There are some reports that some folks are finding that the 1.1.1 firmware update for the iPhone has been pulled from Apple, and that the most recent version of iTunes is now reporting 1.0.2 as the most recent version. And if they haven’t, maybe they should.
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Well, the first major update is out. It brings some cosmetic changes to the iPhone, and fixes a few glaring issues. The ability to purchase tracks on iTunes is great, and I can see iTunes going a long way with this. For example, if Apple could get radio stations to have some sort of standardized ‘now playing’ list in exchange for money or shared revenue or something, perhaps one could buy a song that one heard on the radio and liked. That would be a much more dramatic tie-in than say, Starbucks.
The other major niggle fixed by this update is the ability to set different alert sounds for text messages, and linked alert sounds to the overal ringer volume. In other words, incoming text messages and calendar alerts now have a chance of actually grabbing my attention. Apple added ‘chime’, ‘glass’, ‘horn’, ‘bell’, and ‘electronic’. Needless to say, I’d rather be able to buy a ringtone and assign it; there’s got to be some sound effect CDs in their iTunes Music section, or maybe some gong sound at the beginning of a song or something, but the selection of alert sounds and ability to change their volume is a welcome change. You know, like someone pulling a splinter out of your arm. I’d like to go on record to state that this update is also better than a poke in the eye.
Still, there are things I was hoping for in the update that aren’t here yet. There’s still no To-Do functionality, still no Stereo Bluetooth, still no OBEX Bluetooth. There’s no Notes sync, no SDK or Widgets support (unless Apple’s hiding it for a later surprise). Apple still has a long way to go with their iPhone software, and if this update is an indication, there will be many many months before me and pure bliss.
In all though, I wouldn’t change the scores I gave to the iPhone when I first reviewed it. As a quick recap, I gave it 7/10 if you’re coming from the smartphone world, 9/10 if you’re coming from the featurephone world. The lack of ringtones and alert messages were major flaws, to be sure. But the lack of installable applications, games, To-Do lists, editable office documents (Notes still doesn’t cut it; who can write anything major in Marker Felt?), Stereo Bluetooth, ObEx, USB Mass Storage, eBook reader, cut and paste, Exchange, no multiple recipient SMS, no AIM or other instant messaging, no video record, no wireless sync….
I have two iPhones, one that I’ve been keeping “clean and pristine,” and that’s the iPhone that I use most of the time. I do have another iPhone though, that I have done all manner of hacking and installing apps and the like. If, like me, you have an iPhone that you’d rather keep on version 1.0.2, it’s easy to select older versions of the firmware when you restore the iPhone:
- On a mac, hold down the “option” key while clicking on the “restore” button. Then you can select the firmware file you want, just look for the file named iPhone1,11.0.21C28_Restore.ipsw, it should be in your home folder under Library/iTunes/iPhone Software Update.
- On a Windows PC, hold down the “shift” key while clicking on the “restore” button. Then select the firmware version you want — you should be able to find it if you’ve restored 1.0.2 before by searching for all files and folders and looking for *restore.ipsw
Along with the official changes of yesterday’s update, there are some unofficial changes that aren’t good enough to make a bullet point on Apple’s list. Which is weird, because some of these are huge.
- You can now select different alerts for incoming messages:
Settings -> Sounds -> New Text Message -> choice of:
Tri-Tone (default), Chime, Glass, Horn, Bell, Electronic - International keys are available by holding down the letter key.
- The iPhone mail application supports MP3 and .wav Attachments
- includes the closed captioning abilities promised
- enables a debug console for MobileSafari for web developers to find errors on their pages:
Settings -> Safari -> Developer -> Debug Console [on/off] - breaks every 3rd party jailbreak — the iPhoneDevWiki team will have to reverse-engineer the iPhone all over again
- since the iPhone can’t be jailbroken, there is no way to get 3rd party ringtones on the iPhone.
And just for the sake of posterity, after the break there’s a readable version of Apple’s list of official changes.
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The iPhone Dev Team, the same folks that have set the stage for 3rd party applications and more recently, the free iPhone unlock methods, released a statement via Erica Sadun of TUAW about Apple’s positioning on the iPhone unlock and the possible bricking of iPhones. Their statement is to wait to install the patch if you’ve unlocked your iPhone; if you really need the update, they have a tool in the works that will restore your iPhone to its factory condition. The ‘restore-to-factory-condition’ tool would be useful for anyone that wanted to sell their iPhone and be assured that there’s no personal information on the iPhone. The text of their statement is reproduced below:
9/25 Statement from the iPhone unlockers
Based on download numbers, the iPhone Dev Team believes that, worldwide, several hundred thousand people have unlocked their iPhones. That number continues growing every day. The removal of the lock, a bug, was a major step forward in the iPhone development. It made the iPhone free and useful to anyone, not only to those in certain countries.
Apple now announces that the next firmware update, expected later this week, will possibly break the handset of all of us free users in the World. It speaks of “damage” done to the firmware and “unauthorized access” to our own property, The removal of those firmware problems, which were built in in favor for AT&T, does not cause “damage” as they want to make us believe.
We will provide you with a tool in the next week which will be able to recover your nck counter and seczones and even enables you to restore your phone to a Factory-like state.
In the meantime we advise you not to update your free iPhone with the upcoming firmware. Wait for the next version to be fixed to work properly with your carrier and not break your phone.
figure 1: A screenshot of the 1.1.1 firmware from the rebate site. I think Apple used to be better at keeping stuff like this secret.
Apple said a firmware update was coming during their “the Beat Goes On” media event on September 5th, and it looks like they’ve posted pictures of it on their Early Adopter credit site. Our current firmware version is 1.0.2, and the link shown gives a version number of 1.1.1. This is kind of curious from a versioning number standpoint, usually companies release 1.1 or 1.1.0 before they release 1.1.1, but perhaps one of Apple’s release candidates failed.
I imagine that speculation will run rampant as to what Apple will ship in this update, but I think it’s safe to assume that we’ll get some updates to the home button (perhaps the iPod touch media controls), since there’s a new ‘Home’ section in the General settings. There’s also a tantalizing ‘International’ tab. Whether that will be support for the international networks or preferences to avoid crazy international roaming charges, I don’t know. I think that odds are good that it will be support for other international carriers, since AT&T likes them their roaming charges. It’s also plausible that the ‘International’ tab simply brings international keyboard support.
We’ll likely know for sure on or by the 18th. As to when we’ll see the update in iTunes, we’ll see the update on any given Tuesday.
The arrival of iTunes 7.4 brings a few troubles to the plate for anyone that has hacked their iPhone (it’s safe to assume that there will be similar troubles for every new iTunes version). Some users report the inability to perform jailbreak. Other users report that iTunes has broken their custom ringtones (see also here). Fret not, though.
- Ambrosia Software promises an iToner update to get their ringtones working again
- EFKSoft promises an iPhoneRingToneMaker update to get their ringtones working again
- iPhoneAlley, makers of iFuntastic, are entirely silent on the matter
Some people have reported issues performing jailbreak. Apparently the short-term fixes are to perform jailbreak with either the 3.0 version of AppTapp Installer.app, or to use the new OSX App iNdependence, a GUI application for jailbreak, activation, SSH, and ringtone / wallpaper / application installation. I’ll post an update for Windows h4×0rz as soon as I find one that’s confirmed to work with iTunes 7.4, but I’ll wager that iBrickr will win this race.
Holy smokes! Apple has put a $200 price cut on the 8 GB iPhone, and dropped the 4GB version altogether. That’s right, the 8GB iPhone is now $399. Where do I line up for my $200 check? I’m equal parts filled with rage for paying a $200 early adopter fee, and equal parts filled with glee for a $200 price cut. I’m glad that it makes the iPhone that much more accessible for everyone else. I just feel a little sore when I sit, that’s all.
I have colleagues that believe the price cut is a portent of a hardware refresh. I have a hard time believing Apple would refresh their iPhone hardware so soon after launch, but I should float the idea out as speculation. I believe a 3G version is possible, perhaps in the 1st or 2nd quarter of 2008. The part of me that hopes I’m wrong is the part of me that wants my iPhone to be new forever. Sigh
There’s an iTunes update tonight that will bring Ringtones support. For a select portion of their music catalog (about 500,000 songs altogether, or 8% of the songs available on iTunes), you can make a ringtone if you’ve already purchased the song. All in all, the song to play on the iPod and the song to play as a ringtone is $1.98. Song portion: $.99, same as always. Ringtone: $.99. I think the extra fee is for the ‘public performance’ licensing aspect of ringtones. It will be interesting to see if the iTunes update breaks iToner, iFuntastic, or the indomitable iPhoneRingtoneMaker. Let’s hope not.
The iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store will come to the iPhone in an update later this month. Look for it on a Tuesday afternoon this month, I’d bet. You will be able to purchase any music from the iTunes store and download it via wi-fi. I doubt you will be able to purchase it via EDGE. After all, it’s not the iTunes Wireless Music Store. Why not, though? It’s easier to say, and less cumbersome to type.
The iTunes Wi-Fi Music store will also be available from a bunch of Starbucks in most areas by 2009. The Starbucks in the larger top-ten cities in the US will get the update treatment first, and Starbucks figures they’ll have “most major metro areas” by late 2008. Um, I could rollout a storewide wi-fi network faster than that.
In other iPod news, Steve announced the iPod sister to the iPhone, the iPhone touch (8GB for $299 and 16GB is $399), to be available later this month. It’s slightly smaller, you’ll note from the picture above, and its application functionality has obviously not been totally disclosed. Notably missing from the iPod Touch thus far is a notes app and a maps app…. Hmmm.
The iPod, newly rechristened the iPod Classic, saw updates bringing a new, drastically thinner 80GB version ($249) and a thinner-than-the-previously-thickest 80GB version is the 160 GB version ($349).
The new iPod Nano, regarded by many as an ugly duckling, gets the full iPod treatment. It gains a video-quality screen, and is available in 4GB ($149) and 8GB ($199) versions, and it still works with the Nike+iPod sport kit. As you can see in the picture from Apple’s website above, it’s a little wee thing, absolutely tiny.
Huh. Apple’s iPod lineup looks like a steamroller right now. The Zune, Creative Zen, Sony Walkman line, et al, all look like bumpy roads waiting to be flattened this holiday season.
Apple has posted their first update to the iPhone. As has been expected, it’s a patch for the security issues mentioned previously, though there are five vulnerabilities patched in all. Apple’s security note is posted. You can download the patch via iTunes; the iPhone software will be at version 1.01 when all is finished. If you’ve hacked your iPhone, it’s probably worthwhile to restore, update, and then re-hack. It’s also probably worthwhile to figure out what iTunes doesn’t sync over, as you’re going to lose that data. [via, via]
I will try it out "
