The Absinthe 2.0 errors should come to an end for users who are having trouble jailbreaking the iPhone 4S.

The Chronic Dev Team has just released Absinthe 2.0.1 to fix a collection of bugs that frustrated jailbreakers most of the morning.

One member of the team, @pimskeks says that the update addresses bugs that could cause the iPhone 4S jailbreak to “hang” at certain points.

Absinthe 2.0.1 is available for Mac, Windows and Linux.

Read: iPhone 4S Jailbreak Guide for Absinthe 2

The new version of Absinthe will hopefully address the following Absinthe 2.0 errors.

“Hmm… something seems to have gone wrong… trying to recover”

and

“Recovery completed. If you want to retry jailbreaking, unplug your device and plug it back in.”

If the new version of tool doesn’t ix your issues, check out How to Solve iPhone 4S Jailbreak iOS 5.1.1 Errors in Absinthe 2.0.

The Chronic-Dev team posted the following update announcing the new version.

some fixes have been pushed for a couple of little bugs, #Absinthe 2.0.1 is now live greenpois0n.com

— Chronic-Dev, LLC (@chronicdevteam) May 25, 2012

GreenPois0n.com is currently down, but you can download the files direct from the links below. If this doesn’t fix all the issues we may see another version released in the next few days.

• Mac OS X
• Windows
• Linux

The Absinthe 2.0.1 update should make it easier to complete the jailbreak process on the iPhone 4S and on the new iPad. The new Absinthe jailbreak tool will jailbreak the following devices.

• iPhone 4S
• iPhone 4
• iPhone 3GS
• new iPad aka iPad 3
• iPad 2
• iPod touch 4th generation

Does Absinthe 2.0.1 fix your jailbreak errors?

iPhone 4S Jailbreak: Absinthe 2.0.1 Released to Fix Jailbreak Errors is a post by Josh Smith from Gotta Be Mobile.

Apple recently made a few changes to the iOS App Store, including a free “App of the Week” program.

According to Gamezebo, Apple now has “Editor’s Choice” apps in the App Store as opposed to “App of the Week” and “Game of the Week.” The store still highlights apps and games with “Editor’s Choice,” but the name is different. “App of the Week” now seems dedicated to free games.

Apple hasn’t made any official announcements, but yesterday the App Store Twitter account tweeted “Cut the Rope: Experiments is our #FreeAppoftheWeek.” It seems Apple now has its own free app program. We’re not sure if the program will feature apps that are free for a week, or if Apple is just highlighting free apps. We’ll need to wait for some sort of pattern to establish itself before we can say for sure.

So far the Free “App of the Week” only appears on the iPhone and iPod touch, with no such promotion on the iPad. That does make sense, though, as iPad games rarely drop in price to free unless they switch to a freemium model.

For the first week of “Editor’s Choice” Apple chose the new Facebook Camera and Extreme Skater for the iPhone and iPod touch. On the iPad, Sketchbook Ink and Air Mail are this week’s “Editor’s Choice” apps.

The final minor change to the App Store is the removal of Staff Picks apps. Previously, at the bottom of the App Store in iTunes and on the iPad there was a section for apps selected by Apple staff.

That section is now replaced by Apple’s rotating themed collections of apps.

Apple Introduces Free App of the Week Program is a post by Shawn Ingram from Gotta Be Mobile.

EA’s annual Memorial Day app sale is back, with the publisher cutting prices on “nearly 49″ iPhone and iPad games for the holiday weekend.

The sale puts close to half of EA’s iOS games on sale, with most games dropping down a dollar or two, though EA says it cut some prices by up to 90 percent. The games that are part of the sale are currently available for about a dollar or two.

We assume the idea behind the sale is to build word of mouth about the games while Americans spend time with friends and family over Memorial Day weekend. Most of the games in the sale are good, so the price cut should help drive sales, but EA left out a few of its more popular games.

Of the games included in the sale, one of the most recent is Burnout Crash. The top-down racer came out a few weeks ago and is on sale for 99 cents. Based on our review of the game, that seems like a great price.

Also included in the sale are the terrific Dead Space for iPad and NBA Jam for iPad. Both games are on sale for $1.99, though EA hasn’t updated either game since last year. Both games still look great on the new iPad, but they haven’t received an update to support the new Retina Display.

Strangely not included in the sale is Tetris for iPad, which is still selling for $6.99. It’s one of only a few EA games that support the Retina Display on the new iPad. The other games are Burnout Crash, Mass Effect Infiltrator (which is on sale), and Flight Control Rocket (which isn’t on sale).

If EA’s relatively small sale isn’t enough, there’s also the Because We May sale going on which has hundreds of games on sale across iOS, Android, Mac, and PC.

EA Cuts iOS Game Prices For Memorial Day Sale is a post by Shawn Ingram from Gotta Be Mobile.

In an effort to make it up to HTC EVO 4G LTE users who were met with a delay beyond the announced May 18th release date, Sprint has been loading pre-orders up with a free phone cover.

According to The Verge, Sprint has been sending free gel covers to those who pre-ordered but had to wait until May 24th and beyond to get the phone.

The gel cover was accompanied by a note from Sprint thanking those who ordered for their patience while the companies got the issues with the device resolved. The device missed its original release date due to a patent dispute between HTC and Apple.

Sprint’s note reads:

HTC and Sprint want to thank you for your patience as we know you have been anticipating the arrival of your new HTC EVO 4G LTE. Please accept this phone as a small token of our appreciation and thanks.

That’s quite the gesture from the carrier and one that HTC EVO 4G LTE users will certainly appreciate.

The device, as it stands, still does not have an official release date in terms of when it’s going to be hitting shelves. The only consumers that have gotten their hands on the device are those that have pre-ordered.

Sprint has said that it doesn’t know when the device is going to be coming to retail stores and as it stands, the phone is still up for “pre-order” through Sprint and Best Buy.

The device is a hot commodity at the moment as it is Sprint’s third 4G LTE smartphone joining the Samsung Galaxy Nexus and the LG Viper 4G LTE.

Specifications on the HTC EVO 4G LTE include a 4.7-inch Super LCD display with 720p HD resolution, a dual-core 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, a 8MP rear camera that is powered by a dedicated ImageChip and has a physical button, 16GB of storage, 1GB of RAM, an NFC chip for use with services like Google Wallet, and a large 2,000 mAh battery.

It also supports simultaneous 3G data and voice, unlike the previous versions of the HTC EVO series.

Sprint Apologizes to HTC EVO 4G LTE Owners is a post by Adam Mills from Gotta Be Mobile.

A jailbreak for Apple’s new iPad has finally been released.

After a long wait, pod2g and The Chronic Dev Team have released Absinthe 2.0, an untethered jailbreak that will work for the new iPad and other devices that are running Apple’s latest mobile software, iOS 5.1.1.

The jailbreak is indeed available for Apple’s previous version of the iPad, the iPad 2.

This new jailbreak is untethered which of course means that the device won’t need to be plugged into a computer every single time it shuts down. A tethered jailbreak requires users to plug the device in to jailbreak whenever the device shuts off.

Read: New iPad Review (3rd Gen).

Absinthe 2.0 makes it extremely easy for new iPad owners to jailbreak their tablet. In fact, it’s easier than the previous versions of Absinthe and it will install Cydia without the need for any tapping at the end.

For those interested, the Absinthe 2.0 new iPad jailbreak tool is available on Mac, Windows and Linux versions.

• Absinthe2.0 MacOSX (10.5, 10.6, 10.7)
• Absinthe2.0 Windows (XP/Vista/Win7)
• Absinthe2.0 Linux (x86/x86_64)

Keep in mind, there is always a possibility that something might go wrong and we can’t be responsible for that. You’re jailbreaking at your own risk.

The download is free, but as we told you, the team has a PayPal account set up for users who want to thank the team for their hard work and provide funds to help with the devices needed for future jailbreaks.

If you run into Absinthe 2.0 errors, the fixes in our iPhone 4S jailbreak post should also apply here.

Once the iPad is jailbroken, new iPad owners will be able to customize the device. Cydia, the unofficial App Store, will provide a host of applications and tweaks that are not found on Apple’s official App Store.

New iPad Jailbreak Released is a post by Adam Mills from Gotta Be Mobile.

The iPhone 4S jailbreak for iOS 5.1.1 is available for Mac, Windows and Linux as a free download.

If you have questions about the iPhone 4S jailbreak, this is where to start.

The GottaBeMobile iPhone 4S Jailbreak Guide will show you how to jailbreak, how to fix numerous Absinthe 2.0 errors, how to get started with apps in Cydia and how to un-jailbreak the iPhone 4S if you decide jailbreaking isn’t for you.

If we don’t answer a question or solve an iPhone 4S jailbreak error, leave a question in the comment or reach out on Twitter.

How to Jailbreak the iPhone 4S with Absinthe 2.0

The Absinthe 2.0 tool from the Chronic Dev Team makes it simple to jailbreak the iPhone 4S on iOS 5.1.1. This time around the hackers were able to remove the need for two of the most confusing and hard to perform steps.

Read: How to Jailbreak the iPhone 4S on iOS 5.1.1 with Absinthe 2.0

Jailbreaking the iPhone 4S with Absinthe 2.0 should take about 10 minutes, but restoring your iPhone 4S from backup may take as long as a few hours.

The Absinthe 2.0 tool also provides a new iPad jailbreak as well as offers support for a number of iPhone and iPad models.

Update: Absinthe 2.0.1 released to fix errors.

How to Fix Absinthe 2.0 Errors

The iPhone 4S jailbreak isn’t without errors. The most common Absinthe 2.0 error is ”Recovery completed. If you want to retry jailbreaking, unplug your device and plug it back in.”

Read: How to Fix Absinthe 2.0 Errors 

Thankfully it is easy to fix this and other Absinthe 2.o errors and get your jailbreak back on track.

Make sure you turn off passcode lock before you try to jailbreak the iPhone 4S on iOS 5.1.1, as it commonly causes failures.

Top iPhone 4S Jailbreak Apps

There are a number of great iPhone 4S jailbreak apps. We’ve covered this topic many times, so we’ve rounded up our favorites at the following links.

• 18 Apps to Jailbreak the iPhone 4S For
• Top iPhone 4S Jailbreak Apps and Tweaks
• Essential iPhone 4S Jailbreak Apps

These collections offer a range of free and paid iPhone 4S jailbreak apps and tweaks. I suggest installing a few of the apps at a time to prevent stability issues and make it easier to track down any apps that cause your iPhone 4S to crash.

Will Siri Work With iPhone 4S Jailbreak?

Not only does Siri work with a jailbroken iPhone 4S, it’s possible to do much more with Siri after jailbreaking the 4S.

Read: Siri Works on Jailbroken iPhone 4S

With SiriToggles and other Siri iPhone 4S jailbreak tweaks it is possible to open apps with Siri and to use Siri to change settings like WiFi, Bluetooth and Brightness.

Why You Should Jailbreak the iPhone 4S

The biggest reason users jailbreak the iPhone 4S is to install apps, tweaks and customizations that Apple will not allow in the App store.

These apps can change how the iPhone 4S looks and works and add new features. Many users like the visual flair that comes from Fold to Unlock and Barrel 2.

Others love the ability to add a fifth icon in the dock and to add fast access to settings in the Notification Center with SBSettings or NC Settings.

Users who want to go further can change the lock screen with IntelliscreenX or overhaul the look of the iPhone 4S with DreamBoard.

There’s no, one reason to jailbreak the iPhone 4S.

Why Not to Jailbreak the iPhone 4S

An iPhone 4S jailbreak is a great way to get more form your iPhone 4S, but it isn’t without consequences.

Read: Why not to Jailbreak

The jailbreak can make the iPhone 4S unstable and lead to crashes or bad battery life. This is why we recommend installing a few apps at a time. Users who don’t have the time or patience to deal with issues or looking up solutions in forums may be better off with a stock iPhone 4S.

Read: iPhone 4S Jailbreak Gone Bad

Jailbreaking the iPhone 4S is legal, but it voids the Apple warranty. The good news is that most of the time it is possible to un-jailbreak the iPhone before taking it in to Apple for help.

What is Cydia?

Cydia is the jailbreak app store. Cydia is installed on the iPhone 4S during the jailbreak process, and offers easy access to apps and tweaks.

Users can purchase apps in Cydia, but it is important to remember that these apps will no longer work if you decide to un-jailbreak the iPhone 4S.

Many paid apps in Cydia allow users to try them for a day or two to make sure they like the app before purchasing.

Check Out Cydia

How to Un-Jailbreak the iPhone 4S

If you decide that the iPhone 4S jailbreak doesn’t agree with you, it’s easy to un-jailbreak. You don’t need to use Absinthe 2.0 to un-jailbreak, just iTunes.

All you need to do is open iTunes, backup your iPhone and then Restore to factory settings.

Presto. You’re back to a stock iPhone.

–

Lego Robber via ABN2 on Flickr

iPhone 4s Jailbreak Guide for iOS 5.1.1 – Absinthe 2.0 is a post by Josh Smith from Gotta Be Mobile.

While Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich won’t be rolling out to the Sony Xperia Play, it will be rolling out to other Xperia devices next week.

Sony has confirmed that the software will be arriving for owners of seven Xperia branded devices next week and it will be arriving in the form of Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich, the latest version from Google.

The company will be rolling out Android 4.0 to the Xperia arc, Xperia neo, Xperia mini, Xperia mini pro, Xperia pro, Xperia active and Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman. In addition, Sony has confirmed that Android 4.0.4 will also roll out to Xperia arc S, Xperia ray and Xperia neo V users.

Read: Guide to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

Owners of the Xperia arc S, Xperia ray and Xperia neo V have already seen Android 4.0 arrive and this will just take them to the latest version.

Sony did not specify a specific date but we’ll assume that it will inform owners of those plans next week.

It’s nice to see Sony sticking to its guns and not only keeping to the release window that it promised, but also being extremely forthcoming about information regarding the updates.

It’s not often that an Android manufacturer is this transparent.

Android 4.0 is going to bring quite a few new features to all of these devices and hopefully, the experience will be a stable one void of bugs and issues. We assume that it will be given the fact that Sony decided to axe the Xperia Play update due to performance issues.

We’ll let you know when we hear about specific roll out dates for these pieces of software.

Ice Cream Sandwich Coming to Seven Xperia Devices Next Week is a post by Adam Mills from Gotta Be Mobile.

An image from a Lumia 800 running WP Bench shows four Nokia code names that could hint at future Nokia Windows Phone handsets.

The image was first shared on My Nokia Blog, and it shows four Nokia smartphones with Greek names that we haven’t seen before. Those names include Nokia Phi, Nokia Pure Phi, Nokia Alpha, and Nokia PureLambda. The last device, the Nokia PureLambda appears to run Windows Phone OS 8.0.9842, also known as Apollo.

If the image is real, it means Nokia might be working on its PureView Windows Phone and testing it with WP Bench. We know that Nokia is working on bringing the technology of the 808 PureView to Windows Phone, but the release of phone seemed far off.  This could be an early model of the phone, or it could mean Nokia will bring PureView to Windows Phone sooner than we thought.

No matter how far along the PureView Windows Phone is, Nokia needs to wait for Microsoft to announce Windows Phone 8 before the phone can come to market. The current Windows Phone 7.5 can’t support PureView.

Unfortunately the images don’t have any more detail about the other Windows Phones listed. Based on the names, we assume they are more Windows Phone 8 smartphones, as they follow the Greek naming convention. Maybe one of them will feature the designs we saw a in a leaked ad few weeks ago. For now all we have is a few names and the hope that we’ll hear more about the devices and Windows Phone 8 later this year.

Image Possibly Outs Nokia Windows Phone with PureView is a post by Shawn Ingram from Gotta Be Mobile.

While Samsung has yet to confirm anything and the device still appears to be available at retailers, the pebble blue colored Samsung Galaxy S III has apparently been delayed because of a production error.

The report comes from a Dutch site called Tweakers.net, courtesy of Reddit, which says that Samsung has had to destroy 600,000 back covers for the pebble blue Samsung Galaxy S III because of an unknown production error.

Right now, it appears that it is only affecting some markets as UK retailers still have the device in stock. However, it looks like some places may have to deal with a delay of the blue Samsung Galaxy S III, a delay that could last into June.

Read: Why I’m Not Buying the Samsung Galaxy S III.

It doesn’t appear as though the white version of the Samsung Galaxy S III is affected.

Of course, until Samsung itself confirms the news, it’s hard to say how widespread this delay is or if it will affect the launch in the United States, set to take place in June.

The Samsung Galaxy S III is slated to hit the United Kingdom in just a few days on May 29th and thus far, carriers have seen record amounts of pre-orders. So, hopefully, Samsung, the carriers and retailers won’t have to push back the release of the device.

The Galaxy S III is Samsung’s latest smartphone and it features a spacious 4.8-inch Super AMOLED HD display, an impressive 8MP camera with loads of features, a massive 2100mAh battery, and Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

Read: Has Verizon Already Screwed Galaxy S III Owners?

In addition, early tests indicate the the Galaxy S III will offer great battery life, something that is sorely lacking on some Android devices.

Blue Samsung Galaxy S III Delayed? is a post by Adam Mills from Gotta Be Mobile.

Just a short time after its Wi-Fi was released to the public, the 4G LTE enabled version of the Asus Transformer Pad 300 has cleared the government’s hands at the FCC which means its release should have just gotten a little closer.

The filing, first dug up by Liliputing, reveals the device as the Asus Transformer Pad TF300TL. The device that was released in April lacked the L at the end of the model number. The L at the end of that model signifies that this is indeed the 4G LTE model.

Unfortunately, other than signifying that something is on the way, the filing doesn’t reveal many juicy details.

Read: ASUS Transformer Pad 300 Bootloader Unlock Tool Now Available.

Specifically, it does not reveal exactly when this device, with 4G LTE bands compatible with AT&T’s network, will be arriving. It also doesn’t clear up the processor mystery.

The Wi-Fi model has NVIDIA’s quad-core Tegra 3 processor on-board. However, NVIDIA has said that Tegra 3 devices with LTE won’t be arriving until 2013. So, it’s unclear what processor this device is going to have powering it.

Other than that, and the 4G LTE support, this should be the same device.

That means it should have a 10.1” IPS display with 1280 x 800 resolution, an 8MP rear camera, a 1.2MP front-facing camera, a 9.9mm design, 1GB of RAM, and solid battery life.

It’ll also have 802.11b/g/n WiFi, GSM and WCDMA 3G connectivity, GPS, Bluetooth, and an assortment of ports including an SD card slot that will allow owners to expand the device’s storage space.

Now that it has passed the FCC, we expect an announcement at some point soon and we’ll let you know when we hear something.

4G LTE Asus Transformer Pad 300 Release Gets Closer is a post by Adam Mills from Gotta Be Mobile.

New HTC EVO 4G LTE owners who want to root their device can now do so as a root method has become available just a day after the phone started arriving on the doorsteps of customers.

The process, which has been posted by zedomax over at XDA-Developers, is an easy one click root that is available to those running Windows, Mac OS X or even a Linux based computer.

This process is about as simple as it gets. Windows users will want to install a couple of drivers but after that, all it takes is a simple little script to root the device. That’s about as painless as its going to get.

Read: HTC EVO 4G LTE vs. iPhone 4S.

Once root is achieved on the HTC EVO 4G LTE, users will then have full access over the phone. Keep in mind, this is a new release, so there won’t be much out there to install or hack just yet.

Now, just because this process is easy for some doesn’t mean it will be for others. Those who are trying to root for the first time need to be especially careful because there is always a chance that something could go wrong. Bricking a phone a day after launch doesn’t sound like too much fun so please be careful.

Read: HTC EVO 4G LTE Packs Secret 3G Feature.

We can’t be responsible for what happens to the device.

The HTC EVO 4G LTE is the third device that Sprint has launched on its still unactivated 4G LTE network joining the likes of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus and the LG Viper 4G LTE. The EVO 4G LTE is Sprint’s third major EVO device following in the footsteps of the HTC EVO 4G and the HTC EVO 3D.

Specifications on the HTC EVO 4G LTE include a 4.7-inch Super LCD display with 720p HD resolution, a dual-core 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, a 8MP rear camera that is powered by a dedicated ImageChip and has a physical button, 16GB of storage, 1GB of RAM, an NFC chip for use with services like Google Wallet, and a large 2,000 mAh battery.

How to Root HTC EVO 4G LTE is a post by Adam Mills from Gotta Be Mobile.

We’ve seen a few photos from Google’s Project Glass already, and now we finally have a video from the glasses as well.

A Google employee put the first video shot from the Google Glasses to Google+ along with a few photos from a “Google Glass Walk” earlier this week. The video is 720p, lasts about 15 seconds, and simply shows what it’s like to jump on a trampoline while wearing the glasses.

Unfortunately, while the video is interesting, it doesn’t have any sound. It seems Project Glass units can shoot interesting photos and videos that would be difficult to get other otherwise, but it can’t yet record sound. We know the device is still being developed, but if it can’t record sound for video, it seems like the initial video we saw of the device won’t come true for a while.

Despite the limitations so far, we’re excited to see what Project Glass looks like when it’s finally ready for the consumer market. We still fear we’ll seem silly talking to our glasses and waving our arms around, but it might be worth it to some people. We like the idea of being able to access some web services without having to take out our phones, as long as it works well and doesn’t interfere with anything else.

Even if Google does figure out a way to make Project Glass easy to use without interfering with the rest of our lives, it still needs to find a better design. The current glasses make everyone look like a super villain of some sort, which isn’t a look that most people would go for.

First Video From Google’s Project Glass Posted on Google+ is a post by Shawn Ingram from Gotta Be Mobile.

Sony has confirmed the bad news. The Sony Xperia Play, the company’s PlayStation phone, will not be getting the upgrade to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

In a blog post, the company updated its customers on the Android 4.0 roll out process and in it, Sony announced that the Xperia Play would not be getting the update after it was confirmed that the device would not provide a stable experience with the new software.

Specifically, Sony seemed to allude to the gaming side of the smartphone as having compatibility issues with the software.

Read: Sony Xperia Play Review: PlayStation Certified Phone (Video).

This was concluded after extensive in-house testing as well as testing with its partners. We assume that means Verizon was probably in on the process as well and both decided against it.

Sony also received negative feedback from the development community which also led to the company’s decision not to roll out the update for the device.

Obviously, this is not the news many Xperia Play owners wanted to hear but it’s pretty clear that the software doesn’t work well on the smartphone and Sony doesn’t want to make things worse.

The news comes shortly after Motorola decided against the update for two of its smartphones, the Motorola Droid 3 and the Motorola Droid X2. Motorola also cited performance issues as the cause as well.

As for the other Xperia devices in Sony’s lineup, the Xperia S will be getting the update by the end of June. That will be followed by the Xperia P and the Xperia U, both of which will receive the update sometime in Q3.

So that means owners will see the software sometime between July and September.

Sony Xperia Play Won’t Get Ice Cream Sandwich is a post by Adam Mills from Gotta Be Mobile.

One analyst now thinks we’ll see new Macs with Retina Displays sometime in the near future, probably this summer.

According to The Wall Street Journal, one analyst is now predicting a new lineup of Macs with Retina Display, including new MacBook Air models in the next few months. The analyst, Ben Reitzes of Barclays Capital, believes we’ll see Apple’s new MacBook Airs with OS X Mountain Lion before Windows 8 ultrabooks launch this fall.

The analyst predictions mesh with9To5Mac‘s claims that Apple will unveil new MacBooks at WWDC next month. According to those rumors, the new MacBook Pros will feature Intel’s latest Ivy Bridge CPUs, USB 3.0, and slimmer designs in addition to Retina Display. The rumors also mention the 15-inch MacBook Air we’ve heard so much about.

9To5Mac believes that Apple will introduce the Retina Display first on the MacBook Pro line, and the MacBook Air and iMac will gradually receive Retina Display updates later. The logic stems from Apple’s previous Mac updates where the company gradually rolled out new features across the line.

While the gradual rollout logic makes sense, it also seems like almost every Mac from the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro up to the Mac Pro (especially the Mac Pro) is due for an upgrade. It would be tough to push out new units of every model, but Apple might be able to do so. Or, it could just be wishful thinking on our part.

It’d be nice to have a choice between a Retina Display MacBook Pro and MacBook Air without having to wait.

Retina Display Macs Coming This Summer According to Analyst is a post by Shawn Ingram from Gotta Be Mobile.

The Cipher is a credit card shaped stylus for your touch screen device like the iPad or iPhone or Android tablet or smartphone. Quirky wants users to let them know if this product deserves to show up in their store and how much you’d spend. Its part of their new Quirky Evaluation beta program.

Quirky offers products designed by people who send them to Quirky. The new Quirky Evaluation beta lets the site’s customers choose which products should end up in the store. It fits in the Kickstarter realm as a company that gives users the ability to invent and potentially bring their products to market.

You don’t invest in a product the same way you do with Kickstarter, but you can tell them whether you’d buy and how much.

Users evaluate products by answering four questions. They want to know what price is too expensive, expensive but worth it, too cheap and seems like poor quality, and finally a good value or bargain.

After you answer the questions, they show you what others answered and tell you what is the current projected price.

The PowerCurl, which helped MacBook users keep their MagSafe power adapter wires under control, was a Quirky product that I reviewed it over at Notebooks.com last year.

Quirky would like your opinion on the Cipher, a project TUAW recently reported. It fits in your wallet just like a credit card, but adds a thick capacitive material on one of the longer sides of the card. You hold it like a pen and use the corner to tap on the screen.

The Cipher potentially solves one frustration with using a stylus. Carrying it around! Unless your touch-screen device includes a silo to hold the stylus, like Samsung might add to the next version of their Samsung Galaxy Tab, you have to get a special case with a stylus holder. You could keep it in your bag, purse or pocket, or carry along with the tablet or smartphone. I know I’ve lost a few nice styli thanks to this problem.

You will get two Cipher cards in a pack and they fit with all your other plastic. One side will let you add your contact information for branding as a giveaway to customers, clients or employees.

I like the ingenuity of the Cipher, but I’m not sure I’d actually buy it. When you want to quickly ink on your screen, getting a card out of your wallet seems just as cumbersome as pulling a stylus out of your pocket. The stylus fits the way we normally write.

I’m not sold on the idea until I get my hands on one to test it. Would you order one at the current projected price of $4?

Quirky offers a bunch of interesting products for your evaluation. Here’s a couple other Quirky Evaluation Beta products I like:

• Siphon – a USB headphone/stereo output splitter that looks really nice and lets you switch between two or three headphones, speakers or stereo outputs on your computer
• Pod Power – an extension cord with 5 outlets that also includes retractable power cables and adhesives to install permanently anywhere you need it and Quirky already announced they’re making this one
• Ray – a solar charger for USB powered devices with a suction cup so you can stick it to your car window or airplane window if you’re lucky enough to sit in the windows seat on the plane.

Are you interested in using Quirky?

Cipher Credit Card Stylus Looking for Launch Support on Quirky is a post by Kevin Purcell from Gotta Be Mobile.

Ahead of Google’s summer I/O developer conference this year, we’re hearing more about Google’s efforts on the hardware side surrounding its Nexus franchise. On the tablet front, we’re getting a clearer picture of the rumored Google Nexus Tablet that’s been speculated to be made by Asus.

The device has been rumored to come in at around $200 and with a 7-inch form factor to take on Amazon’s Kindle Fire tablet. According to a source to TechnoBuffalo, the tablet will indeed be introduced at Google I/O in late June this year, and Google is said to be giving away a tablet to every developer in attendance.

What’s still unclear though is if the tablet will come pre-loaded with Android 5.0 Jelly Bean, but the conflicting reports on that suggest that Jelly Bean could in fact debut by the time the conference starts. In the past, Google has been speculated to sell the Nexus Tablet direct to consumers through its own web retail channel starting July.

Additionally, with NVIDIA’s Kai platform aiming to take down the quad-core tablet price to around $200, it could stand that the Tegra 3-powered Nexus Tablet by Asus will also match NVIDIA’s price projections.

Moreover, TechnoBuffalo is reporting that the fifth anniversary of Android will see Google expand its Nexus franchise to include five different smartphones, one each from five different handset manufacturer. This would also alleviate concerns that Google will play favorites with Motorola Mobility as Google had recently closed its acquisition of the smartphone-maker earlier this week.

The five Android Nexus smartphones will be launching on November 5th this year.

This appears to be a big summer for Android. Samsung’s flagship Galaxy S III smartphone is also expected to land this summer in the U.S. market.

More Details of Asus Google Nexus Tablet Surface is a post by Chuong Nguyen from Gotta Be Mobile.

The iPhone 4S jailbreak on iOS 5.1.1 is finally available for the masses, but despite a new streamlined process that doesn’t require fancy button pressing to enter DFU mode, the tool is failing for a number of users.

The Chronic Dev Team claims the Absinthe 2.0 iPhone 4S jailbreak for iOS 5.1.1 is, “so easy your grandma could do it ;D”, but that isn’t the case for everyone.

Specifically, many iPhone 4S owners are unable to finish the jailbreak process.

Update: How to Solve iPhone 4S Jailbreak iOS 5.1.1 Errors in Absinthe 2.0

When I tried to jailbreak the iPhone 4S, Absinthe 2.0 gave me the following errors.

“Hmm… something seems to have gone wrong… trying to recover”

and

“Recovery completed. If you want to retry jailbreaking, unplug your device and plug it back in.”

These errors are frustrating to say the least, and a prime example of one of the issues that can pop up when users jailbreak the iPhone 4S.

I did not lose any data, but I’ve wasted the morning restoring from backup and attempting to jailbreak the iPhone 4S on iOS 5.1.1.

You can follow our guide, How to Jailbreak the iPhone 4S on iOS 5.1.1 and check out my essential iPhone 4S jailbreak apps, but I can’t install them just yet.

I’ve reached out to members of the jailbreak team on Twitter to try to figure out what this error means, and how to get around it.

I’m currently restoring form a backup and will try that way, even if it means the jailbreak will take longer. I have heard that restoring the iPhone 4S in iTunes might help, but it should be the same as restoring from the phone.

Have you found a solution to the “Recovery completed. If you want to retry jailbreaking, unplug your device and plug it back in.” and “”Hmm… something seems to have gone wrong… trying to recover” Absinthe 2.0 errors?

iPhone 4S Jailbreak Absinthe 2.0 Errors Put Jailbreakers on Lockdown is a post by Josh Smith from Gotta Be Mobile.

The iPhone 4S jailbreak for iOS 5.1.1 untethered is finally available to download.

The new Absinthe 2.0 iPhone 4S jailbreak tool jailbreaks the iPhone 4S and other Apple devices running iOS 5.1.1, the latest version of Apple software.

The new iPhone 4s Jailbreak tool provides an untethered iPhone 4s jailbreak which means users do not need to plug the iPhone into the computer when they restart to keep the jailbreak.

The iPhone 4S iOS 5.1.1 jailbreak tool is easier to use than previous Absinth jailbreak tools, and installs Cydia  at the end of the process without the need to tap on a jailbreak icon.

To jailbreak the iPhone 4S on iOS 5.1.1, users need to download the newest Absinthe tool from Greenpois0n, and should follow these steps to prepare for the iPhone 4S jailbreak.

The iPhone 4S jailbreak comes thanks to pod2g, The Chronic Dev Team and many others who worked behind the scenes to find the necessary exploits. The iPhone 4S jailbreak is free, but the team has a PayPal account set up for users who want to thank the team for their hard work and provide funds to help with the devices needed for future jailbreaks.

The Absinthe 2.0 iPhone 4s jailbreak tool is available on Mac, Windows and Linux versions.

• Absinthe2.0 MacOSX (10.5, 10.6, 10.7)
• Absinthe2.0 Windows (XP/Vista/Win7)
• Absinthe2.0 Linux (x86/x86_64)

You can download Absinthe iPhone 4S jailbreak for iOS 5.1.1 from Greenpoois0n.com roday, but high traffic load means you need to try to download Absinthe a few times before succeeding.

Stay tuned for a guide on how to jailbreak the iPhone 4S on iOS 5.1.1 with a video walkthrough.

What You Need to Know About the iPhone 4S Jailbreak

Before you jailbreak the iPhone 4S, keep in mind that the iPhone warranty is void as long as the iPhone is jailbroken. Most of the time users can un-jailbreak the iPhone 4S before taking it to Apple for support or repair, but keep this in mind before you jailbreak.

Read: Reasons Not to Jailbreak the iPhone 4s

It is also worth reading these reasons not to jailbreak the iPhone 4S. I chose to go back to stock after my iPhone 4S started crashing and showing poor battery life on the last jailbreak. Users who cannot spend the time to troubleshoot issues may not want to perform the iPhone 4S jailbreak.

Watch to see how some users customize the look of the iPhone 4S with Dreamboard, an app that transforms the look and feel of the iPhone. In this case, the iPhone 4S looks like OS X Lion.

That said, there is very little chance you will break your iPhone 4S with this jailbreak. For many users the ability to run any app and customize the look and feel of the iPhone 4S more than worth any risk that comes with the jailbreak.

The SBSettings app shown above provides fast access to common iPhone settings, and is one of the many reasons users choose to jailbreak the iPhone 4S.

After performing the iPhone 4S jailbreak, users can supercharge Siri to open apps and control settings.

Read: Top iPhone 4S Jailbreak Apps and Tweaks in Cydia

An overwhelming majority (87%) of GottaBeMobile readers will jailbreak the iPhone 4S today based on a sample of 629 readers.

Whatever you do, keep in mind that GottaBeMobile and the jailbreak teams are not responsible for any broken iPhones.

Are you already jailbreaking? If you run into problems let us know in the comments.

iPhone 4S Jailbreak for iOS 5.1.1 Untethered Released – Absinthe 2.0 is a post by Josh Smith from Gotta Be Mobile.

In a blog post to developers, Google announced that the Android platform now supports in-app subscription, which will allow developers to more easily monetize additional content and services to users. This would allow developers to continue to build and expand existing apps and automatically charge users for new features.

Google says that developers can set the price and billing intervals for subscriptions, and users will be able to see clearly how subscriptions and in-app billing works when they check out:

For users, Google Play provides a familiar and convenient purchase experience, highlighting subscription details such as price and billing interval before continuing with purchases. After the transaction, Google Play manages recurring billing and keeps users informed of new charges, sending them an email with each renewal. At any time, users can visit My Apps in the Play Store app to view their subscriptions and cancel any subscription as needed.

In-app subscription may help Google take on Apple in the digital magazines and periodicals space in the future as well. Google already competes with Apple’s iOS App Store in the areas of movies, music, apps, and ebooks. Still missing are newspapers, magazines, and other periodicals that can now be enabled through in-app subscription billing.

Google expects several apps to launch with in-app subscription in the coming days and that more apps will follow in the future.

In the coming days, several developers will be launching apps with Google Play subscriptions and we expect many more to follow. Glu Mobile is launching updated versions of its top Android titles, including Frontline Commando, offering subscriptions through custom VIP currency packages. “We’re using Google Play subscriptions to offer consumers a compelling value and a single currency which they can use across Glu’s most popular titles” says Niccolo de Masi, CEO of Glu. “We’re excited to bring these capabilities to our Android users and we believe that Google Play subscriptions will fuel further growth in our business.”

News of in-app subscription follows the launch of in-app billing several months ago on the Android platform. In-app billing initially debuted on Apple’s iOS platform and offered a lot of flexibility. First, in the area of travel guides, for example, rather than have individual apps for each individual guide for differing cities, now users can just have one app and can purchase and download new guides as they become available within the app. This eliminates screen clutter and the need to organize and maintain folders. Second, this method would allow for freemium titles to be released where the basic app is free and users who want more advanced tools, additional levels in a game, or more features can pay to add them and unlock the expanded capabilities.

In-App Subscriptions Opens the Doors for Android is a post by Chuong Nguyen from Gotta Be Mobile.

Though employees can still bring their iPhone smartphones to work, IBM’s recently issue policy bars employees from using Apple’s Siri voice assistant feature at work. According to IBM, the reasoning for the ban is due to Siri sending user’s spoken queries to Siri to a remote data server to process speech to text and then deliver the search results. This leads to privacy concerns, especially with confidential or secret corporate information, as IBM is concerned that it’s not sure what Apple is doing with the data, how long the data is being stored, and who else may be given access to this data.

And Siri also collects a number of other information from a user’s phone in an effort to provide for a good user experience, including names from the phone’s address book, and according to CNN, “other unspecified user data.”

From the terms of use from Apple, this is what Siri users are agreeing to for using the novel voice feature of Siri:

By using Siri or Dictation, you agree and consent to Apple’s and its subsidiaries’ and agents’ transmission, collection, maintenance, processing, and use of this information, including your voice input and User Data, to provide and improve Siri, Dictation, and other Apple products and services.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has also recently issued a statement warning users about Siri over privacy concerns as well.

And its creator, Edward Wrenbeck, says that there are other legal nuances as well behind Siri. As Siri also gathers GPS information to deliver location-specific search results–like for instance when you’re asking for the nearest Starbucks location–this may be a grey area when working with non-disclosure agreements: “Just having it known that you’re at a certain customer’s location might be in violation of a non-disclosure agreement.”

However, Siri’s privacy and data handling may not be different from other Internet giants, which have been under recent scrutiny such as Google and Facebook. The difference is that Siri can be used to dictate messages and notes, and perhaps IBM does not want Apple storing its confidential notes and correspondences on its remote servers.

Privacy Concerns Lead IBM to Ban Siri At Work is a post by Chuong Nguyen from Gotta Be Mobile.