So at the recent WWDC (World Wide Developers Conference) Steve Jobs announced the new Apple 3G Iphone. Sure its got GPS and longer lasting battery but is it really worth it?

For a software version 2.0 and a second generation smart phone its not excactly as advanced as it could be, lets be realistic for a second, if you were a big multi-billion dollar company trying to sell its latest product, don’t you think you would try and cram every last piece of technology into it? Its not like its got to have laser weaponry or anything but i would have liked to see better features than the ones displayed by Apple these past few days.

Such as:

Video capture and the ability to upload that captured video to video sharing websites. A built in copy and paste ability (you have to pay 100 dollars to buy that program. Even though its been used since before computers had even one color on there screens.) So, for a consumer market driven by whats got the most features i think apple have let us down slightly with its mere 3 or 4 software upgrades

But with all the let downs and slight mere changes the prices have been slashed by over half. The 8gb will cost around 100 UK pounds while the 16gb will sell for around 200 pounds.

Am i thinking of getting one? Yes. Why? Because of the price and of the fact that while I’ve bitched about the phone this whole time its still darn good.

Catch ya next time, Matty

In his keynote address to open Apple’s Worldwide Developer’s Conference (WWDC) on Monday, Steve Jobs officially announced the iPhone 3G. Perhaps the most important revelation was the price, which at $199 for the entry level (8GB) model is half the original’s current $399 pricetag. He indicated that the price was based on research where consumers who have so far passed on the iPhone said cost was the biggest barrier. Not surprisingly he didn’t talk about his previous prediction of 10 million iPhones sold by the end of 2008. Why is that significant? Maybe because at the current (pre-iPhone 3G) prices it appears unlikely to happen.

In fact despite “selling out some number of weeks ago,” Jobs said only 6 million have been sold in the approximately 11 months since the initial launch on June 29 of last year. Jobs showed off the speed difference between the iPhone 3G’s “amazingly zippy” performance on newer 3G networks, compared with the EDGE connection available to owner’s of the original. The same web page that took nearly a minute to load using an EDGE connection took just over 20 seconds across 3G. He also compared it to a Nokia N95 and Treo 750, which reportedly took 33 and 34 seconds respectively to load the same page (using 3G) while delivering it in a less complete mobile format. He also pointed out that 3G speed is “actually approaching Wi-Fi.”

Other changes include the use of plastic instead of aluminum for the back (presumably to bring production costs down), as well as the addition of a 2 Megapixel camera and GPS. Near the end of his presentation a map showed 70 countries where the 3G iPhone will officially be available while ‘It’s a Small World’ played in the background. By contrast, the original iPhone is only offered in 6 countries. The iPhone 3G’s initial launch, on July 11, will actually only include 22 countries, with the other 48 planned by year’s end.

- Alex

Source: Afterdawn

The iRecorder is a new device that allows you to transfer you media from the TV or other sources straight to your MP4 player such as the iPod Touch or iPhone. This neat little gizmo plugs into your TV and portable media player, sucks out your movie, compresses it, and pops it onto your device. No computers needed. It will also record from analogue TV, cable, a set-top box, satellite receiver box, DVD or camcorder, provided there’s an RCA jack output from your source. The recorded video is compatible with standard iPods, Nanos (3rd generation), iPod Classics or any other USB device media device that can play Mpeg4 files. Obviously in our case we are pointing the use of this divice towards the iPod Touch and the iPhone but it can be used with many other pieces of hardware.

As well as its recording ability its basically a hard drive with a build in AV OUT so you can play your recorded video on any TV / Projector or monitor with an AV IN.

Its worth it for anyone who dosent have the technical knowlage to use DVD ripping software or PC TV tuners and the like.

Read more and get yours at: http://www.i-recorder.co.uk

Thanks for reading!

- Alex

Hi, Welcome to the second part of series now that you have CuteFTPPro installed and working we can get on with the Jailbreak itself. In this post I will be giving you the files and information you will need to do your first Jailbreak. This first Jailbreak will be on firmware version 1.1.1. If you are not currently on firmware version 1.1.1 you will need to downgrade to it from whatever your current firmware is. I will show you how to do this also. If you are not sure which firmware you are on you can check on your device at: Settings > General > About

(Please feel free to skip if you are already on 1.1.1)
Downgrading from 1.1.2

This section is for people who are on firmware version 1.1.2. Download the 1.1.1 firmware file from this link: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=YYKDUVCZ

You will need to extract these files to somewhere easy to find e.g Desktop. The password for the file is anotherblog.co.uk

Next reboot your device by holding the lock/power button and home buttons BUT release the top button after 10 seconds into it (right after the screen goes dark) and continue to hold the home button until iTunes detects the device is in recovery mode. The screen will appear to be off (this is normal) also start iTunes if it has not started yet.

Next restore your device by going into iTunes and selecting your device. Press and hold the ‘Shift’ key on windows or ‘option’ key on Mac, then click ‘restore’ button. A dialog box will appear. Select the 1.1.1 firmware file you downloaded earlier.

The restore should run and be done within a few minutes.

Downgrading from 1.1.3/4
This is for people who are on versions 1.1.3/4.

This is a similar process to the 1.1.2 downgrade. Although in this one there is one extra step. If you have not read the 1.1.2 downgrade please read that first.

First off you will need a program called AutoDown you can download this here: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=V6C29VAJ

Password to access files: anotherblog.co.uk

Once you have extracted the files and connected your device, open the AutoDown folder and run the Down batch file. Cmd will pop up and then you press enter. Then leave it until you see connect to iTunes. Once you seen connect to iTunes open up iTunes and restore your device by going into iTunes and selecting your device. Press and hold the ‘Shift’ key on windows or ‘option’ key on Mac, then click ‘restore’ button. A dialog box will appear. Select the 1.1.1 firmware file you downloaded earlier.

Now for the Jailbreak!

If you have go this far then you have done all the hard graft. I’m sure expecting a lengthy explanation but it is as easy as typing in a url into the Safari browser on your device. In safari, enter the website: jailbreakme.com. When it has loaded scroll down to the bottom and click “Install AppSnapp”

Safari will crash and the exploit will begin. This should take no more than 30 seconds. Once it is done your device will lock. Now re-boot your device and you should see the beloved installer application.

Once you have Jailbroken your device you will need some base applications before you start downloading the things you want. Before downloading these apps, you need to turn your autolock off. You do this by: Settings > General > Auto-Lock > Never

The applications you need to get are:

1. Community Sources
2. BSD Subsystem
3. OpenSSH (the application needed to SSH into your device- See first post)

You now have everything you need to start downloading any applications you desire.

Thanks for reading.

-Alex

This is the first instalment of a step by step guide to the successful Jailbreaking of the iPod Touch / iPhone. Throughout this series we are going to explain Jailbreaking with easy tutorials on how and get the best out of your device. This series will include the Jailbreak of each different firmware version and step by step visual examples of how to do it. It will also include how to install apps though SHH and how to create custom themes and sliders etc. Furthermore we are going to run a help section were we will post solutions to all the problems encountered by users.

About Jailbreaking

Jailbreaking is a software mod that installs the “Installer”. This is a respiratory based software sharing application were 99% of apps can be downloaded to your device. The applications range from games to themes to geological graph drawers. All these apps are available for free to anyone who has a Jailbroken device.

I will be using an iPod Touch for this series but it is exactly the same process for iPhone users.

Preparations

You will need an unzipping program called WinRar, You can download it from the vendor here, You will also need a program called CuteFTP Professional 8 this is the software that lets you access your devices files over your network from your PC or Mac. This is the link to download a folder with CuteFTP and a patch. We do not condone software piracy but do realise that you will not want to be paying for software so there is a patch provided which you use at your own risk.

Anyway get it from http://www.megaupload.com/?d=DQ5YEKOB

When you have downloaded the folder you need extract the files. There should be two files; one called cuteftppro.exe and one patch.exe.

The Password to the files is anotherblog.co.uk

Go ahead an open up the CuteFTPPro file and run the setup. Once the setup is done open up the patch file and you should see a small grey box. Click the patch button, when it says successfully patched at the bottom click register.

Done. You now have a full version of CuteFTP Pro 8!

Setup CuteFTP

You will only need to do this once you have Jailbroken your device. But it is vital to learn how to do it now!

Once you have it installed open it up, you can find it under the GlobalSCAPE folder.

This first time you open it up a few dialog boxes will pop up, you can close them as they are not important. Once you have got rid of them go to File > New > SFTP (SSH2) Site…

A new dialog box will pop up. In here you need to enter the Host Address (IP) of your device (this can be found by going to settings > WiFi > select your network on your device). You will also need to enter the username which is root and the password which is alpine (don’t ask me why). When that is done go ahead and click enter. At the moment this will not work as you have not yet Jailbroken the device but it will work shortly.

You are now ready to Jailbreak your device now you need to choose which firmware version you are going to use, I will be writing the tutorials on each version shortly so subscribe to the blog to be notified when a tutorial on the version you are wanting to Jailbreak is posted.

If you have any problems or queries please e-mail me at: alex@anotherblog.co.uk

Thanks for reading

Alex