Inside JailbreakCon’s massive 13,500 square foot venue

As most of you know, JailbreakCon, the world’s largest jailbreak conference, will be taking place in the USA later this year. Hackers, developers and enthusiasts will all gather in San Francisco on September 29th to talk about, what else, jailbreaking.

And for those of you that are under the impression that this is going to be just a tiny get-together, think again. The WWJC (WorldWide Jailbreak Convention) crew just posted a video of a tour inside the convention’s massive 13,500 square foot venue…

What you are seeing is the inside of the San Francisco Conference Center. And if you look close enough, you can spot Saurik off to the right in the beginning of the clip. Saurik is just one of the many high-profile speakers slated to appear at JailbreakCon.

Between the guest speakers, and the enormous venue, this looks like something you won’t want to miss. For those that are planning on going, tickets are on sale now and can be purchased in a variety of packages from the event’s official website.

Remember, iDB is an official sponsor of JailbreakCon, and will be at the convention providing all kinds of hands-on coverage. See you in September!

Who else is planning on attending?

Apple’s marketing honcho Phil Schiller quits Instagram because it went to Android

If you couldn’t believe those hipsters quitting Instagram just because it sold out to Facebook for a staggering $1 billion, wait ’till you hear this.

Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president, apparently quit Instagram because the photo sharing service recently expanded to Android.

It’s hardly a surprise, if you think of it. Schiller, a prominent figure in Apple’s public presentations, has been a member of the company’s executive leadership team since Steve Jobs returned to Apple in 1997.

Being in charge of worldwide marketing at Apple and an active Twitter user, Schiller would be foolish to continue supporting a hugely popular service that up until recently used to be an iOS exclusive…
That must have hurt Schiller’s feelings.

According to a post over at 9to5Mac, a reader has discovered that Schiller deleted his @schiller account on Instagram. The executive clarified the decision in a private message to the reader, saying he quit the immensely popular photo sharing service because:

It “jumped the shark” then it went to Android.

Not much to be said about this, with the exception that Schiller is no ordinary user.

Being one of the public faces of Apple and a high-ranked executive in charge of marketing means moves like this are always scrutinized and send a certain message.

Contrast this to a pair of his earlier tweets that clearly promoted Instagram.

Philip Schiller
✔@pschiller “@therealpavell: @pschiller Hi! What iPhone apps do you use to edit your photos?” > Aperture on Mac. Best Camera and Instagram on iPhone.
8 Dec 10 ReplyRetweetFavorite

Philip Schiller
✔@pschiller Congrats to @foofighters @instagram and all the iTunes Rewind 2011 winners! (btw: @schiller on Instagram ;->)
9 Dec 11 ReplyRetweetFavorite
To me, the message is loud and clear: iPhone users, stop supporting Instagram, our app of the year!

Dunno.

Maybe I’m overblowing this, but this is my take.

What’s yours?

Should have Schiller stayed an Instagram user regardless of the fact the service expanded to Android?

Why Apple’s next iPhone launch is so important

A week from now, Apple will be announcing its sales figures for the past three months on its quarterly earnings call. Analysts think the company sold in upwards of 12 million iPads and 33 million iPhones, thanks to the continuous momentum of the new 4S.

But according to Goldman Sachs’ Bill Shope, Apple’s next smartphone launch is the one to watch. The analyst recently raised his Apple stock price target from $700 to $750 on the belief that the sixth-generation iPhone launch is the most important one ever…
In a note to investors yesterday, Shope wrote: “The iPhone 5 launch is likely to be one of the most important smartphone product cycles we’ve seen to date.” And considering all of the expectations that Apple has to live up to, he might just be right.

First of all, the entire tech world thought that Apple’s last iPhone was going to receive a radical makeover. But all of the reports and third-party cases that supported that theory quickly faded from memory as Apple introduced the familiar-looking 4S.

Obviously, with the help of Siri, the holidays and other factors, the device still sold in record numbers. But if you think that Apple will be able to pull that off again — release another iPhone 4-like handset with a minor spec bump — you’re high.

Secondly, you have to realize that Apple has sold more iPhone 4S’ in the last 6 months than it has of any iPhone model ever before. In fact it’s sold more iPhones period. So it’s either going to have to convince a lot of other platform users — Android, BlackBerry, etc. — to switch to the iPhone, or a lot of current iPhone users to upgrade. And at this point, that’s a pretty tall order.

Mix in the fact that investors are already unsteady about Apple’s ability to keep up its ridiculous growth pace — its market cap is more than double what it was last year — and that piles on even more pressure for the company to deliver a hit.

Thus far, rumors regarding Apple’s next smartphone are fairly scattered. Some say it will have a 4-inch screen, others say it will be made of liquid metal. But if there’s one thing you can count on, it’s that it’s going to be impressive. Apple has a lot riding on it.

One in ten men apparently more fond of iPads than the ladies

It’s no secret that we are big fans of the iPad here at iDB. The clue is kinda in our name, but even we don’t quite understand this latest statistic to come our way.

Put together by online casino Roxy Palace, a recent survey suggests that one in ten, or around 11% of men asked would prefer to get their greasy mitts on a new Apple tablet rather than a lady friend.

We had to read that a few times to make sure we hadn’t imagined it but sure enough, that’s what the numbers say. Just to add a little fun to proceedings, the poll also asked whether people would prefer any other kind of tablet to a new love, with the number dropping to just 4%…
Around 44% of those asked also admitted to using an app of some sort to help with a relationship issue, which we suspect may well be damning evidence against the pool of men questioned.

While not exactly earth shattering statistics, and probably unlikely to find their way into an Apple earnings call, it is still interesting reading.

Still, as much as we like a shiny new tablet every once in a while, we’re not sure we would go so far as to say we’d rather have a tablet than a nice lady.