TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog

Tethering for the holiday traveler

Josh Carr — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 08:00:00 EST

I know that many of our readers will be traveling during the holiday season, so I wanted to share a walk-through that will help keep your MacBook of choice connected on the go. This is an article intended for those using iPhones on carriers that do not officially support tethering. TUAW would like to remind you that this is unsupported and is enabled at the user's own risk. This does require jailbreaking your iPhone, so the unadventurous in the audience may want to pass this up. If you're not already jailbroken, you can download the necessary software, like blackra1n from George Hotz or Pwnage from the iPhone Dev Team.

Once you've jailbroken your iPhone, install or open Cydia and navigate to the "Featured Packages" section. Find and install the package named "Modem." That's it on the iPhone side of things, on your computer, navigate to iphonemodem.com and download the helper application or register the application for $9.99 to disable the registration reminder in the iPhone app (As far as we know, the free version is fully functional). Drag iPhoneModem to your Applications folder.

The setup is really that simple. Now all you have to do is open the application on your computer, click connect, then launch the companion app on your iPhone. The iPhone application will find the network your computer creates and share the Wi-Fi connection between the two devices so you can use your iPhone data plan on your laptop for better browsing. Here's how the developers say it works:

On the computer, the helper application creates a new computer-to-computer (or ad-hoc) Wi-Fi network and configures the system preferences to use the iPhone as an Internet gateway and proxy. On the iPhone, the application opens a routing engine, DHCP, DNS, HTTP, HTTPS and SOCKS proxies and connects to the helper on the computer.

I've had pretty good success with this application in my time with it. I've been using it on and off for over a year -- it's been a great app in clutch situations. I'd recommend it as a virtual stocking stuffer if you have a friend or family member who's jailbroken their iPhone. Let us know your thoughts or your experiences with the app in the comments.

Update

As several commenters have pointed out, there are several other free solutions that seem to be just as easy as iPhoneModem. Please read through the comments to see if any of those solutions suit you better.

Tethering for the holiday traveler originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 22 Dec 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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AT&T isn't working that hard on network upgrades (updated)

Josh Carr — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 17:30:00 EST

See updated response from AT&T below.

With some pretty damning evidence, both FSJ and Gizmodo are shouting at AT&T, which claims that they've upgraded their network although they've spent less each quarter on upgrades since the iPhone was introduced in 2007. AT&T CEO Ralph De La Vega recently said that "AT&T is upgrading its network to cope," and that AT&T is continuing to look into ways to entice users to limit the way they use data.

That statement made sense at one point: give the customers a tiered data structure that's cheaper for those who don't use much bandwidth. This would probably never happen: it's not too often that you see a wireless provider actually help its customers. In reality, we'd probably see data rates stay where they are, but get an increase in price for "unlimited" data as we've come to understand it.

With another look at the information found in AT&T's Financial and Operating Statistics Summary [PDF Link], you begin to see tremendous flaws in AT&T's logic. They've consistently made more money (80% more revenue compared to Q4 2007) from wireless data, yet on average, AT&T has spent less each quarter for network improvements.

So where has all of that extra money gone? No one can argue that it's the recession sucking up the dollars, because AT&T's profits have remained pretty stable during the whole thing. The money obviously hasn't been spent on network improvements. Perhaps AT&T is fighting Verizon ads with the extra cash?

One thing is certain, the company is not serving AT&T customers in the best manner possible. With rumors that the iPhone may soon be available on Verizon's network as well, AT&T needs to put the pedal to the floor and come through with something... anything.

Update: Early on the morning of 12/21, I received an email from Seth -- he's handling some of AT&T's public relations. It looks like the figures we reported here, while accurate, don't actually cover the whole story. He states that AT&T is actually working very hard on wireless network upgrades. The numbers we used to draw our conclusions covered a lot of aspects of AT&T's spending and not just upgrades. While AT&T won't give out a specific outline of their upgrade budget, they've spent $17 or $18 billion on network upgrades this year.

Let me just say that I've been pleasantly surprised with the reliability of Denver's service since they finished the upgrades in October. I had been dropping calls several times a week prior to the upgrades. Since the end of October, I have yet to drop a call. Obviously, the user experience varies from city to city and we understand that some cities are really struggling. If this upgrade trend continues, hopefully we'll be seeing more cities follow Denver's lead sooner rather than later. I'll let you read through his bullet points instead of re-hashing it for you.

In direct contrast to your headline, we are working very hard on network upgrades. Here's a look at how we're spending what's expected to be between $17 and $18 billion in improvements in 2009 to our wireline and wireless networks, with billions on wireless:

We are nearly doubling the wireless spectrum serving 3G customers in hundreds of markets across the country, using high-quality 850 MHz spectrum. This additional spectrum expands overall network capacity and improves in-building reception.

We are adding about 2,000 new cell sites to our network in 2009, expanding service to new cities and improving coverage in other areas.

We're adding about 100,000 new backhaul connections, which add critical capacity between cell sites and the global IP backbone network.

We're enabling widespread access to our Wi-Fi network - the largest in the country with more than 20,000 hotspots in all 50 states - allowing customers to take advantage of the best available AT&T mobile broadband connection.

We're rolling out even faster 3G speeds with deployment of HSPA 7.2 technology and are preparing for field trials of next generation, LTE wireless networks next year, with deployment planning to begin in 2011. This schedule aligns with industry expectations for when a wide variety of compatible 4G wireless devices should be available.

Let us know what you think about this, and what your coverage is like, the comments.

AT&T isn't working that hard on network upgrades (updated) originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 18 Dec 2009 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Why is there a progress bar when my Mac is starting up?

Josh Carr — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 22:30:00 EST

Update: As several of our commenters pointed out, the OS is probably running the fsck utility in the background to repair directory problems, while showing the progress bar to the end user so they know there's something going on (fsck can take quite a while). Here's an older Apple support article that explains the disk repair process very well. We will update you if we find a support article with more information.

Here's a story for anyone who's come across an unusual progress bar during boot and my best guess at what it really is. The moral of my story: backup frequently and try not to turn off your Mac while it is starting up.

Five days ago, I was prepping my late 2008 MacBook Pro for resale when I encountered the ever-spinning gear at boot. Ridiculously enough, I hadn't kept up any of my backups in a month and I hard powered off the machine while it was booting because I forgot to select the boot drive (yes -- I'm a technician and I did something dumb -- I know). Many thoughts went through my head: I've lost the last month's worth of work, I have to waste hours trying to recover data from my drive, why did this have to happen while I was trying to back it up? It goes to show that it can happen to anyone at any time and that the only real solution is to keep a current backup (if not several) of all your information.

Now for a quick word on backups. I usually keep a continuous Time Machine backup of everything and clone my internal drive every couple weeks. The cloned drive is kept in a fireproof safe here in my house. Also, as much as I love Time Machine, in my profession, I've seen several instances where Time Machine backups don't restore properly. I always suggest having a manual clone as a backup to your backup.

Continue reading Why is there a progress bar when my Mac is starting up?

Why is there a progress bar when my Mac is starting up? originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 16 Dec 2009 22:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Recycle that contract-free iPhone as a holiday gift

Josh Carr — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 16:00:00 EST

We're sure this will be a hit for the holiday season: Apple recently updated one of the iPhone support articles, explaining how you can continue using an iPhone as a quasi-iPod touch, if you no longer have a cellphone contract with your carrier. Let's give an example:

Your iPhone 3G contract was eligible for the upgrade pricing not too long ago, so you purchased an iPhone 3GS. You have your old iPhone 3G lying around the house with no purpose. Obviously, you could try and sell it... but maybe your child has been begging you for an iPod touch for Christmas. Apple wants to see these devices be re-used and not thrown into the trash, so they've outlined how to activate your iPhone (1st gen, 3G or 3GS) in the article.

It all boils down to this: never get rid of your SIM card. For the iPhone 1st generation, you have to keep the original SIM card in place at all times. Without this, it will not activate in the next software update. The iPhone 3G and 3GS do not need a SIM card installed for day-to-day use. However, you still need a SIM card for the required activation after a software update.

This differs a bit from the iPhone 1st generation: with the iPhone 3G and 3GS you can use any SIM card from your authorized carrier. Either way, it's silly not to leave the SIM card in each generation of iPhone as long as you don't need the SIM card for your new phone. Now you won't get stuck at the "Connect to iTunes" screen forever.

Recycle that contract-free iPhone as a holiday gift originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 16 Dec 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Holiday apps that'll make your Grinchmas merry

Josh Carr — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 18:00:00 EST

My wife is probably one of the biggest Grinch fans out there. Yes, we have Grinch holiday decorations and end up watching the movies several times throughout the holiday season. We're sitting at 3 times already... I'm praying we don't pass 5. It's not that I don't like The Grinch -- the animated or Jim Carrey version -- I'm usually not a multiple viewing kind of guy.

To help fuel her love -- or obsession -- the folks over at Oceanhouse Media have partnered with Dr. Seuss Enterprises to fill our holiday minds with the Grinch. The first app in the iTunes App Store is called "Grinchmas" [iTunes Link]. It's a simple game where you choose to be a mean or a merry Grinch. I, of course, chose to be mean the first time around... I found myself throwing snowballs at noisy houses with a goal of keeping the noise meter from reaching its max. Next, I tried the merry side: I was given presents and a timer and challenged to toss the most presents before the time ran out. It was a fun little game, good for true Grinch fans and a quick time waster but it's definitely not something that you're gonna play for hours on end.

They also created a pretty cool camera application that has a lot of pre-made greeting cards that you can email to your friends and family (the pic on this post is an example). It's called "Dr. Seuss Camera - The Grinch Edition" [iTunes Link] and is pretty awesome for sending fun cards to your friends. Unfortunately it's nearly impossible to line up the picture with the backgrounds if you're doing them yourself. It would have been nice of them to allow zoom and give you the ability to move your face to the correct spot: without that, you're pretty much limited to taking pictures of other people and sending them to your friends. My wife and I still had fun going through the different pictures and getting her to pose for the cards.

For those of you who have yet to be Grinch'd, Oceanhouse Media also has produced a visually stimulating e-book (it does the original justice) to go along with the Grinch-themed holidays. "How the Grinch Stole Christmas!" [iTunes Link] is an interactive e-book that not only reads to you but plays sounds depending on what you touch on the screen. This is a great way to share a holiday classic with your kids. Read them the book, then let them play with the other two apps for a Grinch-tastic holiday. Don't forget to snag the movies too. My wife made me say that.

Holiday apps that'll make your Grinchmas merry originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sat, 12 Dec 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple's purchase of Lala sparks price confusion

Josh Carr — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 14:30:00 EST

Did Apple's purchase of music streaming service Lala cost the company $80 million, or 17 million? Probably the latter, at least according to Techcrunch. $80 million seemed like an awfully large price tag for a service that's only a couple years old. Michael Arrington at TC claims to have sources who say the purchase price was $17 million instead of the previously reported $80 million. He also explains that the sources aren't directly related to the purchase, they just have some mysterious knowledge of the situation.

Good source or not, the math makes more sense after reading into it a little bit more. Lala itself was valued at about $180 million but so far has only gathered $35 million in investments. With the theoretical purchase price of 40 to 50 cents per dollar, it could look like $80 million is a viable purchase price... but then you have to take into account that the company only raised $35 million in venture capital. Would Apple really pay more than double the company's total even if the valuation is much higher? If you take in the probability that Apple paid 40 to 50 cents per dollar on the $35 million, that would give you the $17 million figure pretty easily.

It's all up to speculation at this point: the price and the purpose. Some say that Apple doesn't give a rip about the actual streaming service, but that they really purchased it for the engineers behind the project. Others are getting excited to see what music streaming would mean to Apple and iTunes. I'd encourage you to leave your hope where it is... the possibility of a music streaming package on iTunes seems a little weak. However, we've been surprised before. Either way, the $17 million purchase price would make it a steal of a deal considering that Lala supposedly had $14 million in the bank. If Apple is allowed to retain Lala's deal with Google (search results and streaming for titles of popular songs), it would make that $3 million investment look pretty good.

Apple's purchase of Lala sparks price confusion originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 08 Dec 2009 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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V-Studio 100: not a piece of cake but a great piece of hardware

Josh Carr — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 10:00:00 EST

Most aspiring musicians, at least those of us who are computer nerds, have spent time recording their music to distribute it digitally ... to Grandma. Most of us pass GarageBand with flying colors, graduate from Logic Express and eventually get a masters in Logic Pro. I'm admittedly in the learning stages of Logic Pro. I've graduated from my analog mixer and have just begun to learn the real world of DAWs (Digital Audio Workstations). Please keep in mind that I'm admittedly not a sound engineer, just a musician who likes to dabble with audio recording.

Recently, we were contacted by the awesome folks at Cakewalk who asked us if we'd like to review the V-Studio 100. I jumped at the chance to test it out and was pleasantly surprised at how versatile it really was. For the last two weeks, I've learned the hardware and software included in this package that helps you sound good: the end goal of any musician. I'll just do a brief overview of what's included because there's a lot there and the conclusion is that it's a winner. It's a lot to learn, especially if you're not familiar with the software or DAW controllers for that matter, but it's a huge step up from my analog mixer. Hit the read link to learn about its abilities.

Continue reading V-Studio 100: not a piece of cake but a great piece of hardware

V-Studio 100: not a piece of cake but a great piece of hardware originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 08 Dec 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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TUAW Review: Checkout, top notch Point of Sale software for Mac

Josh Carr — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST

I had the opportunity to speak with the creators of Checkout: an excellent Point of Sale application for the Mac. I've been working with the app for several weeks now and have been thoroughly impressed by it, especially after the developers shared their perspectives. Many thanks to Ed and Dirk for walking me through it.

Whether you're starting a new store or transferring your current system to Checkout, it's the best Point of Sale I've worked with in my many years of retail. The creators explained that they designed Checkout to help small and mid-sized retail stores make sales, print receipts, manage stock, organize customers, and collect payments.

This application focuses heavily on ease-of-use in everything from installation to managing metrics and allows the user to remove "unneeded complexities" from the system they work with every day.

Read on for a full walk-through of the application.

Continue reading TUAW Review: Checkout, top notch Point of Sale software for Mac

TUAW Review: Checkout, top notch Point of Sale software for Mac originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sun, 22 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rumor: Hypothetical hybrid GSM-CDMA iPhone for Verizon nowhere near production

Josh Carr — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 19:30:00 EST

Last week we covered the possibility that the iPhone would get a hybrid chip allowing it to work on CDMA and UTMS carriers (like Verzion and AT&T) simultaneously. Today, Appleinsider is citing industry analyst Ashok Kumar who says that such a chip hasn't reached field trial status, and that the lead time required for this type of device makes him think consumers won't see it in 2010. Kumar goes on to suggest that this new "worldmode" chip would be more likely to show up in 2011.

While it would be ideal for Apple to have one model of iPhone that would work on nearly all wireless providers in the world, the technology just doesn't appear to be there at this point. Kumar points out that even though the hardware is in development, the software necessary for the basebands of such devices doesn't even exist yet but would get there eventually.

So that's one vote against a 2010 debut for the Verizon iPhone, despite the corroborating rumors from other supply chain analysts. As eager as everyone is for an alternative to AT&T in the USA, I don't think this is the last we'll hear of the story.

Rumor: Hypothetical hybrid GSM-CDMA iPhone for Verizon nowhere near production originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 12 Nov 2009 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Boxee boxes available in 2010

Josh Carr — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 17:30:00 EST

On the boxee blog this morning, Avner Ronen announced a new and exciting partnership with an undisclosed consumer electronics company that will result in a dedicated device for users who want to use Boxee as a home theater system.

They were quick to say that they're still looking to develop Boxee for every possible device connected to your TV... computers, game consoles, set-top boxes, they want to be the media software for your device of choice (like the Apple TV).

However, I have to say that this isn't surprising. It's easier and quicker to develop an awesome application on the hardware of your chosing: any Apple fan knows that. This presents a new dilemma for Mac users who want to see Boxee on their computer or Apple TV -- you can't devote an equal amount of time to development when you add another device into the mix.

That said, Boxee development hasn't exactly been the quickest process to begin with, and the service has been in alpha for quite some time. So, this may be a good way for Boxee to get out of alpha and into something that will show its true potential.

Boxee boxes available in 2010 originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 12 Nov 2009 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Mac Sale ends tomorrow, get it quick

Josh Carr — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:30:00 EST

Wanted to mention this one before the deal ends: Right now, you can get 10 applications for $49.99 from The Mac Sale. Most notably, this bundle includes CrossOver Games from CodeWeavers which allows you to play many popular games from the Windows platform on your Mac or Linux computer. The bundle also includes Picturesque, a great application that enhances your pictures: also a winner of an Apple Design Award.

One last mention for MacJournal; it's a journal application that integrates with Wordpress, Blogger, LiveJournal, MobileMe and more, all the while keeping your information encrypted and password-protected on your Mac so snooping eyes can't find your secrets. Here's a full list of the applications available:

CrossOver Games
Picturesque
HoudahGeo
MacJournal
Morph Age Regular
Opacity Express
Searchlight
Vinoteka
Stone Imaginator
Stor

The Mac Sale ends tomorrow, get it quick originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Off the screen and onto your desk: Mac OS X Calculator app done in atoms, not bits

Josh Carr — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:30:00 EST

The creative minds at Mintpass have taken applications we're all pretty familiar with and brought us ideas that make the TUAW bloggers drool. Recently, they created Mint Calculator #4; a concept that pulls the calculators from both the Mac OS and Windows out of the screen and places them on your desk -- as real, physical desk accessories.

The picture to the right is a mockup of the Mac OS calculator application, made into a real life calculator with mashable buttons and the typical aluminum style of Apple products.

The creator says that the Apple product would cost more to manufacture than its Windows counterpart because of the aluminum it would need. I'm tempted to reference the "Apple tax" (which I truly believe doesn't exist, so I'll just leave it alone). The Mac OS calculator definitely looks nicer than the Windows version -- which looks more like a toy than a usable product -- but from a design standpoint that shouldn't come as a surprise. In fairness, the Windows calculator is based on the XP version and not the snazzier Windows 7 accessory.

Off the screen and onto your desk: Mac OS X Calculator app done in atoms, not bits originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple poised to take over the (tech) world

Josh Carr — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:00:00 EST

Our friends at Cult of Mac commented on the possibility, floated on CNBC, that Apple will eventually overthrow Microsoft as the most valuable company in the technological world. If you think about it, Apple's stock was worth an unstable $25 dollars a share at this time 10 years ago -- today, it's worth $202 a share and shows no signs of decline. CNBC reports that Microsoft isn't really growing, but Apple continues to gain value and market share every day. From that, you could logically deduce that Apple will surpass Microsoft... but there are still a few points to make.

Apple has a long way to go before they're really ahead of Microsoft by most metrics. I suppose it's possible that the company's worth could surpass Microsoft within the 2 years that CNBC predicts, but as far as actual market share... I hope not. Here's why:

If Apple grows that quickly, we're going to see the effects of gravity bring them back down a bit. That kind of growth would be great for the brand but not necessarily the customer. We're already seeing record highs at the Genius Bars and not enough experienced staff to handle the demand. Calling AppleCare is usually a chore, not a pleasure.

Then again, any tech support call isn't fun, but long wait times make it even more frustrating. Using the example of Microsoft, getting too big too fast degrades your ability to offer quality service. It doesn't mean that their products are horrible, it means that you have to bring in more people to fill the gap -- people who aren't necessarily the most qualified to help. Will this sort of thing happen with Apple? I hope not. If their growth continues at its current rate, they better have a very good plan to avoid the Microsoft effect.

In my opinion, Apple does well as the underdog: they constantly have to adapt to the changing markets and make themselves more appealing than the competitor. If you look at Apple's top-dog aspects (iPod and iPhone), we begin to see things that aren't so awesome: the lack of a subscription service, the restrictive iPhone platform, not to mention the App Store approval process. In some ways, they get to the top of the mountain and then stop trying. Apple doesn't figure out where to go after they reach the summit, they simply find a different mountain and start climbing. They spent a couple years with the iPod, then a couple years with the iPhone... now we're gonna be seeing a couple years of the iTablet (or iSlate or iPad, you get the point).

If I'm not mistaken, it's really been a while since they've done anything innovative with the computer. Sure, the iTablet could bring innovation, but that's another mountain -- as were the iPod and iPhone. I'd love to see the company get back to the personal computer and do something that would change how we look at Apple. When I mention Apple at the moment, I hear the response, "Oh, they make the iPhone, right?" 4 years ago, that was the iPod. Soon enough, it will be a new piece of sexy hardware that Jonathan Ive designed.

Maybe two mountains will collide with the iTablet. Maybe it will really be the computer innovation that we've been missing. Maybe it will put Apple ahead of Microsoft in value, but let's hope that the Apple brand continues its reputation for great products, service and innovation.

Apple poised to take over the (tech) world originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Worm rickrolls unsecured jailbroken iPhones via SSH

Josh Carr — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 22:45:00 EST

For the last few days, some jailbroken iPhone users have found their home screen background a little different than they remembered. A hacker, going by the name "ikee," created a worm that changes the home screen background on jailbroken iPhones whose owners failed to change the default password after installing SSH. Simply jailbreaking your iPhone will not make you vulnerable to this sort of hack. The iPhone OS, in general, is also immune to this hack. Still confused? Let's back up a bit.

On jailbroken iPhones, SSH is installable with a package from Cydia that allows you to connect to your phone and make changes to the filesystem. It does this by logging into the root user with the password "alpine." After installing SSH, it is always recommended that you change "alpine" to the password of your choosing. This hack can only affect people who chose not to change that password -- no one else.

This hack originated in Australia, the home country of ikee, and has possibly spread to other iPhones in other countries, but we've been unable to verify that. A gentleman by the name of JD held an interview with the hacker over IRC and posted it to his blog. In ikee's own words, here's how the worm has spread:

...The code itself is set to firstly scan the 3G IP range the phone is on, then Optus/Vodafone/Telstra's IP Ranges (I think the reason Optus got hit so hard is because the other 2 are NAT'd) then a random 20 IP ranges. I'm guessing a few phones hit a range that another vulnerable phone was on.

Basically, once your phone is infected, the worm starts looking for other iPhones on the cellular network that use the root:alpine combination. Once it finds another vulnerable iPhone, it installs itself and begins the process again... and again... and again.

Luckily for the jailbreakers in the audience who may have been affected, there's really no harm done -- at least not with this version of the worm. According to the hacker, this was more of an experiment than anything else. The worm changes your background and then disables inbound SSH, which is a good thing. If SSH was left turned on, a similar worm could follow along but conceivably do much more damage. For instructions on how to delete this worm, read JD's interview with ikee. I would recommend reading the interview just for the information it presents; I found it pretty interesting. If you've got a jailbroken iPhone or iPod touch and you've never changed the default device password, now's the time. Here's how, if you are using terminal:

Type: ssh root@(iPhone IP address)
When prompted for the password type: alpine
Now you're connected the phone...
type: passwd
It should then prompt your for a new password -- type one that you'll remember. There's no easy way to reset it if you forget it.

That's it. Please remember to be responsibly secure with your devices. Hackers like ikee are troublesome, but this could have been much worse. While I don't personally condone his actions, he's prevented a lot of people from being vulnerable to more malicious attacks later down the road.

Thanks, James!

Worm rickrolls unsecured jailbroken iPhones via SSH originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sat, 07 Nov 2009 22:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The loot from the recent MacHeist

Josh Carr — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:30:00 EST

As Kevin pointed out on Wednesday, MacHeist has a new bundle for us at the moment -- but this one is what they consider a "nanoBundle" and it's free. I can't speak for everyone here at TUAW, but when I see the word "free" next to software, I horde it.

They've decided to just give away this bundle of apps in what appears to be a move to encourage their users to come back for more. 6 great mac apps for zero dollars. That's my kind of deal. There are only 6 more days to download this bundle, so go grab it after checking out the loot:

Shove Box -- An awesome reminder, organization, gotta-get-it-done application that sits in your menu bar. You can then drag things like text, URLs, images... possibly anything to the menu bar app and it'll save it for later. When you get some free time, you can go back through and see what you have. There's an iPhone companion app as well.
WriteRoom -- A simple writing application that removes all of the typical distractions from your writing sessions. It makes the text window full screen, completely cutting off the rest of the world from your mind -- if you so choose. It still has simple tools like word count, background/text color adjustments... but definitely keeps you focused. We've covered it quite a bit.
Twitterrific -- One of my favorite apps on my iPhone as of late. The desktop version is similarly simple. Set up your Twitter account and tweet away with the easiest solution imaginable.
TinyGrab -- Is a screen capture maniac's dream. It allows you to use the standard command-shift-4 and select part of your screen or hit spacebar to capture a specific window. The kicker: it uploads it directly to your own FTP server and puts the URL in your clipboard so you can paste it in Facebook, Twitter, email, IM... whatever your pleasure.
Hordes of Orcs -- I'll admit, this is the real reason I'm downloading the bundle. I've heard nothing but great reviews about this game even from our own Mike Schramm. It's one of the most innovative desktop tower defense games I've seen. Everything is in 3D, there are 6 different game variations and let's not forget tower defense.
Mariner Write -- This is a word processor with features you need but none of the "bloat" found in other applications *cough* Microsoft *cough.* Of course, it will open and save Word documents, as well as other formats.

While I was writing this, the download total went up 5,000 downloads but it'll take 500,000 for all of us to get the full benefit. MacHeist says that Mariner Write is the unlockable application, so I'm hoping to get a serial and really try it out. Head over to Macheist, and download your nanoBundle. For the first time, I'll be using all of the apps in it -- and it's free!

The loot from the recent MacHeist originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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AT&T looking to sell an 8GB iPhone 3GS?

Josh Carr — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 21:00:00 EST

Boy Genius Report is claiming that two separate sources have told them that AT&T is looking to sell an 8GB iPhone 3GS for $99 US before Christmas. While this news wouldn't come as a shock, it would certainly take more than AT&T to make it happen. As most of you know, Apple doesn't make an 8GB iPhone 3GS and it would probably mean the discontinuation of the iPhone 3G in general.

If you think back to the time of the first generation iPhone (it was so long ago now), you'll probably remember that Apple quickly discontinued the 4GB iPhone after realizing that most people were opting for the larger capacity. Not too long after that, Apple introduced the 16GB version and discounted the price of the 8GB. Now that the iPhones themselves are subsidized by the wireless carrier, the game is a little different.

I doubt that we'll see AT&T discount the 16GB iPhone 3GS to $99 US, even though it would be a huge strategic move before the holiday season, but I have a hard time believing that Apple would be willing to manufacture an 8GB iPhone 3GS. It's one thing for them to continue with the 8GB iPhone 3G because they already have the manufacturing in place, but for Apple to start manufacturing another iPhone 3GS at a capacity less than its current models -- that just seems out of place.

I've found it disappointing that the iPhone (a professional device) has had a smaller capacity than that of its sister, the iPod touch. Currently, the iPod touch is shipping at a top capacity of 64GB and the iPhone only 32GB. Here's the point: if AT&T and Apple could work together and release the 16GB iPhone 3GS at $99 then that could potentially allow for the 32GB at $199 and a 64GB model at $299. That would be a killer plan for the two companies just before the holiday season.

While this may be far-fetched, I don't think it's impossible: Apple did release a bump in storage to the 16GB iPhone in early 2008 without any warning. Here's hoping that they do that again.

AT&T looking to sell an 8GB iPhone 3GS? originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 05 Nov 2009 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Prepare for digital music from the Beatles -- but not on iTunes

Josh Carr — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:30:00 EST

In a limited run of 30,000 units, Apple Corps Ltd. will be releasing the Beatles' remastered catalog for your consumption in a green apple USB device. Unfortunately, I didn't say anything about iTunes in that sentence... It looks like the Apples still can't play nice together, so we're left to dream that one day the Beatles collection will make it to the big download cloud in the sky.

Our sister site, Engadget, reports that these drives are available for pre-order now but will not ship until December 7th in the UK and December 8th in the US for $279.99. The 16GB USB drive will include the Beatles' 14 stereo tracks in FLAC (for the audiophiles in the audience) as well as the rest of their collection in 320 Kbps MP3s. The drive will also include 13 documentaries about the studio albums, expanded liner notes, re-touched album art, and several rare photos.

What does all of this mean? The Beatles' record company basically created a massive iTunes LP without iTunes. According to The Beatles' website, there's a special Flash interface for consumer interaction with the extra content. Some would say that this is just another stepping stone in the road to online distribution... while that may be true, I'm getting tired of all the back-and-forth. I own a good majority of the Beatles albums on CD and have already ripped them into iTunes. I expect that most anyone who really wants these in their iTunes library has already gone through the motions to accomplish that. I could pay the $280 for a USB drive, or buy all of the CDs from Amazon.com for half that price and spend several hours putting them on my computer. Sure, sure, I'm not getting the officially remastered files from the Beatles themselves... but I'm willing to make that sacrifice. Even still, this may be the perfect Holiday gift for the Beatles fanatic in your household. (Honey, I don't want one.)

Prepare for digital music from the Beatles -- but not on iTunes originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple's iTunes Affiliates site briefly subjected to image swaps

Josh Carr — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 20:00:00 EST

Our friends over at OS X Daily passed along their story noting that Apple's site for iTunes Affiliates was vulnerable to a cross-site URL trick, letting you substitute your own images for the ones normally displayed on the page. Since the site is intended to let websites display a custom top banner, this was 'as designed' -- at least until jokesters began taking advantage.

The trick works (or at least, it did) by taking the default URL from the web browser and replacing a few things like the artist name, album name, album thumbnail source and the image link.

The Internet moves pretty fast, though. As I was typing this, Apple removed the top banner altogether, preventing the customized image display. No more pranks for us.

In any case, OS X Daily pointed out that the image issue could allow malicious folks to redirect would-be Apple visitors to malware sites or other bad destinations. Even an innocent image viewer that appears within an iframe on a branded page can cause problems; that's what the folks at Wired found out last January, when someone took advantage of their image tool to post a hoax "Steve Jobs had a heart attack" news story.

Props to Apple's web development team, though, for taking this down within the ten minutes it took me to finish the post.

Apple's iTunes Affiliates site briefly subjected to image swaps originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 03 Nov 2009 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Workaround for the 27 inch iMac Flash lag?

Josh Carr — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:00:00 EST

We've had a few users tell us about performance lags that they're experiencing with their brand new 27" iMacs. Our own Casey Johnston even wrote a quick article about the problem last month. Now that everyone has had a few days to play with the issue and try the obligatory troubleshooting steps, we've been tipped about a possible solution.

One of our readers claims that this isn't just related to Flash playback... it's possible that this lag problem is consistent across the system. Flash taxes your system more than most applications so it would show the lag problem more consistently than another application -- thus making it look like a problem only with Flash.

The suggestion at this point: cycle your wireless connection. By turning AirPort off and on again, some people are seeing the computer regain responsiveness. Obviously this isn't a permanent fix because the issue will most likely appear again after you reboot your machine... we can't say if the fix will persist for the entire session, either; the problem could come back before reboot.

Fellow TUAW blogger Joachim Bean suggests that the issues may be something related to PCI Express. Both the AirPort and graphics card are using PCI Express to communicate with the system. There's a possibility that the lines of communication are crossing during use. I'm still betting on a software issue -- at least, let's hope for that.

Let us know if this helps, or any other possible solutions you might have in the comments.

Thanks, Simon!

Workaround for the 27 inch iMac Flash lag? originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Blacksn0w unlocks iPhone OS 3.1.2 and baseband 05.11.07

Josh Carr — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:00:00 EST

For the last several months, anyone who had updated to iPhone OS 3.1 or greater without following a pre-update procedure lost the unlock on their iPhones due to new software in the modem firmware or the baseband. Using the at+xemn crash as an injection point, iPhone hacker Geohot (of the original hardware unlock) was able to unlock the latest firmware on any iPhone.

What does this mean? The iPhone can be unlocked for any GSM carrier, allowing you to use it on more than your country's authorized carrier or other carriers as you're traveling abroad.

Geohot suggests that you update to a fresh copy of iPhone OS 3.1.2 directly from Apple before performing his unlock. He has all the instructions available on his site.

Blacksn0w unlocks iPhone OS 3.1.2 and baseband 05.11.07 originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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An illustrated guide to Boot Camp and Windows 7

Josh Carr — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 13:00:00 EST

Ladies and gentlemen, the time has come for TUAW to introduce our illustrated guide to installing Windows 7 with Boot Camp. Windows? On a Mac? Blasphemy! Yes, yes... we hear you, but we could argue the pros and cons to having Windows on a Mac all day. So, let's just get to the installation process. Be warned, it's a lot of pictures and step-by-step information. It's not necessarily a "fun" read, unless you want to make fun of how I click a button...

Continue reading An illustrated guide to Boot Camp and Windows 7

An illustrated guide to Boot Camp and Windows 7 originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 02 Nov 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mac 101: How to manually enable menu extras

Josh Carr — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 03:30:00 EST

More Mac 101, our tips and tricks for novice Mac users.

For some reason, I tend to come across times when my optical drive doesn't want to eject the CD or DVD that's in it. I found myself having to restart the computer and try again... in more serious instances, I have to restart and force-eject the disc by holding down the mouse button during the boot process.

At some point I thought to myself, "There's gotta be a better way to do this." Having to restart my computer when a disc doesn't want to eject is not exactly user-friendly. After pondering the possibilities for quite some time, I remembered that you could enable some menu extras (including an eject button) from the CoreServices folder.

Go to the root of your hard drive, either by choosing "Computer" from the Go menu or by clicking it in the sidebar of a Finder window (my hard drive is the icon labeled 'Server' in the screenshot), and follow this path:

System > Library > CoreServices > Menu Extras

Once in that folder, you'll see a lot of different extras that you can put into your menu bar. Just double-click the ones that look appealing to you and they will appear in your menu bar. Go ahead and give them a try. If you decide that you don't want something in the menu bar, just hold down the command key and drag it off the bar.

The eject button doesn't always fix a stuck CD, but it's one more option to try before restarting my computer.

Mac 101: How to manually enable menu extras originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 02 Nov 2009 03:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Think those warranty parts are new? Think again

Josh Carr — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 14:00:00 EST

We received a question from one of our readers earlier this week that made me cringe, cower in fear, and heavily debate posting the answer. He had just been to the Genius Bar and they had replaced his under-warranty iPhone for a hardware issue. He then asked us what the quality of said iPhone would be; is it new or refurbished, and will it be a problem in the future?

Having spent time working behind the Genius Bar, as a technician at an Apple Authorized Service Provider, and now as the owner of my own repair shop in Denver... I know the history of the replacement parts and where they come from. If you have been involved with Apple repairs, you will probably know what I'm reluctant to tell you. If you are merely a consumer, prepare to be disappointed.

The vast majority of parts that Apple ships to repair centers are what they consider "re-manufactured." As a Genius, I was coached to explain that process when we were asked where the parts came from. Customers would always respond with, "Wait, so you're giving me a refurbished iPhone?"

I was told to say no, and to follow it by saying, "re-manufactured parts or products are different than refurbished. Someone may have used your device before you if it's a refurbished product... but in the re-manufacturing process, Apple uses known-good parts and builds new units out of them." So, they added a fake, nonsensical name to pretend that their parts or products weren't refurbished.

What does this mean? The iPhone that you just received looks new on the outside because it has new glass, a new case, new battery... but the rest of the device is fair game for refurbished parts. The logic board, audio assembly, LCD, pretty much anything else on the inside that isn't visible from the exterior could be from another person's iPhone. I'm not saying that every part is used, every time... they'll use new parts if that's what they have in stock. But if they have working used parts, they won't hesitate to put them in your replacement iPhone. There is usually one scenario that will allot for a new replacement: if you purchased your device less than 14 days ago. In that case, they have the ability to do a POS (Point of Sale) swap instead of a repair. Any swap outside of 14 days needs a very good explanation and a manager's approval.

This doesn't just apply to iPhones and iPods; it actually applies to any part they put into your Apple product. The logic board they put into your MacBook Pro: refurbished. The optical drive they put into your iMac: refurbished. The DC-In Board they put into your PowerBook G4: refurbished. There are many, many parts out there that Apple will happily replace for you, but beware -- it's probably not new. Re-manufactured is no different than refurbished.

If you look at it from the environmental aspect, I have to give Apple some respect for repairing broken parts instead of just tossing them in the dump. Still, that doesn't mean that I -- as a consumer -- want someone's "fixed" two-year-old logic board going into my computer. At this point, though, I don't have much of a choice.

Think those warranty parts are new? Think again originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sun, 01 Nov 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Metallica Revenge: Tapulous takes revenge to the next level

Josh Carr — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 18:00:00 EST

The Tap Tap Revenge empire just became more credible... at least to the Metallica fans out there. Metallica Revenge [iTunes Link] sells for $4.99, but it is not out to make lots of money -- not according to the Associated Press interview with the band's drummer, Lars Ulrich. Ulrich explains that the application itself is really just for fun and that "it's one more thing that'll keep me semi-cool in my kids' eyes for another six months until the next thing comes out."

But we think that this is a little bit more than just a cool marketing scheme... it actually has some brand new features never before seen in a Tap Tap Revenge game. It's the first game in the archive to include a Bluetooth Battle mode. In this mode, two devices connect over Bluetooth to play note for note against each other while obtaining power ups that you can toss at your opponent to distract them and move ahead in points.

Tapulous touts this game as the most difficult Tap Tap Revenge yet. It has a Hard mode with four rails in landscape and an Extreme mode with five rails in landscape. There has never been a Tap Tap Revenge game with five rails. I'm scared to even try it.

The band has also created a contest for those of us who purchase this application. You can win everything from cool Metallica gear to the grand prize of a trip to meet and greet Metallica at a show in Vegas on December 5th.

Here's the track list:

For Whom the Bell Tolls
Fuel
King Nothing
Sad But True
Some Kind of Monster
Enter Sandman
One
Seek & Destroy
All Nightmare Long
Master of Puppets

Metallica Revenge: Tapulous takes revenge to the next level originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 27 Oct 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nota is a sweet melody to musicians

Josh Carr — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 11:30:00 EST

As a musician who's been out of the loop a bit (3 years into the degree but life throws curveballs) I was happy to find a new application for the iPhone and iPod Touch appear in my inbox. It's called Nota [iTunes Link] from Melvin Rivera and it's a great way to help you learn music and serve as a reference point for the obscure terms you may not remember.

I have to give this app praise because it's one of the few musical reference applications I've seen. The design of the application is very polished and definitely a pleasure to use.

As you can see from the image to the right, I found the quiz to be a little easy... in fact, most musicians who've actually studied music theory will. The application shows you a note on the staff and asks you to identify it. It did challenge me a little bit (my bass clef is a bit rusty as I sing tenor, play trumpet, and tinkle the ivories by ear) and I found myself having to recite the common "Every good boy deserves fudge" and "F-A-C-E." Nonetheless, I still managed to get a perfect score on the quiz my first time through. I'm glad I switched it to advanced. The easy quiz doesn't have any accidentals and only has 34 questions compared to the 82 in the advanced quiz.

Ultimately, I wouldn't buy the application for just the quiz... the pocket piano has its uses... but the application really shines in the reference section withmany definitions that all music students must know.

This application is pretty good in its current form, but I'd really love to see more challenging aspects of music theory included in the app like the Circle of 5ths, Chords, Chord Inversions, Scales (I like saying Mixolydian)... there's so much more out there that could be put into this. But for a one-man effort and understanding that he's not writing a text book, I have to say "Job well done." It's definitely worth the $2.99 he's asking especially if you're just learning music and don't know how to use your F-A-C-E.

Last note, Melvin is currently working on a Spanish-Language localization. ¡Yo tengo la musica!

Nota is a sweet melody to musicians originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 27 Oct 2009 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dead Time Capsules can hang out together

Josh Carr — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 18:00:00 EST

We reported on the abundance of Time Capsule failure-to-boot after 18 months in September. A new site has emerged from the mist to help Time Capsule owners who are struggling to get Apple to acknowledge the issue. TimeCapsuleDead.org exists as a register for the owners of dead Time Capsules and has links to self-help discussions as well as the Apple Feedback page. Of the devices that have been registered thus far, the average time until ports-up is 17 months and 29 days -- eerily close to the estimated 18 month mark.

We'd like to give you a friendly reminder that our own Lauren explored the AppleCare agreements, and found that any computer-centric AppleCare agreement that's in force should cover this Time Capsule failure (as it's considered a peripheral used with the Mac). That does not mean that our readers who don't have a current agreement should be left begging on the streets by Apple. This is something that needs to be addressed. Hopefully this new site will be a good resource for all of our readers.

Thanks, Pim and KB!

Dead Time Capsules can hang out together originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sun, 11 Oct 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mac 101: Forward delete on a Mac laptop

Josh Carr — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 17:00:00 EST

Welcome back to Mac 101, our series of tips for new and novice Mac users.

We've had a few questions about a forward delete functionality on Mac laptops lately, but the question isn't new. We realized that we sometimes take our readers for granted... little tips like this are actually huge news for a lot of the switchers in the audience. So if you know this, awesome! If not, here's a quick way to duplicate the forward delete functionality on a Mac laptop.

It's really simple: find the function key (it is abbreviated as fn) on the bottom left side of the keyboard. Hold down function and hit the delete key (fn+delete).

Yes, we know -- it's an extra step over a PC but your days of using the arrow keys to delete are over. There are a lot of arguments about why there isn't a dedicated key for that function and most of them focus on the aesthetics of the keyboard by keeping it minimal. If that means I hold function to forward delete, well, I'm OK with that. I think my keyboard is sexy.

Thanks, Logan!

Mac 101: Forward delete on a Mac laptop originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 05 Oct 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rumor Roundup: iMac and Mac Mini due to refresh before October 9th?

Josh Carr — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 11:00:00 EST

We have received countless tips about the availability of iMacs and Mac Minis, or lack thereof. AppleInsider posted earlier that Apple notified retailers that Mac mini orders will not be filled at the moment -- but soon. A later update states that the low-end Mac mini has been discontinued entirely, leaving us to believe that we'll be seeing a hardware upgrade shortly.

Several of our tipsters work for Apple Authorized re-sellers who are running very low on desktop supplies; there's even an Apple Store employee tip saying they have 4 iMacs in stock. When I worked at the Apple Store, there were always 40+ iMacs in stock. Having 4 in a store is just unheard of -- unless there's something in the works. The day of, or a few before, the announcement, we would always get a couple pallets worth of machines that were labeled "Do Not Open Until" with either a date or "notification from corporate."

Another tipster ordered a mini on September 18th, and received shipping information, but today received an email saying that their Mac mini order will ship on October 9th.

Lastly, an Apple Store employee "confirmed" the rumor of new machines being out this October to one of our readers. I have to speculate and say that the employee (who we won't name) is probably reading too many rumor sites. Apple does not tell their retail employees about product refreshes for this exact reason. It's too risky -- one careless employee could essentially steal all of Apple's ability to announce a cool, new product. We're pretty good at digging the information up anyways... but why make it easy for us?

We're hoping that these rumors don't amount to a minor speed bump... SD Card slots, Blu-ray, Cinema Display styled design -- If we don't see something new, we'll all be somewhat disappointed. We're also hoping for a MacBook refresh but that conversation has paled in comparison to the iMac and Mac mini rumors. We've been on the edge of our seats since Monday when the store went down twice. Each time gave us no fruit from the Apple tree, but we'll keep an eye out. Let us know if you hear anything else about it via our tips page or in the comments.

Rumor Roundup: iMac and Mac Mini due to refresh before October 9th? originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 30 Sep 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Still doubt Apple's desire for portable gaming clout? Here's proof...

Josh Carr — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 18:00:00 EST

This afternoon, we received a tip from one of our readers about an awesome ad on the IGN.com website. We chased the bait and decided to check it out. We're really glad we did. What we found was the ad above. We preserved it via screencast so all of our readers could enjoy it. The video above shows exactly what you will find on IGN just in case the current ad stops running soon. It reminds us of a similar ad on Yahoo a while back.

I have been pretty skeptical about Apple's desire to take over the portable gaming market, but I can't doubt it any more. This ad is running on one of the most popular gaming sites... obviously targeting those who wouldn't really think about the iPod touch as a gaming platform. The use of the website's design is definitely something that will catch the eye of the reader... so clever, in fact, that it's nearly impossible to press the stop button. You can press it, but why would you?

Thanks to Swaghi for the tip.

Still doubt Apple's desire for portable gaming clout? Here's proof... originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 28 Sep 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mac 101: Create a wireless network between Mac and iPhone

Josh Carr — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 11:00:00 EST

Many applications require your Mac and your iPhone to be on the same wireless network in order to communicate properly or sync. Apple doesn't advertise the ability to use such applications without a wireless router... nor do many developers. It's not only possible, it works great in a pinch or even as a standard. A few quick examples:

Be a makeshift DJ. I have a lot of music on in my iTunes Library. If there's something I or my friends want, I'll buy it and add it to the collection. Because of that, I get asked "Can you bring your music to the party tonight." I used to say no, because I didn't want to play DJ all night and miss out on the party. Now, I can setup a network anywhere I go and control my iTunes Library directly from my iPhone with Remote.app -- even play requests during a conversation.
Keynote presenters unite! Creating a wireless network on your Mac frees you to worry about your presentation not the availability of wireless in the lecture room. Setup a network, connect and you're swiping through your slides.
Sync applications anywhere, anytime. Victor just pointed this out today... if you're in an airport and need to sync some information from a desktop app to your iPhone, you don't need to pay for the airport wireless. Syncing apps like Bento, MacGourmet, Things, TextExpander or any other apps that sync over the network can update whenever you want without issues.

I'm sure there are many more uses for this idea... those just name a few. Please read on for a step-by-step, illustrated guide to create a wireless network between your Mac and your iPhone (or iPod touch).

Continue reading Mac 101: Create a wireless network between Mac and iPhone

Mac 101: Create a wireless network between Mac and iPhone originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 25 Sep 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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10.6 falsely reports 'service battery?' ... I think not

Josh Carr — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 07:00:00 EST

Over the last couple weeks, I've been going back and forth with readers who truly believe that Snow Leopard is reporting battery errors when they have a perfectly good battery. There's even a substantially large thread in Apple's Discussions forums about this topic. I've been notified of that thread many times, accused of not covering real issues, hiding the truth and just plain refusing to believe that it's an issue with the Operating System.

After trudging through all of that, I've determined that it's a whole bunch of hoopla. I'm not saying that some of these people aren't experiencing real issues with the software -- just the sheer amount of complaints in the discussion forums would say there are problems -- but the "Service Battery" complaint doesn't appear to be related to software issues at all.

One of the big differences between Leopard and Snow Leopard is how they report issues with the battery. Leopard didn't report issues in a place where most users would know to check: System Profiler - Power - Health Information. Snow Leopard reports issues directly from your Menu Bar as shown in the picture. This difference caused a real stir in our tips box because many users never knew that their batteries were bad before Snow Leopard. "My battery isn't bad, it worked fine until I installed Snow Leopard" -- Yes, it may have worked fine but that doesn't mean it didn't have issues before the upgrade. Apple just made the problems more noticeable in the OS. In fact, they're helping their users catch them sooner.

Most of the time, people don't realize their battery has issues until it REALLY has issues like 20 minute run-times, random shut downs, the black "x" in the battery icon, etc. All of these are issues we (technicians) use to identify a bad battery. These new battery checks could actually help you find out your battery is bad before the warranty runs out; before it gets to the point of no return.

Genius Bars and Apple Authorized Service Providers now have a special utility that actually reads the health information directly from the battery and can determine why the Operating System says the battery needs serviced. Most of the time the problem will fall into two categories: battery failure or depletion. This diagnostic tool is actually a game-changer in the world of Apple's battery warranty: batteries are no longer automatically covered through the first year. If the battery legitimately fails, they'll replace it free of charge. If you happen to deplete the battery within the first year, you'll pay for a new battery.

Take all of this information with a grain of salt. Apple IS helping us by having the OS show us when the battery fails, but they've also made warranty battery replacements a little more fair on their end. Having blanket warranties for a year probably cost them a lot of money considering it's pretty easy to deplete a battery within that time if you don't take care to keep it healthy.

I've had the battery in my MacBook Pro for 9 months now. I have 245 cycles on the battery, 3-4 hours of pretty heavy usage (without the killer graphics enabled), and 99% health rating according to iStat Pro. I'll leave you with a few tips to help maintain the health of your battery:

Never leave the machine plugged in all the time. Laptops are meant to be portable. Using it as a desktop that never runs on the battery will destroy your battery life.
Cycles are your friend. Never letting the battery complete a cycle will greatly diminish your run-time. Try to avoid charging the battery unless it's drained past 30%. Any time the battery drains past 50% and charges more than 50% counts as a cycle. The farther you let it drain before the charge - the better its overall health will remain.
30 cycles in a year is not a good thing. ;)
Let the battery drain completely a few times a week.
Never let it sit for long periods of time without use. Batteries need to be loved or else they won't love you.

For more information on batteries, check out apple.com/batteries

UPDATE -- There have been a lot of opinions expressed in the comments about the proper care and feeding of Apple laptop batteries, especially the newer lithium ion units. I'm happy to see that this article sparked such a healthy debate. To be clear, my tips here are not directly based on Apple's recommendations. They are driven by my personal experience servicing Apple laptops and Apple batteries for customers, and my own battery health history. For a different take on proper battery care for modern gear, we were pointed to feedback from Marco Ament that's worth a look. If we have electrical engineers or battery designers in the audience that wish to weigh in, we'd be happy to hear from you.

10.6 falsely reports 'service battery?' ... I think not originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 24 Sep 2009 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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First Look: Snapture comes to the App Store

Josh Carr — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 18:00:00 EST

If you were one of the brave few to begin jailbreaking your iPhones back in early 2008, you probably came across what I considered the best app available at that point: Snapture. I always wanted to get more out of my iPhone camera and this jailbreak app helped me accomplish that.

Fast forward a year and a half and you'll finally find Snapture [iTunes Link] in Apple's App Store. This is primarily due to the fact that Apple has opened up more and more of the iPhone OS with each new release of the SDK. Is it perfect? No, but with the given access to the Camera APIs, applications like Snapture and Best Camera can finally exist in a world of harmony with the big wigs at Apple.

In regards to functionality, I've always been a huge fan of Snapture. It's simple, but it works. I don't have to touch a button on the screen to take a picture, I can tap the screen anywhere I'd like and it will work just fine. My biggest pet peeve about the built-in camera app is that I have to press a tiny button in order to take a picture. That's not very conducive for self portraits or any other situation where you're not looking right at the device.

Continue reading First Look: Snapture comes to the App Store

First Look: Snapture comes to the App Store originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 23 Sep 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The confusing art of installing apps

Josh Carr — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 14:00:00 EST

John Gruber of Daring Fireball recently wrote an essay about quirks and user confusion around the application install process on Mac OS X. He had read a post from Alexander Limi's blog about the Firefox install experience, and decided to address it as a system-wide discussion.

After this, Andy Kim posted the methods The Hit List follows for installation -- when it's run from a non-standard location, the app asks if it should move itself to the Applications folder. Andy has placed his code for moving the app into the public domain so that other developers can take advantage of it.

With so many ideas around application install strategies, we wanted to take the time to examine the current app installation structure and propose an idea for how it could be better. You could ask, "Why does it matter where my app is installed?" OR "What if I don't want my applications in Applications?" If you're asking the first question, we suggest that you read on. If you're asking the second question, you're probably pretty obsessive about app organization and this post will be covering old ground for you.

What installation methods exist at the moment? The majority of Mac app installations would fall into these categories:

Disk image installers
Disk image drag-and-drop
Archive drag-and-drop

Read on for an in-depth look into the current installation methods, and why they need to change.

Continue reading The confusing art of installing apps

The confusing art of installing apps originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 21 Sep 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iSight Screensavers: Interact with your screensaver

Josh Carr — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 12:00:00 EST

Some of you may have noticed that some of your screensavers don't work after upgrading to Snow Leopard. If you're running a 64-bit instance of the operating system, you won't be able to use most of your old third-party screensavers because they're probably not compatible. Many of our favorite screensavers weren't working... so instead of waiting for the developers to release them in 64-bit, we decided to see what else was out there.

iSight Screensavers from Majic Jungle (the creators of FluidTunes) isn't new, but it's something we've never covered here on TUAW. It was one that showed up first in our search and ended up killing our productivity for the rest of the day. And the next day. In fact, we've not really recovered productivity since we clicked the "test" button in System Preferences.

Majic Jungle has made a killer screensaver that allows you to interact with different effects and filters using the iSight camera, or any webcam attached to your mac. I won't get into the countless scenarios we created (we're pretty easily entertained), but here's a list of interactions from the creators' site to help explain what it does:

Fluid - Play with a beautiful fluid dynamics simulation
Particles - Create magical looking brightly colored particles wherever you move
Champagne - Immerse yourself in a champagne world and watch as bubbles appear all over you
Fire - Set yourself or your desktop on fire - in a painless kind of way!
Water - Ripples appear wherever you move
Flipping Grid - Can you get all of the squares to flip over together?
Core Image - Over 30 configurable effects using powerful Core Image filters

iSight Screensavers is Universal Binary and Shareware. If you'd like to remove the watermarks, you can purchase a license for $4.99 -- pretty cheap considering my wife and I are more entertained by this than by a $25 night at the movies.

iSight Screensavers: Interact with your screensaver originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 17 Sep 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iPhone 3.1 problems flood our tip box

Josh Carr — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 18:30:00 EST

In the last week, we have had a constant barrage of iPhone issues break through the lines... so much so that we feel it is our duty to inform the two of you who haven't updated what you could experience by updating to version 3.1 of the iPhone OS. This is no small problem, as you can read from the discussions on Apple's website here, here, here, and here.

The first two links are where we're getting the majority of our tips -- random shutdowns and very poor battery life. The second two, bricked phones and general slowness are still worth a mention -- even prompting our own Erica Sadun to do a live walk-through for debrickifying iPhones. We received a lot of praise for her help in that session and we'd encourage you to go back and read through the chat if you're experiencing trouble with a bricked iPhone.

I've spent quite some time reading the hundreds of posts about the "mysterious random shutdowns" and have determined that it really is what it is. As of this writing, there have been 409 posts and 28 pages in that discussion -- I've seen very little repeats and no real solutions. Some people have said that they've gone to Apple and received replacement phones because of this issue but for those of us who have out-of-warranty phones, Apple has merely said "It's $199 for a replacement." I have to agree with our tipsters -- this needs to be addressed. These people simply did not break their phones, it's a well-documented issue which we, as consumers, shouldn't have to pay to fix.

Battery life is a completely different debacle. I cannot seem to find a trend in the discussions at all. Some people claim to have removed certain apps, some claim that MobileMe sync is the culprit -- all of them agree that there is an issue with 3.1 and that battery life shouldn't dramatically decrease overnight. I'd really love to get into one of these phones and replace the battery to see what happens because the hardware guy in me says that it's not impossible. However, deductive reasoning says that there's something in the software. Whether there's a memory leak in 3.1 itself, or some apps that we're running aren't as "compatible" as they should be... we need to see another update soon to help alleviate the issues with version 3.1 of the iPhone OS.

Please feel free to use our comment system to express your concern, anger, resentment... whatever. Try to be helpful if you've come across a solution and be nice if you're not having these problems. Until Apple issues a fix or acknowledges the problem at all, just hope that you're still in-warranty.

iPhone 3.1 problems flood our tip box originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 15 Sep 2009 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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WidgetPad: web development for iPhone apps

Josh Carr — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 18:00:00 EST

Sorting through the tips inbox, we encountered a new product that is coming out for the iPhone next week. It's not an app, game, or anything we "normal folk" would use but it looks to be a great open source, web-based development platform for iPhone.

WidgetPad allows web developers to create iPhone applications using only their knowledge in web-based code. The software allows you to write your applications using web-based code and then transfer them to standalone apps for the iPhone or iPod touch.

We're being told that the iPhone is only the beginning; the software will eventually translate to other smart phone platforms so that developers can quickly and easily export their applications for other app stores without re-writing the code. Here are some quick highlights:

Create web-based applications that utilize each phone's hardware capabilities.
The environment includes and helps you learn HTML 5.
It's all open source. If you want another feature, you can help the development team create it.
Each application is written within the software and can be publish directly to the iPhone (more platforms soon).
Source code editing for Javascript, HTML 5 and CSS (with syntax highlighting).
No additional software - all of the work is done directly from your browser.

I am not a developer, but I do some web design on occasion. I find it very interesting that I could create an iPhone application without learning Cocoa Touch and the Objective C language. I imagine that porting these apps to Palm's WebOS would be quite simple since it's already running a form of web-based code for its applications. If this software works well, we could not only see an increase in the already thriving iPhone developer world, but the smart phone app world as a whole. If you end up taking the leap, let us know what you find. We'll keep you updated and let you know our results in a later post.

WidgetPad: web development for iPhone apps originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 15 Sep 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The iPod touch has 802.11n, so what?

Josh Carr — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 17:30:00 EST

Author and blogger Glenn Fleishman over at TidBITS has some great insights into iFixit's discovery that the 3rd generation iPod touch has an 802.11n-capable wireless chip. We mentioned this in our initial analysis of iFixit's teardown, but we still had a few comments asking what it could really do and some who claimed it could do nothing. With the help of Glenn's article, I'll put a few of those thoughts to rest and probably fuel more conspiracies with these highlights:

Until recently, 802.11n-capable devices required two antennas. That has changed with the introduction of Single-Stream 802.11n, thus making it possible for manufacturers to put wireless-n into handheld devices.
Part of the Single-Stream endeavor was a desire for better battery life. If Apple enables wireless-n in the future, it's very likely that you'll see the battery life improve when doing anything on WiFi because these chips should consume less power than wireless-g.
Wireless-n could allow the iPod touch to send 50 percent more data across the network. That would give it a theoretical throughput of 30Mbps or more instead of its current 20Mbps.
It's also possible that Single-Stream wireless-n technology will be more efficient on wireless networks. In order for that to happen, Apple will have to update their wireless routers to contain space-time block coding (STBC), but that could be as simple as a firmware update.

If Apple enabled 802.11n in the iPod touch, we could see a lot of new uses come to the device, including video streaming, wireless sync/home sharing, on-device video rental, and many other possibilities. I have always wanted to be able to start a movie in the living room and continue watching it live while doing other tasks around the house. With this new technology, that dream could someday become reality.

[via TidBITS]

The iPod touch has 802.11n, so what? originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sun, 13 Sep 2009 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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MacBook Car-nage: Surviving a drive-over

Josh Carr — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 12:30:00 EST

Yesterday, I had a distraught customer come into the store and lay the remains of a black MacBook (13-inch Early 2008) on the front counter. My immediate thought was that the machine had been trashed and was just at the shop to be recycled.

I asked the customer what happened and he explained that it had been run over by a car. At this point I thought to myself, "Yikes, there's gotta be a story behind this one." As it turns out, it was just an unfortunate accident of forgetfulness. He just returned home from a road trip and set the machine down to bring in a load from the car. After being inside for a bit, he came out and decided to check his mailbox, which was just down the road. He stepped into the car, backed up and... CAR-NAGE!

What's most amazing here isn't the accident, but what he discovered when he tried to power up the MacBook. Even after having a car completely crush it, it still worked. When the customer told me this, I couldn't believe it. I opened the display -- which you can see is absolutely smashed in the picture -- and pressed the power button. To my excited surprise, the machine turned on and booted into Leopard.

After running a full suite of diagnostics on the machine, I found it needed a display assembly, optical drive, and optical drive bezel (the part of the inner frame that the discs go through). All of that was cheaper than getting a new machine, so I went to work. It took me a couple hours and some frame bending here and there, but after all was said and done, I gave the customer back a machine that would pass any warranty inspection at the Genius Bar. See the gallery for more pictures!

Disclaimer: The Unofficial Apple Weblog cannot and will not be held responsible for any damage done to your computer by cars. Just because we think it's cool that it may survive doesn't mean you should go out and crush your MacBook.

Gallery: MacBook Car-nage

MacBook Car-nage: Surviving a drive-over originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sun, 13 Sep 2009 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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3rd gen iPod touch teardown: 802.11n potential and room for a camera?

Josh Carr — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 18:00:00 EST

Just this morning, we linked to the results of iFixit's iPod nano teardown. Hours later, we have the opportunity to dive into their 32GB iPod touch teardown. There are definitely a few interesting tidbits about what Apple did and did not do with the iPod touch this time around... and possibly some hints of what could happen in the future.

Here are the highlights:

The ARM processor in the iPod touch is a newer revision than the iPhone 3GS's CPU. We still don't know its exact clock speed but it's a definite upgrade from the 2nd Generation iPod touch.
It has a 1080 mAh battery; what does that mean? Well, it'll get pretty good battery life. Apple's website lists it at 30 hours of music playback.
The NAND flash memory is manufactured by Samsung and has been split into two chips to achieve the 32GB capacity.
The wireless chip is from Broadcom. According to their documentation this chip supports 802.11 n as well as 802.11 a/b/g. This is a new move from Apple. Until now, all of the mobile devices have only had g-capable wireless chips. It's possible that this would be enabled in the future, but I wouldn't put money on that.
Mark this one as rumor fodder: iFixit claims that there is room for a camera at the top of the device. The empty space measures 6mm x 6mm x 3mm. That could easily fit the same style camera as the 5th gen iPod Nano, but they don't believe an iPhone-quality camera would fit because of the limited space.

If that's not enough iPod touch news for you, read on.

Continue reading 3rd gen iPod touch teardown: 802.11n potential and room for a camera?

3rd gen iPod touch teardown: 802.11n potential and room for a camera? originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 11 Sep 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iFixit tears apart the 5th Generation iPod nano...nicely

Josh Carr — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 11:00:00 EST

The pioneers at iFixit are at it again, this time exploring the Loop's newest, coolest gadget -- the iPod nano. According to their measurements, this iPod is as thin as it could possibly be, and more densely packed than any previous Apple device. I work on iPods at my day job, but I'm afraid to start working on this one because there is very little wasted space and LOTS of glue.

Here are some facts worth highlighting:

The iPod nano uses flash memory manufactured by Toshiba.
Apple would not be able to put a larger camera into it without reducing the footprint of other components.
It uses the same style speaker as the iPod touch. The sound exits through the dock connector.
The display has 17.5% more real estate than the 4th Generation iPod nano.

Read on for the nitty gritty, "I want to tear it apart" information...

Continue reading iFixit tears apart the 5th Generation iPod nano...nicely

iFixit tears apart the 5th Generation iPod nano...nicely originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 11 Sep 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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