Xappr is a gun accessory for your iPhone that’ll instantly appeal to everyone from fans of the original Duck Hunt on Ninteno to the latest Halo or Call of Duty FPS shooters. Imagine, holding a weapon that looks like something out of a James Cameron sci-fi blockbuster, your iPhone safely mounted on top, your favorite shooting game loaded and ready, the grip tight on your hand, the trigger itching under your finger, your multi-player enemy right in your cross-hairs. How fun does that sound?

The Xappr and Micro-Xappr guns are currently on preorder, but will be available in the EU, Isreal, U.S., and Canada this June. Apps will be required to support it and while there’s only a handful right now, more should be coming soon. A lot more I hope, especially the Modern Combat, N.O.V.A. and other premiere App Store games.

Pre-order price is $30. I’m getting one. Are you?

Source: XAPPRGun

MetalCompass will reveal smartphone guns at the Nuremberg Toy Fair

MetalCompass will reveal for the first time two models of gaming accessories for smartphones – The Xappr and the Micro-Xappr guns. The models will be revealed in the international toy fair that will take place in Nuremberg, Germany between February 1st and February 6st.

Both the Xappr and the Micro-Xappr allows players to play a variety of augmented reality and shooting games. “The Xappr guns has already more than 10 amazing augmented reality games that will allow the player to intercept alien spaceships, find and eliminate ghosts, fight evil flying robots, hunt a horde of blood thirsty zombies and the most important – engage in battle with other players” says Oren Shtark, MetalCompass’ CDO.

MetalCompass will release this spring the first real world multiplayer first person shooter for smartphones – ATK. ATK will allow players to simulate combat scenarios with different types of weapons – guns, rifles, grenade launchers and powerful pulse weapons. ATK will support three battle modes: Death-match, Last Man Standing and Teams Mode.

The Xappr guns will be available this spring but players from the US, Canada or the EU you can pre-order the Xappr gun now, get a discount and be the first among their friends to get the Xappr gun this spring.

We’ve blown through a ton of content this week so if you happened to miss out on anything, make sure you jump back a page or six and get yourself caught up. If you’re looking to talk more, head on into the iMore forums and hang out! You can register now to get started today and while you’re at it, check out some of the threads below:

• iPhone 4S delay when answering calls?
• Anywhere to get good iPhone 4 replacement parts?
• What web browser do you use?
• Why aren’t Game Center games synced between devices?
• Jailbreak terms A-Z
• February fitness month has begun, anyone want to win an iPad 3?

If you’re not already a member of the iMore Forums, register now!

Apple may have begun testing what appears to be ZFS (Zettabyte File System) support in the latest iOS 5.1 beta. If the information received by iMore is accurate. references to ZFS, including the mounting tools, are contained deep inside the system files. This raises a lot of questions about where Apple may be taking iOS storage in the future.

If you’re not familiar with ZFS, here’s Wikipedia‘s introduction:

ZFS is a combined file system and logical volume manager designed by Sun Microsystems. The features of ZFS include data integrity verification against data corruption modes, support for high storage capacities, integration of the concepts of filesystem and volume management, snapshots and copy-on-write clones, continuous integrity checking and automatic repair, RAID-Z and native NFSv4 ACLs. ZFS is implemented as open-source software, licensed under the Common Development and Distribution License (CDDL).

In other words, it’s highly scalable and highly resilient, something you want in cloud environments. ZFS support was included in some earlier versions of Mac OS X, but was not included in the final, shipping version. Rumor has it Apple wasn’t pleased when Sun spoke openly about Apple’s adoption of their technology, leading Apple to pull the plug. Whether that’s accurate or whether Apple simply determined it was going to go another way with OS X storage is unknown.

Even without official Apple support, we’ve seen OS X ZFS ports crop up since then. What sets this iOS implementation apart from some of the very original, official, OS X ports of ZFS is that it already contains the ZFS utilities (zpool, zdump, etc). By having the utilities already installed it means that the port is in a more complete stage of development and has full read + write access (unlike the original OS X ports).

So here’s the question again, if this information is accurate, why is Apple looking to include ZFS in iOS? Could it be part of a greater plan to integrate better cloud services into future versions of the iPhone and iPad?

More: Wikipedia

Apple has updated iBooks Author to version 1.0.1 and it looks like the major change is new language in the EULA (End User Licensing Agreement) that clarifies exactly who owns the books you create, and where they can and can’t be sold, and in what format.

Shortly after Apple released iBooks Author for Mac, word started to circulate that content made within the app could only be sold in Apple's iBookstore. It seemed like content could be given away for free, but not sold anywhere else. Here’s the new language:

If you want to charge a fee for a work that includes files in the .ibooks format generated using iBooks Author, you may only sell or distribute such work through Apple, and such distribution will be subject to a separate agreement with Apple. This restriction does not apply to the content of such works when distributed in a form that does not include files in the .ibooks format.

An additional clarification derived from section 2B reads as follows:

[I]f the work is provided for a fee (including as part of any subscription-based product or service) and includes files in the .ibooks format generated using iBooks Author, the work may only be distributed through Apple, and such distribution will be subject to a separate written agreement with Apple (or an Apple affiliate or subsidiary); provided, however, that this restriction will not apply to the content of the work when distributed in a form that does not include files in the .ibooks format generated using iBooks Author. You retain all your rights in the content of your works, and you may distribute such content by any means when it does not include files in the .ibooks format generated by iBooks Author.

So, there you have it. If you create an iBook in .ibook format, you’re only allowed to sell it on the iBookstore. If you create an eBook in ePub format, you can do what you want with it.

iBooks Author 1.0.1 is a free download on the Mac App Store.

• Free – Mac App Store link

We have only 6 days left to help keep the jailbreaking exemption to the U.S. DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) alive and well, and we need everyone’s help to do it. The jailbreaking exemption was granted by the Library of Congress in 2010 but not codified into the law, meaning it’s set to expire now, unless the copyright office extends it.

If the jailbreak exemption is not extended, then modifying your iPhone or iPad could be considered a violation of the DMCA, and companies could theoretically sue or press charges against jailbreakers. We think the right to modify our phones for personal use, provided we take personal responsibility for the risks involved, is an important one and deserves protection. The EFF (Electronic Frontier Fund) thinks the same, which is why they’re fighting to get the exemption renewed, and are also pushing for tablets and game consoles in general to be included as well. iFixit.org recently spoke to the EFF about where things stand now:

iFixit: Has the Copyright Office made any comments on jailbreaking since the 2010 smartphone exemption? How likely do you think it is that they'll renew that exemption? Why have exemptions for smartphones but not game consoles and tablets?

EFF: The CO hasn't made any public comments that we are aware of. We are very hopeful that the smartphone exemption will be renewed, and we think extending it to game consoles and tablets is the logical next step.

bunnie: My understanding is that the CO is fairly conservative about granting such exemptions, so tightly scoping the exemption request increases the chances that the result has real impact. A broad request to exempt large swathes of technology from the DMCA would likely be denied; and such a denial would waste the infrequent window of opportunity to have such requests examined. Therefore, an incremental approach is being taken, allowing the CO to try small changes and become comfortable with them. Note that the request to the CO splits smartphone/tablets and game consoles into separate categories, so that the CO can have the flexibility to reject or accept individual categories.

The interview goes on to discuss the impact the DMCA has had on modifying gaming consoles and the rest of the jailbreak and homebrew communities. Sony, for example, infamously sued well-known iPhone jailbreaker George Hotz, aka Geohot when he jailbroke the Sony Playstation 3.

You can hit the link below to read the whole interview. We also urge you to sign bunnie’s petition and leave your own comments if you’d like to see the exception renewed. He plans to take all the signatures and comments to the Copyright office on February 10th at 5pm.

Remember, there are only 6 days left. Whether you jailbreak or not, if the legal right to jailbreak your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad is important to you, act now.

Source: ifixit.org; Petition: jailbreakingisnotacrime.org

The developers of the widely-used Crytek graphics engine are trying their hand at something very new – a social network with cross-platform cloud gaming integration. The idea with GFACE is that you would not only use the desktop browser to arrange and launch matches with friends (much like Battlefield 3′s Battlelog), but the games themselves would also be rendered directly within the browser, with the bulk of the game rendering done remotely. With some OnLive-esque mobile apps, players will be able to play the same game across PC, smartphone and tablet, albeit with slightly different roles tailored to each experience. Although the screenshots here show some pretty intense games, GFACE will also be supporting casual 2D and 3D games.

GFACE  is going to be a lot more than just a gaming platform, though. First and foremost, it will be a social network like any other, complete with Google Plus-style grouping, update stream and media sharing akin to Facebook. They’re hoping to share the movie-watching experience too, much like the recently-canned Netflix party mode on the Xbox 360. Given that most of GFACE’s social features already exist in some form on other more popular networks, I suspect this browser-based cross-platform cloud gaming deal will be the big selling point for GFACE; that said, I would almost prefer it it if they cut out all of the other stuff and just stuck to games.

I haven’t had a chance to give OnLive an honest shot yet, but there are definitely a bunch of PC and Xbox games that I could see translating well to the tablet. If GFACE can offer tailored snippets of gameplay to different mobile platforms, I could see a wider variety of games becoming viable for mobile. Right now, it feels like too many devs are simply trying to drag and drop the console experience onto phones and tablets, and it’s kind of an unnatural transition.

In any case, if you want to sign up for the GFACE closed beta, head on over here. For now, they don’t have game support, but I’m sure it’s on the way.

Complete dictionary of iPhone and iPad jailbreak terminology from Absinthe to Zephyr

New to jailbreak and running across a bunch of strange looking terms and not exactly sure what they mean? Jailbreak is a unique culture among iPhone, iPod touch and iPad users that combines a lot of technical terms, like Unix commands and utilities, on one hand, and modern hacker jargon like pwn and pwnage on the other. And because jailbreak lets you add a whole new world of functionality to your iPhone, iPod touch also means you’ll be adding a bunch of new words to go along with it.

Enter this complete guide to jailbreak terms. It’s a glossary, or dictionary if your prefer, of all the most common words you’re likely to hear when looking to jailbreak your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad, or once you’ve jailboken and are looking for hacks, apps, themes, utilities, tweaks, and all the other goodies that come with it. We’ve already posted our general iPad and iPhone glossary, as well as our SMS/iMessage slang glossary, and social networking slang glossary. This one is just for jailbreakers.

So, whether you’re brand new to jailbreak or a veteran who’s been jailbreaking and unlocking since the very first iPhone back in 2007, the scene moves so quickly, new code is pushed out so continuously, that’s there always something new to learn or pick up. And, frankly, keeping up with it can sometimes be overwhelming. That’s why we’re putting the bulk of the jailbreak glossary, namely the entries themselves, on the Jailbreak Forum. That’s what makes them a living, breathing document that everyone can help add to, correct, and update as time goes on. Because it’s your jailbreak dictionary, and we’re just getting it started for you.

If you’re about to jailbreak for the first time, or you’re looking for help troubleshooting common jailbreak issues, go give the jailbreak glossary a read first. It’s a great place to start. If you’ve been jailbreaking since literally day one, go give it a read and tell us what else needs to be included. We want the best resources possible.

Dive right in via the link below, and if you think we missed anything, let us know asap!

• Access the jailbreak glossary

If you’re a jailbreaker looking to add a little more speed and functionality to multitasking on your iPhone or iPod touch, you’ll want to check out Zephyr. We have talked about Zephyr before but we’ll give you a close up look at what it does and the additional functionality it provides. There isn’t much to configure after you install Zephyr which makes it easy to use and it’s fully compatible with iOS 5.

The main purpose of Zephyr is to add additional multitasking gestures to your device. It adds the ability to swipe left and right on your springboard in order to page through apps. Swiping up will allow you to close out of an app as well. This is perfect for users who may have a broken home button on their iPhone 4, are out of warranty, and don’t want to attempt a DIY home button repair themselves.

You can always choose which swipe motions you want to have enabled. Ones you don’t want enabled you can simply toggle off in Settings. In addition to enabling or disabling gestures you can also add application restrictions. This is ideal for situations where the keyboard is active and you may not want a swipe gesture to switch apps or close out the application. This is also a good option for games that require you to swipe so Zephyr doesn’t attempt to switch between applications or close it out. If you’d like to get things done quicker and have better application switching functionality than what iOS offers stock, Zephyr is definitely worth checking out.

$2.99 – Cydia Search Link

Additional jailbreak resources:

• Jailbreak apps, hacks, and themes forum
• Best apps and utilities for new jailbreakers
• General jailbreak discussion and help forums
• List of popular Cydia repositories

Georgia and Rene are joined by CrackBerry Kevin Michaluk to kickoff Mobile Nations Fitness Month. We break down how best to get started, set attainable goals, and get results, and address some of the most common questions and misconceptions. This is ZEN and TECH!

• Our podcast feed: Audio | Video
• Download Directly: Audio | Video
• Subscribe via iTunes: Audio | Video

Related episodes

A lot of the material discussed in this show has been gone over in more detail in previous episodes. Here are some handy links.

• Breathing
• Sleep
• Exercise
• Nutrition
• Goal Setting

Hosts

• Georgia (@GeorgiaTiPb)
• Rene (@reneritchie)
• Kevin (@crackberrykevin)

Contact

You can reach all of us @ZENandTECH, via email at podcast@zenandtech.tv, or leave a comment below!

Thanks everyone, you’re the best community on the web and we love having you with us!

Disclaimer

While Georgia is a therapist, she’s not YOUR therapist. Everything said or implied on this show is for informational and entertainment purposes only. And shouldn’t be taken in any way as a replacement for proper, professional care.

Credits

Music is Peace on Earth by wellman.

For today only, the TiPb Store has the Qmadix USB Dual Mobile Charging Hub 4.2amp for iPhone, iPad on sale for only $19.95!. Get them before they’re gone!

Get the Qmadix USB Dual Mobile Charging Hub 4.2amp for iPhone, iPad now!

The USB Dual Mobile Charging Hub 4.2amp gives you maximum power on the go when charging your device. The USB charging hub allows you to charge two different devices in your vehicle simultaneously while utilizing the included charging-data sync cable.

Includes:

• USB Twin Tablet Charging Hub (DC)
• Allows you to charge 2 different energy demanding devices
• Sonically sealed, rugged polycarbonate
• Advanced smart circuitry to prevent overheating/overcharging
• Each port offers 10W (2.1 amps) for quick mobile charging
• USB Charging-Data Sync Cable
• Cable length= 4ft

“Is it also possible that Browett's experience at Dixons, and before that Tesco (the world's third largest retailer) might just be right what Apple needs as it continues on its path towards world domination?”

We, and pretty much the rest of the blogosphere were, shall we say, slightly bewildered when Apple announced its new SVP of Retail, John Browett.

Browett is, at first glance, an unusual hire because the retail organization he is leaving seems to be the exact opposite of what Apple stands for. He was the CEO of Dixons, the well known British technology retailer.

Big box retailers couldn't be further from Apple's model of clean, spacious, bright and minimalistic. Apple employees always want to help, knowing that when you are in their store you have already chosen their brand. They are highly service-oriented. Big box sales staff are all about making the sale. They couldn't care less what brand of TV you jam into your SUV after you slip the cashier your credit card.

Apple also has a tradition for promoting from within. So it begs the question, "Why did Tim Cook make this decision?"

It's easy to criticize, but let's remember that if we are outsiders to this decision. We haven't seen Tim Cook as the face behind too many senior hires at Apple, but it's safe to say that he's very experienced hiring and firing. You don't hold the COO position in any company without lots of people management experience.

So while it might seem like his old home of Dixons is the polar opposite of what Apple stands for, could we be guilty of looking only at the cover of the book (or the inside of the store)?

The aspect of this hire that intrigues me the most is that Apple is getting a guy with big company CEO experience. The Apple retail business can easily be thought of as a separate company. It requires inventory, sales staff, and a service organization. It requires growth plans.

And what makes running a big box retailer so difficult? Margins, pricing strategy and competition. Well guess what? Browett doesn't need to worry about those problems. Those are Cook's problems. Browett just needs to use his CEO skills to keep the ship moving in the right direction.

I don't think Cook is looking to Browett for sales innovation.

Apple is already in excellent shape after 11 years of retail leadership under Ron Johnson. Apple has top-shelf problems to deal with such as how to open more stores faster (and in new markets) without screwing up the shopping experience.

There's no question Apple has room to grow in its retail store lineup. As of the most recent financial results, Apple generated $3.5 billion in store sales, which is only 12.7% of total company sales. To me this suggests Browett's job is more about growing the existing business and generating upside for Apple. The downside of him performing poorly is probably not something I'm interested in seeing happen, but as a shareholder this is far from my biggest worry.

Is it weird that Tim Cook is bringing in a Dixons guy? Yeah. But is it also possible that Browett's experience at Dixons, and before that Tesco (the world's third largest retailer) might just be right what Apple needs as it continues on its path towards world domination? Yeah. It might.

File this one under unsubstantiated analyst hearsay, but Daiwa Securities is claiming the iPhone 5 will be announced at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference this upcoming June. WWDC would certainly be the reasonable time and place to launch the next iPhone. The only detail beyond that provided by the analyst is that the iPhone 5 will keep using glass to glass touch panels, but beyond that, we’re still in the dark about what specifically the iPhone 5 will offer. It might be bigger (or not), it might be thinner than the iPhone 4 and have a 13 megapixel camera, maybe it’ll have LTE…

It’s really all a crap-shoot at this point. I’m sure whatever Apple ends up launching, whenever they launch it, is going to be insanely popular just like every other phone they’ve made. Unless, of course, you think Apple products will lose something vital with Steve Jobs no longer in the picture… What would you guys like to see in the next iPhone? Is it a safe bet we’ll see something official this summer?

Source: DigiTimes

Photo Credit: Adam Jackson / Flickr

Apple has been forced to remove almost all 3G-enabled iPhones and iPads from its online store in Germany, including the iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 and iPad 2 WiFi + 3G, but NOT including iPhone 4S due to an injunction won by Motorola Mobility. Foss Patents reports:

The leading German news agency, dpa (Deutsche Presse-Agentur), quotes an official Apple statement according to which the company has just removed, as a result of an injunction Motorola won in Mannheim over a FRAND-pledged patents declared essential to an industry standard, several 3G/UMTS-capable products from its German online store: the iPhone 3G, the iPhone 3GS, and the iPhone 4 (but not the iPhone 4S), and all 3G/UMTS-capable iPads.

This all stems from Motorola’s December win around a FRAND (fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory) patent pertaining to 3G/UMTS standards. In addition, iCloud users in Germany will no longer have access to push mail over iCloud MobileMe, and will instead need to rely on manually pulling email messages from Apple’s servers.

The iPhone 4S was not included because of the difference in the 3G chip configuration. Also, all of the affected units will still be sold through local retailers, including official Apple Stores.

The EU, however, is taking an interest in cases like this, where FRAND patents may or may not be being misused.

The enforcement of a FRAND-pledged standards-essential patent is a major issue. The European Commission is already investigating Samsung because it also “sought injunctive relief” (though unsuccessfully to date) based on such patents. Motorola could be investigated over the same issue, but since the EU is also reviewing Google’s proposed acquisition of MMI, it presumably prefers to focus on the merger review, at least for the time being.

Like the injunctions Apple has won and lost against Samsung, this is far from over.

Source: FOSS Patents

[UPDATE]

SlashGear reports the injunction has been suspended, and all Apple 3G-enabled products, including iPhones and iPads, are once again available on Apple’s online store.

"All iPad and iPhone models will be back on sale through Apple's online store in Germany shortly" the company told us in a statement. "Apple appealed this ruling because Motorola repeatedly refuses to license this patent to Apple on reasonable terms, despite having declared it an industry standard patent seven years ago."

iCloud is still unavailable in Germany, however, as the suspended injunction in question only pertains to the 3G/UMTS patents involved.

Source: SlashGear

As expected, Reckless Racing 2 is now available in the App Store. It is the sequel to the hugely popular racing game Reckless Racing which brought thrills and spills from the track as you slide you car around corners on dirt and tarmac.

Strap down and prepare for the ride of your life… Reckless Racing is back with more! Including a selection of 18 highly detailed cars, ranging from small dirt buggies to fast supercars, and 24 routes in a variety of flavors make this a racer for all tastes – both dirt and tarmac.Compete in the Career mode to earn money for new cars and car upgrades. Have a quick race in the Arcade mode with 40 pre-defined challenges. Compete against your friends on the leaderboards in Single Event mode – including Race, Hot Lap and Elimination events.Tune your car in the garage to match your driving style with a vast selection of parts and upgrades. Whether you are a reckless power slider or a slick race driver, make your car the way YOU want it.

• Probably the best power slides in the world
• Tune and tweak the performance, handling, tires, rims and colors of your cars
• Shader based game engine with normal maps, reflections, specularity, shadows, particles and more
• Improved and optimized shaders for iPad 2 and iPhone 4S
• Online leaderboards with downloadable ghost cars
• Online multiplayer over the Internet
• 17 characters, including your favorites from Reckless Racing 1
• 5 control layouts with customizable button positions
• Optional assists, such as race lines, mini map, chase camera and more

Reckless Racing 2 is available as a universal binary running on the iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4S, iPhone 4, iPad, iPad 2, iPod Touch 3 (16GB +) or iPod Touch 4. It costs $4.99 with additional content available through in-app purchase.

• 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.

No one likes doing their taxes, but TurboTax thinks bringing their service to the iPad and making it mobile might also make the chore a little easier. With TurboTax 2011 for iPad, you can file your federal and state tax returns and receive your refund in as little as 7 days. If you’ve used TurboTax online, iPad or Desktop, you can transfer all your info, speeding up the process.

Now the question becomes, would you want to? As more and more finance and budget applications can be managed from mobile devices such as the iPad, it makes sense that companies like TurboTax and H&R Block will continue to make their content available to iPad users as well. While this may be ideal for filers with only a few forms, it still can’t compete with desktop or pro versions of tax software that can maximize deductions in a way simple programs and applications can’t yet do.

Bottom line, if you’ve got a lot of forms to file and your taxes don’t consist of a few W-2 forms and standard deductions, we’d still recommend a pro desktop suite or utilizing a licensed CPA or accountant.

TurboTax 2011 is available on the iPad for free, but you’ll have to pay fees when/if you use it to submit your taxes.

• App Store link

According to a report by randomly accurate tech news site Digitimes, it appears highly unlikely that Apple will be releasing its rumored integrated Apple TV set in the second quarter of 2012. Industry sources claim that Sharp is not in a position to ship the IGZO (indium gallium zinc oxide) panels that Apple need.

Apple reportedly has sought to source IGZO panels from Sharp for the production of iTVs as Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics, which unveiled their 55-inch Super OLED and AMOLED TV models, respectively, at CES, both have regarded OLED TVs are their killer products for 2012, and therefore the two Korea-based companies are unlikely to share OLED panel production capacities with Apple.

Digitimes claims that Sharp are able to produce 32, 46 and even 55-inch panels at the moment however yield rates are still the major concern.

Source: Digitimes

Readdle has released their new note-taking and PDF annotating app, Remarks, for the iPad. Remarks is fully featured with the ability to take handwritten or text notes, add shapes, import photos, and annotate PDFs.

It’s no secret that I have a love for handwriting iPad apps and Remarks in no exception. I admit that the strokes may not be as smooth and fluid as some of other apps out there, but the killer feature for me is PDF annotation. This is something I have desired from all the other note-taking apps and Readdle has delivered. Before Remarks, I was using Readdle’s PDF Expert to annotate PDFs, but it left a lot to be desired. Namely, with Remarks, I can use the zoom feature to make the most detailed of notes on my PDFs.

We had a chance to go hands on with Readle’s Remarks for iPad at Macworld 2012, roughly a week before the release. Check out the video below, along with all the app details, or just grab it now from the App Store.

Write down your thoughts, capture ideas and information, annotate documents and outline notes anywhere from university class to sofa at home.

To let you write anything you have in mind we included all the tools you might need: pens and highlighters of different colors, floating text boxes, shapes and of course an eraser.

At the same time Remarks is a fully featured PDF annotating application. You can highlight, underline, strikeout text, draw upon the documents – that means anything you can do with the document on paper and even more.

• Make notes
• Sketch new ideas
• Type in text notes
• Annotate PDFs
• Draw with your finger
• Co-edit notes with friends
• Add Notes Quickly
• Exchange documents with your computer
• Edit your notes on the Mac or PC
• Annotate Email Attachments
• Share Notes With Your Friends
• Import PDFs from Dropbox, Box.Net, Safari and other applications.

Remarks is available on the 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.

“The OverBoard waterproof case for iPad is a must-have for everything from the bath to the beach, but can be a little tough to close if your hands are covered in suds or tanning lotion.”

I absolutely love waterproof cases like the OverBoard for when I’m traveling. They work exceptionally well to keep your iPad or iPad 2 clean and dry, and can double as a handy place to store some cash and credit cards as well. They also work great at home, letting you enjoy a relaxing soak in the tub while reading, surfing the web, or playing your favorite iPad game.

The OverBoard waterproof case for iPad is exceptionally clear on one side and padded on the other. It might be nice to have it clear on both sides, so you could use the rear-facing camera for when you’re out and about. However, when you realize beaches, bathtubs, hiking trips, rafting excursions, and pretty much any place you’d like to use it is also not a place you’d want to drop it, you start to appreciate the padding more.

To further protect against dropping your iPad, the OverBoard case has a hand strap conveniently located on the back. Not only does this let you easily use your iPad one handed, but if you are in the bathtub, it leaves the other hand free for a beverage as well. Decadent, but oh so worth it!

Now, the closures on this particular OverBoard case were more difficult to line up and seal than previous ones I’ve reviewed. Take your time, align everything carefully, apply sufficient force (use those guns, bikini chicks!), and you should be okay.

You can choose to use the OverBoard by itself, which is ideal for the bath, or you can use the included shoulder strap — water-murse, anyone? — or carabiner if you’re traveling or hiking.

To see how well waterproof cases in general, and the OverBoard in specific hold up to everything from the deep end of the pool and a car wash to a dishwasher and RC boat race, check out these torture tests;

• TiPb TV 20: Bond boat bash
• Overboard vs Aquapac in iPhone 4 water torture test

The good

• Crystal clear plastic on the front
• Protective padding on the rear
• Hand strap for one-handed use
• Shoulder strap and carabiner options

The bad

• Requires a little too much strength to close
• Padding covers up rear camera

The conclusion

The OverBoard waterproof case for iPad is a must-have for everything from the bath to the beach, but can be a little tough to close if your hands are covered in suds or tanning lotion.

- $44.95 – Buy now

The giveaway

Simply leave a comment below telling us where you’d most like to use an OverBoard waterproof case for iPad of your very own! Giveaway starts now and ends Sunday, February 5 at midnight PT. (U.S. shipping address required for delivery. Sorry!)

Scammers never miss an opportunity to scam, and while Twitter, forums, and email have long been subject to disgusting “test & keep new iPhone/iPad/whatever” spam, it looks like the iPhone 5 version has taken to SMS. That’s right, not only are they content to waste your time and attention, they’re now also wasting your text message totals.

A couple of our Twitter followers received identical scam spam today:

Apple is looking for iPhone 5 testers! The first 1000 users that go to [scam web address] and enter [scam code] will get to test & keep a new iPhone 5.

Needless to say, no they won’t. If you get the text message, let us know in the comments, report it to your carrier, and by no means do anything it requests.

Source: @AKMolin, @MDSaunders

Trying to figure out just exactly how to find your Mac UDID so you can get in on an ad-hoc Mac App Store beta? Just like with iPhone and iPad, your Mac has a UDID (technically a Hardware UUID) that developers can use to send you app builds before they become publicly available. Luckily, it’s easy to locate once you know where to look.

1. Click on the Apple logo at the top left of your Mac menu bar
2. Click on About This Mac
3. Click on More Info…
4. Click on System Report
5. Make sure Hardware is selected at the top left
6. The very last entry in the list on the right will be your Hardware UUID

Copy and paste it and mail it off to the developer, then wait for your ad-hoc app to arrive and start beta testing!

Of course, since the Mac App Store isn’t the only way to distribute software on the Mac, developers can also choose to simply send you a non Mac App Store — i.e. regular-style apps. If they’re developing specifically and only for the Mac App Store, however, this might be the way they choose to go. If it is, you’re all set!

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Via: @lucvandal

Apple is reportedly investing a bug in iTunes Match that replaces music containing explicit lyrics with “clean” versions from the iTunes Store. Cult of Mac had this to say about the bug:

iTunes Match had successfully filtered out all the profane and derogatory words by changing the tracks to clean versions of the albums, which pretty much ruined my jog because I was really really wanting to sing along and drop 50 "F-bombs" a minute. Maybe this is just a rare glitch in iTunes Match's system, but it's a travesty tantamount to treason in my eyes and I want it fixed.

9to5 Mac now says Apple has acknowledged the problem, but hasn’t come up with a fix just yet.

A 9to5 reader emailed Apple Senior Vice President of Internet Software and Services about the issue a couple of weeks ago and received a response from one of Eddy Cue's engineers. According to the engineer, Apple is currently investigating the issue and working on a fix. Apple has no interim workaround for users of the iTunes Match service, the email elaborated.

So don’t be surprised the next time you fire up some 50 Cent only to find that all the swear words have been removed. Apple is aware of the issue and is working towards a resolution. In the meantime, you’ll just have to go about your rap-listening sessions in censored manner.

Source: Cult of Mac, 9to5Mac