ios

iOS 4.3.3 arrives, patches location database

Apple today released, as promised, an iOS update addressing location-tracking behavior, and the security of that information on its portable devices.

iOS 4.3.3, which is a free update delivered through Apple's iTunes software, reduces the size of the "crowdsourced" location cache, no longer backs up the cache to iTunes in the form of a device recovery image, and deletes the cache when a user turns Location Services off.

Two of those issues--the size of the database, and the failure to delete the cache from the device--Apple had called "bugs" when addressing the issue … Read more

Developer: iOS 5 spotted in the wild

According to one developer's findings, Apple is rumored to be already testing iOS 5. A crash report received by developer FutureTap showed that the mobile operating system of note was iOS 5 when the crash took place.

FutureTap posted a short tweet to let its followers know of the development.

Taking into account recent location tracking drama, FutureTap also noted an "interesting" file called MKUserLocationBreadCrumb in the report. It is unknown whether this file is related to the consolidated.db file currently under investigation by several European countries and South Korea, as well as by Congress. Steve … Read more

Enter a mythical world

Superbrothers: Sword and Sworcery EP is a stylistically unusual and engrossing action and adventure game that focuses on artistic audio and visuals. Immediately upon starting the game, you'll notice it has a very distinctive style and you'll get onscreen cues that teach you how to control your character. As the story unfolds, you'll travel across a mythic realm and solve puzzles as you go.

Superbrothers: Sword and Sworcery offers a unique experience and an interesting control scheme that sets it apart from other side-scrolling games. As you travel the world, you'll run across impassable areas that … Read more

Drawing and doodling for kids

Doodle Buddy is a free, no-frills, ad-supported drawing and doodling app with playful stamps and backgrounds that will appeal to kids.

Doodle Buddy's "finger-painting" interface lets you draw with swipes and taps. A row of tappable icons on the bottom of the screen lets you undo your last action (multiple times), erase your current drawing (you can also shake your device to erase), and choose from several different tools: a drawing tool (brush, chalk, glitter, smudge, or eraser, all with adjustable sizes), a stamp (with dozens of built-in stamps, from animals to smileys to speech balloons, each … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 1443: Google's Double Rainbow Strategy (Podcast)

"Hey, Buzz Crew ..." Google seems to be building out a version of Chrome OS for tablets, which we're calling their "double rainbow" strategy: it breaks your brain. Plus, what Epsilon knew about their social phishing vulnerabilities, and when they knew it. Samsung cuts tablet pricing again, why we're never using Pandora again until we get an email from Tim Westergren, and a seriously old-school hacker story. --Molly

Mac OS X 10.7 Lion close to Golden Master release

According to tech news site TechCrunch, Apple may be ready to deploy the first Golden Master (GM1) of Mac OS X 10.7 Lion. The release will be a major update since last month's developer preview, which many thought, according to the report, wasn't as smooth as it could have been.

"Apple has been working through many OS X Lion bugs and performance issues as they move towards the stated Summer release date. Given that GM candidates are already nearing, they definitely appear to be on schedule."

This is good news for those of us patiently … Read more

Apple releases iOS 4.3.1, but iOS 5 is a question

Apple has released the latest update to iOS 4, and TechCrunch reports that iOS 5 will be pushed back to the fall.

Launched on Friday, iOS 4.3.1 mostly fixes a few bugs here and there in the operating system for the iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, and Apple TV, according to Apple. The update resolves connectivity issues when joining certain cellular networks and authenticating with some enterprise Web services. It also takes care of a couple of graphics-related glitches--one affecting the 4G iPod Touch and another between Apple's Digital AV adapter and certain TVs.

iOS 4.3.1 … Read more

How to enable iOS parental controls

Sharon Vaknin shows you how to set up parental controls in iOS.

Report: Apple to release iOS 4.3.1 within 2 weeks

Apple is reportedly set to release an update to its iOS mobile operating system within the next two weeks to address minor bug fixes and jailbreaking vulnerabilities.

According to Boy Genius Report, Apple's iOS 4.3.1 update should fix some minor bugs and increase stability for iPhones, iPads, and iPod Touches running iOS 4.3. BGR lists several changes, including base-band updates for iPhone 3GS and iPad and an iPad 2 jailbreak vulnerability fix.

Also said to be included in the update:

Fixed memory hang that results in memory corruption when reading large files from USIM filesystem Fixed … Read more

Browsers pick up the pace (week in review)

It might seem like the tech news this week has been all about the new iPad, but speedier browser versions grabbed some big headlines as well.

Google on Tuesday released Chrome 10, endowing its browser with faster JavaScript, password synchronization, and a revamped preferences system. Chrome is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux.

Google announced Chrome 10's stable release on its blog but refrained from mentioning its product number. That's in line with the company's effort to focus on features rather than version numbers, which it calls mere milestones. Google tries to get new versions into users' … Read more