Analysts Predict Apple Sold 35 Million iPhones Over the Holidays

After a disappointing [define disappointing] third quarter last year, Apple’s CEO Tim Cook made one of the boldest projections in the company’s history: Apple is going to sell 30 million iPhones and hit $37 billion in revenue in Q4 of 2011.

To put these numbers in perspective, Apple only sold 17 million iPhones in Q3 of last year, hitting just $28.3 billion in revenue. So you can see why some folks were taken a back by Cook’s predictions. But hey, anything can happen, right?
According to UBS analyst Maynard Um, Apple is not only on pace to hit its lofty goal of 30 million iPhones this quarter, but could very well exceed it. AppleInsider breaks down Um’s extrapolation:

“Verizon CFO Francis Shammo had said earlier on Wednesday that the carrier sold 4.2 million iPhones during the [December] period. Meanwhile, rival AT&T announced in early December that “strong” iPhone 4S sales had brought the carrier’s smartphone sales in the first two months of the fourth quarter to 6 million, just shy of its quarterly record of 6.1 million sales.”

The analyst estimates that fourth quarter iPhone sales in the US will top 13 million units. And he expects that number to only account for about 38% of Apple’s worldwide handset sales, bringing the grand total to 35.3 million iPhones.

Combine this with the fact that Apple’s tablets and laptops were extremely popular this holiday season thanks to numerous discounts, and Um thinks that Apple could break $30 billion in revenue for the first time ever this quarter.

One thing is for sure: all eyes will be on Apple Tuesday, January 23rd as it announces its financial results for the December quarter. Whether Apple hits Tim Cook’s projections or not, this will likely be the single best quarter in the company’s history.

We’re Giving Away 10 Copies of aTV Flash (black) for Your Jailbroken Apple TV

The fine folks at FireCore have partnered with iDB for an especially-awesome giveaway. If you’ve jailbroken your Apple TV before then you’ve probably heard of aTV Flash (black). This full-featured jailbreak apps brings some amazing features to Apple’s little set-top box, including a web browser and wireless streaming support for many video formats.

In celebration of the recent untethered jailbreak for the Apple TV, FireCore has given us 10 licenses for aTV Flash (black) to give away to lucky iDB readers. We know, it sounds too good to be true.
We love aTV Flash (black) here at iDB, and it’s definitely the closest thing to Cydia for the Apple TV. You can play all kinds of video formats, listen to Last.fm, surf the web, access media from a non-Apple wireless storage device, create video playlists, check the weather, read RSS feeds, and much, much more.

The app recently received a major update that brought many new improvements as well. Once you install aTV Flash (black), you can then install XBMC and gain access to features like live ESPN streaming.

For you want to know how to jailbreak your Apple TV, you learn how here. We also have a tutorial on how to install aTV Flash (black).

aTV Flash (black) typically costs $30, but we’re going to give you the opportunity to win a copy for free.


iPad Survives 100,000 Foot Fall With G-Form Case

Until last year, G-Form was known for its extreme sports protective gear (elbow/knee pads). Then it introduced the Extreme Sleeve case for iPad, and it is now known for making one of the most durable tablet cases around.

The company has gone through great lengths to demonstrate the Sleeve’s toughness, dropping a bowling ball on an iPad wrapped in the case, and even hurling one from an airplane. And now it’s taken things to a whole new level…
The folks at G-Form have upped the anti with its latest promo video. Using a weather balloon, they’ve managed to launch an iPad into space wrapped in one of G-Form’s new Extreme Edge cases, only to have it free-fall a staggering 100,000 ft.

How to Manage Your iCloud Backups From Your iOS Device

iCloud launched last October to much confusion amongst consumers. Apple’s cloud-based storage service doesn’t work like your typical drag-and-drop cloud software (see DropBox), leaving some folks wondering how to use it.

But never fear, iDB is here to show you how to make the most of your iCloud account. Today we are going to show you how to manage and/or delete your iCloud backup files from your iOS device in just a few easy steps…
Hidden deep within the Settings application are toggles that help you customize, and delete, your iOS backups. Managing these backups can help you save precious iCloud storage space and prevent you from having duplicate backups.

So whether you’re trying to free up some space in your iCloud account, or just want more control over iCloud, this little guide can help you out:

Step 1. Open the Settings application on any one of your iOS devices that is synced with your iCloud account.

Step 2. Tap the iCloud tab and select the Storage & Backup option. You’ll see your Total Storage and Available Storage. And you’ll also see a Manage Storage button. Tap that one.
Step 3. Select the iOS device that you want to customize first, and it’ll take you to a breakdown of your backup details including the last date that iCloud backed up your device, and how much space the backup is taking up.
Step 4. From here, you can select which files you want iCloud to store. For example, if you use PhotoStream to sync your photos to iCloud already, you don’t need to have them backed up a second time here. Turn it off.

If you don’t want iCloud backing up your data at all, you can choose to delete the backup which also turns off the auto-backup option. Just remember to plug your device into your computer and backup to iTunes or you could find yourself in a bind in the future.

Spotify CEO Daniel Ek Shows Off Voice Controlled iOS App

It looks like Spotify CEO Daniel Ek is a self proclaimed “Siri-holic” after the streaming outfit’s head man waxed lyrical about his love for Apple’s digital assistant.

But that’s not all. During an interview for Forbes, Ek gave a sneak peek at a potential new feature that could be on its way to the Spotify iPhone app at some point in the future. When asked about the possibility of voice activation coming to Spotify, Ek picked up his iPhone and requested a dose of Coldplay.

Naturally the handset obliged, though God only knows why Ek wanted to hear Coldplay at all. Regardless, the news that Spotify is working on voice recognition will come as a late Christmas present for fans of the streaming music service…

On Apple’s Mysterious GameStore App

A few days ago, a mysterious application surfaced in the App Store. GameStore, which listed Apple as its developer, popped up on December 31st of last year, and was available for three days before getting pulled.

The odd thing is that the $0.99 app didn’t really seem to do anything. Most folks have dismissed the program as an internal in-app purchase testing tool that Apple published by mistake, but there could be more to it…
Users who purchased the application have started receiving refunds from Apple along with the following message:

“You recently purchased the GameStore app. The app was made available for sale prematurely. We apologize for the problem and have refunded the purchase amount back to your account. These funds will be applied to your original payment method within 5 business days.”

While this could just be a coverup for a more embarrassing mistake, it could also suggest that Apple is about to release an independent store for video games. The idea isn’t really that farfetched when you think about it.

For one, Apple already uses apps like the iTunes Store, iBooks store, and Newsstand to separate its content. This makes it easier to browse for, and find particular, items as it significantly reduces the size of the containing database. And two, iOS has become an extremely popular mobile gaming platform. So a dedicated “Game Store” seems like a logical next-step.

Obviously this is all just speculation at this point, and Apple surely wouldn’t charge a dollar for its “Game Store,” but it’s certainly interesting. In all honestly, we would love a separate App Store for games.

How about you?

Apple to Bid for English Premier League TV Rights

Apple may be set to join a bidding war for the rights to stream English Premier League (EPL) games to its customers, with the aim of bolstering its sales in the UK.

According to the Daily Mail, who do not give any sources for its story, both Apple and Google are weighing their options in the UK, with both companies wishing to make a grab for the lucrative rights to show EPL on their respective devices.

The current deal with Sky Sports runs out at the end of the current season, with the current owners, ESPN and Al Jazeera, already confirmed to be interested in streaming live games to their own channels. SkySports paid a massive £1.6 billion ($2.5b) for its current package.
If Apple did manage to bring the Premier League to the Apple TV, the company would no doubt see huge sales of its little black box. While popular amongst enthusiasts right now, the Apple TV has yet to see widespread adoption in the UK due to its lack of streaming options. While the US has streaming NBA, NHL, and MLB content, the UK’s only source of content is via iTunes with MLB and the WSJ thrown in. With the UK not being a big baseball country, the addition of the MLB hasn’t really got the pulses racing!

Apple obviously has the money to make a move for the EPL rights a reality, but does the company really want to get itself into such a cutthroat business when it doesn’t need to? The move would help with sales of any upcoming Apple television, of course.

For now we’ll chalk this one up to wishful thinking.


Easily Share Your Wi-Fi Credentials in iOS with QuickWiFi Web App

We’ve all been in the position where you need to let someone onto your own Wi-Fi network, but you need to give them your password so they can enter it into their smartphone, tablet, or computer. It’s a pain, and if you’re password is a complex one, the whole process is just something you would rather avoid.

A new web app called QuickWiFi allows you to set up a profile and a customizable URL that will allow other users to install a profile on their iOS device that will grant them access to your Wi-Fi network. You don’t need to manually enter anything, and it means that the user will never actually see your password.

It’s quick and easy, not to mention secure — assuming you’re happy to hand your login details over to the web app.
To get the ball rolling, you’ll want to head on over to the QuickWiFi web site and fill in your network details. Once the profile has been created, it can be edited to set up a more personal URL and you can even use CSS to change the way the landing page looks. This would be perfect if you were holding a party, or perhaps a conference.

When a user reaches the landing page they can then install the Wi-Fi profile and they’re set. Instant access to a password-protected Wi-Fi network with the minimum of fuss.

The developer and designer behind this web app, Jeff Broderick, is also responsible for the beautiful iOS Settings shortcuts we detailed weeks ago.

LockLauncher: Launch Up to 9 Apps From Your Lock Screen

LockLauncher — not to be confused with, well, LockLauncher — is a jailbreak tweak that allows you to launch up to 9 different apps directly from your lock screen.

Despite its unoriginal name, LockLauncher differs from the previous LockLauncher we reviewed last summer. This version of LockLauncher is both free, and features the ability to launch more apps.

Be sure to check out our video walkthrough to see what it brings to the table.
Upon installation, LockLauncher places 9 blank squares on your Lock screen. Tapping the blue arrow in the upper left-hand corner of your Lock screen enters “edit mode.” This allows you to tap on each of the squares and assign a specific app to that position. Once finished editing, tap the blue arrow again to exit edit mode.

The one thing about LockLauncher that I wish was different were the animations after launching an app. Instead of directly launching the app, it went through the motions of the unlocking animation, and then launched the app at the Home screen. That seems like a pretty inefficient method for launching apps, because it slows you down. Instead it would have been nice if an app would directly launch without the need for the unlocking animation.

If you have a passcode lock enabled, LockLauncher will require the passcode before the app is launched. That’s a good thing, meaning the tweak doesn’t compromise your device’s security.

If interested, you can download LockLauncher for free from Cydia. Let us know what you think about it in the comments below.

iOS Finishes 2011 with a 52% share of Mobile Web Browsing

Apple’s iOS finished 2011 with a strong showing in the mobile web browsing stakes, with iPhones, iPads and iPod touches combining to capture 52.1% of the share of mobile devices accessing the web.

With Apple coming top of the list with over half of all devices, Jave ME came second with 21.3% while Google’s Android made up the top three, coming in with a respectable 16.2% share.

The numbers, courtesy of Net Applications, show iOS actually dropping in share when compared to November (54%) and October (61.5%) although the December’s result was not its lowest of the year…
When the results are broken down into iPhone Vs iPad, Apple’s tablet found itself the second most popular mobile device for browsing the web on with a 24.5% share. Top spot went to the iPhone, with 25.2%.  A very strong showing all round for Apple, it has to be said.
Apple’s dominance in the mobile market should come as no surprise, with the iPhone selling like hotcakes and no tablet manufacturer having yet managed to put out a real competitor to the iPad.

Amazon may be the closest thing to competition for Apple’s tablet this time next year, depending on how well the e-tailor manages to execute on the potential of its Kindle Fire machine. Early reports are that the company have landed short of expectations, though we wouldn’t rule the Kindle Fire out just yet.

We’ll be watching to see if similar stats are released this time next year.

‘Motion’ Adds Visual Mayhem to Your iPhone’s Home Screen

Motion is a new jailbreak tweak that can seriously spice up your iPhone’s Home screen if you’re into that sort of thing.

The tweak does this by adding quite a few different animation options to the app icons on your Home screen.

Best of all, Motion clocks in at a reasonable $1 on the Cydia Store. Should you try it out? Check out our hands-on video inside and judge for yourselves.
Motion adds the following animation options: Rotation, scaling, skew, flip, jump, transparency, vertical wave, and horizontal wave, by means of a panel in the Settings app.

All of the animations can be toggled on or off both independently or simultaneously, and the first 6 animations can all animate simultaneously as well.

The bottom line is this: If you’re looking to add some serious visual mayhem to your iPhone’s Home screen, then pony up that buck and install Motion. It’s compatible with iOS 4 and iOS 5, and you can find it on the BigBoss repo.

Are you tempted to add Motion to your Home screen?

Easily Dismiss Your Keyboard With ‘Pull To Dismiss’

Is your iPhone’s keyboard getting in the way? If so, then you may want to give Pull To Dismiss a try.

Pull To Dismiss is the latest jailbreak tweak from Ryan Petrich that allows you to easily dismiss your iPhone’s keyboard with a simple pull. It works similar to pull to refresh, except instead of refreshing the content on the page, it dismisses your keyboard.

Check out our video walkthrough inside.
Pull To Dismiss is a simple tweak with no settings or options to configure. Just install it, and you can begin dismissing your keyboard with a pull as well.

If you’re interested, you can download it for free on Cydia’s BigBoss repo; it works with iOS 3.2 or higher.

Let us know what you think about Pull To Dismiss in the comments below.

Apple TV Now Running iOS Apps in Fullscreen 720p Resolution

As if there was ever any doubt that clever people do clever things, Steve Troughton-Smith and fellow coder TheMudKip have taken things one step further than making iOS apps run on an Apple TV, just as we told you about yesterday.

Because just making the apps run wasn’t awesome enough, the pair has now found a way to make iOS applications run at the full 720p resolution of the Apple TV. The original news was that the Apple TV was being forced to run iOS apps in windows, which was great in itself. Making apps run fullscreen is the next logical step, and it seems that it has already been taken.

The images shared by 9to5Mac show iPad apps running at 720p, which makes a great deal of sense considering the iPad’s own resolution of 1024×768…
We were excited to hear about iOS apps running side-by-side on an Apple TV when we learned the news, simply because of the possibilities it created. Imagine running a news app alongside a streaming video app, or maybe Twitter. Now, being able to run apps fullscreen takes things to a new level, especially if multitasking is enabled the same way it works on an iPhone or an iPad.

Those of us who remember the iPhone before the App Store will remember that it was the jailbreak community and its love of third-party apps which got Apple into the whole app thing in the first place. Could this latest Apple TV development push Apple to do a similar thing with its set top box?

We’ll be keeping an eye on developments with Steve’s Apple TV tinkerings, and we’ll bring news to you here as soon as we get it.

Interesting times ahead in the world of the jailbroken Apple TV!

Rumor: More Claimed iPad 3 Parts Shown, Possible New Internals

More supposed iPad 3 parts have surfaced that appear to show differences between existing iPad 2 hardware and an unknown device. Published by Macotakara, the new photos show an existing iPad 2 dock connector cable alongside the new part, which it is speculated belongs to Apple’s third generation iPad.

Just as any sane person would predict, Apple appears to be sticking to its classic 30-pin dock connector as a source of power and a way of syncing, rather than moving to the industry standard USB solution that is preferred by much of the competition…
With the iPad 3 rumors now beginning to really heat up, we expect more photos to leak claiming to be of iPad 3 parts. This current one comes after Macotakara spotted them on TVC-Mall.com, a web site owned by one of Apple’s own parts suppliers. This isn’t the first time such a leak has occurred, and we are certainly surprised that Apple has yet to plug the leak.

While the appearance of a dock connector in the iPad 3 is no surprise, it is worth noting that the change in attached cable could well point to a change of internals in Apple’s next tablet, as expected. A rumored Retina display could be one reason for different internal components, as could a new chip to replace the current A5. We’ll no doubt hear more over the coming weeks as we get closer to what we all expect to be an iPad announcement in early-2012.