All Articles in iPod

The process for jailbreaking an iPhone manually is pretty involved; Apple’s process of securing the iPhone and iPod Touch have made the barrier to entry for installing 3rd party applications on an iPhone much tougher. If you’re looking to jailbreak your iPhone or iPod touch in the hopes of installing other applications or non-Apple-sanctioned ringtones, however, there are now some easier ways to do it.

First, iNdependence has been updated to perform the jailbreak for iPhones running firmware 1.1.1. So if you’ve got a Mac around, there’s now a GUI tool to run your iPhone through the hoops to get it jailbroken. I’ll post up a tool for Windows as soon as I see one, but for now it seems Windows users are stuck with the tough method; iBrickr hasn’t been updated yet but remains the best hope for you.

Second, if you’ve got an iPod Touch, there’s an automatic jailbreak tool that’s available from iPod Touch Hacks that will do it all for you on both mac and windows. Both use the recent TIFF vulnerability.

It looks like Apple might have some web apps of their own that are perhaps going live very soon. Both the Register and the Boy Genius Report indicate that the ‘recent downloads‘ (RSS link) page of Apple’s points to a few iPhone web applications. It unfortunately looks like Apple has wised up, and removed the applications from their feed, but you can at least view the screenshots in all of their glory courtesy of tBGR. Although they’re in Apple’s download RSS feed, all indications point to this web app directory being simple repository for online web apps. That is, not web apps that are run from your iPhone, aka widgets.

I’ve claimed over and over that the iPhone is built to buy things from iTunes. One of the things that we should be able to buy from iTunes is programs. Games, if that’s your thing; mental diversions. I’m glad to report that 9to5mac.com says that it’s coming. Of course, they call it 3rd party development, which is kind of a misnomer. If it requires that a developer sign a contract and get Apple’s blessing just to get the development tools, it’s a lot more like 2nd party development. It would bring the iPhone and iPod Touch to feature parity with the iPod Classic and Nano, so I’m glad to see it, assuming it’s true (which I do).

figure 1: Spore, an example of a 2nd party game that could come to the iPhone

There’s no release date listed, so there’s no way to tell when it will be available. Safe guesses include after Leopard (more on that later this morning) and in January for Macworld 2008. Here’s the expected process of it all:

1. a partner of Apple thinks of an idea for an app. EA, for example, wants to write Spore.
2. EA submits it to Apple in a fancy proposal
3. Apple says “Okay, good idea” and gives EA permission and tools necessary to write Spore.
4. EA writes Spore
5. Apple digitally signs Spore and sells it on iTunes so it can’t be pirated
6. I buy Spore from iTunes or the iTunes Wi-Fi store and never leave the house again

In a nutshell, it’s more or less the same process that was used for earlier versions of iPods, except most of those games were done by Apple in-house. I gotta tell you, I’m sometimes half surprised that Apple doesn’t sell their own programs through iTunes, let alone 2nd party games and apps for the new iPod Touch and iPhone. I suppose that building that infrastructure takes more than 3 months, though; I’ll just have to be patient for it.

Apple’s consistently been providing us with inconsistent information as to whether the iPod Touch has Bluetooth installed or whether it doesn’t. We won’t know for sure until someone does a tear-apart and chip analysis of it, but the software for sure seems to indicate that it could, as referenced by the screenshot of an iPod Touch in diagnostic mode. Note also the awesomeness of the Cereal Number, ambient light sensor, and temperature sensor.

figure 1: the only reason I can think of to include Bluetooth for an iPod that isn’t a phone is for Stereo Bluetooth, or A2DP. That, or wireless syncing. Either would be fine really.

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iTunes WiFi store downloads are very adaptable to the mobile lifestyle, it seems. You can pause and resume them at will, essentially, and if you never resume them, your desktop version of iTunes can download the songs once you sync your iPhone or iPod Touch.

“If you need to turn off iPod touch or leave the area of your Wi-Fi connection, don’t worry about interrupting the download. iPod touch starts the download again the next time iPod touch joins a Wi-Fi network with an Internet connection. Or if you open iTunes on your computer, iTunes completes the download to your iTunes library.”

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If it has no Bluetooth, then it stands to reason that it has no stereo bluetooth either.

iLounge reports that the video out functionality of the new iPods has been restricted — 4G or 5G iPod video out accessories don’t function with the new iPods. If you want video out with them, you need cables that have a special chip inside, like the $49 Apple cables. I wonder if this is the basis of this dock connector exclusivity lockout rumor I heard about a while back.

Why would an iPod Touch need Bluetooth? I mean, the only purpose I can think of offhand for Bluetooth is Stereo Bluetooth (A2DP)… and there’s no way that they’d put stereo bluetooth in just the iPod touch, since that’s not even their “best” iPod, Steve Jobs consistently says that’s the iPhone’s honor… hmmmm.

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I’ve learned why the iPod Touch was snuck through without any leaks to the FCC. The trick of the trade is to certify only the wi-fi chip module that went into the iPod touch. Once that module was certified by the FCC, Apple could put it into whatever device it pleases, as long as that wi-fi module is the only transmitter present. If Apple wanted to add another radio transmitter (such as a Bluetooth chip for stereo Bluetooth / A2DP), they would have to recertify the new device.

Also of note, if Apple is planning a new 3G phone like the rumors say, they will have to recertify the iPhone 3G with the FCC. It’s worth noting that when Apple started testing their iPhone International, nothing new popped up at the FCC.

For me, it’s a 38.5MB update. It includes compatibility with all of the new iPods, and the new ringtone support for the iPhone. It also brings the long-rumored ‘ringtones’ tab to fruition. There’s still no 8th tab, though… maybe we’ll know when our iPhone update comes out.