A new bug found in iOS 5.0.1 may allow an unauthorized user to access your contacts, make phone calls, or use FaceTime on your iPhone even if it’s passcode locked. The iPhone 4S, iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS all seem to be affected by this bug.

While it’s always unnerving to find out that someone could potentially gain access to your iPhone without your knowledge, this one isn’t something I’d be too concerned about as the process seems a little beyond what the average snoop would attempt. Especially when they’ll only be able to access your contacts and recent calls.

Someone would basically have to confuse the phone after receiving a missed call by one of two methods – doing it while you have no network coverage or actively inserting and ejecting the SIM card. This will eventually lead to the iPhone unlocking to the phone app and allowing you to place phone calls. Once you hang up, you’ll be locked out again.

It seems a bit silly as this process obviously needs to be performed numerous times, as shown in the demo video, in order for it to confuse the phone. As long as you aren’t leaving your iPhone unattended for long periods of time with shady friends who actively carry around a SIM removal tool or paperclip, I don’t see this becoming a popular way of hacking into someone’s iPhone.

A similar bug was discovered a while back under iOS 4 which also allowed access to contacts, favorites, and voicemail on a locked device. Another recently discovered timestamp bug in iOS 5 allowed access to your camera roll.

No word yet on whether or not this specific issue is patched in iOS 5.1. If it isn’t already, it probably will be before the public release of iOS 5.1.

Source: iPhoneIslam

Twitter for iPhone has received yet another update and brings back some high-demand features including the swipe shortcut. There is also a nice clear warning that explicitly states that the Find Friends feature access your contacts’ email addresses and phone numbers.

Some other new features include the ability to copy and paste the contents of a tweet, and share tweeted links. The Direct Messages UI has also been updated and now allows you to mark all messages as read. Lastly, you can adjust the font size from Settings.

It’s great to see Twitter make these improvements, but I’m still not a fan of the overall look and layout of the app. Andrew also reports that the swipe shortcut is rather sluggish on his iPhone 4. But my opinion is by no means the only one, so let us know what you think about the update in the comments below! If you are using a different Twitter client, is this enough to bring you back to the official Twitter for iPhone?

It’s important to note that although Twitter is a universal application for iPhone and iPad, these changes are only reflected on the iPhone.

Free – Download Now

Simply HDR has the potential of turning your ordinary photos into extraordinary ones. HDR photography has turned into an art form itself, and Simply HDR does a great job of creating these types of images with very little work from the user.

Most HDR apps require you to take at least two photos, each exposed differently, to be combined into a single image. Simply HDR aims to make the process, well, simpler, by performing the edits on just one photo. This is great for those times when you’re browsing through your Camera Roll and realize that a photo you took the other day might look nice with some HDR processing.

After opening the photo you’d like to edit, you can choose from five different styles: High Dynamic Range, Black and White HDR, Contrasted HDR, Shadows and Lights, and Contrasted Light — each of which has 9-15 different “filters” to choose from. Then you can adjust shadow and highlight corrections, vignette settings, grain strength, and add a tint.

Many people like the over-processed look that HDR photos can achieve, so if that’s what you’re looking for, Simply HDR does it well. Personally, I prefer subtle, natural-looking HDR processing. Lucky for me, Simply HDR has some options that fit my taste as well. The photo above is one such example.

If you pick this one up, we would love it if you shared your images with us in the iMore Photography Forum!

$0.99 for iPhone – Download Now

$1.99 for iPad – Download Now

“Checking for water damage is pretty simple and something everyone should do before forking over your hard earned cash for a second-hand iPhone 4.”

If you’re trying to save some money and are in the market to purchase a used iPhone 4 from either Craigslist, eBay, or some other local or online seller, one of the first things you’ll want to do is check for any signs of water damage. I see several people in my office each week that purchased used iPhones that mysteriously quit working after a few days. As much as we’d like to believe there aren’t people out there who would sell us broken or water damaged devices, it happens every day.

While online-only iPhone purchases are convenient, I highly recommend meeting up with someone locally, for example, someone off of Craiglist, before turning to eBay or any other online broker. This allows you inspect the iPhone device before you actually commit to purchasing it, and gives you a chance test it out and check for water damage yourself.

If you can’t meet someone locally and need to buy online, request that the seller inspect for water damage and send you images that allow you to see that the water sensors are still intact and that the internals have not suffered any damage or corrosion.

Apple has placed 4 sensors inside the iPhone 4 that make it pretty easy to tell if any part of the device has come in contact with liquid. These sensors are placed exactly the same in the GSM iPhone 4 and CDMA iPhone 4. You want to make sure the sensors are white as opposed to red. If you see a sensor that has turned red, that’s a sign it’s come into contact with liquid or heavy humidity.

How to check external iPhone water sensors

The easiest thing to check are the two sensors you can see without removing the back of the iPhone 4. I recommend bringing a small pocket or keychain flashlight with you in order to get a good look at the sensors.

Headphone jack sensor

Your first sensor is located inside the headphone jack at the bottom. It’s the easiest sensor to find and inspect. Shine a flashlight into it and make sure you don’t see anything but white. (Red is bad.)

As a side note, this sensor can come out or become dislodged occasionally. If you don’t see one, just move on and check the next sensor. I wouldn’t take it as a sign that the seller is trying to be dishonest (yet).

Dock connector sensor

The next sensor is a square sensor in the dock connector. To see it, hold the phone screen down in your hand and look inside the dock connector towards the middle. On the upper side you will see a tiny white square (or red square if the device has come into contact with liquid). Make sure this one is white.

If both sensors are white, it may not be necessary to proceed any further. The device most likely has never been subjected to water damage. If the headphone jack sensor was missing or you couldn’t find one of the sensors, you may want to continue to the next section.

How to checking internal iPhone water sensors

It may seem silly to bring a screwdriver with you to check out an iPhone but it’ll seem a lot less silly when it saves the lost money and headache you’d get for buying a water damaged iPhone 4.

There are two sensors on the inside of the iPhone 4 that are easily visible once the back is removed. You can pick up a security screw driver online and a #00 Phillips screwdriver from your local hardware store for a few bucks. You’ll need one of the two in order to remove the back.

If you’re buying a CDMA iPhone 4 off of someone, you’ll most certainly need the security screwdriver. Older GSM models still have standard #00 screws while newer ones have security screws. Remove the 2 screws holding the back plate on and gently push the back up and pull it off. This will give you a clear view of the last 2 sensors and a lot of the internals of the device.

While you’re checking the last 2 sensors it’s always a good idea to look closely at the internals and make sure everything looks ok. You’ll want to avoid any devices that show signs of the following:

• Obvious corrosion
• Torn cables
• Missing screws
• The battery tab is torn off
• A large amount of debris or dust inside the device

If all those seem good, you’ll just need to make sure the water sensors check out okay.

Battery sensor

The first sensor is placed directly over the clip that holds the battery down. Again, just make sure it’s white and move on the to next and final sensor. If it isn’t white but all the rest are, I’d probably still advise against buying the device as the battery or other internal parts could have come into contact with liquid at some point.

Logic board sensor

The final sensor is located on a screw holding the logic board in place. If this sensor is white, you’re in the clear. If it’s not, you’ll definitely want to stay away from purchasing the device. This sensor is the closest one to the logic board. If it’s red, odds are the logic board has liquid damage and will eventually go out.

Wrap up

Checking for water damage is pretty simple and something everyone should do before forking over your hard earned cash for a second-hand iPhone 4. I would personally consider buying an iPhone 4 if only the headphone jack or dock connector sensor was triggered. If the rest of the device is in perfect condition and the inside has no sensors triggered, I’d say you’re okay. A lot of things including living in a humid climate can cause external sensors to be triggered. Apple will actually honor a warranty swap if only one external sensor is triggered due to these factors.

Just make sure if one external sensor is triggered or missing that you check the inside ones. As long as those are okay, the decision really lies with how comfortable you feel and how honest you think the seller is. If they seem irritated or worried about you checking out the device, find another one.

Interested in other DIY, repair, and modding info? Check out the resources below or if you ever decide certain repairs are beyond your skill level, contact PXLFIX regarding mail-in repairs and pricing.

Additional resources

• How to choose quality iPhone 4 color kits
• All DIY, repair, and mod guides
• Mod and DIY repair forums

Barcode Scanner is exactly what you need to easily find and enter PointsPlus values, and a great companion app to Weight Watchers Mobile for iPhone

If you’re a Weight Watchers subscriber using Weight Watchers Mobile for iPhone, Weight Watchers Barcode Scanner is a great companion app for quickly calculating points values. Manually typing in fat, carbs, fiber, and protein can be a daunting task especially when grocery shopping. The barcode scanner app makes the task super simple and easier than ever, and is a great way to avoid impulse junk food purchases.

The biggest hurdle I’ve had to face since starting back up with Weight Watchers is grocery shopping. I’ve stuck with buying healthy foods but it can be a task to manually enter in the contents in order to decide whether or not a food I want is a healthy decision.

The Weight Watches Barcode Scanner helps cut the time I spend looking for healthy foods in half while shopping. If you’ve used any type of QR code scanner on your iPhone you’ll be right at home.

The first time you launch the app you’ll be asked to sign into your Weight Watchers account. (You can choose for it to remember you in the Settings tab). Weight Watchers Barcode Scanner will load the scanner by default on launch. Then all you do is simply align a bar code and it scans away. It’ll read it and tell you the PointsPlus value for a single serving. If it can’t find an item, it’ll allow you to manually enter in carbs, fat, fiber, and protein into the points calculator.

If the app doesn’t know the serving size it will simply say unknown. I’ve found most of the time that it calculates a points value but says unknown serving size, it’s on items that are off-brand or measured in cups. You’ll just need to follow the serving size on the box. If you can’t get a good view of the bar code with the scanner, you can also choose to enter it in manually.

Weight Watchers Barcode Scanner will also keep track of all the foods you’ve scanned under the Lists tab. Not only can you view the items you’ve added, you can add them to your favorites or your tracker directly from the application. Since Weight Watchers stores all your information online, you’ll see the information added to your tracker via Weight Watchers Mobile as well next time you launch it.

There are a few apps in the app store that spit out Weight Watchers point values. I’ve found this one to be the best simply because it ties directly into your online tracker and integrates nicely as a companion app to the full Weight Watchers Mobile app. I don’t have to jump out of whatever I’m using to scan bar codes and into Weight Watchers mobile and re-enter information. I just add the item I want directly to my tracker from Barcode Scanner and it’s already there.

The good

• It makes grocery shopping for healthier foods less of a task and not so overwhelming
• Gives the option to add directly to your favorites and tracker which eliminates having to jump into another app
• The overall UI is very similar to the Weight Watchers Mobile app so you’ll feel right at home

The bad

• You’ll need a Weight Watchers subscription to utilize the application which may not be an option for some users as the cost may be more than they’re willing to pay
• You won’t always find bar codes for many off brands
• No auto-focus can be annoying at times when the app doesn’t automatically center in on the bar code

Conclusion

If you’re looking for an easier way to find PointsPlus values than typing in numbers each time, BWeight Watchers Barcode Scanner is exactly what you’re looking for and a great companion app to Weight Watchers Mobile for iPhone. While there are competitors out there, they just can’t provide the tight integration into the Weight Watchers system that the official app can.

The fact that I can add things directly to my tracker and favorite items while I shop without jumping into multiple other apps makes it a hands down winner.

If Weight Watchers is your diet plan of choice, let us know your experiences in our Health and Fitness Forum and check out what the rest of our staff is picking to get healthier during Mobile Nations Fitness Month.

Weight Watchers Barcode Scanner is free to download but you’ll need a Weight Watchers subscription in order to log in and start using it.

Free – Download now

We’ve seen a number of supposed iPad 3 parts recently, and this latest one shows the front glass and digitizer assembly with the layout remaining largely the same as that of the iPad 2, with no changes to the Home button, front-facing camera position or ambient light sensor arrangement. If the pictures, which come by way of Sina Weibo, are accurate, the only recognizable change is the ribbon cable on the side of the glass, which extends roughly half-way up the device as opposed to the iPad 2 which has a shorter cable with a sideways orientation.

A separate post from the same person claims the rumored A5X SoC includes a dual-core processor instead of quad-core, in addition to the iPad 3 coming with full support for Siri, which has so far remained exclusive to the iPhone 4S.

Other recent component leaks indicate a thicker, more tapered back, a logic board with possible A5X chipset and the supposed Retina display put under a microscope.

Additional notes indicate Apple plans to release iOS 5.1 alongside the iPad 3, which is expected to be announced on March 7th with a Retina display and possible 4G LTE. BGR previously heard rumors of iOS 5.1 hitting on March 9th, which could be when Apple plans to deliver devices to consumers, but we’ll have to wait for the official announcement next month.

Source: Sina Weibo via Apple.pro, MacRumors

With working conditions in Chinese factories still making headlines, Apple manufacturer Foxconn is going to be increasing wages, and Apple is reportedly going to allow independent environmental reviews of at least 2 of their suppliers, with the potential for more to follow. USA Today:

Ma Jun, founder of the Institute of Public & Environmental Affairs, told USA TODAY in a phone interview Monday that Apple agreed to the independent reviews in late January in response to two reports that IPE and other environmental groups released last year documenting hazardous-waste leaks and the use of toxic chemicals at suspected Apple suppliers. [...] An independent review is necessary to “make sure that (it) is done in a transparent way,” said Ma, whose group has had half a dozen meetings and calls with Apple since mid-September.

Because of Apple’s size and success, activists are looking to Apple to lead the way and set the standard for responsible manufacturing in China.

Foxconn, one of Apple’s principle suppliers and the subject of intense media attention over the last couple of years, has also said they’ll be increasing workers’ wages, and reducing overtime demands. The New York Times reports:

Foxconn said that salaries for many workers would immediately jump by 16 to 25 percent, to about $400 a month, before overtime.

Foxconn also manufactures products for Dell, HP, and others.

All this follows inspections by the Fair Labor Association and a tour by ABC News Nightline.

Source: USA Today, New York Times

For today only, the iMore iPhone case store is offering the Incipio [performance] Sport Armband for iPhone 4S and iPhone 4 for only $16.95 — that’s a steep 43% off! Get it before it’s gone!

Shop Incipio [performance] Sport Armband for iPhone 4S and iPhone 4 now!

The Incipio [performance] Sport Armband is the perfect lightweight carrying solution for iPhone 4S, AT&T iPhone 4, or Verizon iPhone 4 whether you are running, walking, dancing, lifting or stretching.

A clear, play-through shield holds and protects your device while allowing full access to your touch screen. All ports are accessible through openings in the neoprene band. Plug in your headphones without removing or adjusting your iPhone 4S, AT&T iPhone 4, or Verizon iPhone 4 and turn up the volume for a great workout!

Use the velcro patches to adjust the tightness and location on your arm. The moisture-wicking neoprene material pushes out sweat while retaining a solid grip on your arm.

Features:

• Lightweight
• Great for outdoor activities
• Play-through shield protects screen
• All ports accessible
• Arm strap completely adjustable

“With iCloud integration, SSH keys, and a re-designed Screens Connect, Screens 2.0 handles remote computing better and faster than ever before.”

Screens 2.0 from Edovia lets you use your iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, or Mac to take control of anything from your home computer to a secure server room, from the couch while you watch the big game, to poolside, half a world away, while you sip an umbrella drink. Mobile VNC (Virtual Network Computing) is the dream every geek has had since we first saw prop tablets on TV starships, since we first heard talk of ultra-thin clients. And Screens 2.0, thanks to its design and usability, opens that dream up to a wider, more mainstream audience than ever before.

There are many VNC apps available for iOS, and several of them are excellent. Which you ultimately prefer will come down to personal tastes and requirements. Do you want your finger to move the screen, or move the mouse cursor on the screen? Do you want something that stands alone, or is tied to a subscription service, perhaps one your company or enterprise uses? Do you want something specifically designed for iOS, easy to set up and intuitive to use, or something incredibly bare-bones and expert-user focused?

Screens 2.0 makes deliberate, Apple-style choices. It’s gorgeously designed, intuitive to use, and as consistent with iOS and OS X standards as can be. If you’re coming from an enterprise environment where you’re used to using a specific, point-and-click based PC tool, Screens can take some getting used to at first. If you’ve never used VNC before, Screens makes it incredibly accessible.

Screens setup is ridiculously easy. If you’re not already familiar with the basics, Screens give you a quick how-to on startup, including connecting to Mac, Linux, and Windows, using Screens Connect on Mac and Windows (more on that later), and using the Screens app itself, including gestures, Siri dictation, the pasteboard, and more.

To add a screen (remote computer view), just tap the button at the top left. Screens will automatically detect nearby and remote computers on your network. For most users, when on their home or work network, this is the fastest, easier way to get up and running. Just tap the tab, tap the name of your computer, and Screens will populate most of the general connection info for you.

You still have to enter your own username and password, either your Mac user account, or VNC account. If you’re a more advanced, or security conscious user, you can also add machines via IP address or Hostname, enable SSH tunneling, toggle color-depth, and create custom gestures.

Once you have a screen set up, you’ll see it available on the Screens desktop. On the iPad you can switch to a grid view to easily re-oder them as well.

Tap a screen to launch it. If you haven’t saved or recently entered your password, you’ll be asked to enter it for security. Then your screen will open up. It’s literally that simple to get remote access to your desktop or laptop from your iPhone or iPad (or other Mac, if you’re using the Mac version.)

Once in your screen, swiping with your finger moves the screen around (not the cursor, as it does in some other VNC apps), and two-finger swipes scrolls the content within the active window (for example, scrolls through a document or web page). You can pinch to zoom, and touch-and-hold one finger to drag a window around or drag and drop an icon or highlighted text. Responsiveness for panning and zooming is remarkably fast and fluid. Scrolling within a window is a little slower.

A single tap is equivalent to positioning the mouse curser and clicking. A double tap is a double click, a two-finger touch-and-hold is a right mouse click (or ctrl-mouse click). These can be a little trickier to accurately pull off, especially on the physically smaller iPhone display, so you’ll want to make sure you’re as zoomed in a possible first.

If you’re connecting to a Mac, three finger swipes default to changing Spaces or launching Mission Control. Other Mac options include launching Spotlight, showing Dashboard, etc. Windows options include Open Start Menu, CTRL-ALT-DELETE, etc. Four finger swipes are currently used for for system-wide multitasking gestures on iPad, but if you disable them in Settings, you can reassign them for specific Screens actions as well.

Screens 2.0 for iOS has a great new unified toolbar. Escape, tab, shift, control, alt/option, and command/Windows keys, as well as arrow keys, the Action button, and a special purpose as well as default keyboard are all accessible along the bottom of the screen. The standard keyboard is just what you’re expect, and the second, special purpose keyboard lets you quickly minimize, close or quit an app, undo, redo, or send to pasteboard, copy, paste, or cut, and similar, as well as offering function keys F1 through F12.

On the [iPhone 4S](http://www.imore.com/iphone-4s], Screens’ default keyboard includes Siri dictation for easy voice-to-text entry.

The keyboard doesn’t automatically appear when you tap into an editable area of the screen; you have to open it manually. That’s typically been my experience with other VNC apps as well, and I can see the reasoning behind it, but it feels a little un-iOS-like.

Closing a screen is as simple as tapping the Action button and hitting Disconnect. You can also use the Action button to quickly take a screenshot (of just the desktop, not the entire display the way a built-in iOS screenshot would) and quickly access Settings and Help.

Overall, the iPad feels like it was made with a VNC app like Screens in mind. The large 9.7-inch display just works so well. The iPhone and iPod touch can feel a little cramped at 3.5-inches but the density of the Retina display mitigates that a lot. And yes, Screens 2.0 just screams for a Retina iPad 3.

Screens 2.0 for Mac is every bit as easy to setup and even easier to use, since you’re driving a windows-mouse-pointer interface with a windows-mouse-pointer interface, and don’t have to worry about mapping multitouch gestures to point and clicks the way you do with iOS. If you’re familiar with Apple’s own Back to my Mac service, it’s almost as elegant (just not built into the system), but it works with Windows and Linux machines as well, not just OS X.

Completing the picture is Screens Connect, which lets you open a screen into your home or work computer while away from home or the office, on a different network. After setting up a free Screens Connect account via Edovia’s website, you download Mac or Windows clients and install them on your local machines. They keep track of your machine’s IP address, so you can always find that computer remotely, over the internet. Because most of us don’t have static IP addresses, a service like Screens Connect is really a must-have for remote connections.

On a final, fun note, with AirPlay mirroring you can even beam your screens via Apple TV your big screen HDTV, which is great for conference room demos.

The good

• Excellent design, very iOS-like experience
• Incredibly easy to setup
• Universal binary for iPhone, iPod touch, iPad
• Also has Mac version
• No subscriptions or additional services required

The bad

• Precise cursor placement with multitouch requires a lot of zooming

The conclusion

With iCloud integration, SSH keys, and a re-designed Screens Connect, Screens 2.0 handles remote computing better and faster than ever before. While other VNC clients have some advantages, such as more precise mouse placement, or integration with popular subscription RDP solutions, Screens is the most iPhone, iPad, and Mac-like remote computing app on the market today. It’s the easiest to setup and the most familiar to use. That makes it a great VNC app for anyone just getting started with remote computing, or anyone who wants something with a great user experience that “just works”. If you’re a pro or a network admin, you might cycle between several different VNC apps depending on the situation. Screens 2.0 will almost certainly become one of them.

Screens 2.0 requires iOS 5 on iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad, and OS 10.7 Lion on Mac. It’s is available now, and is a free update for existing users.

$19.99 – Screens for iOS – Download Now

$29.99 – Screens for Mac – Download Now

Free – Screens Connect – Download Now

Special thanks to our resident networking wizard, Anthony Gabriel, for his assistance with the testing.

Back in November, The Daily claimed that Microsoft was working on a version of its hugely popular "Office" application for the iPad.  It has now followed up its original story with a picture of Office running on the iPad and the notion that it is now complete and very close to being submitted to Apple for approval. The Daily even managed to grab some hands-on time with a working prototype of the Office application.

A brief hands-on with a working prototype of the software revealed a number of new things. The app's user interface is similar to the current OneNote app, but it has hints of Metro, the new design language that can be seen in Windows Phone and in the as-yet-released Windows 8 desktop operating system. Word, Excel and PowerPoint files can be created and edited locally and online. But it's unclear if Microsoft will support other Office apps at launch or at all.

We still don't know if this will make it to Apple for approval or if it will even gain approval; although there is no reason why it won't. The question still remains, would Microsoft really launch Office for iPad before giving Windows 8 Metro slates a chance to compete using Office exclusivity as a draw? It is really beginning to look very much like it would!

Source: The Daily

“Both iKlenz and eScreen removed fingerprints, smudges, oil, and grime with a minimum of effort and left my iPhone and iPad with clean, clear, gorgeous-looking screens.”

Whether you’re rocking an iPhone 4S or iPad 2, or a previous generation iPhone, iPad or iPad touch, there’s just no getting around one simple truth — they’re fingerprint magnets. What’s more, since fingerprints come with oil, food, dirt, and who-knows-what-other substances all over them, you’re device’s screen can often turn into a sticky, icky mess. Enter iKlenz cleaning solition and eScreen flat panel cleaner, both contenders to the title of best iOS device cleaning solution. But which one is the best?

iKlenz and eScreen are specially engineered cleaning solutions for exactly the types of large, glass displays found on iPhones, iPads, iPod touches, and other, similar gadgets. (Including your computer’s display.) These aren’t glass cleaners either, and eScreen, for example, states that it’s ecofriendly and silicone, ammonia and alcohol free, so you don’t have to worry about it damaging the oleophobic (oil repelling) coating of your iPhone or iPad. iKlenz also says it works as a disinfectant to destroy bacteria and germs.

Both come in small squirt bottles so they’re easy to store or even carry around with you, and both iKlenz and eScreen include micro-fiber cloths, though eScreen’s is both larger and more plush. eScreen also comes with a nice cloth carrying pouch while iKlenz comes in a cardboard box.

To put them to the test, literally side-by-side, I dirtied up my iPhone 4S as best as possible — fingerprints galore! — and then divided the screen right down the middle. I applied 2 squirts of iklenz on one side and 2 squirts of eScreen on the other, and then compared how many wipes it took to get each side spotless, and the quality of the cleaning when it was done.

The good

• Cleans better than a dry cloth
• Dries faster and is safer to use than a damp cloth
• Provides better, streak-free, finish
• Includes micro-fiber cloth

The bad

• More expensive than plain cloth

The conclusion

In my tests, iKlenz and eScreen performed equally well. Both iKlenz and eScreen removed fingerprints, smudges, oil, and grime with a minimum of effort and left my iPhone and iPad with clean, clear, gorgeous-looking screens. The full retail price for both is also the same (though at the time of this writing the iMore Store is offering a better sale price on eScreen).

So it comes down to the extras to break the tie, and with a bigger, softer micro-fiber cloth and the bonus carrying pouch, this time eScreen comes away with the win and the title. eScreen is currently the best cleaning solution for your iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.

iKlenz – $17.95 – Buy now

eScreen – $14.95 – Buy now

The iPad 3 rumor mill is chugging a long a full speed, this time showing us what’s supposedly Apple’s next generation tablet side-by-side with an iPad 2. These photos highlight a slightly thicker casing and more tapered edges, which falls in line with previous image leaks.

If accurate, these images from M.I.C. Gadget likely confirm that Apple will be modifying the casing of the next iPad to offer a thin feeling while ever-so-slightly extending the thickness of the device, most probably to allow room required for a higher quality 8 megapixel camera, Retina display, battery, and possible 4G LTE networking

The iPad 3 is expected to be announced on March 7th shortly before Apple is rumored to push out iOS 5.1 to the masses.

Source: M.I.C Gadget

Apple is reportedly planning a redesign for the iTunes Store and App Store for sometime later this year. Apple hasn’t introduced a complete overhaul to the iTunes Store interface since late 2009 when they introduced iTunes 9. Mark Gurman at 9to5Mac reports:

The new design is said to be even simpler and more user-friendly than the current design. Apple is working on ways to enhance the speed and efficiency of finding new content, such as songs, videos, and applications. The cornerstone element of Apple's new iTunes Store is interactivity. As Apple vaguely explained to a number of music labels and entertainment partners, Apple is looking to make the iTunes Store a much more engaging experience. [...] The interactivity that Apple wants within the digital store is something Apple could only likely pull off by housing the store within a full-fledged application, not a pure web browser experience.

They’re not sure if this redesign, like iTunes 9, will require a new version number — iTunes 11 — or if it will just be rolled into an iTunes 10 point release. However, discoverability is said to be on the agenda, with more interactive ways to find music, movies, apps, and games being a priority. It sounds like iTunes on Windows and Mac is the current focus, and may be timed to coincide with Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion this summer, though the more traditional fall update cycle — perhaps alongside the iPhone 5 — could be a more likely possibility.

Source: 9to5Mac