iPhone 1337
iPhone 1337 - It is just that cool.
Logmein to come to iPhone
Author: David
It’s great to be able to log in your computer remotely. It’s convenient, it saves gas, hassle, and most importantly, time. Personally I’ve used Logmein for a long time and loved it.
The company has actually been cooking up an application for the iPhone (and iPod Touch), too, called LogMeIn Ignition. I tried out the preview version of the app on my iPhone 3G and was impressed overall.
First off, it works! I was able to log in to any Windows machine where I have the Logmein client installed and view its desktop on my iPhone’s screen. The app allows for viewing the entire scaled-down screen of the remote computer or zooming in to a potion of it, just like you would view a photo or a Web page on the iPhone.
While viewing is easy, interacting with the remote computer is a different story. It was fairly easy for me to type. When a user-input area is selected, you can pop up the onscreen keyboard of the iPhone to type just like composing a text message. On the other hand, it’s much more cumbersome to use the mouse. As there’s no mouse on the iPhone, the app designates single tab as single click, double tab as double click, two-finger tab as right click, and so on.
In practice, however, it is hard to pinpoint the place that you want to click on. In my experience, when I clicked on a link on the iPhone screen, the mouse on the remote computer would click on a point half an inch below, possibly due to the lag. The app also easily mistakes a two-finger tab as a zooming action. It took me a while to get used to it and compensate accordingly. In the end, I was even able to conduct a video chat on the remote computer, which was really cool.
With Logmein Ignition you can even do video calling at the remote computer.
(Credit: Dong Ngo/CNET Networks)
Performance-wise, the app worked well on a Wi-Fi connection. The 3G connection also worked when viewing but registered so much lag when I wanted to type or use mouse clicks. It was not possible for me to get connected via a GPRS connection connection at all. It was also helpful if you run the Logmein Ignition as the first app up after restarting the iPhone, or else you might run into a message prompting that the device is running low on memory.
In all, the app has a lot of potential. It’s unclear when it will be available in the App Store and if it will be free. Whether or not it will be, I would still recommend it to anyone who has an iPhone or iPod Touch and an account with Logmein.
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Apple Activates Podcast Downloads in 2.2 Firmware
Author: David
German blog Schimanke.com publishes new screenshots from the iPhone 2.2 firmware that reveal that Apple has activated iTunes and App Store features that will make their debut in the next iPhone update. Prior to this past week, these new features had not been fully enabled.
The new iTunes Store screenshots confirm that Apple will be delivering over-the-air downloads for both video and audio podcasts. According to Schimanke, podcast downloads will be limited to episodes less than 10MB in size when using the cellular network.
The screenshots also show off the new App Store category view with icons embedded. Additional 2.2 features previously revealed include the addition of Google Street View and Japanese Emoji icons.
Meanwhile, there has been no evidence of background “push” notifications which were originally promised in September. Unconfirmed whispers suggest that the Apple has delayed the push notification service due to major issues with the initial implementation.
Apple seeded Beta 2 of the 2.2 iPhone firmware to developers in late October but has given no indication when we can expect a public release.
Apple Activates Podcast Downloads in 2.2 Firmware - Mac Rumors
Cooliris brings Web image search to the iPhone
Author: David
Over the weekend Cooliris, one of my personal favorite Firefox add-ons released a really slick iPhone application that lets users search for images on Google, Flickr, Yahoo, SmugMug and DeviantArt just like they would on their computer browsers. The big difference is that you’re simply able to swipe through the results with your finger, or tip your phone from side to side to navigate, which is wonderfully gratifying and natural.
Each search brings in the results in a three-image high wall that goes on nearly forever, and loads in as you continue to scroll to the right. Any photo can be zoomed into, and includes a link to the origin story, which can be opened up without kicking you back out to Safari.
Search Flickr, Google, Yahoo and others for photos on a giant, zoomy wall with Cooliris for iPhone.
(Credit: CNET Networks)
Besides the search tool, there’s also an explore mode called discover that loads up the latest photos in one of five topics: election 08, news, sports, tech and business. These photos update throughout the day and are selected by where you are, meaning someone using the application in a different country is going to see a completely different list of items.
In future versions I’d like to see support for videos (like its desktop counterpart is capable of), however my most wanted feature is a way to save high quality copies of the images right to the phone. The built-in screenshot tool does a pretty good job until you want to start cropping. For a 1.0 product though, it’s off to a great start.
Cooliris for iPhone is free. Embedded after the jump is a quick demo video of how it works.
Cooliris brings Web image search to the iPhone | Webware : Cool Web apps for everyone - CNET
Video: Make iPhone ringtones with iTunes 8.0
Author: David
Here’s a thought: instead of wading through dozens of ringtone-making apps to find one suited to your iPhone, why not try–what else?–iTunes for Windows and Mac?
In this Insider Secrets video, CNET Editor Brian Tong gives you the lowdown on producing ringtones for your Apple phone using nothing but Apple’s own free music library and player.
Excuse Me Services (creators of Dial Directions) has finally made available its Say Where iPhone application which lets users search several popular Web services using just their voice. The tool was originally shown off at DemoFall back in early September, and it’s taken this long to go through Apple’s certification process.
Its big feature is that you can search Google Maps, Yellowpages.com, Yelp, and Traffic.com without having to use the iPhone’s often times challenging on-screen keyboard. You simply talk into the microphone and it converts your speech into a search query. There’s location awareness, so once the phone pinpoints where you are it will narrow what it’s searching for. You can also have it start and end in different locations, which can be set by simply speaking into the microphone.
The one big problem I found with the application was the quality of the voice recognition. It managed to pick up city names just fine, but out of five attempts at specific addresses it only succeeded once, and it was on some very basic words like “center” and “main.” I had far better luck simply saying intersections, which it pulled in with ease. It seems when you mix in numbers and street names it gets a little overwhelmed. It’s also worth mentioning that I was doing this in a quiet part of an office building, which means it’s going to have a harder time if you’re out on a busy street.
Another issue is that this app requires too many button presses to make it worthwhile over a simple type-in search. It’s been designed as a way to alleviate the need to pay attention to what you’re doing, but you still need to go through two or three menus before you get to your result, which usually requires firing up another application–be it Safari or Google Maps. Ideally, you could set it to automatically jump to the recording with just one click after it’s been launched, then open up those pages with an in-app maps tool or Webkit browser.
This is what Facebook’s iPhone app should have looked like when it first launched.
Facebook on Tuesday released version 2.0 of its popular iPhone app (iTunes Store link). This release contains a lot of the functionality that is in the full version of Facebook, making the iPhone version much more attractive. Some key features added include friend requests, notifications, people search, photo tagging/captioning, full News/Mini Feeds, message attachments, and inbox search.
The application, overall, seems to be more snappy and definitely has a better look to it. The inclusion of friend requests and notifications is big here, adding a whole new level of usefulness to the app. People search is also an extremely useful addition to the app, allowing you to find people who aren’t already your friends. Additionally, photo tagging is integrated very well and along with captioning, makes the photo uploading part of the app fully functional.
A point of pain and confusion among my friends since Facebook launched their iPhone app has been the lack of message attachments. Messages would not display their attachments, creating miscommunication between those using the iPhone app and those using the browser based version. Thankfully, that issue has been resolved in this update.
This is the version that a lot of people were expecting at launch for Facebook’s iPhone app. Many were disappointed by the lack of wall posting (which was quickly added) and other features on day one and this update should do well to satisfy them.
Jailbreak iPhone 2.1 with Windows!.
Author: David
This past Sunday the iPhone DevTeam released their jailbreak for iPhone 2.1 firmware to Mac users, who greeted it with open arms and smiling faces. Unfortunately Windows users were left waiting, while WinPwn worked on catching up with the DevTeam’s blazing pace.
WinPwn is still working on getting their jailbreak for Windows out but in the meantime I have good news! I just couldn’t wait to get my phone setup with all the latest fixes and updates that 2.1 brings to the platform. So with a little Googling I found a method that will allow Windows users to jailbreak their iPhones on the new 2.1 firmware!
Windows Iphone 2.1 Firmware Jailbreak [unofficial]
I have a few suggestions that will speed the process up for you though:
1. Ignore steps 1 through 6.
2. Backup your phone.
3. Download and install iTunes 8 [and reboot]
4. Have iTunes download the latest 2.1 firmware and install it on your phone
5. Resume tutorial at Step 7 -> QuickPWN appears to work just fine with iTunes 8…
There are some custom IPSW’s that Mac users have been kind enough to share with the community but after restoring from one I downloaded I lost all ATT service and had to start over- that’s why I recommend this route.
Note: When using TotalCommander to update the MobileInstallation file on your phone, you must drag from the left pane to the right pane or vice versa- if you attempt to drag from an outside window or app it will give you a “write protection error”.
Jailbreak iPhone 2.1 with Windows! | The Danosphere.
Yesterday the latest iPhone firmware v2.1 was released and it didn’t take long for the iPhone Dev Team to come up with the new Pwnage 2.1 Tool to jailbreak the 2.5G and 3G iPhones. Unfortunately for us Windows users, there isn’t a solution out unless you can get a hold of a custom 2.1 ipsw file from a Mac user. The steps we are about to present work on Windows but only for AT&T-activated iPhones only, and won’t work if you want to unlock, it just works to jailbreak. If you absolutely must stay on top of things, you can follow our guide to jailbreak 2.1 firmware. Keep your eyes peeled for more guides when we figure out how to get this to work on unlocked iPhones that wish to remain so.
- Download the latest 2.1 IPSW firmware from Apple for 2.5G and 3G
- Launch iTunes 7.7 and let it upgrade itself to version 8. Otherwise download it yourself from filehippo.
- Allow iTunes 8 to update your iPhone with the latest v2.1 firmware update.
- Uninstall iTunes 8.
- Uninstall Apple Mobile Device Support too
- Install iTunes 7.7
- Download QuickPwn v1.2.0 with 2.1 ipsw support
- Install and run QuickPwn following the steps in our 2.0.2 upgrade guide. The difference will be you select the 2.1 restore firmware ipsw file that you downloaded in step 1.
- Download TotalCommander and the T-PoT addon for it.
- Install TotalCommander
- To install the T-PoT addon simply launch TotalCommand and use the left window to browse to the T-PoT.1.1.zip file where you saved it and double click it to install it.
- Make sure your iPhone is on and still connected to your computer via the USB cable. Use TotalCommander to browse to your iPhone file system by first clicking -/- on the drop down menu with all the drives. Then double click on [T-PoT].
- You are now in your iPhone’s file system. Use TotalCommander to navigate to /System/Library/PrivateFrameWorks/MobileInstallation.framework. Just in case things don’t work out, make sure you save your existing MobileInstallation file simply by dragging the file over to the other window.
- Now replace the MobileInstallation file on your iPhone with this patched one for v2.1 firmware.
- Now use TotalCommander to navigate to /private/var/mobile/Library/Caches/ and backup your existing com.apple.mobile.installation.plist file first, then delete it
- Reboot your iPhone. Now ponder why you went through all this trouble (like us). Enjoy!
How to Jailbreak iPhone 2.1 Firmware IPSW with QuickPwn (Windows) | Code Retard
When 2.0.2 came out, I wrote a nice post about how iPhone firmware 2.0.2 sucks. Now 2.1 is out and let me tell you, it is fantastic. Let’s get started.
1) 3g reception is so much better. The new baseband, v2. 11.07 comes with 2.1. The baseband is so much better. For the first time ever I can actually get 3g in my house! 2.0 came with 1.45.01 which was ok. 2.0.1 came with 1.48.02 and it was horrible. 2.0.2 came with 2.08 and it was much better (similar to 1.45). Now 2.11.07 is way better than any of the previous versions. This is a serous improvement. Note: 2g reception is identical. The baseband on 2g did not update. No better, no worse on 2g.
2) Appstore Works! Apple finally solved the app mapping issue (sort of). I have been bitching about this problem since 2.0. Once you have a lot of apps or certain apps installed, AppStore becomes basically useless. Many people have experienced a spinning wheel of death after installing an app because the iPhone Springboard mapping agent had to remap all the files on the iPhone everytime something was installed. This has been solved via a cache file. So new apps get added and the file does not need to be rebuilt everytime. The result: you can use your AppStore! And Cydia! Yay.
3) The lag is gone. Finally all the lag is gone! I can type an SMS and not be 20 letters ahead of the iPhone. Overall speed is equal to 1.1.4 again. Finally.
4) Sync time is fixed. While it used to take 30-120 minutes to backup my iPhone, now it doesn’t. Apple finally realized that my computer with an internet connection can also pull the files off appstore. Instead of backing up my files, it just remembers what I had installed and downloads it again in iTunes. This is how it should be. The backups are usable again.
5) Mail sync. For the first time, I restored my backups and the mail app did not crash. No need for “bossprefs: fix user dir permissions” this time around. It just works how it should.
You made it. Three full battery charges and three full days of buggy 2.0.2 firmware later and the 2.1 software is now available for download. Remember, this "big update" comes with Steve’s personal promise of "fewer call drops… significantly improved battery life for most customers… fixed a lot of bugs where if you have a lot of apps on the phone you’re not going to get some of the crashes we’ve seen… backing up to iTunes is dramatically faster." We’ll see.
P.S. Not that we’re expecting any, but if you spot copy and paste or any other unannounced features be sure to let us know.
Update: We’re updating right now and we’ll let you know if we see anything amazing. Keep us posted in the comments too — how is it going for you?
iPhone 2.1 update is out: bug fixes and longer battery life promised - Engadget