About a few weeks after the iPhone 4S was announced, hackers have tried to fully jailbreak the new smartphone and to also port the new voice assistant system, Siri, to previous generation iOS devices.

Troughton-Smith was the first person to port Siri to the iPhone 4, but the system was not functional since it required authentication with Apple servers, only the user interface was working.

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Apple “Slide to Unlock” patent image

In 2007 at the MacWorld Expo, former Apple chief executive Steve Jobs took to the stage to unveil the iPhone for the first time, and during that unveiling the Slide to Unlock gesture on the iPhone was first shown to the world.

At the time, Jobs touted the feature as a seamless and elegant fix to an otherwise common annoyance: unknowingly pressing buttons on your phone while it is tucked away in your pocket.

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Apple co-founder Steve Jobs most recently unveiled iCloud at the Apple Developers Conference WWDC 2011 in San Francisco Source: AP

Apple filed an 8-K report (firms are required to disclose new material events as they occur in an 8-K form, also known as a “current” form ) with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that reveals the company has awarded its new CEO, Tim Cook, 1,000,000 Apple shares worth $383.58-million based on today’s closing price of Apple stock (NASDAQ:AAPL).

Apple earmarked 1,000,000 common shares to Mr. Cook that will be converted in to cash on two different dates, Aug 24, 2016, and five years later on Aug 24, 2021, contingent on Cook’s continued employment at Apple. The number of shares converted will be evenly divided between the two dates.

The stock allocation should not be misconstrued as long call options because the shares will be converted into cash at the closing price on the respective dates, that is, there is no strike price, and the allocation is in fact already like an in the money stock option.

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The world’s largest software company, Microsoft Corp., outlined new features for its cloud-based SkyDrive service that will be included with Windows Phone “Mango” that will bring deeper integration of the service on Windows Phone.

New features would allow users to easily keep photos and videos in sync between multiple devices, including their Windows Phone and PC. Every photo or video stored on SkyDrive will automatically be accessible from Windows Phone, and any changes that take place on Windows Phone will automatically be synced with SkyDrive.

SkyDrive albums have also been integrated into the messaging and email hubs, which bring the ability to easily attach media to messages. Microsoft has even added an option to upload every album from Windows Phone to SkyDrive for a more seamless sync experience.

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The Internet search giant, Google Inc., has completed its third acquisition of a Toronto-based tech company, this time scooping up PushLife Inc. with the details of the acquisition being kept private.

PushLife was founded in 2008 by ex Research In Motion employee Ray Reddy and aimed to developed software for people to organize, share, and purchase digital content across different mobile platforms from a single application.

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In a move not seen very often, NASDAQ OMX Group, the company that owns and operates the Nasdaq stock index announced today the company would re-organize the weightings of certain securities in a bid to lower volatility.

Technology stocks that are traditionally more volatile will be adjusted to new lower weightings, and other stocks that are less volatile will now represent larger weightings.

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The world’s largest Internet-based commerce company, Amazon Inc., is venturing into unfamiliar territory by launching a new mobile applications store, Amazon Appstore, for Google Android powered devices on Monday.

Amazon Appstore directly competes with Android Marketplace, the native application store for Android powered devices, but currently only has about 4,000 applications in its index, a number that is likely to grow exponentially in the coming weeks.

Users could access Amazon Appstore directly from their PC browser, or from an Android device.

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Apple’s shares (NASDAQ:AAPL) today on the NASDAQ index are continuing to lose significant value as downward pressure is put on the stock following massive investor selloff of the stock, after analysts downgraded the stock for the first time since October 2010.

Alex Guana, a JMP Securities analyst covering Apple today downgraded his rating on the tech giant to “market perform”, from “outperform”, citing an increase in earnings volatility as Apple’s Chinese manufacturer partner, Foxconn, faces stagnant sales growth.

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The world’s largest Internet search engine, Google Inc., has released a new search application, Google Mobile App, for Apple iOS devices that includes a revamped user interface with new gesture controls, new features, and improved performance, among other enhancements.

The new swipe features make searches more intuitive by utilizing new swipe gestures that bring up contextual menus. For example, if you swipe from left to right, a contextual menu appears that allows you to filter your results by time, Google Places, Images, News, Videos, Blogs, Discussions, among other parameters.

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Apple has published the first promotional detailed video showcasing the new features of GarageBand for iPad.

The application features a number of virtual instruments, including piano, guitar, a drum set, among other instruments and tools.

When using the virtual piano, a user could set a number of different settings, including the ability to change the keyboard size, and even the ability to display dual keyboards.

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