So the iPhone has been out for a couple months now, and I’ve pretty much left mine alone—no hacking of any sort, beyond trying out Ambrosia’s new iToner. Then today, fellow Macworld staffer Chris Breen pointed me to Nullriver’s Installer.app beta. Using this program, “hacking” your iPhone to support third-party apps and tools is amazingly simple. Run the Installer.app on your Mac, then switch to your iPhone and use the new Installer icon on the home screen. From there, choose which packages you’d like to install, and you’re off and running.
So what’s available? Quite a lot, actually. First, there’s a screenshot app, which I used for the image you see here (click on it for a larger version). In the shot of the main screen, you’ll notice there’s a new row of icons on the phone; those were all added with the Installer.app program. Everything from hard-core Unix apps to games to productivity apps are available, and all can be installed (or removed) with a couple taps.
If something goes horribly wrong, you might have to use iTunes’ to restore your iPhone to its factory-new state, but at that point, it should work fine. I did this a couple times today (unnecessarily, as it turned out) and had no troubles. However, you are responsible for your own actions! In other words, if you brick your iPhone, it’s not my fault!
We’ll have a lot more to say about this topic in the near future, explaining everything involved in the process in great detail. But in a nutshell, modifying your iPhone is now about as easy as I think it can possibly be. Pretty impressive, given that it was a bunch of (very bright) volunteer hackers, and they’ve only had about 60 days to get to this point!
Intrepid iPhone hacker Nate True has released a new app that solves one of my major problems with the presentation of third-party apps. As I noted when I first began installing third-party native apps on the iPhone, Apple had clearly not designed Springboard (the iPhone's launcher application) to support more than sixteen apps (not including the four along the bottom row). I think the reasoning on Apple's part was aesthetic more than anything else: a full screen of iPhone apps looks pretty darn cluttered and overwhelming and nowhere near as elegant as it does with that blank line as a spacer. I would be unsurprised to find that Apple had held back on some of their apps until they could figure out how they wanted to handle filling up the launcher.
But enough about that: onto the solution. Nate's Dock is an application that can be installed with Nullriver's installer app or iFuntastic and lets you scroll through listings in that fourth row. It's probably easier just to show you, so here's the video Nate posted to his site.
Pretty nifty. And now I can have as many third-party apps installed on the iPhone as I want, without having to fret about finding them. Until Apple figures out how it wants to handle additional applications, this is pretty much the most elegant solution I've seen.
[via Wired]
Apple's feeling a bit feisty this morning. Sure, the company's looking forward to next week's special event. But I'm talking about the latest comments on a particular iTunes Store partnership (or soon-to-be-ex-partnership, as the case may be).
Back in July, we learned that Universal has decided not to continue a long-term arrangement with the iTunes Store. Apple probably wasn't happy about that move, but their public comments were, well, cordial. But then came speculation that NBC might pull their TV shows from the Store. It looks like those rumblings were true, because this morning Apple sent out a press release. And from the looks of it, Steve Jobs is none too pleased.
You see, NBC's agreement with Apple ends in December. But Apple has decided that they'll just stop selling NBC shows in September--before the fall season, perhaps the most profitable one for TV-show sales on iTunes, begins. Ouch. On top of that, the company went public with details about pricing negotiations.
Allow me to share a couple choice quotes from the press release:
Apple declined to pay more than double the wholesale price for each NBC TV episode, which would have resulted in the retail price to consumers increasing to $4.99 per episode from the current $1.99. ABC, CBS, FOX and The CW, along with more than 50 cable networks, are signed up to sell TV shows from their upcoming season on iTunes at $1.99 per episode.
Apple's agreement with NBC ends in December. Since NBC would withdraw their shows in the middle of the television season, Apple has decided to not offer NBC TV shows for the upcoming television season beginning in September.
Although losing NBC shows is Not A Good Thing--the press release noted that three of iTunes' 10 best-selling shows last season, accounting for 30 percent of TV show sales, were from NBC--it's obvious Apple is trying to make NBC look like the greedy bad guy. And if I were the cynical type, I might interpret the move to stop selling NBC shows three months early as some sort of, well, gesture.
One of the first things I did when I got my first cell phone was create some custom ringtones. Back in those days, I had to actually sit down at my piano, pick out a song, and then program it into the phone with an archaic code representing musical notes. My subsequent phone made this much easier by letting me upload an MP3 file (albeit through a slightly convoluted method), but I took a step back with the iPhone. Sure, there's iFuntastic for those who didn't mind the slightly unorthodox procedure, but I'd suspect there are plenty of users who are uncomfortable with even the word "jailbreak."
To the rescue comes Ambrosia Software, maker of fine utilities like SnapzPro X and delectable games like SketchFighter 4000. Their newest endeavor, iToner, may sound like a cheap way to refill your laser printer, it's actually a $15 application that lets you upload custom ringtones to your iPhone via drag and drop. You can also set it up to synchronize with a playlist from your iTunes library if you like, though be warned: when you pick your ringtones yourself, the temptation to jam along to the song can often override the urge to actually answer your phone. Thank heavens for Visual Voicemail.
It's worth pointing out that there's certainly a chance that Apple will be filling this breach themselves at some point in the future—perhaps as soon as next Wednesday's special iPod event. Fortunately, iToner's got a 30-day free trial, so no reason not to download it and give it a whirl. Finally, I can return the haunting harmonica riff from the Perfect Strangers theme song to its rightful place in my ringtone list.
You might call us "advocates of frugality"—after all, it's much nicer than saying we're cheap skinflints. So, instead of buying yourself an expensive case for the iPhone that doubles as a stand for watching videos, why not just make your own?
But how? you may wonder. I don't have the material or the skill, the sheer know-how, that such an endeavor would require. Au contraire, we tell you. All you need is some will and a business card (it doesn't even have to be your business card).
Instructables leads you through the process of making a business card stand for your iPhone (fully backwards compatible with the iPod). Besides the card, you'll just need a ruler and some scissors or a knife. It's cheap, easy, compact, and easily replaceable. "Advocates of frugality" it is.
[via Lifehacker]
I've been doing a fair amount of traveling recently, and while the iPhone is great at letting me find my way about unfamiliar city streets, the Maps program is primarily designed for traveling in personal wheeled conveyances around the streets, and not so much for walking or—and this is key—public transportation. So here's a couple of additional tips for taking advantage of the iPhone's capabilities in order to get around town.
If your trying to navigate the Big Apple, the subway system is indispensable. Unfortunately, to an out-of-towner like myself it also happens to be often incomprehensible. Designer Khoi Vinh has come up with a solution: turn the MTA system's map into a series of images which you can then sync with your iPhone. Then you can easily flip through the map to avoid ending up in Staten Island when you wanted Queens. And, as you'd expect from a designer of Vinh's caliber, the maps are easy to use, laid out as overlapping tiles that makes it easy to switch back and forth without losing your place.
Outside of the Big Apple, you have to rely largely on the kindness of municipal transit authorities' websites, unless you happen to be visiting a city that's supported by Google's beta Transit site. Just type in your location and destination, and it'll give you the easiest route to get there via public transportation. While the map doesn't display on the iPhone, it'll still give you the text directions, which are plenty handy. And best of all, the site is pretty low complexity, meaning it loads quickly, even on EDGE.
Got other travel tips for the iPhone? Post a comment below.
Who doesn't love a good lawsuit? Especially when combined with recent fad of unlocking the iPhone. Well, I suppose "good" might be a bit strong of a word. Sixty-eight year old Herbert Kliegerman is a bit put out that AT&T and Apple didn't adequately inform him that the iPhone was locked exclusively to AT&T. He'd tried to get an unlock code for traveling internationally, and, as a result, when he took the phone to Mexico he racked up $2,000 in roaming charges.
Kliegerman is suing for Apple to disclose the unlock restrictions on the phone. He says that AT&T offers unlocking on other handsets that they sell, so why not the iPhone? The suit has been extended to other New York State residents who bought an iPhone in the same introductory period.
Wanting to use the iPhone overseas is certainly valid, but I don't know that it necessarily demands a class action lawsuit. With the foofaraw over iPhone unlocking reaching fever pitch, though, the media attention on this suit is sure to be fierce.
[via iPod Observer]
