Car maker may be going after tech-savvy

Toyota is advertising the Scion brand through Cydia, the most common distribution platform for unofficial iOS apps, reports claim. In particular Toyota is said to have released a "Scion 2011 Theme" in the Cydia store; the code makes radical changes to the appearance of iOS, replacing original app icons and even the swipe-to-unlock bar. Outside of technical settings, Apple limits most official customization of iOS to wallpapers and ringtones.

The Toyota campaign, which MacNN is attempting to confirm, would appear to be aimed at a tech-savvy audience Scions have long been associated with. Scions have had an iPod integration option since 2006, even though many cars continue to lack auxiliary input jacks. Cydia's operator, known as "Saurik," suggests that there may be as many 10 to 15 million jailbroken devices in use. The demographic may be large enough to warrant attention from major companies.

Apple has traditionally fought jailbreaking efforts. The company often sabotages any hacks through firmware updates, in part because jailbroken devices can be more vulnerable to malicious attacks. Critics have charged though that the policy also allows Apple to keep its monopoly over official app distribution, through which it claims a 30 percent revenue cut and can decide what technologies are supported.

by MacNN Staff