TuneCore is offering 34 free song downloads at the US iTunes store. No, it’s not any 34 songs, it’s 34 songs by artists who are TuneCore customers. TuneCore  is an iTunes listing service that helps artists get their music on the iTunes Store. To get your free tracks, visit their free album page and generate a unique iTunes code. Artists on the free album include the Dandy Warhols (famous for the Veronica Mars intro) and Maureen McCormick, of the Brady Bunch. How is the actual music? The quality, er, varies. Let us know what you liked or disliked in the comments

Posted on November 28th, 2007 by admin
Filed under: iPhone Ringtone | No Comments »

Not all preferences appear in your iPhone Settings application. As I discussed rather thoroughly in my Modding Mac OS X book, it’s not that hard to dig through applications and discover undocumented–or in this case unpromoted–preferences that add spice to your Mac or iPhone. I decided to put the iPhone’s SpringBoard to the test. That’s the app that runs your main home page. This core application contained over a dozen user-settable preferences. I tested them all and selected my six favorites. If you have access to the command line, you can start having fun with these settings yourself. This post shows you how.

Customizing with plutil

To customize your settings, you need to access and update SpringBoard’s preferences file. This is found in your home Library folder in /var/root/Library/Preferences/com.apple.springboard.plist. You can do this by copying the file to your Mac and using Apple’s property list editor or you can do it in-place using a utility I wrote. This is handy for anyone using Windows and without Apple’s developer tools.

Plutil is part of my utilities for the iPhone and iPod touch. It allows you to view property lists and to check and set properties from the command line. The original OS X version does not let you do all this but I got carried away while writing it and gave it lots of features I wish the OS X version would have had. (You can download a universal Mac binary here, named plusutil so as to not compete with the existing plutil name. Plusutil contains all my additional features). With plutil, you can directly customize com.apple.springboard.plist file and set and update these secret preferences.

Each of the following examples uses plutil and restart (also in the same package) to set and then update the look of your iPhone or iPod touch. Unfortunately, there’s no way I’ve been able to find to send SpringBoard a notification to update itself from the preferences file. Restart uses the blunt force approach of restarting SpringBoard. It does this by issuing a launchctl command.

6 fun iPhone Preferences

I’ve tested each of the following iPhone preferences on my personal unit. They are, as a whole, pretty useless, which explains why they didn’t make it into the Settings application. On the other hand, they are extremely fun. So, user beware but also user enjoy. Use these tricks at your own risk.

1. Set a fake “time”. SpringBoard offers two fake time preferences: SBFakeTime and SBFakeTimeString. When SBFakeTime is set to YES, the time at the top of your screen gets replaced with the contents of SBFakeTimeString. Sure, you can set this string to, say, an actual time. Or you can make it fun using pretty much any arbitrary text. You can see the SBFakeTime result in the image at the head of this post.

iphone # plutil -s SBFakeTime -v YES com.apple.springboard.plist
 Setting property SBFakeTime to YES
 iphone # plutil -s SBFakeTimeString -v "TUAW Rocks" com.apple.springboard.plist
 Setting property SBFakeTimeString to TUAW Rocks
 iphone # restart

2. Setting a fake carrier. The SBFakeCarrier preference allows you to change your carrier from AT&T to any string you like. I liked this preference so much, I put together the Make it Mine application to let anyone do this without having to use the command line.

iphone # plutil -s SBFakeCarrier -v "Erica" com.apple.springboard.plist
 Setting property SBFakeCarrier to Erica
 iphone # restart

3. Hide certain apps for your keynote The SBEnableAppReveal preferences is just plain goofy. It hides YouTube, iTunes and Safari. Handy for giving keynotes, odd otherwise. Double-tap the spaces to reveal the apps. Double-tap again to hide them.

iphone # plutil -s SBEnableAppReveal -v YES com.apple.springboard.plist
Setting property SBEnableAppReveal to YES
iphone # restart

4. Use a different dock As you know the iPod touch dock differs from the default iPhone dock. If you want to switch between the matte dock to the shiny dock, SBUseNewDock will accomodate.

iphone # plutil -v YES -s SBUseNewDock com.apple.springboard.plist
 Setting property SBUseNewDock to YES
 iphone # restart

5. and 6. See numeric signal strength values Two iPhone preferences, SBShowGSMRSSI and SBShowRSSI allow you to view your cell and WiFi signal strengths as numbers instead of pictures. This is a great geek mod that’s absolutely useless.

iphone # plutil -s SBShowRSSI -v YES com.apple.springboard.plist
Setting property SBShowRSSI to YES
iphone # restart

via http://www.tuaw.com/2007/11/27/a-half-dozen-fun-undocumented-iphone-preferences/

Posted on November 28th, 2007 by admin
Filed under: iPhone News, iPhone Fun, iPhone Tips | No Comments »

iPhone ads hit the French airwaves today. Although I don’t speak French, the ads look fairly similar to their US counterparts. The most obvious differences are that they are (obviously) in French, and that they substitute culturally appropriate media, like showing Le Monde instead of the NY Times.

All of the ads end with a screen saying that they go on sale on November 29th.

You can view the French ads at the Apple France web site. You can compare it to the German and UK ads as well.

via http://www.iphonealley.com/news/iphone-ads-air-in-france

Posted on November 27th, 2007 by admin
Filed under: iPhone News | No Comments »

Folks at Gizmodo are reporting that ScummVM, the emulation engine that allows you to play LucasArts and Sierra games, is officially released and now fully working on the iPhone. It means that you can play some of the popular games such as Day of the Tentacle, Indiana Jones etc on your iPone (works on iPod Touch as well).

If you are wondering how would you be using the controls on the iPhone to play games like  Indiana Jones then below are some directions of how to use iPhone multi-touch user interface to play these games.

• left click - Single tap
• Right click - Hold one finger on screen where you want to click, single tap another
• ESC - Hold one finger on screen, double tap another
• F5 (menu) - Hold one finger on screen, swipe another down from top to bottom
• F 0-9 keys - Press the keyboard button directly under the appropriate number
• Pause - Keyboard spacebar
• Toggle - Click+Drag mode    Hold one finger on screen, swipe another up from bottom to top. In this mode, a mouse click is sent immediately when you touch the screen, drags to wherever you slide your finger, and releases where you lift your finger. Useful for Monkey Island 3: The Curse of Monkey Island and Full Throttle.
• Suspend - Press the button.
• Quit- Press and hold the button for 5-6 seconds.

As you can see quite an innovative way of using iPhone’s revolutionary multi-touch interface.

Here are the games that have been tested and are fully supported currently:

• Day of the Tentacle
• The Dig
• Flight of the Amazon Queen
• Full Throttle
• Gobliiins
• Gobliins 2
• Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis
• Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
• King’s Quest 3
• Loom
• Maniac Mansion
• Monkey Island 1: The Secret of Monkey Island (best game ever)
• Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge (ok, maybe this is the best game ever)
• Sam & Max Hit the Road (another must-have)
• Simon the Sorcerer 1
• Simon the Sorcerer 2
• Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders

Overall most of the games work very well on the iPhone expect for couple of issues reported by Gizmodo:

• Since the resolution of the iPhone is higher than the native resolution of these games, the graphics don’t use the full screen, keeping its original pixel size.
• Some of the more modern games, like Monkey Island 3, still have some performance problems.

If this has got you excited and you are looking to install ScummVM on your iPhone, here are some instructions which you will find useful courtesy ScummVM Wiki:

• Open Installer.app on a jailbroken iPhone or iPod touch.
• Tap the “Sources” button in the bottom-right corner.
• Tap the “Edit” button in the top-right corner.
• Tap the “Add” button in the top-left corner.
• Enter http://urbanfanatics.com/scummvm.xml into the text area and tap “OK”.
• Installer will refresh your sources. It may close. If so, reopen it.
• ScummVM is now available for install in the Games section.

In case you need more assistance in installing it, you can get in touch with the iPhone hacking geniuses themselves over at ScummVM’s official site (link here).

If you have been able to play the LucasArt or Sierra Games on the iPhone using ScummVM, then do share your feedback in the comments below for the benefit of fellow readers.

Posted on November 27th, 2007 by admin
Filed under: iPhone Fun, iPhone Game | No Comments »

We’re yet to see full Exchange support for the iPhone - remember, that means calendar and contacts synchronisation as well as push-email - but if your schedule is managed by Google’s online Calendar service then you’re finally in luck.  GooSync, whose eponymous product keeps your cellphone and calendar wirelessly synchronised, have seemingly released their iPhone client early (it’s down as being expected Q1 2008), meaning you can now keep appointments and address book updated across both.

GooSync comes in free and paid versions, the latter priced at £19.95 ($41) for twelve months, differentiated by how far ahead appointments are transferred to your iPhone (30 days in the free version, a year with the paid version), whether contacts can be synchronised (bidirectional sync only on the premium version) and the ability to connect your iPhone to multiple calendars.

If you already use Google Calendar then this could be ideal, particularly the ability to update while on the move.

Posted on November 27th, 2007 by admin
Filed under: iPhone News | No Comments »

Create a talking character using any photo or picture.Receive a copy of PQ Talking Photo by blogging it! ($59.90 value for Free).

Limited time offer: you must blog before Xmas. Your blog cannot be newly created and must have at least 10 posts.Refer to blog it page.

PQDVD | PQ Talking Photo | DVD to iPod Video Converter

Posted on November 27th, 2007 by admin
Filed under: Uncategorized | No Comments »

iPhone Lyrics
A website made for the iPhone to look up song lyrics.

To use on your iPhone or iPod Touch open the link in Safari: http://www.iphonelyrics.com/

Posted on November 26th, 2007 by admin
Filed under: iPhone Tips | No Comments »

Yeah, its now possible with new plugin wPhone. Wphone is a simple to install and use plugin that creates an iPhone and iPod Touch friendly version of wp-admin. As well as being able to add content and posts you can access the various user and blog settings perfectly.

WPhone allows you to use a custom admin interface while interacting with your WordPress install via your phone. It contains two versions of the mobile admin interface: an iPhone / iPod Touch specific interface with full Javascript and animation support a lightweight, simple version designed for all other phone types (no Javascript or anything else required) WPhone, while stable, is a work in progress. Many more features are already planned and will be coming soon in future versions.

This plugin is designed for use with the latest version of WordPress, but will work with versions 2.1 and newer.

Speed
WPhone is fast. Not only are all pages pared down to their bare essential HTML, but each is GZIPed before it is sent off to mobile devices, saving bandwidth for those on slower connections.

Dual Compatibility
WPhone is designed to work and look good regardless of your mobile platform. Since WPhone emulates a native Apple handheld application, iPod Touch and iPhone users will be at home with the default Webkit/Safari theme, while other mobile platforms (such as Windows Mobile 5/6 browsers) will interact with a stripped-down yet still-stylish interface. The plugin’s XHTML compatibility even ensures that mobile browsers that do not support CSS will receive a plain and easy-to-use interface for managing their WordPress blogs.

WordPress Compatibility
WPhone works with existing WordPress administration infrastructure, meaning that all “Edit This Post” links in most templates will work on-the-fly. We also use (mostly) standard API calls on the back end, meaning that the plugin should continue to work across version updates to WordPress (as long as the WP API stays the same).

Hookable And Extensible
WPhone emulates the way that the core WordPress application approaches hooks in many ways, meaning that most sections of the custom interface are customizable by any aspiring plugin authors. We have even included an example plugin to show you how it’s done.

Check out wpressplugin to download.

Posted on November 26th, 2007 by admin
Filed under: iPhone News | No Comments »

MacNotes.de (German) provides early notes and experiences from customers who have bought unlocked iPhones in Germany.

The first SIM-unlocked iPhones went on sale in Germany on November 21st with a considerable (600 euro) premium over the usual SIM-locked iPhones. “Unlocked” simply means that the phone is not tied to any one network provider (such as AT&T or T-Mobile) and can accept any SIM card.

The unlocking process is as follows: You simply buy a regular iPhone (”locked”) and pay the additional premium (999 euro total). Your iPhone’s IMEI number is recorded and sent to Apple. After 24 hours or so, Apple’s database is updated. At this stage, once you connect your iPhone to iTunes, the iPhone is automatically unlocked in a process that is described as taking only “seconds”. You can then proceed to sync your now-unlocked iPhone with iTunes. The firmware remains at version 1.1.2 after the unlock. The process raises a number of questions and also opens the possibility of unauthorized unlocking solutions to become readily available.

The sale of unlocked iPhones in Germany was forced by a temporary injunction against T-Mobile, and could potentially be overturned at a future court date.

Regardless, Apple is required to offer unlocked iPhones in France after 6 months according to French law, so the infrastructure must remain available in iTunes. The iPhone will launch in France on November 29th.

Posted on November 26th, 2007 by admin
Filed under: iPhone News | No Comments »

The Adventure Maker Team recently released their new version of Adventure 4.4 Maker Free Edition, with added support for the iPhone and iPod touch. The software is a free tool that runs on the Windows operating system, and can make games that run in the Safari web browser and can be accessed by the iPhone and iPod touch.

The Adventure Maker creates point-and-click games and virtual tours for the iPhone and iPod touch, as well as Windows and PSP.

The Adventure Maker itself is relatively easy to use. All you need to do is import the images, create hotspots for people to click (or tap), add some puzzles, and click “compile”.

You can learn more about The Adventure Maker 4.4 at their website, AdventureMaker.com

Posted on November 26th, 2007 by admin
Filed under: iPhone Fun, iPhone Game | No Comments »