iOS 4

25-year-old Trevor Eckhart discovered a "rootkit" hidden in various Android handsets that logs information like text messages, location and encrypted web searches. The company behind the software, Carrier IQ, claims their technology is an innocent diagnostics tool that doesn't record keystrokes or illegally track users. However, Eckhart's YouTube video below seems to suggest otherwise. On Thursday, Apple joined several other carriers and manufacturers in coming clean about using the software. Here is their statement in full (via All Things D):

“We stopped supporting Carrier IQ with iOS 5 in most of our products and will remove it completely in a future software update. With any diagnostic data sent to Apple, customers must actively opt-in to share this information, and if they do, the data is sent in an anonymous and encrypted form and does not include any personal information. We never recorded keystrokes, messages or any other personal information for diagnostic data and have no plans to ever do so.”

Dev-Team has released an updated version of their simple and powerful PwnageTool jailbreak software. The new version combines the pwnage2 exploit with the pf kernel exploit from comex and geohot's limera1n. PwnageTool results in an untethered jailbreak of iOS 4.1, allowing unauthorized software to run on your device.

The second-generation Apple TV is now included in the PwnageTool device list, as well as iPads running firmware 3.2.2. Right now the Dev-Team is offering a Mac OS X version of PwnageTool, and as normally happens development of a Windows version is probably underway.

iPhone Dev-Team member MuscleNerd has posted a screenshot of his jailbroken iPod touch 4G. A bootrom vulnerability has been discovered by @p0sixninja that will make it possible to jailbreak all iOS devices running the latest firmware including the iPhone 4. Chronic Dev Team members are currently developing new jailbreak tools based on the vulnerability, otherwise known as SHAtter.

Now you can store and run up to 2,160 iPhone apps on your home screen with iOS 4 folders. That's the maximum capacity with 180 folders holding 12 apps each. Although you may not come close to this limit folders are an excellent way to get organized and more efficiently use your iPhone.

Creating folders on the iPhone is simple and intuitive. Just drag one app on top of another app and a grey box will appear. iOS 4 will put both apps in the same folder and prompt you with a text box naming the folder. If you don't like the automatic name just type a new one in the box. Tapping the home screen will exit.

Unfortunately for some iPhone 3G users the iOS 4 update did not go very well. Reports have surfaced that the new firmware has problems running on the older hardware. The good news is that Apple is working on iOS 4.1, which will alleviate many of the problems with iPhone 3G compatibility.

In the meantime, upgraders have experienced premature battery drain and excessive heat coming from their devices. Performance has slowed to a crawl for some users as speed issues dominate, with many unable to run simple tasks without a headache.