Untethered Jailbreak iPhone 4S and iPad 2 on iOS 5.0.1 with Greenpois0n Absinthe

Published on January 21, 2012 by Richard Ker

Finally the wait is over. The untethered jailbreak for A5 based devices running on iOS 5.0.1 is now available with a tool called Greenpois0n Absinthe.

This tool was released a few hours ago by Chronic Development Team, with the collaboration of Pod2g and the iPhone Dev Team. Absinthe is a French word which is historically described as a distilled, highly alcoholic beverage. Since Pod2g is French, this can be the reason why this word was chosen.

Currently, it’s now only available for Mac but Windows and Linux version should be available any time soon.

Before you begin, you need to make sure that your device is already running iOS 5.0 or 5.0.1. Backing up your device is highly recommended.

Steps

1. Download Greenpois0n Absinthe for Mac, Windows or Linux.

2. Connect your iPhone 4S or iPad 2 to your computer.

3. Launch Absinthe and click jailbreak. It may take a while so just sit back and wait.

4. Once done you will see the Absinthe icon on your springboard or home screen.

5. Connect to WiFi and tap on Absinthe. It may take a while to download all Cydia files as the server may be very busy. If you get an error message simply try again.

That’s it! You should now have Cydia installed and enjoy installing all your favorite jailbreak apps!

Image by followmefoodie.com

Sn0wbreeze v2.9 Builds Untethered Jailbreak iOS 5.0.1 Custom Firmware and Supports Older iOS

Published on January 17, 2012 by Richard Ker

I was wondering why it took a while for iH8sn0w to release the latest version of redsn0w. He actually planned it for the special release today in conjunction with sn0wbreeze’s 2nd year anniversary.

Sn0wbreeze is my favorite tool to create custom firmware as it will always guarantee that your baseband is preserved.

iH8sn0w has just released version 2.9 and he announced it on his blog:

sn0wbreeze v2.9 [Two year anniversary]

  • Happy birthday sn0wbreeze!
  • Brought back old firmware support in one release!
  • GUI Improvements
  • You can now build IPSWs with TinyUmbrella/iFaith blobs!
  • Removes OTA Updates/badge on iOS 5.x.x+ devices.
  • Added an IPSW Downloader
  • Built-in iREB functionality updated from newest iREB r5 module.
  • Custom Packages in Expert actually works now. :P
  • All supported firmwares in this release are untethered.
  • A5 devices are NOT supported at this time due to no public DFU/iBoot exploit.

Supported iOS Revisions:

  • Supports iOS 3.1.3
  • Supports iOS 3.2.x
  • Supports iOS 4.0.x
  • Supports iOS 4.1
  • Supports iOS 4.2.1 – 4.2.8
  • Supports iOS 4.3 – 4.3.3
  • Supports iOS 5.0.1
  • iOS 4.3.4/4.3.5/4.4.x/5.0 support coming soon

You can download it from iH8sn0w’s website or a mirror download link is here.

I’m also building custom iOS 5.0.1 firmware for iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4 and will make them available for download in the next 48 hours (use these files at your own risks!):

Before restoring your iPhone with a custom firmware, please make sure that you use iREB or redsn0w to pawn DFU your phone first.

Enjoy and Happy Chinese New Year!

Photos of Cancelled iPhone 4S Launch and Riot at Apple Store Beijing and Shanghai, China

Published on January 13, 2012 by Richard Ker

The launch of the Apple iPhone 4S, originally planned for today, has been cancelled due to overnight fights and riots among scalpers and genuine buyers.


Queues began forming yesterday at both the Sanlitun and Xidan stores in Beijing. Courtesy thebeijinger.


The Xidan store launch went ahead but their stock sold out within two hours.


At Beijing’s Apple Store in Sanlitun, customers (or scalpers?) threw eggs at the glass walls. Crowds were then asked to leave; they were told the launch was cancelled. Police were there to disperse crowds.


It’s rumored that the crowd was mainly made up of teams of scalpers.


Scalpers started hiring people to queue up at Apple Stores in Beijing since about a week ago. Translation: “Hiring: 200 sales positions available. 100 yuan per day, report at Sanlitun between 6-9pm on January 12, 2012. Salary will be paid the next day at 8am. Meal included. (Any gender or age).”


Meanwhile in Shanghai, hundreds of people wearing red caps were seen queuing. It is believed that they were people hired by scalpers.


Finally, this sign says “The queue ends here. iPhone 4S is now out of stock.”

Sadly, it will be difficult for genuine buyers to get their hands on the iPhone 4S. Absolute madness.

Images: TheBeijinger, MIC Gadget.

Install Siri [Spire, Vlingo, Voice-Actions] on Jailbroken iPhone 4 or iPhone 3GS

Published on January 12, 2012 by Luis Portas

You don’t own an iPhone 4S, but you would still like to have Siri on your iDevice. We have a few legal solutions for your problems.


Spire

This is an app that can be downloaded from Cydia (so yes, you do need a jailbroken device).

The installation will take approximately 100MB directly from the Apple servers (and yes, it is legal), so make sure you are connected to a wireless network.

This method is by far the most advanced, since it is actually Siri voice recognition that will be installed on your device. However you will not be able to actually use the Siri as if at an iPhone 4S. Siri sends the data to the Apple servers directly, and receives back the information it needs. That can only happen (for now) with an iPhone 4S. The solution is to have your own Siri Proxy Setup, or use any available online hosts as shown below (Beware. By using these connections, the information sent might not be secured or protected. For instance, if you ask Siri to send a message, that request will be sent to the chosen server to compute. So by then it could be “read” or “copied”, thus endangering the system’s security).

Below you can find a few FREE proxy server hosts. However these have proven to be the most stable ones, others can be found online:

 

What if your device is not jailbroken? Fortunately we have an answer for you. There are a couple of solutions worth to mention from the App store.

Vlingo

By far the most interesting (and with good reviews) is Vlingo. It accepts orders to send SMS’s, E-mail, to search Maps, make Social Updates, Web Search and it can also Voice Dial. All of this on a free app.

Of course it has a few drawbacks. It doesn’t rise to the Siri level on voice recognition. Vlingo doesn’t speak back or reply when spoken to. It is highly inaccurate on loud environments, and sometimes it requests to tap when we’re finished talking. But most of the times it is reliable, and most importantly, it is for free. Besides, you can install it in your older iDevices, as iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, and even on an iPhone 3G (yes, I tested it, and it works).

 

Voice-Actions

Another virtual assistant app is “Voice-actions”. Voice-actions is a paied app (3.99$). Besides doing everything Vlingo does, Voice-Actions also allows you to set reminders and alarms, ask questions, play music and even get instant translations. With these enhancements it is said to be the best alternative for Siri, available to the older models. It is indeed an alternative worth considering if you’re not planning to upgrade your iPhone soon.

Given the high demand of Siri on older devices, it’s will just be a matter of time to see more and more of Siri like apps appearing in the iPhone community.

Free Unlock for iPhone 4 Baseband 4.11.08 Called react0r by hamzah_akram Coming Soon?

Published on January 7, 2012 by Richard Ker

This seems to be the most promising news for those who are stuck on baseband 4.11.08. Read on to learn more.

About two months ago an unknown hacker called hamzah_akram explored the possibility of erasing iPhone 4 baseband information. He was able to erase it but wasn’t sure how to proceed from there.

However, after countless hours he made a breakthrough and has successfully unlocked baseband 4.11.08. Based on his blog and his tweets, it’s very likely that he modified the iOS 5 IPSW file and SIM interposer i.e. Gevey Turbo SIM to make the unlock work.

On his Twitter today:

“Dear guys! the up coming nice thing for all of you is called #react0r ! #4.11.08 …. No donation required! this will end the #4.11.08 age!.”

So far there are no further details on how this news and he intends to make this unlock method available free of charge to the masses.

True or false? Only time will tell.