Samsung Trumps Nokia For The First Time In Number Of Mobile Devices Sold, Takes The Number One Spot

Although Nokia have been going through a rather difficult spell in recent years, they have still been managing to cling on to the top spot when it comes to global sales of cellphones – until now. According to new research conducted by a number of analytics firms, Samsung have ousted Nokia from the top of the leader board.





The reports, conducted by IHS iSuppli and Strategy Analytics show that the Finnish handset makerhas been unable to cling for dear life on the top spot and has finally been knocked from the perch by Samsung due to Nokia’s poor sales performances of recent times.
In the first quarter of 2012, Nokia’s market share dropped down to a low of 22.5% while Samsung raced into the lead by holding a 25.4% of the global mobile market. In the same period, Apple were sitting with a 9.5% hold, which may not seem like a great deal but considering the company only produces the iPhone, this is quite some achievement.

One of the main reasons for Nokia’s fall from the top of the cellular grace was down to the company’s low-end device sales in emerging markets dropping off, something that they were unable to offset with the sales of their top-end devices like the new Lumia range of smartphones. Neil Mawston, who operates as the Executive Director of Strategy Analytics, reminisced about Nokia’s current issues and their golden years:

Nokia’s volumes were squeezed at both ends, as low-end feature phoneshipments in emerging markets stalled and high-end Microsoft Lumia smartphones were unable to offset the rapid decline of Nokia’s legacy Symbian business. Nokia was the world’s largest handset vendor between 1998 and 2011, for 14 years, before finally yielding top position to rival Samsung this quarter.

Although the statistics refer to sales of all mobile phones, the main focus of the market is currently centered around top-end smartphones, sales of which suffered in the first quarter of 2012 across all major manufacturers. As the table below from IHS shows, Apple suffered a 5% decline is sales with Samsung experiencing a change of 11% during the same period. Nokia’s woes continued as their shipments of smartphones dropped by eight million units in the first quarter.

We have been used to seeing extraordinary boom in this market, but at the minute consumers are showing a reluctance in the marketplace with overall handset sales growing by a relatively small 3.3%. One of the firms involved in the research predicts that smartphone sales will be the only ones to increase in the next twelve months, growing by an estimated 35% while sales of standard handsets will decline.

(via SlashGear)








Source : Redmond Pie

This App For iPhone Lets You Make Free Voice Calls Via Bluetooth

Did you know that Bluetooth is the Anglicized version of the name given to Kind Harald I of Denmark who was well-known for uniting various tribes in Denmark into one single Kingdom? Not exactly relevant to the iBluetooth Call app, but still it’s worth knowing that our technology names are steeped in history.

So, the iBluetooth Call jailbreak app that is currently running at version 1.3 is something which I would describe as a “novelty” which allows users to connect to other jailbroken devices through Bluetooth for the purpose of initiating local voice chats that are passed between the wireless technology. By calling this app a novelty, I don’t want to deter from the fact that it is actually a fairly decent idea and a very good implementation, it is just that it doesn’t really provide any real-life benefits due to the limitations of Bluetooth.

To make effective use of this app, a number of people in a group need to install it upon their jailbroken device and invoke a chat session by connecting their devices through the supplied app. Anyone who intends to use iBluetooth Call will obviously need to have a device with Bluetooth capabilities as well as a built-in microphone. Considering the app is compatible with iOS 3.0 and above, hence there is a possibility that users of the old second-gen iPod touch could install this tweak and join the Bluetooth voice convo party. In other words, a device running iOS 3.0 and above, tagged along with a built-in microphone (or a wired headset with a microphone) is all what it needs to kick off this app.

The idea of being able to talk in a small group through Bluetooth is quite an attractive one, and as the developer points out, it could be a nice little thing to use in a small party or with friends. However, in real-world situations, the connectivity limitations of the Bluetooth technology make this a tweak of form and novelty over mass function.

iBluetooth Call is available as a free of charge download from the BigBoss repository and is compatible with Bluetooth enabled devices which are running iOS 3.0 and above, and have a built-in microphone or an attached compatible headset.

Source : Redmond Pie

iOS 5.1 For iPhone, iPad, iPod touch (A4 Devices) Can Now Be Jailbroken Using Redsn0w 0.9.10b6 [How-To Tutorial]

The iPhone Dev-Team – reliably as per usual – have updated its Redsn0w jailbreak tool, allowing those using the latest iOS 5.1 to set their devices free. It works for all iPhone, iPad and iPod touch-devices except, of course, the iPhone 4S and the iPad 2.

Additionally, as you may already be aware, the jailbreak is tethered, meaning you will need to connect your device to a computer to boot tethered each time it is switched off for whatever reason. The ‘SemiTether’ patch eases the tethered scenario by allowing devices to boot without connecting to a PC or Mac, although features are extremely limited, thus it will have to be booted tethered in order to function at optimum level once more.

Of course, it’s not as exciting as the fully-untethered jailbreak with all the bells and whistles; but we reckon that it’s better than no jailbreak at all!
As usual, we’ve got the tutorial to help you in your quest to jailbreak your iOS 5.1 device.
NOTE:

• As already mentioned, this jailbreak does not work on the iPad 2 or iPhone 4S.
• If you unlock with GEVEY or Ultrasn0w, DO NOT update to the stock iOS 5.1 firmware. Skip to the latter part of this guide for more info.
• You will be booting tethered quite a bit, so if you don’t think you can deal with constantly connecting and rebooting, wait for an untethered or downgrade to iOS 5.0.1/4.x.

With the formalities complete, let’s start the show!


DISCLAIMER: I shall not be held responsible if you lose data or your device gets damaged in the following of this guide. Furthermore, the dev has noted that it hasn’t been tested extensively, so as usual, proceed at your own risk.


How to jailbreak iOS 5.1 using Redsn0w
Step 1: Download the latest version of iTunes (10.6)
Step 2: Open up iTunes, and back up your device.
Step 3: Upgrade your firmware to iOS 5.1. [download links]
Here are the official download links to iOS 5.1 directly from Apple:

• iPhone 4S
• iPhone 4 (GSM)
• iPhone 4 (CDMA)
• iPhone 3GS
• iPad 3 WiFi
• iPad 3 GSM
• iPad 3 CDMA
• iPad 2 WiFi
• iPad 2 GSM
• iPad 2 CDMA
• iPad
• iPod touch 3G
• iPod touch 4G
• Apple TV 2G (5.0)
• Apple TV 3G (5.0)

Step 4: Download the latest version of Redsn0w (Windows/Mac)
Step 5: Start Redsn0w, select "Jailbreak" then "Install Cydia". Follow the steps to place your device into DFU mode.

Step 6: Now we move on to the process where you will need to repeat every time your device is switched off. This is called tethered boot. Launch Redsn0w, select "Extras", then"Just Boot" in order to boot your device tethered.

Booting Semi-Tethered (Optional)
The "SemiTether" patch may work through to 5.1. It’s a cross between tethered and untethered – allowing you to boot your device without a computer, but the available features are somewhat limited, so you’ll need to boot tethered through Redsn0w in order to enjoy a fully-functional break. It’s free, and available over at the BigBoss repo: http://thebigboss.org/semitether.




Note To Unlockers:
If you use the GEVEY SIM interposer or Ultrasn0w to unlock your iPhone, you will need to create a custom .iPSW, in order to preserve your baseband.
In Redsn0w, select "Extras", then "Custom IPSW", locate your iOS 5.1 file, and let Redsn0w work its magic.
Then enter pwned DFU mode (Extras > Pwned DFU) and restore to your custom firmware via iTunes. After that, you’ll be able to unlock with GEVEY, Ultrasn0w fixer, or Ultrasn0w (when it is available).






Source : Redmond Pie

Unlock iPhone 4 On 4.11.08 And 4.12.01 Baseband Running iOS 5.1 Using The New And Improved GEVEY Ultra Interposer

Over the last day or so the unlocking aspect of the jailbreak community has seem to hit a red hot patch, with potential unlockers first all being introduced to a new method of iPhone unlocking using a procedure which takes advantage of Sam Bingner’s Subscriber Artificial Module (SAM), and now we have the news that the latest GEVEY Ultra 5.1 now supports the GSM iPhone 4 running iOS 5.1 with modem firmwares up to 04.12.01.

The update to the GEVEY Ultra SIM will come as welcome news for the many thousands of users who rely on a hardware based unlock for their iPhone 4 and the fact that the GEVEY SIM has been updated with some additional enhancements only adds to the good news. As is always the case with this type of unlock, a jailbreak is a pre-requisite, as is making sure that the iPhone has been officially activated through the iTunes software before the GEVEY Ultra is used.

The updated GEVEY Ultra, which is available as a pre-order item from the Apple N Berry website, comes with support for the GSM iPhone 4 running on iOS versions 4.1 up to the very latest iOS 5.1, and will provide a hardware based unlock for the following basebands:

• 01.59
• 02.10
• 03.10.10
• 04.10.10
• 04.11.08
• 04.12.01

The new product is a newly designed chipset that doesn’t require any cutting to fit perfectly in the iPhone 4 and offers longer device battery life thanks to design changes meaning that it operates under the 3-volt standard. The manufacturers are also touting improved reception, better signal strength, consistent voice calls and a better all round data connection as upgrades to the Ultra 5.1. The availability of the GEVEY Ultra 5.1 comes hot on the heels of the revelations surrounding an unlock method found by a Chinese iOS researcher that uses the SAM package from Cydia and allows any jailbroken iPhone on any firmware to be unlocked and therefore could suffer in popularity because of this.

For some users, the GEVEY Ultra represents a tried and trusted method of achieving what used to be an elusive unlock for their iPhone and in some cases will choose to go down this route. The new and improved Ultra 5.1 is available as a pre-order from the Apple N Berry website at a cost of $49.99, with orders set to begin shipping by the end of April.



Source : Redmond Pie

Control Your iOS Device’s Brightness By Swiping Your Thumb On The Status Bar With SwipeBright

If you are anything like me, then you will appreciate the little Cydia tweaks that bring small changes to the way iOS operates, as well as finding yourself drawn to extensions that enhance the visual appearance of the OS in subtle but noticeable ways. Don’t get me wrong here, the larger more-in-your-face tweaks obviously have their benefits, and can be extremely helpful to some people, but it tends to be the more intricate, small and useful packages that stand the test of time.

The SwipeBright tweak that has found its way onto Cydia is a prime example of one of these simple but extremely useful tweaks and is an implementation of the brightness controls that I personally have been waiting for. When installed, SwipeBright simply allows the user to control the level of the display’s brightness by making a simple left and right swipe gesture directly onto the status bar at the top of the display. The gestures are there to represent an actual swipe on the brightness slider, meaning that a right-hand (left to right) swipe on the status bar will increase the brightness whereas a left (right to left) swipe will produce the opposite result and dim the display’s brightness.
Although not really required, SwipeBright installs with its own configurable preferences bundle directly within the native Settings app. The first of these settings allows the user to simply toggle the tweak on or off, something which I am an advocate for and believe all Cydia tweaks should come with. The second option allows users to restrict the tweak to the home screen only, meaning that SwipeBright would only be active when one of the user’s home screen is visible. If this option is set to off then the tweak can be invoked via the status bar whilst inside an app and at the device’s lock screen, as well. The third and final option relates to the tweak’s Deadzone sensitivity, and refers to how sensitive the status bar actually is to sliding. When the sensitivity slider is set to a higher level, the user will need to slide their finger more to invoke the tweak and vice versa.

SwipeBright is one of those useful but minimalistic tweaks that looks to be very well implemented and something most users will find useful. The only issue that I experienced, was needing to set an alternative Activator option for SBSettings due to the fact that it used a left swipe on the status bar to activate the drop down. SwipeBright is available from the BigBoss repository at a cost of $0.99 and is compatible with iOS 4 and above.



Source : Redmond Pie