We finally got an untethered jailbreak for iPhone 4S and iPad 2 yesterday via Greenpois0n Absinthe. Until now the tool was only released for Mac users. It has now been updated with support for Windows users.

If you haven’t already jailbroken your device via redsn0w CLI 0.4.3, I’d recommend using this method. Hit the links below for instructions and a download link.

• Download Greepois0n Absinthe
• How to jailbreak iPhone 4S and iPad 2 on iOS 5.0 & 5.0.1 via Greenpois0n Absinthe
• Jailbreak help and discussion forums

If you’re running Windows, you can now jailbreak your iPhone 4S or iPad 2 on iOS 5.0 or iOS 5.0.1. The Dev Team has issued an update to redsn0w that adds support. This process isn’t as easy as a simple one click tool like Greenpois0n Absinthe but if you absolutely can’t wait any longer to jailbreak, we’ve got you covered.

• How to jailbreak iPhone 4S and iPad 2 on Windows (CLI method)
• Jailbreak help & discussion
• iMore software downloads page

Every week a few of us from team iMore will bring you our current favorite, most fun and useful App Store apps, WebApps, jailbreak apps, even the occasional accessory, web site, or desktop app if the mood strikes us. As long as they're iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch related, they're fair game.

To see what we picked, and to tell us your pick, follow on after the break!

TripAdvisor Hotels Flights Restaurants – @chrisoldroyd

I have just booked our family holiday for the summer and decided to have a nose around the App Store to see if I could find any apps that could recommend places to visit and where to eat. Luckily I stumbled upon an app called TripAdvisor Hotels Flights Restaurants. The app covers all sorts or areas and does cover Pollenca Mallorca where we are heading.

You can look at hotels, restaurants and visitor attractions, read reviews and ratings left by other visitors to the area too. It is very comprehensive, has links to Google Maps for guidance and he ability to leave your own reviews too. The app has been recently updated and is now optimized for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch and is completely free. If you are planning vacation, check it out, it gives you some local knowledge right in your pocket.

• Free – App Store link

Idea Sketch – @Alli_Flowers

If you like graphic organizers, you’ll love Idea Sketch. We love stuff like this in education, from K-12, but mind mapping is a concept that can be used in any profession.

If you’re unfamiliar with the basic premise, you are literally mapping ideas. Drop your idea into a shape – round, square, oblong, diamond, and link it to other ideas. Expand your thoughts until you have filled in all those loose threads.

Idea Sketch allows you unlimited canvas space, so your ideas can’t be constrained. You can pinch and zoom to see whatever you want, and you can change the colors to suit your whim. You can view in a list format as well as the “idea” format, and you can share it all via email or via Box.

This is a must for students and educators, and a great idea for anyone just trying to organize his thoughts.

• Free – App Store link

Sonic 4 Episode 1 – @jorjLim

Ever since I was younger, I have been a huge fan of the Sonic franchise. I owned the 3 main games, Sonic 1, 2 and 3, on original megadrive cartridge (remember them?). When I learnt that Sonic 4 Episode 1 would be coming to iOS, I got really excited. I got so excited that I bought the game for its full £6.99 price at midnight the day it came out.

The one thing I could never achieve on the older games, was collecting all the Chaos Emeralds. Collecting all 7, would unlock Super Sonic, a invincible, faster, yellow version of Sonic.

So when I downloaded Sonic 4 Episode 1, my one goal was to unlock Super Sonic, for the first time, ever. After months of struggling, having to re-do each level to play the special stages over and over again. I finally collected the last Chaos Emeralds.

My 8 year old self would have been so proud of this moment, finally being able to play as Super Sonic that I unlocked myself, and to achieve this on a updated version of the game, made it ever better. I got to have the thrill of nostalgia, side by side with awesome modern 2.5D graphics, on my phone!

If you are a fan of the Sonic franchise, you should check out Sonic 4 Episode 1. Its packed full of homages, references and levels from the original games and really does bring back the franchise with a modern look.

• $3.99 for iPhone – App Store link
• $4.99 for iPad – App Store link

Jelly Defense – @skeetobite

My pick of the week is a new tower defense game called Jelly Defense. This is a fun, light hearted casual game to play. This game takes the traditional tower defense game and doesn’t change the formula too much. It does add a bit of an ongoing story, includes towers that are only effective against enemies of the same color (so blue towers can’t shoot against red enemies), and includes various aspects like needing to “learn” how to make new types of towers. Where it shines, however, is with the mix of background sounds/soundtrack, and the really nice, clean graphics. The stark color contrast (red and blue jelly towers and enemies, a grey background) really give the game some character, which is needed to stand out from all the other tower defense games out there. Best of all, this is a universal binary, so you can play it on any device you have!

• $2.99 – App Store link

Birdhouse – @sethclifford

I sometimes like to revisit apps that I haven’t used in a while by browsing my purchased apps on my iPhone. One that I recently rediscovered is Birdhouse. Now the thing about Birdhouse is that it hasn’t been updated in a long time. Like since the summer of 2010. But it runs fine on iOS 5 and does exactly what it’s supposed to. Which is to act as a notepad for your tweets. You can log in with multiple accounts, save drafts of your potential tweets, publish directly from the app, and back everything up via email. It’s not a Twitter client per se, as there’s no timeline to view, but it’s more of a partner to your favorite Twitter app. And yeah, lots of apps save drafts now, but the nice thing about Birdhouse is that sometimes you have an idea you want to capture quickly and don’t feel like opening up your main app and loading it, and then getting sidetracked and eating up time. It’s a single purpose app for a simpler time.

• $1.99 – App Store link

Delivery Status – @Bla1ze

Keeping track of packages for me is a big issue, not because I get a lot of them but because I live an apartment. For some reason, if I’m not watching my package delivery dates — I tend to miss a lot of packages that are scheduled to be delivered. To help keep my eye on things and ensure I get my deliveries I make use of Delivery Status Touch by JuneCloud. It supports a wide array of services such as Amazon, USPS, UPS and more importantly for me — Canada Post plus it includes Google Map integration. JuneCloud also offers a desktop solution for tracking so your iOS device is always in sync with your desktop and the cloud.

• $4.99 – App Store link

Kinotopic – @phishgirl3

I’m always looking for new ways to make pictures and videos into something more than they are, and this week stumbled on an app called Kinotopic. This simple to use app turns 3-4 second videos into a kino, or cinemagraph. If you haven’t heard of cinemagraph, it’s a photo with a small repeated movement usually confined to one detail in the image.

All you need to do to make your own kino is shoot a quick video or pick one from your library, choose your anchor frame, then highlight the portion of the image you want to show movement. The app processes it and sends your created kino to you via email. You can share on Twitter, Facebook, and Tumblr as well as publish your finished creation to the public stream or mark it as private. All in all it’s a fun app to use, and in my opinion worth the $1.99 price tag.

• $1.99 – App Store link

Big Lens – @reneritchie

Sometimes you just need to fake it to get it done. For all the multiple layers of glass, remarkable aperture, and overall image quality of the otherwise I-can’t-believe-it’s-a-phone camera on the iPhone 4S, it just can’t give you the depth of field — or bokeh if you’re fancy — of a fast 50 on a DSLR. Enter Big Lens, which attempts to do in post what Apple can’t — yet — do in camera. Like most post-process depth of field utilities, it’s a trick and there’s no getting around it. Just look for the tell-tale halo around the non-blurred portions — for example, around a webOS editor and his brief flirtation with a BlackBerry Playbook on a big-ass gold chain at CES 2012. But with automatic and manual modes, aperture, filter, lens, focus, and blur controls, Big Lens fakes it well. If you’re ever in one of those awkward moments where you just have to fake it to get it done, give Big Lens a go. It might just get you to good enough.

• $0.99 – App Store link

iBooks Author – @llofte

iBooks Author is the iBooks creation tool that was announced at Apple’s education event. I’ve done a little playing around with it and am really excited to start seriously using it. I’d be impressed if a simple book was easy to create, but so are books filled with animations and interactive material. I’m a college math instructor and hope to use iBooks Author to write short, supplementary books to offer to my students for free.

• Free – Mac App Store link

The Recipe Box – Jackie Wyan (Reader’s Choice Winner)

The Recipe Box is one of my favorite "hidden gem" finds. I had been looking for an app that I could easily transfer all of my old, greasy, hand-written index card recipes to, that didn't cost me an arm and a leg, require me to 'create an account' online, or force me to show my admiration for an unknown cook and their favorite recipes. The Recipe Box is it. And they have a great app developer, as the thing just keeps on getting better and better. You can easil search through all your entries by all sorts of means – a search field, a 'type' field, an ingredient field, etc. Plus, with the use of Dropbox, I quickly copy and pasted all of my Text file recipes over to the app.

It does come with a couple of recipes to begin with, but not so many that cleaning them out is a task, and a few worth keeping to try out. Plus, as you cook your own recipes, you can easily add photos of the results to the app, resulting in a fully customized experience!

I could continue to gush on about this app, but it is definitely worth your time and the small expense. And if you have other kitchen-savvy friends, the app gives you an easy way to share with them as well!

• $3.99 – App Store link

Tell us your pick, enter to win a $10 iTunes gift certificate!

Those were our picks, iMore Nation, so now it’s your turn! Tell us your pick of the week below. Give us the name of your favorite app, site, or accessory, and tell us why it made your life more productive, more informed, more entertaining, or just plain more fun. We’ll pick one of you and send you a shiny $10 iTunes gift certificate so you can start stocking up for future picks! Contest starts now and ends next Friday, January 13 at 12pm PT.

So what are you waiting for? Jump into the comments and let us know your pick of the week!

Samsung has again launched an attack on iPhone users with its latest advertisement for the Samsung Galaxy S II Android phone. The ad starts with a line of people waiting outside what appears be an Apple Store in Austin TX.

The ad attempts to poke fun at the iPhone 4S as it has the same form factor as the previous iPhone 4 as well as the fact that it doesn't come with any inbuilt satellite navigation capabilities. The tagline is “The next big thing is already here”.

Source: YouTube

“Stylish and artisanal, the Copper River Bag Co. Voyager messenger for iPad is for those who put a premium on rugged good looks and hand-crafted quality.”

The Copper River Bag Co. Voyager for iPad is a messenger-style bag made in the USA from full grained, oiled leather and is truly designed to last a lifetime. The look is something straight out of Joss Whedon’s Firefly, a mix of old world workmanship intended for the latest and greatest in Apple electronics. “Perfect imperfections” is their motto and you can see it reflected in every cut and stitch.

Rugged leather meets polished steel, what more could a Browncoat want?

This is the iPad bag for the person who has everything. Copper River Bag Co.’s Voyager messenger for iPad is one of the most beautiful leather bags I’ve seen, and it’s built as good as it looks. Seriously, it’s water resistant and they offer a 100 year warranty. That’s standing by your products. Heck, that’s standing on them and then dragging them behind a horse in a light drizzle! (Kidding, but you get the point.)

With a 100 year warranty, it's no wonder you can see the attention to detail in every cut and stich

What better place to keep your iPad than something as stylish, and frankly stunning, in such a complementary and almost contradictory way. The buckles and shoulder straps are strong and secure, with big buckles that can be adjusted to suit your height, whether you be on the shorter side like me or Amazonian like Ashley.

Inside the Copper River Voyager there's plenty of room for your iPad, iPhone, laptop, and more.

In addition to the interior iPad pocket, the Voyager has a larger pocket than can fit up to a 15-inch MacBook or similar sized laptop. It also has pockets for 2 pens, 2 cellphones, and an extra pocket for magazines (for when your electronics are banned during takeoff and landing). Copper River also offers a selection of other bags as well as full grain leather wallets for iPhone.

Curious how to quickly access your Accessibility option on your brand new iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad and wondering if your Home button can help out? We all know a single press of the home button will take you back to your apps, and a double-click will launch the Fast App Switcher. But did you know you can set up a triple-click to give you quick access to Accessibility?

1. Go into Settings and then General.



2. Scroll down to Accessibility.



3. Scroll all the way to the bottom again and select Triple-Click Home



4. From here you can set it to toggle a few different options – VoiceOver, White on Black, Zoom, AssistiveTouch, or to ask you each time which of the above you want it to do.

And that’s it! Now your Accessibility options are only even a triple-click away!

Daily Tips range from beginner-level 101 to advanced-level ninjary. If you already know this tip, keep the link handy as a quick way to help a friend. If you have a tip of your own you'd like to suggest, add them to the comments or send them in to dailytips@imore.com.

Slacker Radio is one of the most popular internet radio services available in the US and Canada. It is available for free, but has limitations such as ads and a limited number song skips. Users can subscribe to Slacker Plus Radio or Slacker Premium Radio and receive the following additional features (bolded features are exclusive to Slacker Premium):

• No ads
• Unlimited song skips
• Mobile station caching
• ABC news
• ESPN radio
• Complete song lyrics
• Play songs on demand
• Play albums on demand
• Play single artist stations
• Cache albums and playlists
• Create playlists

Giveaway

The good folks at Slacker, Inc have have given us some subscription codes for Slacker Premium to give away! We’ve got three 1-year subscriptions and two 3-month subscriptions. For a chance to win, just let us know your favorite song in the comments below!

Slacker Radio is available on the iPhone and iPad for free. Slacker Plus is available for $3.99/month and Slacker Premium is $9.99/month.

• App Store link

Have an app you’d love to see featured on iMore? Email us at iosapps@imore.com, tell us about your app (include an iTunes link), and we’ll take a look.

iMore’s developer spotlights are like DVD/iTunes Extras for the App Store — a weekly look behind the scenes at the programers and designers that bring you the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad apps and games you love. This week, Leanna talks with Marc from DataVault Password Manager.

What’s your name? Marc Bolh. That’s me in the photo. Be one of the first 3 to guess the city it’s taken in and we’ll give you a promo code for one of our iOS apps. Guess the monument I’m standing in front of and you’ll be christened the control-click Champion J

What’s your company’s name? Ascendo. People often ask how we got the name. I started with a list of Latin words, looking for attributes of the company I wanted to create. Then made a short list of tweaked forms and sent it to friends for comments. Three people said one of my favorites sounded like a female hygienic product. Go figure. I knew then that user feedback was going to be important.

Where are you located? The company was incorporated in San Diego, California, it’s spiritual home. I have since moved live in Burlington, Vermont, a great place but fewer palm trees. On the bright side, there are less distractions from making great software. Oleg and Yurii, who develop DataVault and Ascendo Money, live in Kharkov, Ukraine, another great place to develop software. Andrey, who develops our multilingual dictionaries lives in Novosibirsk, Russia (head for Mongolia then hook a left). Alli, who manages customer success is from Mobile, Alabama.

What’s your website address? http://ascendo-inc.com

If you can convince the guy who owns ascendo.com to sell it to us for a reasonable price you’ll have our eternal gratitude!

What’s your Twitter name? @Ascendo. Sorry, not a big Tweeter on a personal level. I prefer to hunt for information than to drown in it.

At Ascendo, we use Twitter mostly for alerts on new releases alerts, we always appreciate feedback by email.

What apps do you make? DataVault Password Manager (iOS, Mac, Windows, Android, BlackBerry). A great place to keep your Android Forums login!

Ascendo Multilingual Dictionaries – English to Spanish, French, Italian & German (iOS, Android, Mac, BlackBerry). Jersey Shore favorite, see our Facebook page.

Ascendo Money Personal Finance Manager (BlackBerry). For everyone from people who work on Wall Street to those who occupy it.

What apps, other than your own, are currently among your favorites? Dropbox, Track and Share, Pandora, TuneIn Radio, CalenGoo

How long have you been a developer? I started Ascendo in 2002 but the road to apps was a winding one. We started focusing 100% on apps in 2007.

I do everything but program at Ascendo, most of my time is spent in design and testing.

Oleg, Yurii and Andrey are the coding geniuses who make the magic.

How long have you been an iOS developer?

I got a degree in computer science and worked as a developer for a few years. Then I worked in sales for Oracle, Microsoft and Openwave before starting Ascendo in 2002.

Oleg, Andrey and Yurii are the coding geniuses who develop our apps. Alli is the hero who makes sure our customers are successful. My job is to make sure they have what they need to deliver great software and support.

Do you develop for any other platform in addition to iOS? If so, which one(s)? Android, BlackBerry, Mac, Windows

What primary computer setup do you use for your iOS development? MacBook Pro, 27-inch display, solid-state drive, all the fixins.

What iOS device(s) do you personally use most often? My iPhone of course, iPad when I can get it away from the kids.

What mobile devices, other than iOS, do you currently use? I like zoning out in the car and letting my Tom Tom do the work. My GTI Fahrenheit with Ascendo plates, highly mobile device. I’ve got a Samsung 2S and Sony Ericsson Arc on loan, very nice screens.

What’s your favorite thing about developing for iOS? The crisp retina screen and smooth screen transitions make the device a pleasure to develop for. The passionate user are a great source of motivation. The fact that we can focus on the app and not portability is a big plus.

What’s your least favorite thing about developing for iOS? Provisioning profiles and security certificates. About as much fun as figuring out your taxes.

What feature would you most like Apple to add to the iOS 5 SDK? Better API for mobile Safari so we could auto-fill forms without multitasking or developing a separate browser.

What feature would you most like Apple to add to the App Store? Paid Updates! This is critical to developers, users and the App Store itself. Everybody likes free stuff but developers need the means to invest in new features and support, much of which is caused by OS upgrades and other factors out of their control. Without paid updates, developers are faced with moving to new products or getting overwhelmed by their own user base, that’s not good for anybody.

Like many developers we are frustrated that Apple and Google have moved slowly on this. The first one to offer paid updates will benefit from a huge shift in the allocation of development resources.

If we were to eavesdrop on you while you were coding, what curse word would we hear you use the most? Putain de merde! Ok, I lived in France for 12 years.

What do you do when you’re not coding iOS apps?

Play guitar, try to close down nuclear plants, and occasional attempts at stand-up comedy.

• Link: close down nuclear plants
• Link: stand-up comedy

What should we look for from you next? (Tease away!) iCloud Sync for DataVault. Ascendo offers more sync options than any other password manager and we working to get iCloud sync out the door as soon as possible. Cloud sync is a great enabler for security products. It allows users to access their data on multiple devices without having to store their private information on a single, hosted server, aka hacker-magnet.

On the dictionary side, we'll be building out enhancements to allow users create content like phrases and usage examples and share them with others.

Thanks Marc!

I generally don't accessorize my iPhone or iPad too much – I usually find one option that works, and stick with it for the long haul (or at least until I upgrade the device). What I get usually focuses on the essentials – protections, storage, charging, etc. So here is the list of accessories from 2011.

Apple USB Power Adapter with Sync Cable

One of the most important accessories that I have is a device charger. I don't like having to plug/unplug everything all the time, so I have a charger set-up at home, one for my daughter's iPod, one in my suitcase – basically to charge wherever I may find myself. While there are lots of options, I have gone for the basic Apple USB Power Adapter with Sync Cable. It is small, lightweight, and the inclusion of the sync cable allows me to plug the iPad or iPhone into the computer if needed.

• $14.95 – iMore Store

XtremeMac Dual Charging Base

As my families iDevice inventory grows , I didn't want to simply keep adding more Apple USB Chargers, so I bought a Dual Charging Base for both mine and my wife's iPhone. Now, when we are home, we can just dock our iPhone in the base and let it charge (leaving the Apple USB plug free for one of our iPads or my daughter's iPod). It is easy to use, unobtrusive, and even allows for one of the iPhones to be synced to the computer. Since we now use our iPhones to connect to a Bluetooth Phone system (just started in 2012) it also means that our iPhones don't run out of charge while at home and in used for regular phone calls.

• $24.09 – Amazon link

SwitchEasy Trim

I spent a fair length of time looking for the right case for my iPhone 4S. This was my first white iPhone, and I wanted to "show it off" to people, so I didn't want a case that covered it up. I wanted some protection, but I also don't like large, bulky cases, so I eventually settled on the iPhone Trim case from SwithEasy. SwitchEasy makes a lot of different case styles, many unique and eye catching (I used to have a Capsule Rebel for my iPhone 3GS). With the Trim, I have a nice translucent backing, and easy to grip border, and a nice design that accentuates the iPhone. One of the great features with the SwitchEasy cases is that they come with little "add-ons". The SwitchEasy Trim included two dock adapters, little "plugs" to put in th ports to prevent dust buildup, two screen protectors, and a video stand. Most of the SwitchEasy cases come with similar add-ons.

• $19.99 – Amazon link

iHome iP9 Dual Alarm Clock Radio

I first saw something similar to this in a hotel room, and I almost immediately ordered one of these for myself. This iPod dock allows you to use your iPhone (or iPod) for your wake-up alarms in the morning. It has a dual alarm system, and is quite customizable (including options like a weekend or weekday only alarm). When you also use the free iHome app that is associated with it, you can adjust a wide range of features – including wake up volume, snooze time, and even go beyond having two alarms. It's great to be able to choose songs to be woken up to, rather than having random radio music (or worse, the alarm buzzer!). Plus, it lets you charge your iPhone overnight, so you wake up with a nice, fully charge battery (and the dock adapter from my SwitchEasy case fits right in!)

• $84.95 – Amazon link

CTCstore Black Wave Premium Crystal TPU iPad Case

For my iPad, I tried a variety of cases before I ended up settling on this TPU skin case. I looked at various folio style cases, but ultimately I was looking for something that would provide some scratch protection, but mostly not add too much bulk. The TPU silicon case is perfect for holding the iPad (it provides a somewhat rubberized grip), but it doesn't add any bulk or heft, making it just as easy to carry the iPad as if it were case-less. Since my iPad travels a lot and gets used in the field, this is an ideal case for me. Plus, they are relatively cheap and will last for some time (mine is going on two years).

• $5.20 – Amazon link

iGobee Foldable Kickstand

With the iPad, I wanted a versatile stand to use, but since I got the iPad for portability, I also wanted one that would be easy to transport. I initially had purchased an Apple iPad charging dock, but I found I wanted more versatility, and the ability to view the iPad in landscape mode. The iGobee Foldable Kickstand meets all these requirements. You can select a wide variety of screen angles, and with the fold-out stands, you can just rest the iPad in either portrait or landscape mode (unlike the Apple charging stand). Combined with the Apple Bluetooth keyboard, you can basically use it as a monitor stand for a laptop computer. Plus, since you are just resting the iPad in place, it can also be used with other devices (iPad 2, Macbooks, or any future tablets). It collapses into a small, easily portable single unit that I can just toss in a carry-on bag or suitcase.

• $15.89 – Amazon link