Jailbreak iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad

Several users report that Apple started allowing iPod touch owners to upgrade to iPhone OS 3 for no charge.

The information initially comes from PocketGamer’s Tracy Erickson:

Syncing a second generation iPod touch today with an older version of the software prompted me to accept the free upgrade. How exciting.

Just as when asked to download and install the latest firmware on an iPhone, iTunes simply asks for confirmation – no signing in to pay for the software.

Sounds like free a good price for iPod touch 3.1.3 upgrade.

PS: Jailbreakers: think before updating – you might lose the ability to jailbreak your device if you upgrade the firmware.

Update: Several users confirmed the free update. However a number of users report that they are still asked to pay for the update.

Pinch Media has shared some data they presented at 360iDev on the state of app piracy on the iPhone, and there are a few key take-aways:

• These analytics show roughly 4 million jailbreak devices, 38% of which are using pirated app(s) (aka cracked apps).
• Piracy is highest in China, Russia, and Brazil, with Europe and Canada being the mid-ground, and the USA, Great Britain, and Japan having the lowest rates.
• Of paid apps that use Pinch Media’s services, 60% have been pirated.
• Of those pirated apps, 34% of all installs are the pirated version.
• Like legitimate app downloads, pirated apps are used a lot at first, but drop off quickly (more quickly than legitimate app usage, in fact).
• Pirated apps on jailbroken iPhones crash more, which may be why they’re used less.
• Those who claim to use pirated apps as a way to “try before they buy” are full of it. While 7.4% of legitimate “Lite” app downloads up-convert to the paid version, only 0.43% of pirated apps lead to purchase of the legitimate paid version.

You can read the full report for all the details.

via theiphoneblog

Action Menu is a new utility that extends traditional Copy / Paste functionality. You can now “Copy All” or add text to a stack (”Favorites”) that allows you to paste phrases frequently at any time and in any application.

The application is free but you can also buy an extension pack (costs $2.99) which will add new features, such as:

• History: keep the history of all copied sentences / words / numbers;
• Lookup: find online matches for phone numbers and words, using Google Search, Wikipedia, Dictionary, and Google Translate;
• Tweet: send selected text through a Twitter client installed on your iPhone (currently support Tweetie, Twitterific, Twittelator and TwitterFon).

We found this utility quite useful. It can be installed via Cydia on a jailbreaked iPhone (iPod Touch).

Apple released new iPhone 3.1 and iPod Touch 3.1.1 firmwares. Here is a quick changelog:

- Improved syncing for music, movies, TV shows, podcasts, and photos
- iTunes U content organization
- Redeem iTunes Gift Cards, codes, and certificates in the App Store
- Display available iTunes account credits in the App Store and iTunes Store
- Save video from Mail and MMS into Camera Roll
- Option to “Save as new clip” when trimming a video on iPhone 3GS
- Better iPhone 3G Wi-Fi performance when Bluetooth is turned on
- Remotely lock iPhone with a passcode via MobileMe
- Use Voice Control on iPhone 3GS with Bluetooth headsets
- Paste phone numbers into the keypad
- Option to use Home button to turn on accessibility features on iPhone 3GS
- Warn when visiting fraudulent websites in Safari (anti-phishing)
- Improved Exchange calendar syncing and invitation handling
- Fixes issue that cause some app icons to display incorrectly

iPhone OS 3.1 is available and is a free download for iPhone customers. iPod Touch users already running iPhone OS 3.0 can update to 3.1.1 for free. iPod Touch users running earlier firmware versions can upgrade to OS 3.1.1 for $4.95.

Users of jailbreaked and unlocked devices – do not update, wait for utilities updates!!

Yesterday Apple blocked an official Google Voice app from the App Store; meanwhile, they also kicked out unofficial versions, f.e. GV Mobile. But you can still get GV Mobile for free… via Cydia.

The developer of GV Mobile has decided to go ahead and release GV Mobile for free rather than let his work go to waste. You have to jailbreak iPhone to get this app.

iPhone OS 3.0 is now available. Update via iTunes (you need 8.2) or download here. Firmwares are avaliable for all devices: iPhone, iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, iPod Touch and iPod Touch 2G. Here is a link to official Apple site about this upgrade.

Do not upgrade if you want jailbreak and/or unlock. Just wait for DevTeam to release their software.

Clippy is an iPhone addition for copy/paste functionality. It was updated to version 0.98. There are significant improvements that make the application much more stable, and moreover it is important to note that starting from now, Clippit becomes a completely free.

Avaliable via Cydia and Icy for jailbreaked iPhones.

Changelog for 0.98: March 29, 2009:

• Donate button added
• Expiration code removed
• More translations updated
• Fix for accidental activations cause by UIScrollView/UIScroller events buffering
• Menu aborts display if finger is moved/released while menu is showing
• Now retrieves orientation from the statusbar if the window won’t comply (fixes Safari and iPod in landscape)
• Fix for apps that use a custom input traits (such as Colloquoy)
• Paragraphs with inline links now copy the entire paragraph
• All text no longer becomes highlighted when tapping text in some web sites (Gmail, others)
• After saving an image to the library, Safari now continues to load properly
• Holds are now more lenient and allow slight movement
• Support for the upcoming HapticPro

Emoji, emoticons and pictorial characters popular in the Japanese instant messaging culture, were introduced to Japanese customers as part of the iPhone 2.2 Firmware update, but have required workarounds to be enabled for non-Japanese users. There are many solutins to turn Emiji Icons (Get Emoji Icons for free), but the easy one required jailbreaking. Recently Apple approved an application that simplifies this process. App is called EmotiFun and it is free (AppStore link).

Everything is simple: get app, run it, exit and go to Settings -> General -> Keyboard -> International Keyboards -> Japanese and enable.

Apple rejected iPhone application called iSutra. So it is avaliable via Cydia for jailbreaked iPhones for FREE.

First of all these icons can be viewed on any iPhone with 2.2 firmware. But to be able to send these icons users need to perform additional actions. There are 4 ways to turn them on and 2 of them are free:

Solution N1 for $5.99:

In AppStore buy and install Touch Dial Emoji. Goto Settings -> Touch Dial -> Enable Smiley icon ON. Launch Touch Dial. Go to Settings -> General -> Keyboard -> International Keyboards -> Japanese and enable “Emoji.”

Solution N2 for $0.99:

In AppStore buy and install FrostyPlace. Play with the app for a minute to activate, click on a story, etc. Go to Settings -> General -> Keyboard -> International Keyboards -> Japanese and enable “Emoji.”

Solution N3 for Free:

Jailbreak your iPhone. Run Cydia and install Emoji application (iSpazio repository). Go to Settings -> General -> Keyboard -> International Keyboards -> Japanese and enable “Emoji.”

This application adds boolean ‘true’ key KeyboardEmojiEverywhere edits in /User/Library/Preferences/com.apple.Preferences.plist. You can do it manually if you want.

Solution N3 for Free:

Step 1. Download the vcard.vcf here.
Step 2. Import it to your address book program. If you are using Windows, you may want to do it on iPhone directly. Send the vcard.vcf file to yourself. Open in on iPhone’s Email.app, click the vcf file and import all the contacts.
Step 3. Go into “Settings” > “General” > “Keyboard” > “Japanese Keyboard”. Enable the QWERTY keyboard.
Step 4. In notes or any other program you want. Type “emojia”, “emojii” or “emojiu” to select those icons.

I like Solution N3. It is free and simple. You do not need to play with contacts and etc. But you need to jailbreak an iPhone.