Month: October 2008

VoIPover3G

VoIPover3G (that's Voice Over IP Over 3G) is what I think the hottest application that came out this weekend, and let me tell you right now, like all hot apps, it is only available in Cydia - that should give you yet another reason to jailbreak if you still haven't done so.

So what does this bad boy do? This MobileSubstrate library can trick any application into thinking that it is on wifi even though it is on a cellular data connection. There are a lot of possible uses for that, but for me the main use is being able to use VoIP programs like Fring over 3G. So no more hack necessary to use Fring over Edge or 3G.

By default, VoIPover3G is configured to to trick only the App Store and Fring but you can edit the setting, but in order to do so, you'll have to know your way around SSH...

As mentioned above, VoIPover3Gis available in Cydia. If you instal it, don't look for the icon on your springboard as it doesn't have an icon. Configuration settings are explained in the "more info" link of the app.

MewSeek and PwnPlayer bring P2P Power to your iPhone

[digg-me]If you have been looking for a free alternative to the mobile iTune's store, or just wanted an easy to use free music downloading application, look no further. From that crazy world of Cydia comes one of Apple iTune's worst nightmares, MewSeek, a P2P client and Pwn Player, a playback software for your iPhone.

iPhone Tips and Tricks: Keyboard

Keyboard Slide to the Right Letter

I know that most people have figured this one out, but to be complete, and for Newbies, I thought it would be good to add this.  When you press on a key and you hit the wrong letter, simply slide your finger to the right letter (without lifting it) and lift up to correct your mistake.

Slide to Period Tapping

Instead of switching between letter and punctuation modes, slide your finger to the @123 button, but don’t release it until after sliding and releasing over the period key. The keyboard will switch back to letter input automatically. This makes a big difference. Be sure to measure the improvement of the slide method on your typing speed. This is also known as the McCallum method via Pogue. An otherwise, well documented shortcut, but addresses a very common complaint about the iPhone keyboard.

Misspelling Contractions

You can intentionally spell it’s incorrectly as “itsp” or “itsa” and “it’s” will be suggested. The A and P keys are ideally positioned for this kind of a shortcut. To get popular contractions filled in automatically just add a third repetitive letter to get Safari to suggest the contraction word. Examples include “helll” -> “he’ll” , “welll” -> “we’ll”, “weree” -> “we’re” etc.

Keyboard Switching

Press the space bar from the .123 keyboard to return to the alpha keyboard. This can be good when you just need a number or a period. If you have the iPhone 1.1.1 update you can simply double-tap the space key to get a period.

Automating Other URL Suffixes

On the keyboard press and hold the .com key to see other tld extensions based on your selected languages. For example in the U.S. you will see .net, .edu .org, with German you will see .edu .org .de, and with Spanish you will see .edu .org and .es in a pop up list.

Don't Even Bother Typing .COM

Just like a real browser, it appears that the iPhone will allow you to type in most .com URLs without having to type the actual .com or pressing the button. Simply press Go after typing the site name and iPhone's Safari browser should automatically insert the .com for you.

Magnifying Glass

When typing in an email message, URL, web page text box, or any other item that requires the keyboard, you may make a spelling error. To fix any errors that aren't at the tail end of the string you just typed, hold your finger over the text until a small magnifying glass appears. You will now be able to position the cursor at the proper location in order to make your change.

iPhone Tips and Tricks: Safari

Share your URL in an Email

If you want to send the URL of a Web page you’re viewing to a friend, tap the Address Bar, then tap Share. A new e-mail message, containing the URL, will open in Mail; just choose a recipient(s), add any comments you want to include, and tap Send.  

Page Down

When not using a zoomed-in display, double-tap towards the bottom of the screen. The page will re-center around your tap. Make sure not to tap a link!

Jump to the top of the Page

Double-tap the very top of the screen, just below the time display to pop back to the top of the page. (Thanks John C)

Zoom onto a Single Picture

Double-tapping images in Safari zooms them to fit your iPhone display. If the picture is linked to a URL, this can prove a little tricky but it works great for non-linked images. Double-tap again to return to the unzoomed display.  Using 2 fingers to double tap, and zoom a section of a web page will avoid the accidental clicking of links.

Zoom a Column

You can zoom text columns as well as pictures. Double-tap on the column to fit it to the display. Double-tap again to return out of the zoom. Not only does Safari zoom block-quoted text independently of regular text but if you move your finger after the first double-tap-to-fit, it interprets the next double-tap as a re-center page command rather than a return-to-previous-zoom. Smart.

Stopping a scroll

After flicking a page to get it to scroll, you can tap the page at any time to stop that movement. Don't forget, you can also manually drag the screen display to reset the part you're viewing.

Manual Zoom

This is probably one of the most-advertised Safari features (along with the flip-the-phone-on-its-side-trick) but it's worth mentioning again. To zoom into a Safari page, put your thumb and forefinger on the screen and move them apart. To zoom out, pinch the fingers together after starting with them apart.

Examining the URL

To peek at a link's destination, touch and hold the link for a few seconds. You can also do this with images to see if they are linked. If a link appears and you don't want to activate it, just slide your finger away until the destination text disappears.

Locking the Scroll to One Direction

The iPhone 'locks' your scroll to either vertical or horizontal only if the initial finger-slide is straight up/down or right/left enough. This can be very useful if you've got a skinny column of text with room on either side to get derailed.  If not your initial scroll, using 2 fingers side by side will force vertical scrolling. Likewise 2 fingers stacked is horizontal.

Save Images

Save images in Safari by tapping and holding on the image and you will see a “Save Image” button. Great feature if you want to use images you find online as your wallpaper.

Press & Hold For Alternate Characters

Hold a letter for a popup of various versions of the character (i.e. to type España with the "ñ" simply hold "n" and simply slide/release to the appropriate character).

Click & Hold URL's

In Safari, hold a link to see the URL and site name.

Enter Special Characters in Safari Address Bar

When you have selected the number keypad (@123) while typing text in the Safari Address bar, pressing the Shift Key, changes the symbols you can select.  In other keyboards (for example the Google search text box, the Shift key is replaced with a second symbol option key (#+=) but this doesn't appear in the address bar. To access these symbols, just press Shift key and pick the character.

Changing Search Engine to Yahoo

By default, Safari uses the Google search engine when you enter search text.   However, you can change it to Yahoo but selecting the Safari Option in the Settings application.  Pick this option and select the Search Engine option to change it to Yahoo.

iPhone Tips and Tricks: Icons

I wanted to start a Tips and Tricks thread. I am compiling a bunch I have found on the net, and adding a few of my own, but please help us and add any ones that I didn't list. If this works out, we can add it to our FAQ.

Create an icon for a frequently used web page.

Navigate to the site in Safari.  Click the + symbol to add a bookmark.   Select the Add to Home Screen button to save the bookmark in your current app panel.   Now use the normal methods to move it (press and hold until icons start to wiggle) to the desired spot.

Manually select the icon image for a bookmarked webpage

This one's a little more confusing. In the previous tip, I explained how to create an Icon for a bookmark, but following those steps, the image in the icon, however, is a screenshot of the page you were on. So if you want the icon to look a specific way, zoom in on a particular item on the page. Whether you want the website's logo, or some picture on the page, simply zoom in on that part of the page before you press "Add to Home Screen".

Note: This doesn't work with all websites. Popular sites like Google have special icons for the iPhone's home screen.

Shortcut for Moving Icons Across Multiple Pages

Moving icons from one panel to another can be a pain because the feedback lets you only move one panel at a time. If you are moving icons across multiple panels, use this trick. Once in wiggle mode, momentarily drag one of the icons in the bottom tool bar to the screen.  Now replace it with the icon you want to move. Scroll to the target panel, and drag the icon out of the tool bar to its new location.

Use Folders instead of Multiple Icon Panels

If you have a jailbroken iPhone or iTouch, install Categories.   This tool lets you define folders (and associate icons to them) where you can use to contain your icons.   Works pretty good.

mBoxMail Lets you Access your Hotmail with an iPhone App

I have a Hotmail Plus account so I have been able to access my hotmail account on my iPhone but I couldn't access my folders and I had to go back to the web interface to permanently delete my mail.  It was an okay solution so that I could at least read it on the go, but nFluent just came out with a new app mBoxMail [iTunes Link].

I installed it yesterday and I love this app. It is a bit pricey at $9.99 but I have to say that I didn't even hesitate to buy it. It is very easy to setup and very intuitive and straightforward to use.

nFluent created a short demo on their web page so you can see how it works.

Here are the features of the software according to nFluent's website:

Security In today's world, your information is only as secure as your email account. There is no middle man with m•Box Mail. This application speaks directly to the Windows Live Hotmail servers so you do not have to worry about your confidential information getting stored elsewhere. Your email, user name and password are not stored outside your mobile device. Passwords are securely kept in iPhone’s key store so they do not get into the wrong hands.

Sync your Hotmail and Live Mail Sync your Microsoft Hotmail or Live Mail to iPhone, including all the read and unread flags. All your folders also are available through m•Box Mail so you can stay organized even while on the go.

Fast and Efficient m•Box Mail is highly optimized for mobile platforms so access to your email is the best possible experience. For example, you will be amazed at how fast your email is synced onto your iPhone.

Attachments View emailed image attachments right on your iPhone.

Hotmail Contacts All your Hotmail contacts are available so addressing an email from your iPhone is now as easy as doing it from your computer.

Send from Hotmail m•Box Mail supports sending email from your Hotmail account. Your signature also can be customized on your iPhone for outgoing messages, and you can edit your sent messages folder – keep email for review or delete them as wanted.

DataCase vs. Air Sharing

[digg-me]One of the reasons I chose an iPhone is because of the large amount of onboard memory.  However, a non-jailbroken iPhone can only sync files through iTunes.  That means you are limited to the files you can upload to your high-tech device.  That's where applications from the App Store come in.

There are many apps that can fill this need.  However, two seem to stand out from the rest.  Datacase [iTunes link] was one of the first of the wifi file syncing apps.  And, Air Sharing [iTunes link] is apparently the most popular wifi file syncing app.  As of this writing, Air Sharing is No. 48 on the iTunes Top Paid Apps list.  That ranking, however, may or may not be skewed by the fact that it was offered as a free app for a limited time.  Keep in mind that these apps can only view documents and not edit them.

For a long time, I believed Air Sharing (pictured, left) was superior to DataCase because of how smoothly it handles PDF documents.  However, it appears that DataCase has made significant updates to compete with Air Sharing.

I downloaded the same files to both apps to compare how each app performs.

PDF - Winner: DataCase. Like I said earlier, I believe both apps handle this file type fairly smoothly.  When turning to landscape mode, there is a noticeable pause on both apps.  But, I'll give the nod to DataCase.  DataCase has controls to go to the first and last page, which is helpful for PDFs that are hundreds of pages long. Datacase also has a great bookmarking feature, to tab pages that you frequently go to.  Air Sharing does have an accelerated page turning function if you hold down the button.  But, that doesn't cut it when you're trying to get to page 200.

Excel - Push. Both apps perform equally well when viewing Excel documents.  But, then again, I don't have really complicated Excel documents.

MP3 - Push. Both apps had no problem playing the same MP3 file using QuickTime.

Pictures - Air Sharing. I downloaded a JPG to both apps.  I'll give the slight edge to Air Sharing because I can use a double-tap OR a pinch out to zoom.  A single tap in Air Sharing removes the border for full-screen viewing.  In DataCase, a single-tap removes the borders but cannot recognize a double-tap to zoom.

MHTML & QuickTime Movie - Push. Although you can upload them, both apps equally failed at displaying an MHTML file and playing a QuickTime movie.  Granted, MHTML is a weird file type but I knew both could view HTML files.  And for some reason, neither app can play QuickTime movies which is really disappointing.

Setup - Air Sharing. Air Sharing is by far easier to set up.  It has instructions right inside the app.  DataCase's setup is a bit quirky, for Windows XP users at least.  It's best to go to the Veiosoft website to learn how to set up DataCase.

Graphical Interface - DataCase. Air Sharing has a straightfoward look to it, which is not bad in itself.  But, DataCase brings a lot to the table.  The opening screen of DataCase shows a doughnut which is a graph of the amount of free space on your iPhone.  As you fill up Datacase, you will see colors which represent the different types of files.  Also, when you're uploading large files (pictured, above) DataCase tells you how far along you are in your uploading.  It's also nice to see which types of files are taking up the most space.  And, you can filter out certain file types when navigating.  One nice feature that Air Sharing does have, however, is the ability to easily navigate through a string of folders.  On the other hand, I'm not sure why you can't create folders in the Air Sharing app alone.  You have to do it in the shared folder on your desktop.

Both apps are $6.99 in the App Store.

Word, Excel and PowerPoint on your iPhone?

DataViz, a company that develops and markets Office compatibility and productivity solutions across a variety of platforms, quietly announced on its blog that they will soon be releasing the iPhone version of "Documents To Go", an application that let's you create and edit Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents.

There is no excel word about when this app is supposed to be released.

That's a type of application that many business users have been waiting for a long time.

Jailbreak App Cylay 2.0 Adds Security for your iPhone

iFoneTec Ltd released version 2.0 Cylay, a tool that helps you secure your phone and its data. Touted by the company's web page as the "the first security application for the iPhone", the company says the application will:

Report current user phone number when iPhone is lost; Backup iPhone data to Cylay Server or Google Server; Delete all of iPhone information when iPhone is lost; Find lost iPhone location; Report Call history and SMS log of lost iPhone; Remotely control lost iPhone: forward SMS, and restore data to iPhone; If you go to this web site, you can create an account and set up your iPhone profile. It looks like there is a trial membership for free and you pay 19.99 a year to get advanced features. It is a bit unclear what these advanced features are but the web site says the membership fee includes: No setup Server and Client fee. Free to update Cylay during in 1 year. unlimited access Cylay server , backup, restore iPhone information to Cylay server and iPhone unlimited the notices of warning unlimited to access Calllog,SMSlog, Contacts,Notes. Again unclear from the website, it looks like from the website you can register your phone number and iPhone serial number and report your phone through their web page when it gets lost. You can also identify the location of the iPhone.  It looks like you can also back it up remotely and send an SMS message to it to erase your iPhone to prevent your data from falling into the wrong hands. Cylay is only available for jailbroken phones and is available at http://app.ifonetec.com/cydia.

List of Cydia and Installer Sources

Sleepers.net just posted a list of most Cydia and Installer repos. I think that is great information for users that have jailbroken iPhones. I copy/pasted the list here but I invite you to visit Sleepers and Digg their post.

MiVTones brings video ringtones to your iPhone

]MiVTones used to be called Videostone. Don't ask me why they changed the name because I have no idea. Maybe a trademark issue or something? Anyways. MiVTones is a new application by iFoneTec available in Cydia that allows you to have video ringtones on your iPhone.

You may use MiVtones 2.0 with basic features for free,but you have to purchase a $20 license (ouch!) to use MiVTones 2.0 with advanced features. To enjoy video ringtones on your iPhone, you will first have to register your phone and create an account at http://www.MiVTones.com. Then you will have to install miVTones, which is available through the ModMyiFone repo. In case you don't see it, make sure to add this source: http://app.ifonetec.com/cydia.

Once you have activated your account and installed MiVTones, you'll finally be able to add your own videos to your iPhone. Use Winscp or CyberDuck to upload your own video ringtones to /var/mobile/Media/VideoTone/Video