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Apple Starts Selling Unlocked iPhone 4S In US Online Store

Alongside the international launch in 15 more countries, Apple today began offering unlocked iPhone 4S units through its US online store. Current orders for unlocked iPhones ship in 1-2 weeks, and the models are available at $649 (16 GB), $749 (32 GB) and $849 (64 GB). The unlocked iPhone 4S only works on GSM networks such as AT&T in the United States and allows for micro-SIM cards from local GSM networks when travelling internationally. The unlocked iPhone 4S doesn’t work on Verizon or Sprint.

The unlocked iPhone includes all the features of iPhone but without a contract commitment. You can activate and use it on the supported GSM wireless network of your choice, such as AT&T in the United States.* The unlocked iPhone 4 or iPhone 4S will not work with CDMA-based carriers such as Verizon Wireless or Sprint.

If you don’t want a multiyear service contract or if you prefer to use a local carrier when traveling abroad, the unlocked iPhone is the best choice. It arrives without a micro-SIM card, so you’ll need an active micro-SIM card from any supported GSM carrier worldwide. To start using it, simply insert the micro-SIM card into the slot on your iPhone and turn it on by pressing and holding the On/Off button for a few seconds. Then follow the onscreen instructions to set up your iPhone.

Apple launched the iPhone 4S in October and promised unlocked versions would be available starting in November. The unlocked and contract-free iPhone 4S can be purchased from Apple’s online store here.

AirPort Base Station and Time Capsule Firmware Update 7.6 Released

Earlier today Apple released an AirPort Base Station and Time Capsule Firmware update, reaching version 7.6. The update is compatible with all 802.11n AirPort Express, 802.11n AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule models and adds a number of fixes:

  • An issue with performance on overlapping wireless networks
  • An issue with AirPlay audio streaming
  • An issue with configuring multiple entries for DNS servers

Apple recommends upgrading from AirPort Utility 5.5.3 or later. The new version can be downloaded by checking for updates directly in AirPort Utility.

Firefox 9 Beta Released with “New Look” To Match OS X Lion

Two days after the release of Firefox 8, Mozilla has made available a first public beta of the next major Firefox update, Firefox 9. As expected due to the company’s fast release cycle, Firefox 9 will follow Firefox 8 in a few weeks, with Firefox 10 likely entering initial alpha testing soon.

For the first time since the release of OS X Lion in July, Mozilla says they have included “a new look that matches the Mac OS X Lion application toolbar and icon styles”. In the release notes, Mozilla refers to these changes as “improved theme integration for Mac OS X Lion”. For comparison, we have grabbed a series of screenshots to show the differences the “new look” brings between Firefox 8 and Firefox 9 beta. It is, however, possible that haven’t spotted all the differences between the two versions yet – MacStories readers are welcome to leave us a comment if they find more visual cues to the “new look” in Firefox 9 for Lion.

Mozilla mocked up some big Lion changes a few months back, and notably Firefox still hasn’t implemented several native Lion functionalities, like natural scrolling and full-screen mode.

Firefox 9 comes with other improvements for developers:

  • Type Inference: Firefox Beta adds Type Inference to make JavaScript significantly faster. To learn more about how rich websites and Web apps with lots of pictures, videos and 3D graphics will load faster in Firefox, check out this blog post.
  • Do Not Track JavaScript Detection: Firefox Beta enables JavaScript to show developers when users choose to opt-out of behavioral tracking with the Do Not Track privacy feature.
  • Chunked XHR Support: Firefox Beta supports chunking for XHR requests so websites can receive data that’s part of a large XHR download in progress. This helps developers make websites and Web apps faster, especially those that download large sets of data or via AJAX.

You can download Firefox 9 beta over at Mozilla’s website.

Digital Camera RAW Compatibility Update 3.9 Released

Apple today released a new Digital Camera RAW Compatibility Update, which reaches version 3.9 and adds support for the following cameras to Aperture 3 and iPhoto ‘11:

  • Canon PowerShot S100
  • Nikon 1 J1
  • Nikon 1 V1
  • Nikon COOLPIX P7100
  • Olympus PEN E-PL1s
  • Olympus PEN E-PL3
  • Olympus PEN E-PM1
  • Panasonic LUMIX DMC-FZ150
  • Sony Alpha NEX-5N
  • Sony Alpha SLT-A65
  • Sony Alpha SLT-A77

OS X Lion introduced support for more RAW formats, as did the 10.7.2 update, and Apple maintains a list of supported RAW formats in this support document. Digital Camera RAW Compatibility Update 3.9 is available now on Software Update and should be uploaded shortly to Apple’s Support Downloads website. Both iPhoto and Aperture were updated with Photo Stream functionality and other fixes in October.

Apple Releases iOS 5.0.1 [Direct Links]

Apple has just released iOS 5.0.1. The update is available now on Apple’s iTunes, although at the moment of writing this the new software version still has to show up on iOS 5’s built-in Software Update preference panel. iOS 5.0.1 is, however, appearing as an update on iTunes. iOS 5.0.1, as previously announced by Apple, brings battery life fixes for all devices running iOS 5, as well as security improvements and multitasking gestures on the original iPad. Battery life issues were especially reported in the past weeks by iPhone 4S users, and a number of unofficial “tutorials” have surfaced on how to improve battery life for the device. With iOS 5.0.1, Apple is saying battery life issues weren’t specific to the iPhone 4S, but to iOS 5.

Update: iOS 5.0.1 is now appearing as over-the-air update for several users.

Update #2: Apple has posted the security contents of this update, and among the fixes it appears to be one for the bug discovered by Charlie Miller, which allowed execution of unsigned code in App Store apps.

A screenshot of the official changelog below:

iOS 5.0.1 direct download links below (build number 9A405).

Nuance Releases “Dragon Express” On Mac App Store

Nuance today released a new product of the “Dragon” dictation family for OS X, called Dragon Express and available at $49.99 on the Mac App Store. Dragon Express lives in the OS X menubar and can be activated with a single click or keyboard shortcut, allowing users to open the utility and start talking into a Mac’s built-in or external USB microphone. Using Nuance’s speech recognition technology, Dragon Express will transcribe the spoken text into the app’s window, with options to forward the text to other apps, search it with Spotlight or Google, email it, copy it to the clipboard, or share it on Facebook and Twitter.

Nuance is positioning Dragon Express as a lightweight version of the popular Dragon Dictate, which has more features and comes at a higher price. Dragon Express should be an “introduction” to speech recognition for OS X customers, and the company has even posted a handy comparison chart to see the functionalities available in Express and Dictate.

Dragon Express works locally (it doesn’t require network connectivity) and according to Nuance it’s “easier to use” than the full-featured Dragon Dictate. From the press release:

Dragon Express is a great app for those who are new to speech recognition or who are looking for an easy-to-use dictation tool that allows them to use their voice instead of typing,” said Peter Mahoney, senior vice president and general manager, Dragon, Nuance. “For those looking for a more full-featured speech recognition program, we recommend Dragon Dictate, which provides the full capabilities of advanced speech recognition technology.

Those looking to try Nuance’s speech recognition technology and services for the first time might want to try Dragon Express, available at $49.99 on the Mac App Store. Nuance is also offering Dragon Express customers the opportunity to upgrade to Dragon Dictate for $99. Nuance isn’t new to Apple customers, offering a variety of iOS and OS X apps and also powering OS X Lion’s built-in voices.

Hack Brings Auto-Correct Bar To Default iOS 5 Keyboard

As reported by 9to5mac, it appears Apple’s iOS 5 comes with a software functionality to enable an Android-like extra keyboard row for auto-corrections and common suggestions systemwide.

Screenshots of the feature, first posted by Australian developer Sonny Dickson, seems to suggest the feature had been present in iOS 5 since the first beta seeded to developers, but have only been recently re-discovered. The images posted by Dickson show an additional row on top of the standard system keyboard on the iPhone and iPad, which in the provided examples includes suggestions to auto-complete “Hel” with common options like “He’ll”, “Help” or “Gel”. It appears that once enabled, the keyboard bar replaces iOS’ standard auto-correction popup. 9to5mac shares a method on how to enable the feature without a jailbreak.

The extra keyboard row, however, isn’t completely new to iOS 5. The OS already uses a similar (if not the same) system for the Japanese Kana keyboard, with text suggestions displayed in a bar that you can scroll, and expand with the arrow icon also seen in Dickson’s screenshots. For this reason, we believe the hack simply extends the Japanese keyboard’s functionalities to other iOS 5 keyboards.

As usual with unofficial iOS 5 features discovered by developers hacking around the system, don’t expect complete and reliable functionality from the keyboard bar. As Panorama Mode has shown earlier this week, there’s a reason Apple has decided not to include a certain feature in the final version of iOS 5, and early reports from users who have activated this tweak indicate the keyboard bar may crash the iOS Springboard. Still, this is an interesting discovery that we’d be curious to try out with the new iPad split keyboard, also a new feature in iOS 5.

Steve Jobs Nominated for Time “Person of the Year”

NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams nominated Apple’s late co-founder and CEO Steve Jobs to be Time’s “Person of the Year” 2011, CNET reports. Other nominees in this year’s selection include U.S. Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren, Mohamed Bouazizi (a Tunisian fruit vendor who kicked off the Arab Spring) and the “angry people”. Alongside Williams, “Saturday Night Live” writer Seth Meyers and actor Jesse Eisenberg presented the nominations this year.

One guy, who changed our world, and I said to Seth Meyers as we walked across Sixth Avenue, ‘Just look with me on this one block walk at how he changed the world around us. Look at how he changed the world.’ Not only did he change the world, but he gave us that spirit again that something was possible that you could look at a piece of plastic or glass and move your finger– that’s outlandish. You could make things bigger or smaller like that. ‘Oh the places you’ll go’ and oh the way you will change forever the music and television industries. So may he rest in peace, Steve Jobs, and the spirit he represents, are my nominee for Person of the Year,” said Williams during his nomination speech.

Steve Jobs would be the first person to receive the award posthumously. Time’s Person of the Year will be revealed next month, and previous winners include Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg (2010), Barack Obama (2008) and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos (1999). As Wikipedia describes the award, Person of the Year “features and profiles a person, couple, group, idea, place, or machine that for better or for worse, …has done the most to influence the events of the year.”

[Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com]