iPhone Open Application Development - Book For iPhone Developers

If you wanted to do some programming for iPhone but didn’t have any learning material, now here is your chance. O’Reilly has published a book called “iPhone Open Application Development: Rough Cuts Version” by Jonathan Zdziarski, developer of the first fully functional application using the open iPhone toolkit. So this book is written by a man who knows his stuff.

It is designed to teach users how to write Native C Applications for the iPhone. He also explains how to use iPhone toolkit and open-source toolkit which was developed by him.

Book Description:

Certain technologies bring out everyone's hidden geek, and the iPhone did so instantly upon its release. Thousands of programmers want to provide applications on the iPhone. This book shows them how to achieve the spectacular effects that made the iPhone an immediate hit. The book covers both Apple's toolkit and an open, community-developed toolkit that has been widely downloaded and used.

In iPhone Open Application Development, Zdziarski explains how to use Apple’s iPhone toolkit and the open-source toolkit, with which he developed the first fully-functional third-party iPhone application, to create third-party iPhone applications for use with jailbroken iPhones. The book will teach iPhone developer-wannabes how to actually code applications in Objective-C and the iPhone API.

The book is going to be released in May and will cost around $40.

Hacker creativity drives Apple iPhone innovation

Since the iPhone was born, there’s been a rift in the user community between those who keep the iPhone the way Apple intended, only updating when Apple releases something new. On the flip side, there’s the “jailbreak” community, who has been opening up the iPhone to new applications and uses, though admittedly to the detriment of some user’s phones, for the same amount of time. Whether Apple admits to it or not, the iPhone “hackers” have been responsible for all the recent innovation to the iPhone.

That isn’t really limited to the iPhone. Apple is famous for working off the ideas established by open source programmers. For instance, Virtue Desktops, an open source free app that allowed users to have multiple desktop spaces available, was essentially copied and made better by Apple in the application Spaces for Leopard.

With the iPhone, there were tons of games and applications created by “hackers” who wanted users to have the full range of the iPhone platform without all the nuisances of Apple’s limitations. That looked like games, multiple home screens, rearrangeable icons, ringtones, and more.

Far be it from Apple or Steve Jobs to not jump on an opportunity to release the ideas of others in a more streamlined, secure format to the general public. In the wake of those hacks, look how closely Apple’s updates have paralleled the works of the hacking community. That isn’t to say Apple is wrong for doing so. It just goes to prove that open source platforms and “hacking” or creativity as some like to call it are a necessity, and the companies that follow that community’s lead will benefit.

All the users who never jailbroke their iPhones are holding their noses high because Apple came around with the innovations in a secure form, but without those revolutionaries, there is a very good chance the majority of users wouldn’t have the features in their iPhones they now do. So keep on jailbraking and pushing the limits, oh programmers and vigilantes.

AnySim Goes Open Source

The makers of a popular iPhone unlocking software AnySim have made a decision to make the source code of the hack open source. The source code went online on Friday 7 December.

It's not a secret that open source projects enjoy contribution from many developers. Because of high commitment, the quality of open source software is quite high and bugs are fixed quickly.

Quickly updating software is very important when it comes to unlocking code. There is some speculation that Apple will be releasing new firmware update this month. Taking this into consideration, the development team's move to make AnySim open source is a good decision.

This will keep the software a step ahead of Apple and it will be extremely difficult for the Cupertino company to keep the phone closed.

Yes sure, consumers will benefit from this. Well done!

Hard Work for Hackers - iPhone Firmware Update Is Coming

A new firmware update for the iPhone is expected to be released by this Friday. Apple will update the devices firmware to version 1.1.2 when the company starts selling the phone in the UK and Germany. It is expected that the firmware update will break recently released hacks.

Some of the enhancements in this update include support for additional language character sets and a fix in the TIFF image-rendering library, which is common for the Safari browser, the e-mail client and the iTunes.

Naturally, the 1.1.2 firmware update will be released via iTunes.

Come on, Brick My iPhone

Apple has just released promised firmware update 1.1.1. and the company has also kept the promise about fighting hacked iPhones. Indeed, the update bricks the phone in many cases. If you are lucky enough and your wonder device survives, you have good chance of losing your photos, music and contacts. Unfortunately, even those who have not hacked their devices experienced this. Apart from this, after you update the firmware, the phone gets relocked and third-party applications stop functioning. Other anomalies are possible as well. This is just a matter of time.

So what? I think Apple has overdone the job of fighting unlockers. I don't think it will take long until unlockers release unlock-my-iPhone-1.1.1. It's up to you whether to wait or not. If we take into account that there are no revolutionary features in the 1.1.1. update, maintaining status quo can be the most reasonable choice for unlocked iPhone owners.

iPhone Hacks Void Warranty, But Who's Scared?

On Monday Apple warned that iPhone hacks void the warranty. Moreover, the company said that the phone would stop functioning after the next software update is applied. As Apple has explained unlocking programs "cause irreparable damage to the iPhone's software".

Sorry Steve, but this is a complete b*** s*** and I believe this statement has a sole purpose to frighten those iPhone users who have no clue about how phones, software or computers work.

Even if you are unfortunate enough to brick your iPhone, it can be recovered relatively easy. Moreover, the percentage of known facts of iPhones becoming bricked after applying the hacks is quite low.

To be frank, I expected more "serious" efforts from Apple to fight unauthorised use of the device. Of course, this will scare some users but not enough to eliminate hacking.

Time to Fight iPhone Unlocking Hacks?

Finally, for the first time Apple has officially said that the company would fight attempts to use the popular device on unauthorized networks. Aren't you a bit late Steve? What have you been doing until today? Oh, I beg my pardon. The company was busy "dating" potential hubbies in Europe. Pretty good excuse. So, now after the iPhone is a couple of days far from hitting the shelves in the UK, Apple started to think about fighting illegal hacks. But time has played for Apple this time as well. I can imagine thousands of people who have bought the device in hopes to use iPhone with carriers of their choice. It's now possible to get the unlock hack for free, but what about those who have paid $50 and $99 for the commercial hacking software?

I am confident, announcing that the company would take legal actions against the unlockers at this stage is a part of a marketing campaign as well. Though, on the other hand it was expected that sooner or later Apple would start doing so. But the question is how effective the company will be in this endeavour.

anySIM Gets a GUI - Well Done iPhone Dev Team

It looks like that iPhone Dev Team is working hard on their free iPhone unlocking hack. If the initial release required quite a hassle and command-line wizardry, now the free unlock software can be used by non-geeks as well. Simply, the team has released a GUI to the unlocking hack which makes unlocking your iPhone unbelievably easy.

So, if you want to use your iPhone with ANY mobile operator, don't want to pay $50 or $99 for the unlock software and don't want to mess around the command-line tools, simply download the anySIM and enjoy your unlocked iPhone.

Bad News For Commercial iPhone Unlockers - iUnlock Works

There's bad news for resellers of commercial iPhone unlock software. The iPhone Dev Team has released a free hack to unlock iPhone.

Both Gizmodo and Engadget posted the news on Tuesday evening confirming that the hack worked!

At the moment, the hack is not a one-click solution though. Rather it requires you to download a few things and do some command-line level work. This should not be a problem for an average computer user. However, compared to the commercial hacks, it has a big advantage. It's free and is available immediately. The team is working on the graphical version of the tool. This should allow less experienced users to take advantage of the free unlock software.

This news will make many iPhone users happy. After all, it is now possible to use the gadget with any cell phone operator at no additional cost.

Photo source: Engadget

Preorder Your iPhone Unlock Software

iPhone unlocking software becomes commercial and goes on sale. Several resellers have already started accepting preorders.

iPhoneSIMFree's unlock software hack can be purchased for $99. An Australian Web site, iPhone Worldwide Unlock, listed the hack for $50. A German reseller has the same $50 price tag.

The price of the software is not cheap but it looks like the resellers have already accepted thousands of preorders. Though, none of the resellers provide any guarantees that the hack will survive a firmware upgrade from Apple.

Will Apple re-lock the device in a future update is not known. Neither has the company made any comments on possible legal actions against the resellers.

But where can I buy the software? Glad you asked. Follow the links below:

Online shops:

AUSTRALIA: iPhoneWorldwideUnlock and AussieIphoneUnlockClick

GERMANY: 1digitalphoneClick

UNITED KINGDOM: Iphoneunlocked

SAUDI ARABIA: iphonat.com

USA: Wireless Imports

No More Free Ringtones on iPhone

In one of previous posts I talked about a possibility of using custom ringtones on iPhone. The loophole was found by a MacRumors forum user. By following the method described by the user, it was possible to sync custom ringtones to your iPhone for free.

Apple was very quick to fix this problem in the iTunes 7.4. Within 24 hours of releasing iTunes 7.4, users were alerted to the availability of iTunes 7.4.1, which of course does not allow using free ring tones. Thus, if you have iTunes 7.4 on your computer, you may refrain from updating to 7.4.1. Decide yourself what you need. The "latest" version of the software or ability to use free ring tones.

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Say Goodbye to Hacking iPhone Ring Tones: Meet iToner

iPhone users no longer need to hack the phone to use custom ring tones. To put custom ring tones on your device you can use a cool little utility called iToner from Ambrossia Software, Inc.

With iToner, a $15 utility, the process requires only dragging and dropping audio files onto the single-window interface and then hitting the Sync button. You don't even need to restart the phone to use the ring tones. Moreover, as the developer claims, the ring tones will be available even after a firmware update is applied to the phone.

iToner requires Mac OS X 10.4.10 or later. A 30-day trial period is available.

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The Latest iPone News

What makes iPhone different from other gadgets (kill me but I can't call iPhone a cell phone, it's really more than just the next cell phone) is that like the iPod, it can be easily updated by Apple with new features and bug fixes. Every time you plug your iPhone into your computer, updates, if there are any, are automatically downloaded into the phone. So, Apple was quick enough to issue the first update. Not only did the update fix a number of issues, but added some minor but interesting new features to the phone. You can find more details about the new features at Walt Mossboerg's blog.

Do you love your iPhone? I bet you do, who doesn't? Do you have a story to share about it? I bet you do, you must have one. That is why Apple has setup a special page where you can share your story about your iPhone experience with the rest of the world.

While you are enjoying your miracle gadget, some folks "work" hard to unlock iPhone. It looks like they are one step closer to their aim. Unlocking iPhone is inevitable, it is just a matter of time. Apple and AT&T may of course introduce additional security measures but the iPhone Dev Team will be a step ahead. Why should not you be able to use iPhone with other carriers? Do you have an answer? Dare to share it with us? Very good. Post them in the comments.

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