TECHNOLOGY

As Apple prepares for WWDC in San Francisco, new parts and components for a sixth-generation iPhone have surfaced on the Internet, via Apple website 9 to 5 Mac. The images, which show the faceplates and backplates for a new black and white iPhone, appear to be legitimate. This could be the iPhone 5 we've all been waiting for.

Apple Inc.'s Apple Store went off-line twice in 12 hours, leading some to speculate that the tech giant is gearing up to launch highly anticipated updates, including a revamped MacBook Pro and new Apple software at the WWDC conference on June 11.

The worldwide mobile payment transaction value is going to exceed the $171.5-billion mark in 2012, recording a huge 61.9 percent increase from $105.9 billion in 2011, according to a Gartner report.

The Chronic Dev Team has pushed out yet another update of the Absinthe tool. The popular untethered jailbreak tool has been updated to version 2.0.4 that includes support for the previously left alone iPad 2,4.

Opera Software shares soared over 20 percent on Tuesday on talk Facebook Inc. was in discussion to buy the firm, while analysts said competition from Google and others could push the price tag of any deal over $1 billion.

Production of the highly anticipated MacBook Pro update seems to be in full swing, after a new report claims that Apple's Foxconn factory is outsourcing to keep up with demand for the revamped laptop.

A patent application filed by Sony Computer Entertainment America could interrupt gameplay to display an ad. The player will see a warning message before cutting off gameplay. After the ad is shown, the game will rewind before resuming.

Apple?s next operating system update, iOS 6, will emphasize 3-D technology when it comes to its map app. While this has yet to be officially confirmed, images leaked through BGR that indicate its next operating system upgrade will see a revamped map app.

Samsung Galaxy S3, the South Korean tech giant's flagship smartphone hit stores on Tuesday in 28 European and Middle East countries, including Germany and Britain. The company also claimed that the device would be offered by as many as 296 carriers in 145 countries by July.

Researchers at the Russian security firm Karpersky have discovered a new highly sophisticated malicious program that has been used as a cyber weapon to collect private data from thousands of computers in Middle East countries like Iran and Israel and also in North Africa.

Jailbreakers were warned to stay away from the new iOS 5.1.1 9B208 build for the fear of losing the current jailbreak. But that threat no longer exists now as both the Chronic Dev Team and iOS hacker iH8Sn0w have come up for rescue by releasing Absinthe 2.0.2 and Sn0wbreeze 2.9.5 respectively that add iOS 5.1.1 9B208 support for iPhone 4 GSM.

Google Inc.'s Motorola Mobility unit has released teaser videos of Ice Cream Sandwich -- or Android 4.0, if you prefer -- on its Razr and Razr Maxx smartphones, ahead of its anticipated June release date.

Rocky Racoon 5.1.1 Untether? Cydia Tweak is now available to convert iOS 5.1.1 tethered jailbreak to Untethered jailbreak on All devices except Apple TV3.

All those users of an iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad running on Apple's iOS 5.1.1 firmware are now able to break the technical shackles on their devices, thanks to Absinthe 2.0. The latest untethered jailbreak tool covers the majority of iOS devices, except for the third generation Apple TV.

Absinthe 2.0, the latest tool to jailbreak Apple iOS 5.1.1 devices, was released on Friday at the Hack in the Box conference in Amsterdam and is now available, thanks to the Jailbreak Dream Team. It is available for download for both Windows and Mac at Greenpois0n.com along with instructions for how to use the new jailbreak tool.

MIT researchers unveiled a prototype device this week that uses a new way to administer drugs, replacing the common needle with a tiny, highly-controllable jet injector, which sends a high-pressured stream directly into the skin. The jet can both inject into and aspirate from tissue, and the device is controlled via a computer interface, which can control the volume of the drug delivery, and the velocity at which it moves.

While a lot of users are still waiting to get their hands on Samsung's latest flagship smartphone Galaxy S3, the device has already been rooted. The Android developer who goes by the name of Chainfire has managed to root the smartphone even before its release.

Roughly 16,000 police agencies around the world use Tasers, the electroshock weapons that send electrical currents to disrupt voluntary control over one's muscles, but law enforcement officers only prefer Tasers because they can subdue unruly people in a non-lethal, non-violent way. A new study released by the American Heart Association's journal on Monday, however, provides scientific, peer-reviewed evidence to the contrary.

Yahoo Axis is on a mission to redefine the way users search for information. Offered by a free download, Yahoo Axis takes four major Web browsers - Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, and Safari - and alters them to display search results in a more convenient and visual format.

On Thursday, pod2g announced the inclusion of the iPad 3,3 to the list of supported devices. With the new iPad now fully supported by the iOS 5.1.1 untethered jailbreak, the only device left to be tested is iPad 2 Wi-Fi, R2 (iPad 2,4).

HTC has provided a complete list of devices on its website with timeline for receiving the updates. According to the company, the majority of devices will be getting the updates in June and July while the entire process of updating all the announced devices is expected to be finished in August.

Accelerometers are devices that can measure acceleration, but in smartphones, they're able to detect changes in orientation and tell the screen to rotate. Basically, it knows up from down. Even though they're one of the most important smartphone features, we barely notice them. That's where Bill Hammack, a.k.a. The Engineer Guy, comes in.

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary when Thomas Langenbach, the vice president of SAP -- a top maker of business management software solutions based in Palo Alto, Calif. -- was found scanning boxes upon boxes of Lego toys before purchasing them. Little did anyone know, Langenbach was actually engaged in a giant scam.

Leap Motion has officially set the new standard for how we use desktop devices, a.k.a computers. On May 21, the motion-control software and hardware company announced its latest innovation - The Leap.

Just six months after Google Chrome eclipsed Mozilla's Firefox to become the world's second most popular Web browser, Chrome has also surpassed Microsoft's Internet Explorer to become the most-used Web browser in the world, according to Statcounter.

When you walk into a clothing store, how can you tell which items are actually popular with previous or would-be customers? Brazilian fashion retailer C&A has the answer: Clothes hangers that leverage the 900 million-plus users on Facebook to show who likes a particular item.

Pod2g announced has that the highly anticipated untethered jailbreak for iOS 5.1.1 is almost ready for public release and should available in the next few days. As per further revelation from xvolks, the new jailbreak took will indeed be called Absinthe 2.0. He also uploaded a video showing the tool in action on an iPhone 4 GSM running iOS 5.1.1.

Google Inc Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt challenged college graduates on Sunday to take the radical step -- at least for their generation -- of tearing their eyes away from their smartphones and computer screens.

One value of going public for any company is to raise cash as well as mint new shares for acquisitions. Facebook (Nasdaq: FB)?s $16 billion initial public offering was no exception.