iPhone 3GS Tethering Makes My Wifi Jealous

by Sebastien on Aug 27, 2009

I’ve been in the Midwest for the last 3 weeks, traveling around Illinois, Wisconsin, and Michigan with very few opportunities to get on wifi. Worse, most of the places I went to didn’t even have 3G coverage, forcing me to rely on the slow Edge, when available. I am currently in Chicago (for one last day before finally going back home to San Diego) where there is some very fast 3G coverage.

The first thing I did when arriving in Chicago was to enable tethering with this simple hack. It took about a minute to get it to work and to get my laptop going. It was the first time I actually tethered my iPhone 3GS and I have to admit that I am incredibly impressed with the speed.

I didn’t make any scientific test to see how fast it really is, but it seems to me that my wifi at home is not faster than that. Every once in a while there is a little downtime but nothing really annoying.

If you want to use your iPhone to get internet on your laptop (also known as tethering), I suggest you have a look at this hack.

 

Forget Fring, Use TruPhone

by Sebastien on Dec 11, 2008

Ok, don’t forget Fring yet as it is a pretty good “all-in-one” app. But if you are using Fring solely for the Skype calls feature, then you might want to give a try at TruPhone, a VoIP app that was the first of its kind to be approved in the App Store.

So, what’s so good about TruPhone? Well, I guess the best feature of this application is that it allows you to make VoIP calls from your iPhone to any phone in the world over wifi, and most importantly you can make calls even if you are not in a wifi zone. Now I have to admit this part is a bit shady. I had a look at Truohone’s website and I can’t figure out how this works exactly. It doesn’t say anything about 3G or Edge but it does say that you can make calls even if you don’t have an Internet connection. It’s confusing but it still sounds great!

Fring allows you to do pretty much the same (and actually more) but the problem with Fring is that the app doesn’t let you make VoIP calls over 3G or Edge, unless you implemented my Fring hack, of course… It seems that TruPhone is making this possible, without having to hack anything.

Let’s have a look at what TruPhone can do for you:

Cheap international calls

The Truphone iPhone app routes iPhone calls over the Internet which can save you loads of money on international calls from your home country and on calls when you’re abroad. You can look at the rates here. Calling a landline in my home country (France) is $0.06/minute but calling a cellphone there is $0.30/minute. All calls in the US are $0.06/minute.

Use Truphone Anywhere

If you’re not online Truphone Anywhere can still route your call over the internet. So now you can make cheap VoIP calls even when you’re not connected to a Wi-Fi network. How does that work? I’m not sure…

Free calls worldwide

Calls to other connected Truphone users are FREE, worldwide. So if you and your friends all download Truphone, you can call each other for FREE, wherever you are in the world!

Know who’s online

A new feature lets you know which of your Truphone contacts is online. It’s great news if you want to make FREE Wi-Fi to Wi-Fi calls on your iPhone because calls between connected users are always FREE Worldwide.

Receive calls for free

You can receive FREE Truphone calls whenever you’re connected to a Wi-Fi network.

iPod Touch users for once shouldn’t feel left aside. If you have a headset with a microphone you can also use this great app on your iTouch, which means that you can turn your iPod Touch into a phone!!!

Truphone is free and you may click here to download Truphone for iPhone or Truphone for iPod Touch.

One question still lingers in my mind though… Is AT&T ok with that?

 

Review: OrbLive

by Guest Author on Nov 18, 2008

This review of the OrbLive [iTunes link] iPhone app is at least two weeks in the making.  As soon as I saw OrbLive in the App Store, I knew it had to have it.  OrbLive streams pictures, video, music and documents over your cellular or Wifi network.  But, the REAL gem of the app is its ability to stream LIVE television!  But, I had a couple of hurdles to overcome:

  1. I did not have a cable television connection available for my computer.
  2. I did not have an MPEG-2 encoder that was compatible.

So, first I had to get a cable connection into my bedroom where my computer is.  I went to Radio Shack and spent $50 for a really good 4-way splitter (yes, we have a bunch of TVs in the house) and a really long cable.  That was the easy part.

Next, I went shopping for a new TV tuner card/MPEG-2 encoder.  I decided to play it safe and get hardware I knew for sure is compatible with Orb, the PC desktop software that streams media to your iPhone.  There was none in stock at the local stores, so I bought the WinTV-PVR USB2 off of eBay for $46.  It’s an external MPEG-2 encoder that can run more than $100.

After installing everything, I have to say that live streaming television iPhone through OrbLive is AWESOME!  The picture doesn’t looks as good as a digital copy of a movie on your iPod, but it’s quite good for streaming TV over 3G and Wi-Fi.

Here’s pictures I captured of live TV on my iPhone on 3G and Wi-Fi.  Can you guess which is 3G and Wi-Fi?:

For the record, the top is Wi-Fi and the bottom is 3G.  I have heard on message boards that the Wi-Fi picture used to look better but I cannot confirm that.  Using EDGE for live television is not good at all.

To use OrbLive on the go, just make sure that your desktop PC running Orb is on.  If you have an external encoder/tuner you need to make sure that is on as well.  As far as I know, Orb does not make software for the Mac.

So, the money I spent on a cable connection, MPEG-2 encoder and a $9.99 app came out to a little more than $100.  Was it worth it?  I’d have to say that it’s a resounding YES!  But, like the MasterCard commercials, being able to watch your favorite live program on your iPhone when you’re away from home is indeed PRICELESS.

 

Controlling Cool Electronic Stuff with your iPhone

by Guest Author on Nov 4, 2008

The new Sonos[iTunes Link] Controller for iPhone app has really got me thinking about all the cool things we are going to be able to do with the iPhone. I’ve compiled this list of things you can manipulate with your iPhone.

Controlling your Car

Delphi has come up with a really cool app that lets your lock and unlock your car, power automatic doors, and even remote start your car.  Although it is just a concept, it was demo’d at CES 2008 working with a GMC Acadia vehicle.  It works with a blue-tooth enabled key fob that can work from up to a mile a way. This software also allows users to monitor and control several aspect’s of a vehicle’s system, including temperature, tire pressure, gas levels, oil levels, and can detect break ins.

Controlling What You Watch on TV

I already wrote about controlling your DirecTV DVR to setup recordings, but you can also control Tivo interface.

Believe it or not, You Can Use Your iPhone to Fly an Aircraft

The clever folks at UC Berkeley have developed a system to issue commands to unmanned aerial vehicles using a device we all know and love: the iPhone.

While the iPhone is specifically restricted from piloting the drones themselves, the team uses Mobile Safari on the iPhone to enter coordinates and select tasks for its airborne fleet. A web server then relays the tasks to the aircraft mid-flight.

The video shows, in real time, an exercise where a remote-controlled airplane is instructed to photograph a particular area underneath it. The photo is then transmitted wirelessly back to a workstation at ground control.

Controlling Your Home

There have been several different home automation applications for the iPhone.  iPhone Home Controller lets an iPhone User set up a home automation scheme using x10 automation hardware and a Safari/iPhone/iTouch optimized web interface controller.  Crestons Home Automation iPhone Application elegantly enables wired home owners to control lighting, temperature and all sorts of other things via WiFi or 3G, at home or anywhere else in the world. Users can even program in settings for multiple houses, enabling them to turn the AC on in Orlando while blasting the heat in Jackson Hole. You can get the source code for a home grown X-10 iPhone app as well.

Controlling your Bathomatic Bubble Bath Tub

You can even regulate the bubbles in your whirlpool tub with an iPhone.  Now that is luxury.

Controlling a Radio Controlled Car

A guy having fun figured out how to use the iPhone to control his RC Car. He set up an interface and leveraged the accelerometer to steer it.

Controlling your Music At Home

Sonos is a wireless digital music player that plays digital music files from your PC or networked hard drive anywhere in the home. The Sonos Controller for iPhone™ is a free application that turns your iPhone (or iPod® touch) into a full-fledged Sonos Controller. I am really excited because I have been eyeing their system for years but didn’t want to spend the $900. Their new iPhone app will let me buy just the ZonePlayer Base and I can use our iPhones and iTouches to control it around the house.

Remote, the well known free Apple app that lets you control iTunes and pipe music throughout your house. I described how to do this here.

Controlling your Music Jam

There are iPhone Applications that use your iPhone / iTouch touch as new generation midi controller for your favorite audio DAW or VJ performance tool.  iTM MCU [iTunes Link] is the latest iTM release Mackie Control Emulation for your iPhone or iPod touch ITMMidi [iTunes Link]. ProRemote [iTunes Link] is a product that runs on the iPhone and iPod Touch that uses your existing wireless network to control professional audio products such as Digidesign’s ProTools and Apple’s Logic Music production systems.These apps free you up so that you can sit at your instrument and make changes to your setup without stopping and walking across the room every few minutes.

Control Your Computer

There are several apps that let you remotely control your home or work computer with your iPhone. Jaadu VNC [iTunes Link], formerly known as Touchpad Pro, lets you wirelessly control your PC or Mac through your iPhone or iPod Touch. You can use it to advance slides in a presentation, control your media center, check e-mail — whatever a regular touchpad and keyboard can do. It’s got various features that you really have to see to believe. With ScreenView, you can now see what’s happening on your screen and control your computer even if you’re miles away. Watch the video to learn more!  It is a bit pricey at $24.99 but a lot more expensive that one of these presentation remote controllers they sell in office supply shops.  Also available in the App Store are Mocha VNC, and Mocha VNC lite. If you’ve jailbroken your phone, you can use Cydia to get Veency, a very robust useful VNC application to reverse this, i.e., control and view your iPhone from your computer.

Controlling your Digital Picture Frames

Now that Wifi digital picture frames are becoming more available, I expect to see more of this, but right now I could only find one company that let you do this:  Control your digital picture frame with your iPhone. eStarling frames lets you use the application by SeeFrame [iTunes Link], to send photos from your iPhone to wifi connected picture frames.

 

How to get free wifi at AT&T’s HotSpots

by Sebastien on Oct 31, 2008

So it’s finally official: you can get free wifi at AT&T HotSpots, all over the US. Starbucks lovers rejoice. Now you have one more reason to spend hours in your favorite coffee shop (side note: I hate Starbucks). But if you thought you could just walk in and get on the wifi right away, well, think again.

In order to enjoy free wifi from AT&T, you will have to authenticate your connection. What does that mean? To understand better, let’s have a look at what AT&T says about how to get started:

  • Activate Wi-Fi from the settings icon on your iPhone
  • Select “attwifi” from the list of available networks
  • Enter your 10-digit mobile number and check the box to agree to the Acceptable Use Policy. Tap ‘continue’
  • You will receive a text message from AT&T with a secure link to the AT&T Wi-Fi hotspot. You will not be charged for the text message.
  • The SMS link will only be valid for 24 hours at the location it was requested. Another request must be submitted when using another hotspot location.
  • Open the text message and tap on the link for 24-hour access to the AT&T Wi-Fi hotspot

Basically, you have to “ask” to use their wifi and wait for a confirmation.

Now my question is: do you think there’s a way to “hack” this and enjoy free wifi on your laptop? Maybe PDAnet will work on such a feature. Think about it: you access free wifi on your iPhone, you connect your iPhone to your laptop and BAM, you get free wifi on your laptop, using your iPhone as a modem.

I’m sure there has to be a way. If you’re aware of any hack, let us know in the comments.

 

WiFinder Sets You FREE

by Guest Author on Oct 15, 2008

I know that WiFinder [Itunes Link] has been out for a few months and we have discussed it here before,  but a new version recently came out and I thought it was time to discuss this amazingly simple but quite useful app again.

I have been using Wifinder (by Lars Bergstrom) for about a month now. It was only .99 cents, and I have to say it is one of my most useful apps.

I have been traveling a lot lately and due to signal issue, I have had to frequently look around to find an available wifi signal. This was especially true when I went to Canada. This time because I didn’t want to pay the enormous cost of Data Roaming so I had to find wifi if I wanted to use my phone’s Internet connection.

When I can find an AT&T hotspot, I’m all set, but what do you do when there isn’t one available and you can’t use your data connection.

Internet skunking (the act of stealing some time on someone’s open wifi network) isn’t actually legal, but who does it hurt if you are only going to use if for a few minutes to check your mail or lookup something in Google?

Finding those “open” signals when you are traveling can be hard, especially when you are in a populated area.  In some parts of NYC, you can see hundreds of wifi signals, but most of them locked. The ones that aren’t locked, usually require a login on a web page the first time you access the connection.

You know the drill.  You find an available network and when you try to use it, you get shunted to login web page where they want you to either pay or promise your first born child.

But also out there are those wonderful individuals who just plugged in their wifi hub and didn’t set up any authentication and those kind hearted individuals, who, out of the goodness of their hearts, created a guest login.

WiFinder lets you quickly find and identify those that are not only not using authentication but don’t try to force you to login to a network page as well.  For those of you who don’t know, Wifinder locates Wifi signals, and it sends a quick html post message to each connection to see if they are really available.  It shows a green check icon next to the Wifi networks that are not restricted by either an authorization requirement Or a web login requirement.

When I was in Halifax getting ready to set sail on a fishing trip, I needed to quickly find the phone number of the boat owner. At the time I didn’t have WiFinder and, using just the built in Network Browser, it looked like there was 20 free Wifi Connections.  I had to systematically try each one, (connect to the network, open safari, try to browse to Google).  Out of the 20 available networks only 2 were really Open. WiFinder would have identified the two in a matter of seconds.

That was it for the functionality of the first version, but the newest version, you can actually get information about the network and use Wifinder to establish a connection to it, without having to back out of it and select it again in the Network Settings.

This latest version also lets you set a time for automatically rescanning intervals and lets you setup an alert to let you know when a new network is found. Cool feature when you can’t find a free one right away, but want to be notified without having to check every few minutes as you move around town.

 

Apple and Starbucks – Honeymoon Over?

by Guest Author on Oct 5, 2008

Something is going on between Apple and Starbucks. For a while, it seemed that they seemed to be getting closer, but now I think there might be trouble in paradise.

The Starbucks Icon in the iTunes WIFI store seems to be broken. For those of you who haven’t tried this feature, you get an extra Starbucks icon in iTunes whenever you are in a participating Starbucks.  When I first got my iPhone, I went to a Starbucks and tried it out.  The Starbucks page showed me the name of the Currently Playing song, a history of the last songs played, and links to find out more about the Song and Artists, and links to buy these songs in the iTunes WIFI store.

Users are reporting in many support forums and discussions that instead of seeing the Now Playing Starbucks screen when they touch the Starbucks Icon in iTunes WIFI Store, they see a never ending “Loading…” Screen.

Apple not only seems to be ignoring these threads, they seem to even be trying to remove Starbucks References on their Web pages. Even the links to the Starbucks agreement on Apple.com are no longer there (www.apple.com/itunes/starbucks) and reroute you here instead. A search on “Starbucks” on the Apple site shows you the preferred link to iTunes WIFI store, but takes you back to the same place as before. In fact if say “View All Search Results” after searching on the Apple page, all four top links take your right back to the same place. It’s as if they had removed references to Starbucks from everywhere but their support forum.

And there are lot of links there. All where people are saying that instead of getting a Starbucks page in the iTunes Store, their iPhone is just showing a screen with the word “Loading…” that goes on and on.

There are many other forums out there with people talking about this problem.  So far, I haven’t seen a published work-around or response from Apple.

After my first upgrade to 2.0.1, it stopped working. Each time I go into Starbucks now the endless “Loading…” screen.   Every 30 seconds or so I see a flash of the screen that is supposed to be showing, but it quickly goes right back to “Loading…” again.

I have been trying to pin point the issue. I have read that the older iTouch’s don’t seem to have this problem, but I have tested on both the iPhone 3G and the iTouch 2G and they both have the same issue.

Talking to support on both sides of this is getting me nowhere. Support on both sides of this issue don’t seem to be aware of the feature, never mind the problem. I talked to the Manager at the local Starbucks and they had no idea that the feature was even available. They had a “guy” that they used to fix their network problems, but he only came in when they called him. They seemed to think it was a non-issue and I could tell fixing this wasn’t there first priority.   So I called the Starbucks customer support and they said that it was an iPhone issue, not a Starbucks issue. They said they would talk to the local manager of my Starbucks and have them see what they could do. The follow up phone call I was promised never happened.

So then I tried calling Apple support.  At first, they too were confused about the feature even existing.  After explaining it to the Customer Support rep, they switched me to the iTunes Support group. This person said that it was a known problem and had to do with the way the network was configured at the Starbucks.  They sent me some links and encouraged me to go back to the Starbucks and get the Network Administrator to call Apple. I printed out the links (which really said nothing much) and tried again with the Starbucks. No Joy! This was about two weeks ago and it still is saying “Loading” each time I go.

Anyone else have any experiences to report on this? Please let us hear about it.

 

Creating an iPhone-Controlled Wireless Home Audio System

by Guest Author on Oct 3, 2008

I am a bit of an audio geek and I have been longingly looking at the multi-room music systems for years. They have really started to get a lot cheaper lately but the price for most systems still start at $1,000.00.  It is hard to convince my spouse that the idea of having a central music server and music piped into other rooms is $1,000 cool. So when I got the Remote [iTunes link] Application for my iPhone, i started to think about what I could do for a lot less money. Remote lets you control your iTunes library using wifi anywhere in your house.

We had already encoded all our music into MP3 and placed it on a central computer in our kitchen.  We installed some really great speakers there, but what happens if we want to listen in the bedroom or living room? We could run speaker wires throughout the house, but we have an older house and it is expensive and/or unsightly to run speaker wires throughout the house.  Also if we did have speakers wired in, we would need a multi-room receiver and we would still have to run back to the kitchen to change the song or pick another playlist.

I had looked in the Apple Store at Airport Express recently and read about how you could use it to create “wireless” speakers and noticed in my iTunes settings dialog box,  the ability to send music to these “Airtunes” speakers. After purchasing a refurbished Airport Express from Apple Store, and a few hours fiddling with them, I came up with a pretty nice and cheap solution.

I used Airport Express and a pair of old but cute PC speakers to create a remote speaker set. I bought and installed Remote on my iPhone, configured it and now I am able to control my iTunes, sitting right next to the remote speakers.

It works pretty great so I thought I could share with you what worked for me. These instructions will let you broadcast music in iTunes. You can use Airfoil to broadcast music from other music players to your Airtunes Speakers.

What you you’ll need to get started:

  • Apple Airport Express
  • Airport Express Stereo connection kit (or a Monster mini-to-RCA left/right audio cable or  Monster mini-to-optical digital Toslink audio cable
  • A Mac or PC with wireless connectivity (Mac with AirPort or AirPort Extreme wireless capability – PC with 802.11a, 802.11b, or 802.11g card)
  • Powered speakers (computer speakers work great!) or a local amplifier and non-powered speakers.
  • iPhone or iTouch with Remote [iTunes link] application installed.

Getting started:

  1. Plug in the airport express wherever you want to place your remote speakers.
  2. Install the Airport Utility application on your Mac or PC.  You can either download it at this link or use the accompanying CD to install it.
  3. Use the Airport Utility to scan for the Airport Express Hub.
  4. When it is located, click Continue to set it up. The Utility will read the configuration information and prompt you for a name and password. Name it something that will instantly let you know which speakers you are turning on and off. For example, “Downstair speakers” or “Kitchen Speakers” works well.  Click Continue.
  5. Use this guide to continue making choices as you set up the Airport Express. The easiest path is to just add it to an existing wifi network, but if you don’t have one you can set up one between your pc/mac and the Airport Express.  When done, the airport Express lcd light should be a solid green.
  6. Plug in your speakers and then using either the Airport Express Stereo Connection Kit or individual connectors you can purchase at Radio Shack, connect the Airport Express to your speakers.
  7. Repeat steps 1 through 6 for each airport Express you want to install (ie for each set of speakers you want).
  8. Test that you can broadcast to your remote speakers from iTunes.
  9. Go to iTunes and purchase Remote application. Follow these steps to set it up and connect it iTunes on your PC or Mac.
  10. Launch Remote on your iPhones. Using Remote Settings, turn on the speakers you want to control.
  11. Sit back on your couch and pick playlists and songs to play.
 

Fring is out! Officially

by Sebastien on Oct 3, 2008

A few months ago I talked about Fring on my personal blog. At the time, this app was just being released for jailbroken iPhones. Six months and 3 firmware upgrades later, Fring made its way to the App Store.

What is Fring?

Fring is a mobile internet service & community that enables you to access & interact with your social networks on-the-go, including make free calls, live chat and seeing your contacts online presence with all your fring, Skype, MSN Messenger, Google Talk, ICQ, SIP, Twitter, Yahoo! and AIM friends using your iPhone’s Internet connection rather than costly cellular airtime minutes.

So far, Fring is the only VoIP app available in the App Store, along with Truphone, althought other similar apps are coming soon.

I haven’t tried Fring yet but expect a review from us within the next few days. In the meanwhile, if you try it, please let us know what you think by leaving a comment.

 

iPhone Tunnel Suite 2.5

by Sebastien on Sep 1, 2008

[digg-me]Wanna SSH into your iPhone but don’t have wifi. Well, rejoice because thanks to th enew iPhone Tunnel Suite 2.5, you’re now gonna be able to just that, with the help of a USB cable.

The iPhone Tunnel Suite supports tethering and all other SSH possibilities via USB cable.

The Version 2.5 is currently in an closed beta-test but will be released in a few days.

Supposedly, you’re gonna be able to use your iPhone as a 3G/EDGE modem and a WIFI antenna.

You will be able to sftp on the iPhone, share internet connection from the iPhone or use the iPod Touch as a wifi antenna via usb cable. You’ll also be able to use terminal via usb cable.

Check out this video. I will let you know when it comes out to public.


iPhone Tunnel Suite 2.5 Beta from ben miller on Vimeo.

 
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