Last week I downloaded (but did not install) the iPhone OS 3.1.3 firmware for my 3GS. I wanted to have a copy of the firmware on hand, but didn't want to upgrade right away. I checked "Do not ask me again" and clicked Download Only. I thought that was the end of the matter.

Unfortunately, this Sunday, I plugged in my iPhone and left the room to grab some tea. When I returned, the iPhone was 50% of the way through the 3.1.3 firmware upgrade procedure. It did something I had no idea that it would do: it upgraded me without asking.

How frustrating! What's more, I didn't have a copy of 3.1.2 on-hand to downgrade to because iTunes automatically deleted the old firmware files and I was using default Time Machine settings; Time Machine does not normally back up ~/Library, the folder that contains the iTunes ipsw files.

Fortunately, I had several resources. First, because I had jailbroken my phone and registered my device signature with Jay Freeman's caching service, I knew I could downgrade my phone. As Jay and I discussed in this LiveChat from a few months back, Apple no longer allows you to freely downgrade your iPhone software. All firmware installations must be verified with Apple's signature servers.

By jailbreaking your phone and registering your device signature with Jay's system, you'll be able to bypass Apple's verification system and return to the firmware you prefer -- or at least to the earliest firmware whose signature you have stored on the caching site. To make this happen, you must both register your device and update your /etc/hosts file. Jay's site has complete instructions on how to comply.

Second, I could grab a copy of old firmware from sites like Felix Bruns' http://www.felixbruns.de/iPod/firmware/ and iClarified's http://www.iclarified.com/entry/index.php?enid=750. These sites provide Apple download links for old firmware releases. I downloaded a fresh copy of the 3.1.2 ipsw (iPhone software archive) and installed it onto my system. Using a standard option-restore trick, I was able to put that firmware onto my iPhone. iTunes verified the upgrade with Jay's server and installed it onto the device.

Note: If you receive the "The iPhone could not be restored. An unknown error occurred (3004)." error, make sure to quit iTunes and flush caches at the command line: sudo dscacheutil -flushcache.

If your device updates properly, you will receive a 1015 error and your unit will now enter a semi-permanent recovery mode, the mode in which your device shows an iTunes logo and will not boot further. To proceed, you'll need to use iRecovery. Download a copy from this site. (It requires libusb, so read the entire post before running.) Run iRecovery from the command line and supply the -s flag. Wait for the "]" prompt, and do not type anything until you see that prompt appear.

Enter the following commands:

] setenv auto-boot true
] saveenv
] /exit

After, you will return to the command line. Reboot your phone by pressing the home and sleep buttons for 10 seconds, per the instructions on the site, and your iPhone should boot back to standard 3.1.2.

Note: Be aware that this method does not downgrade your baseband. It remains at the 3.1.3 setting.

Thanks Jay Freeman, Sjoerd (aka WiFone), and Paul "PhoenixDev" Griffin

Who's got low expectations for the iPad? Not the Norwegians, as one local store can't keep up with pre-orders.

Late last week, retailer Eplehuset (Apple House) suspended pre-orders all together when they sold out. A message posted to their site states that those who have already placed orders will have their spot in line reserved, while others are out of luck. "We have chosen not to receive more pre-orders for now," the site says via Google Translate, "we will contact you as soon as we know anything more."

Additionally, iPod1 reports that retailer Humac has suspended iPad pre-orders. We don't have any stats on which model is being ordered most often, but Electronista suggests that it's the 64GB iPad with 3G model. It's also notable that most countries aren't offering pre-orders yet (including Apple itself in the US), so there's no way to gauge if the Norwegian customers' enthusiasm is typical.

While e-readers like the Nook and Kindle generated a lot of pre-release buzz, tablet computers historically haven't sparked a blaze of enthusiasm in the wider market. If these retailers' experiences turn out to be typical, Apple will have a real hit on their hands (and in ours) with the iPad.

It's cool that Apple is getting all cozy with SD cards for the iPad; it helps to sell the idea that the iPad is closer to a MacBook than an iPhone. As useful as an SD card reader is for the iPad, there is one minor hiccup: it probably won't work with the iPhone.

ZoomMediaPlus aims to fill that gap with the ZoomIt SD card reader/application for the iPhone. The ZoomIt is a dongle that plugs in to the iPhone's dock connector and (with the use of Zoom's app) allows you to view and share content stored on an SD card.

According to ZoomMediaPlus, the card reader works in conjunction with its application that can be installed on either an iPhone or iPod touch. The app has a file browser that lets you browse files by group such as documents, pictures, or videos. It's also possible to copy files of any type from an SD card to your iPhone's internal storage.

The ZoomIt iPhone app also has the ability to quickly and easily send photos and documents from the SD card via email. Further, photos on an SD card can be sent via MMS or simply added to the internal photo library.

The ZoomIt SD card reader is available now for pre-order for $49.95US -- which is a savings of over 15% off the final retail price ($59.95US). According to ZoomMediaPlus, pre-orders will begin shipping in April of this year. Of course, by that time, Apple's own SD card reader could be available and surprising us all with iPhone compatibility.

[via Engadget]

So my folks were here this weekend, and as you'd expect my Dad is really curious about the upcoming iPad, or as he likes to put it "his new 3G iPad". I convinced him that he should wait for April so he could get the new postpaid-data-ready iPad, which he could use anywhere, not just with WiFi hotspots.

As we were talking, I began to realize that he didn't really have a clear idea of exactly what this gadget is -- and lots of you probably have parents in similar situations. So I put together this Q&A using actual questions my Dad asked throughout the course of the weekend.

"So I can use it instead of my normal computer, right?"
The iPad isn't going to replace your home computer. In fact, it's supposed to be like an iPod -- a mobile device you bring along but not a primary system. You manage your music and movies and everything over on your main machine (a Windows unit in my Dad's case) and then synchronize that data to your iPad using iTunes.

"But what about Microsoft Works? Can I load that on?"
Afraid not. The iPad is more like a mobile phone than it is like a computer. You won't be able to run Windows on it, or even the Macintosh operating system OS X. It has its own private system and can only run apps that you buy at the App Store. (Trust me, my Dad does not want to know from jailbreaking or Cydia.)

Read more →

TUAW's devsugar series helps introduce developers to tools and tricks that they might not yet be familiar with. Today's tip centers on signing already-compiled and already-signed applications with a new custom signature.

A while back, I posted about a way to sign already-compiled applications with your personal credentials in order to better allow developer-to-developer distribution. By re-signing an application, it allows you to install it on any of the devices you have registered to your account at Apple without having to go through the fuss and bother of normal ad-hoc distribution. In addition, it makes it easier to develop applications on a contractor's machines, to ship them to a client, and then have them signed and shipped to App Store using the client's identity.

A basic command-line solution is as follows. It calls codesign (found in /usr/bin) to sign the application, using the default keychain item that matches "iPhone Developer". It's a handy script, especially for informal beta distributions.

#! /bin/bash

export CODESIGN_ALLOCATE=/Developer/Platforms/iPhoneOS.platform/Developer/usr/bin/codesign_allocate

codesign -f -s "iPhone Developer" $1

There are, however, several problems with this approach. First, it assumes you only want to sign with development (typically "Debug build") credentials. That's not going to work if you need to re-sign for distribution. (Solution? Change iPhone Developer to iPhone Distribution). Second, it assumes you only have one developer or distribution profile in your keychain. (Solution? Change iPhone Developer, for example, to iPhone Developer: Company Name to exactly match just one keychain entry.) Third, it assumes the person doing the re-signing knows how to use a command line. For that, the solution is a little more complicated.

Recently, this topic came up on a developer e-mail list that I moderate: how do you make it easier for a non-technical client to re-sign an application, normally for distribution. As a solution, I put forth the proposal that one could embed the above shell script behavior into an AppleScript droplet. After consulting with a few colleagues, and gathering their requirements, I decided to give the project a try. I built an AppleScript application that signs any application dropped onto it.

You can find a working copy of the application at my website. App Signer iterates through any apps dropped onto it, checks to ensure whether each file (or bundle, really) ends with an ".app" extension, and then attempts to sign those files using /usr/bin/codesign.

Users can choose to sign with Developer credentials, Distribution credentials, or select Other to open a prompt and enter text for keychain disambiguation. (See the screen shot at the top of this post for an example of the disambiguation dialog.) The application displays results for each application, one at a time.

Please note the following caveats:

• I make no attempt to guarantee that the app dropped onto this utility is actually an iPhone app (rather than, say a Macintosh application).
• When working with on-device keychains, the identity used to sign the application has to match the application id set forth in the Info.plist file for the application, otherwise keychain access will fail.
• This is a free application. It is offered under the BSD license. Use it at your own risk. Credit always appreciated. The open source github repository for App Signer can be found here.
• To create the application, open the AppleScript source in Script Editor and choose File > Save As > File Format: Application.

It certainly caused a lot of excitement when the Apple web store went down this morning. No, it wasn't an updated MacBook Pro line but Aperture 3, Apple's high-end photo editing and image management software.

The latest version is U.S. $199.00, and upgrades are available for any existing Aperture users for $99.00.

Apple says Aperture 3 has "more than 200 new features", including Faces and Places, brought over from iPhoto '09. There is an enhanced tool called Brushes, which allows photographers to paint adjustments and filters directly onto their images using new enhanced edge detection.

This latest version of Aperture runs in 64 bit on Snow Leopard and 64 bit processors.

Aperture has been in a long features war with Adobe Lightroom, a similar and very popular application. Aperture was last updated in February, 2008.

We'll have a close look at Aperture 3 when we get our hands on it. Apple has a free 30 day download for people who want an advance look, but as of this writing download links haven't yet been provided. Aperture 3 needs an intel-based Mac, so older machines like the G5 are out of luck.

• Open to legal US residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia who are 18 and older.
• To enter, leave a comment telling us what what problem you would solve with a BearExtender n3.
• The comment must be left before February 13, 11:59PM Eastern Standard Time.
• You may enter only once.
• Five winners will be selected in a random drawing.
• Prize: One BearExtender n3 (Value: US$49.97)
• Click Here for complete Official Rules.
  

Best of luck to everyone

Navigon has been very aggressive about keeping its highly rated MobileNavigator app [iTunes link] up to date. Now, new features are putting it even further ahead of a lot of the competition.

The update adds three innovative features: in-app connection to Facebook and Twitter, Panorama View 3D with 3D terrain views powered from NASA data, and personalized route delivery via NAVIGON MyRoutes, an intelligent direction provider.

For Facebook and Twitter connectivity, a simple icon tap posts the user's current position, destination, and ETA without navigation interruption -- handy for advising family of your expected arrival or updating other travelers with your location if you stopped for a break.

The MyRoutes feature analyzes driving habits, patterns, location, time/day and provides up to three routes clearly displayed in-map with ETA, distance and driving times for each.

The 3D views enable intuitive orientation of the surrounding environment, and show you what lies ahead with digital landscape elevations, shadows, and geographic images. Panorama View 3D is integrated in-map, independent from the phone's data connection. The Panorama View 3D feature will be available via an in-app purchase.

There is a special Macworld promotion of the current version of MobileNavigator for US$69.99 and one time in-app purchase of Traffic Live for $19.99 (regularly $24.99) from February 5-15. All the new features except Panorama View are free updates for existing owners of the app. The Panorama View feature will be $9.99. All the new announced features are expected to be available this spring.

Besides being available for the iPhone 3G and 3GS, the NAVIGON app also runs on the first-generation iPhone or an iPod touch. Additional accessories are required for GPS navigation on these devices.

In case you missed it last week, PBS top gab guy Charlie Rose (no relation) hosted a roundtable discussion about the latest product from Steve & co. on his show, featuring the NYT's David Carr, 'Uncle' Walt Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal, and TechCrunch founder/would-be tablet impresario Michael Arrington. The segment is about 23 minutes long, but it's a good conversation.

Mossberg described the iPad as "wicked fast" and praised the software's grace notes and sophistication, while noting that nobody has really succeeded at making a tablet that the market embraced wholeheartedly. Arrington said "Personally, I think people are going to love this." David Carr (who strongly evokes the actor Austin Pendleton for some reason) also compared the Apple tablet to the Kindle, with the Amazon device coming out unfavorably: "Mr. Jobs did say we stand on the shoulders of Amazon, and he was very professional and gracious about that, but he left that picture of the Kindle up there for two minutes... it looked like something Mennonites made 150 years ago." Ow.

[via iPhoneSavior & TechCrunch]