Apple has updated the Airport Utility for Mac OS X Lion to version 6.0, and once again went back to the Mac by making it look just like the iPhone and iPad version released earlier this year. Used to manage everything from the Airport Express and Airport Extreme Wi-Fi base station routers, to the Time Capsule router + hard drive Time Machine backup companion, here’s what Apple has to say about Airport Utility 6.0 for OS X Lion.

Use AirPort Utility to set up and manage your Wi-Fi network and AirPort base stations, including AirPort Express, AirPort Extreme, and Time Capsule. See a graphical overview of your Wi-Fi network and devices. Change base station and network settings, or manage advanced features such as security modes, wireless channels, and more.

iOS for iPad and iPhone has taken huge strides in making all kinds of computing tasks easier and more accessible to mainstream users, and the Airport app for iPhone and iPad is no exception. OS X Lion, however, hasn’t always successfully transitioned that accessibility to the older Mac platform, with some re-interpretations working magnificently and others feeling like they need a few more revisions worth of polish (or even a solid Snow Leopard-ing)

The Airport Utility for OS X Lion, however, looks solid and should make something as potentially intimidating as managing and Airport Extreme or Time Capsule

Source: Apple.com via MacStories

MacPhun, the makers of FX Photo Studio, are working on a selective-coloring photography for iPhone called Color Splash Studio. Unlike similar apps already available in the App Store, FX Photo Studio comes with a slew of tools that allows you to further customize your photos including contrast, brightness, saturation, and hue. You can focus these edits to just the background or just the colored portion of your photo. You can also apply various filters (like sepia) to your background, making it more interesting than the traditional black and white backgrounds.

FX Photo Studio is already available in the Mac App Store [$2.99 - Mac App Store link] and will be available on the iPhone in mid-February.

We got a sneak peak of Color Splash Studio for iPhone while at Macworld 2012.

Sprint has released an iPhone app for their customers called Sprint Mobile Zone. With this app, users can access their Sprint accounts, check out promotions, and read Sprint news. Non-account holders may also use the app to check your power consumption and running resources and find Apple and Sprint stores.

Sprint Zone offers Sprint customers immediate access to their account online, Sprint News and promotions and in addition, it offers the following for both Sprint and non-Sprint customers:

• Simple device management (power controls, resources etc.)
• Apple and Sprint store Locator*
• Help functions, including access to a care representative

Sprint Mobile Zone is available on the iPhone for free.

• Free for iPhone – 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.

Voice Calendar: Create calendar items on your iPhone with your voice.

• $0.99 for iPhone – App Store link

flickr hd: Displays a new photo from your public flickr photostream, your flickr.com favourites, or a custom flickr search every minute. Currently on sale!

• $0.99 for iPhone and iPad – App Store link

Girlfriend 411: Store all the information you will ever need to know about your girlfriend in a time of need. Thinking about sending her flowers, but can't remember her address? Forgot what her favorite type of flowers are? These are the types of issues that a lot of men run into quite often.

• $0.99 for iPhone and iPad – App Store link

TextVite: The hottest new way to invite your guests and friends to anything! Choose a background, plug in your details, add a few cool design elements, and in seconds your TextVitation is buzzing on all your guests’ phones.

• Free for iPhone – App Store link

World Tree With Dragons: The first tree world simulation type game. You can build a fantastic world where you control almost everything! By combining 3 types of branches and 12 different patterns of leafs (more to come in future updates), you can grow your tree totally unique from any other one in this world! It's the best game to show your creativity and art sense.

• Free for iPhone – App Store link

Any other big app or game releases or updates today?

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.

Want to jailbreak and unlock but need to know how to tell what bootrom your iPhone 3GS is running? There are two numbers in your settings that will be a dead giveaway as to what bootrom your phone has. You’ll need to know how to determine your bootrom in certain situations if you want to achieve a software unlock.

1. Open up Settings

2. Tap on General

3. Go to About
4. If you scroll down a bit you’ll see your serial number and your model number.

You can use one of these two numbers to determine if you have an older or newer bootrom.

Model number method

The easiest of the two is the model number. If your model number begins with MC, you have a newer bootrom. As you can see above, my serial starts with an MB. I have an older bootrom.

Serial number method

Another way you can check is by looking at the 4th and 5th digits of your serial number. If it is lower than around week 35, your bootrom is older. I’d say the model number method is the most efficient but you can use both to determine your bootrom version.

If you have other jailbreak questions or run into issues, check out our jailbreak and unlock forums as well!

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@tipb.com. (If it's especially awesome and previously unknown to us, we'll even give ya a reward…)

Apple has put an online lottery reservation system in place for iPhone 4S pre-orders in order to prevent Hong Kong scalpers from reserving iPhones. This comes after initial sales were cancelled due to riots and crowds.

The new reservation system no longer allows someone to reserve an iPhone without inputting full credentials that match a government issued ID. This is meant to keep out scalpers who use bots to snag up phones in the reservation system.

Due to high demand, we are accepting a limited number of iPhone reservations per day. To request an iPhone reservation, please choose your store and the iPhone you want. If we have an iPhone reservation for you, you'll receive a confirmation email by 9:00 p.m. tonight that includes the time when you can pick up your iPhone tomorrow. A government-issued photo ID matching the name and ID number on your reservation is required for iPhone purchases. If you don't receive an email, we were unable to reserve an iPhone for you, and you can try again another time. Only those who receive an email confirming their reservation will be able to purchase an iPhone; we will not be selling iPhone 4 or iPhone 4S to walk-in customers.

Apple has also stated it will not sell the iPhone 4 or iPhone 4S on a walk-in basis.

I know launches around the Chicago area get crazy at times but I can’t ever imagine Apple needing to implement a system like this state-side. You can read the full message from Apple below.

Source: 9to5Mac

Wisconsin plans to use settlement funds from Microsoft to buy 1,400 iPads for educational use. The almost $80 million in settlement funds came a result of claims that Microsoft was overcharging consumers for software.

The iPads are being paid for with $3.4 million from the funds. With Apple’s educational discounts, the schools should be able to purchase each iPad for around $479 each. They plan on initially purchasing 600 this Spring with plans to purchase an additional 800 in the Fall.

The settlement averaged out to around $85.09 per child. Not all schools chose to spend their share of the money on iPads. Some chose to spend the money on other media including smartboards, laptops, and other technology equipment.

State superintendent Tony Evers is scheduled to release a statewide digital learning plan next week. The district’s director of technical services, Bill Smojver, thinks the iPads are going to be a significant transition for education.

“This is the most significant transition point for having digital learning at the optimal level,”

Apple’s recent education announcement was met with enthusiasm by Smojver, who thinks it’s a significant development. He still believes the schools will proceed cautiously when it comes to replacing traditional media with electronic versions.

There are currently around 50 school districts in Wisconsin currently implementing iPads according to Minnestota-based technology consultant, Naomi Harm. While some schools are going to experiment with students actually having access to the iPads, some are going to allow teachers access to implement them in planning and record-keeping.

iBooks Author has given authors an easy way to put together digital textbooks. iBooks 2 gives those authors a huge marketplace for distribution. Leanna has already stated that she believes this is only the beginning for iPads in education.

Source: Wisconsin State Journal via AppleInsider

For today only, the iMore Store has the Case-Mate Barely There Case for iPhone 4S, iPhone 4 on sale for only $12.95! Get them before they’re gone!

Get the Case-Mate Barely There Case for iPhone 4S, iPhone 4 now!

The Barely There is Case-Mate’s new line of sporty cases for the iPhone 4S, AT&T iPhone 4, or Verizon iPhone 4. These cases are designed to help protect the design of the iPhone 4S, AT&T iPhone 4, or Verizon iPhone 4 while allowing more of it to show.

Features:

• Extremely slim profile
• Impact resistant flexible plastic shell
• Covers the back and corners of the iPhone 4S, AT&T iPhone 4, or Verizon iPhone 4
• Not compatible with Clear Armor

If there’s one thing iMore loves even more than iPhones and iPads, it’s giving cool iPhone and iPad accessories and apps to our awesome readers. This week we have…

What would you do with $97 billion in the Apple bank?

• Amy Ruell

Review + giveaway: Choiix Wake Up Folio for iPad 2

• Joe

Review + giveaway: Spiderarm articulated stand for iPad

• David Ferrandino

3 Deluxe licenses for iPad/iPad 2 video tutorials by Made Simple Learning

• enlightened
• Melissa Scott
• smmiami

Giveaway: Inside Apple: New book aims to expose old secrets

• Colin Pye
• James Madara
• Littlefish

Inside Otterbox: How iPhone and iPad cases are designed, tested, and made awesome

Gunmetal Grey / Envy Green Defender Series

• Jeeves

• Lauren Morrison

• Andrew C.

• Brunno Câmara

Giveaway: Apple Store Headphone Stand Replica

• anthonyrt
• Austin C
• Kelvin
• Marton Toth
• Wynncy Manalad

App Giveaway: SOULCALIBUR for iPhone and iPad

• Aaron Wee
• Hamlet Henriquez
• Laszlo
• Nelson
• OxMuzzle

Review: Mujjo capacitive touchscreen gloves for iPhone and iPad

• Alison Lurie
• Ame
• BeyondtheTech
• Crystal Metzler
• Dryphter
• Freiteez
• Jerry Clark
• ricnmar
• TosaDeac
• WatersWest

More chances to win

Didn’t win anything this time? Never win anything? We know how you feel! Luckily, we have tons more chances for you to win, so hurry up and enter everything!

• Reminder: Follow iMore to win a Jawbone JAMBOX and $200 in iTunes gifts

There’s an interesting debate taking place about the merits and virtues of modern electronic books like Apple’s iBooks or Amazon’s Kindle books and their traditional counterparts — old fashioned paper bound and proper.

They’re qualitatively different, inarguably. The feel of board and cloth and leather is warm and textured compared to the crisp coolness of glass, aluminum, and plastic. The gentle sound of pages flipping is vastly different than a tap or swipe or click. The sharp smell of a fresh new novel or musky scent of an old tome exists in a different dimension from the relative sterility of chips and displays.

Yet the weight, permanence, and nostalgia of traditional books can be a disadvantage when it comes to carrying them, correcting them, and moving the state of the art of knowledge forward once again.

Ben Brooks laments this, almost romantically.

I can tell you from first hand experience that the reading experience is very different on each of the different mediums and that's why the distinction matters to me. I don't care which version you bought because it changes what you read, but I do care because it may not be the same as the book I read (sometimes in the minor content differences, but always in experience and layout).

Marco Arment does not, functionally.

When I start reading, the form of the book quickly disappears. Just as I don't notice the individual letters in each word, I stop noticing the layout, the font, the paper, the binding, and every other physical artifact because I'm focused on the writing.

Dieter Bohn thinks we’re getting ahead of ourselves.

With ebooks, we’re still looking at the equivalent of the day after Gutenberg printed his first Bible. We need to decide which paper book “specs” are important and ensure that they get recreated in our new digital world. We also need to ensure that these digital equivalents are at least as free and unfettered as paper books are now. We’ve already surpassed paper technology in a number of areas. However we are not giving nearly enough attention to the very things that made paper books flourish in the first place. The most important specs are the ones you take for granted.

Here’s the thing — once upon a time we passed down our stories between generations. Then we carved them into stone, brushed them on papyrus, illuminated them on scrolls, and eventually pressed them into print. We lost the voices of our parents, the lines of our hand, the power of our art, the uniqueness of our craft. But we gained volume and the democratization of information. Beauty gave way to volume.

Each transition has been painful. Each transition has been decried and denounced. Yet, inexorably, the new has overtaken the old. Even if it’s never fully supplanted it. We still tell stories. We still practice calligraphy. We still work at leading and kerning. iBooks and eBooks won’t wipe out traditional books any more than non-traditional books wiped out message mediums older than they. Those mediums will shrink, perhaps, and become the providence of craftsman and collectors, enthusiasts and artists, and the very same folk who still enjoy wooden toys, vinyl albums, and pre-iPhone phones.

Meanwhile, iBooks, Kindle books, and other forms of digital books will continue to crawl out of the primordial ooze and make more content more available to more people (and children) than ever before. And perhaps they’ll recapture some of the magic of mediums past, the way Audible has voice and InDesign has done digital press.

iBooks, Kindle books, and their ilk are not perfect, not yet and maybe never, but they’re the future. Until the next transition.

iCookbook is an iPhone and iPad app that will help you plan, prepare, and cook your meals. One of its unique features is the support for voice commands. While cooking, it is not uncommon to have your hands covered in matter that you do not want transferred to you iPad’s screen, so instead of using you hands to navigate around the app, you can use your voice. It also includes features that you would expect to find in any good cooking app such as detailed, customizable recipes, shopping lists, social sharing, and the ability to add your own recipes.

We interviewed the folks at Publications International and took a closer look at Macworld 2012

• $4.99 for iPhone and iPad – App Store link

• Voice Commands. Completely unique to iCookbook is hands free voice command. Cooks can proceed through the preparation steps without touching the iPad or iPhone screen. Just speak the simple commands to move to the next step, manage timers, view notes [iPad only], and more.
• Prepare Mode: Unique to iCookbook, the Prepare feature provides an enhanced display of a recipe a cook can read at a distance from the iPad and iPhone.
• Stir it Up! Feeling adventurous? Press Stir and iCookbook offers a selection of randomly chosen recipes based on a particular search or filter criteria [Shake to stir on iPhone].
• My Recipe Box. Enables a cook to create a set of iCookbook favorite recipes for easy retrieval, and add recipes from a personal recipe collection.
• Network with Friends and Family. Share on Facebook, or email any recipe to all your friends to let them know what you are cooking.
• Printing. Now print recipes to any AirPrint™ compatible printer.
• Personalize the Recipes. Everyone likes to put their own personal touch to a recipe. Our Notes feature allows you to record your ideas and comments about iCookbook recipes.
• Kitchen Tools. Multiple timers, substitution lists, and measurement conversion charts.
• Shopping List. Tag ingredients directly from a recipe to your shopping list, then print or email your list.
• Add your own recipe – You can easily add your own recipes so you never lose your Grandma's favorite chocolate cookies or your world-famous pasta sauce. Once the recipe is added, you can also easily add your own photos, search for your recipe or even share your personal favorite through E-mail.

iCookbook is available on the iPhone and iPad for $4.99.

• 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.

While our editors Rene and Leanna hit the road to check out what MacWorld 2012 had in store for us, tons of other news was flowing through the iMore Nation this week. Odds are you missed something that took place this week, and no one wants to be left out, so check below for some of what took place, and keep it tuned in for even more news.

iPhone news

• Sony's new 13MP CMOS image sensor could lead to thinner iPhones with better cameras
• Foxconn leak claims Apple is readying iPhone 5 production for summer launch
• iPhone 5 counter claims: not going into production yet, not going to be longer or wider
• iPhone makes up 80% of AT&T smartphone sales after selling 7.6 million in Q4

iPad news

• Apple's iPad not affected by Amazon's Kindle Fire
• iPad production in Brazil gets tax breaks
• Penultimate talks iPad stylus

App news

• Siri's got competition, her name is Evi
• Turn business cards into contacts with WorldCard for iPhone and iPad
• Twittelator Neue now offers push notifications
• Hands on with Bag It! for iPhone and iPad

Jailbreak news

• How to troubleshoot common jailbreak issues on iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch
• Add effects and transitions to your app icons with Motion [jailbreak]
• LockInfo vs IntelliscreenX for iOS 5 jailbreak — which should you get?
• Tweet from anywhere on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch with TwitkaFly [jailbreak apps]
• Best jailbreak apps for new iPhone users
• How to take a screen recording on your iPhone or iPad [Jailbreak app for that]

Accessory news

• Ten One Design announces Pogo Sketch Plus capacitive stylus for iPhone and iPad
• Review + giveaway: iCooly PhoneStand for iPhone
• Case-Mate Pop! Case with Stand for iPhone 4S, iPhone 4 review
• iFixit iPhone transparent rear panel mod kit review
• iFixit Thirsty Bag for iPhone, iPad review

Garmin now owns Navigon and while you think twice as many turn-by-turn navigation apps from one company would be doubly confusing, they’re doing a good job at differentiating their products, but what’s more — Garmin themselves are going way beyond turn-by-turn apps and harnessing location-based GPS services including apps for pilots, and for fitness.

Garmin Fit uses location to measure and track you walking, running, or cycling activity, and lets you easily refer back to them or even share them via Garmin’s Connect service. It also ties into your music, trying to match a soundtrack to your activity level. Garmin Fit measures: current speed, distance traveled, your route, and your calories burned.

You can also get an optional dongle that uses ultra low-power Garmin Ant+ to wirelessly send data from your iPhone and Garmin Fit to external sensors including heart rate monitors, foot measures, and cycling meters.

Garmin On-Demand takes the traditional turn-by-turn navigation app and lowers almost every barrier of entry imaginable. It’s not expensive — you subscribe to what you need, when you need it, in small chunks for small periods, not massive bills forever. That also speeds up downloads and updates, since only the areas you’re traveling need to be transferred to your iPhone. Not driving? Not a problem — Garmin On-Demand has walkers covered too.

Both apps, as well as Garmin’s full suite of apps — which includes Navigon — are available now on the iTunes app store.

• $0.99 – Garmin Fit for iPhone – App Store link
• $0.99 – Garmin On-Demand for iPhone – App Store link