Articles by Jeremy Sikora

Today on the forums be sure to help burgman make a decision, 8GB iPhone or 16GB iPhone? My take on that is the more the merrier. With my first iPhone I made the mistake of going with the 8GB only to find out that I wanted more! Chime in on that thread and help a fellow member out!

Next up is ExBBuser, and he wants to know is the iPhone your only mobile device? Lately I’ve been trying numerous devices to go along with the iPhone. You name it - Treo Pro [Sorry Dieter!], Blackberry Bold [Sorry Kevin! Does not hold a candle to Apple's gem!], etc… Each and every time I seem to find my home back at my iPhone 3G. What are your thoughts?

Johnny Football Hero started a thread asking if the Blackberry Storm is an iPhone Killer? If you are like me you are probably sick of hearing about all of these so called “iPhone Killers”. My quick answer? No chance… Wanna discuss it further head over to the thread and we will chat.

So there you have it folks, join our growing community to get in on the action!

See you on the forums!

Now does this really come as a surprise to anyone out there? Well it comes as no surprise for all of us here at TiPb that the Dev Team has jailbroken the latest 2.2 firmware beta released by Apple to developers. Not too shabby, and it should make all of you out there happy to know that the wait to jailbreak the 2.2 firmware will not be long! Short and painless. Now remember this is a beta right now so Apple may make some changes that can toss a wrench into the Dev Team’s work but seriously how long would that slow them down? A day or two? Props to the Dev Team, they have yet to let us down.

For all of your jailbreaking needs be sure to check out our dedicated forums on that particular topic, iPhone Jailbreak Central and iPhone Jailbreak Apps.

{Via iPhone-dev.org]

Back in September, TiPb posted a few articles in regards to Apple becoming a major player in the hand held gaming wars. We faced off the iPhone against Sony’s PSP and Nintendo’s DS.

The main question to be answered is should Sony and Nintendo be worried? I’d say yes, indeed they should be worried. Business Week seems to feel the same way as well. Some of their points are right on key with what we had to say back in September (see the articles linked above). While that is no doubt a coincidence, here is what they had to say:

Now look at Apple’s advantages over competitors. Apple already has more titles for its games than both of the other two combined. And aside from the free ones, games on the App Store sell at prices ranging up to $9.99 and sometimes a little more. Compare that with the $20 to $40 for Nintendo DS games and the $10 to $40 for games on the PSP.

Fully agrees with what we said, doesn’t it? How about this one?

And with Apple selling via iTunes, there are no costs associated with the distribution of physical media. All games are downloaded directly to the device. And in the event the game is buggy, the developer can easily issue an easy-to-download fix. The developer gets 70% of the sale and Apple keeps 30%, with no one else to get in the middle. Nintendo and Sony partners have to worry about shelf space at stores, shipping, returns, defective merchandise, and even the occasional shoplifter.

Also a good point that we stressed a few months back. With the holiday season fast approaching, it should be mighty interesting to see just how the hand held gaming wars works out.

For more gaming coverage from TiPb be sure to check out these articles.

(Via Business Week)

What a bizarre turn of events we have here… It seems that everyone who has a new Macbook, Macbook Pr, or Macbook Air and wants to jailbreak there iPhone is in for a surprise. You will be unable to do so. New Macbook owners will notice an iPhone or iPod Touch will not be detected when it is booted into DFU mode, which we all know is key for jailbreaking.

At first I thought that Apple had to make some sort of hardware change within their new Macbooks. Then Dieter politely gave me the version of iTunes running on his new Macbook, 8.0.1 (12). Now the version that everyone else has on their older Macs is version 8.0.1 (11). Very interesting. If it’s a simple software change that would only slow down the Dev Team for a few days until a new work-around is found.

Now keep in mind this is not the first attempt by Apple to slow down jailbreaking. A few months back they attempted a counter strike when firmware 2.1 dropped, only to have the Dev Team find a solutions merely days later.

On a side note, I’ve seen a lot of people having issues with jailbreaking lately, please keep in mind if you do not have a new Macbook, you still can jailbreak. There was a rumor going around on the forums with members concerned they can not jailbreak. This is simply not true.

(Thanks to Landon for the tip!)

[Note: Anyone not using a new Macbook, but looking for help Jailbreaking, check out Jeremy's awesome guides for Mac, Windows, and iPhone 2G, and if you need extra help, drop by our Jailbreak Forum! - Rene]

November 4th is only one day away, and it’s time for you to get out and vote. And if voting for the next President of the United States is not enough, head on into our forums over and get your vote on… TiPb style!

I am not one to complain but… I will admit there are some things that I would like Apple to add and change with the iPhone. Then again, there is not a single device out there that is perfect. That just does not exist. None the less, you have to give Apple credit for giving us frequent firmware updates to improve the phone. (Ask a Palm OS user how often they would receive major updates…) So what exactly are you looking for Apple to add to the iPhone in the next firmware release?

Is your iPhone getting old and boring? Or are you so in love with your phone that there is nothing that would separate you? What would it take for you to leave the iPhone and move onto something else?

How has your reception been lately with your iPhone 3G? Who really is to blame for the reception issues that you may be experiencing right now? Well head on over and let us know if you think it’s Apple or AT&T!

Next up, we have a thread from forum member Dizzy, he’s having a little problem with his iPhone 3G USB cable tearing. Anyone else have a cable that is tearing? None of us here at TiPb have had that happen. Hopefully it stays that way!

Last but not least, here is a thread that revolves around the iPhone and gaming. The most wanted killer iPhone game is…? You decide on this one. What would a sure fire hit for Apple and the iPhone? Let us know!

In order to vote for the next President of the United States, you had to register… well you have to register here as well! It’s fast, simple, and can be done right here!

See you on the forums!

Since our last Apps for Less post, price drops worth mentioning have been far and few between. Well today we finally have a notable mention for you. Especially if you are a fan of IM clients…

Today is the final day to get the best IM application available on the iPhone, BeejiveIM (iTunes Link), on sale for $3.00 off the normal price for $12.99. While that is still not the price you’d like to pick it up at, it’s better than the normal price of $15.99. So if you were waiting for a price drop be sure to head into the App Store today!

Once again, the sale ends TODAY! This is the IM client to get, you get what you pay for and you won’t be disappointed with this app. And if you are still on the fence, be sure to check out Dieter’s first look and Casey’s BeeJive vs. Palringo review showdown.

(Thanks to Mr. Hi-Definition for the tip!)

For most of us today, email is a major part of our lives. Whether it be for business or personal reasons, one thing we all look for in an email service, especially if we are paying for it, is reliability. So what if you’re not having the best of luck with Apple’s MobileMe service or any other IMAP alternatives? Maybe it’s time to consider a hosted Exchange account. Not familiar with Exchange? Then be sure to check out Rene’s excellent article from a while back, Walkthrough: Exchange ActiveSync On Your iPhone 2.0. That article can give you a great understanding of exactly how Exchange works on the iPhone.

Don’t have a corporate solution or your very own Exchange server, though? No problem! I’m going to be giving you some very reliable hosted Exchange services as well as some tips on getting it up and running for the flawless email you have been seeking!

More after the jump! Read the rest of this entry »

A few days back we mentioned how a developer claimed that his lighter application was blatantly ripped off by the lighter company Zippo. As you all know, there are always two sides to every story, eh… in this case 3 sides. Well TiPb received comments not only from Zippo but from Moderati as well.

Here is what Zippo had to say:

Zippo was approached by three different companies interested in developing our branded app for iPhone and the iPod touch at approximately the same time last summer. We evaluated each proposal and chose to pursue the opportunity with the partner that we determined to offer the best app, the best capability and that also shared our vision for the app’s distribution plan (including free download) and process. We’re confident that we partnered with the company, Moderati, that was best able to deliver the product that Zippo wanted. To make it clear, neither Zippo nor Moderati stole the idea for this app.

Shortly after I was contacted by Zippo I received a comment from Moderati as well:

Hi from Moderati - where we’ve been developing virtual concert lighters for mobile phones for a long time…in fact, check out this link in Wireless Week from 2005, when the iPhone was probably just a twinkle in Apple’s eye: http://www.wirelessweek.com/wallpapers-with-a-purpose.aspx

So there you have it folks. We now have 3 sides to this story. Who’s side will you be standing on?

Did you think we forgot all of you on 1st generation iPhones? Well we here at TiPb have not forgotten any of you! If you have been craving true GPS for you iPhone well here is your chance to grab it while you can.

OrangeGadgets is on the brink of releasing an add on GPS module for the iPhone, the iGPS360. This is excellent news for all of you with 1st generation iPhones… what’s the catch you ask? I’m glad you asked… you have to jailbreak your device for it to work. The reason for this is that Apple has not allowed any 3rd party access to the operating system via the dock connector. So jailbreaking is the only way.

The iGPS360 is now available to order for $75.00. For that price you will also receive a 6ft USB-A to micro USB-B cable for on-the-go or at home charging. According to their website the module begins shipping today. Keep in mind, they are only producing 1000 of these units so if you want GPS, act fast!

[Via Buymeaniphone.com]

Back in August AT&T sent out a customer satisfaction survey to all iPhone owners. Well now it seems a new survey is being sent out to all of us on the AT&T network asking how the 2.1 firmware is working for us and what we want to see next on your iPhone 3G.

Now don’t get too excited yet! Just because they are asking what we want does not necessarily mean we will get it. Keep in mind Apple has stated before that certain features such as copy/paste and directional GPS take a back seat to other issues that need addressing so on and so forth. But it is better than AT&T and Apple flat out ignoring us right? So at least it is a start.

Apple Insider states:

The questionnaire asks owners to pick the top five hardware or software add-ons they’d like to see and include many of the most prominent requests made in the community, including cutting and pasting text, built-in instant messaging, Flash/Java support and MMS messaging.

So when and if you get this survey, be sure to speak your mind and let AT&T what know what you want. This is our chance… they seem to be listening. (Or at least they are pretending to be!)

[Via Appleinsider]