iOS 6 / 6.1 Jailbreak Tool Evasi0n For Windows And Mac Is Now Complete, Private Beta Testing Is Next...

Can’t contain your excitement for the upcoming untethered iOS 6 jailbreak? We’ve seen the excitement and enthusiasm in the jailbreak community rising steadily in the last few weeks, eventually reaching boiling point yesterday when the Evad3rs team officially lifted the lid on the Evasi0n jailbreak. While we will need to exercise just a little more patience until we can get our hands on the public release of Evasi0n, the team have happily announced that things are progressing nicely for all the supported platforms.

The official Evasi0n website has been updated this morning to reflect the progress being made behind-the-scenes, as well as having the intention of keeping all potential users in the loop with the current status. At the time of writing the current status of the untethered was being classified as 68% complete, with Windows and OS X versions of the new jailbreak tool being complete and only the Linux variant to finish.

There’s been a great deal of discussion about the tool that will be released as the gateway to getting the Evasi0n untether onto our iOS devices, but it’s great to see that not only is it nearly complete but will also support the three major desktop platforms and open the jailbreak up to as many people as possible. As work on the Linux version of the software continues, so does the testing to ensure that there are no unexpected surprises or delays come launch day.

The additional good news is that the Windows and OS X versions of the tool are already likely involved in some closed doors private beta testing with a range of iOS devices and firmware versions. When the jailbreak eventually drops it will support twenty-two devices on all iterations of iOS 6.x meaning that thorough testing is a vital part of the pre-release schedule.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that testing of the jailbreak will be limited to extremely tightly controlled conditions, with only members of the Evad3rs team and tried and trusted affiliates getting access to the files and source prior to official release. As pointed out in our original announcement post yesterday, all of the devices that are shown on the Evasi0n website have their calendar icons set to show the number 3. As things stand at the minute we should still be in line for a Super Bowl Sunday release.

(source: Twitter)

Sorry Apple, the BlackBerry Z10 Is Hotter Than the iPhone...

I've always hated BlackBerry phones. Disgracefully ugly bricks they were—until the BlackBerry Z10. The BlackBerry Z10 ishot. Truly beautiful, elegant hardware. If the OS is as nice as it seemed at CES, I will totally snatch one up.

These BlackBerry Z10 vs iPhone 5 comparative renders by our friend Martin Hajek are great. Not only because they show off just how beautiful a phone RIM has built, but because they demonstrate why we should still care about BlackBerry. With hardware as lovely as this, it may still have a chance at coming back with a vengeance.

The comparative images were made by Martin using leaked physical data and pictures of the real thing. Both phones are 3D renderings so you can see how they look next to each other (Martin did the same with the iPhone 5, creating product shots that looked exactly like Apple's before the actual phone's release).

I love that is has zero navigation/home/crap buttons at the bottom. It does it all through the screen's touch abilities—and that's all you need. I hate stupid, lazy buttons running on the bottom of phones, Apple/Google/Microsoft.

We'll see what happens on January 30, when it's all finally revealed.

Also, check out the renders for the N10—RIM's new model for the keyboard diehards—at the end. You can download Martin's amazing 3D models here.

The N10 however, no matter how polished, still looks ugly to me.

RIM Becomes Blackberry, New OS Blackberry 10 Launched, Z10 and Q10 Smartphones Announced...

Today is a big day at Blackberry, which is now a company than just a smartphone brand. RIM today announced that it has renamed and rebranded itself to become Blackberry company – the name it has been using for its smartphones since the beginning.

The much anticipated Blackberry 10 Launch event is going to serve as a last hope for the company to revive back. Its a make or break situation. Apparently the chances are minimal but, there’s a hope.

Best chances the Blackberry has is with its newly launched OS, the Blackberry 10, which is already getting positive reviews. It is an entirely revamped OS with wonderful features. However, both newly announced phones – the Z10 and Q10 – aren’t the stunners.

Stock quotes for Blackberry are flying low and it is feared that it could hit the USD 6 mark, the lowest in the history. Analyst say that Blackberry’s strange decision of delaying the availability of Z10 and Q10 in US market is going to play rough with the market trend for the firm.

Blackberry has said that Z10 and Q10 will hit US market in March only while they are launching both the devices in UK tomorrow.

More details about the Blackberry 10 OS are covered in a separate post. Here we will rundown the specification for both the Z10 and Q10 devices.

Blackberry Z10

Z10 – the flagship smartphone from Blackberry – is a high-end device to run on Blackberry 10.

Available in Black and White colours, the Z10 is a compact and solid built smartphone. Running on a 1.5 Ghz dual core processor – backed with 2GB RAM –  the Z10 boosts a 4.2″ LCD touchscreen with a resolution of 768 x 1280 pixels, which puts it in HD category.

There is a 8MP camera on the rear supported by enhanced native app with filters and stabilization. Font facing 2MB camera can be used for MMB videos.

Early testers said that battery life for Z10 is disappointing, which is a shame.

Here are other specs for Blackberry Z10:

• OS: BlackBerry 10 OS
• Chipset: Qualcomm MSM8960 Snapdragon
• CPU: Dual-core 1.5 GHz Krait
• GPU: Adreno 225
• Design:
  • Dimensions: 130 x 65.6 x 9 mm
  • Weight: 135 g
• Display:
  • Type: Capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
  • Size: 768 x 1280 pixels, 4.2 inches (~355 ppi pixel density)
• Memory:
  • Card slot: microSD, up to 32 GB
  • Internal: 16 GB storage, 2 GB RAM
• Connectivity: GPRS, EDGE, HSDPA, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, dual band, Bluetooth v4.0 with A2DP, NFC, USB
• Camera:
  • Primary: 8 MP, 3264 x 2448 pixels, autofocus, LED flash
  • Secondary: 2 MP, 720p@30fps
• Battery: Li-Ion 1800 mAh battery

Blackberry said that Z10 will start shipping tomorrow but will hit various markets in phases. About pricing the company said that it may depend on the operator that customers are contracting with.

The Z10 is said to hit UAE on February 10 and will be available for an unsubsidized price of AED2,599 or Rs. 70,000.

Blackberry Q10

Blackberry Q10 comes with physical QWERTY keyboard, a relief for many avid Blackberry users.

Q10 looks like typical Blackberry devices that will now run on Blackberry 10 OS, the Q10 on a 3.1 inch Super AMOLED display. There is a 2GM RAM support with more room with expandable MicroSD card.

Here are further specs for the Q10:

• OS: BlackBerry 10 OS
• Chipset: TI OMAP 4470
• CPU: Dual-core 1.5 GHz Cortex-A9
• GPU: PowerVR SGX544
• Design:
  • Weight: 139 g
• Display:
  • Type: Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
  • Size: 720 x 720 pixels, 3.1 inches (~328 ppi pixel density)
• Memory:
  • Card slot: microSD, up to 32 GB
  • Internal: 2 GB RAM
• Connectivity: GPRS, EDGE, HSDPA, HUSPA, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, dual band, WiFi Hotspot, Bluetooth v4.0 with A2DP, NFC, USB
• Camera:
  • Primary and Front Facing Camera
• Battery: Li-Ion 1800 mAh battery

Pricing and availability for Blackberry Q10 is similar to that of Z10. It will be available in different markets starting April. Price will depend on network operator as well.

evasi0n website hints at Sunday release for iOS 6 untethered jailbreak...

As pointed out on Twitter by @Pix3lDemon, the website setup for the upcoming evasi0n jailbreak tool strongly hints at a Sunday release. While this isn’t entirely surprising, seeing as members of the evad3rs themselves hinted at a Super Bowl day release, it does reafirm the belief that Sunday, will indeed be Funday.

As you’ll see on the evasi0n.com splash page, each device that shows a visible Calendar icon is displaying a ’3′. It just so happens that the first Sunday in February is on the 3rd. Coincidence? Probably not. Check past the break for the screenshot.

So there you have it. If you have anything planned on Sunday, and chances are you will, I suggest you plan around the jailbreak release.

Thanks, Pix3lDemon.

Nokia Lumia 920 and Lumia 820 Now Available in Pakistan...

Left: Nokia Lumia 920 — Right: Nokia Lumia 820

Nokia’s flagship Windows Phone device Nokia Lumia 920 and Nokia Lumia 820 are now available in Pakistan.

Both the smrtphones boost super fast dual core CPU and 1GB RAM while they run on Windows Phone 8.

Nokia Lumia 920 is bigger (4.5″) with higher WXGA (1280×768) resolution vs Nokia Lumia 820 with 4.3″ WVGA (800×480) resolution. Lumia 920 is IPS LCD (PureMotion HD+) while Lumia 820 is RGB AMOLED (CBD). Both come with Super Sensitive touch screen technology

Nokia Lumia 920 has 8.7MP BSI sensor PureView camera with Carl Zeiss lens with Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) while Nokia Lumia 820 has a more standard 8MP camera with bit slower Carl Zeiss lens and no OIS.

Lumia 920 has a bigger non-user-replaceable 2000mAh battery while Lumia 820 has a user-replaceable 1650mAh battery.

Now about the price, Nokia Lumia is officially available in Pakistan with warranty for Rs 62,000 while Nokia Lumia 820 is available for Rs. 48,000 in Pakistan.

Here are detailed specs for both the Phones:

Nokia Lumia 920

• Best possible video and pictures with PureView camera, even with shaky hands or at night.
• World’s brightest, fastest and most responsive touchscreen – even if you are wearing gloves or have long fingernails
• World’s first smartphone with built-in wireless charging capabilities

Here are the rest of the specifications:

• Microsoft’s latest OS Windows Phone 8 running
• 4.5 inch 720p display with a resolution of 720 x 1280 pixels & PureMotion HD+ display*
• New ClearBright technology makes this the brightest smartphone display ever
• IPS LCD capacitive multitouch touchscreen and Corning Gorilla Glass protection
• Super sensitive touch technology allows you to use the phone with almost anything
• Thickness: 10.7mm
• Weight: 185 grams
• 1.5 Ghz dual-core Krait processor with Adreno 225 GPU
• 1 Gb RAM with 32 Gb non-expandable storage& 7 GB memory through SkyDrive
• 8.7 megapixel camera with LED flash and 1080p Full HD video recording
• PureView camera technology
• Floating Lens technology for better image stabilization and low light performance
• 1 megapixel front-facing camera
• Nokia Drive, Nokia Lens and offline maps besides other special Nokia apps
• Bluetooth 3.1, microUSB 2.0, USB-on-the-go, NFC
• Available in Black, Yellow, Red and Gray versions
• 2000 mAh battery with wireless charging
• Price in Pakistan: Rs. 62,000

(PureMotion HD+ is a new technology which enables blur free scrolling.

Nokia Lumia 820

• Windows Phone 8 OS running
• Thickness: 9.9 mm
• Weight: 160 grams
• 4.3 inch ClearBlack AMOLED display with a rather 2010 resolution of 480 x 800
• Multi-touch capacitive display
• Super sensitive touch technology which allows the screen to be used with almost anything
• 1.5 Ghz dual-core Krait processor with Adreno 225 GPU
• 1 GB RAM with 8 GB expandable memory via memory card slot
• 8 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics, LED flash and 1080p Full HD video recording
• VGA front-facing camera
• Bluetooth 3.1, microUSB 2.0, NFC
• Available in Red, Yellow, Blue, Gray, Black, Violet and White colours
• 1650mAh battery
• Price in Pakisan: Rs. 48,000

iOS 6 Now Running On Over 300 Million Devices Around The World, 60% Of Total...

The release of iOS may have been shrouded in controversy, but in terms of adoption rates, it has continually proven itself to be prolific. Early statistics showed that, despite the bad press, consumers were buying and upgrading their devices to iOS 6 at a rate of knots, and in its iOS 6.1 press release earlier today, Apple has revealed that nigh on 300 million iPhones, iPads and iPod touches are now running the latest firmware.
The iOS 6 Maps app was Apple’s first attempt in this field, and having displaced the de facto master in this field in Google, the pressure was most certainly on. Unfortunately, Apple Maps wasn’t as accurate as it might have been, and after a public outcry, CEO Tim Cook was forced to apologize, and subsequently, users jumped on Google’s third-party offering when released over at the App Store just before Christmas.

But despite the drama, iOS 6 is Apple’s most successful to date, and that 300 million figure accounts for 60% of the total number of iOS devices in circulation. As well as that, some nine billion photos have been uploaded to Photo Stream, 450 billion iMessages have been sent between users, while a mammoth four trillion notifications – albeit not always welcome – have been received.

Considering some of the older iOS devices don’t even run iOS 6 – the original iPad, iPhone 3G and earlier, and pre-4th gen iPod touch – the 300 million mark is mightily impressive. With Tim Cook having recently claimed his company has shifted over 500 million iOS devices since 2007, one needn’t be a scholar in mathematics to work out just how swiftly consumers have sought to adopt iOS 6.

As well an impressive range of new features (save the aforementioned), one of the key reasons why adoption rates have been so high will have been OTA updates. Those on iOS 5 will have been notified over-the-air that their device was ready for the new software, and with no inconvenient syncing required as with previous releases, it’s unsurprising that most iOS 5 users have been compliant.
As well as software updates, Apple has sold tens of millions of iOS devices in the past couple of months, with consumers rushing out to grab the new iPhone 5 and iPad mini devices.