News

The iOS accessory company 60beat has released a new gaming controller for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. The $50 GamePad allows you to use a physical controller instead of the annoying onscreen controls of iOS games. Unfortunately it only works with two titles (Bugdom 2 and Aftermath) right now, but I assume there will be more GamePad compatible games in the future.

The GamePad is a great accessory if you enjoy playing games on your iPad at home, but I doubt anyone is going to want to lug this thing around. It resembles a PS3 controller with dual analog joysticks and 8 action buttons. There is no Bluetooth wireless option. The GamePad connects to your headphone jack with a 4 foot long cable. That's a lot to take on the bus, but maybe not such a bad idea for kids on long car rides. Especially since it doesn't require any batteries.

Chronic Dev Team has released a jailbreak tool on the Cydia app store for those who have already installed a tethered jailbreak on their iOS 5.0.1 devices. Using this tool, called Corona 5.0.1 Untether will modify your iPhone with the same exploits used in redsn0w. Unlike the redsn0w jailbreak process, Corona requires no computer to untether a jailbroken device.

In order to successfully install Corona, your iOS device must already have a tethered jailbreak installed along with iOS 5.0.1. Do not use Corona if you're using a hybrid iOS 5.0/5.0.1 jailbreak! This requires installing and running redsn0w after a clean restore to stock iOS 5.0.1.

iPhone developer chpwn has created a new iPhone tweak called Zephyr that brings multitasking gestures to the iPhone. Zephyr allows you to swipe up from the bottom of any screen to access a multitasking switcher filled with your apps. You can then switch between multiple apps by edge swiping like the iPad allows you to do.

Chpwn says this is the most efficient way to multitask on the iPhone, and that more gestures will be added through future updates. The idea for Zephyr came from a UI concept video created by Max Rudberg. Zephyr is available now through the Cydia jailbreak store for $2.99.

I've had a few weeks to get acquainted with Siri and I have to admit she's pretty useless to me. I'm tired of her telling me, "I don't know what you mean by..." because she doesn't understand my lisp, or because I tend to mumble. I've struggled to have her set reminders and direct me to friend's homes, and it seems like her solution for everything is doing a web search. Thanks Siri, but I know how to Google!

I know Siri is in beta right now and she is only going to get better, but I don't think she will ever be a useful tool for me personally. Maybe I'm just not creative enough to use her to her full potential or I just feel weird talking to my phone. Whatever our problem is, I hope things work out between us professionally in the future, but until then we can at least have a little fun right?

Apple submits plenty of patents every year that never see the light of day, but a recent filing published in the database of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Dec. 22 has a lot of people overly excited. Application 20110311895, filed in August 2010, reveals that Apple is looking into hydrogen fuel cell technology. Hydrogen fuel cells would allow batteries to last for weeks without recharging, and would also make devices lighter and slimmer. Too bad it is years away from reality.

Even Apple acknowledges in their patent application that “it is extremely challenging to design hydrogen fuel cell systems which are sufficiently portable and cost-effective to be used with portable electronic devices.” Hydrogen fuel cells would also be friendlier to the environment eliminating the use of toxic chemicals for hydrogen.