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Cultofmac has reported today that Apple CEO Steve Jobs is pushing hard to get Wi-Fi syncing for the upcoming iPod revamp coming later this year.

The company has apparently been testing the tech for the last two years.

Jobs has made Wi-Fi syncing one of the top priorities for the media players, which are becoming less and less relevant as more people simply buy iPhones or iPads.

So far, Apple's engineers have had issues with "reliability, signal strength, case design and battery life" when trying for Wi-Fi syncing.

The current method for syncing involves connecting to your PC via USB cable.

Using a carbon fiber design, which the new iPods are said to have, "the engineers have found many improvements" but it is still nowhere near perfect.

CutYourSim has said today that they can permanently unlock your GSM iPhone, without needing to jailbreak it first.

Being an "official iPhone unlock," it will last forever, through all iOS and baseband updates, and will not void your warranty.

The service has been confirmed working by multiple reports.

Says the site:

We are now able to offer the first permanent remote iPhone unlocking solution. It is very easy, and can be done with three simple steps.

Our turnaround time is typically anywhere from 2-5 days for the iPhone. It may be quicker, but please expect this time frame.

The solution we offer is a permanent solution. Jailbreaking, or unauthorized hacks are NOT required. This unlock will carry on forever, you can now update your phone to the newest version without worrying about waiting for an unauthorized unlock to be released.

The unlock will work with any iPhone version, and any baseband version, no need to worry about updating to the latest version anymore, your phone will be unlocked forever!!!!!
We offer great support, we will help you with the unlocking process with our outstanding support response time. Buy with confidence!

According to Experian Hitwise, Bing has cracked 30 percent search engine market share for the first time ever, chipping away slightly at Google's large lead.

For March, Bing (which also includes Yahoo's numbers) took 30.01 percent share, while Google feel to 64.42 percent.

Those numbers follow February's 66.69 percent for Google and 28.48 percent for Bing, so the search engine saw a significant boost month-to-month.

When the numbers are split, Bing jumped to 14.32 percent and Yahoo jumped to 15.69 percent.

Overall, search traffic seems to be increasing by the day, thanks to the addition of smartphones and tablets to everyday life. Last December, Google said mobile-based search traffic rose 130 percent.

Dubbing the script "Shairport," programmer James Laird has created a way for all devices to receive AirTunes streaming music via iTunes.

He did so by hacking Apple's private key for streaming and reverse engineering the script.

Previously, iTunes would only stream to other Apple devices, but that does not appear to be a problem anymore if you have the right tools.

Wired explains the process:

Laird did this by cracking open the AirPort Express (literally), dumping the ROM and then searching around for the private key. Apparently this was easy to find, as Apple had hidden the private key “in the ROM image, using a scheme that made the de-obfuscation code itself stand out like a flare.” He then cracked the crypto and now has the key.

This is combined with an ALAC (Apple Lossless Audio Codec) decoder to make a small package that can be installed on computer. It’s unlikely that hardware manufacturers will risk using this solution, but it’s easy to see how a home user could install it on an unused computer or even a Linux-based router.

Despite confirming they were shutting down the once popular Guitar Hero franchise, Activision has said today the series is just "on hiatus" and is not completely dead yet.

Dan Winters of Activision says the game could hit shelves again in the future if the publisher once again sees a chance for it to be successful.

Says the exec (via GI):

Actually, just to clarify, we're just putting Guitar Hero on hiatus, we're not ending it. We're releasing products out of the vault - we'll continue to sustain the channel, the brand won't go away. We're just not making a new one for next year, that's all.

While its uses are very limited for the time being, Neowin says a very early build of Windows 8 has been leaked today, and it is confirmed legitimate.

The site says it "is version 6.1.7850.0.winmain_win8m1.100922-1508_x86fre_client-enterprise_en-us.iso and is the the final M1 and the last 6.1 build."

Available via a private FTP site, the build should be available on torrent sites now.

For now, anyone who has seen it says it is just a slightly tweaked Windows 7 and will likely not include any of the new unconfirmed W8 features.

The operation system should hit public beta by the end of the year with retail launch in late 2012 or early 2013.

Sony PlayStation CEO Jack Tretton was interviewed this week by Fortune and he made some interesting comments including calling Nintendo's handhelds "babysitting tools" and stating that Sony is on the verge of having its best year, ever.

Despite losing as much as $300 per PS3 console sold at launch in 2006, Tretton says Sony is set to have its "best year ever" thanks to the expensive tech inside the powerful console, including a Blu-ray drive, CELL processor and Nvidia GPU.

Sony has sold over 49 million PS3s, to date, slightly behind the Xbox 360 and its one-year head start at 53 million but well behind the Nintendo Wii at over 85 million.

Into the future, Tretton believes the PS3's hardware will help it remain strongly successful:

If you're really going to sustain technology for a decade, you have to be cutting edge when you launch a platform. Here we are 4 years into the Playstation 3, and it's just hitting its stride. We'll enjoy a long downhill roll behind it because the technology that was so cutting edge in 2006 is extremely relevant today and is conspicuously absent in our competition.

According to an Avian Securities client note this morning, Apple may not be shipping their upcoming iPhone 5 until very late 2011, or even early 2012.

Additionally, Apple may be ready to unveil a lower spec, lower priced iPhone, one that will help Apple take some share in the low-end smartphone market currently dominated by Android.

Avian bases its assumptions on multiple conversations with a "key component supplier" in Asia.

Says the note:

Supporting out comments over the last month, conversations with yet another key component supplier indicates that production for iPhone-5 will begin in September. This is consistent with Avian findings in the supply chain in recent months and we believe the consensus view is moving towards this scenario. In addition, our conversations also indicate the existence of a lower-spec/lower-priced iPhone in Apple's roadmap. However, while our contacts have seen the placeholder in the Apple roadmap, they do not yet have insight into specs or production timing.

This leads us to believe that any launch is likely a very late 2011 or more likely a 2012 event. As a reminder, Avian has uncovered several data-points in recent months pointing to the existence of a lower-spec/lower-price iPhone. A lower-spec/lower-price iPhone has also been speculated in the press and gadget blogs, though we do not believe consensus currently discounts the existence of such a model.

Seven years after they first filed suit against Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook, it seems the legal drama between Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss and the social networking giant is coming to an end.

A federal appeals judge has denied the twins attempt to unwind a 2008 settlement, and says they must accept the deal, as is.

Along with Harvard classmate, Divya Narendra, the twins filed suit against Facebook in 2004 alleging that the concept for Facebook was stolen from them and their early work on HarvardConnection.

In 2008, Facebook agreed to settle, giving the trio a deal worth $65 million, with the majority in Facebook stock. At the time, the group was given $45 million in stock with Facebook valued at $15 billion. The twins filed suit again last year claiming Facebook had internally given itself a $3.7 billion valuation, and so the group was conned out of many more shares in the company.

The federal Judge, Alex Kozinski, has now killed their appeal:

At some point, litigation must come to an end. That point has now been reached. The Winklevosses are not the first parties bested by a competitor who then seek to gain through litigation what they were unable to achieve in the marketplace. They made a deal that appears quite favorable in light of recent market activity.

According to the latest StatCounter analytics, Windows 7 has finally surpassed the aging Windows XP in American usage share.

As of April 11th, Windows 7's share is 32.2 percent compared to XP's 30.2 percent share.

Microsoft announced in January that it had sold 300 million Windows 7 licenses and that the operating system was the fastest-selling in the company's history.

The company's failed Vista platform fell to 19.5 percent while Mac OS X (all iterations) moved up to 14.8 percent.

When moving the numbers internationally, XP is still the champ, at 46.8 percent, followed by Windows 7 at 31.5 percent.

A few analysts have estimated today that Nintendo sold 750,000 3DS handhelds in March, after the device went on sale on the 27th.

Wedbush Morgan's Michael Pachter had a lower prediction, however, putting sales at just 500,000.

Doug Creutz of Cowen and Company says the 3DS will soon become a "stabilising factor" in the market for handheld gaming consoles, which has been declining for quite some time now.

Pokemon Black & White, the latest in the blockbuster (understatement) franchise is expected to have moved up to 3 million units.

The NPD Group will reveal all the official data on Thursday. The struggling U.S. market is expected to see another fall, year-over-year.

After just three months in the store, 'Angry Birds' is now the most downloaded game, ever, via the PlayStation Store.

The news shouldn't be too shocking to anyone given how the game has remained a fixture in the top 5 for iOS and Android for over a year and was very popular when released for the PC earlier this year.

Sony's PlayStation Network has 75 million registered accounts, with about 40 million active.

Over 1.4 billion pieces of content have been downloaded since launch.

Angry Birds sells for $1.99 on the PS3, $.99 on iOS, and for free on Android (with ads).

Amazon has announced today it will begin selling an ad-subsidized Kindle reader for $114, a full $25 discount off the regular price for the latest generation of Wi-Fi e-readers.

The new "Kindle with Special Offer" will, as promised, give consumers special offers and will also show ads as screensavers when you are not actively using the device.

A few of the "Special Offers" are actually very nice, including $10 off a $20 Amazon gift card and $1 for a full album via Amazon MP3.

Amazon says its first launch partners for ads are Chase, Visa, Olay and Buick.

Says the company: "Lower-price sponsored ad strategy will serve us well and make us an attractive option to the widest possible group of people."

Pre-orders start today and the e-reader hits on May 3rd.

Sony America has announced today that they are settling with George "Geohot" Hotz in the high-profile case involving jailbreaking and homebrew for the PS3 console.

Both sides reached an agreement on March 31st and Sony says Hotz has agreed to a permanent injunction.

Geohot was sued after he released custom firmware for the PS3 which allowed for the installation of homebrew. Different firmwares from other hackers eventually led to piracy for the console.

Says Riley Russell, General Counsel for SCEA:

Sony is glad to put this litigation behind us. Our motivation for bringing this litigation was to protect our intellectual property and our consumers. We believe this settlement and the permanent injunction achieve this goal.

It was never my intention to cause any users trouble or to make piracy easier,” said Hotz, “I’m happy to have the litigation behind me.

It appears that Apple has been hiring gaming execs away from Activision and Nintendo, and it seems the company is ready to make a stronger push into the gaming world via its iOS devices.

Apple has hired Nintendo UK communications head Rob Saunders and Activision's European PR director Nick Grange, and may be searching for more execs.

Saunders oversaw the PR for gaming consoles, notably the Wii and DS.

In his new position, he will oversee PR for gaming via iOS.

Grange, formerly of EA and Microsoft, as well, will work on PR for the iPad.

Tuaw says 84 percent of tablet owners play at least one game on their devices, and 44 million owners are playing games on their iOS devices, in the U.S. alone.