News from category ‘Software’

Redsn0w is a cross-platform jailbreaking, unlocking, and customizing tool for iPhone and iPod Touch. New version redsn0w 0.9b3 supports the latest firmware 3.1.2. The most recent release before this one was redsn0w 0.8, which targeted Apple firmware 3.0/3.0.1.

redsn0w 0.9 beta3 supports:

• All iPhones and iPod touches except the iPod touch 3G
• Windows and Mac OSX (x86)
• Apple firmwares 3.0-3.1.2

When it's out of beta, it will support the iPod touch 3G, PPC OSX, and Linux.

If you need a carrier unlock, redsn0w will handle iPhone 2G by itself (by installing the BootNeuter utility). For the iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS use Cydia after you're jailbroken to install ultrasn0w (baseband 04.26) or blacksn0w (baseband 05.11).

If you have a late-model iPhone 3GS, or if you have an iPod touch 2G whose serial number begins with “MC” (newer than week 40 of last year), you can use redsn0w to jailbreak but you are currently restricted to “tethered” rebooting. That means you need to connect your device to a computer each time you boot it - so just try no to reboot.

You can download redsn0w 0.9b3 here.

In this test one man writes a long paragraph on several different devices (including pen and paper) to test the speed. The results may surprise you.

The contestants are:

• Apple iPhone 3G’s software QWERTY keyboard (2009)
• Apple Newton MessagePad 2100’s handwriting recognition (1997)
• Palm Treo 650’s hardware QWERTY keyboard (2004)
• Palm VX Graffiti handwriting recognition software (1999)
• MacBook full-size QWERTY keyboard
• pen and paper

The test is not completely fair, since with handheld keyboards the speed greatly depends on how often you use them. The tester has been using an iPhone as his main handheld for 18 months.

The tester used an article with 221 words. Here are the results:

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Acrobat.com mobile allows you to access your acrobat.com account from anywhere to view, share, and fax your Acrobat.com documents.

You can use the iPhone 3Gs camera to scan physical documents right into your Acrobat.com account! The application comes with the ability to scan up to 5 pages and fax 2 pages for free; then it will prompt you to purchase additional scan and fax pages through in-app Purchase. This is the perfect complement to your Acrobat.com account to let you work from anywhere, at anytime!

You can download Acrobat.com mobile from the App Store for free (link).

Gameloft has posted a cinematic trailer for the upcoming iPhone game, Brothers In Arms 2: Global Front. The game will be available on the App Store in February. Let's watch the video:

Apple Tablet is expected to be announced on January 27. Site Macobserver has already published several photos of the tablet's glass.

On the photo the tablet looks a lot like a large iPod. One of the pictures shows the glass sitting on top of a MacBook Pro's keyboard:

More photos:

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Voice Band iPhone applicatin let's you make music with your voice. By simply singing into your phone, Voice Band transforms your voice into 10 different instruments in real time. Looks really cool. Take a look:

Here is another good video with "Smoke on the Water":

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Businessweek reports that Apple and Microsoft are currently in negotiations to replace Google as the default search engine on the iPhone with Microsoft's Bing.com. The talks have reportedly been underway for weeks.

"Apple and Google know the other is their primary enemy," says one of the people, who's familiar with Apple's thinking. "Microsoft is now a pawn in that battle."

With Google's entry into the mobile phone business as well as Apple's recent acquisition of a mobile ad company, the two businesses have encroached on each other's territories. Apple has even been said to be working on distancing itself from Google's Maps data in the iPhone.

If the negotiations are successful, it could also mean that Bing could eventually replace Google as the default search engine for Apple's desktop version of Safari as well.

Kevin Rose posted a video on his blog showing the Square device in action. This device allows us to make payments with a credit card via the iPhone.

For now Square is still a prototype, but we expect that this innovation can break through, thanks to its simplicity and convenience. Here's the video:

As always before the release of a new device many designers and regular users make interesting concepts. Here is a new one for iPhone 4G:

The author also provided a probability percentage value for each functionality of seeing it actually implemented:

• Removable battery (30% probability)
• Flash LED (50%)
• Back (Case) touchscreen, like the surface of the Magic Mouse (75%)
• Front camera (70%)
• Contacts on the Home Screen, as shown by a recent patent (70%)
• 64GB flash memory (60%)
• Dual-core processor and more RAM (80%)
• OLED display (90%)

We all love humorous Apple's "Get a Mac" ads featuring John Hodgman and Justin Long as 'PC' and 'Mac'. The site AdFreak has compiled all 66 TV spots that have aired during Apple's Get a Mac ad campaign.

You can watch all of them here.

Here is the first one that began airing on May 2, 2006:

BoyGeniusReport published the first details about the upcoming iPhone OS 4.0:

• Global multitouch gestures.
• Background apps/Multitasking.
• UI enhanced for easier, more efficient navigation (maybe refreshed homescreen).
• The update will supposedly be available for only the iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS (might also be for future iPhone 4G).
• New syncing ability for the contacts and calendar applications.
• Will put iPhone way ahead of smartphone market, more like “full-fledged computer”.
• Apple people “really excited”.

The iPhone OS 4.0 firmware is expected to be announced at Apple's special event on January 27th.

Apple has issued invitations for a media event scheduled for 10:00 AM Pacific Time on January 27th. The event will be held at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, and the invitation's tag line reads "Come see our latest creation.".

Apple certainly will present a new product. This might be iTablet, iPhone 4.0, iPhone HD… or something completely different. Stay tuned!

Here is how invitations to such events looked like in the past:

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Steve Jobs has enormous presentation talent. All users in fact are waiting for the next Apple Keynote. Here is a video, that explains several techniques and secrets of Steve Jobs presentations:

Skype for the iPhone has been updated to add landscape mode, performance improvements, and a call quality indicator

With Skype on your iPhone or iPod touch you can call and instant message anyone else on Skype for free. You can also call landlines and mobiles and send SMS anywhere in the world, at great rates.

What's new in version 1.3:

• Landscape mode for IM
• Hints and Tips
• General performance improvements
• Call quality indicator
• Fixed call drop issue when returning to a held Skype call

You can download Skype from the App Store for free (link).

According to a new patent application filed by Apple, the new and upcoming iPhone OS could offer contact icons on the home screen. These icons can be used to invoke apps, retrieve and display contacts information, or can be modified to display related info, tied to an individual contact. This patent, which was filed back in July 2008.

The icon can also be used to invoke one or more applications that are personalized to the contact. The icon can be modified to display information related to the contact. In one aspect, an icon associated with an entity can be temporarily displayed on the mobile device based on the proximity of the mobile device to the entity.

The U.S. Patent & Trademark Office today has accepted Apple’s filing. This could probably mean that we may soon see this feature being introduced in the upcoming iPhone OS 4.0, which is expected to be announced with the next-gen iPhone in summer.