News

After hovering around $92 for most of last week, shares of Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) dropped below $91 on Monday, two weeks after a 7-to-1 split. Anticipation surrounding two major upcoming products, the iWatch and iPhone 6 has resulted in a flurry of news and leaks.

As the long-rumored iWatch gets closer to reality, reports have surfaced that Apple is working with star athletes to test the new device. While analysts have pointed to October as a likely release date, others claim the device might see delays due to FDA medical device certification.

A new iOS 7.1.1 jailbreak released by the Chinese team PanGu wasted two possible exploits that could have possibly been used to jailbreak iOS 8, according to developer iH8sn0w. In a tweet, iH8sn0w revealed that the untethered jailbreak burned two exploits pertaining to code signing and the kernel, plus the “syslogd chown vulnerability" discussed at the Black Hat conference in August. This means at least one vulnerability used for the PanGu jailbreak would have probably been patched by Apple in iOS 8 since it was already made public.

Another famous jailbreaker, Comex expressed his support for PanGu by saying it is "not healthy" to have a monopoly on public jailbreaks.

"Though I am of course supportive of @planetbeing @pod2g etc., I’m very happy that public jailbreaks are no longer a monopoly," he tweeted.

Amazon has added several HBO titles to its Instant Video app for iOS devices. Amazon Prime members can now stream HBO hits such as the The Sopranos and The Wire, plus early seasons of True Blood and Boardwalk Empire to their iPod touch, iPhone or iPad. The update also adds all new video playback controls, and the option to watch the first episode of selected TV shows for free.

The free option is ad supported with video ads before and during each episode. The all new video controls bring a one touch pause/play option, a 10-second fast-forward/rewind option and a skip to the next episode button. Version 2.7 of Amazon Instant Video also makes playback start times faster, and includes bug fixes and stability improvements.

As expected, Facebook launched its second Snapchat clone after removing Poke from the App Store last month. The new app allows users to send photos and video clips that disappear after a user swipes them away. Facebook's app differs from Snapchat because it forces users to send images or videos before they can view any sent to them. Facebook has been desperately trying to recapture its younger users who have been leaving the company's main service in droves for trendier products such as Yo.

Unfortunately for Facebook, Yo is already surpassing it in the App Store rankings. The messaging app is currently ranked number 5 on the Apple's Top Free Apps Chart, while Slingshot is nowhere to be found. Yo saw a surge in popularity after the Finacial Times published an article about the app which allows users to send the word "Yo" to their contacts.

It was a very eventful week for the Apple App Store. On June 17, Halfbrick Studios made all its titles free after releasing its newest game Birzzle Fever. Halfbrick is the creator of the popular titles Fruit Ninja and Jetpack Joyride. Mysteriously Apple also decided to make Halfbrick's Fish Out of Water its Free App of the Week the same week it became a freemium title.

Facebook announced its plans to add a new sidebar to its iPad app to push more game suggestions to its users. Facebook said "more than 70 percent of people who use Facebook for iPad worldwide played a Facebook-connected game in the past 90 days." The company also released its Snapchat competitor Slinshot to the App Store. The app allows users to send photos or videos that disappear after a user views them.