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So That Phil Schiller Twitter Account Was Real, After All

As noted by 9to5mac, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Worldwide Product Marketing Phil Schiller has a Twitter account. You can follow him as @pschiller. What’s interesting is that I’ve been personally following this account for quite some time now (three months, I believe), and I thought it was fake – like the popular @CEOSteveJobs one. Schiller’s account, however, is now verified so yeah, he’s the real Schiller.

Senior Vice President of iPhone Software Scott Forstall joined Twitter in July, but never tweeted. His account is verified as well, and gained thousands of followers without posting a single message. In his Twitter bio Schiller wrote he loves “Apple, Sports, Cars, Science, Rock & Roll”, and he actually replies to people making app recommendations and such. He also posts pictures taken with Instagram.

This is really cool. Could Twitter be Apple’s next thing for consumer communication? We hope so. [via 9to5mac]

iOS 4.2.1 Jailbreak Really Around The Corner

Great news, jailbreakers: Apple released iOS 4.2.1 earlier today and it looks like we might be able to get our hands on fresh iOS 4.2.1 jailbreak material later today, or at least in a few days. While developers and tinkerers are already able to jailbreak iOS 4.2.1 using the latest redsn0w beta, both the Dev Team and @p0sixninja (main developer of GreenPois0n jailbreak tool) confirmed a public solution for iOS 4.2.1 is on the way. Read more

AirPlay Notes: Netflix, Hulu Plus, Youtube Website & App

With the release of iOS 4.2 today, Apple introduced one of the features they’ve been busy promoting in the past months: AirPlay. While based on complex technology and a variety of Apple’s proprietary frameworks, what consumers get is really simple: streaming of audio and video content from any iOS 4.2 device to Apple TV, an AirPort Express station with connected speakers or AirPlay-enabled speakers. It’s one-way streaming from iOS to other Apple “living room devices” made simple and fast.

AirPlay went through a complicated iteration during the iOS 4.2 developer betas and GM seeds, but what we have today is a fairly stable feature easy to use for anyone. Apple, however, was apparently forced to remove some functionalities and some content providers decided to exclude AirPlay’s streaming support from their apps. Read more

iOS 4.1 For Apple TV 2nd Gen Now Available

Together with iOS 4.2.1 for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad, Apple also released an update to the 2nd gen Apple TV. Firmware seems to be iOS 4.2, build 8C150.

Here’s the direct link to download it.

This update enables AirPlay for video functionality, as announced this morning, although it’s not clear whether Apple managed to include a fix for color issues on Sony and Philips TVs or not.

Update: we’re getting reports from users about the Apple TV software update claiming an iOS 4.1 update is available, although the direct link version clearly says it’s iOS 4.2. Curious.

Update #2: We can confirm the built-in updater tool will install iOS 4.1 on the Apple TV. Guess someone messed up with version naming for direct download at Cupertino.

iOS 4.2.1 Now Available For Download [Direct Links]

Finally, Apple flipped the switch on iOS 4.2 and released the new OS for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. It’s available now in iTunes, just hit the “Check for Updates” button. If you can’t see it just yet, keep refreshing as it’s propagating right now in iTunes.

We’ll update this post with direct download links as soon as they become available. In the meantime, check out our complete iOS 4.2 walkthrough. [Update: direct links below] Read more

Find My iPhone 1.1 Goes Live With iOS 4.2 and Apple ID Support

As announced this morning, Apple has just pushed an update for the official Find My iPhone app, which reaches version 1.1 and introduces support for 30 additional languages and Apple ID login.

• iPhone 4, iPad, or 4th generation iPod touch owners can use Find My iPhone for free with their Apple ID (iOS 4.2 required)
• Support for 30 additional languages
• Important: this update is required for users of the previous version of Find My iPhone app (v1.0 and v1.0.1)

Surprisingly enough, Apple hasn’t updated the background graphics of the iTunes page to better indicate that users can now use Find My iPhone with an Apple ID for free.

Find My iPhone is available for free here.