Monday, August 11, 2008

iPhone 2.0 Jailbreak Apps You Can't Find in the iTunes Store [IPhone 2.0 Jailbreak]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/361487922/iphone-20-jailbreak-apps-you-cant-find-in-the-itunes-store


The iTunes' App Store offers iPhone and iPod touch users hundreds of applications to install on their devices, but power users who want functionality above and beyond what Apple's SDK allows still want to jailbreak their device. Now that jailbreak developers have had a full month to work on applications for jailbroken iPhone 2.0 users, there's a bigger selection than ever of jailbreak 2.0 software that lets you do things App Store offerings don't. Let's look at a few of the good ones.

Note: Most of the iPhone 2.0 jailbreak offerings are geared toward the developer and power user. If you're not sure whether or not you want to take the plunge and jailbreak, hopefully this post will give you an idea of whether or not it's worth it for you.


cydiainstaller.pngThis weekend I re-jailbroke my iPhone running the 2.0.1 software using PwnageTool. Here's how to jailbreak iPhone 2.0 with PwnageTool for Mac; Windows users, you can use WinPwn to jailbreak iPhone 2.0. PwnageTool added both Cydia and Installer.app to my device (pictured right). Cydia and Installer.app are the two gateways to software repositories for jailbroken devices. Next to each app below, I'll list the source (Cydia or Installer.app) and the app itself so you know where to find it.


MxTube Downloads YouTube Clips to Your Device (Cydia)

http://cache.lifehacker.com/assets/resources/2008/08/mxtube-thumb.PNGWhen you've got a favorite YouTube clip you want to show all your friends—but don't want to wait for it to download over the air—MxTube comes to the rescue. MxTube can download and save YouTube clips to your jailbroken device for watching when you're offline, out of Wi-Fi range, or just using the slow Edge network. Great especially for iPod touch users without a data connection. (Original post.)

Click to view MxTube's search interface, with options to stream the clip as usual, or download to your device.


BiteSMS Offers Cheaper Text Messaging (Cydia)

http://cache.lifehacker.com/assets/resources/2008/08/bitesms-thumb.PNG BiteSMS is a text messaging service that offers an alternative to AT&T or your iPhone's SMS carrier. Buy text messaging credits at BiteSMS.com (currently 10 cents per message, less if you buy more) and install the BiteSMS app via Cydia on your jailbroken device. Then, to send messages using BiteSMS instead of your plan, choose it near the Send button, as shown. (Click the image to see a full-sized version of what sending a text message with BiteSMS looks like.) The BiteSMS app keeps track of how many messages you send via your default carrier, and how many BiteSMS credits you have left, so you can decide which is the most economical way to send a message.


Here are detailed instructions for installing BiteSMS via Cydia; you'll have to purchase credits at BiteSMS.com to start using it as an alternative to your SMS carrier.

Bo! ssPrefs Removes Icons You Don't Want (Cydia)

http://cache.lifehacker.com/assets/resources/2008/08/bossprefspoof-thumb.PNG While you can remove bookmarks and other app icons from your device by just tapping and holding, then hitting the X icon on them, some icons are absolutely fixed on your iPhone or iPod touch—whether or not you use them. Install BossPrefs via Cydia to get extra options for configuring your device, including "Poof!" a section where you can disable icons—even fixed ones like iTunes or Stocks.

Click on the image to see a full-size view of Poof, inside BossPrefs.

WebSearch Customizable, One-Tap Search Launcher (Cydia)

http://cache.lifehacker.com/assets/resources/2008/08/WebSearh-in-action-thumb.jpg This is the app that got me to jailbreak my iPhone pre-2.0: a quick tap way to search common engines beyond Google, like Wikipedia, IMDB, and even Lifehacker. Adam named this an app worth jailbreaking for pre-iPhone 2.0, and it still ranks right there even now. (Not sure why this app isn't available via the App Store; let us know in the comments if you've found an equivalent there.)


Click on the image to see a WebSearch quickly query Wikipedia search in action full-size.

gTxtEdit is an Actual Text Editor (Installer.app)

http://cache.lifehacker.com/assets/resources/2008/08/gtxtedit-t!  humb.PNG If you want to store your notes in actual plain text files—instead of the BS built-in Notes application—you want gTxtEdit. Granted, gTxtEdit doesn't offer a file browser for easy loading and saving of files, and to get your .txt files off the phone you need to SCP in (with OpenSSH, see more below), so it's not the most user-friendly of apps. But plain text lovers not afraid of the command line will dig it. (Also, the developer promises that an actual file browser is forthcoming.) Click on the image to see a text file in gTxtEdit.


Customize App Skins Your Device (Cydia)

http://cache.lifehacker.com/assets/resources/2008/08/customizethemebrowser-thumb.PNGUsers who really want to trick out their device want to put a good-looking skin on it. Using the Customize app, you can browse, preview, and download custom skins, and apply the whole skin to your device or just parts of it. Here are a few skins you can find there.

Click each image below to see it full-size.

http://cache.lifehacker.com/assets/resources/2008/08/skin-alienware-thumb.PNG http://cache.lifehacker.com/assets/resources/2008/08/skin-Leopard-thumb.PNG http://cache.lifehacker.com/assets/resources/2008/08/skins-sketchedout1-thumb.PNG http://cache.lifehacker.com/assets/resources/2008/08/skins-stickers-thumb.PNG

From left to right the skins shown above are: AlienwareTheme, Leopard, SketchedOut, and Stickers. (Be warned: I had some trouble applying some skins I tried out, like Alienware. To activate a skin, on the skin page, after you choose "Apply Theme to Device," head back to the Customize main menu and choose "Exit & Restart Springboard.")


quake4iphone (Cydia)

This one's pretty self-explanatory. It's Quake! On the iPhone!


quake4iphone.png


OpenSSH Gives You Full Root Access to Your Device

We've been over this a million times already, but an article like this can't go without saying: Getting SFTP (or SCP) access to your device means you can move files back and forth from it. This lets you copy voicemail or music files from the device to your computer, transfer NES emulator ROMs to play on your device, access the text files you're editing with gTxtEdit, and get your computer online using your iPhone's data connection. You can even do nutty stuff like transfer your Notes and SMS messages back to your computer for saving and archiving with OpenSSH installed.


Of course, the previously mentioned Mobile Terminal and the NES emulator are also top picks for jailbroken iPhone 2.0 apps. The very promising SynchStep—an app that purports to switch the song playing on your iPod to your pace using the device's motion detection—didn't do as well as we hoped in tests. (But the concept is super-cool, and we hope the developer will work out the screen lock kink soon.)


What are your favorite jailbreak 2.0 apps, skins, add-ons, and tweaks? Let us know in the comments.


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MIT Team Developing Eye-Catching, Super Realistic 6-D Imaging Device [Uber Holograms]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/361107196/mit-team-developing-eye+catching-super-realistic-6+d-imaging-device

3-D images? Peshaw. Those are so 2007. What humanity needs now is what MIT researchers hope to provide very soon: super realistic "passive 6-D reflectance field displays" that not only look great, but also respond to stimuli, like lighting conditions. And, not only will these uber images do all that and a bag of chips, they'll be able to change over time as lighting conditions change, with "no electronics or active control" from we mere humans. Oh, and the displays will respond the changes in viewpoint, meaning these visual wonders will have a creepy degree of interactivity to them too (read: legitimate holograms).

The 6-D project is headed by Ramesh Raskar, who together with his MIT colleagues created the display using nothing but a series of lenses and screens. The prototype is due out at this week's annual SIGGRAPH (Special Interest Group on Graphics and Interactive Techniques) conference, but here's a few teaser details to tide you over until the unveiling on August 11:

By using an array of tiny square lenses instead of the linear ones, [those inexpensive postcard 3-D images] can also be made to change as you change the viewing angle up or down - making a "4-D" image. This reveals different views with horizontal as well as vertical movement of the viewer. The new "lighting aware" [6-D] system adds additional layers of lenses and screens to add two more dimensions of change. The image that is seen is then not only based on the position of the viewer, but also on the direction of the illumination.

Now the good news is this device will be on display in a raw, low resolution form next week. The bad news? A working, high res model, with all its interactive, true hologram goodness, is some 10 years away. My Princess Leia rescue fantasies will have to wait another decade, it would seem. [MIT]


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Qingbar iPod Projector Puts Sub-Par Images On Upright Tray Tables [Ipod Projector]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/361169662/qingbar-ipod-projector-puts-sub+par-images-on-upright-tray-tables

Qingbar probably hopes that its MP101 Mini Projector for the iPod/iPhone gets picked up en masse by business travelers looking to turn their seat backs into mini-movie theaters, but we think the image quality might deter all but the blindest travelers from abandoning their tiny screens. According to the specs and the image below, what you're going to get with this portable projector is a 5W LED (with a lumens of 10-15), a 20,000 hour lamp life, and projected image from 15″ to 27″. It's neat, but with no price the "sub par" headline stays put.

[Honla via GadgetGrid]


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Aiptek's AHD 300 Camcorder Does Full 1080p HD, Costs $250 [Camcorders]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/361828282/aipteks-ahd-300-camcorder-does-full-1080p-hd-costs-250

Aiptek's last HD camcorder we showed you did 720p recording for a budget $170. But time and technology waits for no man, so Aiptek's newest cam now records at 1080p. The AHD 300 actually manages 30 frames per second at this resolution, but if you're into slightly high-speed filming, it can even stretch to 60 fps if you drop the resolution to 720p. It can squeeze an hour of 1080p footage onto a 4GB SD card, accepts SDHC, shoots 8-megapixel stills and has 4x digital zoom and media player functions too. Not bad for just $250. [TFTS]


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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.

IMG_0024.PNG


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.


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