iPhone 4.0

Cult of Mac has learned that a Walmart store in Edmond, Oklahoma has reduced the prices of the iPhone 4 and 4S AT&T models. The 8GB iPhone 4 on AT&T is now $34, and the white and black 16GB iPhone 4S on AT&T is now being offered for $114. The new prices only apply to AT&T upgrades and new activations. AT&T has not confirmed if this is a carrier sale or a Walmart only promotion. It's also unclear if all Walmart stores are participating. However, you may want to visit your local Walmart to see if these new prices are available in your area.

Corona developer pod2g tweeted a quick update about his iOS 5.1 jailbreaking progress. The iPhone developer wrote: "Heya! My iPhone 4 running iOS 5.1 is now untethered." In April, pod2g announced that he had acquired all the exploits required to complete a new jailbreak. This latest announcement is good news since it shows that he has made some progress since we last checked in with him.

iOS hackers have been busy working on a new exploit since the release of the iPad 3 in March. Dev Team member MuscleNerd and Chpwn both tweeted pictures of a jailbroken iPad 3 running Cydia 1.1.5 shortly after the tablet was released. However, Chpwn warned that a new jailbreak "could be months away from a public release."

One week after the Chronic Dev and iPhone Dev Team helped pod2g release his untethered iOS 5.0.1 jailbreak for A4 devices, the iPhone hacker tweeted that the A5 version is only a week away from a public release.

Pod2g enlisted the aid of the Chronic Dev team to release his A4 exploit so he could concentrate on A5 devices. The A4 untethered jailbreak was released on December 27 while iPhone 4S and iPad 2 owners were once again left out in the cold. That is all about to change in the near future according to pod2g.

iPhone hacker pod2g released a video showing off his new iOS 5.0.1 untethered jailbreak working on an iPhone 4. The new untethered jailbreak should be "ready for prime time" in a few days according to his blog. The exploit does not work for the iPhone 4S or iPad 2, but it will work with other iOS devices. Pod2g previously uploaded a video to YouTube showing the exploit working with an iPod touch, and it has been tested on an iPhone 3GS and iPad.

The video shows the jailbreak working after the iPhone 4 has been switched off and on proving that it's untethered. It uses the same code patches as redsn0w, so it should feature the same level of stability. Earlier this week pod2g posted two updates on his A5 jailbreaking progress.

The good news is iPhone hacker pod2g is still working on his promised untethered iPhone 4S jailbreak. The bad news is he's having "processor cache" issues. Pod2g wrote on his blog:

"Here is the news of the 4S week-end.The untether fails right now because I'm having processor cache issues. I'm close, but I can't figure out what happens. It certainly has something to do with the Cortex-A9 cache management.I could sort it out quick, it's a matter of chance."

Pod2g excited the jailbreaking community when he successfully tested an untethered jailbreak on an iPod 4G and iPhone 4 running iOS 5.0.1 a few weeks ago. Currently their is no jailbreak for the iPhone 4S, but recent progress by pod2g and the Chronic Dev Team point to one being released soon. Pod2g promised another update on his progress tomorrow.

Grand Theft Auto 3 is 10-years-old and Rockstar Games celebrated its anniversary by bringing the game to iOS devices on Thursday. Originally released for the Sony Playstation 2 console, Grand Theft Auto 3 is the second sequel in the wildly popular and controversial series that rocked the gaming world. You can now revisit Liberty City on your iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPod touch and the iPad.

The gameplay has been optimized for touch screen devices and features HD quality resolution and custom controls for the mobile platform. The app is $4.99 in the iTunes App store.

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.”

Apple has made it clear that Siri will not be available on any other iOS devices besides the iPhone 4S. iFixit believes this has to due with the device's unique proximity sensor. The iFixit team discovered whenever the screen of the iPhone 4S is activated the proximity sensor turns on.

The proximity sensor in other iPhone models is basically an infrared LED light that lets the device know when a user's face is near the screen. This allows the iPhone to switch off its touch interface when someone is making a call. iFixit believes the sensor inside the iPhone 4S switches on constantly so users can easily access Siri.

Apple has launched version 2.0 of the Apple Store app which now includes EasyPay and Personal Pickup. EasyPay allows you to pay for items through the app, rather than having to deal with long lines or sales reps. The new feature has been dubbed "EasyTheft" since it makes shoplifting a lot easier. EasyPay will only be available for smaller items like iPhone cases and other accessories. So you won't be walking out with a free laptop in the near future.

Personal Pickup also saves you time by allowing you to purchase items at a retail store while on the go. Items purchased on the app will be ready for pickup within an hour of the sale. This seems like a great time saver for business professionals. You can order an item while eating lunch, and pick it up on your way back to the office.

Apple is currently working on iOS 5.0.1 beta 2 to solve the iPhone 4S battery issues. As of now the new firmware is only available to registered developers, but iPhone Dev Team member, MuscleNerd, let us know that it still works with the current redsn0w jailbreak.

MuscleNerd tweeted: "The latest redsn0w will JB today's 5.0 1b2, but point it at either 5.0 or 5.01 IPSW for now. (Apple's being ruthless with betas!)"

The Dev Team recently released a tethered version of redsn0w for iOS 5. However, there is a simple solution to "semi-tether" your jailbroken device. The SemiTether package ensures you will not be stuck with an iPhone paperweight during a crash or unexpected reboot. You can read more about tethered vs. untethered iPhone jailbreaking here.