Archive
JailbreakMe.com for iOS4 (and 3.2) devices
The iPhone Dev Team has announced that jailbreakme.com is now live offering a Safari based jailbreak for iOS4 devices, as well as iPads running 3.2.1. Their blog post states the site will jailbreak iPhones, iPod Touches and iPads so it may work with older software versions but details are a little scarce at the moment.
The screenshots above and below show the simple jailbreaking process on my 3.2.1 iPad which now has Cydia installed as well as the marvelous iFile. Read more…
Camera Connection Kit with iPad and iPhone Review
The main accesory I wanted to buy with my iPad was the camera connection kit. Unfortunately this was sold out in New York, so I tried again on launch day in the UK. When the kit sold out in a couple of hours here it was time to place an order through the Apple online store and wait three weeks like everyone else. I’ve now had the kit for two weeks and can give some thoughts on it’s use.
The camera connection kit comprises two small adaptors that plug into the iPad dock connector, providing an SD card slot and a USB socket.
The intended use for these two items is to transfer photo and video content from your digital camera to the iPad for viewing, storage and subsequent transfer to a computer. The first thing I tested when the kit arrived was its ability to import media from my Panasonic LX3 camera. Jpeg and RAW images preview and copy to the ipad correctly, and the camera’s 720p video is also fully supported. This wasn’t a huge surprise as much has already been written about the functionality of the kit, but being able to copy party video’s quickly to the iPad for immediate viewing was one of those ‘wow’ moments for the guests. Read more…
iPad Jailbreaking and strange fixes
In the name of research my iPad has been jailbroken using the Spirit app. There hasn’t been much of a need for jailbreaking as the settings app sits in the expanded six place iPad dock, and provides much faster access to settings than the iPhone equivalent. SBsettings is now installed on the iPad, but Winterboard currently has some issues on the iPad. Changing the theme on the iPhone makes it look much better, but the iPad supports wallpapers and the apps look way better without any fiddling so the appeal of theming is much reduced.
There’s not much to report on the jailbreak, it’s just as simple as the recent iPhone attempt and results in Cydia on the iPad desktop. There’s a warning in Cydia that not everything works on the iPad yet, and some iPhone software may cause a crash that needs a software restore to fix.
Trying the iPad’s iPod app yesterday resulted in an instant crash that I initially thought may be related to the jailbreak, but posts on the Apple support forum showed the issue is not uncommon. The unlikely fix of launching the Videos app before the iPod app actually worked for me so all is back to normal.
Apple blocks iPhone jailbreaking with modified boot ROM
Anyone looking to buy an iPhone for jailbreaking may be out of luck until a new exploit can be found. iClarified and many other sites are reporting that new (shipping since last week) iPhones have an updated Boot ROM that is no longer vulnerable to the 24kpwn exploit used to jailbreak the 3GS.
Macrumors speculates that the block on jailbreaking may be linked to software piracy on jailbroken iPhones. While there are genuine reasons for jailbreaking and unlocking, the continued piracy of cheap apps isn’t going to help the cause. Ripping off apps that cost only a few dollars/pounds is just hurting the developers that make the iPhone such a great platform.
Jailbreaking iPhone 3.1.2
With the release of the iPhone Dev Team’s PwnageTool 3.1.4 it is now possible to jailbreak everything but the iPod touch 3rd generation on the Macintosh. Blackra1n for Windows is available to jailbreak any 3.1.2 device including the iPod Touch 3rd generation, so your choice is governed by your platform or device.
I tested PwnageTool 3.1.4 this morning and it worked flawlessly with my 3GS. The previous 3.1.3 version for jailbreaking 3.1 had caused me big problems with the phone being unable to connect to the network after installing the modified ipsw. Luckily I had a version 3.0 ECID SHSH on file with Cydia so it was possible (if convoluted) to restore back to 3.0 and try again. Second time round upgrading to the modified 3.1 worked fine, and I have been unable to figure out what went wrong the first time.
Redsn0w 0.8 with iPhone 3GS
The iPhone Dev Team released version 0.8 of Redsn0w recently, adding compatibility with the latest iPhone 3GS hardware running firmware 3.0. I had previously jailbroken my 3GS using purplera1n but couldn’t pass an opportunity to play with the latest method. Below is a video for anyone thinking of trying the jailbreak but unsure of what is involved. It’s fairly straightforward, the only bit that requires manual intervention is putting the iPhone into recovery mode and even that is guided by the app. Another top tool from the iPhone Dev Team, many thanks for their continued work. Click the HD button to go to Vimeo and watch or download the full size version (bottom right corner of the page).
iPhone 3GS jailbreak tested
The iPhone Dev Team have commented in recent blog posts that although they have a working 3GS jailbreak, they are planning to wait for the 3.1 update to be issued before releasing it. Without getting into the politics of the situation, hacker George Hotz has decided to release a beta jailbreak app without waiting for the next software update. Please remember this is a beta release so may do horrible things to your shiny new iPhone. I took the risk since I’m a daring blogger (or an idiot, never quite sure which) Read more…