The iPhone jailbreaking process has come a long way since the original iPhone released in 2007. Here is an early “How-To” from Lifehacker. The astute reader will notice that this walk trough required two different programs, one of which was the frighteningly named, “iBrickr”. After a successful jailbreak attempt, the process was refined and a simpler method was released. The process was streamlined until Apple released the next official iOS update at which point the process would start all over again. Every time Apple broke the jailbreak, the development community would find a new way to get around it.
Over the weekend, the easiest jailbreak ever was released for iOS 4. Assuming servers are not overloaded like they have been for a better part of the weekend, you can point your iPhone 4 to jailbreakme.com and follow the onscreen instructions. The process takes less than 5 minutes for the iPhone 4 and iPhone 3G running the most recent version of iOS.
This release comes less than one week after the DMCA was updated to include jailbreaking mobile devices as an exemption. Jailbreakme has been available in the past but was pressured to cease availability in the United States by Apple. Now that there is a super easy way to unlock your iPhone, will you take the plunge?
If you do, just remember to sync with iTunes and back up your device before checking out jailbreakme.com. Keep in mind that it still not sanctioned by Apple and technically jailbreaking your iPhone can void your warranty. The process is easy to reverse by reverting to your back up. There have been some issues reported with MMS and FaceTime. Keep an eye on the developers updates for the latest news on the tool.
Have fun!
Today at a special press conference on Apple’s Cupertino CA campus, Steve Jobs announced that there will be no hardware fix for the iPhone 4 . Instead, Apple will be giving out free rubber “bumpers” as a fix to the reception issue to all users who buy the iPhone 4. Refunds will be available for those who already bought cases to fix the issue as well.
During the first half of the conference Jobs explained how this issue occurs with almost all smart phones. He claimed that the issue is not as bad as it is perceived to be explaining that the problem is with bar algorithm. The iPhone 4 would show 5 bars of reception when in reality there may have only been 3 or 2 bars of service available. This gives the appearance that the phone is losing 5 bars of service when in reality only 3 or 2 bars are being lost. Apparently yesterday’s iOS4 update solved this problem.
He also showed other data (AppleCare customer service reports and comparisons to the iPhone 3GS) to minimize the appearance of the issue while claiming that smart phones “aren’t perfect.” During the Q&A section Jobs and his comrades, in a hailstorm of excuses, went on to call out some of the critical articles written by Bloomberg and the New York Times, calling them “false” and “total bull &$#@”.
Though a nice gesture, this “fix” misses the point and will force those 80% of iPhone 4 buyers who walked out of the iStore without getting a bumper or case to have to use one so that the phone works. Though some questions were answered, the conference seemed to be full of excuses and attempts to convince the public that the problem isn’t really that big. We will just have to wait to see the effect it will have on iPhone 4 sales and returns.
Today, as expected, Apple unleashed the iOS 4 for the iPhone 3G and 3GS, as well as the unreleased iPone 4. Also, the iOS 4 will be available for download on the more recent iPod touches. To download the iOS 4 you will need to install iTunes 9.2. This is the only way to get all the new features available with the iOS 4. The brand new features exclusive to the iOS 4 include multitasking, fast app-switching, and local notifications. So iPhone and iPod touch users, head to iTunes and download it now.
[via Engadget]
Since the release of the iPhone OS4 (now known as iOS4) and the news that multi-tasking will be a feature, we’ have been waiting for when Apple would start accepting apps for the new iPhone operating system. Today the wait is over as Apple will be now be accepting iOS4 apps.
Developers will now be able to take advantage of the multitasking feature as well as the 1500 other new APIs in the system when it launches on June 21. However, this news will be taken with some hesitation from many devs as there are still be some hurdles to overcome. For example only certain tasks will be allowed in the background. Apps that need to run persistently, like IRC and IM clients, will not function. Apple will need to provide additional backgrounding tools so that users can receive the features they want.
Though this change may to multitasking may come with it’s growing pains, it will eventually be worth it. Let the developing begin!
[via Engadget]
[image via engadget]
Today at the WWDC Steve Job’s unveiled the long awaited iPhone. Job’s called it the biggest leap since the original iPhone. Some of the features that we’ve found to be most intriguing are:
-Front facing camera allowing video calling
-LED flash
-9.3 mm thickness (24% thinner)
-Retina display (4x increased pixel density): iPhone 4 has 326dpi resolution
-A4 chip inside
-Gyroscope tied to the accelerometer and compass for 6-axis motion sensing
-iPhone OS 4 renamed iOS4, now has multitasking
-iMovie app now available
The iPhone 4 will be released June 24th with pre-orders starting on June 15th. Great news for anyone who was looking forward to the keynote as it did not disappoint. The bad news, still no mention of dropping AT&T.
