News

Apple looks to be on track for an iPhone 5 launch in China just two months after its initial release in the US. According to a report cited by MacRumors, China Telecom Chairman Wang Xiaochu expects the iPhone 5 to be approved by the government in early December.

The market for mobile devices in China is expansive and includes the world's largest carrier, China Mobile with 665 million subscribers. Grey market iPhone 5 units imported from other countries are already in high demand. The iPhone 4 rapidly sold out after its launch in China during September 2010.

The latest major update to the iOS Apple Store app is here. Passbook integration was expected but Apple didn't stop there. Users of the app can now use Siri to get information about Apple products using voice queries.

Changes have been made to point-of-sale devices in Apple's retail stores to complement the additional functionality found in the Apple Store app. Passbook-ready digital gift cards came online just yesterday, and can now be purchased, gifted and used to pay for Apple products.

AT&T has decided to stop charging some of its customers for using FaceTime over a cellular connection. iOS 6 customers with an LTE device on any tiered data plan will be able to use the feature at no extra charge. This also includes deaf and hard of hearing customers who qualify for "special text and data-only packages".

AT&T felt it needed to limit the amount of FaceTime calls out of fear that its network was not ready to handle the surge of video calls. The company added it will "also continue to offer FaceTime over Cellular to customers with any AT&T Mobile Share plan, as well as FaceTime over Wi-Fi, which has always been available for all customers".

Comic book publisher DC Entertainment announced it will be offering its entire line of DC and Vertigo comics through Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Apple. iPhone, iPad and iPod owners will be able to access and download monthly titles via Apple's iBookstore. This makes DC the first comic publisher to offer its line-up across all major e-bookstore platforms.

"As e-readers and tablets continue to explode in popularity it's important for us to offer consumers convenience and choice in how they download digital comics and graphic novels and these new distribution deals with the top three e-bookstores do just that," said Jim Lee, co-publisher, DC Entertainment. "We're very excited to work with Amazon, Apple and Barnes & Noble to bring bestselling DC Comics and Vertigo periodicals to their e-bookstores."

Google Search is getting rave reviews, and side-by-side comparisons have shown Google's voice assistant is much faster and sometimes more accurate than Apple's Siri. Jalbreakers who would like to kick Siri to the curb can do so by downloading the NowNow jailbreak utility from the BigBoss repo in Cydia. NowNow allows you to replace Siri by launching the Google Search app with an Activator function. To do so, just download the utility, locate the NowNow option under Settings and tap Activation Methods. You can then select the function you would like to use to activate the Google Search app. To replace Siri select "Short Hold" under the Home Button options. Holding the Home Button will now bring up the Google Search app instead of the Siri screen.