iOS 8 Jailbreak Good to Go, Patches Need Minor Adjustments

Well-known hacker Stefan Esser has announced plans to jailbreak Apple’s iOS 8 using existing exploits that he developed on iOS 7.1.1. Not wanting to burn the vulnerabilities, the security expert will likely refrain from releasing the jailbreak until iOS 8 Final debuts this fall.

A series of tweets from the renowned security expert indicate that the iOS 8 jailbreak is pretty much a go. Esser says all he needs is to spend a few hours with the beta and find some relocated codeto apply existing vulnerabilities.

“Download finished. Initial tests show that iOS 8 beta does not fix anything. Dumped kernel fine, but code changed and patches are not found. [...] I guess tomorrow I need a few hours in the office to fix the code and then the JB should be iOS 8 beta compatible. [...] Only question is if Cydia runs at all in iOS 8,” he said.

Esser recently discovered new holes in Apple’s mobile softwareallowing him to compromise the latest firmware, iOS 7.1.1. He showed off the feat on YouTube but refrained from releasing the actual jailbreak to the public. As avid jailbreakers will remember, Apple patched existing exploits with the release of iOS 7.1, making the newly-discovered bugs very precious indeed.

The good news is that these newly-found vulnerabilities also seem applicable to iOS 8, meaning Esser and his hacking buds know about them while Apple doesn’t. When iOS 8 is released this fall, it will basically be vulnerable-on-arrival (VOA). We’re coining the term right here, right now.

Jokes aside, iOS 8 seems poised to receive its much deserved jailbreak, as the firmware versions before it. The popularity of these hacks has diminished substantially in recent times, but the hackers are still at it and many people out there still use jailbreaking as a way to download unapproved software, such as icon sets and themes.

With iOS 8 slated to launch this fall, it could well be at least three to four months before jailbreak fans can get their hands on Esser’s work.

Tips to make compatible your I phone with ios 8

Apple announced the eighth major release of its iOS mobile operating system at its Worldwide Developers Conference in June. The latest version of iOS include improvements to the Siri voice assistant, a new health and wellness app, and revamped notifications, among other things.

With iOS 8 slated to arrive on devices in the coming weeks, now is the perfect time to ensure that your iPhone or iPad is prepared to receive the update. These tips will help make the transition to iOS 8 fromiOS 7 as smooth as possible.

IOS 8 DEVICE COMPATIBILITY 

Check compatibility

If you've been holding on to the original iPad or iPhone 4, it may be time to update to a newer device. Not every one of Apple's devices is capable of being updated to iOS 8. The company has said the following devices will be receiving the update: iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPhone 5S, iPhone 5C, iPad 2, third- and fourth-generation iPad, iPad Air, fifth-generation iPod Touch, iPad Mini, and iPad Mini with Retina display.

Free up some space

The over-the-air iOS 7 update package was about 700MB depending on your device, however users were required to have at least 3GB of free space on their devices in order to actually install the update. You can expect iOS 8 to have similar storage requirements, which makes now the perfect time to free up some space on your device.

Check for updates

Now would also be a good time to install any lingering software updates you have been holding off on. You will need to be on the latest version of iOS to update to iOS 8. To check for updates, enter Settings, click on General, and select Software Update.

You should also install any app updates that are available before updating to iOS 8 to ensure that your apps will work properly after the move.

Back up your device

Although you are unlikely to run into any major problems when updating, it's always a good idea to have a backup of your device. You know what they say, it's better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it.

iOS 8: 13 important features

As expected, Apple unveiled iOS 8, the latest version of its mobile operating system at the WWDC (World Wide Developers Conference) last night in Cupertino. At the conference, Apple execs such as CEO Tim Cook and Senior VP Software Engineering, Craig Federighi, revealed new features such as actionable notifications, improvements to messaging and the keyboard and a greater focus on developers. While there was no word on an exact date when iOS 8 would come to iPhones and iPads, it is expected to go live in August or September of this year. Apple has also revealed that iOS 8 will come to the iPhone 4S and all iPhones that were launched thereafter, the iPad 2 and all iPads launched thereafter (including the iPad Mini) and the iPod Touch 5th generation.

Let's take a look at the most important features of iOS 8 that were talked about at WWDC:

Interactive Notifications or Widgets

Widgets have finally come to iOS. In iOS 8, you can now perform actions on notifications directly without exiting the app you're currently in. For example, if you're using the Facebook app and you get a notification about a message, you will be able to reply to the message from the notification pop-up itself. Currently, actionable notifications will be available for messages, calendar, reminders, mail and certain third party apps like Facebook. Other third-party developers will also be able to add actionable notifications for their apps.

Shortcut to Contacts

You will now see photos of your recent and favourite contacts on the multi-tasking screen (accessed by pressing the home button twice). You can tap on each contact to make a call or send a message.

New features in Mail

Apple has taken pointers from popular third-party email apps like Mailbox and Triage, and introduced a new set of features in its default mail app. These include the introduction of swipe gestures to mark an email as read or flag it for later action. The app will also automatically recognise dates, addresses, phone numbers and flight reservation details in emails so that you can add them to your calendar/phone book with a single tap.

New features in Messages

iOS 8 will enable you to add voice and video messages and location details from within the Messages app itself. You can also create groups within the Messages app and add or remove contacts from the groups.

New keyboard

The iOS 8 keyboard will predict your next word as you type based on your previous usage, and offers suggestions. You will also be able to install and use third-party keyboards, a feature that is very popular among Android users. Adaptxt, a keyboard app for Android that offers contextual predictions, from Keypoint Technologies of India, is one of the third party apps that is already scheduled to launch for iOS 8.  

OS X Yosemite

OS X Yosemite (version 10.10) is the upcoming eleventh major release of OS X, Apple Inc.'s desktop andserver operating system for Macintosh computers. OS X Yosemite was announced and released to developers on June 2, 2014, at WWDC 2014and it was released to public beta testers (the first one million people to sign up for the public beta) on July 24, 2014. Yosemite is scheduled for final release to consumers in late 2014. Following the new landmark-based naming scheme introduced with OS X Mavericks.

Design

Yosemite introduced a major revision to the operating system's user interface, designed with inspiration from iOS 7, while still maintaining the OS X look and feel. The interface incorporates a flatter visual appearance with blurred translucency effects.

Other notable design changes include new icons, light and dark color schemes, and the replacement of Lucida Grande withHelvetica Neue as the default system font.The dock is now a 2D translucent rectangle instead of a skeuomorphic glass shelf, reminiscent of the dock design used in early versions of OS X.

Continuity

Many of Yosemite's new features focus on the theme of "continuity", increasing its integration with other Apple services and platforms such as iOS and iCloud. The Handoff functionality allows the operating system to integrate with iOS 8 devices overBluetooth LE and Wi-Fi; users can place and answer phone calls to and from an iPhone using their Mac as a speakerphone, send and receive text messages, activate personal hotspots, or load items being worked on in a mobile app (such as Maildrafts or Numbers spreadsheets) directly into their desktop equivalent.

Notification Center

Notification Center features a new "Today" view, similar to that in iOS. The Today view can display information and updates from various sources, along with widgets. The widgets in the Today view are similar to those of iOS 8.

System requirements

All Macintosh products capable of running OS X Mavericks are supported by Yosemite; as with Mavericks, 2 GB of RAM, 8 GB of available storage, and OS X 10.6.8 (Snow Leopard) or later are required. However, in order to take full advantage of the features in Continuity, a Mac with Bluetooth LE (Bluetooth 4.0) is needed.

These are the models compatible with OS X Yosemite:

• iMac (Mid 2007 or later)
• MacBook (13-inch Aluminum, Late 2008), (13-inch, Early 2009 or later)
• MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid-2009 or later), (15-inch, Mid/Late 2007 or later), (17-inch, Late 2007 or later)
• MacBook Air (Late 2008 or later)
• Mac Mini (Early 2009 or later)
• Mac Pro (Early 2008 or later)
• Xserve (Early 2009)

These are the models that have Bluetooth LE support, and that therefore support Continuity:

• iMac (Late 2012 or later)
• MacBook Pro (Mid 2012 or later)
• MacBook Pro with Retina display (all models)
• MacBook Air (Mid 2011 or later)
• Mac Mini (Mid 2011 or later)
• Mac Pro (Late 2013 or later)

3 Reasons You Shouldn't Buy an iPhone 5C From Walmart for 97 Cents

To be fair, Walmart is far from the only retailer trying to trap you into a mobile phone contract with low prices. It's just one of the most pervasive. Walmart, along with Costco and Target, account for 12% of all cellphone sales in the U.S. Walmart is particularly popular with families, which is why Sprint recently chose the retailer as the launchpad for its family-oriented Custom plans.

A free (or nearly free) iPhone — one of the current models — sounds like a great deal, and it would be... if this were 2013. Or even early 2014. But right now, you're way better off skipping Walmart's cheapo iPhone. Here's why:

1. You can already get it for $0.

Yep, 97 cents is a great deal. You know what's a better deal? No cents. You can buy the iPhone 5C right now — with no contract — from T-Mobile for $0 down. In fact, you can do the same at AT&T, Verizon and Sprint under their various programs.

The big catch? To get those deals, you have to pay for the phone with incremental payments every month, which are usually about $25 to $35. But at least those payments stop after two years, whereas a new contract — which the Walmart deal requires — would mean your phone's true cost ($549 for the iPhone 5C) is built into the rates you pay, which don't automatically cease when the contract expires.

Either way, they get your money. And if you really want the iPhone 5C with a contract, Sprint actually already offers it for $0. At least you'll save nearly a buck.

2. It's really just a colorful iPhone 5.

The reason the iPhone 5C exists at all is because Apple wanted to offer the previous year's model (as it always does) as a "step-down" version of the iPhone for budget-conscious consumers, but it also wanted to build it cheaper so it would still produce decent profit margins.It might not have been the most impactful part of Apple's iPhone strategy, but it did succeed in packaging "last year's tech" — namely the iPhone 5.

You may be thinking "I don't need the latest and greatest," and you're right, you don't. But you also don't want to be too far behind either, and two years is a dog's age in mobile. Both platform makers and app developers design for the most recent hardware, and adapt their experiences for older models.

Just ask anyone running iOS 7 on an iPhone 4 what the experience is like. Even the iPhone 4S struggles to deal with an iOS 7 world, and that, in terms of the "tech gap," is basically the equivalent of what you'll have if you settle for the iPhone 5C now. For two years.

3. Everyone is going to discount it in a couple of weeks.

If you haven't heard, Apple is planning an event for early September. Even absent the report about the unconfirmed Sept. 9 event, Apple is always poised to unveil a new iPhone in the fall. When the new models arrive, it changes pricing for the previous models.

The Walmart discount is really just a harbinger of what's going to happen to all iPhones right then. When the iPhone 6, iPhone 6L or whatever the new models are called get here, you won't be able to throw a Bluetooth earpiece in a wireless store without hitting a discounted iPhone 5C. Apple and its retail partners need to clear out inventory to make room for the new models, and the most surefire way to do that is to cut prices.

If you're dead-set on signing a wireless contract to buy a two-year-old phone (see No. 2 above) for no money down, then just hold out a couple of weeks and you won't need to do it at Walmart.

iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 plus : Spec Difference

We all were excited for the Apple 9th September Event, But this is a time to 

know about the specifications from both iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 plus.

So Here is our Review on the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 plus.  

iPhone 6

Screen: The 6 Plus isn't just larger -- it has a higher resolution (1,920 x 1,080 vs. 1,334 x 750) and a higher pixel density (401 pixels per inch vs. 326 ppi).

Camera: Though both devices are equipped with an 8-megapixel lens, only the larger iPhone 6 Plus has optical image stabilization -- which should help out any unsteady hand that's shooting an image or recording a video.

Battery: In addition, the 6 Plus has a higher battery capacity, meaning you can expect to talk, watch movies, and surf the Web for a few hours longer.

SPECS	APPLE iPhone 6	APPLE iPhone PLUS
Display	4.7 inches (119.38mm) with 1,334 x 750-pixel resolution	5.5 inches (139.7mm) with 1,920 x 1,080-pixel resolution
Pixel density	326ppi	401ppi
Weight	4.55 ounces (129g)	6.07 ounces (172g
Processor	Proprietary 64-bit A8 chip with M8 motion co-processor	Proprietary 64-bit A8 chip with M8 motion co-processor
RAM	N/A	N/A
OS	iOS 8	iOS 8
Camera, video	8-megapixel; 1080p HD video	8-megapixel with optical image stabilization; 1080p HD video
Front-facing camera	1.2-megapixel; 720p HD video	1.2-megapixel; 720p HD video
Capacity	16GB, 64GB, and 128GB	16GB, 64GB, and 128GB
Battery	Nonremovable; talk time up to 14 hours on 3G and Internet usage time up to 10 hours on LTE	Nonremovable; talk time up to 14 hours on 3G and Internet usage time up to 10 hours on LTE
Bluetooth	v 4.0 Low Energy	v 4.0 Low Energy
Waterproof	No	No
Dimensions	5.44 x 2.64 x 0.27 inches (138.1 x 67 x 6.9mm)	6.22 x 3.06 x 0.28 inches (158.1 x 77.8 x 7.1mm)
US retail price	$199 (16GB), $299 (64GB), and $399 (128GB); off-contract $649 (16GB), $749 (64GB), and $849 (128GB)	$299 (16GB), $399 (64GB), and $499 (128GB); off-contract $749 (16GB), $849 (64GB), and $949 (128GB)

Xiaomi Mi 4 review

The flagship Xiaomi Mi 4's design borrows liberally from Apple's iPhone, but it also possesses plenty of features that let it stand on its own, chief of which are its powerful hardware.

The Mi 4's is a steal no matter how you look at it. Its unlocked price in China is 1,999RMB (which converts to $320, £190, or AU$345) for the 16GB model, and 2,499RMB (which converts to $400, £235, or AU$430) for the 64GB.

The Mi 4 is limited to China right now, though we expect Xiaomi to soon sell the phone in other markets it currently serves, such as Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, India and the Philippines. Other countries will have to rely on importers.

Also, while the phone will eventually come with 4G capability that works outside China, a revised 4G model isn't due until the end of the year. If you choose to import the phone before then, your Mi 4 will operate only on 3G networks.

Design, display and specs

At first glance, the Xiaomi Mi 4 bears a striking resemblance to the design of the iPhone -- especially the stainless steel banding around the sides. The company has obviously owes a good deal to Apple, and the white plastic inserts in the frame are definitely familiar.

If you look at the front speaker too, you can see another place where the Mi 4's designers got their visual cues. That said, there are distinctly different elements that make the Xiaomi Mi 4 design's unique.The rear is plastic, but you can remove it with a suction cup and swap in a different design. Xiaomi has covers ranging from wood to something that resembles marble.

I quite like the feel of the phone. It sits comfortably in my hand, though the edges of the steel frame can are a little sharp. Despite the glossy plastic backing, the handset has quite a premium feel to it thanks to this metal edging. The power and volume rockers are on the right, and are easy to reach without any strenuous finger stretching.

The phone is powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 801 processor, clocked at 2.5GHz. That's similar to what you'll find in other high-end flagships, so no surprises here. Other specs include 3GB RAM and either 16GB or 64GB of onboard storage, but there's no microSD for expandability. Knowing Xiaomi's usual modus operandi, it's likely that only the 16GB version will retail outside of China.

The phone comes with a 3,080mAh battery, but the bad news is that it's not removable even if you manage to get the back cover off.

The Mi 4 has a 5-inch display with a full HD resolution (1,920x1,080 pixels). According to Xiaomi, it has acolor gamut accuracy of 84 percent, 17 percent higher than the Iphone 5s. I'm no expert on judging color accuracy, but I can tell you its colors look vibrant and lively and the screen is bright enough to use outdoors in bright sunlight.

As a high-end device, the Mi 4 comes with all the usual connectivity options, such as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0. 4G is only available on the China Mobile network (TDD-LTE), which unfortunately does not work in most other countries that use the FDD-LTE standard. An FDD-LTE model is due at the end of the year, and possibly earlier.

Software features

The Mi 4 runs Android 4.4.2 (KitKat) but with the company's own MIUI skin. Xiaomi has made substantial tweaks to the Android operating system and MIUI has a whole suite of features you don't normally see on Android.

For one, instead of an app drawer, MIUI puts every app on the home screen just like iOS. While I would prefer my screens to be less cluttered with apps (especially if you have a lot), those switching over from Apple will find this a more simple transition.

One of the best things about MIUI is the ability to customize how it looks. You can easily load up the Themes app to switch things around. There are a whole bunch of free and paid themes you can download, and if you're feeling particularly fruit-flavoured, there's also the option to download an iOS 7skin that even has the background parallax effect.

Camera

One of the best things about the Mi 4 is its camera. The shutter is snappy and MIUI has built-in manual controls that let you adjust exposure and shutter speeds. If you don't need that, the default auto mode is good enough as well.

In my tests, the phone was capable of taking really good pictures even in low-light conditions. I'm really pretty impressed with it, especially when I used manual controls to shoot fireworks.

Performance

As you'd expect from a high-end device, the Mi 4 delivered slick performance comparable to other top-notch mobiles.

Interestingly, when I started the Quadrant benchmark, the phone asked if I wanted to use a high-performance mode or stick to the current balanced mode. It scored 24,055 in high-performance and 15,954 in balanced. On LinPack it obtained a blazing 901.961 MFLOPs over 0.19 seconds.

Call quality

Calls came through crisp and clear, and the person on the other end reported no issues either. The speaker volume feels just about right. While it isn't the loudest, you likely won't be missing any calls while the phone is in your pocket.

Battery life

In normal use, the 3,080mAh battery managed to last a day and a half, though I suspect with the LTE model, this should fall to a day. We're still testing the battery life with our CNET Labs Video app, so check back later for the official result.

Screen Shot of MI4

Pricing is currently unavailable.

Samsung Smart Camera WB350F

+POINT The Samsung Smart Camera WB350F is like having a bunch of smartphone camera apps built into the interface of a point-and-shoot camera that has a 21x zoom lens and optical image stabilization. The camera's wireless features make it easy to shoot and share your photos to Android or iOS devices or straight to Web sites.

-POINT  There's no improvement in photo or video quality or shooting performance from the previous version, which was just good. While its wireless options are still plentiful, its remote viewfinder function lags behind competitors'.

The Bottom Line The Samsung Smart Camera WB350F is a good package if you want to add an affordable long-zoom point-and-shoot to supplement your smartphone photography.

SPECIFIACTION

The Samsung Smart Camera WB350F is a good reason why you shouldn't shop by specs alone.

When it was announced at CES 2014, it seemed the WB350F was a redesign of 2013's WB800F camera, a higher-end compact megazoom that featured a similar 16-megapixel BSI CMOS sensor and a 21x, f2.8-5.9, 23-483mm lens. The WB350F is actually, as the model name might suggest, an update to the lower-end 18x zoom WB250F. Or to be more succinct: this camera, despite what its specs might imply, is not as good as the WB800F and really offers little improvement over the WB250F beyond having a longer zoom lens.

      
Basically, you'll want to consider this camera for its features more than for its photo quality. The photos aren't bad, especially if your priority is to share them online. If you need a camera that can take photos for prints larger than 8x10 in all lighting conditions or for something like birding, where you'll want to enlarge and crop in to examine fine details, this likely won't be enough camera for you. The camera's strengths are in its novel shooting options and Wi-Fi capabilities (though even those are starting to slip behind the competition).

The camera's video quality is good enough for posting online or viewing at small sizes on a computer screen, and having a zoom lens with optical image stabilization gives it an edge over a smartphone. However, depending on which smartphone you have, there's a good chance you'll get better video from it than the WB350F.

Like its pictures, the video isn't particularly good in low light. There is some judder when panning the camera, and you'll see some ghosting with fast-moving subjects (which aren't uncommon for the category). The zoom lens does work while recording, but you will hear it moving and focusing. (There's a Sound Alive feature that will dampen this sound, though it will muffle the rest of the audio, as well.) The camera is relatively fast to refocus and adjust to exposure changes.

SCREEN SHO

SHUTTER SPEED

If you like to control shutter speed and aperture, shutter speeds can be set from 16 seconds to 1/2,000 second. Available apertures at the wide end are f2.8, f3.2, f3.5, f4.0, f4.5, f5.0, f5.6, f6.3, f7.1, and f8.0; in telephoto you have just f5.9, f6.9, f7.5, and f8.5.

Being a Smart Camera, the WB350F's wireless features are a key part of the package here. If you connect the camera directly to a Wi-Fi network, you can send pictures and video by e-mail; upload to Evernote, Facebook, Picasa, YouTube, and Dropbox; and share content to DLNA-enabled devices as well as sync to a personal Samung Link cloud storage account, which you can also access from other devices.

If the camera is connected to a wireless network with a Windows PC on it, you can set up Samsung's i-Launcher software and do wireless auto-backups to your computer (though you're probably better off connecting via USB). If you connect to the same network as the camera with a smartphone or tablet, you can use the camera as a baby monitor, which is fine if you're on vacation or just in a pinch, but the performance isn't good enough for regular use.

What you'll probably use most, though, are the camera's Remote Viewfinder, AutoShare, and MobileLink features. MobileLink lets you transfer files from a smartphone or send files from the camera to one or more smartphones. AutoShare gives you the option to automatically send photos to a smartphone as you shoot them with the camera. The Remote Viewfinder turns your smartphone or tablet into a viewfinder, and you can also move the camera's zoom lens as well as hit the shutter release. However, that's about all you can do with this feature, and you're limited to capturing 12- or 2-megapixel images. Other camera manufacturers allow you to capture at full resolution, start and stop video, and use shooting modes other than auto.

Establishing a Wi-Fi connection with Android and iOS devices is pretty straightforward: Start the feature that you want to use on the camera, use your device's Wi-Fi settings to connect to the camera, and launch the Samsung Smart Camera app on your device. But, for Android devices with NFC, the procedure is even easier -- you just have to tap the two together, and they'll start the connection.

Conclusion
The Samsung Smart Camera WB350F is a good package if you want to add an affordable long-zoom point-and-shoot to supplement your smartphone photography. Just don't look too closely at the photos