It is known, that iPad has a restrictive DRM shackles, which makes Apple the only available supplier of software for this device. So if you buy an iPad, you will have to download software only from the Apple’s AppStore. Yes, there is a big possibility of jailbreaking the gadget within the first 48 hours after its shipping since it’s based on the already jailbroken OS iPhone, but still this is not the best way of downloading applications for most of the people.
There are people, who disagree with a DRM-based strategy of software distribution. Some of them created an Anti-DRM group named Defective by Design. They told us they created an online petition that has been signed for 8,800 times since its inception 4 days ago. DbD has already sent off their first 5,000 signatures in the form of a giant postcard, which is in the photo above.
DbD’s operations manager John Sullivan says their main target is to get Apple to remove DRM and DRM enforcement from all its media and software. This is especially valuable for the iPad designed to be widely used by non-technical people who might not be aware of DRM.
- What Apple is doing with software is quite different. This is a scary step … as Apple move towards this model in the future,
ZoomIt is the first SD card reader for the iPhone and iPod Touch. This peripheral together with ZoomIt application gives iPhone users the ability to load photos, music, PowerPoint, PDF and other files directly from SD card.
ZoomIt is a great way to extend iPhone's storage or simply backup photos during vacation. It will be available in April for $50.
H8sn0w has just released the new version of Sn0wbreeze 1.4. Sn0wbreeze is a jailbreak utility with functionality similar to PwnageTool. The new version supports firmware 3.1.3 jailbreak for the following devices:
iPhone 2G
iPhone 3G
iPhone 3GS - old bootrom
iPod Touch 1G
iPod Touch 2G - non MC
Sn0wbreeze is a Windows application, so Mac users have to wait for the upcoming release of PwnageTool by the DevTeam. Alternatively, both Mac and Windows users can use Redsn0w to run jailbreak (no custom firmware though).
You can download the new version of sn0wbreeze here.
MuscleNerd continues to argue that we should not use sn0wbreeze. Especially users who have unlocked their iPhone with blacksn0w utility:
A few days ago Epocrates Inc., the developer of mobile software for healthcare professionals, revealed a new study of more than 350 clinicians who were asked about their opinion about iPad. The results were stunning - 9% said they will buy an iPad when it will be available, another 13% plan to purchase one in the first year. That means that one in five physicians will likely have an iPad in a year.
Epocrates Inc. also announced that it intends to improve clinical reference applications so it could run on iPad.
By optimizing our software for the iPad, we are capitalizing on the larger screen real estate and interactivity provided by this sophisticated device. We are committed to providing the most productive experience at the point of care, keeping physicians informed and focused on the patient rather than searching for answers.
- said Epocrates SEO Rose Crane. The company's software has more than 275,000 subscribers among physicians in America and over 900,000 worldwide.
As time passes by, more hospitals look at potential of the iPad. One San Francisco program even aims to use tablets to provide charts, X-rays, notes and prescriptions to hospital workers at the touch of a finger. That looks like a whole new way of enforcing last technologies to make our life better.
On Thursday's night Charlie Rose show featured an interesting discussion with Michael Arrington, Walt Mossberg and David Carr about the upcoming Apple iPad.
Michael Arrington is known as the founder and co-editor of TechCrunch. Walt Mossberg writes 2 columns for the Wall Street Journal. David Carr works as a culture and media columnist for the New Your Times. The 25 minutes long coverage reveals some interesting opinions that are worth to hear:
Yesterday Patrick Steward gave an interview to PBS in its new broadcast premiere.
Sir Patrick Stewart, widely known for his roles of Charles Xavier in the X-Men films and Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek says he loves complexity. So Twitter with its 140 characters long messages is too simplistic to use. But then in his interview to Frontline’s Digital Nation he suddenly starts to talk about iPhone and dramatically describes an obsessive man-love for it as “An extension of who I am”.
It really looks like Jean-Luc Picard by himself arrived from the future to tell us about modern technology and the new way to understand it. Let's watch:
So this is a minor update, which fixing only the accuracy of the 3GS battery meter and the stability of some third-party app launches. This update is avaliable via iTunes.
New firmware 3.1.3 also introduces a new version of the baseband, the 05.12.01. So if you need unlock do not update! DevTeam also warns us:
If you care about your jailbreak and unlock, don’t update your device - 3G and 3G(S) owners should pay particular attention to this warning.
PwnageTool and redsn0w are not yet compatible with 3.1.3
Experimenters show that the latest version of redsn0w 0.9.2 is able to jailbreak iPhone 2G, iPhone 3G and iPod touch 1G. Just point it at the 3.1.2 IPSW (download here) after doing update or restore to firmware 3.1.3. Sounds like DevTeam will release an updated version of redsn0w that will handle firmware 3.1.3 officially. They say iPod touch 2G with firmware 3.1.3 is also jailbreakable.
Users report that unlock software, blacksn0w and ultrasn0w, doesn;t work with the new baseband.
After the iPad announcement the pre-orders for the Joojoo went up, said Fusion Garage CEO Chandra Rathakrishnan in an interview with SGEntrepreneurs. Though he did not reveal any actual numbers, Chandra did drop some interesting details. He hinted that his company will soon announce a partnership with a "major mobile phone player", which has a “significant” market share in Southeast Asia. This “player” will also probably take care of the Joojoo manufacturing cost. And yet there is no information about the shipment date for the Joojoo, which still stands 8-10 weeks.
The Joojoo is a Linux-based tablet PC designed for Web surfing by the TechCrunch resource. Some photos from the official site are listed below.
The specialists from RedmondPie made a video showing how to turn the interface of the iPhone into that of an iPad. They used simple packages that are already available via Cydia (for jailbroken iPhone).
Everything is very simple, just follow these steps:
Install Winterboard from Cydia.
Install the Winterboard theme "Simple iPad Theme" from Cydia.
Install MakeItMine from Cydia. This utility is needed to change the Carrier name to "iPad".
Download the application Shrink to reduce the size of the icons.
Install NYTimes, Classics and Kindle applications from AppStore.
Redsn0w is a cross-platform jailbreaking tool for iPhone and iPod Touch. New version redsn0w 0.9.2 supports the latest firmware 3.1.2.
redsn0w 0.9.2 supports:
All iPhones and iPod touches
Windows and Mac OSX (x86)
Apple firmwares 3.0 and 3.1.2
We expect to see Linux version quite soon.
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), or any iPod touch 3G, 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.
On the next day after the iPad presentation Steve Jobs gave a conference at Town Hall. Among others the Google and Adobe subjects were discussed.
According to a person, who was not authorized to speak with the press by Apple, but was present on this event, Jobs didn’t mince his words in his speech. This is what he exactly said about Google:
- We did not enter the search business. They entered the phone business. Make no mistake they want to kill the iPhone. We won’t let them.
After this one of the journalists tried to discuss another subject, but Jobs continued his thought that caused audience to roar:
- I want to go back to that other question first and say one more thing. This don’t be evil mantra: “It’s bullshit.”
A few minutes later Apple’s CEO also commented the situation with Adobe:
- They are lazy. They have all this potential to do interesting things but they just refuse to do it. They don’t do anything with the approaches that Apple is taking, like Carbon. Apple does not support Flash because it is so buggy. Whenever a Mac crashes more often than not - it’s because of Flash.
Also Jobs added:
- No one will be using Flash. The world is moving to HTML5.
Apple iPad edition with 3G uses Micro-SIM standart. Steve Jobs never said a word about this feature on iPad presentation, which seems pretty strange. Micro-SIM, also known as 3FF or 3rd generation SIM card, isn’t supported yet by any iPhone or other popular devices.
3FF SIMs were developed to fit into devices that are too small for a regular SIM. Regular SIM-card has a 15 mm x 25 mm size, while Micro-SIM measures 12 mm x 15 mm. It is still not presented in North America, but T-Mobile and AT&T inform that negotiations to get them are on their way since these companies support the iPad with different data plans.
But what is the reason of making Micro-SIM support in iPad? Maybe it is necessitated because of a lack of space in the device that already has a double size of an iPhone? Also it is very likely that Micro-SIM will be integrated into the 4th generation iPhone, and then what would Apple do with all that extra space?
There are several accessories that will be avaliable for Apple iPad. First of all there will be a keyboard dock made specially for iPad. Rumors say that bluetooth keyboards will also work with the new tablet. Apple will also sell a "camera connection kit" that will allow users to plug a camera and import photos to iPad via USB or an SD card. The final accessory is an Apple-built case for the device that protects the screen and allows to use iPad in two different orientations without any problems.