Tim Cook: iPod is a ‘Declining Business’ [iOS Blog]
During its earnings conference call today, Apple CEO Tim Cook commented on the state of the iPod, noting that the product is a declining category for the company:
The way we look at it, our business is a sell-through point of view less iPod — all of us have known for some time that iPod is a declining business.
The iPod was Apple’s “halo” product for years, getting new customers to buy Apple products for the first time. Since their peak in 2008, however, iPod sales have seen a fairly steady decline as the iPhone and iPad have captured more of the market that the iPod occupied previously.
Apple’s last change to the the iPod line came with the debut of a new Space Gray color option for the iPod touch, iPod nano, and iPod shuffle at its September 2013 iPhone event. However, Apple has not updated the iPod classic in over four years, with that device more likely to be discontinued rather than refreshed.
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Verizon’s Redbox Instant now supports AirPlay streaming
Verizon’s subscription streaming TV service, Redbox Instant, now supports Apple’s AirPlay thanks to a new version 1.4 iOS app update — with some caveats. For starters, though you’ll be able to play streaming content on your iOS 6 device, the app …
A better, yet more cumbersome iOS 7 gamepad: hands-on with the MOGA Ace Power
Two sticks, four face buttons, a pair of shoulder paddles and a d-pad: the formula for a modern gamepad and the layout of MOGA’s Ace Power controller. It’s a pretty standard assortment of inputs, but this controller happens to be the first fully f…
Google Voice app now supports iPad and iPod touch, brings Click2Call
So, how exactly does a voice app work on devices without any cellular ties? Glad you asked! Google has just updated the iOS Google Voice app to include support for the iPod touch and iPad, but neither of them can make cellular calls directly. Instead, you can use the app to initiate GVoice calls with a nearby phone. The process is known as Click2Call — users simply click any ‘Call’ button within the app and then choose which of their phones they want to ring. It’s probably more time consuming than just grabbing your phone from the start, but hey, there it is. In other news, the app now disables text forwarding when you enable Push Notifications (to avoid double alerts), and there’s a new Do Not Disturb option in the Settings tab for those who’d prefer to disconnect. Hit the iTunes link below to get your download on, and let us know how things shake out in comments.
Touch Pad Pencil lets you draw on your touchscreen experience
If you can’t afford to splash out £25 on the North Face Etip gloves, and you cannot be bothered to sew on your own conductive tips, but still need to use your touchscreen whilst keeping your paws warm, then the Suck UK Touch Pad Pencil Stylus could be just what you need.
Taking the form of a retro pencil that will remind you of your school days, the Touch Pad Pencil Stylus is made up of a conductive rubber material, that will work on the capacitive screen of your smartphone or tablet.
“They say the pen is mightier than the sword, so by extension it’s safe to assume the pencil is mightier than the finger,” says the official site. “Make you and your smartphone look even smarter with a Suck UK Pencil Stylus.”
It’s makers describe it as the “most stylish stylus money can buy” and we have to agree. Well, it beats using a sausage anyway.
The Touch Pad Pencil Stylus is available from Suck UK for £7.50.
iOS 4.2.1 Jailbreak hits with updated redsn0w
The Dev-Team Blog was just updated with a new redsn0w version 0.9.6b4 jailbreak (based on Geohot’s Limera1n bootrom exploit) for iOS 4.2.1. Unfortunately, iOS device owners won’t find jailbreaking as easy as navigating to a website. And the 4.2.1 jailbreak is currently “tethered” so owners of the iPhone 4, iPad, and newer iPhone 3GS and iPod touch models will have to reattach to a PC or Mac to boot into a jailbroken state each time your device loses power or needs a reboot. Those of you who rely on the ultrasn0w unlock should hold off for now — good advice for anyone not comfortable with terms like “SHSH blobs” or “Cydia.” Everyone else can hit up the link below with a detailed how-to provided by Redmond Pie.
iOS 4.2 available to download
Hold on to your hats fanboys, because iOS 4.2 has finally arrived.
If you plug your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad into iTunes now, it should automatically prompt you to download the latest software for your iOS device – but if not you can always click “Check for Update” on your device page. You’ll need to be running the latest version of iTunes as well (10.1).
So what exactly does iOS 4.2 mean?
Well, apart from AirPlay, AirPrint, new device management capabilities and support for 25 additional languages, iOS 4.2 is also the first time that you’ve been able to multitask, create folders and get involved in all of the other iOS 4 goodness on your Apple tablet (the previous updated iPad software was version 3.2.2).
So, whilst you wait for iOS 4.2 to download and do its stuff on your iDevice, why not check out our guide: Read more 
VLC downsized to fit on the iPhone and iPod touch, now playing in the App Store
If you like your players orange and portable but don’t have a tablet, you may be in luck. The VLC Media Player app, which recently made the iPad a little more codec-friendly, is now available in the App Store for the iPhone (4 and 3GS) and iPod touch. This new version is also said to support even more file types, offer better performance, and allows for the deletion of files right through its own interface. It’s available now, so get downloading — your classic cartoons await.
Limera1n and Greenpois0n iOS 4.1 jailbreaks now available for Mac, Linux
We thought it was a wee bit ridiculous that Geohot’s original iOS 4.1 jailbreak only worked on Windows, but that’s a thing of the past now — limera1n now supports Mac as well, and the Chronic Dev Team’s greenpois0n variant can purportedly free your device from Apple shackles from any of OS X, Linux or Windows. Mind you, there’s still no working carrier unlock for iOS 4.1, so be sure to back up your baseband and don’t expect to be making calls on T-Mobile USA — and remember kids, there are always risks to playing chicken with the Apple firmware train.
iOS 4.2 beta 3 released
People familiar with the latest iOS beta said it is known as build 8C5115c.
The beta contains several significant changes, including an updated version of the modem firmware. Noticeably missing from the beta were AirPlay features from previous builds. The AirPlay button has disappeared from the Photos, Videos, and YouTube apps on the distribution for the iPad.
Developers have noticed a bug with the AirPrint functionality. When printing from an iPhone, the image sometimes prints as just the size of the iPhone’s screen, not the original image size.
The beta also packs a number of smaller additions. According to fscklog, the new beta adds “a larger number” of tones for receiving text messages on the iPhone 4. The 17 new SMS ringtones include tones such as “Calypso,” “Choo Choo,” “Sherwood Forest,” and “Tiptoes.”
In a minor change to the iPad, the Connect to iTunes recovery screen now uses the controversial new iTunes 10 icon.
The iTunes 10.1 beta released alongside the iOS 4.2 beta continues to support printing.
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