iPhone 2.1 firmware on September 9th?

Most news sites have now settled on iTunes 8 being announced at the September 9th special event. The latest rumours are now suggesting iPhone firmware 2.1 will also be released, but with a few unexpected extra’s. No word on what they are, but ArsTechnica are pretty confident there’s something new coming. Could this finally be copy/paste support?

Further leaked images are suggesting the previous iPod Nano images were real,so what else will be announced? Ipod Touch updates are a good bet as are price reductions or capacity boosts on the other models, but Apple is sure to have something that isn’t expected. Although the rumoured subscription service would certainly surprise, knowing Apple there’s something coming that no-one has thought of. News on the Macbook refresh has been absent for a while now, so will this be it? I’m hoping the laptop announcements are made later in the month and there’s something new unveiled.

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iPod Touch version 2 screenshots

For those still trying to get the version 2 software for the iPod Touch, here are some screen shots of the new features I’ve found so far, and a couple I didn’t use much so may not be so new. Post a comment if there’s anything specific you want to see.

iPod Touch Firmware download problems

Today has not been a good day for Apple in the UK. Problems and delays have blighted the launch of the 3G iPhone, with customers leaving Apple stores empty handed. The iPod Touch version 2 software is now linked to from the iPod page, but trying to access it results in the error message below. Not much to do but keep trying until the problems are sorted, more details to follow when the servers start working.

UPDATE After posting the above I tried iTunes again, and it’s now sometimes saying version 2 is available.  Clicking update then learn more still results in an error message, then iTunes says my iPod is up to date. Definitely not the smooth Apple experience we expect.

iJailbreak 0.6

iJailbreak 0.6 has been out for a few days and I finally got time to upgrade my 16Gb iPod Touch to 1.1.4. The recommended method is using an un-jailbroken 1.1.4 device, so I upgraded through iTunes before starting. The process ran smoothly and resulted in a jailbroken 1.1.4 with installer.app added. The only problem I have found so far has been Mail.app crashing at launch, but that was easily fixed with a quick search that found the page here. Changing the permissions on var/mobile/Library/Mail from 755 to 777 sorted that problem. Nothing very different after upgrading, but it’s always good to get the bug fixes, right?

iPhone and iPod touch wallpapers

TUAW has a short article listing some good sources of wallpapers for your iPhone and iTouch. Onlygeeks.com have a nice selection covering lots of categories so well worth a visit. 320by480.com is another site with a large collection, though some don’t look to be optimised for the lock screen. Finally Cloudbase Skylabs have some interesting themes for the lock screen, including themed lock sliders.

Sony Ericsson Xperia X1

There’s another flashy interface sitting on top of Windows Mobile, this time in the guise of the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1. Measuring a reasonable 110 x 53 x 16.7mm the X1 has a sliding keyboard that curves as it slides, a feature Sony Ericsson call an “arc slider”. Internal memory is a cramped 400Mb supported by a Micro SD card slot. Quad-band 3G HSDPA and HSUPA, quad-band GSM/GPRS/Edge, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth with A2DP stereo streaming take care of the communication, and assisted GPS provides navigational duties.

The flashy display appears to be an application launcher much like HTC’s Touch interface rather than a task switcher showing running apps. Depending on how far Sony Ericsson go with this we may still have to wait a while longer to bin the Windows Mobile styli. I’m not totally sold on the styling either. Those buttons are a bit too Nokia Prism for my tastes.

Petition for Free iPod touch apps

Petitiononline has a free iPod touch apps petition that you can sign if you disagree with Apple charging £12.99/$19.99 for the apps that iphone owners get for free. Get everyone you know to sign this one, Apple were shamed into giving $100 back when the iPhone price dropped so it can work.
Also, remember that it’s not just the five apps that are being charged for, but useful features like movable home screen icons and web shortcuts. Consider this a trial of charging for updates.
There’s very mixed opinions on the web about charging for apps given free to iPhone users. The way I see it, you buy a mac and get free updates until the next major version of the OS. This isn’t iPod Touch V2 so why are we being charged? It gets worse when you look at AppleTV V2. A major update, free to current users.
The simple reason for Apple charging for the iPod apps is because it can. The iPhone is still a growing market, so the updates are free. No company yet dominates the market AppleTV is fighting for, Apple wants to grow its market share, so updates are free.
The iPod is dominating the market and doesn’t need any excuse to sell bucketloads, there’s no incentive to increase its appeal to buyers, so updates are not free.
I expect to pay for third party apps when released, as well as Apple added value apps, but this is three widgets, mail and maps. Pretty basic stuff, isn’t it?

Sign up here