Just a few weeks ago, Snow Leopard started shipping. Those with a new Mac who was promised to have the “upgrade package at $9.95″, it came a few days later (You can’t blame them, they said it’ll only be available in September). Just before that even happened, though, developers and hackers alike found a glaring mistake by Apple: the Flash Player included in Snow Leopard was an obsolete version. While mayhem and hell hasn’t exactly broken out, Apple has swiftly provided OS X Update 10.6.1, now available through Software Update. My update is at a tiny size of 9.8MB, but if you’re going to install it on multiple computers, or Software Update doesn’t give you that option yet, you can always download the package here (DIRECT LINK) at a whopping 71.47MB.

According to Apple’s site, the updates are as follows:

• Improves compatibility with some Sierra Wireless 3G modems
• Addresses an issue in which some printer compatibility drivers might not appear properly in the Add Printer browser
• Addresses an issue that might cause DVD playback to stop unexpectedly
• Addresses an issue that might make it difficult to remove an item from the Dock
• Resolves an issue in which the Command-Option-T keyboard shortcut would sometimes bring up the special characters menu in applications such as Mail and TextEdit
• Addresses instances in which auto account setup in Mail might not work
• Resolves issues when sending mail with certain SMTP servers
• Addresses an issue in which Motion 4 could become unresponsive
• Includes an update to Adobe Flash Player plug-in version 10.0.32.18

All Snow Leopard users are advised to update as soon as possible to fix the gaping hole Apple has left. But for iPhone 3GS users, that’s another thing.

As you guys might have known, the iPhone OS 3.1 is out. The iPhone Dev Team has reminded us that the iPhones might never be unlocked again if you update it, because the baseband might not be jailbreakable. And reports around the Internet have confirmed that the iPhone cannot be restored to 3.0 anymore. So while iPhone 2G and 3G users have to wait patiently, here’s something to do for your iPhone 3GS if you haven’t done it yet. Get the iBSS and iBEC files now before you update to 3.1.

It’s important because this is a security procedure. It was mentioned in one of the earlier posts, and if you still haven’t done it yet, the wonderful guys at Modmyi.com have come up with a very useful guide:

3G[S] Users Capture Your iBSS and iBEC BEFORE 3.1 [Reminder]

For the rest of the iPhone, iPhone 3G and iPod touch users, why not grab yourself a cup of coffee and wait? Jailbreak should be on the way, and so is the unlock. Go, Dev Team!

It’s D-Day! Well, not exactly, but Apple’s gotten creative this year by making the event coincide with the 090909 mark of the century. And boy, Steve Jobs is back! He’s the keynote speaker of the event. I’m sure some of you might have missed what has happened in the past hour, so why not make a summary?

Photo courtesy of gdgt

• iPhone and iPod touch OS 3.1. (duh)
  • Genius function in iTunes now applied to App Store: It suggests what apps you might like based on your current inventory.
  • Ringtones will be sold at $1.29.
  • Free for iPhone users. Only iPod touch users who have OS 3.0 will get to download OS 3.1 for free.

• iTunes
  • iTunes 9 released.
  • Genius mixes (something like your iTunes DJ, but Genius technology incorporated)
  • Home sharing. Songs, movies and shows can be copied to 5 different authorized computers.
  • Redesigned iTunes Store.
  • iTunes LP for music, Extras for movies.
  • Sharing to Facebook & Twitter now possible.
  • Apps can be managed through iTunes.
• iPods
  • iPod touch pricings: $199 for 8GB, $299 for 32GB, $399 for 64GB
  • 32GB and 64GB versions will have OpenGL.
  • iPod classic will be bumped up to 160GB for the same old price: $249.
  • iPod shuffle will not be kicked! In fact, there’s now the “nanochromatic” version of the shuffle for 2GB at $59, and a stainless steel version (4GB) at $99.
  • iPod nano will have 2.2″ display, camera, mic and speaker built-in. FM player built-in as well. Voice recorder app and pedometer is also in that small little thing. Amazing.
  • iPod nano will be draining your wallet of $149 for 8GB, or $179 for 16GB.

That’s all the announcements. I’m sure many of you guys out there have been expecting much more things from Apple, including a camera for the iPod touch. But cheer up, at least there were other improvements! And oh, jailbreakers: 3.1 is not jailbreakable yet. ;)

"I knew that!", says the navigator.

Let’s face it: we’re all waiting for the day when our iPhones and iPod touches start identifying the hunk beside that bar or that chick walking on the street by just taking her photo with a camera. While that won’t be possible in the near future (though the Twitter app above allows a bit of room for that), there’s of course the augmented reality (AR) apps in the up-and-coming iPhone OS 3.1, slated to arrive this September.

To put it simply in the context of the iPhone, it combines the usage of the camera, the all-new magnetometer (a.k.a compass), GPS and an Internet connection to give you real-time information on what you see. For instance, you can point at one location and that will give you the nearest road. There are many uses for it, and the possibility is endless.

According to the LA Times post here:

Apple told Acrossair, developer of the Nearest Tube train finder, that the app will be approved for distribution after Apple releases version 3.1 of the iPhone software, which the developer expects will land in early September.

Augmented reality apps can only be used by iPhone 3GS users, though. Boo.

Revenge, indeed.

Thanks to the guys at iPod touch Fans and their post here!

People out there who have a Tapulous account, beware. If you don’t know what a Tapulous account is, basically it’s the profile generated from the UDID (unique device identifier) of your iPhone/iPod touch. Tapulous’ authorization system is COMPLETELY dependent on your UDID, as practically speaking, you’re the only one with the number. It’s called UNIQUE for a reason, right?

Apparently that can be abused, with the UDID Changer app from Cydia. What’s detrimental is that your Facebook and Twitter information is stored on Tapulous’ servers as well. Of course it’s encoded, but when a malicious user changes their UDID to yours, Facebook and Twitter account data is immediately stored into their iPod touches/iPhones.

So what does this mean? It means that people can now access your Twitter and Facebook accounts, as well as anything else they store in their servers. Applications produced by Tapulous are: Tap Tap Revenge (and all its variants), Twinkle, Fortune, Collage and FriendBook.

Your next question that comes into mind must be: “But how the *insert profanity here* can they get my UDID?” There are PLENTY of ways noted by iPod touch Fans, including, but not limited to:

• The malicious user may just ask you, and you may give it to them.
• The malicious user may give you screenshots for a fantastic application they are making and offer you a beta. Of course, they need your UDID for you to beta test.
• The malicious user may be someone you know that actually has access to your device.
• Installer applications, such as Installer and Cydia send requests to the server with the UDID in the request. The maicious user may set up a repo to collect UDIDs.
• Etc. There are so many ways, it’s ridiculous.

Tapulous is aware of the exploit and are working on a fix to it, but meanwhile, unless you want someone posting the unthinkable on whatever accounts compromised, delete your Tapulous account. Change your Facebook and Twitter password as well, if you’re the “better safe than sorry” type of person.

And the iPhone Dev Team has answered: redsn0w 0.8 now officially supports jailbreaking of the iPhone 3GS. saurik has also updated the MobileSubstrate and WinterBoard packages for use with the 3GS, according to the iPhone Dev Team’s post here. However, the same old warning applies to all 3GS users to obtain the iBEC and iBSS files. They are now looking for more holes to exploit considering 3.1 would probably have a fix, and that would mean (temporarily) bad news for soon-to-be owners of the 3GS. To quote the Dev Team, “For those of you without 3GS phones, it’s a race against the clock to use this particular hole. There’s nothing we can do about that, but we will always be looking for new holes.”

ultrasn0w 0.8 has also been released which will support the iPhone 3GS. However, it is crucial that you do not upgrade to anything beyond 3.0, including the 3.1 beta software. Quoth the Dev Team: “Apple has gotten very serious with the latest baseband — they’ve removed 180 (!) commands in an effort to cut down their exposure to holes. So please always stay away from stock Apple IPSWs and instead use our tools as we release them. These tools let you update your firmware without updating your baseband.”

And good news for those using Linux: redsn0w has also been released for you guys as well. (: Get your redsn0w while it’s, er, cold! And obtain ultrasn0w by adding repo666.ultrasnow.com to the list of repositories in Cydia.

After the long and grueling wait, iPhone 3GS users can finally rejoice: the jailbreak for the iPhone 3GS has been released first by geohot with his software, purplera1n, which only runs on Windows for now (with the Mac version coming later). He was originally in the Dev Team before he got kicked out. According to his blog post dated today,

Normally I don’t make tools for the general public, and rather wait for the dev team to do it. But guys, whats up with waiting until 3.1? That isn’t how the game is played. We release, Apple fixes, we find new holes. It isn’t worth waiting because you might have the “last” hole in the iPhone. What last hole…this isn’t golf. I’ll find a new one next week. Also your purplera1nyday files ensure that you can always get back to a jailbroken state, so if you have it it’s just a matter of tools.

The iPhone Dev Team is still keeping mum on this issue. Whatever it is, the jailbreak program is posted here. Either that, or you can get the file from the official site. Apparently, it is “it’s smaller than C++ hello world” and there will be no need for the IPSW files. Kudos to you, geohot!

[UPDATE] According to saurik (one of the iPhone Dev Team members) in his few tweets, “The PurpleRa1n 3GS jailbreak (like the unofficial 3.0 beta QuickPwn jailbreaks) is missing critical patches required for WinterBoard (etc.)” He continued: “ADDITIONALLY, WinterBoard /will/ need work on the 3GS (new instructions), but I can’t even begin looking at that until we get fixed patches.”

So hold your horses folks! It’s better if the iPhone Dev Team makes an official release and we wait until 3.1 comes out. That’s when other developers will start developing and modifying code for the 3GS for several programs that might have compatibility issues with the 3GS.

Yep, you heard it all right. According to the iPhone Dev-Team website, they are holding the jailbreak back from its release until 3.1 is coming out. According to them in their blog post here, 3.0 is really buggy and bugfixes should be out real soon, so if Apple mends the hole in the exploit they found in 3GS, then the effort would be futile in the first place:

We can jailbreak the 3GS right now. But making our jailbreak public at this point in time would benefit relatively few people. It would in fact be detrimental to many more people than it would help. So we feel it’s best to keep our version of the jailbreak out of Apple’s sights for the time being.

In the meantime for eager iPhone 3GS users, geohot posted in his blog about the new security Apple has put into the iPhone 3GS:

Apple has added a new layer of security to the iPhone 3GS. I mentioned it several posts earlier; it’s the ECID field. When iTunes starts the restore process, they contact Apple servers to generate signatures just for your device. It’s important you get these signatures for your phone before a new version of the software comes out.

So to obtain these signatures, the great guys at iClarified have posted two guides as to how to obtain the ECID of your iPhone 3GS: one for the Mac and one for the Windows. Make sure you do this before you upgrade it next, or otherwise your iPhone 3GS might be permanently unjailbreakable!

Other than that, why not make yourself a cup of coffee and do some work whilst waiting for Apple’s 3.0.1 release?

[UPDATE: 2ND JULY]

The iPhone Dev Team has found another way to obtain the exact same thing you’re looking for, and more when using purplera1n with a simple restore thru iTunes, if you’re using the 3GS of course. Apparently, the team at Apple has stored those extremely valuable information into the temporary folder. If you’re using the Mac, the folder would be at /tmp/, and it will be at %TEMP% for Windows. Not really the smartest thing to do, but hey, at least we benefit from it. Better not complain!

The great folks at ModMyi.com has already come up with a nice guide to obtain these files here, though this only applies to the Mac. We’ll be updating the post again once we find another guide for the Windows!

[UPDATE 2]

Thanks to GC reader DR, some searching and sniffing around was done and apparently purplera1n provides only the iBSS when you input the ECID. The restore method can be used to obtain both the iBSS and iBEC for future use.

Firefox 3.5 has been released! After all the problems it faced in a few Release Candidates, it is now ready for the end-user. Once you’ve installed it, you’ll notice a new tabbing design while the general look of it stays more or less the same. There’s more to it than meets the eye, though. Some of the notable features for end-users are listed in the release notes and are as follows:

• Increase in supported languages to more than 70 of them.
• Support for HTML5 <audio> and <video> elements, including native support for Ogg Theora encoded video and Vorbis encoded audio.
• Features new Private Browsing Mode (sound familiar?)
• Features Location Aware Browsing.
• Improvements of speed in Javascript performance and page rendering.

For the full list of changes, please visit the Mozilla Developer Center page here.

With Apple and Mozilla sporting their respective new versions of Safari 4 and Firefox 3.5, it’s your call, Opera.

Thanks to Gadget Cracker reader RagnaParadise for sharing this enlightening info:

QuickPwn.com Profits on iPhone Jailbreak With Microsoft Ads

Google Adsense Abuse for iPhone Jailbreak Software QuickPwn

UPDATE: Thanks to GC reader Will Benson for commenting below. His blog has an interesting perspective on this topic and it lead me to this forum thread that I think is worth sharing here as well. Thanks Will!

It also doesn’t sit well with me that QuickPWN’s site did not mention RedSn0w and rejected comments mentioning it as an alternative for quite some time after it was available (they do mention RedSn0w now that it’s clear QuickPWN is history).

You decide! Just reporting here, not judging. But with that said, I will be replacing all my QuickPWN bookmarks with direct links to the Dev Teams blog where you can always get the latest jailbreak/unlocking tools right from the source!

Oh, and don’t forget the Gadget Cracker article ‘No QuickPWN? No Problem! OS 3.0 Jailbreak for iPhone’ if you need help using RedSn0w!

Peace.

-GC