Color us surprised that Apple decided to spring iOS 6.1 on everyone Monday! After all, Cupertino had pushed out a fifth beta of the update over the weekend, so few probably expected it to be released right away. The good news is, the official release means the jailbreakers are free to unleash the exploit they've been sitting on, which promises to bring untethered fun to every device currently running the software. Read on for more details!
iOS 6.1 may have gotten all the attention yesterday, but the software also found its way onto the Apple TV with a new 5.2 update for the second and third-generation media streamers. According to MacRumors, the big news is that an Apple Wireless Keyboard can now be used to control the Apple TV using Bluetooth (no word on if this works with other BT keyboards), the ability to send audio only from movies, TV shows and other videos via AirPlay and iTunes 11-style "Up Next" improvements. The update also offers improved performance and stability in general, particularly for the iTunes Store, AirPlay, Netflix, iTunes Match and wired Ethernet connections. Those of you using aTVFlash to jailbreak your box may want to hold off for now -- especially if you have the latest 1080p-equipped ATV, because there is no jailbreak for you whatsoever.
Monday wound up being chock full of updates, and lost among them was Google Drive for iOS 1.2.2. This seemingly modest app update introduces multiple photo and video uploads, allows QuickOffice users to open and save to Drive, adds Helvetica Neue to the list of supported fonts and a pair of new features each to Sheets and Slides -- diagonal scrolling and cell formatting for the former, with improvements to slideshows and animations and pinch to zoom on slides for the latter. Jump over to the App Store to grab your update!
This probably isn't what Twitter had in mind when they released Vine last week! No sooner did Vine users begin using the app to share naughty videos with each other, than Apple began accidentally promoting it as an "Editor's Choice" on the App Store, complete with one of those pornographic video clips. According to CNET, Twitter claims the whole thing was a "human error" and has removed the offending clip, while Apple has withdrawn its Vine promotion and appears to be acting like the whole mess never happened. It seems as if the buddy-buddy relationship between Apple and Twitter may be shielding Vine from Cupertino's wrath for now, but who knows what the future may hold...
After a flurry of updates toward the end of 2012, things have been a little more quiet from the Evernote camp. But that changes this week with an update to the company's free Web Clipper for Safari, which introduces PDF web clipping with a single click. The update also adds tags for Evernote Business, along with a few other minor improvements behind the scenes. If you use Evernote, the Web Clipper is the best way to grab stuff right from the internet, so go forth and download the Safari update today.
With the official release of iOS 6.1 on Monday, Gizmodo is reporting that jailbreak hackers are planning a triumphant return to the cat-and-mouse game as early as this weekend. According to a series of tweets from jailbreaking mouthpiece MuscleNerd, Super Bowl Sunday may wind up having another meaning for those rocking an iPhone 5 or other current iOS device. The hackers are even claiming it's safe for everyone to update to iOS 6.1 now, although some are recommending doing a full restore first rather than an over-the-air update. MuscleNerd claims every device capable of running iOS 6.1 -- 22 in total, plus the second-gen Apple TV -- will be supported. Anyone still get excited by this news?
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J Keirn-Swanson
January 29, 2013 at 5:37pm
I can report that I was able to pair my iPad's Logitech Bluetooth keyboard case to the Apple TV and search through Netflix, et al. without any difficulties whatsoever.
I don't necessarily go in for idle speculation, but I suspect that this is an early roll out feature for a redesigned Apple TV come March.
At least I'm super hopeful that Apple TV opens up a lot more channels and this is why they've added this functionality.
