Jailbreaking Apple's iOS 5.1.1 proves not to be an easy task, you might run into trouble.

I've owned an iPhone 3G when it came out and after my experience with it, I will be never going to buy any iThing again: waiting for new exploits for jailbreak, waiting for new unlock solutions, for every and each iOS version. On Android it is much more simple, and on Nexus particularly, everything is done using Google's own software (and the unlock, if needed, can be realized through a simple PIN code). But I'm not going to compare these aspects, because it's clear who is the winner here.

The idea is that two days ago I've updated my brother's iPod Touch 4G to the latest iOS version (was running an antique one), promising that I'll jailbreak it again (he run into trouble when he was not allowed to install apps that were designed for newer versions of iOS).

So, I simply updated it without any problems, but afterwards I found myself into a stupid situation. No matter what I was doing, I couldn't jailbreak that iPod. I tried several applications of this kind, knowing they are supposed to work properly and to do untethered jailbreak on iPod Touch 4G. None of them finished their job, Absinthe for example started the jailbreak and seemed to do everything needed, but just after rebooting the iPod, it kept returning an error saying something went wrong. After a couple of reboots while trying to run it in different ways, it started to crash even before starting. I wasn't luckier at all with redsn0w, which sometimes seemed to start doing the jailbreak but crashed at the end (iPod still untouched), while other times it even refused to start the jailbreak. And I tried everything, even in Recovery Mode or in DFU, but with no avail.

The solution came with sn0wbreeze (I really recommend you trying with this one), which basically downloads the iOS version and modifies it, adding everything required for jailbreak (including Cyadia and everything else). By using iTunes (Shift + click on Restore, and selecting the modified iOS), I was able to jailbreak that iPod. Of course, this happened after having to apply something else first because I ran into another problem (failed to restore with an error code), but I fixed that easily with a search on Google.

I'm not here to criticize Apple or the guys who take care of jailbreak solutions, but I'm saying that everything is way too complicated and the only loser here is exactly Apple, because the fact that there are so many jailbreak options (4 at a first sight), translates into the following: there is a high demand for this kind of solutions, and iOS is more vulnerable than ever.

I'm not going to post here any links, but you can easily find everything you need with a search on Google. Good luck if you are trying to jailbreak an iDevice and...be patient. :)

Antennagate passed, Glassgate has just started. What's up next, Apple?

The antennagate madness seems to be finished now (everybody knows now that Apple's faulty design is causing signal lose, or even call drops), and the next problem, generically named glassgate, has just started. It was believed that it was just the creation of the competitors, but it seems to be quite real now because Apple has taken measures against this problem.

It is not clear how resistant the glass from the back of the device is, as there were reports which said that after the device has been repeatedly taken out and inserted back from and in some cases, scratches occurred on that glass. It seems that dust particles can get stuck when the cases are inserted (between the case and the glass), causing serious scratches on the glass. In fact, these scratches will, eventually, create cracks on the whole glass surface from the back of the iPhone 4.

It seems that Apple is aware of this issue, because they pulled from the Apple Stores from all around the world all cases of this type (at least until this problem is clarified). So, if you don't have a case, you'll get call drops because of the way Apple designed iPhone's antenna. But if you get one (anything else except the bumper), you risk to have the glass from the back of the device even cracked.

I already see Apple telling everybody that their products doesn't have any issues, and users are the only ones responsible for that scratches/cracks (just as they did with Antennagate).

Apple just released iTunes 10.0.1, fixes lots of bugs.

Apple has just released a new version of iTunes, 10.0.1, which brings improvements to Ping (more exactly, it adds a new sidebar for it), and fixes lots of bugs. Here's the changelog of this update:

iTunes 10.0.1 makes it easier to share your favorite music with your friends on Ping. You can now Like or Post about music right from your iTunes library. You can also easily see the recent activity of a selected artist in your library, or of all artists and friends you follow on Ping using the new Ping Sidebar.

This release also provides a number of important bug fixes, including:

• Addresses an issue where the picture quality of a video changes depending on whether the on-screen controls are visible. 

• Resolves an issue where iTunes may unexpectedly quit while interacting with album artwork viewed in a separate window. 

• Fixes a problem that affects the performance of some third-party visualizers. 

• Addresses an issue where the iTunes Library and playlists appear empty. 

• Resolves an issue that created an incompatibility with some third-party shared libraries.

iTunes 10 comes with many new features and improvements, including:

• Introducing Ping. Use Ping to follow your favorite artists and friends or connect with the world’s most passionate music fans. Discover the music everyone is talking about, listening to, and downloading. 

• Rent HD TV episodes for just 99¢ each. Watch them on your Mac or PC, on-the-go with iPhone or iPod touch, or in your living room with the all new Apple TV. 

• Play your favorites on the all new iPod Touch, iPod nano, iPod shuffle, and Apple TV. 

• Play music wirelessly with AirPlay on AirPlay-enabled speakers, home theater receivers, and iPod accessories. 

• Explore many look-and-feel improvements throughout iTunes. 

• Enjoy performance improvements which make iTunes faster and more responsive. 

• Additional voice support with VoiceOver Kit for iPod.

It is not clear if this causes any problems with jailbroken devices, so if you have jailbreak on you iDevice, just stay away from it for now.

You can either get this new version via the Apple Software Update utility (on Mac), or you can manually download it for here (Windows & Mac users).

How to install Frash (Flash) on your Jailbroken iPad (the easy way).

One of the biggest disadvantages of browsing the web via the iPad is its total lack of Flash, which makes it not that web-friendly. Apple claims that Flash sucks, that it uses enormous resources, that it is slow, it drains battery fast and many others. That's why they probably won't ever accept Flash on the iPad.

Actually, Apple is that one which sucks here, because Android shows that Flash can run decently on smartphones. OK, without counting on what's on YouTube, I can tell you that Nexus One is compatible with 99% percent on what's out there (yes, on the internet), and on over 90% of all websites containing Flash content, Nexus One is capable of playing that content smoothly.

Returning to iPad and Flash, there's a way of installing something like a Flash, named Frash, on it. But firstly, you need to know that you must have a jailbroken iPad. And you can jailbreak it only if you're on iOS 3.2.1 or below (sorry if you're on 3.2.2). For the right firmwares, just use http://jailbreakme.com/ (I hope I don't need to tell you that you're doing it on your own responsibility).

Then, after you finished jailbreaking your iPad, you must start Cydia, go to Manage | Sources, and there add http://repo.benm.at . After you've done that, just search for "Frash" on Cydia. Install it, and, bingo, you have....Flash, on your iPad. You just need to type on what's Flash content on websites in order to display it, but, unfortunately, it isn't as compatible as it should be.

I mean, stuff like ads work perfectly, but where we are talking about games or videos, you'll be disappointed. Mainly, they won't work at all. So, even with this trick, iPad's style of browsing is still far away from where's Android's browser.

VLC for iPad sent to Apple for approval.

VideoLan sent their free media player, VLC, to the approval process at Apple. If everything goes well (it shouldn't be any problems as the app doesn't break any rule, but we know Apple's style of denying apps for absolutely no real reason....), users will be able to play all kind of multimedia content on their iPads.

You won't be obliged to convert all of your videos to H.264 in order to get them working on your iPad, you will be able to put videos in any kind of format on your iPad, because VLC has plenty of codecs for almost anything (passing the limits QuickTime has).

This is a video demonstrating how VLC works on the iPad.


You can read more on Gizmodo.

Android sales increased by 886% in Q2 2010, overtaking Apple's iOS in the US.

Android sales simply exploded in the Q2 2010 by 886% worldwide (or 851% in the US), Canalys reports. It seems that Android has overtaken iOS in the US, having 34 percent of the market share. Android is followed by RIM, with 32% of market share, and, on the third position, by Apple, with only 21,7% of market share.

However, reporting to the worldwide market share, Nokia is the leader, with about 38% of the market. And this comes mostly because of the second largest smartphone market, China, where Nokia has an astonishing percent of 77%.

You can find more details on SlashGear.

Motorola tries to sell its Droid 2 by making fun of iPhone's lack of Flash.

You probably remember Apple's campaign with the apps from the App Store, yes, that one with "That's an App for that". Motorola, taking the example of Apple, makes fun of its obstinacy for denying flash on its iDevices, starting its own campaign, named "Flash Websites? There's a phone for that". The phone which is advantaged by the campaign is, of course, Motorola's Droid 2, which has recently been launched.

This is nothing more than a hit in Apple's face, which has been aggressively attacked from all directions with the Antennagate madness, which, paradoxically, has drastically increased the request for the iPhone 4. The original Droid was sold quite good, so, considering this, I'm expecting for the Droid 2 to be a successful device. And this will, definitely, increase the market-share of Android, which, according to some recent studies, has overpassed Apple's iOS market share in the US.

Breaking: Apple announces new iPod shuffle, iPod nano, and iPod Touch models.

Apple has just announced a new iPod shuffle, a new iPod nano, and a new iPod Touch.

This is the new iPod shuffle:

The new iPod nano is here (what's the most important feature, is, of course, the touchscreen):

And the new iPod touch is also here (with its new Retina Display and front and rear camera):











All photos are from Engadget, and the prices for these products are:

• $49 iPod shuffle
• $148 8GB, $179 16GB iPod nano
• $229 8GB, $299 32GB and $399 64GB iPod touch

Apple's Keynote Live on any OS!!

Here is where you can watch Apple's Keynote live, from any OS.

There are lots of users currently watching this (Apple's own stream isn't currently working), so if it loads slow just be patient (or try refreshing it).

Watch live streaming video from gizmodo at livestream.com

Apple about to patent a technology that allows them to detect if your iPhone was stolen or jailbroken.

Apple has made something like a....passion from patents. The last thing they want to do is to implement a technology which can detect if your phone has been stolen. This technology should help you in case if your device was stolen by notifying you about this situation and allowing you to remotely find it. However, the situation can stay a little bit different in practice, because Apple might be able to audiovisual spy you, by detecting if somebody with a different voice or face is using the device, and shutting down the device remotely.

But what's really worse, the technology should allow Apple to identify if the device has been jailbroken and unlocked, so they might have the possibility to kill the device remotely. A line in the patent also mentions that cellular carriers could shut down or cripple the device, if it is detected as jailbroken.

That's a good news for the retail, but for the customers, it is definitely something unacceptable.

You can read more on Engadget.

Availability of iPhone 4 for 17 more countries has been announced yesterday by Apple.

Yesterday, Apple announced that the iPhone 4 comes to another 17 countries via its Retail and Online Stores, and also via its Authorized Resellers. These countries are: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Honk Kong, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Singapore, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. This is going to happen this Friday, on July 30.

If you hope to get an iPhone 4 in one of the mentioned countries, you should pre-order (if it's available) it at an Apple Retail or Online Store, or at an Authorized Apple Reseller (the best is at the carrier which has an exclusive contract with Apple) as soon as possible, because there are expected important problems with stocks (and big delays, as Apple can't currently keep up with the request only from the US).

If you want the full article, view Apple's press release here.

Samsung sends free Galaxy S devices to unsatisfied iPhone 4 users (UK users only).

It seems that Samsung offered free Galaxy S devices to users who declared themselves unsatisfied by Apple's iPhone 4. The only thing that these users from the UK to which Samsung sent these devices did, was to complain on Twitter about the iPhone 4, so that Samsung contacted them offering free Galaxy S devices.

It seems that this is a tactical move made by Samsung, which tries to make a little advertising to its devices in order to increase its market-share. Of course that these devices were sent to people who are really influential, so if you are a normal Twitter user, don't even mind trying to receive a free Galaxy S. You can try if you really want, but there is almost no chance of getting one. And don't forget, devices are being sent only to important people from the UK.

iPhone 3G and iPod touch 2G users have to save SHSH Blobs from now!

If you're having a 3G iPhone or a second generation iPod, you didn't have (until today) to care too much about saving SHSH Blobs. We are talking about those who have jailbroken iDevices, of course. So, these applied, until today, for the 3GS iPhone/3G iPod and later iDevices.

Starting from now, SHSH Blobs must be saved by iPhone 3G/iPod Touch 2G users, because Apple stopped signing digitally for older firmwares for these devices. If you have one of theses devices, changing firmwares was easy, you just had to select an firmware and click update or restore and then to do jailbreak, depending on the situation.

If you update today, for example, your jailbroken iPhone 3G from 3.1.3 to iOS 4.0, and you didn't save the SHSH Blobs for your device, there's no way of turning back. You'll be stuck on iOS 4.0, with iTunes giving you an error when trying to downgrade (restore to older firmware). And this happens because, as I've already told you, Apple stopped signing older firmwares for iPhone 3G and iPod Touch 3G.

So, you really have to save them (just for any case). On your jailbroken iPhone/iPod Touch, open Cydia,  and tap on "Make my live easier, thanks!". This is all, it's really simple.

If you're asking what this does exactly, here it is: when iTunes will try to downgrade your iDevice, instead of asking Apple's servers for approval, it will call Cydia, which will, if you have saved your SHSH Blobs, give iTunes "OK for downgrading".

Apple still doesn't admit that iPhone 4 has problems with signal reception.

Everybody hoped that Apple will, in a final, admit that the iPhone 4 has problems with signal reception, at the conference they organized today. But Apple still doesn't admit this, saying that "phones aren't perfect", and declaring that BlackBerry Bold 9700, HTC Droid Eris and Samsung Omnia II have the same... little issues. This surely wasn't the answer that anybody wanted to hear.

The only good news is that Apple will offer free Bumpers for everybody who own an iPhone 4 (what an incredible fix, Apple!), and when they will run out of Bumpers, another accessory for your device will be offered. But this happens as long as you bought your phone before September 30th. They also claim that they spent over $100 million in special rooms, where they tested iPhone's antenna, and they didn't discover any problem. 

Moreover, they also said that only 0.55% of iPhone 4 owners called AppleCare to complain about the reception issues. If anybody finds details about this problem on the internet, who they think that is going to call them just to be told that the phone doesn't have any problem with antenna?!

Personally, I am completely disappointed by this policy of Apple. Are they ever going to admit (maybe in the following 50 years) that the iPhone 4 had problems with antenna? 

Apple promises to fix iPhone 4 signal problems via software update, experts say it's impossible.

Apple published today a letter regarding the iPhone 4 and its signal problems. Officially, it seems that the device really has some problems with the signal, and not the users were actually causing that problems (letter is available here). Apple declared that they have a failing algorithm which calculates the power of the signal, and explained the problem into the letter. They also promised that they are going to fix that problem via an update (in a few weeks), thanking everybody for their patience.

The wireless specialists don't agree with Apple. However, they say that the thing with the bad algorithm can be true, an update can possibly improve the accuracy of the displayed bars (they aren't currently displaying the real signal). But, there still is a problem. The phone loses completely the signal while in the hand, and this isn't a problem caused by a badly configured software. The experts say that this is a problem with the design of the device, when you cover with your fingers or your hand the region which causes the current problems, it will lose the signal in any situation. It doesn't matter what software it is or how it is configured, this is simply a problem with the design of antenna. 

I'm curious to see what happens when Apple will launch the next update, and which will be the people's reaction if the wireless reception problems will not be fixed. 


Full article on Gizmodo here. 

ExoPC Slate and ASUS Eee Pad EP101TC/EP121 are coming - can they stop iPad's explosion?

Engadget announced in the last two days, three new table PCs, all three being designed to be potential competitors to Apple's iPad. The first one is ExoPC Slate, which features a 11.6" capacitive touch-screen, 2 USB ports, HDMI out, SD card slot and a VGA webcam. What we can find inside: a 1.6 GHz Intel Atom N450 processor, 2 GB of RAM, 32 GB SSD storage space and a Broadcom Crystal HD chip, which promises to playback videos at 1080p. How can you compete with something like this, Apple? It is much over the iPad. Unfortunately, it runs Windows 7 Ultimate, which is not designed at all for a screen this size (surprisingly, the screen responds perfectly to anything the user tries to do). The price is probably going to be somewhere around $599.

The other two are ASUS Eee Pad EP101TC and EP 121, which, I have to say, are two completely uninspired names for these table PCs. Unfortunately, we don't have any details about what is inside, or their

prices. We just know that the first one has a 10" screen, and the second one has a 12" screen. While Joanna (the editor from Engadget who tested the device) was using the device, there were really important bugs observed related to the interface of the touch screen (it was quite unresponsive most of the time). Even though, the interface looks much better than that one from the ExoPC Slate. Its OS is a Windows Embedded Compact 7, and I'm sure that the interface is going to be improved and most of the bugs fixed in the future.

Apple announced that they have passed 2 millions of sold iPads, and it is not yet available anywhere in the world. Do you think that these three table PCs have the ability of stopping this boom of the iPad?

More details: here and here

Is Vietnam the place where Apple decided to lose all their new devices?

After the story with the iPhone which was found by somebody in a pub in the United States, and of course, after the start of the investigation for possible theft against one editor from Gizmodo, a new (lost) iPhone appeared in Vietnam. This second device has 16 GB internal memory (on the device which was found in the U.S. it was written "XX GB"), and the main (big) difference is that it doesn't have any screws on the bottom, anything else being the same.

Now, another new device from Apple appears, again, in Vietnam. This time, it is an iPod touch, and the differences compared with the actual iPod Touch are that it seems to have a 2 megapixel camera, and 64 GB internal storage memory. On its back it is written "DVT-1", so it is 99% sure that this is not a final version.

June 7th is the date when Apple Worldwide Developers Conference is scheduled, and it is sure that we will have then a new iPhone, but I think that it is improbable to hear any announcement about a new iPod Touch there.

Even if when the story with the lost iPhone in that pub started I refused to accept that everything might have been planned by Apple, now, that is what I think. Apple is a...too serious company to lose devices like this. My opinion is that they are making this in order to explode the speculations about their devices, and so, their devices to get shortly after launch enormous popularity.

What do you think?

More here, here and here.

Mac OS X 10.5.8 gets serious Wi-Fi bugs with latest update (May 2010).

Today I've decided to update my MacBook with the latest updates from 10.5.8, because it warned me in the last few days that updates are available. I know that it was the iTunes 9.1.1, a security update, and another one, which I can't remember exactly. I'm not sure if it wasn't the AirPort Base Station, which appears to be last updated on 31st of March ( I think it wasn't this because it's too early). But this doesn't matter now.

Everything worked fine, my Mac has been successfully updated, but after the first boot, the problems started. Mac OS X 10.5.8 is sometimes completely unable to communicate with my router via Wi-Fi (Asus WL 520-GU), which is my default internet gateway. Communication with my secondary router works (this is actually an Asus WL 520-GC, not GU), but it is useless since I can't access the internet at all (the secondary router is used to amplify the signal).

An temporary solution is to turn off the AirPort and start it again, but I can't do this again and again, every 15-20 minutes. I've surfed the internet and I found that a problem like this was occurred on the previous year, somewhere in September, again, after an update.

I'm now afraid that it will take a while until Apple will fix this, because they are now concentrating on the iPad/iPhone HD/4G/ iPhone OS 4.0, and I have the sensation that Mac OS X is currently not a priority for them. I hope I'm wrong.

If you have the same issues, please don't hesitate to leave a comment to let me know I'm not the only one having these issues !

Californian police investigates the supposed theft of the iPhone 4G/HD prototype.

The story sounds like this: an employee of Apple forgot an iPhone 4G/HD in a pub, somebody found it (hidden in a normal iPhone case), and sold it to Gizmodo.com for $5 000. Then, Apple declared the prototype as stolen, and the guys from Gizmodo announced that they are going to send it back to Apple, in order to avoid any legal action that Apple may open against them.

However, it seems that Apple has spoken with the police about this, so now they started an investigation and are searching for evidences, in order to find out if there is any reason to open a case for any of the parts. I said any, because it is not known if the police considers that the person who found the device is "guilty", or that's Gizmodo. My opinion is that neither the person who found the device nor Gizmodo aren't guilty in any way.

We'll see what happens next, and as soon as I find something new, I'll update this article.

Source: Gizmodo.com

Apple delays iPad international launch -- iPad available unofficially, at much higher prices.

For many Apple fans who were waiting for the iPad to get out of the United States to buy one, Apple announced something that completely disappointed them. iPad won't be available (officially) for anybody who lives out of the U.S., because the iPad is not going to be launched at the end of this month, but at the end of May.

This decision comes after a much higher demand for the iPad in the United States than Apple has expected. If you don't live in the U.S., you won't have it because Apple wants to sell the iPad to people from the United States firstly and then to other from another parts of the world. I really don't understand what Apple wants. U.S. citizens CAN also wait (and in a "fair world", should wait) for an iPad if they want one, if this is Apple's problem.

Anyway, there are also companies which are already selling the iPad in Europe, but the main problem is the huge commission they put on the price, just to make profit. For example, in my country there is only one big company from what I know which sells iPads, and the price is with about 50% higher than it's if you buy an iPad from Apple. But, even though, it is selling very good.

So, if you don't live in the U.S. and want an iPad, you more options:

• buy an iPad with the commission that is put to the price
• go to the U.S. just to get one (it's not a viable solution at all)
• make a trick and get one at almost the same price as it is in the U.S. (it's quite complicated, and it's also risky so I won't explain how here)
• wait and hope that Apple won't delay it again

So that's it. That's what they wanted. This is not cool, Apple!