Month: September 2008

Tap To Unlock slider replacement

Sébastien Page ∙ September 28, 2008

I really like the User Interface of the iPhone. It is very simple, intuitive, in other words, it is very user friendly. When I first got my iPhone over a year ago, simple things about the UI were amazing me. One of them was the "slide to unlock" feature. How cool is that that you can access the springboard by the slide of a finger!

Quickly, this "slide to unlock" thing started to annoy me for one single reason: it didn't work all the time. Well, it actually works all the time but sometimes my finger doesn't starts sliding where it should, forcing me to repeat the gesture to get it to work.

I had a good surprise a couple days ago while browsing the apps available in Cydia. I cam across this "Tap To Unlock" application that works with Winterboard. I Installed it and it works great. Now instead of sliding my finger across the screen, I can access the springboard by just taping it.

Tether your iPhone with PDAnet

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated November 15, 2017

[digg-me]According to PhoneScoop, "tethering is connecting your phone to a laptop or similar data device using a data cable, usually for the purpose of connecting to the Internet on the laptop, via the phone's wireless connection to the cell phone network. Carriers usually charge more money for accessing the Internet via tethering, as opposed to on the phone itself. Sometimes this is enforced via technology in the phone, although often it is simply the honor system and not strictly enforced".

In our case, AT&T clearly doesn't want you to tether your iPhone. Strangely, they don't even have such a plan you could subscribe to in order to use your iPhone as a modem. So to make it clear, tethering your iPhone is against AT&T Terms Of Services.

Quick interview of Jeff Smith, CEO and cofounder of Smule

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated October 9, 2018

Smule? That rings a bell? I posted about their Sonic Lighter application last week and added a cool video that shows you Sonic Lighter in action. At the time, I said I wouldn't spend $.99 in their application. After asking a few questions to Smule's CEO Jeff Smith, I still wouldn't put a dime in this app, but at least now I understand what's cool about it. Oh yeah, it's a pretty cool app...

How do you use Sonic Lighter?

It's pretty simple. To ignite, strike the flints or get a light from another phone nearby. Tilt/touch to play with the flame. Blow the base of the phone to extinguish the flame, or blow gently to simply make the flame dance. Double-tap a burning flame to see a real-time view of the World and who has ignited.

Why did you develop this application?

We developed the application with a few purposes in mind.

First, we saw an opportunity to build a new network, a network based on physical relationship Vs virtual relationships. It's not that we dislike Facebook. It's just that we're skeptical of whether someone really has 1,000 friends. In the end, we value human contact, and our network is very human. If you look on our site, you can see where people all over the world are igniting their flames. And so we feel more human connecting to these people. Moreover, you'll see new versions of the Sonic Lighter product that allow you to track your own network, but these are people you met directly (not virtually) and offered a light.

Second, we think that the iPhone is an ideal platform for audio, and yet virtually all of the audio today on the iPhone is static. We've developed a new audio platform, Chip, based on the Chuck audio language that came out of our co-founder, Dr. Ge Wang's research at Princeton. It is on top of this audio platform that we have constructed the Sonic Modem (allowing in the Sonic Lighter ignitions across phones), real-time synthesized sounds that interact directly with your gestures, as well as our new wind model (the ability to detect wind against a mic so you can blow out a flame, for example).

We are just getting started here, and you should expect some unique and expressive application content from us, allowing people to connect with one another in new ways.

Finally, we are simply curious. We want to explore what is possible on this amazing new platform. Never before have we seen multi-touch, GPS, crisp processing, a GPU for high quality graphics, tilt, and real-time audio in the palm of your hand. This iPhone platform, for all the hype, is frankly more profound than we even contemplate now.

There seems to be 1,000 lighter applications in the App Store, why would I pay for Sonic Lighter when I can have another lighter app for free? And what does make Sonic Lighter different from other lighter apps available in the app store?

Well, apparently people are. We've been a top-5 application in France, Belgium, Japan, Italy, Denmark, etc. Our position in the U.S store, in spite of the 'alternatives', seems to continue to grow. Moreover, if you look at the current ignition map (in the product on our web site), you see actual real-time data on ignitions around the world. I noticed an ignition yesterday in the arctic circle. We checked the data base and confirmed, in fact, we saw three ignitions from this location. An offshore oil platform or cruise-ship was our guess. We've already seen over 18K ignitions in the past 24 hours across the globe.

But to your question, our product is not really a lighter. Yes, you ignite a flame, interact with it by touching, pinch it to expand or contract it, tilt it to fry the side of your phone. But, uniquely and through our audio engine, you can blow out the flame with wind. And you can ignite a lighter on another phone over our Sonic Modem. Moreover, through your ignitions on your phone and others, you can join the new Sonic Network, now graphically displayed on our globe.

What's next for Smule? Any app development?

You'll see three new applications from Smule in the next three weeks. Stay tuned.

Anything relevant about you that might interest my readers?

Yes. I'm pursuing a Phd in computer music at Stanford. Our co-founder and CTO, Ge Wang, is an assistant professor of computer music at Stanford and the author of Chuck, the leading audio programming platform. Ge recently created the Stanford Laptop Orchestra. And if you have time, I'd encourage you to chat with or even meet Dr. Wang. He really has passion for the new world of audio on the iPhone.

Apple loosens their grip on China

Guest Author ∙ September 26, 2008

I just read about Apple's new change in China, they are now offering unlocked phones there. The prices look like this:

HK$5,500 (≈ US$700) = 8GB model

HK$6,200 (≈ US$800) = 16GB

Who knows what the grey market might start selling now :) Have a nice autumn break for those of you who can still enjoy it.

News from the DevTeam

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated January 29, 2016

How much do you love the DevTeam? These guys are working day and night so you don't have to rely on Apple to provide you with great iPhone applications. I believe I use more jailbroken applications than I actually use "Apple approved" apps. All this thanks to the DevTeam.

Today, the DevTeam updated us on the status of their work.

While we continue working on the two current remaining challenges from Apple (the iPhone 3G soft unlock and iPod Touch 2G jailbreak…see the end of this post), we’re also watching the latest beta releases from Apple.

The first beta 2.2 from Apple reveals a few things:

They’re continuing with their ski-resort theme; Version 2.2 is nicknamed TImberline. They’ve gone back to using expiry dates. The first 2.2 beta is due to expire on November 30, 2008. They stopped using expiry dates about halfway through the 2.1 betas, but for some reason they’ve started using them again. Version 2.2 is still vulnerable to pwnage and quickpwn on everything but iPod Touch 2G.

To demonstrate point #3, here’s the non-AppStore application Terminal.app running on 2.2, showing the kernel build information.

Hardware already vulnerable to pwnage remains vulnerable in version 2.2.

Regarding the two current challenges: the 3G iPhone soft unlock and iPod Touch 2G jailbreak are still relatively new challenges (compare them with the timeframe of the iPhone challenges last year). We’re making slow advances on both fronts, but it’s not the sort of thing that can be easily described in a blog like this.

But, to maybe show how interlinked these challenges are, this weekend we’ll be trying some hardware based ideas on the iPod Touch 2G jailbreak :)

As you can read, they are still working of this long-awaited iPhone 3G unlock. I am a "legit" AT&T customer so I don't care much about the unlock for myself, but I can't wait for them succeed as it will help thousands, if not more.

Keep up the good job DevTeam.

Have you seen me before?

Guest Author ∙ September 25, 2008

Hi everyone reading this blog. My name is Daniel Grini Brenden and i live in Norway. The blog owner, Sebastien was kind enough to let me inside his blog. I'll start by introducing myself in this post. If you've ever seen the aliases SpecialForce, SpecialStyrke then you have probably crossed my path. It would be fun to hav a comment or two if it has happend. I'm also availbale at http://digg.com/users/SpecialStyrke for those of you that share some of my computer passion. For now i have an iPhone 2G running firmware 2.1 with a little help from QuickPwn. if any novices need help with that i'm availbale, just write to me in the comments.

When it comes to why i want to write here is a good question. It's a very good way to let future job hirers see that i can manage writing well as i am for now only 15 and wish to educate myself in to an Internet, communications and technology administrator. So i have much time left before i achieve my goal. Anyways i''ll try to guide both novice and advanced users into the dangerous iphone hacking jungle in no time so you wont need to find news yourself.

Stay Tuned Everyone!

Signed Daniel Brenden

26 reasons why the iPhone sucks

Sébastien Page ∙ September 25, 2008

I came across this funny post on BoingBoing; basically it's a top 10 of the top 10 iPhone flaws. I figured I'd spin this post and make a larger list of everything that sucks about the iPhone. Hey, don't worry, I still love my iPhone!

List is made in no special order.

Web apps cannot download, upload or store data Web pages cannot be saved for offline viewing Cannot browse iPhone's folders by any means No Flash No Java Weak speaker Two-year commitment required with carrier Carrier-locked No hardware keyboard No voice dialling No Bluetooth stereo Does not operate in landscape mode in all applications Delay for new voicemail notification No full-screen view in browser; large button strip always present Crap camera No Cut and Paste Stocks sucks Notes sucks Can't replace battery No MMS Crap GPS Terrible battery life No webcam Adding contacts is annoying No TV No tethering allowed

Do you have anything to add to this list?

Want to write for iPhone Download Blog? I’m hiring!

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated February 5, 2016

As some of you may already know, I am searching for high quality writers to help me around at iPhone Download Blog. Duties will obviously include blogging about the iPhone, reviewing apps, posting news, talking about iPhone events, and giving tips on how to get the most off the iPhone. If you know about the iPhone and can spend a few minutes everyday writing good posts about your favorite device, you're the man/girl I am looking for!

DISCLAIMER: THIS IS NOT A JOB OFFER

Qualifications to join me:

You have to be very knowledgeable about the iPhone - you must know your way around the phone like no one else. You should be able to jailbreak and/or unlock your iPhone and talk about it. You must wish you were an iPhone - no, this is a bad joke. You must know about WordPress - if you don't, go to wordpress.com and sign up for a free account and play around for a bit. You'll see it's super easy to use. You must be willing to work for free - yes, you heard me! I am not making money from this blog (except for the $10/month I make from Google Ads = pathetic!). You will most likely write a few posts everyday and you will gain recognition from that, but that's it. If companies offer you products to review, you may keep the product. You must be original! I am not looking for reporters; I am looking for bloggers = people who can talk shit about Apple if they feel like it. I want someone who will write with his/her guts, not just copy/paste a post from another iPhone-related blog. You must provide me a couple example of your iPhone writing skills.

The iPhone Download Blog is growing fast! I get about 2,500 8,000 visits per day. It's still not quite the traffic TechCrunch gets, but we're getting there ;-) Seriously, we get more and more traffic everyday and we need to satisfy our readers.

I am an equal opportunity blogger; so whether you're rich, poor, black, red, green, if you have a penis AND a vagina (I think that's weird but whatever, that's cool with me), if you hate Steve Jobs as much as I do, if you vote McCain or Obama, or if you're none of the above and still want to write about the iPhone, hit me up.

Thanks!

Sebastien

UPDATE: Alicia and Cody joined me. It's now 3 of us to blog here about the iPhone. The more the merrier... Come join us!

Engadget’s clear message to Apple

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated January 23, 2016

What a great column Engadget editor-at-large Ryan Block wrote today about Apple's overshitty way of treating developers (and indirectly users). The column is spot on. Obviously, I don't expect Apple to reply directly. You know what? I don't even expect Apple to change anything at all. The only thing I expect is the fall of Apple's supremacy in the new-generation-mobile-device-business(aka Android is coming!!!).

The full column can be read here but I wanted to give you a little test of it.

So it seems to me, you have two possible courses of action to clean up this mess, Apple: one, the bare minimum of courtesy and respect for its developers, and the other, full-on-righteous. If absolutely nothing else, you need to post some very clear, very easily interpreted guidelines as to what will and will not fly in the App Store. No more mystery, no more concern as to whether the investment associated with developing a program will be for naught if some faceless App Store approval technician semi-arbitrarily decides to hit reject. Just lay it out for all to bear and follow. Sure, there will be a lot of hating going on when Apple says in explicit terms that Mozilla has zero hope of ever getting Firefox on the iPhone, but at least the crippling uncertainty is removed from the equation. You shouldn't have to be one of the hallowed few approved by the iFund to be certain before you start work on your app that it will be approved.

Now, if you want to do the right thing -- the thing that may ultimately keep you out of some grumpy developer's class-action lawsuit, the thing that will take away Android's biggest consumer appeal right now -- you'll will simply stop filtering apps based on content, and only look for the kind of code Steve specifically promised to protect users against in the first place: grossly buggy and broken, malicious, or otherwise evil. I'm not exactly convinced of the latter's likelihood, but closed market or open, at a certain point this whole thing becomes about consistency and reliability, and right now you've got neither to wave in your defense, Apple.

In the meantime, groups like the iPhone Dev Team will continue to carry the torch for jailbreaking, hacking, and unauthorized app development. Hell, jailbroken development will even likely gain steam as increasing numbers of users can't find enough apps of any real utility on the official App Store. Even big companies like Sling Media have taken to working around the walled-garden. So here's to doing good by all the good people willing to invest in your platform, and to the simple kind of change that Apple, as a company, can make today if only you think a little harder about tomorrow -- and everyone living in it with an iPhone or iPod touch.

Great job, Ryan!

Installer 4.0b8 is out

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated July 24, 2016

The new Installer 4.0b8 is out in the wild! The RIP Dev Team had been working for a while but it's now here and available for your iPhone or iPod Touch. To update, simply open Installer and it will automatically prompt you to update. How convenient!

This Installer 4.0b8 is about new features and a few bug fixes. Most importantly, the RIP Dev people are sying that they are going to release Installer 4 soon. Can't wait for it but I can't help wondering what will happen to Cydia? Who of the 2 will survive?

From the RIP Dev Team:

Installer 4.0b8 is out (it's been ready for a while and even included in the last PwnageTool but we were holding off to releasing it publically). Among notable features is the switch to libcurl from the stock Foundation URL loading classes, which means more lightweight CPU and memory footprint and, more importantly, resumable file transfers. The new beta also features a plethora of little fixes which we won't extensively list here. Enjoy. We'll be pushing out a 4.0 release soonish...

The featured page you see when you launch Installer is actually automatically generated based on the popularity of the packages (based on the number of installations across the board), so it's nothing like the "old" featured page that listed a set of pre-defined products. It will eventually have some "sponsored" products, but they will be easily distinguishable visually and we'll try to keep the amount of these to the minimum - no more than 3.

Community Sources are updated as well to reflect the change in the modmyi.com domain name and to remove some outdated sources that shown promise but actually never delivered anything.

Kate update been out for a while, and we're finally at adding new features to it - so look for a non-bugfix release in the near future.

iPhone News Roundup for 9/24/08

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated March 18, 2019

This is your fix of iPhone News in just one place so you don't have to visit 68 websites to be updated on what's going on in the iPhone world.

RingtoneFeeder Plus offers ringtone archive access

RingtoneFeeder has announced that it will now offer access to its iPhone ringtone archive. The new service requires an existing annual subscription, and carries an activation fee of $10, which grants full access to all ringtones released by the company. Subscribers receive four ringtones every week: one vocal and one instrumental, plus alternates for each that include an embedded ringing sound. [via MacNN]

Stone of Destiny; hidden-object gaming for iPhone

Voodoo Dimention has released an iPhone and iPod touch port of it's hidden-object game, The Stone of Destiny. In the game, players must use only a map, a book and a list of objects to uncover the mystery behind the disappearance of their uncle. The Stone of Destiny takes players around the world searching for artifacts and magical runes that may reveal clues about their uncles whereabouts. [via iPodNN]

Circulating Trojan file targets iPhone followers

A Trojan attack in circulation is exploiting interest in the iPhone, say researchers with Panda Security. The company identifies the malware as Banker.LKCTrojan, an app which masquerades as a video of the iPhone. The associated file -- named "VideoPhone[1]_exe" -- specifically operates through a technique called pharming, in which DNS information is sabotaged to redirect a person to a malicious website. [via MacNN]

AT&T publishes pro-iPhone, anti-Storm sales guide

A alleged AT&T sales guide, leaked to the public, suggests concern by the carrier over Research in Motion's latest BlackBerry phone. The guide is said to be a memo circulating inside of AT&T, trumpeting the benefits of the iPhone 3G over the BlackBerry Storm, which AT&T claims will ship through Verizon sometime in October or November. The guide states that the Storm will lack Apple's proprietary multi-touch technology, as well as Wi-Fi and tri-band HSDPA, the latter allowing 3G data in more areas outside of North America. [via Electronista]

Edibles 1.3 adds enhanced food tracking options

Random Ideas has announced a new update to its food journaling application for the iPhone and iPod touch. Edibles allows users to track values important to observing a diet regimen, such as calories, carbohydrates and WeightWatchers points. Users are also capable of setting a "budget" for a value they are tracking, and then follow weekly and daily allowances based on this figure. [via iPodNN]

Stanford students writing iPhone apps

Back in July, we reported on an iPhone programming course being developed and offered by Stanford University. The course is in full swing this fall, with a reported 80 students signed up. Stanford has also started a project that is beginning to bear fruit in the form of iPhone and iPod touch apps -- the Stanford iApps Project. [via TUAW]

Cydia Installer Update

This update fixes several bugs related to the crash, the error “Bad Url” certain sources and the display of custom html pages. Adding new sections that combine the best packages and included several new icons and small badges that identify applications that change the system (daemon, exstension, uikit, library, console). [via iSpazio]

BBC brings radio to iPlayer for iPhone/iPod touch

The UK's official broadcaster, the BBC, has announced expanded support for the iPhone/iPod touch version of its iPlayer service. As of today the software now supports radio, allowing users to listen to episodes from a variety of programs up to seven days after the original airdate. [via iPodNN]

iPhone Developer University Program

The iPhone Developer University Program is a free program designed for higher education institutions looking to introduce curriculum for developing iPhone or iPod touch applications. The University Program provides a wealth of development resources, sophisticated tools for testing and debugging, and the ability to share applications within the same development team. Institutions can also submit applications for distribution in the App Store. [via Apple]

Review: X-Plane 9

X-Plane 9 for iPhone / iPod touch isn't for everyone. If you're looking for a high-action game, look elsewhere. But if you are a fan of flight simulation software and would like to have the opportunity to "fly" anywhere you happen to be, X-Plane 9 is definitely worth the US$9.99 price tag. Austin Meyer has a reputation for constantly improving X-Plane 9 for Mac, so I'm confident that we'll see significant upgrades and bug fixes in the very near future. [via TUAW]

Summizer, Twitter trends on your iPhone

Summizer (iTunes link) is an app for following trends on Twitter. Similar to a few web apps, it searches Twitter for keywords and allows you to save searches to watch for updates. It's small, simple and elegant. Use it to find out who's talking about what, or even who's talking about you. If you've ever used Twitter's tracking feature (currently disabled), you already know how this works.

[via TUAW]

Review: Fizz Weather

Fizz Weather is a good general weather app that gives you the basics. If you like the Weather Channel forecasts and maps, you will probably like Fizz Weather, even if the forecasts are a little terse. If you need to know more than "Sunny. Mild.", you’ll likely be happier with another solution. If you need, want, or rely on local radar, this is also not the app for you. [via JAIB]

Apple, AT&T hit with another iPhone lawsuit

Another lawsuit against Apple and AT&T is hitting the courts, with New York resident Jai Sen crying foul over both companies' advertising of the iPhone 3G, software problems, and cracks in the device's chassis. The lawsuit comes through the US District Court for the Eastern district of New York, and encompasses a class-action perspective, with other plaintiffs simply referred to as "others similarly situated." [via Macnn]

Apple blocks direct iPhone app distribution

Sébastien Page ∙ September 23, 2008

Apple is not your friend. If Apple were an ice cream flavor, he'd be Pralines and Dick!

Earlier today I posted how Apple is trying to make developer's life a little hearder, one NDA at a time and Apple is making the news, again, about it's very unfriendly way of doing business.

Back story: developers rejected from the App Store found a way to legally distribute their applications, without having to put them on the App Store. Apple previously allowed developers to distribute apps directly to users by binding the software to the serial number of their iPhone. This was usually used by companies who created applications for their staff and didn't want to put the app for sale on the App Store.

Today, Apple decided to block developers from distributing their app other than through iTunes by removing the developer’s ability to deploy software onto client's devices. While it is ok to now allow an app in the App Store, it's very shitty to block the developer from selling the app through other venues.

From PhoneNews.com

This puts Apple in a dangerous legal position. Before today, Apple had rights to assert that the App Store was only one sales channel, which they had every right to control. Now Apple is asserting rights to control any and all sales channels of software to iPhone and iPod touch owners. Apple appears to be betting on the legal precedent of time; it would take years, and hundreds of thousands of dollars, to challenge such an anti-competitive business practice.

Apple now joins the ranks of BREW carriers as imposing a fully walled garden. The “walled garden” refers to an ecosystem where one company or group has complete control over what software can be run on a user’s device. A groundswell of legal and consumer opposition to walled gardens prompted Verizon (the largest BREW carrier in America) to announce late last year that it would no longer prohibit any valid application from their store.

Come on Apple, give us a break! Stop being so evil and greedy! The release of Android's App Market (which is pretty much a "no-rule market" could change the way Apple is acting right now.

As an end user, I do not want anyone to disctate what applications are good or bad for me. This is the behaviour o fa dictatorship. I am not an Apple fan. I actually hate Apple (although I love my iPhone), and that is a perfect example of why I hate Apple so much.