Month: January 2009

Install Five-Column SpringBoard

This quick guide will show you how to have a 5 column springboard on your iPhone or iPod Touch.

According to Sakurina, the guy behind five-column SpringBoard:

Five-Column SpringBoard is a MobileSubstrate extension that adds a fifth column to your iPhone's home screen. It looks especially nice with nano-sized icon themes, like Abeo or Pump. It's unfinished and but should be relatively safe to use on any firmware over 2.0. Works best on 2.2. Use at your own risk.

To do that, you will have to be on a jailbroken iPhone and install a few applications from Cydia:

Erica Utilities MobileSubstrate MobileTerminal Ruby

Once this is done:

Download this file: fcsb-054.deb Upload it somewhere on your iPhone over SFTP/SCP Log in as root via SSH on your iPhone and change to wherever you put the deb file Run dpkg -i fcsb-0.54.deb Respring

[digg-me]This hack is brought to you by Sakurina and Spazio. If you have any problem, check out the MacThemes forum where this hack is from.

100 Beautiful iPhone Wallpapers

Smashing Magazine has an amazing post with 100 absolutely breath taking iPhone/iPod Touch wallpapers.

Here, we proudly present the 100 Beautiful iPhone wallpapers, designed by some of the finest and most creative artists around. The wallpapers are 320×480 pixels in resolution and are usable on the iPod Touch as well. In this post we cover typography, nature, retro and vintage, illustrations and artwork, Apple wallpapers, abstract, space. Other topics will be covered in next posts. All of the images are clickable and linked to their source.

Hop over to Smashing Magazine to view all the wallpapers.

Via JAIB

UiRemote: The Universal Infrared Remote for iPhone

Ever since Apple launched the App Store and the ability for developers to create applications for the iPhone, I thought about creating an application that would act as a remote for all your electronics such as TV, DVD, cable, etc... The problem is that I am not a developer and I don't know anyone that could develop such an app, especially because the iPhone doesn't have an IR (infrared) port...

Well it seems like my wish for a remote for iPhone has come true with UiRemote, an application developed by Canadian students.

With the help of this small accessory, you will be able to use your iPhone to control your TV, DVD, Cable box, Projectors, Digital Photo Frames, AC, Fans, & Backyard evil robots, whereever you go. Not only does it send out the remote control signals, you can easily teach it to learn any button on any standard Remote, or even a sequence of button clicks as a macro.

Take note, this is not some bulky infrared remote boxes that you have to connect using Wifi, and cannot be moved around. This standalone accessory, in its final prototype form, is only the size of a finger tip, and require nothing but your iPhone to control devices and learn new remote commands. We are going to make it even smaller after further adjustments. You can conveniently slip it into your pocket and take it to your friends/bars/meetings/work/etc. and impress them with this new thing you can do with your iPhone.

This is still a prototype at the time and these guys are obviously still tweaking it but they say they plan to release the actual Infrared Module and the Application in the next couple of months. Now that's an app that I'm really looking for. Check out the video below and tell us what you think about it.

SlingPlayer Mobile for iPhone Coming Up Soon

We've talked in the past about Sling and their SlingBox, a digital box you connect to your cable box, dish receiver, or DVR and allows you to grab either live or recorded video from that source, anywhere in the world that you can connect to the Internet.

It seems that Sling will be demonstrating SlingPlayer for the iPhone at MacWorld this week and they will be submitting their app to the App Store sometimes in the next few weeks. SlingPlayer will allow you to watch cable TV directly from your iPhone!

Here are a few highlights from the press release:

"SlingPlayer Mobile is ideally suited for the iPhone's large touch screen display and I know iPhone users are eagerly anticipating the application's availability," said Blake Krikorian, co-founder and CEO of Sling Media. "Add to that HD streaming support for Slingbox PRO-HD customers and live TV support on our video entertainment site, Sling.com, and you can see Sling Media is committed to delivering great solutions for Mac users."

SlingPlayer Mobile gives consumers their entire home TV experience, including local channels, local sports teams, video on demand, pay per view, etc. Any program that you can watch on your sofa back home, you can now watch via your iPhone using a standard network connection (3G Cellular, WiFi). In addition, SlingPlayer Mobile for iPhone users can also control their home digital video recorder (DVR) to watch recorded shows, pause, rewind, and fast forward live TV, or even queue new recordings while on the road.

Pricing and Availability

SlingPlayer Mobile for iPhone will be submitted to Apple for testing and approval in Q1. The price has not been determined at this time. SlingPlayer for Mac HD will be available for free via the web-based SlingPlayer within Sling.com later in Q1. Mac customers will be able to use either Safari or Firefox web browsers to get both HD streaming and Live TV within Sling.com.

AT&T iPhone Tethering Plan To Be Announced This Week

A couple of months ago, I wrote a post about how an iPhone tethering plan was officially on its way, and it seems that we are getting very close to an announcement, most likely this week at MacWorld.

According to TUAW:

It's been under the rumor banner for some time now, but we've been told by a trusted source that the long-awaited AT&T iPhone-as-modem tethering plans (preliminary details in MacBlogz' post from November: 5 GB data cap, $30/month supplementary cost) may be ready for prime time during Macworld Expo this week. The tethering announcement might not rise to a keynote-worthy level; it could simply be publicized as a press release during the show.

I stick to my guess of a $40/month plan for this. Given that PDAnet already tethers your iPhone for free, I'm not signing up for this plan anytime soon.

Steve Is Doing Good… And Peace In The World Is For Tomorrow…

Contrarily to what I reported last week about Steve Jobs health, our good old Steve-o seems to be doing ok, according to a note he sent to the WSJ. Well people, don't get duped by this piece of PR. It is clear that Steve Jobs is sick and Apple is lying to all of us, most likely to protect the value of its stock.

One thing though. Steve will not be able to lie forever, and when he does pass away, I am pretty sure the stock will hurt even more than it would if he told us right now that he is indeed sick. Why doesn't he slowly but surely prepare the stockholders to see him step down from its CEO position like Bill Gates did at MicroSoft. It took Gates a few years to step down but it was done so smoothly that MS stock didn't suffer at all.

Anyways, here is a copy of the note Steve wrote to the WSJ:

Dear Apple Community,

For the first time in a decade, I’m getting to spend the holiday season with my family, rather than intensely preparing for a Macworld keynote.

Unfortunately, my decision to have Phil deliver the Macworld keynote set off another flurry of rumors about my health, with some even publishing stories of me on my deathbed.

I’ve decided to share something very personal with the Apple community so that we can all relax and enjoy the show tomorrow.

As many of you know, I have been losing weight throughout 2008. The reason has been a mystery to me and my doctors. A few weeks ago, I decided that getting to the root cause of this and reversing it needed to become my #1 priority.

Fortunately, after further testing, my doctors think they have found the cause — a hormone imbalance that has been “robbing” me of the proteins my body needs to be healthy. Sophisticated blood tests have confirmed this diagnosis.

The remedy for this nutritional problem is relatively simple and straightforward, and I’ve already begun treatment. But, just like I didn’t lose this much weight and body mass in a week or a month, my doctors expect it will take me until late this Spring to regain it. I will continue as Apple’s CEO during my recovery.

I have given more than my all to Apple for the past 11 years now. I will be the first one to step up and tell our Board of Directors if I can no longer continue to fulfill my duties as Apple’s CEO. I hope the Apple community will support me in my recovery and know that I will always put what is best for Apple first.

So now I’ve said more than I wanted to say, and all that I am going to say, about this.

Steve

I suggest you check out CrunchGear's post about it because it's full of good insight.

What do you think of all this?

Red iPhone To Be Announced At MacWorld? Picture!!!

After the pink iPhone that hit eBay earlier this week, now is time for the Red iPhone. We had heard about it before and it seems the rumor is resurfacing, especially since we're just days away of MacWorld.

This image was found on a French blog and it seems really fake to me but you never know... It is much more probable that Apple will launch a Red iPhone, rather than a pink one... What do you think?

UPDATE: After doing a little research, I found out it's totally fake and you can buy iPhone 3G back covers pretty much everywhere online. However, as you can see here, you will need some skills to install it!

Fewer Bars In More Places: AT&T Downgrading 2G Service

According to Timothy Butler with OFB, AT&T has been shifting transmitters to the weaker 1900 MHz band in some areas. What if you're one of the unlucky customers? Well, simply get a new phone... that's pretty much what AT&T is saying...

This shift has resulted in customers past their 30-day return policy, but still with relatively new phones, finding themselves stuck with equipment no longer able to pick up signals properly in previously strong coverage areas, even though the equipment itself is without defect.

Reports suggested the problem started to appear as AT&T ramped up its 3G network in preparation for the iPhone 3G in early 2008. Each AT&T technician OFB talked to concerning this problem offered the same solution: that the customer should purchase new, 3G-enabled equipment at the customer’s own expense.

AT&T reps obviously denied this information but if you've been noticing slower data transfers lately while on Edge... don't look any further. Look at the bright side though; you now have another good reason to get yourself an iPhone 3G!

YellowSn0w Has Been Revised. Try It Again!

If there is one good thing about the Dev Team, it's that they work fast. Following a few issues with YellowSn0w, they have already updated it to version 0.9.4 and it supposedly fixes a bunch of issues. It is still in beta but it's much more stable than it was. So if you had issues unlocking your iPhone 3G using YellowSn0w, try again with the latest version.

It's still available in Cydia and you can still read this for the full iPhone 3G unclok tutorial.

Pink iPhone 3G is “Absolutely Fabulous”

A mysterious Pink iPhone 3G showed up on eBay today and while a Red iPhone had been rumored for a while, I honestly didn't think about a pink model, especially one for sale on eBay...

If you look at the back of the iPhone, it clearly looks legit, and not some type of ColorWare job. Like Engadget suggests, it could be some OEM in Asia whipping up custom colors. Or maybe Apple ready to announce it at MacWorld next week? I don't think so.

What's your take on it?

Is Apple Looking To Patent An iPhone-Friendly Glove?

Because the iPhone uses capacitive touchscreens, it may be difficult or impossible for the electrical signals from a person's fingers to pass through glove fabric. I don't have this problem because I live in Southern California, but if you live in some cold places such as Alaska or Iceland, this might be a way for you to use your iPhone, without risking to freeze your fingers.

The US Patent and Trademark Office published what seems to be an application from Apple for gloves that would actually work with the touchscreen. The glove would most likely have layers that emulate properties of human skin, such as electrical resistance.

THe Hidden Menu Of Google iPhone App

It takes a little bit of effort to find the "Bells and Whistles" hidden menu in Google Mobile but it's here. When you launch the Google iPhone app and go to settings, you’ll see a few options to configure the app. While it may not look like there is anything below the “About” selection, swipe your finger upward to go below. Keep swiping for a while and you will see the secret menu.

So, what is so cool about these bells and whistles? Not much to be honnest... You can replace the default sounds with chicken or monkey noises. You can also change the color of the Google Mobile theme and see a live waveform when you talk.

There is one nice feature though: the "open links in app" option. I guess this should have been there in the first place but later is better than never as we say in French.