Themes for the iPhone and iPod

One of my favourite apps on the iPod Touch before installing firmware 2 was Summerboard. Adding themes to this was a great way of easily changing the appearance of the iPod or iPhone’s interface. Unfortunately there doesn’t appear to be a version of Summerboard for firmware 2, but a new app called Winterboard has stepped in to fill the void.

Installer 4 beta screenshots and first impressions

Installer 4 beta is included with the PwnageTool 2.0.2 install, so for those looking to take the plunge here are some screenshots of it in action. I encountered a lot of error message while browsing the available packages (I think this is caused by an icon not being available) so that’s one bug that needs fixing. There aren’t a lot of packages available at the moment so Installer is lagging Cydia for now.

PwnageTool 2.0.2 released with Installer 4 beta

Version 2.0.2 with support for firmware 2.0.1 is now out, and the iPhone Dev Team has a couple of other sources on their blog to help the struggling upgrade servers. I’ve updated my iPod Touch using PwnageTool 2.0.2 and everything appears to be working well. Cydia and Installer are both installed by default, which seems to me like a strange idea. No disrespect to the people writing these apps, but what’s the difference? Do we really need two apps for installing software?

Here’s a gallery of screenshots from PwnageTool 2.0.2

MobileMe 90 day trial – Part 3

If you have read the previous two parts of this series you will notice the title had changed from ‘MobileMe 60 day trial’ to ‘MobileMe 90 day trial’. I now have an extra 30 days of trial as an apology from Apple for the initial problems the MobileMe service experienced. If my current experiences of the service are an indication of its quality Apple will need to give me the next year for free.

My initial problem was with deleting a calendar. In version 1 of the iTouch firmware there was no option to add a new event to a specific calendar. I had created an ‘iPod Touch’ calendar so I could move events from this to the correct destination on the Mac after syncing. Firmware 2 now supports adding an event to a chosen calendar so I don’t need the ‘iPod Touch’ calendar. It was deleted from iCal on the hackintosh, but stayed on the iTouch. No amount of syncing would remove it. Next step was to log into the me.com web service and delete it there. Still no change after that, it’s on the iTouch but nowhere else in the cloud. Not a big problem but a bug that needs to be addressed.

Last night I fired up the Macbook to check some emails, and opened iCal to add a new event. Three of my calendars had vanished, and one was duplicated.

PwnageTool 2.0.1 released

In an amazingly fast update, PwnageTool has been bumped to version 2.0.1. No iPhone 3G unlocking yet, this release concentrates on some of the issues early adopters have found.

I’ve just tested the new release and the previous problem with PwnageTool not getting the iPod Touch into DFU mode appears fixed. The install went smoothly with no errors, Cydia is working fine and has installed the latest package updates. I had the same issue with iPhoto not seeing the iTouch screenshots but as before a reboot fixed that.

Cydia on iPod Touch V2 screenshots

There was a problem getting screenshots off my iTouch in the previous article but this was fixed by a reboot of the hackintosh and iTouch. As promised here are some grabs of Cydia running on the jailbroken iTouch with version 2 firmware. There still seem to be some kinks to iron out of the version 2 PwnageTool so I’ll wait and see how it progresses before attempting the jailbreak again.

Pwnage 2.0 released, screenshots

The iPhone Dev Team has released Pwnage 2.0 for jailbreaking and unlocking 1st gen iPhones, jailbreaking the V2 iTouch and iPhone 3G. Only firmware 2.0 is supported in this version.

I’ve tried unlocking my iTouch this morning with mixed results. The creation of the modified firmware completed with no problems but the process failed when PwnageTool tried getting the iTouch into DFU mode to enable iTunes to restore the new firmware. iTunes wouldn’t install the firmware when I manually put the iTouch into DFU mode. I eventually got around that by starting with the iTouch in DFU mode, coming out of it and going back in when the PwnageTool prompted. Following the PwnageTool instructions got the iTouch into a state where iTunes could restore the new firmware. Other users have reported success starting the process with the iDevice disconnected, and connecting when prompted to enter DFU mode.

Why iPod touch location awareness sucks

One of the best features of the iPhone is its location awareness. Using Cell tower/WiFi proximity and now GPS with the iPhone 3G, it knows where it is and can use this information in a growing number of location aware applications. In theory the iPod Touch can do the same using only wireless access point data, but unless you live in a city the service is pretty hit and miss. I live in a reasonably sized UK town and my iTouch can’t tell where it is.

Virus protection for the iPhone: Why?

There’s been a growing trend recently to question the behaviour of antivirus software vendors, who’s scaremongering tactics say you must buy their latest product or meet a certain silicon doom. The corporate antivirus market is a far calmer and sensible place, where the product must protect the machine and disrupt the user as little as possible. Contrast this with the domestic market where products have to add new features every year to persuade you to upgrade, and remind you those features are helping.

MobileMe 60 day trial – part 2

Part 1 detailed the initial setup of a MobileMe 60 day trial, and the issues I encountered with logging into the web account. The update at the end of part 1 explained that syncing had become more consistent with contacts, calendar items and bookmarks syncing across my hackintosh, macbook and iTouch. The problem with speed delays has now been explained, with several sites detailing Apple support document TS1155, ‘MobileMe Push: About automatic syncing’. From the article:

Selecting Automatic in Mac OS X allows your computer to immediately sync and update when there are any changes on the MobileMe servers.  Those changes can come from your iPhone, iPod touch, the MobileMe website, or another computer.  Changes made on your computer will be synced to the MobileMe “cloud” once every 15 minutes (or every hour in Mac OS X 10.4.11).