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Sunday, August 10, 2008

Pwnage Tool 2.0.2 Jailbreaks iPhone 2.0.1 Software [Featured Mac Download]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/360476137/pwnage-tool-202-jailbreaks-iphone-201-software

Mac only: The iPhone 2.0 jailbreak utility for Mac, PwnageTool, has just been updated to accommodate the latest iPhone software update from Apple. Re-jailbreak your iPhone 3G, first gen iPhone, or iPod touch running the 2.0.1 software with PwnageTool 2.0.2. PwnageTool creates an alternate firmware bundle to install on your device, that includes an app called Cydia—and new to this version of PwnageTool—a new beta of Installer.app. Those two apps serve as gateways to software repositories you're not going to see in iTunes' App Store. Here's a screenshot of just a few apps I installed via Cydia and the Installer.app post-jailbreak.

On the top left you see Installer and Cydia, then gTxtEdit (a better text editor than Notes), ModPlayer (plays more file formats than your iPod), SynchStep (plays songs with beats that synch to how fast you're walking—seriously), MxTube (a YouTube clip downloader), and the NES emulator.

If you install OpenSSH from Cydia, you can also copy media and voicemail from it to your computer and tether your iPhone to your Mac to get online anywhere.

Here's the step-by-step for jailbreaking your device with PwnageTool; developers recommend upgrading via the original PwnageTool's built-in update system. PwnageTool 2.0.2 is a free download for Mac only.

Good Morning! [blog.iphone-dev.org]
Jailbreak iPhone 2.0 with PwnageTool

BlackBerry Thunder Coming To Verizon On October 13? [Rumor]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/359721612/blackberry-thunder-coming-to-verizon-on-october-13

According to Boy Genius Report sources, the BlackBerry Thunder looks set to hit Verizon on October 13 as the BB9530. The tipster also sent an inventory list from Verizon, which seems to confirm the model number for BlackBerry's first touchscreen offering. This seems to fall in line with earlier release rumors for the Thunder, but we'll see as we get closer to October. [Boy Genius Report]

Lightning Review: Lenovo ThinkPad X200 [Lightning Review]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/359638456/lightning-review-lenovo-thinkpad-x200

The Gadget: Lenovo's ThinkPad X200, the leeettlest member of their revamped X notebooks, with Intel's recently released Centrino 2 inside.

The Price: The X200 starts at $1434 at Lenovo's store, though they initially announced it at $1199. The model we tested was close to $1800.

The Verdict: On the whole, the X200 has more going for it than against it. We think 12 inches is the sweet spot for a compact but full-fledged notebook, and the X200 is just 0.8 inches at its thinnest point. It's actually smaller than it looks—Lenovo seems to employ reverse optical trickery to make it look bulkier than it is.

A few exceptional points: The keyboard really is fantastic to type on. Battery life is damned impressive too, delivering between five and six hours of standard use (browsing, video watching, music playing) with the brightness turned most of the way up. There's a lot of power and battery management tools too, for the power anal. And it's got the usual Lenovo build quality.

The potential dealbreakers: There's no trackpad—it's just you and the nipple. If you love the nip, ignore this point. Not ignorable, though, is that the screen is way to! o dim, e ven on max brightness. On a screen that small, brightness and clarity are paramount. So that's a big ol' suck. The mono speaker is fairly atrocious (and our headphone jack was bad on this unit, so it was a definite sore point). Oh, and it's not pretty. In sum, it's not a sight and sound machine.

It doesn't have a built-in optical drive, but honestly, that's a consideration more than a black-and-white downer. (They do include the external gratis.)

Here's what the X200 comes down to: If you want a solid but small notebook for reliably getting work done, this is it. If you want more than that, you probably want something else.

Dan Nosowitz contributed to this review.

Navy Drops $7.5 Million on an EMP Generator [Military]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/359847840/navy-drops-75-million-on-an-emp-generator

As anyone who has seen the Matrix will tell you, an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) can wreak havoc on electronics. You may also know that an EMP is a byproduct of a nuclear blast—which is why the Navy has handed over $7.5 million to L-3 Services, Inc. to build an EMP generator. The device is not going to be used as a weapon, instead it will be used to test the resistance of military systems to specific EMP levels as a preventative measure in the event that a nuclear weapon is detonated in US airspace.

The fear is that a king-sized EMP generated from a nuclear blast detonated in the sky could send this country back to the stone age. Even if the possibility of such a scenario occurring is remote, the Navy doesn't want to take chances. If all goes well, the generator is expected to be completed sometime in 2010. [Defense Industry Daily via Danger Room]

Windows Vista Pwned By Web Exploit That Can't Be Stopped [Windows Vista]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/359742631/windows-vista-pwned-by-web-exploit-that-cant-be-stopped

Presenters at Black Hat revealed that most, if not all, of Windows Vista's security features can be taken out with a single browser exploit, using Java and .NET to execute malicious code. What really makes this a killer, is that it is based around Vista's fundamental architecture, not a specific security flaw, and can be executed with any browser vulnerability. As researcher Dino Dai Zovi told SearchSecurity, "that's completely game over."

Microsoft programmers are apparently aware of the exploit presentation at Black Hat, and are waiting to see the findings themselves. Presented by Mark Dowd and Alexander Sotirov, of IBM and VMware, respectively, the exploit negates key security features such as Address Space Layout Randomization (ASLR), Data Execution Prevention (DEP), which make it difficult to locate and execute code and data. And apparently this exploit is so broad and game changing that it could be applied to other platforms. OS X, beware? [SearchSecurity via Electronista]

ASUS Eee Box available Stateside, yours for $350

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/359531505/

Filed under: Desktops

There are cheaper computers out there, and even smaller computers out there, but the ASUS Eee Box seems to strike a similar chord to that of its laptop counterpart -- solid minimalism, just a dash of design sense, and a lovable price point. J&R has started selling a $350 version the computer in the States, complete with Windows XP, a 1.6GHz Atom processor, WiFi, memory card reader, 1GB of RAM and an 80GB hard drive. We're especially into the prospect of quick-boot Express Gate Linux tomfoolery, with a seven second boot time all that's keeping us from web browsing, Skype and IM -- oh, and buying one. Black and white versions are available now.

[Thanks, Mike]

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Aigo P8860 MID surfaces in Windows XP colors

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/359615389/

Filed under: Handhelds

We've seen Aigo's flagship MID from just about any angle you could imagine, but now that the P8860 has started to ship, we're starting to see it freed from its Linux trappings and dressed up in a little bit of Windows XP. Video of just such harmony (or atrocity, if that's the way you see it) is after the break.

Continue reading Aigo P8860 MID surfaces in Windows XP colors

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D-Link busts out "Green Ethernet" energy-saving firmware for existing routers

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/359747197/

Filed under: Wireless, Networking

D-Link's been sipping power of late with its newish DWA-643 and DWA-556 desktop "Green Ethernet" switches, and now it's shipping those power savings upstream to its DIR-655 Xtreme N Gigabit router and DIR-855 dual channel routers with freely downloadable firmware updates. We'd scoff, but that's a power savings of 32 percent and 41 percent, respectively. It might only shave a few cents off those electric bills, but hey, you can always melt that copper down to make arrows for the coming apocalypse.

[Via TrustedReviews]

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Another flexible circuit project emerges, carbon nanotubes to blame

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/359804716/

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Yeah, we get it, flexible electronics -- sans application -- are about as exciting as the circuitry under your keyboard. But it's Friday, and this here story has real-live carbon nanotubes, so you know it's a winner. Takao Someya of the University of Tokyo has built for himself a stretchy, flexible conducting material using carbon nanotubes mixed with a polymer. The nanotubes are mixed into a compound called "bucky gel" to prevent clumping, and after some rubber-like flourinated copolymer is mixed in and it's all poured onto a glass plate, holes are punched in the material to better flexibility. Apparently it ends up looking a bit like a nylon stocking, but we won't hold that it against it, since it can be stretched up to 38%, while also managing to be 100 times more conductive than any other elastic material. The possibilities for such technology is pretty much endless, but we'd say "nylon stocking that is also, conveniently, a computer" is the first product category worth felling.

[Via I4U]

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