All Articles Tagged firmware

While most of us have installed the 2.0.1 update (or, ahem, are still waiting for a backup we started last night to finish so we can install it), there’s a key group of folks that should stay away: Jailbreakers and unlockers. As is always the case when a new update comes out, our advice to these users is to wait and see how the iPhone hacking community responds. Right now, according to iphone-dev [via Engadget Mobile], they appear to be responding with a teensy bit of bravado:

We don’t see any major problems with the release that Apple made, but we have not released an update for PwnageTool for it as yet and therefore PwnageTool 2.0.1 will currently not work!

Their advice is pretty sound and mirrors ours: if you never intend on leaving your carrier, feel free to update away whenever if you don’t mind losing jailbroken apps. If you do (or already have), stay the heck away from updates until things clear up.

What about you? Are you law-abiding and currently enjoying a bug-free existence? Jailbreaker glancing longingly at 2.0.1’s reportedly better keyboard response? Unlocker living on the periphery of the cell phone ‘Verse, staring into the black and in danger of becoming a Reaver? Let us know!

One of the most important aspects of the iPhone is how it’s breathed the air of change into long stodgy, backwards thinking mobile cellular providers. We can argue whether its been less effective post iPhone 3G where subsidies have returned, but either way Apple fairly neatly removed the carrier middleman from its usual intrusive position in the smartphone space. App Store is clearly the crowning example thus far, but frequent firmware updates is sometimes likewise cited.

On the latest This Week in Tech (TWiT) podcast, however, Digg founder Kevin Rose credited an unnamed source inside Apple as saying AT&T had to approve the next iPhone firmware update. Of course, Rose has been, er… somewhat less than accurate in regards to iPhone news in the past (including his reports that the iPhone 3G would have video iChat). In his corner this time, however, are server logs showing iPhone 2.0.1 traffic on popular Apple news sites originating from both Cupertino and AT&T HQ regions.

Has AT&T always played a role in firmware testing or is this a new factor in a post 3G world? If it’s new, will it make 2.x updates take longer than 1.x did? And do international carriers like 02, T-Mobile, Vodafone, Rogers, Orange, etc. all have similar advanced testing privileges? If so, will 22+ (70+ eventually) carriers wanting to test new firmware result in huge delays or staggered launches? Or is this just another well Dugg tempest in a Royal Jasmine teapot?

On a side note, the same episode of TWiT saw the crankiest of geeks, John C. Dvorak “dot org slash blog” claim that one particularly damaging rumor circulating about Steve Jobs current health was deliberately and maliciously spread at an exclusive CEO gathering by an as-yet unnamed but well known executive with a personal grudge against Jobs and Apple. Dvorak maintains the rumor, which recent reports have indicated is false, was spread to other CEOs who then propagated it, adding to the confusion and downward pressure on Apple’s stock. If he can get a second anonymous confirmation on the story, Dvorak claims he will name names in his Marketwatch column.

As a huge fan of Karma, that should make for an interesting day, and likely more than a “slime bucket” response from El Jobso.

iPhone firmware 2.0 was detailed in WWDC with some rumored features finally seeing the day of light. Features include:

• iWork and Office document viewing
• Save images from E-Mail directly to photo library
• Contact Search
• E-Mail/SMS Bulk Delete & Move
• Scientific Calculator when switched to Landscape Mode in Calculator
• Support for a TON of languages including Chinese, Japanese

On top of those features, Jobs detailed enterprise support for mass distribution of apps (up to 100 authorized iPhones) and also unveiled a new push notification system for apps that would use it (such as IM clients).

Firmware 2.0 will be available for iPhone users come ‘Early July’ for free and for iPod Touch users at a reduced fee (compared to the last update) of $9.95.

First up, Engadget reportedly got their techie mitts on a leaked version of the iPhone’s (final?) 2.0 firmware and are kind enough to share the following juice details:

Infineon PMB6952 / S-GOLD3 six-band UMTS / HSDPA transceiver (as we’d heard)

• Murata LMRX3JCA-479 tri-band amplifier (we’re assuming for the 3G)
• Sony SP9T antenna switch for GSM / UMTS dual mode
• ARM 1176JZF-S - Main CPU (same as in 1st gen iPhone)
• Skyworks 77427 chip - UMTS / HSDPA tx 1900MHz, rx 2100MHz
• Skyworks 77414 chip - UMTS / HSDPA 1900MHz
• Skyworks 77413 chip - UMTS / HSDPA 850MHz
• Internal build model number: n82ap (1st gen iPhone was model m68ap)
• UMTS Power Saving option - on or off
• Hooks for Global Locate Library (GLL), software that handles A-GPS related commands for the host processor

No processor speed bump is a downer, as everything from video size to MobileSafari rendering speeds are CPU bound tasks. Am I saying bye-bye to my 720p 480p dreams? And will Webkits spiffy new SquirrelFish Javascript engine make up for at least some of this (if it’s included, come showtime?)

Next is word from Ars Technica that Apple Stores have received “secret” shipments and new display signs under strict orders (and lock and key!) not to be opened until D… er… WWDC day. Whatever it is Apple’s announcing tomorrow, ladies and gentlemen, it just may be in the building…

Monday we asked you “What’s the iPhone 3G Chip and When Will it Ship?“. Tuesday it was “What is the iPhone 3G Going to Look Like?“. Today we want to know what YOU think the iPhone 2.0 software and services are going to give us, and what surprises might they have in store?

Exchange ActiveSync and the AppStore are gimmes. Enterprise features are checked. Beta leaks are everywhere. And .Mac to Mobile Me — Don’t get us started! But what else will we get? MMS? Blogging? Mobile iChat? Universal home remote control? And what about the Holy Grail… cut and paste?! What do YOU think?

To give you some help, here’s a HUGE roundup of all the iPhone 2.0 software and services rumors. Epic-style. Because let’s face it, roughly 0.01 seconds after Steve Jobs pulled the first iPhone from his pocket back at Macworld 2007, and someone, somewhere, put aside their childlike sense of wonder long enough think: “Nice! What’s the next gen going to be like?”

Complementary, contradictory, obvious, confusing, all but confirmed or from left field via outer space, the rumors have flooded the internet ever since. It’s become almost impossible to keep track of them all.

Five days from today Steve Jobs takes Moscone Center stage for the sold-out WWDC keynote, and according to everyone and their newsfeed, announces the iPhone 3G. In eager anticipation, every day this week, TiPb wil be asking you to tell us what you think the next generation iPhone will be, from 3G to GPS, release dates to price points, colors to casings, 2.0 software to .Mac .Me services, and this weekend we’ll wrap it all up with a look into the WWDC/iPhone 3G Crystal Ball, and a roundup of the very best of YOUR predictions.

So come on, let’s get in on!

Read the rest of this entry »

So either Gear Live somehow managed to snag a leaked version of 1.1.3 or they’ve perpetrated perhaps the greatest “gotcha” in recent memory. Probably the former, as it’s looking more and more like 1.1.3 is the real deal. So what’s coming (and what’s likely to get a mention at MacWorld) is pretty neat:

• Ability to add bookmarks to the SpringBoard (homescreen)
• Ability to rearrange programs via the nausea-inducing “jiggle mode”
• Ability to (finally!) send SMSs to multiple people
• Google Maps gains the neat tower-triangulation Tower Tagging* location trick, plus a hybrid satellite/map directions

Of course, there are some things that we figured would be easy adds that a missing - namely Stereo Bluetooth support. Still and all, it looks like a decent enough upgrade and it’s clearly a step towards getting the iPhone ready for that upcoming SDK. As for when the rest of us will get to take this 1.1.3 step, that’s still shrouded in mystery.

*Edit: not triangulation, but ‘tagging.’ See comment by Archie (and septimus, in a minute). Thanks!

Apple has confirmed to pocket-lint.co.uk that the next firmware update, version 1.1.2, will be available tomorrow. The update brings several internationally-themed updates like international keyboards. UK users also get access to free wi-fi via The Cloud.

This update will fix the TIFF vulnerability, meaning that users can browse a bit safer. However, the closing of this security vulnerability means that the extremely easy AppSnapp method of installing 3rd party apps found at jailbreakme.com will cease to work.