Thursday, June 10, 2010

We've been seeing the iPad / iPhone Spirit jailbreak demoed here and there for a few weeks now, and here we go -- the download is now available. The untethered jailbreak works on activated iPhone OS devices running 3.1.2, 3.1.3, and 3.2, although iPad owners are warned that "all this is still sort of beta" and might require you to restore if things break. That's not the worst thing in the world, we suppose -- anyone taking the plunge?
Click here to Download

Saturday, May 1, 2010

iPad 3G Jailbroken Using ‘Spirit’ Jailbreak

It was quick but not very surprising, MuscleNerd of the iPhone Dev Team has just confirmed that the iPad Wi-Fi+3G, which went on sale today has been successfully jailbroken.

He has also published photos and videos of the jailbroken iPad 3G. The iPad 3G was jailbroken using the Spirit jailbreak that Comex plans to release shortly.

iPhone Dev Team had published a post today providing more details about the Spirit jailbreak, which was supposed to be released today but has been delayed by a few days due to the iPad 3G launch today.

MuscleNerd tweeted:

Today’s iPad 3G just as hackable as iPad Wifi

He has also published the following photos:

Spirit jailbreak for ipad and iphone os 3.1.3

And here is the video of the jailbroken iPad 3G:

Comex has also explained the reason for the delay in releasing the Spirit jailbreak, which was supposed to be released today:

the point of the spirit delay is to allow time to get SHSH blobs, especially on the 3G iPad. spirit will support:
- all models of iPhone and iPod touch, 3.1.2 and 3.1.3
- both models of iPad, 3.2
You don’t need a SHSH blob to jailbreak, but you do need it to restore or downgrade if something goes wrong or you accidentally upgrade. For 3.1.2 (required for blackra1n, etc.), Apple is no longer handing out blobs, but for 3.1.3 and 3.2, you can still get blobs– and should do so ASAP!

You can get more details about taking backup

of SHSH blob from our earlier post.

[via iPhone Dev Team]

iPhone Dev Team Says ‘Spirit’ Jailbreak; Might Not Be Released Today

iPhone Dev Team has published a post providing more details about the ‘Spirit’ jailbreak that Comex is planning to release shortly that can jailbreak iPhone OS 3.1.3 for all iPhone and iPod Touches and iPhone OS 3.2 for iPad.

The ‘Spirit’ jailbreak is the first userland jailbreak since iPhone firmware 1.x, which allowed users to jailbreak their iPhone using Mobile Safari.

Here are some useful details about the ‘Spirit’ jailbreak that will be released by Comex shortly:

Spirit is an untethered jailbreak.
*

Spirit works on all devices. (However, the redsn0w and PwnageTool flows will continue to work on those devices they’ve always worked on)
*

Spirit does not include a carrier unlock.
*

Spirit requires your device to be activated or hacktivated
*

It will not be Mobile Safari based like the iPhone firmware 1.x version.

iPhone Dev Team explains:

Userland jailbreaks are more troublesome for Apple since they expose security weaknesses that exist even for non-jailbroken owners. As such, Apple is likely to close them soon after they’re made public. One recent example of this is the SMS vulnerability exposed at Blackhat last summer. Apple released new firmware to close that hole within a day.

The Spirit jailbreak is most useful for newer devices: iPhone 3GS, iPod Touch 3G, and the iPads. Unfortunately those devices are the same ones that Apple can prevent you from downgrading unless you’ve got a backup of your personalized SHSH blobs. Unless you’ve backed up your SHSH blobs for vulnerable firmware versions, you’ll lose the ability to use the current Spirit jailbreak if you accidentally upgrade.

They have advised users to take a local backup of the SHSH blobs using Firmware Umbrella (download link) or follow these instructions to go through Saurik’s server as soon as possible.

Please note that Comex has hinted that he might not release the Spirit jailbreak on Friday as he had announced earlier due to the launch of iPad 3G. But he has promised to release it in a few days.

We will update you when the software has been released. Stay tuned here at Theiphonenerd or follow us on Twitter or subscribe to our RSS feed.

New iPhone To Go On Sale From June 7?

Apple’s announcement of the dates for the 2010 edition of the WorldWide Developers Conference has triggered fresh speculations over the official launch date for the next generation iPhone.

You may recall that Apple has traditionally used the WWDC platform to unveil its new iPhone models though the devices themselves are made available in the stores only a few days later.

This year however, Apple may be looking at an immediate release. Sources close to Mashable have told the website that the next generation iPhone, dubbed iPhone HD, could go on sale as early as June 7 - the opening day of WWDC 2010 when Steve Jobs is expected to unveil the new iPhone model.

Mashable speculates that this might have something to do with the leak of an iPhone prototype earlier this month. It notes that a delayed launch of the iPhone could affect the sale numbers and thus an immediate release would help the new product get more traction.

Folks at BGR had also confirmed from several sources earlier this month that AT&T had blocked employee vacations through the month of June. The launch of Apple’s new iPhone in the first half of June thus looks very likely.

Are you planning to buy or upgrade to Apple’s next generation iPhone?

Flash Support For iPhone ?

Adobe recently announced that it has stopped working on Flash for iPhone, which caused some uproar among iPhone users.

Steve Jobs has posted an open letter on Apple’s website offering his “Thoughts on Flash”. It is a must-read to find out the reason for not allowing Flash on the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.

Steve Jobs has provided six reasons for not allowing Flash on its iPhone OS devices.

Open Standards:

Steve Jobs points out that Adobe Flash is proprietary. He admits that iPhone OS is proprietary but argues that web standards should be open giving examples of HTML5, CSS and JavaScript etc. He has also given an example of how Apple had started the open source project and created WebKit, an open-source HTML5 rendering engine that is the heart of the Safari web browser, which is widely used in almost every smartphone web browser.

The Full Web:

Steve Jobs points out that Adobe’s claim that iPhone OS devices cannot access 75% of the video on the web is not accurate as almost all the videos on the web is available in H.264 format, which works on iPhone OS devices.

He admits that users can’t play Flash games on their iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch but highlights that there are 50,000 game and entertainment iPhone apps available in the App Store of which many are free.

Reliability, Security, and Performance:

Jobs points out to a report by Symantec, which highlighted that Flash had one of the worst security records last year.

He claims that Flash is the number one reason for Mac crashes that have persisted even after working with Adobe to fix the problems for many years.

Steve Jobs also highlighted that though Adobe has mentioned that they will bring Flash on the smartphone in early 2009, we still haven’t seen it work well on the mobile.

Battery Life:

Steve Jobs explains that to preserve battery life it is important to decode videos in hardware, which is possible with chips used in most smartphones as they have a decoder called H.264 rather than decoding videos using software. Apple has observed that H.264 videos play for up to 10 hours, while videos decoded in software play for less than 5 hours.

Touch:

Jobs points out that Flash was designed for PCs using mice and it is not compatible with Apple’s revolutionary multi-touch iPhone OS as there is no concept of a rollover, which is widely used in many Flash based websites.

Third-Party Cross platform development Development Tool:

The most important reason for not allowing developers to use cross platform development tools is because Apple believes that developers end up developing sub-standard iPhone apps as the cross platform development tools would be slower to adopt the changes and improvements that are rolled out by Apple.

Steve Jobs concludes by saying:

New open standards created in the mobile era, such as HTML5, will win on mobile devices (and PCs too). Perhaps Adobe should focus more on creating great HTML5 tools for the future, and less on criticizing Apple for leaving the past behind.

You can read the full text of Steve Jobs’ open letter by followingthis link.

AT&T: iPhone Tethering Not Coming Anytime Soon

Is AT&T a better network today than it was a year earlier?

Executives at Ma Bell would definitely say so. The company is noted to have been working on improving the network infrastructure in several high iPhone density areas in the past few months. The results have been positive with many of our readers noticing fewer dropped calls and better reliability on an average.

Despite the improvements seen in AT&T’s network, the company is yet to allow iPhone tethering to their customers. The feature, that was introduced in iPhone OS 3.0, allows users to connect their iPhone as a wireless internet modem to surf the internet on other devices like the laptop. AT&T has noted that iPhone tethering may lead to a terrific rise in network data usage that could potentially cripple the company’s wireless infrastructure. This is despite promises made by AT&T Mobility CEO Ralph de la Vega in November 2008 that tethering on iPhone shall be made available “soon”.

Apparently, AT&T users are still some time away from seeing the functionality enabled. In a recent conversation with Engadget, an AT&T spokesperson has said:

“We understand that there is great interest in tethering but cannot provide any details at this time. We know that iPhone users love their devices and mobile broadband, and that they’re likely to embrace tethering just as they have other features and apps – by using it a lot. iPhone tethering has the potential to exponentially increase traffic, and we need to ensure that we’re able to deliver excellent performance for the feature – over and above the increases in data traffic we’re already seeing – before we will offer the feature.”
This could come as a huge disappointment to iPhone users who may have expected the feature to be made available soon.

AT&T is also Apple’s exclusive partner for iPad 3G, which will be available from tomorrow. With several hundred thousand iPads expected to be sold over the next few weeks, AT&T has its task cut out in ensuring that their wireless infrastructure is not crippled due to the excessive data usage.

Though we agree with AT&T that it should not release the feature until it has the required infrastructure to support it, it has been more than 10 months since the feature was introduced in iPhone OS 3.0 and it is disappointing that they haven’t addressed the infrastructure issues to bring one of the most requested features to its iPhone customers. It might be the reason Apple is working on two new iPhones, including one for Verizon as non-availability of such features will end up affecting them as well.

Let us know your thoughts in the comments

‘Spirit’ Jailbreak For iPhone OS 3.1.3 And iPhone OS 3.2 Might Be Released Tomorrow

The Spirit jailbreaking tool for iPhone OS 3.1.3 for iPhone and iPod Touch and iPhone OS 3.2 for iPad is coming soon and might be released as early as tomorrow (April 30).

Comex, the developer of the popular untethered jailbreaking software solution has announced that the much awaited tool shall be released on Friday. The announcement comes courtesy a Twitter conversation between Comex and an iPhone user.

While responding to queries regarding the release date for ‘Spirit’ jailbreak on Twitter, Comex said:
wahoofan5: @comex so when’s it coming out? At least give a month please
about 4 hours ago via Twitterrific in reply to comex
comex: @wahoofan5 Friday.
about 1 hour ago via web in reply to wahoofan5
There are however a few caveats to be noted. Firstly, Spirit shall not be offering a userland jailbreaking solution. In other words, the jailbreaking software will not be browser-based as previously thought. Secondly, this shall be a jailbreak-only software and will not help in unlocking your iPhone. Based on reports it appears that an unlocking solution for the latest baseband shall not be made available until the release of iPhone OS 4.0 in June.

The ‘Spirit’ jailbreak will be able to jailbreak iPhone OS 3.1.3 and iPad OS 3.2 on all generations of iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. Here is a demo of the untethered jailbroken iPod Touch in action.

We will update you when the software has been released. Stay tuned here at Theiphonenerd or follow us on Twitter or subscribe to our RSS feed.

Saturday, April 24, 2010

The New iPod touches with cameras show up on eBay

Well looky what we have here. Someone has put up two semi-working iPod touches WITH cameras and a development version of the iPod OS on Ebay. They are marked with ‘DVT-1′ and ’DVT-2′, ‘Apple Development Team’ and one is running some sort of ’switchboard’ OS window.

[via 9to5mac]

Source Theiphonenerd.com

Will iPhone iChat Finally Break the Voice Calling Scam?

A front-facing iPhone camera means video calling, but it’s also a sign of something bigger. Combined with other recent leaks, it means that Apple is bringing iChat to the iPhone. Everything about voice calling may be about to change.

iChat, You Chat

So, how does the appearance of a front-facing camera change standard voice calling? Let’s connect the dots:

• Front-facing camera means video calling
• Leaks suggest video calling is part of overall iChat
• iChat software and new VOIP provisions in OS means voice chat, too (maybe even for older iPhones)
• iChat branding, arrival of iPad and new OS multitasking all suggest compatibility with desktop app and standard buddy lists
• iPhone-to-desktop compatibility means everybody talks to everybody, no special plans needed

As I’ve said before, voice calling and SMS are both just part of the data stream, and don’t deserve special treatment. Now, when there’s a well-designed unified iChat client presenting an alternative to traditional calling and messaging, those old systems will become inconveniences. If Apple manages to do this right, and that’s still a big if, they will finally provide a more human way to communicate: Pick a person, and reach out. The “how”—whether you use text, voice or video—should be of less importance than the “who.”

Why Is Video Chat So Hard?

Make no mistake, this is about software, not hardware. There have been front-facing cameras on 3G-capable phones for ages, and many a carrier has attempted to market video streaming—for a price. But if you recall AT&T had real-time Video Share, but it was only one-way, only worked with AT&T, and even then, required special phones and plans. In Europe, where two-way video calling was tried more broadly, many have already written it off on phones as a disappointment and a flop. The hardware is here, the network, in many respects, is here, but the smart way to bring it all together and make it work—that’s what’s been missing.

It’s easy to say why individual initiatives don’t work: Even text messaging didn’t take off when people couldn’t send messages to people on other carriers. One-way video is creepy, violating the unspoken agreement that if you get to see me, I need to see you too. And of course, video chat on computers, via strong broadband connections, can still be awful, so how do you guarantee vid quality on a network that can’t even guarantee that calls won’t drop?

Carriers and handset makers have up till now blamed high prices and lack of marketing support, though one Nokia exec mentioned that the whole pointing-a-phone-at-your-head-and-talking thing was awkward, and not very “flattering.”

Apple has to face all of these obstacles as it takes its turn at bat, even if it is a company known for succeeding where others have failed, especially where human-friendly software engineering and design are concerned. But my guess is that they’re not in this for the cellphone-based video chat.

Video Chat Is Just The Gateway

On the Mac, video chat is just one dish on the iChat menu, a menu that also contains instant text messages and voice chatting. (There’s even screen sharing and other frills that may end up on a phone or pad near you.) I contend that while video chat is a neat thing to do, at least once, the existence of a front-facing camera suggests this whole lineup of features.

If we can grab our phones, pull up the buddy list we see on our computers, and engage in a video call, then why wouldn’t we also be able to do a quick text chat? And if we can do both of those things, what’s to stop us from just doing voice calling? And if I can voice call all my buddies—be they on their computers, on their iPads or on their phones—from my phone using an iChat client, I may never make a regular real phone call again.

It may sound like a fantasy, but Apple has already laid the groundwork for third parties to make this stuff happen, so why shouldn’t they put it in their own flagship mobile iChat app?

If Apple Doesn’t Do It, Skype Will

During the iPhone OS 4 unveiling, Steve Jobs made room for a Skype demo showing how the VOIP service could work in the background, receiving calls while you did other things on your phone (or, ostensibly, your iPad). Not only does this tell me that Skype is busy devising dramatic uses for iPhones that will completely workaround AT&T’s voice calling, it also tells me that Apple condones it to the point of promoting it early and often. And speaking of AT&T, the carrier already allows VOIP over 3G. While that can currently be found in primitive form through Skype using Fring, it it really means that a new Skype iPhone client will not only run in the background of your iPhone, but will run regardless of what network you’re on.

We’re already excited about this, so what about that camera? Will Apple give Skype access to the camera? My sense is that it will either be tied exclusively to a very powerful iChat client, or it will be offered freely to developers. Apple wouldn’t go to all the trouble to put a second camera in if they didn’t think the thing would get mileage.

Let’s face it, iChat may not be the perfect multi-protocol messaging app for the Mac, so there’s a good chance it won’t do amazing things for the iPhone. But if there’s a healthy coop-etition between Apple’s own development and the best developers in the desktop space—not just Skype and Fring but Adium and Cerulean and Meebo—then who’s to say that soon, there won’t be a handful of good options? You’ve heard me say that voice messaging and SMS charges are a scam—a great iChat client for the iPhone would soon render them a sham, too.

[via gizmodo]

Source Theiphonenerd.com

Apple, Please Fix These Problems Before the New iPhone Comes Out

Apple, Please Fix These Problems Before the New iPhone Comes Out There’s a lot to be happy about in iPhone OS 4. Like multitasking, and threaded inboxes. So why doesn’t it feel right?

iPhone OS 4 isn’t a drastic overhaul, or a radical reinvention of the iPhone formula; it’s just another predictable step forward. But the little things it delivers in response to popular whims are what feel most awkward and ill-fitting—things like custom wallpapers, folders and even the way it handles multitasking.

iPhone 4.0 is in still beta, which is a good thing, because that means Apple still has time to improve on what has been previewed. We’re not sure how much will actually change between now and this summer, but here’s what we hope Apple pays closest attention to as they get down to the wire:

Apple, Please Fix These Problems Before the New iPhone Comes Out

Wallpapers

One of Apple’s more paradoxically admirable qualities is that it doesn’t give people what they ask for. When they do, well, it can look like this. And it’s gross. Worse, this is just the default wallpaper. Can you imagine what people’s iPhones are going to look like when they start adding their own ugly wallpapers? Wallpapers work on the iPad, because there’s a ton of space. On the iPhone’s smaller screen, packed with icons, it’s too much. With the iPhone’s simple black backdrop, Apple actually saved people from themselves.

At the very least, keep the default wallpaper black, and throw in some more serene alternatives.

Folders

The iPhone’s system of organizing apps stops scaling after a certain point—somewhere around 6 pages filled with little squares, the system collapses into a pile of stabby pain and frustration, long before you even hit the maximum number of 11 pages of apps. Folders attempts to fix this set of issues, letting you pour multiple apps into one little icon, organizing them however you wish, and bumping the maximum number of apps to just over 2,000 (which, BTW, means you’re crazy).

There are several problems with Folders. Foremost, if iPhone OS is a new computing and interface paradigm that’s designed to break us out of the desktop model, why is Apple going back to an old metaphor like Folders? Even simply calling it something different, like Stacks, would be slightly better from a mental model standpoint.

Second, it is messy file management. Each folder can hold up to 12 apps inside, but the folder thumbnail that you see in the home screen only shows nine icons. If you do have 12 apps, opening the folder reveals a neat and tidy three rows of four. But if you prefer nine, as many obviously would, you get a scrambled, non-logical layout—two rows of 4, plus a little orphan icon on its own row. It’s a strange paradox for a company that takes pride in consciously clever design, especially when there’s a pretty easy way to make Folders work better.

A final more trivial point is that it clashes with the overall iPhone aesthetic. The weird dimpled, vaguely rubber texture under the enclosed apps. The floating folder title. The odd fade-and-slide animation. It’s all kind of misplaced.

A slightly cleaner look and concept is really all that needs to happen here.

Apple, Please Fix These Problems Before the New iPhone Comes Out

Multitasking

Multitasking. A godsend. Except the way it actually works. Double-tapping the home button brings up a single row of recently used apps, a snaking trail of icons that grows indefinitely until you perform a full restart or manually quit each one. They’re dispersed in what feels like a random order, requiring you to flick, flick, flick to get to the app you want. It’s just as easy, if not easier, to bounce back to the homescreen for your desired app. If the number of recent apps grows to a certain number, why not use more of the screen real estate—say two rows of icons—to make it easier to get to the app you’re looking for.

Oh, and task management. It makes sense Apple doesn’t want people to think about it, but if you actually do futilely attempt to task manage, it’s kludgy at best—press and hold an icon, wait until it dances, then tap the minus button to kill the already paused process.

Let’s face it: The iPhone interface simply wasn’t designed from the beginning for users to juggle multiple apps. So on the whole, it feels bolted on—well, it is—rather than seamless. Is there a way to elegantly do multitasking without completely upending the iPhone’s interface? Maybe. So far, this isn’t it.

Notifications

In a sentence: Killing zombies shouldn’t be interrupted by a barrage of notificationsthat completely freeze and take over my entire screen.

Apple, Please Fix These Problems Before the New iPhone Comes Out

iAds

iAds aren’t all bad—they’re going to help developers make a better living. But baking them into the OS does mean users are probably going to be seeing a lot more ads—like in apps that previously didn’t have them—because why not? They’re there, they’re easy to implement. Sure, they’ll be nicer than the average ad—like mini apps, even!—but it is hard to get excited about more ads.

It Feels Horrible and Tacked On

Each new major piece feature seems to contribute its own little bit of design horror. In some cases, things that worked—like the old double-tap for favorites—get morphed into more complicated moves (double-tap and hooooold) to make room. Swirling the new features all together—the visual noise of the wallpapers, chintzy sliding animations, strange textures, even the reflective dock—iPhone OS 4.0 is a cloying, hyperglossy, barf-y mess, far from the straightforwardly iconic image of the original iPhone. We just want it to look clean and elegant again. Is that even possible?

Those are our major issues with iPhone 4.0 after using it for a couple of weeks, issues that we hope are smoothed out by this summer. Some, we have hope for. Others, not as much.