Do a quick search on Twitter and you'll find many iOS users sending request after request (or in some cases, demand after demand) to retailers, airlines, and merchants for Passbook integration. Passbook is clearly one feature iOS users are eager to use, but the delay in adoption is driving them mad.

Enter Gyft.

Gyft is a gift card app for iOS that allows you to store gift card information in a single, easy-to-access place. Sound familiar?

As TechCrunch pointed out this morning, Gyft received a big update last night, bringing with it the ability to add any gift card stored in your Gyft account to Passbook. There are over 200 retailers supported by Gyft, ranging from Amazon to Zappos.

You'll need to add the gift card to Gyft before you can add it to Passbook. It is a little redundant, but for people dying to use Passbook, this is the most straightforward option. Don't have a gift card to add right now? Sephora is currently offering a free $5 gift card through the app, giving you the chance for a practice run of getting a gift card from Gyft to Passbook.

Tap on the Add to Passbook button for any gift card you have stored in Gyft.

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(Credit: Redbox.com)

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Grab a copy of the new Redbox app for your mobile Android device. You will need Internet connectivity to use the app, since it browses inventory of the physical Redboxes and requires your log-in details to put rentals on reserve. If you won't have signal during your commute, make sure you use the Wi-Fi at work or school before you leave.

... [Read more]

Jelly Bean is coming to the Galaxy S3.

Samsung is slowly rolling out a software update for the Galaxy S3.

Forum posters over at XDA Developers reported today they've started receiving an update to Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean). Based on the posts, it appears that the update is slowly making its way across Europe.

If Jelly Bean is, in fact, coming to the Galaxy S3, it's a bit ahead of schedule. Earlier this month, Samsung confirmed to CNET UK that the device would get Jelly Bean as early as October. The company didn't say when the software might be rolled out to U.S.-based owners.

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After coming under fire for its Maps application, Apple has decided to look for some help from former Google workers.

Apple is currently trying to woo folks who worked on Google Maps, TechCrunch is reporting, citing a source. That source claims that many of those who were contracted to help Google with its Maps application are seriously considering joining Apple, since the company offers an opportunity to create something new, rather than deliver "tedious updates" to an already established product.

Apple launched its Maps application for iOS last week with the operating system's launch. Soon after, users started complaining that the platform couldn't quite keep up with Google Maps. The application lacks key details on prominent cities, and in one instance, an entire town was in the wrong location. Users also found duplicate islands and other odd quirks.

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We've been hearing a lot of stories around the Web about how the Apple Maps app in iOS 6 is proving to be a poor replacement for the former Google-powered Maps app in iOS 5. Some of the stories say the Apple app doesn't show certain roads that are obviously there in real life, while others say they've followed directions to a destination and found that they didn't end up where they wanted to go.

For the first post in the series, CNET editors Jason Parker and Jaymar Cabebe took the turn-by-turn navigation through its paces by testing with an iPhone 4S on iOS 6 running the Apple Maps app, and a Samsung Galaxy Note running the recently updated Google Maps for comparison.

For the most part, the two Map apps performed their functions admirably.

This test took place this morning in San Francisco, which has some testing implications to take into account. First, there are multiple routes through t... [Read more]