A new rumor running around is that Cydia will get a rating system soon. For those of you who don't know, Cydia is the jailbreak version of the iPhone App Store. I personally spend more time on Cydia than I do on the App Store...
Saurik, Dev Team member and creator of Cydia actually confirmed today that an upcoming version of Cydia will give users the ability to rate applications. It is a great feature that I have been waiting for for a while.
If like me you're a kid of the 80's, you probably had a Nintendo GameBoy at some point. I remember begging my Mom to get what at the time was the best portable gaming device. That was before Sega showed up with its Game Gear. Anyways.
There is a theme available in Cydia that replicates the look of the GameBoy screen; you know this greenish and pixelized screen. I couldn't resist so I downloaded this theme and activated it with WinterBoard.
This theme you see below is called iGameBoy Buttons. There is another version called iGameBoy Fullscreen, which is the same except it doens't show the control pad.
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 hotspotBasically, 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.
BigBoss wrote a post tonight about 2 questions he's often asked:
How do I recover the Poof icon if I hid it? How do I recover my missing icons after restoring my iPhone?Here are the solutions that BigBoss recommends
If you have Cydia, install Quickgold and Poof to unhide the iconsInstall SBSettings and unhide any apps that are hidden
Launch the Settings app and disable/reenable restrictions. Doing this should unhide all the hidden apps
If Cydia is hidden, you can use Apt-get and install Quickgold from the SSH prompt
Worst case scenario, if nothing works, you can use iPhoneBrowser and delete the files located at /var/mobile/Library/Preferences/com.apple.SpringBoard.plist and the reboot your phone
Full credit goes to BigBoss. This post was highly inspired from his recent post.
There is a new app available in Cydia called FlowDock and like its name suggests, it brings coverflow style to your dock icons. It looks pretty nice but there are a few restrictions. First you need to have 5 apps in your dock. And second, these apps have to be Safari, mail, phone, iPod, and SMS. Once downloaded from Cydia, you need to activate it in WinterBoard.
Here is a picture, compliment of iSpazio. If you installed FlowDock, tell us what you think about this app in the comments.
This is your daily fix of iPhone news, all in one place. Since we don't have time to blog about it, it doesn't mean we should tell you about it... Click the links to read the full stories.
Review: OtterBox Defender for iPhone 3G
Overall for protection of the iPhone 3G you’re going to be hard pressed to find a case that looks as good at the Defender and protects as well as the Defender. I don’t know if I’d recommend it for daily use (unless you’re a careless or somewhat clumsy person) but if you find yourself on construction sites, camping areas, or some other area where the risk to your iPhone is fairly high - you simply can’t go wrong with this case.
Safari Bookbag - Your Library on Your iPhone
Safari Books Online has announced Safari Bookbag, a free App for the iPhone that allows you access to downloading chapters or full books in PDF format from your Safari Books Online library. Users of the Safari Books Online service can sync their iPhone with the “My Downloads” library from their Safari account. Once downloaded onto your iPhone you tap the title of the book to open it. Books can be downloaded to your iPhone whenever an internet connection is present. They will be stored in and available within the Bookbag App.
The Next Steps to Accelerate the Tectonic Shift in Mobile, Part 1
Is the iPhone the answer to all prayers and complaints in the mobile startup world? No, it is not. One phone alone cannot deliver that. But it is the kickoff to a tectonic shift. Away from an industry structure based on structural and size advantages to an industry structure driven by innovation, consumer choice and software developers. To date, the players owning the customer billing relationship and the infrastructure have been favored (carriers/operators). The iPhone AppStore and its ease of web browsing kick off the shift to an industry structure that unbundles billing and infrastructure from the services running on top of those.
John McCain Finally Gets His Own iPhone App
Sure, Obama may have had his official iPhone app out a while ago, allowing supporters to easily make calls on his behalf and do all sorts of other things, but don't think there isn't a John McCain app out there as well.
AT&T announces free Wi-Fi access for iPhone users (again)
After several false starts, AT&T on Wednesday began sending SMS messages to iPhone owners announcing that they can now access free of charge the carrier's nation-leading Wi-Fi network of more than 17,000 hotspots.
First look: 'Classics' aims to kindle iPhone reading surge
E-books are just beginning to gain traction with consumers today, a phenomenon that seemed to start quietly with offerings from Sony, then taking another large step with Amazon's Kindle. However, the iPhone -- a device not meant for dedicated reading -- is increasingly turning people on to digital reading.
LockDockBar is an application that displays 4 icons on your locked screen: SMS, Calls, Emails, Calendar. The app displays the notification badges for each app so if for example you have a new email, you will see this notification next to the email icon. From there, instead of unlocking the phone and launching the mail app, you simply tap the mail icon from your lock screen and it takes you there directly.
I think it is a great and free alternative to Intelliscreen, and it works perfectly with Status Notifier.
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.
The Dev Team posted a video over the weekend showing off their progress on the still expected 3G unlock. Although all of this stuff in the video doesn't mean much to me, the geek in you might love it!
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.
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 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