Could iOS 5 only be coming this fall?

Instead of keeping to the last 3 years of tradition and showing off iOS 5 at an April preview event and releasing it with iPhone 5 this June, could Apple instead preview it at WWDC and only release it this fall? That’s the rumor TechCrunch’s MG Siegler has posted tonight:

• iOS 5 will launch in the fall and will be a major revamp of the OS.
• It could well be previewed at WWDC, it just won’t be released then.
• The iOS 5 launch is also likely to coincide with the release of a new type of iPad, which we previously reported on.
• The new iOS will be heavily built around the cloud, and we could see several new services launch from Apple that take advantage of this.
• Yes, one of those is very likely a “music locker” service. There is also a fall launch aim for this, during Apple’s annual music-themed event.
• But much of the cloud stuff will first be talked about at WWDC, Apple’s developer event which will take place in June.
• One of the new cloud service elements is likely a location service that focuses on finding friends and family members.
• As we said yesterday, OS X Lion is still on pace for a summer release — some of the new cloud components are likely to be baked into it as well.

While anything is possible, this doesn’t sound very much like Apple. Release numbers are marketing driven, not engineering driven (which is why internal release numbers aren’t always the same as external, like Windows 7 actually being Windows 6.1 and Apple TV 4.2.1 actually being Apple TV 4.3.1).

Competition is heating up with Google still iterating Android at a breakneck pace, webOS hitting 2.x and 3.0 this year, and the first BlackBerry QNX-based device shipping next month. Apple going 18 months between iOS refreshes would be perceived as falling behind.

Sure Apple will want to have quite a few “tent pole” features to tout for iOS 5 to be certain, but if any one of them — even cloud connectivity — isn’t ready for the spring there’s nothing to stop Apple from rolling out a less ambitious iOS 5 in April anyway. Remember, there were rumors iPad 2 would be delayed and it wasn’t (it just didn’t get a Retina Display.)

(And yes, that does mean that, just like there are rumors of an iPad 3 coming this fall with Retina Display, there may well be iOS 5.1 (or, hey, iOS 6!) rumors for the fall as well.)

So what do you think? Will Apple make us wait an extra 3 months for iOS 5?

How To Share Music Between iPhone and iOS Devices Over Bluetooth with PairShare

We’ve covered how you can use AirView to stream video between iPhone and other iOS devices. A friend of mine has raised a question about how he can share music between two iPhones or with other iOS devices (e.g. iPad) over bluetooth.

If you’re like him and want to stream your music to other iOS devices over bluetooth, you have to check out the PairShare app. Developed by PairShare LLC, the app lets you easily share your music or listen to your friend’s music via bluetooth. It supports music sharing on most iOS devices, including iPhone 3G/3GS/4, iPod touch (2G or new) and iPad, running iOS 4.1 or up.

How To Share Music Between Devices

It’s pretty easy to share music between devices with Pairshare. Let’s say you want to stream music on your iPhone to your friend’s iPad. What you need to do is to install the app and launch it on both devices.

On your iPhone, tap the “music” button to select the songs you want to share or simply share the whole music library. Once you built the share list, just tap “Connect” button to look for your friend’s iPad. Ask your friend to tap the same button on the iPad. With your friend’s confirmation, the app will pair up both devices automatically. Now what you need is to simply hit the “play” button and your music then wirelessly streams to your friend’s iPad. Your friend can even view your album art, song title, album and artist on his device.

I love this app and it works as advertised. I can easily share my music to my wife and listen the same song together. With multitasking support on iOS 4, you don’t have to keep PairShare opened. Just share the song and you can continue to navigate the web or check your email without interrupting the music playback.

PairShare app is available for free download but it limits to share the song for only 30 seconds. The free version is primarily served for demo purpose. If you love the app and find it useful, you can download the full version for $2.99. So far the app works pretty great and I highly recommend you to check it out if you’re looking for solution to share your music wirelessly.

How to Jailbreak iOS 4.3.1 for iPhone 4 and 3GS using Redsn0w

This Sunday, the latest untethered jailbreak for iOS 4.3.1 was released by the Dev-Team. Here we are, with the complete guide to jailbreak your iPhone 4 or iPhone 3G using Redsn0w.

The Dev-Team has also updated PwnageTool for Mac to jailbreak iOS 4.3.1 but Redsn0w is not only available to both Windows and Mac users but also offers a faster jailbreak process since it does not require any custom IPSW to be created.

This guide can also be used to jailbreak the iPod Touch 4G and 3G and the iPad first generation. If you were putting off the update to iOS 4.3.1 on your device, due to the lack of a stable untethered jailbreak solution, your wait is now over.

Important Note: Read before Jailbreaking

If your iPhone is not factory unlocked and you use Ultrasn0w on your iPhone 4 or iPhone 3GS then please note that Ultrasn0w does not work with iOS 4.3.1 at the moment. The Dev-Team will be releasing an updated Ultrasn0w in Cydia soon.

Also, you must not update your iPhone with stock firmware from Apple. In order to preserve the iPhone baseband, upgrade to iOS 4.3.1 using custom IPSW created in PwnageTool or by using TinyUmbrella only.

Preparing for iOS 4.3.1 Jailbreak:

You must first download Redsn0w and the iOS 4.3.1 firmware in order to proceed with the jailbreak. Here are the links:

redsn0w 0.9.6rc9:

• OS X
  
• Windows
  

iOS 4.3.1 Official Firmware:

• iOS 4.3.1 for iPhone 4(GSM)
  
• iOS 4.3.1 for iPhone 3GS

Since, RedSn0w does not create any custom IPSW you need to update your iPhone to iOS 4.3.1 before performing the jailbreak.

Launch iTunes and connect your iPhone using the dock connector to USB cable. Now press Alt key on your Mac’s keyboard and click on Check for update. Windows users need to press the Shift key and then click on update.

You can now select the IPSW file downloaded in the previous step to update your iPhone. In less than ten minutes, your iPhone will update and reboot.

We are now ready to proceed with iOS 4.3.1 jailbreak.

Instructions to Jailbreak iOS 4.3.1 using Redsn0w:

Extract the RedSn0w zip archive we downloaded earlier.

Now launch redsn0w.

Now click on Browse and select the IPSW file corresponding to your iPhone or other iOS device that you are jailbreaking.

RedSn0w will now try to identify and process the firmware file. Once the firmware file has been identified click on Next.

RedSn0w will now start preparing jailbreak data based on the IPSW file.

After the jailbreak data has been prepared you will be led to the following screen.

By default the checkbox beside Install Cydia should be selected. You do not need to change any settings here. Click Next to proceed.

RedSn0w will now ask you to connect your iOS device to your computer and turn it off. You need to turn off your iPhone or iPod Touch after connecting it to the computer. Click on Next again.

The next screen will show you instructions to put the iOS device into DFU mode.

You need to hold and release the iPhone buttons in the said order to place it in DFU mode in order to proceed with the iPhone jailbreak. This is the last step for the user as after this RedSn0w will do everything automatically.

The iPhone will be jailbroken and then rebooted.

Click on Finish when you see Done! on your screen.

In a few minutes your iPhone will restart with the Cydia icon on the springboard.

Since, there was no custom IPSW involved as compared to the PwnageTool jailbreak, all your data on your iPhone should be intact eliminating the need to resync your data.