iPhone 4S

Is Apple misleading customers by advertising a beta product on TV? Two different iPhone 4S owners think so. Frank Fazio filed the first California class action suit against Apple for "false and misleading" advertising, and now a second person has also filed a claim.

According to the Los Angeles Times, David Jones filed a new suit in a U.S. District Court alleging "Apple disseminates false and deceptive representations regarding the functionality of the Siri feature."

If you upgraded your iPhone 4S to iOS 5.1 you may have noticed that the network indicator now shows "4G" instead of "3G." This is because Apple is now letting AT&T promote its HSPA+ (HSDPA) network as 4G. This does not mean your iPhone 4S is 4G LTE capable. Calling HSPA+ "4G" is a marketing ploy started by T-Mobile in 2010. AT&T is just doing the same thing.

A few hardware unlock solutions for the iPhone 4S have appeared this month, but Gevey has released a Verizon and Sprint unlocking solution. The Gevey Ultra S claims to unlock both GSM and CDMA, unlike the R-SIM and TP-SIM which do not work with Sprint models.

The new SIM interposer requires that your iPhone be jailbroken, not be running iOS 5.1 or higher and is on one of the following basebands: 1.0.11, 1.0.13, 1.0.14. This is also the only known solution for Sprint handsets. The Gevey Ultra S is $60 and will be available at the end of this month.

The new jailbreak tweak AccountChanger helps you keep track of your multiple AppStore accounts by adding an "Accounts" button to the Update section of the AppStore. The latest version is beta so some bugs are being worked out. However, if you use more than one account this tweak could be helpful, and may be worth a look.

You can give the tweak a whirl by downloading it for free from the BigBoss repo in Cydia. AccountChanger requires iOS 5 or higher.

UPDATE: The tweak is now available in the BigBoss repo under CamFast.

iOS 5.1 adds a camera shortcut to your iPhone's Lock Screen. This is a great tool for non-jailbroken devices, but iPhone 4S owners who had to avoid 5.1 to keep their jailbreak are still stuck with the old Home Button option.

Just like the new icon, a new jailbreak tweak called FastCam allows jailbreak users easy access to their iPhone's camera from the Lock Screen. The tweak works with Activator actions like "Double Tap" from anywhere on your phone. Once installed, just choose the Activator option you would like to use, and you be able to quickly access your camera from any screen on your phone. FastCam can be slightly faster than the iOS 5.1 shortcut since you don't have to swipe up from the icon.

As expected Apple has stopped signing iOS 5.0.1 with the release of iOS 5.1. If you own a jailbroken device you should not update to 5.1 because it breaks both the Corona untether and the Absinthe exploit. The Dev-Team warned both veteran and amateur jailbreakers about the dangers of upgrading on Wednesday.

iPhone 4S and iPad 2 users who did not heed the warning won't be able to downgrade back to 5.0.1 even if they did save their SHSH blobs. People with earlier devices and saved SHSH blobs can downgrade with the assistance of geohot’s limera1n exploit. There is also a tethered jailbreak for non-A5 devices if you really have the urge to get to 5.1.

There's only one thing better than upgrading your iPhone, and that's getting money back for the old one you're replacing. If you're looking to selling the iPhone there are several options available. Totem has established a comprehensive service that streamlines the process and promises competitive pricing.

Simplicity means a lot, because it can take time and effort to post a used iPhone on eBay or Craigslist with no guarantee of payment or pricing. One advantage of HelloTotem.com is a quote up front of exactly what Totem is willing to pay. Accepting the quote puts the process in motion and a pre-paid mailer is sent to your address.

I'm not sure updating to iOS 5.1 is worth losing your untethered jailbreak, but non-A5 users can sacrifice their freedom if they want to. iPhone 4S users should avoid 5.1 if they want to keep their jailbreak. However, non-iPhone 4S owners can keep their devices jailbroken by downloading redsn0w 0.9.10b6. This version is a tethered 5.1 jailbreak for non-A5 devices.

A tethered jailbreak requires that your device is plugged into a computer whenever turned on. Untethered jailbreaks offer the freedom of not using a computer every time your device reboots. Most jailbreakers prefer untethered to tethered. Since iOS 5.1 doesn't offer anything worth losing your untethered jailbreak over I would suggest avoiding it entirely. However, if you are dead set on getting to 5.1 read on for the Dev Team's warning and instructions.

Many of the recent rumors and mock ups of the iPhone 5 have shown an aluminum back on the next Apple smartphone, designed similarly to the iPad 2. This would be a departure from the current iPhone 4S design with an external antenna and two glass plates on the front and back.

New information from sources at iLounge are stating this is not the case, and that Apple might keep glass as an integral component of the next iPhone exterior. Apple is "continuing to experiment with glass and ceramic rear shells for a future iPhone model" which could be made of Corning's Gorilla Glass 2.

Have you ever wanted to launch Siri without using the home button? The new jailbreak tweak SiriBoard adds an icon to your iPhone's SpringBoard so you can launch the voice assistant from your home screen. I prefer the app to holding down the home button because it only requires that you tap the icon. It also gives you two options to access Siri rather than just one.