Archive for the 'Apple' Category
Apple recently released an update that allows web-apps to be more fully integrated unto the iPhone/iPod Touch. They have removed the obnoxious “web-bar” from the top and allowed an integrated bottom tool bar that doesn’t move when you scroll. Good move by Apple as this will surely boost App development since building a web app can be done in a graphical user interface while building .api(s) does take a considerable amount of manual Objective-C programming. But the biggest change this brings is the dis-intermediation of the Apple filter which rejects a huge percentage of offline applications.
Toshiba has announced its creation of 64GB chips. Since the iPhone only has one storage slot as opposed to the iPod Touch’s two slots, we will probably see 64GB iPhones and 128GB iPod Touches in the near future.
The World Wide Developer’s Conference (WWDC) is rumored to take place on either June 28th or July 2nd.
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With Apple’s stock predicted to rise generously in the coming months, there must be some new releases pending; here are some rumors and recent updates:
iPod Touch with Camera - The Examiner reports:
We have heard from an inside source who claims the camera version of the iPod Touch 3G will be released this Spring. The source confirms to us that the iPod Touch 3G with camera had actually been planned for release this past September, but had problems passing quality control.
Unfortunately, the new iPod will only have the video-only capability of the new iPod Nano. However, I was thinking that merely playing the video and stopping it at a desired frame and then taking a screenshot (home+sleep) would probably work well enough.
iPod Click Wheel Games – Apple will no longer be making iPod Click wheel supported games…
MacTablet, and a cheap one at that? – Although it sounds very un-apple-ish, some sources have reported that Apple’s MacTablet will be priced, and I quote, “Shockingly low!” Sounds to good to be true, and although most rumors place the tablet at 9-10 inches in diameter, Macrumors reports that it may be as low as 7 in.
Faster Macbook Pro – The Macbook product cycle predicts a new release in 20 days or so. Releasing the new Macbook on Christmas is highly unlikely and so I would predict the new MBP to come some time in January. Macrumors reports:
Intel is planning on launching three Arrandale-based processors on January 3rd, 2010. These Arrandale processors are based on the advanced Nehalem architecture first introduced into desktop Macs earlier this year, and should represent a significant performance improvement over the Core 2 Duo processors that are currently found in Apple’s MacBook Pros.
The three new processors will be branded under the “Core i5″ and “Core i7″ names and range from 2.4GHz to 2.66GHz with prices ranging from $225 to $332 in quantities of 1000. While Fudzilla describes their TDP (thermal design power) of 35W as “not so attractive”, it matches up with the current high-end processors used in the MacBook Pro. This means Apple could use these processors in a new MacBook Pro update.
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So here are just some recent interesting news bits about Apple and its products:
- Apple will be focusing on a more gaming oriented device in the future. This is not to say that the iPhone’s and iPod Touch’s other capabilities will be degraded but rather that Apple plans on putting special emphasis on graphic development and other important gaming related aspects.
- Apple released its web-based iTunes preview so you no longer need to launch iTunes immediately just to listen to some songs or watch a video preview.
- Apple Tablet rumors are running high:
- If the rumors are true, the tablet will be able to do basically everything a gadget could possibly do. It’s an e-reader, a gaming device, and a music player. You can watch TV and movies on it and surf the Internet (or so we’ve heard). And it will have thousands of third-party apps available for it … or maybe it will run Mac OS X. That’s all still unknown.
- CHANGE YOUR PASSWORD IF YOU HAVE OPENSSH & JAILBROKEN YOUR IPOD!
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Thanks to George Hotz and his creatively-named “blacksnow” unlock, ALL iPHONES & iPOD TOUCHES ARE JAILBREAKABLE!!!!
Geoshot has done a wonderful job of making this hack easy and simple to use.
Here it is!
Instructions and tips:
- Clean firmware 3.1.2 and baseband 05.11.07 are recommended.
- Blacksn0w is also available on Cydia, add blackra1n.com as repo (requires firmware >= 3.1 and baseband 05.11.07)
- Windows Tutorial
- Mac Tutorial
Known Issues and fixes:
- There is currently an issue with “push” and “youtube” but the dev-team will release a fix shortly.
- Some WiFi issues have also come up. Merely reset your “Network Settings” to fix this.
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So iPhone OS 3.1.2. is out and according to the Dev Team, its not wise to update yet. So just be a bit patient and the Dev-Team will release the respective Pwnagetool and RedSn0w.
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So, first things first: Apple was recently granted a patent for a touch device which supports handle two hands… sound like a iTablet touch keyboard to me!!
Second: the new iMacs are supposed to be very slim and also undergo a price decrease.
Third: The new line of Macbooks are supposed to be redesigned polycarbonate slimmer versions of the older models.
Fourth: New Mac Minis are also supposed to be released soon. These are expected to have minor speed boosts.
Fifth: The mighty mouse is getting mightier. Apple is also releasing a new model of their mouse as well as keypad. The keypad is expected to be slightly smaller and both are going to utilize the latest blue tooth technology.
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Although the Dev Teams has not posted any news on their site, iPod Touch Fans reports that they have seen a tweet that confirms that they have successfully jailbrocken the new 3.1 Software for the iPhone 3Gs. So expect a PwnageTool for that soon. The good news here is that this might lead the Dev Team to Jailbreak the 3.1 software for the iPod Touch 3G as well.
Dropbox arrives at the App Store:
I thought the release of this really cool new app is noteworthy as well. Dropbox is a free application that gives you up to 2gb of storage.
NEW iMACS!
Supposedly, since Apple has cut orders for their old line of iMacs, a new line is on the horizon (as early as Oct. 9th). My biggest question here is if they will incorporate Blu-Ray Technology AND cut costs. I’m hoping for both but only time will tell.
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Here is what the Dev Team tells us about their progress on the Jailbreaks:
iPod touch 1G (Original iPod Touch)
Use PwnageTool to create a firmware image and restore with that .ipsw using iTunes.
iPod touch 2G
Sorry, no support at this time within PwnageTool, use Redsn0w for an earlier (pre 3.1) firmware release instead.
iPod touch 3G (New iPod Touch)
Sorry, no support at this time within PwnageTool
As you can see, they are more than behind. But my opinion, and history backs this up, is that they will get to the ipod lineup after having completed all iPhone Jailbreaks/unlocks. And since they have gotten quite efficient at it, I don’t think it will be too long.
On a better note:
Apple is rumored to have new iMacs on the line! Their official announcement is supposed to come sometime next week.
Get the full story of the “missing Camera” in the iPod Touch, as reported by PCW, here for those of you who want some extra reading.
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Although Apple’s latest release of the iPod Touch 3G was not quite as good as it should have been, this little bit of news cheered me up. Apple was rumored to have had manufacturing problems with iPod Touch and was therefore unable to release it with a video camera. PCW reports that a update BY CHRISTMAS may include a this highly coveted Video Camera:
I’ve also heard that Apple wants to have these things in full production by Christmas and that they’ve made only a few months of camera-less models to tide the market over until the new ones are ready.
PCW also offers some more information by hypothesizing that:
The conventional wisdom is that Apple will put the camera into the higher end iPods ($299/$399 – 32GB/64GB) only and leave the $199 model to be a 2nd-gen model. The higher end iPods have the processor speed and the Open GL 2.0 capabilities to do video, the 2nd Gen does not. This is exactly the same pricing/feature structure as exists on the iPhone.
Based on this, my advice is to wait for just a few more months and see what happens.
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The following is long winded, somewhat complex, and for iPhone 3Gs users only.
Here is a small summary: Try not to upgrade to the 3.1 software if you want to be able to keep the ability to Jailbreak or unlock your iPhone 3Gs. & Make the necessary iTunes adjustments to “future-proof” your 3Gs Jailbreak.
Here are a few, well-noted, words from the iPhone Blog Dev Team:
If there’s one thing we’ve been stressing the last few weeks, it’s that if you want to keep the jailbreak or unlock on your 3GS, you should resist all urges to install Apple’s official firmware updates without knowing if a jailbreak exists for that version yet. Unless another (different) bootrom exploit is found for the 3GS that doesn’t require a “foot in the door” with a signed official iBoot, then accepting official updates willy-nilly may cause you to be cutoff from the jailbreak. And it will definitely cause you to be cutoff from the carrier unlock.
Now, there are ways to ensure that even after taking an official 3GS update (which you really shouldn’t do!), that you’ll nonetheless be able to revert to a jailbreakable 3GS (this is NOT true for the unlock, see NOTE #1 below). We’ve been explaining these methods (like the iTunes /tmp technique) over the last few weeks, and there’s been some great discussion and feedback for the methods in the comments.
Having said all that, we realize that some of you updated your 3GS to 3.1 anyway. If you want to come back to the world of the jailbreak (but NOT the sim unlock, sorry!) then saurik’s new “on file” server may be able to help. He’s got all the details in a new article so do check it out.
Even if you did not update your 3GS to official 3.1 (good job! You really shouldn’t do that!), then you should still read the article and make those changes today. We fully recommend redirecting your iTunes signing process through saurik’s “on file” server to future-proof your 3GS jailbreak through all future updates.
AFTER ADJUSTING YOUR ITUNES SETUP, YOU SHOULD STILL AVOID DOING AN ACTUAL FIRMWARE UPDATE. For all the reasons mentioned in this post, you’ll lose the unlock forever, and lose the jailbreak until a new one for 3.1 comes out. And there’s no guarantee that your 3.0 signed files were captured by saurik in time. This is more about protecting your 3GS jailbreak in future updates — it’s not a way to jailbreak 3.1 right now.NOTE #1: the carrier sim unlock is a different story. Jailbreaking and unlocking have two different security mechanisms, and if you update your 3GS (or 3G) to 3.1, you will lose your carrier unlock, possibly forever. Even if you downgrade from 3.1 to 3.0, you will have lost your carrier unlock. So if you think you’ll ever want to carrier unlock your 3G or 3GS (or maybe give it away or resell it later as an unlockable iPhone), then please stay clear of all official Apple IPSWs. You’ll soon be able to create custom 3.1 IPSWs using PwnageTool that let you pre-hack your 3.1 update in a way that preserves the carrier unlock.
NOTE #2: The custom IPSW flow using PwnageTool also ensures that even if Apple fixes all the iBoot holes, you’ll still be able to retain your jailbreak through later updates. That’s because a jailbroken iPhone will happily accept a custom (pre-jailbroken) firmware update even though it’s not blessed with Apples signatures. This is the “once jailbroken, always jailbroken” approach. It’s very powerful, but it requires you to only update to pre-hacked IPSWs.
NOTE #3: None of this applies if you have an iPhone 2G, iPod touch 1G, or iPod touch 2G. The iPhone 3G is also unaffected by Apple’s signing process for the jailbreak, but it is susceptible to permanent loss of the carrier unlock as mentioned in note #1.
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