SIRI PORTING TO iPHONE 4 NOW LEGAL WITH iOS 5.0.1 UPDATE

IPhone 4 owners looking to take advantage of Apple’s Siri software from the iPhone 4S now have one less barrier standing in their way. Sure, plenty of tricks have been available in the past that allow users to hack Siri onto an iPhone 4, but until now they were illegal. Apple’s recent iOS 5.0.1 update, however, has a decrypted ramdisk, which means users can legally port files to the iPhone 4 that were previously encrypted and protected by Apple’s public distribution policies. Apple may re-encrypt the files in iOS 5.1, which is expected to launch in the near future, so move quick if you want to take advantage of this loophole.

MICROSOFT TO SILENT UPDATE INTERNET EXPLORER FOR EVERYONE

Microsoft has decided that the time has come to make sure that all users of Internet Explorer are using the most current version possible. To accomplish that goal, they’re turning on automatic updates.

Internet Explorer will quietly update itself just as Windows does. Starting in January, users in Australia and Brazil will be the begin receiving automatic IE updates. Microsoft will then gradually extend coverage to other parts of the world as time goes on. Ryan Gavin, Microsoft’s senior director for Internet Explorer, pointed out several benefits. The overall security of the Windows user community will be improved as outdated browsers are replaced, developers can focus their attention on building sites using modern web code.

There also won’t be any changes made to a user’s default search provider or home page. User preferences won’t be touched as part of this new Internet Explorer update process. You’ll simply be bumped to the most current version available for your version of Windows.

Microsoft hasn’t forgotten about its enterprise customers. The software giant will continue to offer Internet Explorer blocker tools so that network administrators can deploy new browser versions once they’ve been fully tested and won’t cause any application compatibility issues.

TWITTER GETS A MAKEOVER....AGAIN

Twitter has released an update to their popular micro blogging site. The visual update will "make it easier than ever to follow what you care about, connect with others and discover something new." Four new tabs bring you instantly closer to everything you care about.

The website has been update and launched with mobile apps coming soon.

BUG REPORTED IN iOS 5.0.1, BATTERY ISSUE ALSO NOT RESOLVED

A bug that affects the contact list on Apple's iPhone 4S has been discovered after applying the iOS 5.0.1 OTA update. According to users the contact list is fine, however when receiving a call or a text the name does not appear. This might be confined to those on the Verizon network and doing the following procedure has been shown to fix this issue.

1) Open the Phone and dial *228. This is a Verizon over-the-air programming number.
2) When the system answer press 1 for “Program or activate your phone”
3) Wait for the call to disconnect. You should get a prompt stating something like, “Settings updated.”
4) Open the Task Manager (double click the home button) and kill the Phone, Message, and Contacts Applications
5) Wait a few minutes (I waited 3 just to be extra safe)
6) Open the Message App to verify the fix.

Also, a number of users are reporting the 5.0.1 update has not fixed their battery drain issue and in some cases it has made it worse. The 5.0.1 update was specifically deployed to correct the battery issue, however for some users that does not seem to be the case.

iOS 5.0.1 WITH BATTERY FIX AVAILABLE NOW

Apple has released the first official update to iOS 5, which fixes the reported battery drain problems.

In addition to fixing bugs related to battery life, the update to iOS 5.0.1 also adds multitasking gestures for the first iPad, resolves some bugs with Documents in the Cloud, and improves Siri’s voice recognition for people with Australian accents.

Remember that with iOS 5 you can now install software updates over the air. So there is no longer any need to wait until you get home, grab a cable, and connect to iTunes on a PC in order to apply the update. Simply open your Settings app, choose General, and then Software Update to initiate the process. The delta update file is less than 40MB, and should only take a couple of minutes to install over WiFi.

MOZILLA FIREFOX 8 OFFICIALLY RELEASING TOMORROW, GET IT TODAY

Mozilla has November 8th pencilled in as the day the stable version of Firefox 8 will become available to the general public. However, you can download it right now if you so wish with a few clicks of your mouse.

Although Mozilla is nice enough to tell us all when the next update to its browser is arriving, a less well-known fact is that they make that same stable release available a couple of days early via FTP. That way certain people in the know can get it early e.g. anyone who has to support users downloading the new browser and wants to check its stability or security. So, if you can’t wait another day then you need to visit Mozilla’s FTP site and select the right file to download.

While Firefox 7 promised to be noticeably faster while using up to 50% less memory, Firefox 8′s improvements focus on other areas.

Add-on installations get a new compatibility assistant, meaning when the new version of Firefox is installed you have to allow or disallow all the add-ons you use. Once the new browser is installed and loaded you’ll also notice a Twitter search engine built-in, more accessible history details, and an option to only load tabs on selection. That last one should speed up Firefox loading and relates specifically to users who have set Firefox to show their windows and tabs from a previous session.

Firefox users will be prompted to update to Firefox 8 tomorrow, and for most people the best thing to do is just wait for that to happen.

LEAK: NEW ANDROID MARKET COMING

Version 3.3.11 of the Android Market has leaked out and assuming this version is close to what will be officially distributed, it will be adding a few much-needed features. The first and most-important is that Google is tweaking auto-download settings yet again by giving users the option to make auto-update the default setting, making it easier to auto-update apps on Android. You can also tick a box to "Update over Wi-Fi only" to save precious megabytes on your cellular data plan and probably improve your battery life to boot. When you download a new app for the first time, you can opt to have it automatically add a shortcut to your homescreen.

There are plenty of other nuances to be found, including a new icon, smaller fonts, more visible star ratings, and the voice-button on the default Market search. Rumor has it the update is being pushed out to handsets now, so it hopefully it won't be too long until it arrives on your Android device. Hit the link here for a gallery of images.

GOOGLE LAUNCHES NEW GMAIL LOOK

Hot on the heels of the newly revamped Reader, Google is rolling out a new Gmail. Gmail’s conversation view has been streamlined and now includes photos of each contact. Additionally, it will automatically resize itself to look best depending on your screen size thanks to a new “elastic density feature.” Themes now support HD images and there is a new “smarter navigation” panel on the left hand side of the display that is customizable. Google also added a drop-down search box for more accurate email searches. The software giant says users will begin to see the option to “switch to the new look” in the bottom right-hand of their inbox over the next few days. Check out the video below for more features.

RUMOR: NOOK COLOR 2 LAUNCHING NOVEMBER 7

Three Barnes & Noble employees have all but confirmed that the company will release its new e-reader, the Nook Color 2, on November 7, reports The Digital Reader.
Its most direct competitor will be Amazon's upcoming Kindle Fire tablet, slated for release on November 15.

WINDOWS PHONE MANGO NOW BEING DELIVERED TO ALL COMPATIBLE DEVICES

In a post on the Windows Phone blog today, Microsoft confirmed that it's "now delivering Mango to 100 percent of eligible phones around the world, regardless of carrier." That feat was reached less than a month after Microsoft announced that that Mango was available on half of Windows Phones, which certainly an improvement on the pace of the earlier NoDo update.

FIREFOX 7 RELEASED FOR WINDOWS AND MAC

Mozilla on Tuesday pushed out a new version of its popular Firefox web browser for Windows and Mac computers. Mozilla released Firefox 6 on August 16th, just over one month ago, and version 7 is already upon us, reaffirming Mozilla’s commitment to the world’s second most popular web browser. Firefox 7 brings with it a host of changes, the most notable of which is perhaps “drastically improved memory handling” and other speed related improvements. As of August, Net Applications shows Firefox’s global browser share as 22.57%, behind Microsoft’s Internet Explorer (55.31%) and ahead of Chrome (15.51%) Safari (4.64%) and the Opera browser (1.68%). Users can wait for the browser to self update or they can go grab the release here.

RUMOR: APPLE TO REFRESH MACBOOK PRO BY END OF YEAR

With Intel's next-generation Core i-Series mobile platform not expected until the second quarter of 2012, Apple is reportedly preparing a refresh of its professional notebook line ahead of the holiday shopping season to better bridge the gap, AppleInsider has been told.

According to people with proven insight into Apple's future product plans, the late-2011 MacBook Pro refresh will deliver marginal speed bumps to the notebooks' Core i-Series of Sandy Bridge processors but will otherwise introduce no material changes over the existing models.

While precise timing for the update may change, those same people say the Mac maker currently anticipates an introduction of the refreshed line before the end of the month, possibly following the close of the company's Back-to-School promotion, which ends on September 20th.

Word of the new models comes just one week after Intel quietly refreshed its Sandy Bridge lineup of processors, adding four new Core i7 chips suited for adoption by the MacBook Pro in addition to slashing prices on some other chips, while phasing out a handful of others.

FIREFOX 6 NOW OFFICIALLY AVAILABLE

You may have caught wind of one sly fox unofficially popping up over the weekend. Well, as we reported, that fox, specifically Firefox 6, is now officially ready for your downloading pleasure. If you're a diehard Mozilla fan, or just an armchair browser expert, you're probably already hip to the new Firefox rapid refresh cycle that's seen three releases in the past five months.

If your browser has not updated, or to see which version you are using, click the Firefox button in the upper right and select Help and About Firefox.

APPLE RELEASES OS X LION UPDATE

Apple on Tuesday released OS X Lion 10.7.1 to Mac users. According to Apple it

The 10.7.1 update is recommended for all users running OS X Lion and includes general operating system fixes that enhance the stability and compatibility of your Mac, including fixes that:

• Address an issue that may cause the system to become unresponsive when playing a video in Safari
• Resolve an issue that may cause system audio to stop working when using HDMI or optical audio out
• Improve the reliability of Wi-Fi connections
• Resolve an issue that prevents transfer of your data, settings, and compatible applications to a new Mac running OS X Lion

For detailed information on this update, please visit this website: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4764.

The update can be downloaded immediately from the OS X update utility.

SAMSUNG GALAXY TAB 10.1 TOUCHWIZ UPDATE IS OUT

For the tens of people with a Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, the long promised Touchwiz update has finally arrived. The update provides a number of visual enhancements to the user interface including a live panel view, a new mini mode tray for quick access to open applications, a clipboard, an indicator quick panel and a photo editor. Samsung also added Amazon Music Player, Words with Friends, Samsung Media Hub, Social Hub, the Swype keyboard and Kindle software. To update simply go to Settings > About Tablet > Update.

Users who decide to update to the new interface should be warned that you cannot go back and as always back up your device.

TOSHIBA PROMISES FIX FOR THRIVE SLEEP ISSUE

Toshiba has announced they have developed a fix for the Thrive tablet's sleep addiction and will release it "early next week" via the Service Station app. The update will improve the device's "multimedia playback capabilities," although it didn't tell us how.

WINDOWS PHONE MANGO RELEASED TO CARRIERS AND MANUFACTURERS

Microsoft’s final build of Windows Phone Mango has been rubber stamped and released to manufacturers and wireless carriers according to Windows Phone Dev Podcast. The move is among the final steps before Microsoft delivers the Mango release to customers. The most recent reports have suggested that Microsoft will update current Windows Phone devices in September, although winrumors says the update could be pushed out as soon as August. Microsoft’s Windows Phone partners include HTC, LG, Samsung, Dell, Acer, Fujitsu, ZTE Corporation and Nokia, and we should see a number of new devices from those companies in the fall time frame. Mango was officially announced in May and Microsoft has promised that it will deliver more than 500 new features to the platform.

APPLE RELEASES iOS 4.3.4 TO FIX PDF VULNERABILITIES

Apple has just released iOS 4.3.4 for its iOS devices including the iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPad 2, iPad and third and fourth-generation iPod touch devices. Apple also released a comparable update for Verizon Wireless’ CDMA iPhone 4, iOS 4.2.9. The new build includes a security update that addresses a vulnerability with PDF files. It also patches the extremely popular jailbreak.me jailbreak solution, so it will no longer function on devices that update. IOS 4.3.4 is available immediately via iTunes.

LEAK: MOTOROLA ALREADY BUILDING XOOM REPLACEMENT WITH ICE CREAM SANDWICH AND HI-RES SCREEN

Motorola has already built and is testing prototypes of the XOOM’s successor, Fudzilla said on Thursday. The device is reportedly much thinner than the XOOM and packs a 10-inch display with a 4:3 aspect ratio and an impressive 2048 x 1536-pixel resolution. While known specs are currently slim, the new tablet apparently runs Android 4.0 “Ice Cream Sandwich” and it’s possible that it will be powered by NVIDIA’s brand new quad-core Kal-El processor. Fudzilla said it’s possible Motorola will launch the tablet sometime this year, but it remains unclear if this will be the previously leaked XOOM 2 or possibly another XOOM tablet.

WIFI XOOM RECEIVING ANDROID 3.2 UPDATE

Motorola began issuing the Android 3.2 (Honeycomb) update to Wi-Fi XOOM owners on Tuesday. The patch reportedly adds support for the tablet’s SD card slot and also features a new screen zooming feature that will allow users to resize mobile applications so that they fit the screen appropriately. Android 3.2 will also add support for smaller tablets with 7-inch screens, many of which currently run older versions of Android such as Gingerbread.