Archive for the ‘iPhone’ Category

Last year, Gina switched to Yahoo for her search because she felt Google already had enough of her data. Over at our gadget-obsessed sibling site Gizmodo, blogger John Herrman discusses taking things a little further, ditching all of Google’s apps. He explains:

You don’t have to be ready to commit to a full overhaul of your online lifestyle to understand why someone might want to yank their data from Google’s servers, and hand it off to someone else: You’ve got Google’s CEO deafly rehashing fallacious arguments about privacy—"If you have something that you don’t want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn’t be doing it in the first place"—and hesitating on a drawback; you’ve got contextual advertising that seems just a little too closely tuned to that sexxxy love letter your girlfriend sent you while you were on that business trip; you’ve got that violently insane ex husband who now knows where you are because of Google’s clumsy Buzz rollout. Most of all, you’ve got reasons, and you’re ready for change.

Herman walks through some of Google’s most popular offerings, then proposes switching to what he considers to be the best alternative to each. He suggests using Bing instead of Google search, Yahoo Mail instead of Gmail (he even details how to get all your email out of Gmail first), Windows Live Calendar rather than GCal, Flickr over Picasa, and Zoho instead of Google Docs. (That is, most of the runner-up favorites in each category.)

Hit up the full post for more details, then let us know whether you’d consider dropping Google to enjoy a little less data monopoly in the comments.

How to Go Google-Free on the Web – Privacy – Lifehacker

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Office Casual: Why Monster’s resume templates are easy

Now you can use and submit a resume template designed by Monster.com without leaving your Word program. Doug Thomas shows you Monster’s Easy Submit Resumes.

Office Casual: Why Monster’s resume templates are easy | Tina Wood | Channel 10

Sure, OSX is pretty and functional, but can it fit on a 32mb flash drive? Mac-on-stick is a complete Mac OS 7.0.1 environment that runs on Windows, Mac, Linux, and even Pocket PC. Use it to run old-school apps or classic games like Dark Castle.

Running Linux, Windows or applications like Firefox, Thunderbird, and AbiWord from a USB flash memory device is old hat. How about a Mac 128K or Plus on a USB key? You may think of it as a curiosity, but a “portable” Mac system has a few practical uses:

• Play with old system software and applications without dusting off your old Mac.
• Impress your friends, or show others what the older Mac system looks like.
• Use Mac on Windows and Linux.

Creating a Mac-on-Stick using Mini vMac [LinuxBeacon]

Several people have asked me about jailbraking.  It  has become very simple with the software called QuickPWN. 

Here are a few links and steps. 

Links:
Click here to download QuickPWN 2.2.5 version 2 for Windows http://blog.iphone-dev.org/
http://thepiratebay.org/user/iphonedev/ : It is not the official site, but if you don’t know about torrents, you can get it here.  
www.Sleepers.net

Jailbrake at your own risk.  This is not as complicated as it looks. The software walks you through much of this.

bigBrains steps

1. Create a folder called “QuickPwn” on your desktop. Download your appropriate iPhone firmare from here. Also download the QuickPwn  from here and place it. Place these files in the newly created QuickPwn folder on your desktop.
2. Sync your iphone and back it up.
3. Close iTunes
4. Extract QuickPwn zipped file.
5. Launch QuickPwn and select your iPhone version.
6. You will be asked to select your iPhone firmware. Select the firmware your downloaded in Step 1.
7. If the firmware you selected is valid, QuickPwn will show a green checkmark. Click Continue.
8. You will then have the opportunity to select Cydia, Installer and to choose a custom boot logo. You have to select Cydia. You may also choose to install Installer. Click Next.
9. You will now have a message saying that you are ready to launch the QuickPwn process in a new Window. Click Go.
10. You will then be asked to power off your iPhone and press Enter once it has been turned off.
11. QuickPwn 2.1 will now help you put your iPhone into DFU Mode (aka recovery mode). Read the instructions carefully then type in Y for YES and press Enter.
12. You will be asked to hold down the Power button for 5 seconds. Then you will have to also hold down the Home button for 10 seconds without letting go of the Power button. At the end of 10 seconds you will need to release only the Power button.
13. After a few seconds of holding down just the Home button QuickPwn will detect the your iPhone in DFU mode and start performing some “operations”. After 8 operations are performed QuickPwn will tell you to “Please wait while your iPhone is Jailbroken”. Press any key to continue.
14. Your iPhone will display a turning wheel and in a few minutes will be jailbroken! Sometimes this step can take a long time.  Be patient.

Windows only: BitTorrent super-host The Pirate Bay claims its ViO MobileConverter tool reduces nearly any video’s size by 20 percent and converts it for mobile devices faster than anything else. Let’s see about that.

Why the speed and quality test? Simply because ViO, with all the nuance of the typical Pirate Bay communication, claims this on its home page:

Converts virtually any web video format file into a file that’s 100% compatible with your portable media device, compressing it up to 20% of its original size without any reduction in image quality. ViO converts your media faster than any tool on the market today.

I decided to try out ViO on converting a DiVx-formatted episode of Mad Men ("The Benefactor" from season two, in case you’re a fan) for my iPod touch. I’d previously been using the free version of Freez iPod Converter, which, while somewhat wonky and rough, got the job done faster and at acceptable quality faster than anything else I’d tried. I used Robin Keir’s timer to clock the conversion speed.

So! Here’s the results of plugging in a 350MB, 45-minute AVI file into Freez and letting fly with the default settings (which converts to MP4):

Freez iPod Converter

Conversion time: 7 minutes, 10 seconds
Finished size: 251 MB
Quality: Good, easily watch-able, only the same quirks as were present in the original.
Screenshot:

I then ran ViO through the same process, plugging in the AVI file and asking it to convert to an MP4 for the iPhone (same video screen as iPod touch):

ViO

Conversion time: 7 minutes, 7 seconds
Finished size: 54.7 MB
Quality: Lots of pixel "ghosting" (blocky pieces left behind when scene jumps), general muddiness to multi-color scenes. Like a YouTube video that nobody selected "High Quality" or "HD" for.
Screenshot:

I then realized that ViO’s "Advanced Options," tucked away by default, let you change pretty much anything and everything about the finished product, including a target file size.

So I set ViO to re-encode that video to a 251MB MP4 file, and it instantly upped the video bitrate and other features. Here’s the results of that second pass:

ViO (Take Two)

Conversion time: 7 minutes 10 seconds
Finished size: 181MB
Quality: Noticeably better than the first run, with no detectable ghosting. A small bit of jerky-ness when characters are moving quickly or scenes jump-cut (especially in well-lit situations), but watch-able.
Screenshot:

So there you have it. ViO did—despite my wishes, even—make a smaller video file than Freez in the same amount of time, reducing its final size by about 30 percent with only a small amount of detectable difference. Given its more polished, somewhat easier-to-grasp interface and the huge range of devices it can convert for—HTC, Samsung, LG, Nokia, Apple, and many more devices are covered—it’s definitely worth checking out.

ViO Video MobileConverter is a free download for Windows systems only. Make sure to watch for the toolbar option if you don’t want a browser add-on; it’s checked for installation by default.

Featured Windows Download: Video MobileConverter Formats Flicks for Small Screen

Any iPhone or iPod touch running the 2.0 firmware can use a little speed boost when it comes to syncing, and some intrepid tweakers have found at least one no-pain way to boost syncing time, at least a little bit. To disable iTunes taking the time to send error or crash reports to Apple every sync, turn off automatic syncing (if enabled) on your phone/iPod, right-click on the unit in iTunes, and click "Reset Warnings." The next time you sync, your system will ask if you want to send the reports. Un-check the "Do not ask me again" option, hit "Don’t Send," and you’re good to go. It’s not going to eliminate the longer lags for application syncing, but it might help move things along.

Iphone 2.0: Turn Off Crash Reports to Speed Up iPhone Sync

After the WWDC ‘08 Keynote, everyone wanted this iPhone game, it received almost as much hype as the iPhone itself. Super Monkey Ball from SEGA definitely has some good qualities, however it does have some bad qualities as well. First off, this game costs $9.99 which might be a little steep for some.

Super Monkey Ball sports some great graphics and almost proves itself as one of the best games created for the iPhone. There are over a 100 leves to play which means you might not get bored from this for a while.

So without further delay we would like to offer you the cracked version of this game. We would also like to inform you that this release has not been tested on jailbroken/unlocked iPhone’s running firmware 2.0 which is impossible at the moment for the lack of an unlock out there.

How do you install this game?

1. Make sure you are on firmware 2.0

2. Download the Super Monkey Ball Cracked game and extract the Monkey Ball.app folder to your desktop.

3) Copy Monkey Ball.app into /Applications via SSH and set it to 775

4) Create a folder called “Documents” in /var/mobile/ and set permission to 777

5) Reboot your iPhone // Kudos to iamheretostay for the find!

We have also launched a forum dedicated to sharing cracked iPhone apps. Please join us there.

Once again drop us a line if you like this release

Super Monkey Ball iPhone – Cracked | Haklabs

Turn your PC into an iPhone web server.

Yoics makes is instantly possible (ok, it takes about 10 seconds) to view any folders on your computer from you iPhone. Even better the folders are viewable from any web browser, and shareable to anyone that you want, securely and privately. Watch the video.

{More»}

Yoics, Internet access (almost) anything

Windows only: Freeware application ToneShop creates ringtones from a variety of formats, for a variety of formats supported by most popular mobile phones (including the iPhone). To use it, just point ToneShop to the WAV, WMA, M4A, or MP3 file you want to use as your source, and then use ToneShop’s simple editing tools to choose the start and end time of your ringtone. Choose the output format supported by your cell phone, hit convert, and voilà—you’ve got a new ringtone. ToneShop could use a bit of polish on the interface, but as young as it is, it still makes it dead simple to create ringtones for your phone in just a few clicks. ToneShop is freeware, Windows only. If you’ve got a preferred ringtone tool that puts ToneShop to shame, let’s hear about it in the comments.   Download Now

Jott for iPhone is the ultimate mobile notepad that turns your voice into notes. Just tap the record screen and leave a note with your voice, Jott will then turn that note into text and add it to your Jott notepad or any of your lists. To get the same satisfaction of completing something on a paper list, cross off any item by swiping your finger across it on your Jott list. No matter where you are, now adding something to your notepad is as quick and easy as saying “Get strawberries for dessert.”

How does it work?

Download the free application at the Apple App Store. To record a note, tap anywhere on the screen to start recording, then tap again to end recording.

Your voice note will be converted to text and appear moments later in the Jott notepad on the iPhone. You can choose to receive an email copy of your notes in the Emails section of the Settings page on the web site.

Jott for iPhone notes can be organized into lists, prioritized, or crossed-off with the swipe of a finger. It also syncs with the Jott web site, so your lists are backed up. If you are a current Jott customer, your lists will be pre-loaded when you open the application for the first time. If you are a new Jott customer, a “To-Do” list will be added for you, but you can easily add your own custom lists on your iPhone or on Jott.com.

Jott for iPhone

One of the coolest features available in the new iPhone 2.0 software update is the ability to get new email messages, contacts, and calendar events pushed to your device automatically. The catch: If you don’t want to shell out $100 for MobileMe and you don’t have a Microsoft Exchange server lying around, you’re stuck pulling data or manually syncing it to your computer. But, if you’re willing to roll up your sleeves, you can set up push email and wireless contact and calendar syncing using the free Microsoft Exchange service Mail2Web.

What’s the Big Deal with Push?

If you’ve never carried a company-issue BlackBerry, you may be wondering what makes push so special. Let’s start with email: Without push email, your phone has to check in with your server every now and then to determine whether or not you’ve got any new email—it has to pull the email from your email server. With push email, your phone gets an alert as soon as new mail arrives—it’s pushed from the server to your phone as soon as it’s available.

Now if we extend that to our contacts and calendars, push functionality means instantaneous, wireless syncing of our contacts and events. If you add a new contact to your phone, it’ll automatically sync to the Mail2Web Exchange server and—depending on your setup—to your desktop application of choice. Likewise, if you were to tweak a contact’s email address on your desktop, you can sync it to Mail2Web and then wirelessly to your iPhone or iPod touch.

What Can I Expect?

You may not want to switch your email to Mail2Web just so you can get push email, or maybe you prefer using Google Calendar to the Exchange calendar you get with Mail2Web. The great part of this is that you can pick and choose exactly which aspects you want to use depending on your current setup. So when you’re done, you can choose to use any combination of the following features through Mail2Web:

• Push Email
• Push Contacts
• Push Calendar

Sound good? Let’s get started

Iphone 2.0: Set Up Push Email, Contacts, and Calendar on Your iPhone for Free

This Video will take you through the steps to create an iPhone ringtone, which is just a 30 second or less AAC file with a m4r extension.  Watch the video a few times, and save yourself some cash.  –  David

YouTube – How to put ringtones in your iPhone for FREE!! (Easiest Way)

All of us iPhone fanatics are just getting our hands on the new apps, but I’ve already found one that I’m sure to consider indispensable within the next few months: Facebook’s new app.

Why is it so compelling? Because it almost eliminates the need to maintain a separate contacts list on my phone. While Facebook’s web app for the iPhone was cool enough, the native app basically transforms Facebook into a mobile directory with rich information about your friends.

If you’re even semi-serious about using Facebook to keep track of your friends, you may never have to click the “Phone” icon to dial them up. Just hit the Facebook icon and move over to the “Friends” tab. You’ll see all of your Facebook friends laid out, and when you click on their names, their contact info appears in the iPhone’s customary user interface.

Tap a friend’s phone number to call them (or hit their email address to write). The only time this method falls through is when a friend has decided not to enter the requisite contact info into their profile (something unnecessarily cautious, in my opinion, if you’ve set up your privacy settings correctly).

This application has the potential to eliminate the need for two other native iPhone features as well: SMS and Email. The app comes with Facebook Chat baked right in so you can send instant messages to friends who are currently online (either at their computers or on their phones). As soon as Facebook figures out a way to keep you “online” and available for chat even when the app is closed – and hooks Chat to the new push notification service so you’re aware of messages as they come in – I’ll be one step closer to saving that extra $10 per month I pay AT&T to let me send ludicrously overpriced text messages. Facebook should be working on a Chat-to-SMS (or Message-to-SMS) conversion feature that can be used to message with my friends who don’t own iPhones, or any other email-equipped smartphone.

As for email, Facebook’s messaging system is also built right into the app making it unnecessary to send lengthy messages through email (who wants to keep track of friends’ email addresses anyway when you can look them up by name?).

 

Read more ..

Facebook’s iPhone App (Almost) Replaces My Contacts List

If there’s one thing that Google Earth taught us, it’s that the stars never outgrow their mystery. For fans of the sky layer on Google Earth, there’s Starmap, an educational iPhone app that, unlike your laptop or desktop, you can easily take with you on a cloudless night to a nearby hilltop.

Pocket astronomers will find a screen that shows a sky full of planets, visible stars, named stars, galaxies, and nebulae, and coordinates that you can access and search for from an unobtrusive ribbon of icons. Sensitivity to the accelerometer tips the view vertically and horizontally, and you can pinch and pull the screen to get a closer look at the arrangement of the points of light.

It’s a fair and interesting start, if not a bit static, and the land-locked dreamer in me sees many more interactive possibilities as the tools and technology progress–like a real-time night mode that uses the camera as a telescope to automatically fix the star chart around you and a Wikipedia plug-in that spoon-feeds you information about what you’re looking at. You know, the kinds of extras you’d expect from Google Earth.

iPhone stargazers geek out with Starmap | Software news, tips and opinions from Download.com editors – Download.com