iPhone 3G Unlock Problems? Try v0.9.4

Yellowsn0w, the illustrious iPhone 3G unlocking software, dropped with the Times Square Ball yesterday, but the first beta edition didn’t work for many. Hopefully the updated 0.9.4 beta from the iPhone Dev Team should resolve those issues and allow all those Jesusphone 3Gs to be released from their AT&T shackles. So if our step-by-step guide left you frustrated and furious, give it another go with the updated software.

New to Josh's Blog? Make sure you follow my RSS feed so you don't miss anymore great stuff!

Google iPhone App has an Easter Egg!

Google put an easter egg in the menu of their iPhone application, but they hid it so well that no one stumbled upon it, so they simply decided to blog about it to reveal the gem.

If you have the Google Mobile App installed on your iPhone, go to the Settings tab, scroll to the bottom and keep swiping upwards until a secret option dubbed ‘Bells and Whistles’ appears (this also works in the foreign language versions of the app, and it will stay there once you’ve found it).
The hidden menu lets you change the theme color of the app and its default sounds to chicken or monkey noises. It also enables you to turn on a ‘Live Waveform’ which visualizes speech as a graph, and an effectively useful one that lets you opt to to open hyperlinks in the app itself.
Now go tell all your friends that you found it first!

New to Josh's Blog? Make sure you follow my RSS feed so you don't miss anymore great stuff!

Mac mini to get Mini DisplayPort?

Bringing its least expensive system up to par with features in the rest of its lineup, Apple is due to revamp the Mac mini with multiple video outputs, AppleInsider has learned.


Those familiar with the company's plans say the small form factor desktop will have both the Mini DisplayPort connector first introduced on unibody MacBooks but also a Mini DVI connector.

The reason for the addition is unclear, though it would potentially give the budget Mac dual display support that it has lacked since it was introduced as a PowerPC G4 model in 2005. All other current Macs either already include a built-in display and only need one video output or else use full-size video cards, such as the discontinued Power Mac G5 or today's Mac Pro.

Such an update is helped in part by details that Apple itself has unintentionally confirmed through software leaks, which show the Mac mini using the GeForce 9400M chipset in a significantly new model that would, as a result, have the faster video performance and support for DisplayPort that are both missing in the current model's Intel GMA 950 integrated graphics.

It also indirectly supports notions of a more flexible design that in past leaks has suggested might include the option of replacing the optical drive with a second hard drive.

People aware of the update, however, contradict claims of a partly black plastic enclosure and say that none of the material seems visible on the design, suggesting it won't quite fit the black-and-silver color scheme of the iMac or other current Apple computers.

The new model is widely expected to bow at Macworld and may be accompanied by a new iMac at the same time.

New to Josh's Blog? Make sure you follow my RSS feed so you don't miss anymore great stuff!

Apple patent shows ways to use iPhone with gloves

Addressing the complaints of nearly every iPhone owner in a northern climate, Apple has filed for a patent that would cover a means of using a multi-touch device with gloves.

The US Patent Office application notes that capacitive touchscreens like those on the iPhone and iPod touch are problematic in colder weather. As they depend on the electrical response from a user's fingertips, which is often blocked off when wearing insulated gloves, the screens either force users to take off their gloves or else sit tight until they return indoors.

Apple's solution would give gloves a second, inner layer beyond the surface that would simulate the electrical feedback of human fingers when exposed to the outside. Apertures at each fingertip would let users peel back the outer, more weatherproof layer to leave a finger protected only by the inner layer but capable of using touchscreen devices with roughly the same responsiveness as bare skin.

The technique could use either an elastic ring to open or close the openings on the fly, or could have protective caps instead.

Unlike many of Apple's patent filings, the basic goal of the gloves isn't unique: clothiers such as Dots have developed their own gloves that also try to generate conductivity. In most cases, though, these often either limit the size of the contact points or else make the conductive surface part of a single layer and thus reduce the protection of the gloves against the cold.

Credited to inventors Steven Hotelling and Ashwin Sunder, it's not known whether the submitted patent reveals any of Apple's plans. The company only rarely ventures into fabric accessories, such as iPod socks or the pouches that have come with some iPods. The application was originally filed on June 28th, 2007, a day before the original iPhone's launch.



New to Josh's Blog? Make sure you follow my RSS feed so you don't miss anymore great stuff!

iWork, iMovie to move online?

iWork
9to5Mac claims that Apple will be announcing at Macworld that the next version of iWork will be composed of web-based applications. According to the rumor site, that means the future versions of Numbers, Pages and Keynote will be entirely browser based. (Note that this does not necessarily mean that native Mac versions will not also co-exist.)

Apple's move into web-based applications has been clear with the release of MobileMe's extensive Mail and Address Book applications composed entirely out of web-based technologies such as Javascript. In fact, there had previously been talk of an entire "Webkit-based" platform after Apple had adopted the SproutCore framework for use in MobileMe.

Developers have been constantly pushing the boundaries of what a web application can accomplish. 280 Slides is an example of a browser-based version of Keynote/Powerpoint written by former Apple employees. 

iMovie
In a Computerworld blog entry, Seth Weintraub of 9to5Mac follows up on yesterday's rumor of iWork becoming a suite of web-based applications with a new report regarding a similar update to iMovie due at Macworld next week.

Weintraub specifically points to several benefits of integrating iMovie into MobileMe's "cloud":

iMovie in the Cloud would also offer users the ability to easily view their movies on iPod Touches or iPhones. If the application is entirely Web based, it means that potential customers include the "other 90%" of users who use Windows.

The release of iMovie '08 in August 2007 received a number of complaints that ultimately resulted in Apple offering purchasers of iLife '08 the ability to download the previous version, iMovie HD 6, free of charge.

Weintraub seems uncertain if this move means that iMovie (or iWork) will become a web application only or if the "cloud" component is simply an add-on to the native Mac versions. From a practical standpoint, it would seem that for high definition video, the Mac version would remain as it currently is.
New to Josh's Blog? Make sure you follow my RSS feed so you don't miss anymore great stuff!

VIA Nano 3000 to rival Intel Atom

Not that we didn't already have a hunch that VIA was working up a dual-core Nano, but it seems that details are beginning to firm up just a bit. According to a new report over at China-based HKEPC, the dual-core Atom-killer will be dubbed the Nano 3000, and while it will still rely on a 65-nanometer manufacturing process, the power consumption should be much lower than existing Nano chips. Furthermore, it'll reportedly boast SSE4 instruction support, integer / floating point enhancements and improved internal cache performance. The writeup has it that samples could begin shipping out as early as this quarter, with mass production expected to get going in Q3. So, is it safe to say this whole "netbook" thing has grown some legs, or is the Tamagotchi-like crash just around the bend? Read
Josh's Verdict: Fail. No one can seem to beat Intel.

New to Josh's Blog? Make sure you follow my RSS feed so you don't miss anymore great stuff!

Voodoo Firefly gaming laptop prototype

While most of the hype surrounding Voodoo right now pertains to the Firebird gaming tower, LAPTOP has discovered yet another undercover rig from the company's arsenal worth swooning over. Before you go getting too excited, we must caution you that the Firefly is merely a prototype at the moment, but we all know concepts are made with the intent to commercialize. With the fine print behind us, it's worth reading up on what this Voodoo DNA'd machine offered up; for starters, you'll notice a 17-inch panel and a hefty 13-pound frame. There's also a multitouch trackpad, keyboard with customizable backlighting, a secondary 4.3-inch 800 x 480 display sitting beneath the main screen, a 2.4GHz Core 2 Extreme CPU, 4GB of RAM, two ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3870 GPUs and a 250GB HDD. No benchmarks were allowed, but Far Cry 2 ran "silky smooth" even with details maxed. For the rest of the nitty-gritty, we'll direct you to the read link, and before you get all irate that this isn't available for purchase, just be thankful this post isn't about yet another teaser from Mr. Sood. Read
New to Josh's Blog? Make sure you follow my RSS feed so you don't miss anymore great stuff!