1.1.3 iPhones now software unlockable

Mr. George HOTz did it again. He just loosed a world of hurt on AT&T with a software unlock for 1.1.3 iPhones. 

That's right, the software is said to work on any fresh from the Apple store, shrink-wrapped iPhone sporting the latest 1.1.3 firmware and 4.6 bootloader, something the AnySIM unlock can't do.

GeoHot's instructions posted after the break.

We haven't tested yet so, as always, take care.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

--snip--
geohot's 1.1.2 software unlock
yes, this is what you have all been waiting for
now fixed to support 1.1.3

1. Download these:
gunlock and the secpack from http://iphonejtag.blogspot.com/ or the blog :)
the 4.02.13 fls from http://george.zjlotto.com/index.php/baseband/

2. Downgrade your phone to 1.0.2. See all the great tutorials online to do this.
Your baseband won't be downgraded, this is normal.
This will probably work on other versions too, but 1.0.2 doesn't lose wifi on bb access.

3. Kill CommCenter and run "gunlock secpack ICE04.02.13_G.fls"

4. Reload CommCenter. For some reason my phone was in brick mode. Use the elite team bricktool to get out.

5. Enjoy your 1.1.2 OTB unlocked iPhone

Now who'd have thought it would be this easy :)....

How to have the iPhone feel on your ordinary cell phone

For those of you who didn't get in line for an iPhone but wants to avoid the envy, pcworld.com has an article on how to dress up your cell phone to avoid any iPhone envy. 

Some of the applications would cost you around $30 or less but you don't have to worry about shelling out $500-$600

iPhone's Visual Voicemail

iPhone's Visual Voicemail lets you choose which voicemail you will listen to by listing it without the need to hear the voicemail first. If you want to have visual voicemail on your cell phone, callwave, according to the pcworld article, is a free service that sends copies of your voicemail messages to your e-mail.

The caller's name and the message length is displayed in the subject line so you can select which voicemail you will listen to. The software creates a contact list on your PC and notifies you of new messages through SMS message on your mobile phone.

GotVoice is a web-based service that grabs your voicemail messages, records them as MP3 and then sends it to your email address.

 
GotVoice will work with any phone be it your mobile phone, home phone and even your work phone.

The service is free but expect to see advertisement.

They have a premium account which will cost you $10.

iPhone's syncing capability with iTunes and your PC

The PocketTunes 4.0 can let your phone connect to internet radio stations plus lets you download music from popular subscription services like Yahoo Music, Napster To Go, and Rhapsody To Go.

The application will cost you $38 and is compatible with Palm Treo phones.For your Windows Mobile smart phone, you can download the M music player which lets you access songs on your PC and lets you receive Internet Radio broadcasts.

The service will set you back $5 per month or $50 per year.For phones that support Java, for $10 per month, the MobiTV application lets you stream live TV on your phone as well as receive radio broadcasts.

iPhone's 4 to 8 GB memory capacity

The iPhone's memory is restricted to either 4 or 8 GB capacity. Most phones nowadays have an expansion slot that supports memory cards, SD cards, microSD and miniSD.

The highest capacity for multimedia cards is at 4GB but according to pcworld, that capacity can double.iPhone supports Google MapsPcworld reports that Google Maps has a mobile version for any cell phones that are capable of connecting to the internet.

And if your mobile phone has GPS capabilities, you can one up the iPhone since it can only view static maps, according to pcworld, major carriers offer GPS mapping and traffic updates.

For other tips and applications that would make you forget about the iPhone and stay loyal to your old phone, visit the pcworld article below.
SOURCE:Michael S. Lasky, iPhone versus Your Phone: Tips to Avoid iPhone Envy. PC World.

AT&T to Launch Mobile TV in 58 US Markets

AT&T will launch its mobile television service.

                AT&T's Mobile TV will only be available on two high-end phones, LG's touch-screen Vu and Samsung's Access. The Vu costs US$399.99 and the Access $299.99, although consumers can get a $100 mail-in rebate. 

Both require two-year service plans.

AT&T had planned to launch Mobile TV by the end of last year. The service will be available in 58 markets, AT&T said.

Much information on Mobile TV was already released at the CTIA Wireless trade show in Las Vegas in March. But AT&T has revealed pricing, which is in the same range as Verizon's service.

Mobile TV packages start at $13 per month for four channels: CBS Mobile, Fox Mobile, NBC 2Go and NBC News 2Go. Next is a $15-a-month deal for the "basic" package with more channels and $30 for the "plus" service, which includes unlimited TV watching and mobile Web browsing.

AT&T's pricing is close to Verizon's, which offers a limited package for $13 per month, a eight-channel deal for $15 and a $25-a-month package that throws in unlimited air time, e-mail and basic video clips.
All told, AT&T's Mobile TV encompasses 150 simulcast or time-shifted programs from CNN, ESPN, Comedy Central, CBS, NBC, Nickelodeon and PIX, part of Sony Pictures Television, among others.

              Like Verizon, AT&T is employing technology from MediaFLO USA, part of Qualcomm, to deliver the service. MediaFLO broadcasts the programming on a network separate from AT&T's cellular network, using parts of the unused television broadcast spectrum.

LG's Vu has a music player, a 2.0-megapixel camera and Bluetooth. Samsung's Access has an internal antenna for TV reception, a camera, external stereo speakers and stereo Bluetooth.

Verizon launched its V Cast Mobile TV service in March 2007. The service is compatible with four handsets: Samsung's SCH-U620, LG's VX9400 and Voyager and Motorola's z6tv.

The Devil is in the iPhone 3G Details

As more details about the iPhone 3G service plan emerges, the less attractive the darn thing becomes. And that's without even taking into account the new activation process that must take place in the store, which eliminates buying online and probably puts a major crimp into unlocking.

For example, the combination voice + data - and found out since Monday that you have a data plan, despite them listing the plan separately -is $10 more monthly than previously.

Thus, you save $200 on the phone upfront, but pay $240 extra for the plan. uppose someone smarter than me could take inflation into account to figure things out even more precisely.

And that's for a consumer data plan. An Enterprise data plan will result in a user paying $25 more per month for the service.

Oh, and let's not forget: there's no SMS bundle anymore.

The old plan had 200 messages; you have to pay $5 for 200 SMS messages now. So even more cash is sucked out of us users. With the above difference in the service plan pricing and SMS plan, you're talking about an additional $160 over the original iPhone, even taking the $200 subsidy into account. Ouych!

That's the obvious. Leaked AT&T policy documents seem to indicate even more devilish details.

Upgrade Eligibility and Qualified Upgrade Pricing

Upgrade eligibility will be determined based on standard upgrade eligibility rules. Customers must be upgrade eligible to receive the qualified upgrade pricing. However, not all customers will be qualified upgrades. AT&T has not determined the price of the 3G device for non-qualified upgrades.

That usually means you have to be out of contract, or at least darn close enough to get them to waive it so you can get a new phone. Seems silly for them to restrict purchases; you'd think just getting people to sign onto a 2-year contract extension would be enough.

However, based on this text:

However, all postpaid 2G iPhone customers in good standing are upgrade eligible, so these customers will qualify to upgrade to a 3G iPhone when it is available.

What this means is even if you are in the middle of a contract with your 2G iPhone, you'll still get the discounted upgrade pricing ($199 for 8 GB, $299 for 16 GB).

Also revealed in the leaked memo: preparations for logistics, including security:

Security will be provided for locations requesting armed police or unarmed, uniformed guards.

Yeah, well since users can't buy online, anyone who wants these things are going to have to line up. Besides, all the prior information about the new pricing has me rethinking buying an iPhone 3G.

Here's a copy of the leaked document (.PDF). Plenty of interesting info; take a peek.

$199 iPhone 3G Introduced By Apple

  

In his keynote address to open Apple’s Worldwide Developer’s Conference (WWDC) on Monday, Steve Jobs officially announced the iPhone 3G.

Perhaps the most important revelation was the price, which at $199 for the entry level (8GB) model is half the original’s current $399 pricetag.

He indicated that the price was based on research where consumers who have so far passed on the iPhone said cost was the biggest barrier.

Not surprisingly he didn’t talk about his previous prediction of 10 million iPhones sold by the end of 2008.

Why is that significant?

Maybe because at the current (pre-iPhone 3G) prices it appears unlikely to happen.

In fact despite “selling out some number of weeks ago,” Jobs said only 6 million have been sold in the approximately 11 months since the initial launch on June 29 of last year.

Jobs showed off the speed difference between the iPhone 3G’s “amazingly zippy” performance on newer 3G networks, compared with the EDGE connection available to owner’s of the original.

The same web page that took nearly a minute to load using an EDGE connection took just over 20 seconds across 3G.

He also compared it to a Nokia N95 and Treo 750, which reportedly took 33 and 34 seconds respectively to load the same page (using 3G) while delivering it in a less complete mobile format.

He also pointed out that 3G speed is “actually approaching Wi-Fi.”

Other changes include the use of plastic instead of aluminum for the back (presumably to bring production costs down), as well as the addition of a 2 Megapixel camera and GPS.

Near the end of his presentation a map showed 70 countries where the 3G iPhone will officially be available while ‘It’s a Small World’ played in the background.

By contrast, the original iPhone is only offered in 6 countries.

The iPhone 3G’s initial launch, on July 11, will actually only include 22 countries, with the other 48 planned by year’s end.

Apple is World’s No.3 Smartphone Maker

Apple has staked a strong claim in the smartphone market. And it’s a good space to latch onto, as the worldwide smartphone market grew more than 29 percent and the North American smartphone market doubled in the first quarter of 2008 compared to a year ago, according to new research from Gartner. Apple, Cupertino, Calif., is the No. 3 vendor of smartphones, selling 1.7 million units worldwide to grab a 5.3 percent share of the market, Gartner said.

Apple has built that share up from nothing, offering no smartphone in its portfolio until the debut of its iPhone in June, 2007.

In the U.S Apple is the No. 2 vendor, grabbing 20 percent of the market. Still, the vendor has a ways to go if it wants to hit No. 1 worldwide. Nokia, Espoo, Finland, holds that spot, selling 14.6 million units in the first quarter and grabbing 45.2 percent of the market. Research in Motion, Waterloo, Ontario, sits at No. 2, selling 4.3 million units to grab 13.4 percent of the market.

Globally, buyers snapped up 32.2 million smartphones in the first quarter, an increase of 29.3 percent compared to the first quarter of 2007. In North America, unit sales more than doubled to 7.3 million. “Despite economic concerns, the smartphone market continued to expand in the United States, driven by heavy advertising and strong marketing promotions as more devices reached mass market price points,” said Hugues De La Vergne, principal analyst for mobile terminals research at Gartner, in a statement.

“North American operators are giving these devices strong support, as they provide higher average revenue per unit (ARPU). We expect operators to continue to make these devices the focus of 2008 promotions.”

Watch Blip.tv Episode on iPhone|iPod

Blip.tv is an unique video sharing service designed for creators of user-generated content that focuses on “episodic content” or “shows” and “series”, rather than viral video, in the cases such as Youtube.

With the popularity of mobile devices, especially iPhone and iPod, Blip.tv also has special file formats that cater for viewers from iPhone, iPhone 3G, iPod Touch and other portable media players.

                  Other than the usual drop down menu or links to select appropriate file formats for various device, there is even a simpler method to browse, visit, download, view and watch video clips from Blip.tv on iPhone and iPod.

For users who have been following favorite episodes on Blip.tv, just add /rss/ipod or /rss/itunes to the end of a Blip.tv show URL (link location) in order to watch the video on iPhone or iPod.

For example, “http://show.blip.tv” should be typed as “http://show.blip.tv/rss/ipod”.

Adding the suffix will show the the RSS feed for the channel customized to fit the targeted device, which allows user to view and see all available videos in the show easily.