Archive for July, 2007
July 25, 2007
Those iPhone hackers have been busy little beavers. While most of us have been enjoying our phone/iPod/internet device by showing it off to anybody with a pulse who can stand us prattling on for ten or twenty minutes at a time, those other folks have been busily engaged in vivisecting the iPhone’s virtual innards. Now they’ve delved inside its most intimate secrets, they’ve developed the potential to do any number of neat things (of course, there’s the standard caveat that these tasks are undertaken at the user’s own risk). Among them:
A graphical tool that helps walk you through the process of activating your iPhone without using AT&T’s network.
Another tool that helps you put custom ringtones on the iPhone.
Instructions for getting SSH onto your iPhone, which will allow you to put other pieces of software on there as well.
Compiled binary versions of apache and python that run on the iPhone (you’ll need to use the above SSH instructions to get them onto the phone).
A toolkit developed by hacker Nightwatch that appears to allow the creation of full-fledged third-party applications (of course in order to get a third-party app on iPhone, you’ll need to use the above SSH hack).
Instructions for setting up your iPhone to share its EDGE connection with your laptop (this requires use of the jailbreak program).
There’s quite a bit of good hacking going around, so if you don’t have any qualms about potentially causing permanent damage to your iPhone (so far, it appears that nobody has had a problem that could not be fixed by restoring the iPhone via iTunes), then go wild. And the iPhone Dev wiki is the place to go for the latest information.
July 25, 2007
PressDisplay Now Available for iPhone (news/software/pressdisplay-now-available-for-iphone-20070725288)
July 25, 2007
NewspaperDirect has announced that the world’s largest online newspaper kiosk, PressDisplay.com, is now available on the iPhone, and as it is being offered free of charge for one month to all iPhone users.
July 25, 2007
Having been briefly the proud possessor of a totally non-functional iPhone, I think I can say with some authority how important it is to keep your iPhone charged. Without juice to power it, your iPhone is about as useful a wireless device as a ham sandwich—and much less tasty. Fortunately, there are plenty of ways for you to eke the most battery life out of it.
Apple offers some tips on battery charging on its own website, including gems such as this:
Lock Your iPhone
It may seem obvious, but you should lock your iPhone when you aren’t using it. You will still be able to receive calls and text messages while it is locked, but nothing happens if you touch the screen. To lock iPhone, press the Sleep/Wake button.
But alongside those are some less commonsensical suggestions. For example:
Let It Breathe
Charging your iPhone while in certain carrying cases may generate excess heat, which can affect battery capacity. If you notice that your iPhone gets hot when you charge it, take it out of its case first.
Iiiinteresting. And if that’s not enough battery tipology for you, MacsOnly! has some more insights:
Our advice, then, is to definitely turn Wi-Fi off unless using it. When you are in an area with no cell phone service, turn on Airplane Mode. These two devices constantly looking for a signal in places where there are none apparently burn up a lot of battery life doing so.
Very true; I spent the first week with my iPhone in a remote area with little or no reception, and Airplane Mode meant that I saved a ton of battery power. I also find turning Wi-Fi off to be handy when, say, driving in a car, since otherwise the iPhone will just keep popping up a list of Wi-Fi networks that I can’t access before they’re out of range. You can always flip it back on when you’re stationary again.
July 25, 2007
RSSMixer Offers Custom iPhone RSS Mixes (news/software/rssmixer-offers-custom-iphone-rss-mixes-20070725287)
July 25, 2007
Ideum has released RSSMixer (http://www.rssmixer.com), enabling iPhone users to create and save custom RSS mixes .
July 25, 2007
Efiko Releases iPhone RingtoneMaker (news/software/efiko-releases-iphone-ringtonemaker-20070725286)
July 25, 2007
Efiko has released iPhone RingToneMaker (http://www.efksoft.com/products/iphoneringtonemaker/index.htm), a Windows only application that lets you create your own ringtones from your MP3 collection.
July 25, 2007
Previously, the financial arrangements between AT&T and Apple have been kept under wraps. Recently, however, some of the details have been revealed and the money flow to Apple is very good indeed, according to The Street on Monday.
“People close to the companies tell TheStreet.com that AT&T is paying Apple a bounty of between US$150 and $200 per phone — plus $9 a month per phone over the life of the typical two-year customer contract,” Scott Moritz reported.
The upshot is that there could be unexpected windfall for Apple. “This is unheard of,” said one money manager who is long Apple. “No one has this plugged this into their models.” Roger Entner from IAG research agreed: “It’s a pretty sweet deal for Apple, and not all that bad for AT&T.”
Scott Moritz concluded, “Wall Street knew Apple was getting a good deal, but it didn’t know just how good it was.”
Source: ipodobserver.com
July 25, 2007
That’s right, folks. It’s not quite a podcast, but it is our first collection of your thoughts (with some interjections) from the iPhone Central Hotline. If you look on the right side of the site, you’ll see a voicemail link that iPhone users can tap to dial our voicemail box. You talk over there, it comes out here. We encourage you to continue to e-mail us your thoughts or, if you’d prefer, let us hear your voice (preferably from your iPhone).
In the audio file you’ll hear:
- Reader Ben discussing rich media in iPhone mail and DRM questions, with an answer from me.
- Reader Andrew on iPhone dial link security
- An anonymous reader about sleep versus on versus off, with a reply from Dan Frakes. (Read this for more.)
- Reader Andrew (again) with an idea for a new feature for the iPhone
Download (or on the iPhone, tap to listen!) now:
iPhone Central Hotline #1, 6:49, 1.6MB MP3
July 24, 2007
We protect the things we care about, and for many of us, our iPhone falls right in that category. While the unit ships with a one year repair warranty from Apple (and two years of phone-based tech support), you may want to extend that a bit, and now you can, using the same service that allows you to bring peace of mind to your cherished Mac and iPod: AppleCare.
Today, Apple unveiled the AppleCare package for iPhone. For $69, you can take the warranty to two years from the date of purchase. If you want to take advantage of AppleCare, you’ll need to purchase the plan while the phone is still under its initial one year warranty.
Besides the unit itself, the AppleCare Protection Plan for iPhone covers the iPhone Bluetooth headset, and all accessories that come with that and the iPhone. And, like the AppleCare plan for Macs and iPods, it’s transferable: if you sell your iPhone to someone else, they can continue to use the Apple Care support until it runs out.
Unfortunately, not everybody can pick up the AppleCare plan: residents of Alabama, Connecticut, Nevada, and Wyoming will not be able to purchase the plan, since Apple is “not authorized” to sell it in those states.
July 24, 2007
AppleCare Available for iPhone (news/iphone-hardware/applecare-available-for-iphone-20070724285)
July 25, 2007
The Apple Store now offers AppleCare for the iPhone (http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/wa/RSLID?mco=19D94099 nplm=MB135LL/A) for $69.
July 24, 2007
Along with instant messaging, one of the features that many have missed on the iPhone is some sort of dedicated RSS feed reader. While you could use a web-based reader like Bloglines or Google Reader, they weren’t really designed for the iPhone. And while Apple provides its own RSS solution, it’s limited to just one feed at a time.
NewsGator has updated their mobile client with an interface designed specifically for the iPhone. The site will detect whether or not you’re browsing on an iPhone and, if so, will present you with a lightweight, easy-to-tap hierarchical menu of your feeds. To access it, just go to m.newsgator.com.
Best of all, NewsGator is integrated with popular Mac feed reader NetNewsWire, which you can set up to synchronize your subscriptions, including read items, with NewsGator Online. That means that you can easily browse your feeds on iPhone, and then return to your Mac and not have to read through the same items all over again (PC users can reap similar benefits by using NewsGator’s FeedDemon for Windows).
As much as I’d still like to see a full-fledged RSS reader on the iPhone’s Home screen, NewsGator Online’s new interface at least makes it easy to check my existing feeds.
(DISCLAIMER: Mac Publishing has a business relationship with NewsGator that includes providing services on Macworld.com, iPhone Central and Mac User.)
