The iPhone is a popular gadget, there is no doubt about it. As with all popular gadgets, people tend to get a little overenthusiastic. This enthusiasm can take multiple forms—like waiting in line for days to get the product, dressing up like the gadget for Halloween, selling cheap knockoffs or completely ridiculous accessories, or even building their own from scratchThe 10 images featured after the jump illustrate this phenomenon as it relates to the iPhone, and the video above shows just how much the new fangled iPhone technology can piss off a strung out old hippie.

via http://gizmodo.com/349001/10-examples-of-the-iphone-making-people-crazy

Posted on January 30th, 2008 by admin
Filed under: iPhone Videos, iPhone Fun | No Comments »

UK Apple partner O2, who hold the exclusivity contract on the British version of the iPhone, have today announced a refresh of their iPhone-specific monthly tariffs that could see users with up to three times the amount of included voice minutes and SMS text messages as before.  While the two entry-level packages - priced at £35 ($69) and £45 ($89) - will not change in price, subscribers on the cheapest tariff, say, will receive 600 minutes rather than 200.

O2 has also axed the current high-end tariff, which was priced at £55 ($109), and replaced it with a “top tier” plan that costs a whopping £75 ($149) a month.  It includes the same unlimited data as the cheaper bundles, and gives users 3,000 included minutes and 500 text messages.

The iPhone handset itself remains £269 ($533) with a minimum 18-month contract.  While critics have suggested that the price cuts are related to unexpectedly poor sales performance of the cellphone in Europe, O2 insisted that it remained their “fastest selling” device and “an unbeatable proposition”

via Guardian

Posted on January 30th, 2008 by admin
Filed under: iPhone News, iPhone Plan | No Comments »

Jeremy Horwitz at iLounge has written a comprehensive guide for integrating the iPhone with you car, from a budget-friendly rig to the ultimate set-up.

The problem, of course, is that there’s no single device, cable or solution that will manage calls, music, and charge your iPhone’s battery simultaneously. I’m using a set-up similar to Jeremy’s budget solution — a cheap mount holds the iPhone in place, an audio cable connects it to my stereo’s audio in port and a Belkin charger keeps the battery going.

Of course, I’ve still got to pick the thing up and disconnect the audio cable to place or receive a call (still legal where I live). I know that a Bluetooth headset would eliminate that issue, but I don’t want to have to buy one more thing to accessorize my iPhone.

Jeremy’s “Optimal Solution” eliminates a lot of the stuff with a Contour Design / Bluetrek SurfaceSound Compact, which is a nifty hands-free solution for mobile phones (though quite pricey). If price is not a concern, check it out. As for the rest of us, have you got your iPhone set up in your car? Share your solutions below.

Posted on January 30th, 2008 by admin
Filed under: iPhone Tips | No Comments »

Several readers have reported that, after installing the iPhone software/firmware 1.1.3 update, SMS (text) messages are displayed out of order. That is, a conversation intended to appear thusly:

• User1: Hi
• User2: How are you?
• User1: Fine.

instead appears thusly:

• User1: Hi
• User1: Fine.
• User2: How are you?

Apple has now acknowledged this issue in a Knowledge Base article, which says the problem may be “occurring because messages are being sent in quick succession (more common if the messages consist of only a few short words).”

Potential fixes

• Set your iPhone to official time If you are in the United States, go to time.gov and check the current, official time, then set your iPhone to that time in “Settings” (as close to the minute change as you can).
• Use network time Apple’s suggested fix is as follows: “Make sure iPhone is setup to receive the network time. Choose General > Date & Time and turn Set Automatically to ON. (Note that in some locations, network time may not be available and in some cases, you may not see this option).” However, Apple admits that this solution may not work in all cases.
• Restart Some users have reported that powering off their iPhones (by holding down the sleep/wake button until the slider appears, turning the unit off, then back on) resolves this issue.

Posted on January 29th, 2008 by admin
Filed under: iPhone Tips | No Comments »

It’s Jailbreak day here on CrunchGear, as another app has just been released, and it’s the easiest to use yet, as it’s an over the air updater for previously Jailbroken iPod Touches and iPhones, and the best part is you can do it without a computer at all.

If you’re iPhone or Touch isn’t jailbroken yet, this isn’t for you. But if you’re using a 1.1.1 or 1.1.2 Jailbroken handheld, this is the easiest yet. Using the installer.app you’ve already installed, you can now update your system software to 1.1.3.

A word of caution, not all current third-party apps work with 1.1.3, such as Summerboard, but it, as well as most others, should have compatible updates very soon. Hit the jump to get started.

In all, the update takes about 45 minutes, but it’s a painless 45 minutes that you can use to do other things, like read CrunchGear.

You’ll need a decent Wi-Fi connection for your iPhone or iPod Touch. The faster the connection, the faster it’ll upgrade.

To start, make sure that installer.app and the BSD subsystem are up to date. If they are, back out to the settings menu and make sure your autolock is disabled.Then, in installer.ap, simply add http://ijailbreak.com/repo.plist to the sources list in Installer (Sources -> Edit -> Add -> http://ijailbreak.com/repo.plist), then refresh your sources. Go back to the installable packages list and you should have a category called “iJailBreakMobile”. From there, choose the 1.1.1 installer or the 1.1.2 installer, based on which firmware you’re running. This will put a new icon on your device, called iJailbreak. Run it.

You’ll be asked to make sure a few things are set up, and if they are, it’ll start the download process. This part can take awhile, as it’s downloading the real 1.1.3 firmware from Apple.

Just let it run. At times, it’ll look like it’s giving an error or freezing, but it’s supposed to look like that. If successful, which it should be if you’ve followed our instructions, it’ll reboot into 1.1.3, ready to go. If not, you’ll reboot to wherever you were at before, so you can give it another go.

When it’s done, you’ll want to go to the installer app again and install “iPod Touch Software Upgrade” if you’re on a Touch, as I am. It’ll install a new program called iJailbreak that looks just like the last one. Hit it to reboot with all the new apps (Mail, Maps, etc.) and the “wiggly icon” arrangement thing.

When you’re all done, you’ll also want to run the app called “Remove 1.1.3 Upgrade Data” if you’re upgrading for 1.1.1, as the application is left on your device when it’s done, and it takes up space on your device that you’d love to have back.

You could thank me for showing you this, but the thanks should go to AriX of iJailBreak dot com, the mind who put this all together. Feel free to make a donation to the man if it works for you.

via http://www.crunchgear.com/2008/01/28/exclusive-ijailbreak-mobile-released-upgrade-your-jailbroken-ipod-touch-iphone-over-the-air/

Posted on January 29th, 2008 by admin
Filed under: iPhone News, iPhone Tips | No Comments »

Ed note: Katie had her own reasons for stopping her column, but things ended amicably between us. This is a previously unpublished iTunes mix from Katie which will serve as her last post. - arn.

Katie’s iPhone Mix - Songs I love put into a playlist for easy iPhone in-car listening.

1. When Your Mind’s Made Up - Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova
2. The Bitch is Back - Elton John
3. No Hay Manera (Jason Roberts Remix) - Akwid
4. Hell Yes - Beck
5. Swollen Summer - The Bravery
6. Novotel - Adam Green
7. There’s Always Someone Cooler Than You - Ben Folds
8. Mess - Ben Folds Five
9. I’m Lookin for Someone to Love - Buddy Holly & The Crickets
10. Don’t Tell Mama - Original Broadway Cast
11. Boys Keep Swinging - David Bowie
12. Bruised - The Bens
13. Rock Me Amadeus - Falco
14. Ding Don Song (Almighty Mix) - Gunther & the Sunshine Girls & The Sunshine Girls
15. Kate - Ben Folds Five
16. Improper Dancing - Electric Six
17. The Strangest Secret In the World - London Elektricity
18. Work Song - Nellie McKay
19. Songs of Love - Ben Folds

via http://www.macrumors.com/iphone/2008/01/28/katies-iphone-mix/

Posted on January 29th, 2008 by admin
Filed under: iPhone Fun, iPhone Ringtone, iPhone Tips | No Comments »

It looks like Apple has more of an incentive for keeping the iPhone locked than previously expected. Reports by both Marketwatch and Fortune are claiming that the unlocking of iPhones may be costing Apple as much as $300 million in future kickbacks from wireless carriers.

Analysts believe that of the 1.7 million iPhones not accounted for by AT&T activations only 300,000 and 400,000 were sold in Europe. That leaves over a million iPhones that have either been unlocked or haven’t been activated, a number, accounting for as much as one-quarter of the company’s total iPhone sales to date — a number one analyst called “astounding.”

Keep in mind that Apple makes money through their revenue-sharing deal with AT&T for every iPhone contract signed to their network over time. According to Bernstein Research’s Apple specialist Toni Sacconaghi, Apple makes from $300,000 to $400,000 for every million iPhones. That means that’s 300,000 ot $400,000 that Apple won’t be getting from locked iPhones.

Also, not only will Apple make less money with high unlocking rates, but it will also become more difficult to make deals with iPhone carriers overseas. He notes that Apple’s goal of 10 million iPhones sold by the end of 2008 has become more unlikely.

via http://apple20.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2008/01/28/apples-300-million-gray-market-dilemma/?source=yahoo_quote

“In order to achieve this target,” he writes, “we expect Apple will have to lower the iPhone’s price, introduce new (likely lower-end) models, and/or forego revenue-sharing in certain geographies, all of which would compromise the iPhone’s economics.”

Posted on January 29th, 2008 by admin
Filed under: iPhone News | No Comments »

It’s here! The Dev Team released their official jailbreak for iPhones running version 1.1.3 this morning. It’s very similar to the jailbreak released earlier this week, only without the suckiness of not working. The only difference (at least on the user’s end) is that it requires your phone to be at v1.1.2. iPhones on version 1.1.1 will need to upgrade to v1.1.2, jailbreak, and then install the “BSD Subsystem” package in order for this method to work. This is because the jailbreak occurs on the iPhone itself and is therefore platform independent.

This jailbreak, like the one before it, does not upgrade the phone’s baseband which, in our experience, breaks things like “locate me” functionality in Maps. If you have a valid AT&T account, it may be a good idea to upgrade to 1.1.3 and downgrade to a jailbroken version of 1.1.2 before running this update. For those of you who use an unlocked iPhone, you’ll want to keep away from v1.1.3 as it will re-lock your phone.

We’ve tried it and it definitely works. It certainly requires some patience, but from our end there seem to be very few issues. Our pal Mark has written up a guide over at Hack That Phone which is likely the best bet for most people.

Detailed Process:

download this file, make sure the following are true:

• Set Auto-Lock to “Never” in your settings to prevent the Phone from locking and shutting down your connection.
• This installer downloads a significant amount of data from Apple’s website. Be sure you have WiFi turned on so that you don’t use your mobile connection - or you’ll be sitting there a while!
• Be sure to perform this upgrade with the charge cable connected

then follow these instructions:

1. Copy this entire distribution (all files) to / on your iPhone/iPod Touch So you will have /update-prebinding-path.txt and so on. Use this command to copy the files: scp -r ./* root@YOURIPHONEIPADDRESS:/
2. Run the install.sh script on your iPhone sh install.sh
3. The device will perform an upgrade and reboot into 1.1.3

The dev teams says:

“If something DOES go wrong, restore back to 1.1.2 / Jailbroken and try again. If you get something like illegal hardware instruction, just try rebooting
and it should be updated to 1.1.3. If you don’t get service, try a forced-power-down then power back on.”

Posted on January 28th, 2008 by admin
Filed under: iPhone News | No Comments »

Nate True has released a similar jailbreak method for Macs. The Mac method is ostensibly easier than the Windows method, requiring the download and use of a single file dubbed 1.1.3 package maker.

However, there is an important trick for making this file work — once you download it and mount this disk image, move both the file “Run_This” and the folder “data” to the root level of your startup drive, then launch “Run_This.” Otherwise you may receive errors.

Like the Windows method, you will need to downgrade your iPhone to software/firmware version 1.1.1 or 1.1.2 before running this procedure if your phone already has 1.1.3. Downgrading may require that you use a version of iTunes older than 7.6.

To downgrade to iTunes 7.5 follow these steps:

Delete the following files:

• The iTunes 7.6 application (located in /Applications)
• com.apple.iTunes.plist (from ~/Library/Preferences)
• iTunes.pkg (from /Library/Receipts)
• iTunesX.pkg (from /Library/Receipts)

Download and install iTunes 7.5

You can then follow the instructions here to downgrade your iPhone.

We’re still on a more robust, less problem prone jailbreak due from the iPhone Dev team. Use Nate True’s method at your own risk.

Posted on January 25th, 2008 by admin
Filed under: iPhone News | No Comments »

A splinter dev team has just released its 1.1.3 jailbreak. This jailbreak provides a “soft upgrade” path for jailbroken 1.1.1 and 1.1.2 users. (See that post for many of the technical details.) For right now, this jailbreak is limited to Windows users only, with a Mac release expected shortly. This does not jailbreak the iPod touch–iPhone only for now.

A special edition of Nate True’s iBrickr software will prepare the image used for the update and a second installer portion will flash the phone. Smxy repository maintainer, Shaun Erickson has packed up this second portion of the jailbreak, which will be available via Installer.app.

iPhone hacker NerveGas raised concerns as to whether this release would illegally distribute Apple software. Nate assures me that he merely uses a diff (differences) file between the 1.1.3 firmware as provided and the jailbroken 1.1.3 firmware. NerveGas asked me to mention that this release is not canon and distributed against his wishes and against the wishes of some of the dev/elite team. From what I understand, the dev team was behind this release until shortly before Nate took it live. NerveGas’s copyright concerns divided the team, splitting opinions on whether it should go live just at the wire.

Huge kudos for this jailbreak go primarily to the awesome iPhone hackers “planetbeing” and _Fred, who were the first to jailbreak. Other amazing developers include Zibri, netkas, NerveGas, asap18, bgm, Bugout, bushing, chris_, dinopio, drudge, gray, MuscleNerd, natetrue, pr3d4t0r, roxfan, Turbo, Zf[strike], np101137, pumpkin, and kroo, along with many contributors who wish to remain anonymous.

You’ll need an iPhone running firmware versions 1.1.1 or 1.1.2, and that has already been through the Jailbreak procedure, so anybody who has already upgraded to 1.1.3 (or who has bought an iPhone recently with the latest software pre-installed) will have to downgrade their handset first.

Instructions from cre.ations.net:

MAC VERSION - Download the 1.1.3 package maker and open it, then run Run_This. Read carefully, press Enter when necessary, and the image will be uploaded to your phone.Here’s how you do it:
- Start with a 1.1.1 or 1.1.2 jailbroken phone with Installer.app installed.
- Plug in your phone via USB to your computer.
- Download, extract, and run iBrickr Special 1.1.3 jailbreak edition(ibrickr.exe in the archive).
- iBrickr will determine what firmware you are running on your phone and make sure you can run the update.
- iBrickr will then guide you through the process of obtaining and modifying the 1.1.3 firmware (make sure to read everything thoroughly).
- iBrickr will upload the new firmware image to your phone. Note that this only puts the file on your phone and does not modify it at all, yet.
- When iBrickr finishes (should take about 10 minutes), it will tell you to go to Installer and install the “1.1.3 soft upgrade” package. Do that.
- When the installer finishes (this should take another 10-15 minutes), your phone should reboot with a fresh activated 1.1.3 firmware.

Update: How to fix GoogleMaps Locations–this fix only works for fully legal customers (at&t, orange, o2) (Thanks Netkas!)

Update: We’re still fairly unsure as to what exactly is in the jailbreak software. Nate had told me the only possible infringement would be the difference file between the 1.1.3 dmg and the jailbroken dmg but I’m now told by others (thanks kroo!) that it includes Apple’s iTunesMobileDevice.dll. Engadget’s on-staff legal guru Nilay Patel says that you cannot include Apple’s code in another release, whether or not Apple posts the code online for free, adding that there’s probably a license agreement somewhere that prevents modification.

Thanks tuaw.com

Posted on January 25th, 2008 by admin
Filed under: iPhone News | No Comments »