You know the drill, if you’re a developer and you want the latest, greatest iOS 4.1 beta 3 for your iPhone or iPod touch, head on over to Apple and get it.

No word yet on what, if any new features it might contain but we’re still guessing we won’t see anything too spectacular until Steve Jobs takes the stage for the annual iPod and iTunes event in September, and shows off iPod touch G4 and the final iOS 4 version.

But if you find anything, let us know in comments.

[developer.apple.com]

Apple releases iOS 4.1 beta 3 for developers is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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How to Jailbreak iPhone 4 on iOS 4.x and iPad on iOS 3.2.x with Jailbreakme.com

Jailbreakers can rejoice again as not only has the iOS4 jailbreak been updated, iPhone 4 users can now jailbreak as well! iPad users are also included, whether you’re running 3.2 or 3.2.1, the jailbreak should work for you either way. If you haven’t done so already, here’s a list of things to do before and after jailbreaking!

And before you proceed, here’s the normal disclaimer;

Jailbreaking can and will void the warranty on your device. Should something go wrong, the responsibility is your own, so proceed with caution. If you feel uncomfortable jailbreaking your device, it’s probably best if you don’t. But if you’re okay with all that, read on!

Backup your iPhone/iPad

The first thing you should do before doing any modifications to your iDevice is back it up! Simply connect your iPhone or iPad to iTunes and sync it. This way, if you have an issue or your jailbreak goes wrong, you’ll be able to restore as you were before without the headache of resyncing everything.

Jailbreak Your iDevice

This jailbreak is probably one of the most dead simple ones you’ll ever use. Simply go to www.jailbreakme.com with Safari on your actual device. You will see the webpage like above. You’ll slide to jailbreak, and wait. If all went well, when it’s done, you’ll be jailbroken. The easiest way to tell is if you now see a Cydia icon on your springboard.

Save your SHSH Blob

Your SHSH ID should always be saved within Cydia. This could save you if you ever accidentally upgrade to a newer firmware (keep in mind, that’s never guaranteed). Future jailbreaks could also require that you have this blob saved in order to jailbreak future versions of iOS. In order to save your SHSH blob, you’ll see this on the main page of Cydia -

You’ll want to click that. You may see a message at the top of Cydia for a few days saying you have a request in. This can happen when the servers are overloaded with requests. Saurik has also taken down the server in the past when it gets hammered. If this is the case, just keep trying until the top of your phone says you have an SHSH on file for whatever OS you’re running. It’ll look something like this -

You’re done!  If you guys had any issues, be sure to check out our jailbreak forums for common problems and questions.  If you still can’t find an answer, drop us a line!

Update:

I almost forgot something pretty important, whenever you jailbreak (especially if you plan on SSH’ing), always change your root and mobile passwords! As of now, users are reporting problems with Terminal under iOS4 while jailbroken, but you can change your root passwords still, there’s a thread here explaining how to do this. Let us know if you have any issues in the forums! There’s lots of great members willing to help you with the process.

Guide to Jailbreaking iPhone 4 and iPad is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Can Gameloft deliver with their sequel to Hero of Sparta? I think the answer is a resounding yes. Though not perfect, Hero of Sparta II (HOS2) delivers pure action and colorful graphics on Apple’s noble iPhone and iPod Touch.

HOS2 is an action game spun in the Greek mythological era of the Gods and Goddesses. You play the warrior Argos. I won’t get into his story here, but in this game you are sent on a path of redemption. You return to Earth after spending some buddy time with Hades and immediately the action starts. The controls are different than its predecessor. The main diffidence is that Argos can now jump. This adds a much needed play mechanic to HOS2. In the weapon department, you start off with the basic shield and sword. After every level or so, you start to collect a variety of different and useful weapons including: wings that can be used to glide and attack, a helmet that give Argos the ability hurls fireballs, and my favorite the claws which give you God of War like attacks against your enemies.

The levels are mostly linear, but on occasion you can find a hidden area that has extra gems. You can collect red balls that can be used to increase the attack and magical attack of each weapon. Blue gems to replenish magic and green gems to gain back health. You can also collect additional gems that can be added to your weapon of choice to gain attack/magic bonuses like a +2 to attack, for example.

Pulling off attacks is fun. You have an attack button that when pressed successively, gives you a combo attack on your enemy. However, you can add a modifier to your attack by swiping up, down, left and right. If you use the down motion it will typically cause a “shield break” maneuver with your selected weapon to destroy a shield or some other object. Using the up swipe will launch your enemy in the air for you to unless even more combos.

I am very pleased with the variety of levels in HOS2. You have a lot of different interactive events from running acorss a crumbling bridge to swinging with the claw weapon like a vine to climbing towers. The enemies in HOS2 are not as great. I found that I was constantly fighting the same 3-4 enemies every time with an occasional 5th monster added just for variety. A new enemy feature which is enjoyable is “taking control” of the enemy. For example, the Minator can be controlled by following a series of button presses on screen. You can then control the Minator and attack the baddies. Regretfully, there is not much of a boss battle. There is a boss at the end of every level in HOS2, but you rarely actually attack them. Instead, you typically dodge their attacks or dodge environmental variables. This is somewhat disappointing, but there is plenty of action when fighting during the levels.

The graphics have really be stepped up in this release. There is an insane amount of detail close up with a wide variety of color and textures; make no doubt, HOS2 is very pretty and impressive. However, all of this comes at a controversial cost in this reviewers opinion; framerate. HOS2 moves nicely if you are in a relatively enclosed area with a couple of enemies, but this is rarely the case. You are typically fighting 5 or more bad guys at once in an open area and this is where the framrate begins to suffer. I estimate this game runs at an average of 15-20 frames per second. This can become frustrating when trying to string combos together,etc. I can only hope that Gameloft will update this app soon. Gameloft did an awesome update to GT Motoracing Academy to the pleasure of many fans and I hope that they do the same here.

Overall, HOS2 is a must buy for any action fan. If you are looking for the silky smooth framerate of say, N.O.V.A, look elsewhere. If you want a solid, fun action game that pays homage to God of War, then this is the game for you.

Pros

Cons

Hero of Sparta II- app review is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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With 3.3 million iPad sales last quarter, if that number is lumped in with MacBook and MacBook Pro laptop sales, Apple reportedly slingshots over Asus, Lenovo, Toshiba and Dell to claim the #3 spot in portable computer market share.

Which is okay for headlines and graphs, I guess. As longtime readers know, I’ve repeatedly said market share isn’t anywhere near as important for Apple as profit share. With just 3% of the smartphone market they still make twice the profit Sony, Nokia, and RIM make combined. With single digit PC share they still make umpteen billions on higher end, higher margin Macs.

Sure an iPad can’t do everything a Mac laptop or Windows or Linux laptop or netbook can do, but it can apparently do enough things well enough, and maybe a few things better enough, to be selling a million units a month with no sign of slowing down. It’s not cannibalizing Mac sales to do it either. If it’s cannibalizing netbooks and bargain laptops, already practically loss-leaders for Intel, Microsoft, and the manufacturers, while significantly boosting Apple’s bottom line, then that’s very interesting for the market.

Especially when Microsoft still seems intent on competing with tablets based on Intel chips running Windows 7 — sometime in 2012. My guess is HP/Palm and BlackBerry maker RIM are more likely to try and emulate Apple’s more mobile OS, higher margin strategy.

But back to the headline and graph: 1) should iPad be counted as portable computers alongside laptops and netbooks, and 2) what kind of market does that make where Apple is earning huge margins while everyone else is scraping by on razor-thin, race-to-the-bottom portable PCs?

[Fortune, graphs via Deutsche Bank's Chris Whitmore]

Counting iPad, Apple is 3rd largest portable computer maker is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Steve Jobs says Apple is the largest start-up in the world, and Posterous CEO Sachin Agarwal not only experienced it, but says that’s why things like Apple’s own Remote App for iPhone haven’t been updated for iPad, iPhone 4, or iOS 4:

Yes, the Remote app is due for an update. But here’s why it hasn’t been updated: the person who wrote it is busy working on other things. Yes, the person, not the team. (He’s a good friend of mine)

Apple doesn’t build large teams to work on every product they make. Instead, they hire very few, but very intelligent people who can work on different projects and move around as needed.

Argawal says it isn’t uncommon for members of one team to find themselves moved over to something else entirely when ship dates need to be met. That’s true for iOS, Mac OS, Pro Apps, and every part of Apple, and something he says is in stark contrast to Microsoft:

Maybe that’s the problem at Microsoft: they think they can solve problems by throwing lots of people at them. They put together large teams to build products. And large teams require managers. The last thing we need in software development are more product managers.

[Posterous via 9to5mac]

Why Apple’s Remote App hasn’t been updated for iPad, iPhone 4, or iOS 4 is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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When Apple bought Lala, everyone anticipated that iTunes.com streaming music service was on the horizon, but now CNET hears it might be on hold as Apple works on… streaming video.

But eight months after the acquisition, Apple is telling executives at the four top labels that if Apple offers any cloud-music features within the next few months, they will likely be “modest in scope” and not include the kind of functionality that Apple outlined in meetings with the labels, such as storing users’ music on its servers, sources told CNET. They added that Apple still hasn’t negotiated the kind of licensing deals it would need to distribute music from the cloud.

Delays launching a cloud music service might disappoint some iTunes users, but if Apple is focusing resources on a cloud-video service it could be welcomed by those who have maxed out hard drives with films and TV shows. Sources at the major film studios have said this year that Apple plans to create “digital shelves” that enable iTunes users to store movies and other media on Apple’s servers.

With competition from a Google Music service on the horizon, can Apple afford to take their time rolling out the iTunes Cloud? Are they far enough ahead in media that it doesn’t matter? Could they actually be waiting for Google to negotiate cloud-streaming licenses with Big Media so Apple can simply adopt them as well and add to the existing iTunes service? Time — and perhaps this fall’s annual iPod touch/iTunes event — will tell.

[CNET]

But add to all this that one of the Lala execs is rumored to have already moved on from Apple, and Internet/iTunes lead honcho Eddy Cue reportedly took a long time to even tell the Lala team what Apple wanted to do with them, and it seems like there’s a lack of urgency around One Infinite Loop.

Are you getting impatient for your streams? Does it matter to you if Apple rolls out video from the clouds before music?

iTunes cloud-based music taking a back seat to streaming video? is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog