Articles by Jeremy Sikora
It was just one day ago we mentioned that a new PwnageTool was on the horizon and for those iPhone 3GS owners who stayed on 3.0, your patience has paid off as the latest PwnageTool for Mac OS X has been release by the Dev-Team. If you couldn’t wait and you updated your iPhone 3GS to 3.1 via iTunes, you have a slight problem as you will not be able to jailbreak.
The iPhone 3GS is now supported in PwnageTool 3.1.3, assuming the phone was pwned at 3.0 or 3.0.1 – PwnageTool does not support the 3GS out of the box. If your iPhone 3GS has 3.1 preinstalled and is not Pwned then there is no tested jailbreak solution at the moment.
For the full details be sure to check out the Dev-Teams blog and make sure you fully understand what you are getting yourself into before attempting a jailbreak.
If you don’t understand the process, do not attempt it, and as always – TiPb takes no responsibility for the outcome. Need help? Check out our iPhone Jailbreak and Unlock forum.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]
For those of you who have patiently been waiting to jailbreak your iPhone 3GS with the 3.1 software, your patience is about to pay off. According to MuscleNerd all of the testing is complete and the new PwnageTool is almost ready to be released to the public.
Regarding the iPhone 3GS 3.1 software unlock, if you have already updated to the official 3.1, there still is no known way to unlock your device. In order to unlock the 3.1 software on a iPhone 3GS, this next version of the PwnageTool will be needed to make a custom IPSW file to preserve the 04.26.08 baseband firmware. Again — that older baseband is needed if you plan on unlocking your device successfully.
Stay tuned as we will bring you the news when the latest PwnageTool drops.
[Thanks to mysterio for the tip!]
It’s time for some good old forum action. From the Forums is a great way to see what all of the current hot topics are on the TiPb forums. In order to create any new threads of your own or reply to any of the existing threads, you must be a registered member. Becoming a member is a simple process that will only take a few minutes out of your day, so if you have not already already done so, head on over and register now.
If you are a AT&T customer, we are pretty sure you are well aware that MMS has finally been activated on our IPhones. Well… for most of us that is. Some of you are still having issues getting it working. Stop by the official AT&T MMS threadand let us know how your experience has been so far.
This next thread was started by DBlanco and he thinks the iPhone is a perfect device. While many of you would agree with this there’s an equal amount of you who would disagree. Stop by the thread for yourself and speak your mind. My feeling is, yes the iPhone is a great device but no single device is 100% perfect. There is always room for improvement.
This thread was a started a while back by Erika78 and she wants to know why you decided to leave your previous phone and make the jump to iPhone? With our forums growing by the day this is one of those threads that will never die. Join in on the conversation and let us know why you left your old device.
Have some iPhone tips and tricks that you’d like to share? Perhaps you are in need of some general help? This is the forum you need to visit. That is the place to find answers to your iPhone questions along with all the tips and tricks you can imagine.
See you on the forums!
Are you still on the hunt for the right GPS navigation application? Sygic Mobile Maps [$59.00 - US iTunes Link] has just gotten a much needed update and we are happy to report is has polished this GPS app nicely. Gone is the lag we experienced along with the addition of some other much anticipated features.
- Now with text-to-speech – voice guidance announcing the name of the next street or road
- Choose addresses straight from your iPhone contacts and navigate to.
- Music playback fades out smoothly so you can better hear the voice instructions.
- Improved GPS lock, now faster than ever.
- Smoother position display as you follow your route.
- Increased font size of street names and information bars for improved readability.
- No disclaimer warning message after completion of phone call.
So if you currently have this application, update now! If not and you’re still on the lookout for a good GPS app, Sygic Mobile Maps is definitely worth a look.
When you wake up Friday morning, don’t expect to see MMS working on your iPhone immediately as AT&T will be systematically activating groups throughout the day, starting at 10 AM Eastern time. Also don’t forget that to enable MMS on your iPhone you must first connect to iTunes and download and install an updated carrier file.
That is, if AT&T’s network holds up as millions of iPhone users rush to test the new service. That very thought has AT&T feeling extremely nervous right about now, according to MacRumors:
“early testing has been a little rocky, with AT&T seeing a fairly significant test outage yesterday that has them rushing to beef up their MMSC messaging servers. Estimates among those working on the project are that traffic on AT&T’s wireless network will be about 40% higher all day on Friday as iPhone users fire pictures and video at one another.”
Guess we will know soon enough…
The iSkin solo for iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS [$29.95 - TiPb Store Link] has quickly become one of the most popular slim-fitting skin cases available today. To find out why, follow us after the break! Read the rest of this entry »
Not that any of you AT&T customers really need the reminder. Regardless, the wait is almost over folks, AT&T is finally flipping the MMS switch for all of their iPhone customers this Friday, September 25th.
Sure, this day marked in your calendars but would any of you like to take bets on whether or not the network will buckle when you have every single iPhone owner sending picture after picture all day long? Don’t be too upset when the person you are sending the image to tells you they have not gotten it yet. That’s more than likely to happen unless AT&T really used this extra time wisely and beefed up their network like they claimed in preparation for the flood gates they are about to open…
Still, according to some of our readers, it seems as if AT&T is currently sending out text messages reminding you of this day that so many of you cherish.
“Picture &video message(MMS) will be available for iphone on 9/25. While we prepare your account for MMS capability, the current ” view my message” experience will be turned off but your ability to send and receive text messages will not be affected.”
How many of you have received this message?
[Thanks for the tip Mike!]
Porn and iPhone, it is out there and every once in a while you may even find porn in there. In an Apple Retail Store on one of the iPhone and iPod Touch demos, that is.
That’s exactly what happened just the other day as a mother found her 10 year old girl mesmerized by some X-rated content on one of the Apple Store demo devices:
“I called to complain and was told matter of factly by staff this happens a lot as people come in and download it for a laugh, I don’t find it funny and all my friends think it’s disgusting, but Apple say there is nothing they can do to stop it.”
Apple does a fantastic job of keeping smut out of iTunes and their App Store, surely they can figure something out for their real-world stores. 
[Via Cult of Mac]
Update: Engadget Mobile just got word from AT&T that the MicroCell and it’s pricing structure are only in “public trial” at the moment in Charlotte, North Carolina. So sit tight folks as AT&T has “no other announcements to make at this time”.
So you say you have horrible AT&T coverage in your home and you are about to leave your beloved carrier? Hold that thought for just one moment as AT&T’s 3G MicroCell website just went live with a launch right around the corner. We all knew this was coming when Apple released the carrier file that added MicroCell support for our iPhones. Unfortunately, unless you have AT&T internet or landline service you must pay more, rumored to be $19.99 a month for unlimited use, to have the service you should already expect to have.
This is a great option for those of you stuck with a garbage signal in your home or office but without a doubt this should be a free solution as you already pay good money for the AT&T service. Even Sprint has been known to give their MicroCell away for free to customers who have no other choice but to ditch the carrier for another because of subpar service. Is it possible for AT&T to be just as forgiving?
If you decide to give this a try please let us know how it goes!
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]
Poor battery life and iPhone are a few words that get mixed together all too often it seems. While some will say it’s fine, others will say it’s pitiful. As many of you know, battery life will fluctuate greatly between users and their individual usage patterns but TiPb wants to provide you with some simple tips and tricks on conditioning your battery to provide a maximum life and squeezing as much usage out of each charge as possible.
The battery in an iPhone is a lithium-based battery which is most common in consumer portable devices. A lithium-ion battery provides 300-500 discharge/charge cycles in its lifetime and the following tips are just a few ways to efficiently gain longer battery lifespans while extending overall battery life of your iPhone.
- Be sure to go through at least one charge cycle per month (charging the battery to 100% and then completely running it down).
- Avoid heat – do not leave your iPhone in a hot car or in direct sunlight.
- Optimization of your settings. Yes, some of these are no brainers but can be effective. Simple things like:
- turning off Location Services,
- turning off Wi-Fi and Bluetooth when not in use,
- fetching new data less frequently,
- setting the brightness of your screen below 50%,
- turning of the EQ while listening to music,
- turning off 3G while not surfing the internet (Yes, we said it…)
All of these add up to better battery life.
After you’ve tried some of the above tips and you are still not happy or your battery life is just horrid all together, you may want to try restoring your iPhone and do not restore from a backup file but rather restore as a new iPhone. All too often we hear about horrible battery life striking many of you after updating your iPhone to the latest software. If this is the case, 9 times out of 10 a separate restore as a new iPhone will clear up your battery issue.
Have some battery saving tips you’d like to share? Leave them in the comments for others to take advantage of!
