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- Is Jailbreaking Still Worth It?
While we're patiently waiting for our friends over at the iPhone Dev-Team to finish up the new jailbreak for iPhone 4, I thought It might be fun to have a look at some of the cool apps available for those willing to crack open their magical devices. Please keep in mind that by jailbreaking your phone you're totally voiding your warranty, so proceed at your own risk.
If you’re willing to take the chance, modding your phone can really add a lot of new functionality to those little computers we're all carrying around. Want to quickly create your own Wi-Fi hotspot? There's an app for that. Would you like to sidestep Apple's 3G restrictions? There's an app for that. Ever thought it would be nice to wirelessly sync with iTunes? You get the idea.
Here's a few I plan on installing once the new jailbreak drops and they’ve all been updated to work with the latest version of iOS.
- 3G Unrestrictor lets you get around all those draconian restrictions Apple places on how you can use your 3G connection by tricking the phone into thinking it's on Wi-Fi. Watch high quality videos, download applications or podcasts, maybe even use FaceTime.
- Wi-Fi sync lets you cut that USB cable and sync your music, apps, photos, contacts, calendars, and more with iTunes over the air at the touch of a button.
- snes4iphone is an emulator that lets you relive those heady days of Super Nintendo fun right on your phone. F-Zero on your phone? OMG.
- MyWi creates a Wi-Fi hotspot for connecting laptops or other mobile devices to your iPhone’s internet connection. You can also use it to enable USB and Bluetooth tethering as a bonus.
- Action Menu adds some additional handy buttons to the usual copy/paste menu you see when selecting text on the phone. Send the text to your Twitter app of choice, look it up in the dictionary, access clipboard history and more.
Jailbreaking your brand new phone is always a risk. You void your warranty and start down a path of SHSH blobs, root passwords, and SSH connections. Oh my! The Dev-Team and app developers have done a great job at making things as easy as possible, but if you're not willing to spend some time troubleshooting your own issues, you're probably better servedleaving your phone factory fresh.
Still, I think it's well worth jumping through all those hoops in order to pick up the kind of added functionality you see above. What do you think, is it worth it? What apps are you looking forward to adding?
Переслать - New YouTube Embeds Work on the iPad
YouTube is experimenting with a new form of embeds that enable iPad users to play embedded videos right within a web page. The new embeds use iframes to switch between a Flash and an HTML5 version of the video, depending on the user’s device. The experiment was announced today on the YouTube API blog, but the site’s software engineer Toliver Jue didn’t make any direct mention of the iPad. Instead, he just vaguely promised that this method will “eventually allow embeds to work on mobile devices.”
However, we were able to confirm that at least the test video used for the announcement already plays on the iPad’s Safari browser, as shown in the screenshot below:
It’s probably a little early to swap out all your YouTube embed codes. The new method of embedding videos is dubbed “a preview” by YouTube, and there are a number of downsides:
- Videos with ads can’t be shown as HTML5 and are instead shown via Flash by default.
- There’s no way of automatically generating these new embed codes on YouTube just yet, which means you’ll have to manually change the code for each video you want to embed.
- The Next Web reports that changing the width of the embed will break the player.
- Firefox and Opera users will only get to see HTML5 videos if the source video is available in WebM, which apparently isn’t the case for every YouTube video just yet.
- Users have to opt into the Testtube HTML5 trial to see any HTML5 videos at all, which means that most users will still get Flash by default, even when using the new embed code. iPad users that haven’t opted into the Testtube trial just see a black box instead of the video.
Still, if you’re a developer or webmaster of a site with lots of iPad traffic, you might want to take a stab at it and play with the new embeds.
Related content on GigaOm Pro: HTML5's a Game-Changer for Web Apps (subscription required)
Переслать - Back to School 2010 Buyer's Guide for Mac Lovers, Part 2
For the next part of our Back to School 2010 Buyer's Guide, we're going to take a look at ten more great Mac-specific items for the college-bound student. If you missed part one, be sure and check it out.
Apple LED Cinema Display or LG 23″ Widescreen LED Display
$239 – $799, Apple Store & Best Buy
Since every Mac supports the use of at least two displays (either including the built-in display or as externals), increase your workspace and productivity by adding an extra one onto your Mac. My pick is the beautiful 24" LED LCD display by Apple, but if you're budget conscious, you can pick up a 23" LG display for under $300 at Best Buy. This display even features an HDMI input, which means it could double as your TV! Just make sure you have the right adapters. Apple's display connects via DisplayPort but most others will connect via DVI.
MobileMe
$99 ($69 with purchase of a new Mac), Apple Store
Apple has steadily rolled out improvements to their cloud service and for some, it offers a lot of value. As a student, you'll likely find the most value in the online iDisk storage and web-based access to email, calendars and contacts. Plus if you have an iPhone, you'll get push service to that as well. If you just bought a Mac recently but didn't get MobileMe, swing by a retail store with your receipt and you might be able to save $30.
Microsoft Office for Mac
$149.95, Apple Store
Love 'em or hate 'em, you'll be interacting with Word, Excel and PowerPoint a lot in college. The good news is, Microsoft offers an Office package with a price tag specifically designed for students. Sometimes, you can even pick it up cheaper at your on-campus bookstore. If you're not in a rush though, wait a few months. Office 2011 is just around the corner.
iWork
$79 ($71 with educational discount), Apple Store
If you really want to impress the prof, grab a copy of iWork. With the built-in templates (and a growing collection of third party templates available), you can deliver reports and presentations that look professionally designed. Plus if you have an iPad, with the mobile version of iWork you can sync your work and create, edit, publish and present on the go.
HP Photosmart e-All-in-One
$129.95, Apple Store
While ink cartridges are still a wasted investment, fortunately these days printers are fairly cheap. Now is a great time to pick up a new multi-function printer that can scan, copy and print. You'll save time and money by not having to use copiers and printers at your campus library! The HP Photosmart e-All-in-One is a great printer for everyday use and printing photos. You can even print to it directly with an SD card or wirelessly from your Mac!
MyBook 2TB External Hard Drive & SanDisk Flash Drives
Varies, Amazon.com
MobileMe gives you cloud storage, but sometimes you just need to move content around quickly or have a good backup of all your data. For the small jobs, you can pick up a 32GB SanDisk for under $65 or invest in a Western Digital MyBook 2TB external drive for under $200. The MyBook is great for Time Machine backups and it connects via FireWire 800 for fast transfer rates.
Magic Mouse
$69, Apple Store
Even if you love using a trackpad, an external mouse can be more comfortable for when you're using your Mac for extended periods of time. Apple's Magic Mouse supports multi-touch and connects via Bluetooth. Since Macs have supported Bluetooth for quite a while now, you can use this external mouse and not have to sacrifice a USB port for some unsightly adapter.
Pulse Smart Pen
$149.95 – $169.95, Apple Store
If you take a lot of notes and your professor doesn't like the idea of a Mac joining you in the classroom, the Pulse Smart Pen is a handy tool. As you write, it records audio of your lectures. Simply tap the portion of your notes to hear playback of the lecture that was given when you were originally writing them. If you've used EverNote before, the Pulse uses similar technology by making your handwritten notes searchable when you sync them back to your Mac.
Kensington Locks
$24.95 and up, Kensington.com
Unfortunately, while Macs are very nice, they are also very attractive to those who wish they could have their own. A simple Kensington Lock can help keep your Mac secure, either in your dorm or in the library when you get up to grab some more books. I recommend the combination lock as some of their traditional keyed locks use the same key.
Elgato EyeTV Hybrid
$149.95, Amazon.com
If you don't have an external display or a dedicated TV, you can still watch TV on your Mac. The EyeTV Hybrid contains a built-in tuner and you can use it to watch, capture and record live TV on your Mac. With the included software, you can even export the files and share them with others or take them on the go with your iPod or iPhone.
I know as a college student, budgets can be tight and so some of these items are great things to add to a holiday wish list, or to share with friends and family who still may be trying to find that perfect graduation gift for you. If that’s the case for you, use the links below to share this article with your family. Also, be on the watch for our guide for iPod/iPhone users and iPad users coming soon. If you have any specific suggestions for products to be included in those, use the comments below and share your ideas with us!
Переслать - Apple's White iPhone Delay a Chance for Antenna Redesign
Like Henry Ford’s Model T, you can have the Apple iPhone 4 in any color you want, so long as it’s black. That’s the continued message as Apple today announced further delays for the white iPhone 4, citing manufacturing challenges. The company says the “more popular iPhone 4 black models” are not affected by those challenges, but availability for the white iPhone 4 is now expected “later this year.”
This isn’t the first delay of the white iPhone 4 model, however. Indeed, in the press conference held to discuss antenna issues last week, Steve Jobs himself said the white model would be shipping by the end of July — and now a week later the device is delayed again? Engadget suggests there are production challenges at play, saying:
Specifically, the factory’s still working out the perfect combination of paint thickness and opacity — the former to ensure the next sub-contractor has enough clearance for the digitizer overlay, and the latter for the absolute whiteness that Jony Ive and co. strive for.
The cynical side of me says this is BS. It could well be that Apple is trying to get the white color just right, but I’d expect that it would have worked out the manufacturing process to do so well in advance of the product launch. If anything, I suspect that Apple is tweaking the antenna design or finding some non-bumper solution to improve the device signal in areas of marginal coverage.
If I was a betting man, I’d guess that Apple’s white iPhone arrives fairly close to September 30. That’s the date when Apple’s free bumper case program currently expires. Which raises another question: Why does it expire on that date? One reason is that Apple likely feels no further obligation to address the “antennagate” issues beyond that, since customers at that point should arguably know full well about potential signal issues when holding the device a certain way.
Another reason could be that by September 30, Apple will have a minor antenna tweak for its iPhone. At last week’s press conference Jobs addressed the bumper case date, saying “Maybe we have a better idea. We will re-evaluate in September.” The black models already sold with a perceived problem are mitigated by the free bumpers. A new production run — say of white iPhones first, followed by black models later — gives Apple to time to make its magical product better, sans bumper.
That better idea Jobs referenced might be more than just a case. I expect that when the white iPhone arrives, it won’t just have the “perfect combination of paint thickness and opacity,” but will have less of an antenna issue too.
Related GigaOM Pro research (sub req'd):
Why Carriers Should Care About Customer Care
Переслать - Apple's Product Line is at Least 50% Mobile
I click through to Apple.com every other day mostly to read tech specs of new products and look for subtle changes that would warrant a post but mostly I just drool on my keyboard while glancing at the fancy gadgets.
I noticed something different this time around and I wanted to mark that in July, 2010, Apple’s flagship products (not mice, keyboards or displays) but the products Apple chooses to feature at the top of the store’s main page are now 50% mobile.
Apple dropped the “computer” part of its name and went Apple, Inc. a couple of years ago with the introduction of iPhone. Since then, it’s released the Apple TV, more iPods and the iPad, but it’s only now that Apple’s role as a mobile tech company becomes apparent at a glance.
Macintosh computers have high profit margins and Apple sold over 3 million of them last quarter but Mac sales only made up 33% of Apple’s earnings in that same quarter. The rest of their profits were made up of iPhone, iPad and iPod sales. Remember that Apple notebooks are technically mobile devices, too. That means that 9 out of 12 products of the marquee products Apple sells are mobile.
The Mac isn’t going away any time soon, but the amount of Apple products that are “mobile” will only grow. If rumors are correct, the MacBook Air will become even smaller, teetering on the brink of the netbook category (in terms of size, not specs) with an 11.6″ screen. We’ll see, but there’s no denying Apple is a mobile company and that’s not going to change.
Переслать - The iPhone 4 Case Program Begins – And There's an App for That
Did you buy a bumper from Apple already, or are you planning on getting a bumper or case to rectify the very not-fictitious reception issues Steve Jobs petulantly made light of while at the same time acknowledging? Today is the day to begin the process of healing, if so.
Apple has started processing refunds for already purchased iPhone 4 bumper cases, according to reports by people who’ve already purchased the tremendously overpriced thin band of rubber. You’ll be notified of the refund via official Apple email, but you shouldn’t have to do anything extra to get your money back if you’ve already bought one, unless you paid cash in-store, in which case you actually have to return to a retail location.
To get a free bumper or case, though, you won’t be able to just order one via Apple’s online store and have it arrive for free. There’s an extra step, albeit a simple one, involved in the application process. You need to download and install a specially made Apple app on your iPhone to take advantage of the case program.
Once you run the app, you’ll sign in with your Apple ID and select the bumper or case of your choice. After that, Apple should ship the case out to you in due time. Don’t expect speedy service, though, since Apple will probably be flooded with requests for quite a while.
Also note that there is some fine print about refund or free case eligibility. If you bought your iPhone on or before July 23, you have until August 22 to apply. Those who purchased their iPhone 4 after today have 30 days from the date of purchase to take advantage of the program. Regardless of purchase date, the deal ends entirely on September 30, when Apple has promised to re-evaluate the situation.
Переслать - White iPhone 4 Delayed Again, Coming Later This Year
Apple has announced that the white iPhone 4 has been delayed once more, with a product launch not now expected until sometime later this year.
The company released the following vague, short statement to break the bad news to those waiting for the elusive white iPhone 4:
White models of Apple’s new iPhone 4 have continued to be more challenging to manufacture than we originally expected, and as a result they will not be available until later this year. The availability of the more popular iPhone 4 black models is not affected.
This disappointing update, which fails to specify any date, comes just one week after Apple themselves said that the white model of the iPhone 4 would be available towards the end of July.
So what just is holding up the white iPhone 4 from hitting shelves? Following the delays several blogs started to speculate as to why this manufacturing problem was proving so difficult to rectify. The consensus seems to point towards an issue with the coloration of the device. Engadget’s report detailed that the factory making the white model is having problems achieving the “perfect combination of paint thickness and opacity”.
It’s a shame that Apple did not have this issue solved before launch, as this delay along with the recent public relations nightmare that has been “antennagate” have made for one bumpy ride – not that Apple’s bottom line has been affected. So for those of you wanting a white model, it’s a case of waiting for the perfect shade of white to grace the iPhone 4. How long that wait will take, however, remains unknown.
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