Andrew Schwabe's Blog - ipod/iphone

iPhone 4 goodness

Mon, 09 Aug 2010 21:23:00 -0400

Well the day has come. I have an iphone 4. It has been jailbroken, and unlocked for t-mobile and other carriers. I even trimmed my old-school full size t-mobile sim card to fit in as a "micro sim." Overall, the process was not bad at all, although I did manage to play with some settings that messed up my network and had to restore from the firmware once -- such a newbie move, i know... This time around its nice and healthy :) Want to know what else my little pocket workhorse has? Flash player. Thats right. A nifty little port of the flash 10.1 for android has been hacked to run on iphone (ipad too). Its called "frash" and was an app to click and install right from cydia. Can't get any easier than that. Chew on that Apple. So far, I am very pleased with the new phone. It performs great, multitasking works surprisingly well, and even my bits of flash content work right in mobile safari. Whatever credibility Steve Jobs had left about his war on Flash, and Flash not running well on iphone hardware blah blah is all gone. The public answered and brought it anyway. Its not polished (yet), but thats only because theres just a handful of hackers releasing the software that people want while the big software companies sit in their seats of power scowling, pointing fingers and blaming each other for not meeting the consumer's needs. Why was flash such a big deal anyway? It don't NEED it to live, but on occasion I really WANT it. The last thing any techno gadget poweruser wants to be told is "you can't do what you want." Besides, how can anybody ignore technology in use by 90+% of the web? Steve Jobs can apparently, but nobody knows why. I don't understand why you don't just give customers what they want? Well anyway, I'm just happy knowing that when I need or even just want it, I've got it. Way to go flash, you finally made it home to my little iphone :) (that little unintentional rhyme is no crime, just an added bonus for the rest of us)

iPhone 4 and Jailbreaking Nonsense

Mon, 02 Aug 2010 13:24:00 -0400

Is anybody else sick of all the scammers out there trying to rip people off for jailbreaking iphones ? We've obviously received some great news lately, what with the recent legal win for jailbreaking (The Library of Congress found that jailbreaking your apple device is legal). We also got the first jailbreak application for iphone 4 on August 1 thanks to the iPhone Dev Team. What has amazed me however, is all the fake people trying to capitalize on these things. There are not just one, two or even five websites trying to get people to pay them for "exclusive" jailbreak software, but more like a hundred. It goes deep, with lame websites and fake twitter accounts of people flooding the internet with all sorts of false information. Its sickening the lengths people will go to a) screw other people, and b) steal other people's software and ideas. They are just lazy looking to make a buck off somebody else's hard work. What a shame. So for those of you out there looking to jailbreak your phone, remember that the software to do it is FREE. Never pay anybody for the software to jailbreak. Now, if you are not technically savvy, get a friend to do it, or find somebody cheap on craigslist to do it while you wait, and only pay if they do it right. For those out there not well versed in the jailbreaking terminology, here is a quick guide: An iPhone is NOT ACTIVATED if it shows the "connect to itunes" screen and won't let you do anything but an emergency call. Once you ACTIVATE the phone, you can use apps, wifi, etc. An iPhone is JAILBROKEN if it has had special software installed which allows you, the user, to install software packages from non-apple sources. The most common application to look for is called "Cydia" which is a different kind of "App Store" for jailbroken software. For other phones (like Android phones), this process is called "rooting" a phone. Its pretty much the same thing as jailbreaking. Finally, most phones are LOCKED to a certain cell phone provider. For iPhone in the US, that means your iphone is locked for use with ATT only. Once your phone is UNLOCKED, then you can put in a sim card from any GSM phone provider. In the US, that means T-Mobile, and maybe some others. Many people that travel internationally do this, because you can drop in a sim card from a phone company in another country and it will work. So to summarize, any iphone must be activated before you can do anything useful with it. An iphone CAN be activated without being jailbroken or unlocked. Likewise an iphone can be jailbroken without being unlocked, and of course they can have all three.

Apple vs the world (or "how i'm gonna get flash on my iphone anyway")

Tue, 06 Jul 2010 12:33:00 -0400

The pressure is building up on Apple. They have stated their case about how they will only support html5 on their IOS platform (ipad and iphone). Their mis-information about how all other technologies hurt the internet has had surprising impact given its pure foolishness. The best technologies the industry has seen (and the strongest companies) have always had a plan for ushering in new technology while being backwards compatible with the old. This serves many purposes -- it eases people into new technology, while supporting the old, and it generally gives longevity to infrastructure which is pretty important given the pace at which technology changes. Apple's viewpoint is very narrow minded. They have said in not so many words: "eventually in the future, we think we will all be doing it this way, so lets just pretend it is already the future, and only use that technology, anything else won't work anymore." Whether you like browser plugins or not, and whether you think they are a part of the future or not, they are a HUGE part of the internet today, and not supporting them isn't visionary -- its stupid. Apple needs to wake up from their rebellious ways, and become a team player. Their self imposed "better than thou" position in the industry will only take them so far, and will eventually cause people to start hating them. It is already starting, with iphone users defecting to use Android phones. Why? because Android is *actually* an open platform. Apple says IOS is "open", but that is just a complete lie. They are pretty far from open. The only way an ipad or iphone is "open" is if it is jailbroken. The very fact that "jail breaking" tools exist for ipad and iphone show that Apple's devices are not open, and that the technology community isn't satisfied with Apple's tight restrictions. The mentality in this community is: if we spend a couple hundred dollars of our hard earned money on a device like iphone, then let us use it however we want. Don't make it a premium price, and then handcuff us. Here is where consumer need and industry compatibility intersect and a spark is created. I've whined about not having flash on iphone for a long time. Apple says "we want 100% control over how and what you see" and the underground community has reacted by jailbreaking. What makes this even more exciting is that the iphone 4 is more powerful than previous models (although not quite up to snuff when compared to the new Android phones). It is slick and easy to use, and will make people happy if it does what we want. The underground community has once again responded, and made a commitment to hack flash to work on the iphone. You heard it right -- in fact the same people who made this commitment, have apparently already gotten it to work on ipad! I am sure this will infuriate Steve Jobs, but I honestly don't care. It is obvious that all his rules and closed mindedness are focused on bringing in more money to Apple, and NOT giving end users the core features that they want. Maybe breaking this major rule of his will make him wake up, and support it legitimately once the world proves to him that his views (and accusations) on Flash are just purely fantasy. So for me, I'll stick with iphone instead of switching to Android. The real reason is not b/c I am "sold" on Apple's device, but because I know Flash is coming :)

3 Things That Annoy Me Today: BP, Apple, and Ignorant Drivers

Wed, 02 Jun 2010 12:55:00 -0400

Its been a while since I posted a rant, hasn't it ? Keep in mind that you do NOT have to keep reading. If you do, its your choice to keep reading. Good, you are still here. #1 BP. Well, let me expand this to include the President's administration. As a US citizen, I support our President and our government, however it doesn't mean I have to like everything that goes down. I am hideously offended and annoyed that an oil leak this bad is being passed around as a "paper issue." Nobody wants to pony up and get this resolved the right way. In my opinion, significant effort should have been made from day one. BP not cutting it? Fine, bring in US Military Corp of Engineers, and send the bill to BP. For Heaven's sake, do SOMETHING other than post a webcam on the leak and say "oh my, this is pretty bad." #2 Apple. Steve is out of control. Bordering on mad man I think. The "holy war" he has waged on Flash is just school yard bullying. He is playing with the technology industry as if it were his big box of legos, and when he finds a piece that isn't a color he approves of, he discards it. Read this blog entry, about a company who had jumped through Apple's hoops to publish an ipad application. And even got several updates published. Apple called them and said they are pulling the plug on their app -- effectively wasting all that company's time and money invested into Steve's lego mansion. The best part is that Apple offers no reason, and no way to address the problem. Just a "good bye." Read here. They screwed Adobe after they spent a ton of money building iphone development tools, and now they are doing it to the small software companies. And as of May 27 of this year, Apple is now bigger than Microsoft. Remember Microsoft monopolistic bullying? and the anti-trust crap that wasted time and money, just for Microsoft to laugh and sidestep the rulings against them? Get ready for it again, as Steve Jobs decides he is the new "Emperor of Technology" and knows better than anybody else about how the world should be. If only Apple's products were crappy, like Microsoft's, then maybe we could resist... #3 Ignorant Drivers. Nothing makes a BP hating, Apple bashing day worse than irresponsible car drivers who decided that 2 years after they got their license, all turn signals are optional. I know responsible drivers who have not been in accidents that for some reason just don't think turn signals are "worth it" anymore. Maybe they haven't SAID that, but their actions speak volumes. If you drivers CARED at all for anybody else on the road but yourself, you would notice that people LOOK for your turn signals. Maybe you can save somebody stress and time by using a turn signal LIKE THE LAW SAYS YOU SHOULD, so people can actually anticipate what you already intend to do. Yes, lane changes too. NOT using them is breaking the law. As a motorcycle driver, I am often terrified to make turns or lane changes in any kind of traffic because I have no idea what people around me will do. It is more stress than a single person deserves while just driving to or from work. I try my best to use signals, and honestly, I don't know if anybody cares. All I DO know is that if I was in traffic coming toward myself, I would appreciate the proper use of signals. I'm done for today.

iPad Killer? Not yet... FAIL report on lenovo s10-3t

Thu, 25 Mar 2010 12:45:00 -0400

After a few weeks of working in my spare time, here is what I managed to accomplish: 1. I could get a copy of 10.5.4 (slipstreamed for MSI wind) to install, and bluetooth worked, which I could hack to give me internet access. No Wifi, no QE/CI video, no ethernet, no touchscreen support, never bothered with sound, but supposedly it is similar to the lenovo s10-2 and should work. 2. With a custom chameleon 2 rc3 cd, i could boot and install snow leopard 10.6.0. Bluetooth worked out of the box, no wifi, native resolution 1024x600, but no QE/CI acceleration, no ethernet, no touchscreen, again, never bothered with sound. 3. Since Wifi is a deal breaker, I bought a dell 1395 WLAN 1/2 height card to drop in. No go :( The lenovo bios detected a WLAN card that it will not support, and won't boot. I've read on how you can hack the bios, or hack the rom on the WLAN card to fudge it, but yeeeshhhh.... thats not the simple $15 fix i was looking for. So after evaluating all of the above, I've decided that although the hardware is very cool (and with win7 ultimate, this is a VERY cool little machine), it just isn't ready to be made into a hackintosh. Real shame tho, i would have liked a proper mac tablet. If you like windows 7, I highly recommend this netbook. If you are holding out for mac osx, I hope it comes some day. Not looking good right now. So what is next? because I never just give up without changing my strategy... ? The HP slate looks pretty fantastic... I can't wait to see the specs on it, and see if it can be made to run mac osx. Other than that, I think I will use my iphone more :)

iPad killer project is underway!

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 19:56:00 -0400

I went ahead and placed my order today for a lenovo s10-3t today from amazon. They say it is in stock, and i'm looking forward to playing with it. My intention (for scientific purposes only! haha) is to set it up as a dual boot with the windows 7 starter that comes installed on it, and mac osx. [More]

Adobe Announces AIR/Flash support for Android Mobiles

Mon, 15 Feb 2010 09:55:00 -0400

Well, it is finally happening -- the rest of the world is moving on, right around the big iPhone road block. With Android being a fast growing platform, and Adobe giving official support to build native Flash/Flex apps optimized for mobile processors, this puts the pressure on Apple again, to either bend to what consumers want, or face loss of market share. [More]

JavaScript Hack Enables Flash on iPhone

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 12:41:00 -0400

Ok, well it isn't exactly what we want, but it shows that the development community is thinking beyond Apple's stranglehold on iphone OS. According to Wired, Tobias Schneider has written a javascript runtime engine for processing .swf files that is compatible with iphone. [More]

iPad from Apple... thumbs up or thumbs down ? -or- Another Adobe Flash Crusade

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 15:35:00 -0400

Hmm, can anybody guess what my first question was about the new Apple tablet computer-like-device-thing ? [More]

Flash on iPhone? Not really, but kind of, sorta...

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 12:36:00 -0400

At MAX, Adobe announced a way to build apps and deploy on iPhone. Huzzah! Isn't this what we have been asking for for a LOOOONG time? Not really.... [More]

Ribit: Free MP3 Site "Spiral Frog" croaks

Tue, 24 Mar 2009 13:55:00 -0400

Demonstrating the weak economy, and the weak business model of 100% advertiser sponsored services, Spiral Frog has apparently closed its doors, rather silently. Source: http://arstechnica.com/web/news/2009/03/ad-based-music-service-spiralfrog-croaks.ars Oh well, today's youths' expectations of getting everything they want for free apparently isn't realistic. In my opionion, you can expect a lot of other free service sites to struggle as the "advertising" market slows with the economy.

Now this is progress: Linux on the iPhone!

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 14:02:00 -0400

It is still quite young, but it is very exciting to see that linux has been ported to the iphone! This means that we may yet have some options for a friendly open-source way to use the excellent iphone hardware. Read more here: http://linuxoniphone.blogspot.com/2008/11/linux-on-iphone.html

Adobe Flash on the iPhone... finally ?

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 19:02:00 -0400

According to several sources, during Flash on the Beach, Adobe announced that it is "actively developing" a port of the Flash runtime to work on the iPhone. It would be in Apple's best interest to help Adobe along with this process. No dates or feature/compatibility information is available right now, but I certainly hope that Adobe takes into consideration that the Flash 9/10 support (as opposed to Flash "lite") would open the doors of iphone development to Flex developers. Bringing Flash to the iphone will not only address a huge customer demand, but it might also put Apple in a better place to deal with Google android as it begins to grow and take on its own market strategy. Sources quoted: http://blogs.pcworld.com/staffblog/archives/007842.html
http://www.flashmagazine.com/news/detail/flash_for_the_iphone_confirmed_at_fotb/
http://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/business-presentation/adobe-flash-on-iphoneipod-touch-another-advancement-for-mobile-business/

Iphone firmware 2.0.2 is out! Yeah!! .... oh wait, I mean oh no!!!

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 15:59:00 -0400

Apple is beginning to worry me... I love the iPhone - it has a great combination of tools for checking email and web surfing that is surprisingly usable in a mobile package. So version 2.0.2 was supposed to address "undisclosed bugs" - some of which were supposedly the bad 3G bugs. I installed 2.0.2 on my phone, and immediately my reaction was positive (the "yeah!" part of the topic above) because everything was snappy and much more responsive than 2.0.1 -- and a world of difference over 2.0. About as quickly as my excitement came, it turned south as I noticed a great number of things that no longer worked -- and they are critical issues too. [More]

iPhone pwnage bandwagon

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 02:00:00 -0400

I am generally NOT ok with hacking operating systems to remove software or hardware restrictions. That being said, the Iphone Dev Team released their new pwnage 2.0 tool on sunday, after an incredible amount of hype. I went ahead and used the tool and now my iphone is unlocked with the 2.0 firmware for use with any sim card.

Note: Links to pages that explain how to unlock your iphone are at the bottom of this post.

So, if I am against hacking hardware and software, why did I unlock my iphone?

[More]