That didn’t take very long at all. The new iOS 4.3 was only put out there last week and there’s already a jailbreak for it. Whether you’re rocking iOS 4.3 on an iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPad, or iPod touch, you can do the jailbreak on your choice of Windows or Mac.

The Mac side of things is already taken care of with PwnageTool, but Windows inclined users can turn their attention to Sn0wbreeze 2.3b1. Yes, that “b” means beta, so you are very much proceeding at your own risk. Also, since iOS 4.3 natively supports a mobile hotspot, you have one fewer reason to do the jailbreak at all.

The process will feel familiar to those who have done a jailbreak before. Download the sofware, follow the menus and choose the appropriate options (like the required .ipsw firmware file for your iDevice), play some optional Pac-Man (I’m not kidding), and wait for the tool to say you’re done. Follow some more on-screen instructions, restore iOS 4.3 custom firmware using iTunes, and do the booting in tethered mode.

It should be noted that there is currently no unlock for iOS 4.3, so don’t do this if you still want to do an unlock on your iPhone.

[ih8sn0w]

The post Use Sn0wbreeze 2.3 to Jailbreak iOS 4.3 iDevices with Windows appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Ahead of the launch of the new iPad 2, Apple has officially pushed out iOS 4.3. The new iOS update will be supported by the iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, newer iPod Touch devices, iPad, and iPad 2. That’s the good news.

The bad news is that if you happen to have the Verizon version of the iPhone 4, you’re still going to be out of luck for the time being. Now, why would Apple be leaving Big Red out in the cold? Well, one of the main features accompanying iOS 4.3 is support of a WiFi hotspot (without having to jailbreak and all that); the Verizon iPhone 4 already has an updated version of iOS 4.2 that includes that feature.

With the wireless hotspot function, you can share your 3G network connection with up to five devices. Strangely enough, only three of those can be over Wi-Fi. The other two leechers will have to make do with USB or Bluetooth. That’s kind of odd, don’t you think? The new iOS 4.3 also comes with “improved support for AirPlay media streaming.”

Rounding out the updates are an improved Safari with faster JavaScript loading, iTunes Home Sharing, and iPad side switch switching… you can make that side switch lock the screen rotation or mute the volume, something that was taken away and now given back to you. See, there is one more thing and it’s the funnest feature ever. Everything has changed, again?

[Apple]

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For example, you might remember hearing about a four finger swipe on the iPad to switch between apps. This gesture might not seem so bad on the bigger screen of the Apple tablet, but it almost looks goofy on the smaller screen of the iPhone, don’t you think? Your four fingers barely fit on that display!

The beta build might be a little buggy, but it looks like the four finger swipe doesn’t work perfectly all the time either. Swiping right-to-left seems to work better than left-to-right, but that could be attributed to user error in the video. Also in clip, you can check out the swap from using the switch for toggling rotation lock and mute.

What was once meant to be the “easy to understand” smartphone for the masses just might be getting even more complicated. Maybe these advanced gestures should be reserved for tech geeks like us. ;)

[Engadget, BGR]

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In earlier versions of iOS, the “side switch” on the iPad allowed you to set the orientation lock to either landscape or portrait mode. This way, you didn’t accidentally get the display to keep flip-flopping between the two while reading the latest Harry Potter or Twilight book in your Kindle app. With iOS 4.2, the switch activated the mute function.

If you’re the kind of person who wants the orientation lock back, you could be in luck. The beta release of iOS 4.3 is showing that users can configure the iPad side switch to either lock the rotation or activate the mute function.

What’s interesting is that the seemingly simple touchscreen interface could soon be getting even more complicated with the introduction of several four- and five-finger gestures. You can pinch your way back to the home screen, swipe to the multitasking bar, and swipe to switch between active apps. The personal hotspot function seems to be making its way in there too.

The post Apple iOS 4.3 beta to introduce multi-finger touch on iPad appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Well, it seems that everyone is about to get access to this personal hotspot very soon. According to some insider reports, iOS 4.3 will include the personal hotspot regardless of carrier. As mentioned, we already know that the Verizon version will get it, so does this mean that AT&T will support this too? We hope so.

Then again, it’s very much possible that AT&T is going to lay down the ban hammer on the iPhone’s personal hotspot, once again forcing you into the jailbreak community to do the wireless tethering thing. It’s not a deal breaker for some folks, but the personal hotspot comes in so useful when you’re away from home.

Realistically, it’s a bit of a shame that AT&T and Apple would lock this down for so long. It’s a pretty standard thing to find on other platforms and other carriers, after all. In any case, iOS 4.3 is set to hit in March. Maybe AT&T will wait for an iPhone 4S or iPhone 5 to implement this?

The post Apple iOS 4.3 to push personal hotspot onto all iPhones appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Recent reports indicate that Steve Jobs will be seen on-stage with News Corp’s Rupert Murdoch on December 9 at the launch of a tablet newspaper The Daily have led to speculations that The Daily may very well be offered as an app in the Apple App Store. According to Daring Fireball’s John Gruber, “Developers at News Corp. building the app already have preliminary documentation on the new subscription billing APIs from Apple.”

On a similar tone, a href=”http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/11/rumors-ios-4-3-will-offer-app-subscriptions-as-early-as-december/”>Macstories’ Federico Viticci has reported December 13 as the launch date of iOS 4.3, also adding that content based recurring subscriptions shall be a part of the iOS 4.3 update.

Considering the fact that both News Corp. and Apple are playing a huge role in The Daily, it would be plausible to assume that the iOS 4.3 update can most probably be on its way in mid-December itself so that it almost co-incides with the launch of The Daily. Richard Branson is also rumored to be releasing a competitor to Murdoch’s “Daily” called “Project”. This is expected to be announced Monday.

As regards to the iOS update, it is believed that a subscription based recurring billing system will help increase the number of media applications on iTunes too such as newspapers, TV, magazines, etc. Presently, many subscription based content providers have apps for iOS, but they also need to establish separate recurrent billing accounts for iTunes. Obviously so, if a user is paying every week for a newspaper or any other media content, the process would have to be made simpler than its present state and thus, the iOS 4.3 update becomes all the more vital.

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