEO of mobile brokerage startup EME told us, “This week has lifted our hopes like never before.  We have witnessed a “new Egypt” being formed through incredible boldness, courage, persistence, hope and sacrifice of millions of our people.”  We have heard many versions of what Amr Ramadan, CEO of the iPad app company Vimov shared with us:  “I don’t think anyone, including me, knew what patriotism and love for country really means till the last week.  People felt the country wasn’t theirs.  Now they do.”  With this sense of ownership has come a greater sense of empowerment.  As he continued, “Finally, the government is afraid of its people, not the other way around.  The cutting off of communications confirmed this.  It was the government saying, “I’m trembling,” and this was what gave people the feeling of an upper hand.”

While many Egyptian entrepreneurs remain (with good reason) skeptical of US foreign policy, they are nevertheless hungry for our involvement as experienced investors and entrepreneurs.  Ameer Sherif, CTO of online dating service BasharSoft implored, “We need mentorship, and help in transferring the entrepreneurial experience in Silicon Valley to the Nile Valley.”  Ramadan dreams of “a bridge to Silicon Valley, a bridge that could potentially speed up and foster innovation in Egypt, and create new jobs, both in Egypt and the US.”

In our conversations with Egyptian startup founders these past weeks, three themes have emerged as ways in which we can provide immediate help:

1. Extend active partnerships between American and Egyptian universities and companies in R&D. The massive disparity of primary and secondary education in Egypt is well documented, but the entrepreneurs we met were equally focused on improving technological R&D.  Dr Hossam Mahgoub is the CTO of Silminds, a pioneering hardware company that shifts decimal processing from software to a chip. He is an Egyptian PhD who studied at Stanford and noted how “there are some great minds in Egypt.  But there is no significant useful research being done in its universities, both on the undergraduate and graduate levels.”  Haytham ElFadeel, CEO of semantic search engine Kngine laments,  “Egypt got just three patents in 2009 as compared to 1,525 Israel got in the same year and the whole population of Israel is less than Cairo’s population.
2. Facilitate US-Egyptian startup mentorship programs. The regional venture capital community is growing at an exciting clip, but they welcome partners who bring dollars and expertise.  These partnerships, in turn, might provide US companies with access to the 300-million-person Middle East-North Africa region.   Above all, Egyptian entrepreneurs want to meet positive role models that can actively mentor them through the startup-to-exit process.  Learning from constructive mistakes is even more valuable to them than hearing about lucky successes.
3. Remove travel friction.  ElFadeel pleaded, “The process of issuing a visa is long and in many cases they reject the requests of the youth.   To help Egyptians create world-class startups and culture we need to physically network with people in the US.”   Vimov’s Ramadan concurred:  “I wish for the day when I no longer hear about someone missing a technology conference because his visa took eight months to process.”  For those that have been fortunate enough to gain entry to the US, they complain about the humiliation they face by the border patrol.  “Travelling from tyranny only to be judged as a terrorist—this was something very heart breaking.”

Despite our optimism, we still do not know how the political situation in Egypt or elsewhere in the region will resolve.   No doubt there will be more cycles of hope and despair but these cycles have already been internalized through the startup journeys of the entrepreneurs we met.  This attitude is perfectly summarized by one entrepreneur who smiled and told us, “Look, this is happening anyhow and most people have nothing to lose!  The last week made them also have nothing to fear!  So to them, how bad can it be in the next couple of years?   All that the people of Egypt really want is to live a fair life and to be judged for who they are and what they do.” Isn’t that what everybody wants no matter where they are from?

Facebook shutting down Today (March 15th) OR April 1st (Video)

All hail the Web's Caesar. All hail the power of the rumor.
Facebook is closing down. The Roman Emperor of social networking is tired of it all. He is heading for pastures new. Oh, and you might never be able to get your photos (or your pokes) back.
Such was the story printed by the venerable Weekly World News in order to allay the boredom of standing in line at Albertson's.

The fateful day of Facebook's going away was said to be March 15, the Ides. The tides of sadness immediately crashed over the Web, as the hurt, the bewildered, the forlorn, and, no doubt, the Schadenfreunds of freunds lamented, jeered, and cheered.
With just a few clicks from the cities and the sticks, the twig of a rumor began to sprout a trunk.

"Hope it's not true, but if it is, we'll have to accept it," typed one Facebookian through tears of woe.
The reaction, no doubt, was fueled by the Weekly World News quoting Zuckerberg as saying: "Facebook has gotten out of control. And the stress of managing this company has ruined my life. I need to put an end to all the madness."
Yes, there really exist people who haven't seen "The Social Network."

Even IT security site Sophos, a sane mind in a frightening world, felt compelled to offer its own frisson of fright that such a thought had gained any traction at all on the Web.
Suddenly Wi-Fi became short for wild-fire as panic buttons were depressed and the depressed began to panic that their online friends would disappear into the cloud with no GPS home.
Many will, no doubt, opine that the spreading of such a rumor shows how gullible people can be and how much damage can be done through the Web's stunning immediacy.
Some, however, might consider that the greater sadness lies in the fact that people seem incapable of distinguishing not between rumor and fact, but between the Weekly World News and the National Enquirer.
Just because both are seen at supermarket checkouts doesn't mean both espouse the same principles of subterfuge.
The Weekly World News has long peddled tales of nonsense, such as the idea that George Clooney will run for president (he's not that silly), or that Michael Jackson faked his own death (he wasn't that devious).
The Enquirer, on the other hand, is the publication that revealed John Edwards' relationship with Rielle Hunter.
If people can't distinguish between these two similarly shaped publications, how can we expect them to distinguish between the rumor that Facebook is shutting down and the rumor that it's now worth $50 billion?
Source: cnet.com

IP Address: Your Next Car Will Have

One trend that has become very clear at this year’s CES is that the Internet is slowly making its way into our cars. Of course, you can already browse the Net and play music from Pandora through your smartphone, but the next generation of cars – and especially electric cars – are making the Internet an integral part of the car’s feature set.

Toyota, Nissan, Ford, Chevy and most other major car manufacturers are introducing connected cars this year. These cars will all either feature fully integrated built-in Internet access through on-board wireless modules or, as is the case with Toyota’s Entune multimedia system, use a smartphone connection to enable this functionality.

Ford’s new plug-in Focus Electric, which it officially launched at CES today, for example, features a built-in wireless connection that connects the car to the cloud and allows owners to communicate with the car from their smartphones and through a mobile-optimized website. With SYNC, MyFordTouch and AppLink, Ford will allow owners of some of its cars to run apps like Pandora and control them through the car’s built-in entertainment system and control their features by voice.
While Ford was the first company to take this technology mainstream, a number of other manufacturers are now picking up on this trend as well. Toyota’s Entune will bring music from Pandora, Internet radio courtesy of IHeartRadio, restaurant reservations from OpenTable and search and maps from Microsoft’s Bing to some of its 2012 models.

Indeed, Microsoft is a player on a lot of fronts here. Ford’s SYNC, for example, is based on Microsoft’s Windows Embedded Automotive platform and Bing is not just coming to Toyota but also to Hyundai.

Third-party manufacturers are also getting into the game. Harman, for example, introduced a 4G wireless module for LTE networks that will allow drivers to bring the Internet to their older cars. This system will feature real-time traffic updates, games, streaming video and will give passengers access to the full Internet.

What is driving this trend?

First of all, the proliferation of smartphones has allowed us to become accustomed to having ubiquitous Internet access wherever we are. It doesn’t come as a surprise then that we expect the same from the most expensive piece of technology most of us own: our cars.
Another factor that’s driving this trend is that – unless you are a real car enthusiast – the main differentiator between cars in the same category today is technology. Touchscreens, voice recognition, access to your Pandora stations and – on a more basic level – an easy and working system for pairing your phone with your car over Bluetooth can be powerful factors when consumers make their buying decisions.

For electric cars, having Internet access in some form is virtually a must. With their limited range (generally around 100 miles), knowing where the next charging station is can make our break your trip to the grocery store. This data is changing rapidly, however, as new stations come online almost daily, so the manufacturers need to have the ability to update these cars’ navigation databases remotely. Bringing the car in to the dealership once a month to update the GPS system isn’t exactly a practical solution.

In some ways, this is turning cars into the ultimate gadget (and is also a challenge when it comes to usability). Just look at the Focus Electric, for example, which (assuming I counted right) features 18 buttons on the steering wheel alone, has to small LCD screens right in front of the driver and a large one in the middle console.

Full Internet Access and Any App You Want in Your Car? Not Quite Happening Yet

For now, most manufacturers are not bringing the full Internet experience to the car yet and only allow a limited set of apps on their dashboards. There are good reasons for that. The car industry is highly focused on safety and a malfunctioning app that takes over your audio system, for example, and suddenly overrides your volume settings due to a software bug, plays AC/DC at full volume and startles you to the point where you have an accident is a major liability and could cost a company like GM millions.

So for now, your smartphone is your best bet for getting online in your car (while you are in the passenger seat, of course), but your next car itself could be transmitting maintenance data over the Internet while you’re driving down the highway, allowing you to open and close your doors with the help of a smartphone app (Ford and GM are introducing this for their electric cars) and sending you a text message when its battery is running low or when it notices that you forgot to plug it in over night.

Via: newsgrange.com

Apple to Announce iPad 2 Within 3 or 4 Weeks (possibly on February 1st, 2011) !

Digg founder Kevin Rose today has received information from a reliable source claiming that Apple is going to announce the much waited iPad 2 within the next 3-4 weeks, possibly on February 1st, 2011. What's more interesting in the post, he says that another source told him that it will not feature Retina Display but instead is higher resolution screen with more dots per inch (DPI) in addition to dual cameras.

I have it on good authority that Apple will be announcing the iPad 2 in the next “3-4 weeks”, possibly Tuesday February 1st. The iPad 2 will feature a retina display and front/back cameras.

We already saw iPad 2 case shown up in CES 2011, some leaks and videos. So, we may see Verizon iPhone next Tuesday followed by iPad 2 on February 1st? Let's wait !

Magic Mirror: See Your Own Skeleton !

Another day, another Kinect hack. The Microsoft motion-control camera is fast becoming the go-to Augmented Reality accessory for the geek set. This week’s demo has a decidedly medical bent; the magic mirror project lets you see a real time view of "your" skeleton like a real-time x-ray.

The cross section isn’t actually the user’s skeleton but a volume visualization of a medical data set. Still, the corresponding programming magic is still impressive. The whole thing uses the Kinect for tracking and then has a simple mask revealing the skeleton underneath.

The project was made at the Technische Universitat Munchen in Germany as one of several Medical Augmented Reality projects as the university. Since the overlay isn’t actually of your own skeleton, it’s probably not accurate enough for, say, surgery or setting bones, but it’s not hard to imagine it being used for chiropractics a few revisions down the line or just for the basic medical education suggested on the project site. Or if you’re less interested in the advancement of medicine it can just be a pretty kicking display at your next Halloween party.
[via Wired] {Thanks: PCworld}

Download Redsn0w 0.9.6b6 to Activate iPhone 3GS / 3G and Fix Battery Drain after Ultrasn0w 1.2

iPhone Dev-Team has just released redsn0w 0.9.6b6 (Windows and Mac) to jailbreak iOS 4.2.1 on iPhone 3GS/3G and update their basebands to iPad baseband 6.15.00, as most of you know that redsn0w 0.9.6b5 did that, but the new version of redsn0w 0.9.6b6 brings activation without hacktivating, or using original SIM card and increases battery life substantially, as we reported earlier, it was the most prevalent problem after unlocking iPhone 3GS/3G with ultrasn0w 1.2

Developer @sbingner (author of TetherMe) has made some excellent progress devising a new hactivation method that kills two birds with one stone for all you ultrasn0w unlockers.  His tool, “Subscriber Artificial Module (SAM)” tricks your iPhone and iTunes into creating legitimate activation tickets even though you’re unlocked with ultrasn0w.  This means you get the full benefit of push applications, and your battery life increases substantially.  If you’d like to try it out, check out http://www.bingner.com/SAM.html

To help make it easier to try out @sbingner’s tool, we’ve updated redsn0w to include a new “Deactivate” option for the 3G and 3GS.  Use this option *after* you’ve installed SAM…it will remove the normal patches made to lockdownd and let SAM take over.  (sbingner plans on making a button to do this within SAMPrefs too).  Great work, @sbingner!

Thanks @sbingner for the hard work, as usual we will prepare the full step by step guide, showing you how to use SAM and the newly redsn0w 0.9.6b6. Stay tuned.

UPDATE: Here is the step by step guide showing how to Activate iPhone 4, 3GS, 3G Without Original SIM or Hacktivation with SAM & Redsn0w 0.9.6b6 Click Here.

Download Redsn0w 0.9.6b6 for Windows
Download Redsn0w 0.9.6b6 for Mac

Ultrasn0w to Unlock iPhone 3GS / 3G on iOS 4.2.1 Completed

Few moments ago, Musclenerd has confirmed that the ultrasn0w to unlock iPhone 3GS and iPhone 3G finally got working fully on 4.2.1, so it looks that everything over there going alright, everything on schedule, which means that we will catch new version of ultrasn0w tomorrow as we mentioned before.

Musclenerd: Finally got ultrasn0w working fully on 4.2.1. Apple inadvertently(!) broke ultrasn0w via aggressive compiler optimization

Till know there's no news about iPhone 4 baseband unlock. For now we let you know immediately after the release of the new ultrasn0w, stay tuned.

Real White iPhone 4s on China's Grey Market ?

The Chinese web site Giz-China has published a photos claiming that there are genuine white iPhone 4s is being sold in the China's grey market (a.k.a black markets). Many digital retailers in China have been stockpiling the white devices due to its big profits.

About pricing, it starts from around 5500 Yuan ($828) and rising to nearly 8000 Yuan ($1204) for the base model 16Gb version and it's higher than these for the 32Gb models. Of course these prices are more expensive than the official retail price of the regular black iPhone 4.

This type of illegal resale has been a persistent problem for Apple. In 2008, the New York Times estimated that there were 1.4 million ill-gotten iPhones in the world. At this time last year, the Wall Street Journal estimated that number had grown to 2 million in China alone.

[via TUAW]

Official Google Voice App Finally Hits the App Store

Google Voice app for iPhone has just arrived the app store, With this native app, you’ll continue to have access to all the major Google Voice features on your iPhone. let's check out them.

Google Voice app features:

• Cheap rates for international calls
• Free text messaging to U.S. numbers
• Voicemail transcription
• Display your Google Voice number as caller ID when making calls
• With push notifications, the app will alert you instantly when you receive a new voicemail or text message
• Most of your calls will be placed via Direct Access Numbers, making them connect just as quickly as regular phone calls

Download Google Voice app (for free) for iPhone [iTunes link]

The Beatles Now on iTunes

Apple has announced its "Tomorrow is just another day. That you'll never forget" surprise which is the Beatles music library, Apple has replaced the campaign logo with the Beatles one. The songs is now available to download through iTunes.

Here is what Apple says:

We’re really excited to bring the Beatles’ music to iTunes,” said Sir Paul McCartney. “It’s fantastic to see the songs we originally released on vinyl receive as much love in the digital world as they did the first time around.”

“I am particularly glad to no longer be asked when the Beatles are coming to iTunes,” said Ringo Starr. “At last, if you want it—you can get it now—The Beatles from Liverpool to now! Peace and Love, Ringo.”

“We love the Beatles and are honored and thrilled to welcome them to iTunes,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “It has been a long and winding road to get here. Thanks to the Beatles and EMI, we are now realizing a dream we’ve had since we launched iTunes ten years ago.”

“In the joyful spirit of Give Peace A Chance, I think it is so appropriate that we are doing this on John’s 70th birthday year,” said Yoko Ono Lennon.

“The Beatles on iTunes—Bravo!” said Olivia Harrison.

“The Beatles and iTunes have both been true innovators in their fields,” said EMI Group CEO Roger Faxon. “It’s a privilege for everybody at EMI to work with Steve Jobs and with Apple Corps’ Jeff Jones and their teams in marking a great milestone in the development of digital music.

Albums are now available for download at $ 149.00. but I wonder, is this all your expectations from this campaign?

Windows Phone 7 Jailbreak First Step [Video]

Yesterday we reported about the Australian developer, Chris Walshie who is working hard to develop a way to jailbreak WP7 as well as he was successfully able to prove a method to run "native unmanaged code" on a retail Windows Phone 7 device. Let's check out this in action.

I’ll be posting the code in a couple of days, need to clean it all up. And yes, it’s a managed app running unmanaged code :)

You’ve got FULL access, create, delete, browse files etc. Just can’t delete system ROM files, IE coredll.dll (obviously).

I would imagine that we'll see the new third-party jailbreak store apps very soon, as the developers won't find the complexities such as those on iOS Jailbreak. What do you think? [via Walshie]

Apple Asking eBay to Remove Fake white iPhone 4s

eBay has just removed most of the fake white iPhone 4 due to Apple request. This is an e-mail sent from eBay to a black-to-white iPhone 4 conversion pacakage seller, stating this. As you know all white iPhone 4 you saw across the web is just a conversion packages from black to white device

Dear, [Redacted]

You recently listed the following listing: [Redacted listing name and number] Your listing has been removed. Your item was removed because of a request we received from Apple, Inc., a member of our Verified Rights Owner Program (VeRO), asking us to remove the item for: – Item(s) is a counterfeit product which infringes the trademark owner’s rights. For more information on why your item was removed, you should:

- Contact Apple, Inc. directly at apple@gibney.com with your questions or concerns.

- Wait 7 days for Apple, Inc. to reply to you. Although most VeRO participants are willing to respond to polite email, please know that they aren’t obligated to reply.

- If after 7 days you haven’t received a response from Apple, Inc., please contact us by simply replying to this email. The rights owner or an agent authorized to act on behalf of the rights owner, Apple, Inc., notified eBay that this listing violates intellectual property rights. When eBay receives a report of this type of violation, we remove the listing to comply with the law. It’s against the law to sell fake, counterfeit, or pirated products. Your listing was removed because the item in your listing was reported by the rights owner as a fake or counterfeit through eBay’s VeRO Program. Due to this report, please do not attempt to relist, advertise, or offer this item for sale on any eBay site or service around the world.

Apple don’t want anyone to get their hands-on the seemingly never to be released white iPhone 4. But I'm wondering why Apple doing this ? and why now? , these packages were available since the release of iPhone 4 on last June. Do you think that Apple may surprise us with something? [via 9to5mac]

Download Sn0wbreeze 2.1 to Jailbreak iOS 4.1 / 3.2.2 on iPhone 4 / 3GS , iPod Touch 4G / 3G and iPad

Sn0wbreeze 2.1 has been released few moments ago, this tool also know as PwnageTool for Windows, this version will jailbreak iOS 4.1 on iPhone 4G, iPhone 3GS / 3G, iPod touch 4G / 3G and iOS 3.2.2 on iPad.

Supported Devices:

• iPhone 3G/3G[S]/4
• iPod Touch 2G/3G/4
• iPad
• Apple TV 2

This tool will be valuable for who need to upgrade to version iOS 4.1 with preserving the unlockable baseband to be able to use existing version of ultrasn0w, as Sn0wbreeze cook a pre-jailbroken custom firmware.

As usual we will prepare the full guide to jailbreak iOS 4.1 on all supported devices very soon, keep your eyes opened.

Download Sn0wbreeze 2.1 for Windows

iOS 4.2 Delayed Due to iPad WiFi Bug, New GM Build Tomorrow [Update]

Couple of days we reported you about Mac OS X 10.6.5 and iTunes 10.1 to be released Wednesday Nov 10th, then it will followed by the iOS 4.2 public release for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch on Friday Nov 12th. But this scenario has been changed, as we only catch the Mac OS X 10.6.5. So what happened to iTunes 10.1 and iOS 4.2?

According to Macstories's reliable source, that iOS 4.2 public release has been delayed due to WiFi connection issues which discovered by users running iOS 4.2 GM build on iPad, as well as it has been widely documented over forums and discussion boards.

Specifically what happened ? when the iPad users - who running iOS 4.2 GM build - try to connect a local network, they lost the connection after minutes. According to the source Apple may be compelled to release a new update of the GM build to fix the iPad WiFi issue and it may be released internally, to a few selected developers .

Conclusion : iOS 4.2 public release will be delayed for at least a week, while the developers test the new GM version to get feedback free of issues. iTunes 10.1 will be delayed also due to the iOS 4.2 delaying in order to ensure compatibility with the final iOS 4.2 . For now you can check out the WiFi issue in action.

Update: German Website has just mentioned that references to November 12 have disappeared from carrier codes. [via 9to5mac]

Apple Acquires Wi-Gear Bluetooth Headset Maker

According to 9to5Mac, Apple has acquired a small Bluetooth wireless headphone designer. This San Fransisco-based company called Wi-Gear, it's known for its wireless Bluetooth audio products for the iPod and iPhone. The company is now closed.

Apple plans to build its own stereo Bluetooth headphones for future iOS devices and MacBooks with technology and expertise from Wi-Gear. As you’ll recall, Apple didn’t have a great amount of success with its own Bluetooth mono headset and instead of building in-house for their new stereo product, decided to pick up the small Wi-Gear outfit.

Moreover confirmations about this rumor, the guys over 9to5mac has run a check on LinkedIn for engineers at Wi-Gear who might have joined up with Apple, they found Wi-Gear co-founder Michael Kim’s LinkedIn profile now lists him as an iOS Bluetooth Engineer at Apple, having joined the company two months ago.

iOS 4.2 Expected Release Time

As usual Covering Web used to speculate around the release time for new iOSs, and here we prepare this article to expect the release time of iOS 4.2. In fact I can't confirm specific time but we can follow the same stories in the previous iOS versions, specially our speculations around iOS 4.1 came very accurate.

Couple of days we have showed you reports that it could be 9th November (today) or 12 November. Fifty percent it will be today, about the timing we can say that the previous scenarios were like this, iOS 4.1, iOS 4 and iOS 3 were released approximately between 10:00 am and 10:30 am PT.

You can follow this link to check the time zone for your country, it's a time table for all countries refers to 10:00 AM Pacific Time. After checking your time, you should have a look about our full coverage on iOS 4.2 features on this post.

Any way you have check Covering Web from time to time as the release time became very imminent. Stay Tuned.

No PwnageTool for Windows

There are some unpleasant news, yesterday MuscleNerd the well-known iPhone hacker spread the pleasant news around the imminent release of PwnageTool for Windows to jailbreak all iOS devices on iOS 4.1 from Chpwn, as you know PwnageTool has never been release for Windows, it's only available for Mac OS X , but now Chpwn has just confirmed that there will not be a PwnageTool for Windows.

Here is what Chpwn said for some users:

2013btuttle1: @chpwn is there an ETA on win pt? I've been waiting... Haha

Chpwn: @2013btuttle1 I don't think it is needed at all. Use limerain greenpoison redsn0w -- all good options.

sheikhali: @chpwn Can we expect PT for Win to go live by the end of this week?

Chpwn: @sheikhali No, there is no need for PwnageTool on ANY platform.

So don't wait for the PwnageTool for Windows, this will be a good news for Sn0wbreeze developers and bad for unlockers as PwnageTool can jailbreak their devices with a custom firmware which mainly preserve the unlockable baseband. You can jailbreak your device using the existing jailbreak tools for all iOS devices on all iOSs in this post.