August 2011

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BREAKING: Steve Jobs Resigns as CEO of Apple

Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs, co-founder and two-time CEO of Apple, offered his resignation to the company’s board Wednesday.

Jobs has been in poor health for some time. In January, he announced that he would be taking a medical leave of absence from the company. He returned to the public spotlight in March to help launch the iPad 2.

More information and analysis to follow.

CUPERTINO, Calif.–To the Apple Board of Directors and the Apple Community:

“I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come.”

I hereby resign as CEO of Apple. I would like to serve, if the Board sees fit, as Chairman of the Board, director and Apple employee.

As far as my successor goes, I strongly recommend that we execute our succession plan and name Tim Cook as CEO of Apple.

I believe Apple’s brightest and most innovative days are ahead of it. And I look forward to watching and contributing to its success in a new role.

I have made some of the best friends of my life at Apple, and I thank you all for the many years of being able to work alongside you.

thanks to Chris Taylor for this post.

BREAKING: Google Buys Motorola for $12.5 Billion

Google has purchased Motorola Mobility, a company that makes many of the phones its Android operating system runs on, for $12.5 billion — a 63% premium on its current share price.

The acquisition, Google said in a a statement, “will enable Google to supercharge the Android ecosystem.” The company will continue to be run as a separate business.

Buying a hardware company is an unusual move for Google.

More to come… follow this post for updates via Mashable.

Redsn0w 0.9.8b5 Released To Jailbreak iOS 5 Beta 5 On iPhone 4, 3GS, iPad, iPod touch

Late last week, iOS 5 Beta 5 was seeded to eager Apple developers, As always, many are asked the million-dollar question: can it be jailbroken? As with all previous builds, the answer is yes, with the latest version of Redsn0w which was just released, as long as you don’t mind plugging your device into your computer every time you power it on.

“redsn0w has been updated to 0.9.8b5, adding support for Apple’s new iOS5 beta5 (point it directly at the beta5 IPSW). Please use this only if you’re a jailbreak app developer with a legit Apple dev account, and remember it’s a tethered jailbreak for now!”

iOS5 - Apple iOS

Redsn0w is able to apply a standard tethered jailbreak on almost any iOS device, except for the iPad 2. Since this is an experimental build of iOS 5, iOS jailbreakers will likely be reluctant to disclose vulnerabilities for it yet, making an untethered jailbreak highly unlikely at this point, meaning that the jailbroken device will have to be plugged into a computer running Redsn0w every time it’s powered on, or else it won’t boot into a jailbroken state and won’t be able to run unofficial apps or tweaks.

Redsn0w is incredibly easy to use considering that all the instructions are presented in a relatively well-built user interface. In order to jailbreak your device using Redsn0w, all you’ll need is a copy of the iOS 5 Beta 5 firmware file and iTunes 10.5 Beta 5, which can be both obtained from Apple’s developer website. Some addition iOS skills are recommended, such as switching your device into DFU mode and restoring it with iTunes in case the process somehow fails. You can read our full guide on how to perform this jailbreak here.

It should be noted however that if you jailbreak your device on iOS 5, you wont get future OTA updates from Apple, until and unless you restore your iOS to stock state.

iOS 5 is the upcoming major release of operating system that runs on iPhones, iPod touches and iPads. First unveiled at this year’s WWDC, after months of rumors and speculation, iOS 5 includes several new features that had long been wished for by iOS fans. Among those, there’s a new notification system known as Notification Center which unobtrusively queues up all the notifications issued by apps and services; enhancements to Mobile Safari, especially the iPad version; Newsstand, a special folder on the iOS Home Screen that organizes all magazine apps; and system-wide Twitter integration.

It’s important to stress once again that it’s currently impossible to jailbreak iPad 2(s) on anything above iOS 4.3.3. Redsn0w only works with any iPod touch, iPhone and the first-generation iPad.

>> Redsn0w 0.9.8b5 for Windows OS
>> Redsn0w 0.9.8b5 for Mac OS

London Riot Cleanup Begins as Police Look to BBM, Camera Footage

Riots that consumed London spread to other cities in England last night, and not surprisingly, affected residents took to sites like Facebook and Twitter to discuss the damage. Efforts to organize attacks via services like BlackBerry Messenger, meanwhile, gave way to online cleanup efforts.

Riotcleanup.com is currently tracking recovery efforts throughout London. People are scheduled to gather at the Brixton tube station tonight at 6:30pm local time, for example, while others will meet up outside Bruce Grove Station at 8:30am tomorrow. Additional details are also available on the group’s Twitter account and Facebook Page.

In some cases, onlookers have reported that local officials are already handling things. A man who stopped by Hackney Town Hall, for example, said that in the 40 minutes he was there, “a good 30 people arrived, saw there was nothing left to do and dispersed, most to go to Clapham . In short, it was pretty much sorted. The main point is that people turned up and shifted the focus back onto localism/community.

How did this happen?
The riots were sparked last week by the police shooting of 29-year-old taxi passenger Mark Duggan; violence started the following day when bottles were thrown at two patrol cars near a police station, setting them ablaze, according to a BBC timeline of events. Attacks escalated in recent days, spreading last night to cities like Birmingham, Bristol, and Liverpool.

Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver tweeted that the riots claimed his Birmingham restaurant. “Sadly my restaurant in Birmingham got smashed up windows all gone whole area closed, cant open, staff and customers all safe!!thankfully jox,” he wrote.

Another building that didn’t survive was a Sony DADC warehouse in Enfield, which was set ablaze (video below). Those hoping to loot PlayStations, however, were likely disappointed; the warehouse produces CDs and DVDs. Last night’s fire is potentially devastating to several independent record labels that housed their stock at the warehouse, The Guardian reported.

One piece of technology that reportedly aided rioters was BlackBerry Messenger, which allowed gangs of teenagers to communicate in a secret and untraceable manner. According to a recent study from the U.K.’s Office of Communication (Ofcom), approximately 37 percent of U.K. teens have BlackBerrys, a preference that is driven primarily because of access to BBM, which allows free texting between BlackBerry owners.

In a Monday statement, Research in Motion said it was cooperating with authorities on the matter.
As in all markets around the world where BlackBerry is available, we cooperate with local telecommunications operators, law enforcement and regulatory officials,” RIM said. “Similar to other technology providers in the U.K. we comply with The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act and co-operate fully with the Home Office and U.K. police forces.

The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act, or RIPA, is a law enacted in 2000 that allows for government interception of communications, particularly as it relates to the Internet and encrypted electronic communications.

Scotland Yard, meanwhile, issued a warning to rioters, promising to “identify you and bring you to justice.

The agency today started releasing photos of alleged looting suspects, captured by surveillance cameras, which will be housed on the Metropolitan Police’s Flickr page. If anyone recognizes those pictured, they can call the Major Investigation Team at 020 8345 4142 or report someone anonymously via the Crimestoppers line at 0800 555 111.

Temporary police commissioner Tim Godwin said today that “there are no plans for the army to get involved.” In the next 24 hours, Scotland Yard has pledged to put 16,000 officers on the street. As of last night, police had arrested 334 people and charged 69.

According to The Guardian, last night’s violence claimed its first life; a man died after being shot in his car in Croydon, south London.

Water cannon will be used on rioters?

Cold shower ... Premier Iemma's $600,000 APEC toy / Brad Newman.

The New South Wales Government has unveiled the latest weapon in its battle to stop protesters disrupting next month’s APEC summit – a $600,000 armoured truck, fitted with a high-powered water cannon.

The US-built truck, which has an airtight cabin to protect its users from tear gas, is the first of its type in Australia. Wire mesh covers its shatter-proof windows, a heavy bar at the front allows it to ram obstructions out of the way and has a bigger fuel tank.

The truck can hold 12,000 litres of water to service its cannon, which is capable of knocking people off their feet and drenching a crowd within seconds.

I hope that we’ll never have to use a piece of equipment like this.” Premier Morris Iemma said after a demonstration of the truck’s ability to shoot water at targets up to 50m away.

But if the situation arises, if there are people who take the law into their own hands with riotous behaviour on our streets, then this is a good weapon to have to restore order and control.

The truck, brought to Australia in March when officers started their training for APEC, was officially welcomed into the armoury of the NSW Police’s riot squad today. Mr Iemma said it could be used to protect police if dangerous situations arose during the course of the summit.
It’s the men and women of the police force who are sent in to the front line to deal with these dangerous situations, their protection is just as important as the protection of the public.” Mr Iemma said.

But the Greens today accused the Government of taking a heavy-handed approach to the September 2-9 conference, which will take place behind a fenced-off area of Sydney’s harbour foreshore.
NSW Greens MP John Kaye said police were yet to sit down for talks with organisers of a major protest that was expected to draw tens of thousands who want to voice their opposition to war in Iraq and call for action of climate change.

They are not there for violence.” Dr Kaye said today.

This water cannon will not be effective if there is a small number of protesters who muck up … water cannons don’t work in those type of environments. Innocent people can get mowed down, knocked over and injured by a water cannon.

The NSW opposition said today it supported the water canon’s acquisition.

But Liberal leader Barry O’Farrell said more advertising was needed to alert Sydney residents to the APEC public holiday on Friday, September 7.

While I don’t normally support government advertising, particularly because of its regular abuse by this Labor Government, there is still considerable confusion about the APEC public holiday.” Mr O’Farrell said.

Alex Bainbridge, spokesman for protest group Stop Bush Coalition, said the water cannon would not deter activists from protesting against the war in Iraq, global warming and the Federal Government’s workplace reform at Sydney’s Town Hall on September 8.

The group also is planning a smaller visual stunt to mark US President George W Bush’s arrival in Sydney on September 4.

“It’s not a comforting thought to think that they might be going to prepare to use a water cannon against us.” – Mr Bainbridge said.
“But it’s even more worrying to think about the innocent people being killed in the war in Iraq, and the fate of humanity if global warming isn’t held in check.”