For quite some time, people have been asking for a haptic keyboard on the iPhone -- a way to produce tactile feedback when a user taps or hovers over a key. If you've used the Wii, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. It's that sensory feedback that confirms you've selected a wiibutton. This morning TUAW reader zebrum sent in a tip that a couple of University of Glasgow students (Malcolm Hall and Eve Hoggan) had built a prototype.

I gave it a try and while I applaud the students for their effort, it's not exactly ready for prime time. It's a proof of concept, not a general-use mod. You test it out in a simple text editor. You can't for example, enable this for Safari. Moreover, it's pretty darned unstable. Sometimes it crashes. Sometimes the vibration keeps going until you quit the program, re-launch and get it to stop by tapping a key.

What's cool about this app? It shows a neat new way of thinking about iPhone interaction -- even if that way is going to pay havoc on batteries if actually implemented -- and to use a helpful technology that's available on other devices. This kind of feedback uniquely highlights where keys start and end. Run your finger along the keyboard and receive instant tactile feedback (obviously in addition to the letter popups) when your selection changes.

So as you may have seen on some other sites, there was a little bit of drama today around the iPhone unlock program written (in part) by our own Erica Sadun. Lots of rumors are flying around, and lots of folks have it almost right. But none of them knows the real story. And since Sadun works for us, we have kind of an inside track on what really happened. So here it is.

First of all, Erica didn't write the unlock application itself. The iPhone Dev Team did that, and it apparently is a real, no-code-stolen software unlock-- put it on your iPhone, run it, and then use any SIM you want. Erica only started to write the barebones of a GUI application for the unlock, and gave that code to the dev team.

Which is where this haRRo person gets involved. He, a Belfast, UK man, is not a member of the dev team, but pretended to be. He apparently took Erica's code out of the IRC channel, with the intent of selling it as his own application. He even got an offer from an Australian company, $50k AUD, to allow the application he said he'd written.

But he didn't write it. At all. Because while yes, the code he tried to sell was updated from Erica's code, it wasn't by haRRo. He actually contacted another coder to do the job-- who we spoke with, and our IM conversation can be seen after the jump.

Update: Post updated below.

If you've been wanting to activate your iPhone without iTunes so you can use a non-iPhone AT&T/Cingular SIM, or you just want to use your iPhone as an iPhonePod, I have some good news for you. The guys over at ModMyiPhone have introduced a program that doesn't require you to work from the command line.

Not everyone loves the command line. It's a basic fact. And, for those of you who have been waiting for a real application that avoids using Terminal commands, point your web browser at this page. iActivator wraps a GUI around iPhone activation, and makes it simple to use the jailbreak, iASign and iPhoneInterface tools.

For those of you still worried about turning your iPhone into an iBrick, keep in mind that this is still early software. You may want to wait a few weeks for the software (and the hacking tools that underlie the application) to gain stability. Also, be aware that the public link seems to be down. You may have to sign up for a (free) account before being allowed to download the members-only version. A final note: it's unclear whether this is a Universal binary solution or (as I'm guessing) Intel-only.

Thanks Kyle

I'm all for competition in the marketplace. I'm even for friendly puns between rival competitors and the camps that follow them, especially since you have to have a sense of humor about them in the first place. But don't we also need a sense of reality?

In a Vista-pimping interview with Newsweek yesterday, Bill Gates appears to be taking off the gloves with an all-out attack on the Mac. When questioned about accusations of copying Mac OS X features, Bill began accusing Apple of the exact opposite, and he also postulated that "maybe we shouldn't have showed so publicly the stuff we were doing." While he is of course referring to the 2003 demonstration of Longhorn, this isn't even the half of it. Bill also tried to turn their reputation for swiss-cheese security around on Apple, claiming:

Everyone's favorite duck-icon sporting graphic designer is more than a pretty icon of a face, he helps make the rest of your programs look good too. Adam Betts regularly posts modifications or add-ons to various pieces of Mac software to his blog, and although each one is cool enough to warrant a post of its own, I thought I'd be nice to you all and compile some of my favorites into one mega-post.

First off we have a simple interface tweak that goes a long way to unifying the look of your system. Adam's new QuickTime Plugin Controller replaces the old icky Aqua bubble quicktime plugin interface with a sleek platinum/unified/post-brushed metal look.

Next are two replacement icons; one for a certain flammable fox, the other for a Preview alternative. The Firefox icon touchup fixes dock weight issues (how close it is to the other icons) as well as making the whole package a bit smoother.

The Xee replacement set actually contains replacements for both the actual application icon as well as the status bar. Xee is a replacement for Preview and available for free download.

Finally, we have the 9.3% complete interface-lift for Google Earth. This package will replace the application icon as well as modify certain UI elements such as toolbar icons and the sidebar to make them more Mac-like.

In a post aptly titled 'At Long Last!', Unsanity announced a beta of a Universal version of ShapeShifter, their UI haxie for skinning Mac OS X. As the post states, your Intel Mac can finally "get its spank on" (what on Earth are those guys at Unsanity selling??). Obviously, as their post states, this is a beta so things could very well go wrong with it. On the upside this Universal version should work just fine with any guiKit (skin) that you throw at it.

This ShapeShifter 2.4 beta version is a free upgrade for registered 2.x owners and is available from this Unsanity blog post.

Ubuntu is a Linux distro (that's distribution to you, n00b) that is almost easy enough for none techs to run on their desktops, but it isn't quite there yet. That's not enough to stop plenty of people from downloading and installing this most excellent OS on their machines (and I count myself amongst that number).

What if you love OS X's looks, but don't like the closed nature of Apple's software (I'm looking at you, Mark Pilgrim)? Why not make Ubuntu look like OS X? Lauri Taimila has a guide that can get you started on that.

What a grand gesture. Five more years of Office wasn't enough, so Microsoft went the extra mile and released a fully-functional, virtualization app called VirtualPC XP for Intel Macs... Nah! I'm just kidding. They popped a JPEG up on their site saying how happy they have been to ride on the coattails of an innovator for the past 22 years. Or something like that. You can see the birthday card from the Microsoft MacBU to Apple here. It could have been worse. They could have said: "After 22 years, and a decade-long headstart on the GUI, you are still #2." I'm thankful for small favors. Truth is, Apple should be thanking Microsoft for sticking through the lean times. Oh, and that infusion of cash a few years back didn't hurt (awkward to witness though). So thanks Microsoft, now where's that new version of Virtual PC, hm?

[thanks to Derrick G. for sending this in]

John Gruber of Daring Fireball fame was interviewed over at GUIdebook and it's an interesting read that you should take a look at if you ever find yourself thinking about the way Apple's GUI (graphical user interface) looks and functions.

In the interview, there is much discussion about what GUI decisions Gruber thinks are tied directly into Steve Jobs' involvement with the development of the OS, and whether they are good or bad. He hates the Finder and dislikes the Aqua candy-coated look, but is hopeful for 10.5 to make some improvements (and I think with Mike Matas now working for Apple, there is every chance that there will be some substantial GUI improvements).