The iPhone thread

Originally Posted by Frank

Hell yeah. Jailbroke mine the first day I got it and never looked back. Waaaay better than my old BlackBerry Curve. Takes about 5 minutes to do. What do you want to know?

Speaking of iPhones, we should get an iPhone theme for the forum...Paul??

I suppose the most important questions are, which is the most reliable method, and how well do unlocked phones cope with any software updates Apple may send them? Are Apple deliberately trying to cripple unlocked phones? It's an awfully expensive piece of kit to get bricked, if it all goes wrong ...

[Shaun]

Originally Posted by Matt D

Or let you sync with Google Calendar seeing as you can sync with Google Contacts.

You can - and although it looks like a faff to set up it's a once only 5 min for full sync with google calender.

I find it really useful. ;-)

http://www.ianfernando.com/2008/sync...ith-iphone-3g/

[Tezcatlipoca]

Ah, cheers for that - I may give it a go

-----

I've not tried too many apps yet.

So far, I've installed...

Facebook

Google

Flixster Movies



The Facebook app is very good. The Google app seems OK, although I'm not sure quite how useful it is when you can simply open up Google Maps for location stuff, or Google search via Safari, etc. Maybe I'm missing something.


Flixter Movies is very good. Uses the "My Location" GPS (or postcode) to list your nearest cinemas. You can select favourite cinemas, view listings, view cinema address & phone info, etc. Also lets you watch trailers. Handy if you're out & want to check what's on.

What are people's favourite or most used apps?

[piggy]

running the jailbreak on your iphone, is that not the same as using a dodgy stb for tv services? or is it ok because its apple?

[Tezcatlipoca]

Originally Posted by piggy

running the jailbreak on your iphone, is that not the same as using a dodgy stb for tv services? or is it ok because its apple?

I don't see how it's the same?

One involves obtaining TV services without paying for them, the other involves being able to install the applications of your *choice* and use the network provider of your *choice* - you're not obtaining anything without paying what you should do.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jailbreak_(iPhone)

[piggy]

Originally Posted by Matt D

I don't see how it's the same?

One involves obtaining TV services without paying for them, the other involves being able to install the applications of your *choice* and use the network provider of your *choice* - you're not obtaining anything without paying what you should do.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jailbreak_(iPhone)

of course i like your simplistic view being able to run and download all apps for nothing is just a bonus (i use a itouch). what im getting at is, it is of course as dodgy as hell but because it suits people on here it gets tolerated.
why should you be able to use "your" operator of choice when 02 have paid apple for the licence, is it not the same to let customers use there dreambox of choice for tv reception?

[Tezcatlipoca]

Why should you have to be restricted to only using apps from the App Store via iTunes? What's wrong with being able to use loads of other freeware software like you can with other smartphone platforms? I could install what I wanted - freeware & paid - with my old smartphones running Symbian UIQ / Windows Mobile / Symbian S60, so why not with the iPhone

I don't have a problem with the O2 restriction for contract iPhones, as they're subsidised quite a bit, so Apple & O2 are actually following the traditional model there for the UK & European mobile market - cheap phone, locked to a certain network.


But if you pay the full price for a PAYG iPhone, why should you be restricted to O2?

If you buy any other phone outright, you are not locked to a specific network, so why are you with the iPhone?

What if, like Chris, you want an iPhone, and are willing to pay full price for an iPhone, but you don't actually have any O2 reception? Or what if you do, but you simply want to choose a different network due to getting a better tariff?

How is that fair or competitive?

Was worse with the original iPhone, as that wasn't even subsidised on contract IIRC, so you had to pay for the whole thing yourself & still be stuck with O2 whether you went contract or PAYG.


The TV analogy doesn't work IMO -

If you use a dodgy STB, rather than an official VM supplied STB, you are still connecting to the VM cable TV network and are still obtaining VM cable TV services without paying for them.

With a Jailbroken iPhone containing e.g. a T-Mobile SIM, you are not even using the O2 mobile network, let alone using the O2 mobile network without paying. It's not the same...


However, having said all that, I've not Jailbroken mine & am quite happy to be stuck back with O2. Was with them for years, since BT Cellnet & Genie, before regretfully ditching them for T-Mobile in 2007. Much prefer O2 to my last network, and I don't want to screw up the warranty on my nice shiny new phone.

Still, if Apple would allow the iPhone to do various things such as MMS, copy & paste, video recording, Bluetooth file transfer, Bluetooth A2DP, and other features which I always assumed to be rather standard things, then perhaps it would at least lessen part of the demand for Jailbreaking (running non-Apple apps).

[Frank]

Originally Posted by Chris

I suppose the most important questions are, which is the most reliable method, and how well do unlocked phones cope with any software updates Apple may send them? Are Apple deliberately trying to cripple unlocked phones? It's an awfully expensive piece of kit to get bricked, if it all goes wrong ...

Well I used QuickPwn on windows, although there is MAC jailbreak software too.

http://www.iphonehacks.com/2009/01/jailbreak3g-win.html

It is really simple, you just sync you phone with iTunes, load up QuickPwn, and follow the on screen instructions. 5 mins, including rebooting. Literally.

Software updates... well the phone works fine with application updates, from Cydia (non iTunes software) and AppStore software. Actual phone software updates...if you update using iTunes then all non-AppStore software get's wiped off - i.e. the phone gets returned to 'Apple' state and that is it. The phone is only updated by the user through iTunes, and is not sent as an update. Alternatively, you can wait for a new version of QuickPwn which works with the newest iPhone firmware version. What happens is Apple releases a new update, and then a few days/weeks later QuickPwn is updated to jailbreak that version of iPhone software. You then download the firmware image, open QuickPwn which modifies/jealbreaks the image, and then updates your phone.

Plus once you Jailbreak you can install themes

Originally Posted by Matt D

I've not tried too many apps yet.

So far, I've installed...

Facebook

Google

Flixster Movies

All good Apps. Try:

• AppSniper - awesome for getting deals on Apps, run this every day
• TwitterFon - Twitter client
• fring - VoIP (SIP), MSN, AIM, etc
• a2z pro - conversion software
• Shazam - recognise and tag any song
• Backgrounds - download cool lockscreen backgrounds directly from Flickr
• IfFound - add "If Found then do this..." message onto Lockscreen backgrounds
  

Apps from Cydia after Jailbreaking

• iTalk - free voice recorder
• WinterBoard - theme engine
• BossPrefs - tweak settings
• A Better Tap to Unlock - tap instead of slide to unlock (stupid slider)
• biteSMS - horizontal keyboard on SMS (MUST HAVE)
• Categories - put apps in folders on home screen (or whatever they are called)
• iMobileCinema - Safari Flash plugin
• StatusNotifer - icons for email, SMS, IM, Calls, VM on statusbar
• Notifer Widget - As above but displayed on lockscreen

[Tezcatlipoca]

Cool, cheers Frank. I put Shazam on today, I'll give the others a look too.

Originally Posted by Frank

Well I used QuickPwn on windows, although there is MAC jailbreak software too.

http://www.iphonehacks.com/2009/01/jailbreak3g-win.html
<snippage>

Cheers muchly for the info

My next question is how you persuade a wife to let you buy one, but as I don't think you have one of those I'll leave you alone.

[punky]

Another (poor-ish) copy/paste solution for jailbroken phones.

http://i.gizmodo.com/5135473/clippy-...broken-iphones

It OK, but its built into the keyboard, so it only works on editable text. So you can't copy off a webpage, but you can copy off of emails etc once you've hit reply.

I heard there are talks of bringing out a 32gb Iphone, something people were expecting at that Apple event early January - but now theyre thinking it might come out in the end of January.

Should I buy the 16gb now or wait for the 32gb? And do you guys think the price is going to fall anytime soon?

[Tezcatlipoca]

I was worried about them bringing out a 32GB version, but in the end just went for the 16GB.

The rumours had been around for a while, but nothing got announced at "Macworld" earlier this month, nor at the "CES" after it.

If you wait for the next thing to come out, you'll never buy anything!


If they were due to release a new version anytime this month (or soon), I would have thought it would have been announced at Macworld...


From what I've read about the storage capacity, the issue is with the price & availability of the right kind of flash memory.

The iPod Touch can have a 32GB version as it has two slots for flash memory chips, so the 32GB model has 2 x 16GB chips.

The iPhone only has one slot, due to the other stuff crammed inside. So to have a 32GB iPhone you need a single 32GB chip. And 32GB chips of the right kind of type & size for fitting in an iPhone have apparently only recently gone into production (or were due to), so I'd think would still be rather expensive.

hmmmm very informative post matt...thanks

[Stuart]

Well, Apple have apparently allowed someone to release an application that does ballistics calculation and apparently allows Snipers to become more efficient..

http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2009/01...flight_iphone/

When you take that into account with the fact that Apple banned an app that shows cartoon breasts bouncing, sort of shows up America's interesting morality. An app that shows breasts is bad. One that enables people to shoot (and presumably kill) people is OK..

In fairness, it may the the case that Apple haven't seen it, so haven't banned it yet.