That issue got more visibility earlier in the week when Gizmodoreported that an iPhone user who had taken his iPhone to Apple Genius bar to fix an issue, started receiving every incoming and outgoing iMessage meant for an Apple employee who had helped in fixing his problem.

The Loop’s Jim Dalrymple reports that Apple spokesperson has clarified that the issue is not a bug, but occurred due to the incorrect service procedure followed by their employee.

“This was an extremely rare situation that occurred when a retail employee did not follow the correct service procedure and used their personal SIM to help a customer who did not have a working SIM,” Apple representative Natalie Harrison told The Loop. “This resulted in a temporary situation that has since been resolved by the employee.”

It looks like the Apple employee had used his personal SIM card to debug the issue, which ended up registering the number with that device with Apple’s iMessage servers. According to Apple, their employee should have not used his personal SIM card or simply toggled the iMessage on and off to avoid the issue.

Even though the problem might have occurred due to an employee following an incorrect procedure, it doesn’t make sense that merely using another SIM card should cause such a problem. The solution Apple has provided is also not applicable in case your iPhone is stolen. So let’s hope that Apple fixes it in the next iOS firmware update.

The good news is that a new jailbreak tweakcalled Ringer X VIP developer by@_Yllier_ allows you to do just that and lots more. It allows you to customize ringing and vibration behavior for calls and text messages.

Here are some of the things you can do with this jailbreak tweak:

• You can mute all the tones temporarily via Activator, which also allows you to set the period of time after which you want all tones to be turned back on again.
• It also allows you to customize the following for individual contacts:
  • Automatically mute a call from a particular contact
  • Set custom volume for a contact when the volume is turned on
  • Ability to ignore the mute switch for important contacts, so you don’t miss a call from your boss or wife/girlfriend
  • Ability to always enable vibration mode on your iPhone when you get a call for a particular contact
• Assign custom ringtones and text tones to a Contact group
• SBSettings toggle to quickly enable or disable RingerX VIP

RingerX VIP is compatible with iOS 5 and works with SMS/text jailbreak apps such as biteSMS, Messages+, RealSMS and tweaks such as CallBar and iBlacklist.

Ringer X VIP is available in Cydia for $1.99. The developer has also created a detailed how-to guide (follow this link) to use the features.

Typically these screen protectors are made of plastic. However, folks at Spigen have an interesting solution. They’ve launched a screen protector made of tempered glass to protect iPhone’s screen from damage and scratches.

The tempered glass screen protector is 0.4mm thick and apparently three times stronger than regular PET film. Spigen claims that sharp objects like knives and keys will not scratch their tempered glass screen protector. They have also shot a video to prove it.

The glass screen protector also comes with an oleophobic coating that prevents fingerprints just like iPhone’s LCD screen.

We’ve never felt the need to use a screen protector, but if you are paranoid about scratching your iPhone screen, you may want to check this one out.

The executive didn’t confirm anything outright when asked about NFC and Apple, citing confidentiality agreements:

“I don’t know of a handset manufacturer that isn’t in process of making sure their stuff is PayPass [MasterCard's wireless payment solution] ready.”

So that would include Apple then?

“Um, there are…like I say, [I don't know of] any handset maker out there,” McLaughlin says. “Now, when we have discussions with our partners, and they ask us not to disclose them, we don’t.”

[...]

I asked whether the contactless payments industry needs Apple to hit critical mass.

“Well, anytime someone with a major base moves forward, it advances what you’re doing. So of course,” McLaughlin says.

But how important is it that Apple in particular enters the game?

“I look at it the other way,” answers McLaughlin, who did not mention “Apple” even once by name. “I think as merchants provide these better interfaces for consumers–a better way of transacting–I think any consumer-focused technology provider would want to take advantage of it.”

Additionally 9 to 5 Mac spoke with a developer at Macworld who seems to be fairly confident about NFC making it to the next iPhone:

We had some time to talk to a well-connected developer at Macworld who was building an app that— among other capabilities— includes NFC reading for the purpose of mobile transactions.  We were obviously curious why they would do that, noting that third party NFC readers for iPhone were not popular (aside from the recently announced Moneto, above).  The developer told us that he had no hardware knowledge, but he had spoken to Apple iOS engineers on multiple occasions, and they are “heavy into NFC.”

I asked how confident he was, and he said, “Enough to bet the app development on.”

Numerous rumors about the fifth generation iPhone coming with an NFC chip were proved wrong, when Apple launched the iPhone 4S without NFC support. It did, however, take a step forward in the offline payments space by introducing the Apple Store 2.0 app, which allowed customers to self-checkout via an “EasyPay” mechanism.

As we noted earlier:

If Apple can make its 200 million credit card holding customers comfortable with the idea of using their iTunes account for real world purchases, NFC would just be another technology that works behind the scenes.

Right now Apple’s payment solution is only being used in Apple Stores, and if an NFC equipped iPhone is launched in the near future, Apple needs to start talking with potential partners and convince them to support its payment solution. And this is what the company seems to be doing, as evident from the MasterCard exec’s interview.

The mock-up below, falls in the latter category. The designer, Antonio De Rosa from ADR Studio, created the design with Steve Jobs in mind.

From his description:

“Totally glass capacitive screen on a polycarbonate lightweight body.

New design inspired by Steve Jobs, new core with A6 dual core processor, new camera 10 Mpx.

A classic reinvented. Again.”

Polycarbonate, in case you’re wondering, is the same material used by Nokia for the Lumia 800′s body. Apart from being tough and lightweight, it also lends a great feel to the device.

Have a look at some of the mock-ups below:

The designer names the concept iPhone as the “iPhone SJ,” indicating his source of inspiration -Steve Jobs.

Let us know what you think about the new iPhone concept

9 to 5 Mac

9 to 5 Macreports:

Hidden deep inside the latest iOS 5.1 beta is updated processing-core management software that not only supports the dual-core processing enabled by the A5 iPhone and iPad chip, but alsoquad-core processing. The references to quad-core iPhone and iPad chips come by way of a hidden panel that describes cores that are supported by iOS device hardware. The updated core management software includes an option of “/cores/core.3,” and this represents a fourth available processing core…

Extremely reliable and knowledgeable people familiar with iOS’s inner workings explained to me that core references begin at “0.” For example: A single core device would be limited to  ”/cores/core.0,” and a dual-core device would come in at  ”/cores/core.1.” A “core.2″(which is not referenced in iOS code) would be a triple-core processor according to this labeling method. iOS 5.1 beta 2 now includes core.3, a seemingly quad-core chip from Apple.

It remains to be seen if Apple’s next generation A6 system-on-chip that is expected to poweriPad 3 and the sixth generation iPhone will come with a quad-core processor. One of the major concerns of using a faster processors is the impact it has on battery life.

9 to 5 Mac points out that since the references have been found in iOS 5.1 beta, which is probably the version Apple is using to test iPad 3, it is possible that the next generation iPad will feature a quad-core processor.

What do you think? What else is on your iPad 3 wish list?

CloudOn for iPad allows you to create, view, and edit files directly in Microsoft Word, Excel & PowerPoint in your workspace using Dropbox account.

CloudOn app allows you to do the following:

• Use Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint on your iPad to create or edit documents.
• Rename, delete and manage documents with your Dropbox account
• Display, edit or create charts, change formatting, spell check, insert comments, into any Word, Excel or PowerPoint files
• Track changes while reviewing Word documents
• Use pivot tables and insert formulas in Excel workbooks
• Display and edit animation or transitions in PowerPoint presentations
• Present in full PowerPoint mode (not in PDF)
• Open files directly from your iPad email accounts or Dropbox account
• Automatically save documents to avoid losing changes
• 

You can download CloudOn from the App Store using this iTunes link.

Samsung is calling ChatON their Global Mobile Communication Service.

ChatON is a multi-platform messenger service that is also available for Android, Bada – Samsung’s own mobile platform.

The ChatON messenger includes the following features:

1) ChatON supports multi platforms and devices. Users can chat freely through ChatON.

- Currently, ChatON supports iOS, Android, Bada, Samsung Feature and will support Blackberry, Window mobile, web soon.

2) ChatON provides multi ways to make your communication richer.

- 1:1 Chat, Group Chat, Broadcast, Drawing Message, Picture, Video, Voice, Location, Contact, Calendar.

3) Using ChatON, create your own unique drawing message by hand drawing etc.

4) ChatON provides group management feature for easy group chat

5) ChatON provides Interaction rank which informs you how often you chat with your buddies.

6) For every chat room, you can easily see all sent images and videos in a Trunk.

7) Something to say for your buddies? Use ‘Buddies Say’!

If you don’t get the verification SMS then Samsung has advised us users to go to ChatON’swebsite for an alternative verification.

You can download ChatON for free using this App Store link. Unfortunately, the app seems to be available only in the U.S. App Store

The claims about the iPad 3 being available in a few months, having increased battery life and a high resolution display are believable. Apple making a reappearance at Macworld, on the other hand sounds outlandish.

More Digitimes claim chowder:

• 2012 would see two new iPads, the iPad 3 in March and the iPad 4 in October. The iPad 4 would apparently have “killer integrated applications.”
• Apple would ship a 7.85 inch iPad this year. Funnily enough, the publication themselves dismissed the possibility of such a device in a report filed later.

The publication also reported about the Apple Television, but since it’s a new product no one is in the position to confirm or deny these rumors.

MacRumors nails the Digitimes approach of reporting:

“continue throwing ideas at the wall to see what might stick”

Will some of these rumors go on to be true? Sure, since so many reports have been filed, there’s a high chance of at least one of them being right. But when you see a report claiming Apple is coming back to Macworld, you’ve got to know it’s inaccurate.

DigiTimes has access to a goldmine in the form of supply chain sources, but they just need to know when their sources are right and when they’re feeding them absolute nonsense. Unless of course they are turning a blind eye to it to get link baits from the blogosphere. Unfortunately, it looks like most of the blogosphere is falling for it.

Your thoughts?

The documents were leaked by a group of Indian hackers called The Lords of Dharmaraja. ZDNet reports that the leaked documents reveals the existence of a system known as RINOA SUR where RINOA stands for RIM, Nokia and Apple. ZDNet’s Manan Kakkar isn’t sure what SUR stands for.

According to some reports last year, the Indian government had threatened to shut down RIM’s services completely in the country if RIM did not offer a solution to let it intercept messages on BlackBerry service. So it looks like the smartphone vendors were arm twisted to put the RINOA SUR system in place to meet Indian government’s requirement in exchange for market presence in India.

Kakkar reports:

And this is where things start to get very interesting, according to the set of documents, the RINOA SUR platform was used to spy on the USCC—the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission.

The documents contain snippets of emails sent by members of the USCC. Apparently, RINOA SUR platform has been declared a success and the Indian Navy has shown interest in the same.

You can checkout the snippets from some leaked documents below:

Those are serious allegations, we have already seen Carrier IQ getting into trouble for itsstealth logging software on most smartphone platforms.

It will be interesting to see what Apple, RIM and Nokia have to say about it.

What do you think about Apple providing backdoor access to Indian military? Sound off in the comments.