A couple of days ago Apple had annouced that Mobile Me would now allow users to use iDisk to share large files with whomever you like. Here’s a snip from Apples MobileMe News Annoucement.

We’re pleased to announce that you can now use your MobileMe iDisk to share files with others simply and easily. Instead of attaching a large document to an email and hoping it’s not too big to be received, you can place the file in your iDisk and use the new Share File command in the iDisk web app. It lets you send your friends, family, or colleagues a link they can click to download the file directly. You can password protect the link if you choose to and even set how long it will be available.

You can read teh full tutorial on how to use the new feature on the MobileME website.

It looks as though Apple is trying to stop the Jailbreak or “Jailbreaking” made popular by the iPhone Dev Team. The Electronic Frontier Foundation recently publish a blog stating that Apple has comments filed with the US Copyright Office stating that the Jailbreak/Jailbreaking process and applications is a copyright infringement and a DMCA violation, and therefore illegal.

Jailbreaking an iPhone constitutes copyright infringement and a DMCA violation, says Apple in comments filed with the Copyright Office as part of the 2009 DMCA triennial rulemaking. This marks the first formal public statement by Apple about its legal stance on iPhone jailbreaking.

Apple’s iPhone, now the best-selling cellular phone in the U.S., has been designed with restrictions that prevent owners from running applications obtained from sources other than Apple’s own iTunes App Store. “Jailbreaking” is the term used for removing these restrictions, thereby liberating your phone from Apple’s software “jail.” Estimates put the number of iPhone owners who have jailbroken their phones in the hundreds of thousands.

As part of the 2009 DMCA rulemaking, EFF has asked the Copyright Office to recognize an exemption to the DMCA to permit jailbreaking in order to allow iPhone owners to use their phones with applications that are not available from Apple’s store (e.g., turn-by-turn directions, using the iPhone camera for video, laptop tethering).

Apple’s copyright infringement claim starts with the observation that jailbroken iPhones depend on modified versions of Apple’s bootloader and operating system software. True enough — we said as much in our technical white paper describing the jailbreak process. But the courts have long recognized that copying software while reverse engineering is a fair use when done for purposes of fostering interoperability with independently created software, a body of law that Apple conveniently fails to mention.

You can read the full article on the EFF’s Blog post titled Apple Says iPhone Jailbreaking is Illegal.

Apple had discussed that a new type of push service would be available for developers so that data could be pushed to a users iPhone. They had planned to release this new technology last year in September, but didn’t for technical reasons. Specifically they called it PNS, which would be separate from MobileMe and and EAS (Exchange Active Sync). This additional push technology would allow any type of message or data to be push to a users iPhone.

For instance, if an application required updating, instead of the application sitting in the background and always checking for updates. A simple push message from the AppStore or developers site/servers to a users iPhone would let the user know by placing a marker on the applications icon. Similar to the AppStore icon when there are updates.

Apple Insider has an article about PNS and Snow Leopard in which it discuss how Apple will be implementing PNS in Snow Leopard. Heres a excerpt.

While Snow Leopard’s Mail, iCal, and Address Book are set to gaining high profile support for Exchange Server messaging, they’re also being updated to support open push messaging with Apple’s own Snow Leopard Server. Rather than being based on EAS, Apple’s own server push products are based on interoperable, open standards, the same as PNS.

Apple’s iCal Server, which the company debuted both in Leopard Server and as an open source CalDAV calendar server project, is being updated to use XMPP publish-subscribe, an IETF open standard branching from the core of the Jabber IM service. That means Snow Leopard’s iCal Server 2 will push calendar updates to clients using extended instant messages, making it an inherently push service. Like IMAP-IDLE, the system only sends a lightweight notification that new data has arrived, leaving iCal to fetch the new data itself in response.

In contrast, Microsoft’s Exchange Server handles calendar events and other data as specially formatted emails, requiring additional infrastructure (RIM’ BES or Microsoft’s EAS) to supply push functionality for immediate updates. That also requires Microsoft to support a separate set of protocols when talking to desktop clients (MAPI) and mobile devices (EAS).

What will ever come of PNS, well it all depends on when Apple provides the support on the iPhone, Snow Leopard and the iPhone SDK. Only then we will see the true availability of the PNS and its features.

That’s right. Marvel Comics will be providing full Comics for purchase on the iTunes Store.

Source: geeksofdoom.com

Marvel Entertainment will begin selling digital “In-Motion” comic books through iTunes, it was announced yesterday at the Digital Media panel at New York Comic Con.

The company is working with Neal Adams and Continuity Studios to create a new form of digital comics for iTunes dubbed motion comics, which feature panels that animate scenes and add spoken dialog from voice actors. No exact price point was discussed, however, it was mentioned that multiple prices could happen depending on the content.

The Comic Con panel offered a preview of an Astonishing X-Men motion comic based on the recent Joss Whedon run, with more original content planned in the future, according to Brian Michael Bendis. Bendis, along with frequent collaborator Alex Maleev, will do a new Spider-Woman motion comic starting in February, which will be the first in-continuity title produced specifically for the new digital medium.

“We’re looking at it as a completely new project.” said Maleev about the new Spider-Woman ongoing. “Motion comics,” he added, “require a much different process when compared to print.”

This is a new venue for Comics and will definately fit well as a digital format accessiable through a huge retail company like Apple’s iTunes Store. This could bring lots of intrest and profit, but it might also come at a cost. If they’re released, will they have DRM, and how long will it take for the comics to appear online for free. Two giant hurdles that will need to be thought about during the development of providing Comics through a digital venue.

Apple released a Carrier Update earlier this week for U.S. iPhone users. The update includes some APN changes and some new carrier logos, and carriers.  Apple release a FAQ about the update but not detailing the changes the update contained. Here’s an important summary of the FAQ.

iTunes 7.7 and later has the ability to update the carrier specific settings on iPhone with iPhone 2.0 software or later. Carrier settings updates are small files (about 10k) that are downloaded from iTunes to be installed on your iPhone. The carrier settings can include updates to the default APN (how iPhone accesses the carrier’s cellular data network), special dialing codes at Settings > Phone > [Carrier] Services, default settings for Stocks, Maps, Weather, and other items.

Here’s some information from TUAW about what exactly is inside this carrier update from Apple:

So what’s actually in this update? Logo replacements, apparently, for AT&T’s upcoming MicroCell service (at the time of this writing, the page is in maintenance mode). 2 images, light and dark versions of the image on the left (courtesy of MobileCrunch). Commenters at The iPhone Blog also confirm the revised connectivity image. Our own commenters note that Apple has added settings for the Mobily network (Saudi Arabia) and Etisalat (United Arab Emirates) in this update as well, which adds weight to the expected 2/15 launch of the iPhone in those countries.

If you’ve been a victim of the recent crashing of iTunes after upgrading your iPhone or iPod Touch to firmware 2.2.1, don’t fret because Apple has released a work around. Hurray! Here it is:

Dear Customer,

Recently, we uncovered an issue which was causing iTunes to unexpectedly quit when synced with an iPod or an iPhone. This issue impacted a small number of users, and we have identified your account as potentially being affected.

If you have experienced this issue, please follow these steps in order to sync your iPod or iPhone with iTunes:
1. Launch iTunes
2. Select “Deauthorize Computer” from the Store menu
3. Enter your iTunes Store Account ID and Password, then click the Deauthorize button
4. Next, choose “Authorize Computer” from the Store menu
5. Enter your iTunes Store Account ID and Password, then click the Authorize button

Once you have successfully deauthorized and reauthorized your computer, you should be able to sync your iPod or iPhone to iTunes.

I sincerely apologize for any inconvenience that you may have experienced as a result of this issue.

Thank you for being an iTunes Store customer.
iTunes Store Team

Some people however, weren’t able to sync after following the above steps. They had to actually purchase a free application first before they could even sync thier device in iTunes.

Google Analytics is one of the best web site statistics packages available, Google Analytics was once called Urchin and it was a paid product. Since Google bought Urchin, they’ve improved it heavily, not only is it free, but it also ties into AdSense.

This past week Inblosam LLC released Analytics App, which can be purchased for $5.99 from the App Store. Analytics App provides quick access to your Google Analytics account and website profiles. Here are some screenshots:

The application isn’t cheap, however it looks to provide lots of information and would be an excellent tool for someone who has some free time. There are reports of the application crashing, however the developer looks to have fixed the problem and is currently being reviewed by Apple.

AppleInsider has posted an article “Google software for tracking mobile users coming to iPhone” which provides some information about a new piece of software from Google. The new software dubbed “Google Lattitude” would allow you to share your current location with your friends.

“Once you’ve opted in to Latitude, you can see the approximate location of your friends and loved ones who have decided to share their location with you,” Google said.

“So now you can do things like see if your spouse is stuck in traffic on the way home from work, notice that a buddy is in town for the weekend, or take comfort in knowing that a loved one’s flight landed safely, despite bad weather.”

Here’s a video demonstrating Google Latitude.

TechCrunch/CrunchGear posted an interesting article from PC World about Adobe Flash on the iPhone which was in effect opposite to the article posted by Bloomberg on the same subject. PC World’s Ian Paul is saying “Adobe has confirmed that Flash capabilities won’t be coming to the iPhone anytime soon”. However the Bloomberg article I posted “Adobe working with Apple to bring Flash to the iPhone” has a much more positive view, stating that its in the works and the colaboration between Adobe and Apple is helping bring Adobe Flash to the iPhone.

As I’ve said in my last article, a full featured browser must include Flash as most videos on the internet are Flash. If Apple wants to compete with Mobile Browsers available on other cellular phone manufacturers hardware that will eventually come packaged with Flash, then they need to have the right attitude.

If Apple’ wants to stay competitive in the cellular handset market, then some sort of solution that allows Adobe Flash on the iPhone will need to be created. Othewise they no longer have a full featured mobile web browser.

The iPhone Dev Team have released redsn0w lite which is an unsupported jailbreak for the 2G iPod Touch. You can visit the redsn0w website at http://redsn0w.com for more information about obtaining redsn0w lite.

Here’s some information from the README:

—————————————————————————–
Basic instructions
—————————————————————————–
Note: these are the bare bones instructions. Please don’t come to us
looking for more detailed instructions.

Preparation
1) Copy the FirmwareBundles and CustomPackages directories into
your PwnageTool.app/Contents/Resources directory
2) Create a custom 2.2.1 ipsw with PwnageTool in Advanced mode. Don’t
enable custom boot logos.
3) From your custom 2.2.1 ipsw, extract these (patched) files:
iBSS.n72ap.RELEASE.dfu (name it iBSS221pwn.dfu)
iBoot.n72ap.RELEASE.img3 (name it iBoot221pwn.img3)
4) From the official 2.1.1 ipsw, extract this (unpatched) file:
iBSS.n72ap.RELEASE.dfu (name it iBSS211.dfu)

Installing the jailbroken custom ipsw
5) Put your ipt2g into DFU mode using keypresses. Don’t have iTunes running!
6) Start rslite. Send the official iBSS from 2.1.1: !iBSS211.dfu
7) Start rslite again. Send the redsn0w-lite patch: #pwn211ibss.txt
Send the patched iBSS from 2.2.1: !iBSS221pwn.dfu
9) Use iTunes to do a full restore using your custom 2.2.1 ipsw

Tethered boot
After the install, your ipt2g will not be bootable without assistance
from a tethered computer. The method in this README.txt requires you
to go into DFU mode, but you should be able to find (or work out on
your own) other more convenient ways.
10) Repeat steps 5-8
11) Send the patched iBoot from 2.2.1: !iBoot221pwn.img3

Your homescreen should soon show up. You can then start iTunes.

However, please make sure read the full read me before proceeding with the above steps. This is why:

—————————————————————————–
–> YOU WILL VERY LIKELY VOID YOUR WARRANTY BY USING THIS <–

This is to be used only at your own risk.

We do not accept any responsibility for any damage that this tool may help
you cause to any of your equipment.

–> USE AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!!! <–
—————————————————————————–

WE WILL BE PROVIDING ABSOLUTELY NO SUPPORT FOR THIS!!!!!
If you post comments on our blog looking for support, we reserve the
right to ban your user ID from the blog. You really shouldn’t be doing
this unless you understand it all enough to not need support!

—————————————————————————–

There will be a untethered solution soon, if you know someone that is technical then you may want to ask them to do this process for you.

Happy Jail Breaking.

The website appleinsider.com has posted information about an interview by Bloomberg with Adobe’s Chief Executive Officer Shantanu Narayen. A blurb from the interview.

Jan. 30 (Bloomberg) — Adobe Systems Inc. faces a challenge in creating a version of its Flash video software for Apple Inc.’s iPhone, Chief Executive Officer Shantanu Narayen said.

“It’s a hard technical challenge, and that’s part of the reason Apple and Adobe are collaborating,” Narayen said today in a Bloomberg Television interview from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “The ball is in our court. The onus is on us to deliver.”

So we may see some sort of Flash support in the future, but depending on what is decided on it may be limited or it maybe full featured. Either way, Flash is intensive and there will be some hurdles to overcome at the begining. Here’s a blurb from appleinsider.com in regards to just that.

Apple co-founder Steve Jobs has maintained since nearly a year ago that the real obstacle is the nature of Flash itself. While desktop Flash is too resource-heavy for the small processor and low memory of smartphones like the iPhone, Jobs has warned that Flash Lite is too feature-limited and doesn’t do many of the things users expect Flash to do — such as playing video on the web or showing complex animations on websites.

Most Flash Lite implementations actually depend on an app that runs entirely outside of the web browser and are often based on older versions of Flash that limit their performance and feature set; Jobs has argued for a “product in the middle” that does more.

Either way, Flash on the iPhone is something I know I will give a warm welcome too. The biggest issue I’ve had to date is not being able to watch flash video’s, unless of course the video’s from YouTube. But with Vimeo and Qik being used more often, a much needed plugin or update to Safari is needed.

A new version of QuickPwn and PwnageTool has been released and updated to support the newest iPhone 2.2.1 firmware. Please read the following post by the iPhone Dev Team on their blog:

READ THIS! Close the Stable Door!

Here are some important notes about the new firmware and the yellowsn0w unlock.

This is the low down on our tools for use with the 2.2.1 firmare from Apple, read the whole post in full before attempting anything.

1. GOLDEN RULE: If you have a 3G iPhone running 2.2 firmware and you want to keep your ability to use yellowns0w (or the option to use it in the future) do NOT use QuickPwn, and do not use the official ipsw or the iTunes update process without using PwnageTool.
2. Yellowsn0w will NOT work with the baseband version (02.30.03) that is present in the recent 2.2.1 update - you will need to create a custom ipsw that will allow you to update safely without affecting the baseband.
3. Please read all parts of this post before downloading and using these tools.
4. Read items 1, 2 and 3 again and again.
5. At the bottom of this post are the bittorrent files for the latest versions of PwnageTool and QuickPwn.
6. These apps are suitable for the recent 2.2.1 release.
7. The Yellowsn0w version has been updated to 0.9.7. Yellowsn0w is available from Cydia or Installer - this version allows compatibility with pwned 2.2.1 system (not baseband) - again - remember 0.9.7 yellowsn0w DOES NOT WORK WITH 2.2.1 (02.30.03) directly - you need to be running a ‘pwned’ version of 2.2.1 which doesn’t upgrade the baseband.
8. Users of OS X 10.5.6 will be unable to use DFU mode correctly, please see the note towards the end of this post to easily fix this issue.

Start your downloading! You can get both pieces of software from The Pirate Bay and from the direct links below:

• PwnageTool 2.2.5 for Mac OSX is here SHA1 Sum - 8fe2f20c00f48b37d8262d6872a12166c6e165ba
• QuickPwn 2.2.5 for Mac OSX is here SHA1 Sum - 2f1353242ef10dc408e95786643e497fcd04e4ea

Or download them directly:

http://mirror1.iphonenewbs.com/PwnageTool_2.2.5.dmg
http://mirror1.iphonenewbs.com/QuickPwn_2.2.5.dmg

There were talks about an unreleased iPhone previous to the recent firmware 2.2.1 update. One instance was an article from macrumours.com that talks about how Pinch Media’s Ad reports caught the iPhone 2,1 version number when reporting all the different models that were accessing their Ad system.

Pinch Media provides a list of information they have gather recently. Here’s some important quote’s from the article.

At Pinch Media, we’ve seen this for some time now, and haven’t thought too much of it — even without this data, we’d just automatically assume Apple’s always working on new versions of their core products. But now that MacRumors and VentureBeat have picked up the story, here’s a little more information:

• the first time an application using Pinch Analytics was run by a ‘iPhone 2,1′ device occurred back in early October 2008;
• applications using Pinch Analytics were run by ‘iPhone 2,1′ devices very sporadically until mid-December 2008, when the pace picked up slightly;
• to date, a few dozen distinct ‘iPhone 2,1′ devices have run almost two dozen different applications using Pinch Analytics;
• when ‘iPhone 2,1′ devices run applications using Pinch Analytics’ optional geolocation tracking, they’re almost exclusively located in the south San Francisco Bay Area;
• while most of the sessions have been made from wifi connections, there’s been a few connections over AT&T’s network, so presumably this device handles both;
• the applications that have been run by Pinch Analytics don’t share much in common, except for their size — they’re among the larger applications to use our stuff, with hundreds of thousands to millions of unique users.

So maybe we shall see more information about the new iPhone that may or may not be real or even released.

The iPhone Dev Team is working on updating the QuickPwn and Pwnage Tool to work with the new 2.2.1 Firmware released by Apple a couple of days ago. At the moment, if you want to keep your 3G unlock aka yellowsn0w then you shouldn’t update to the new firmware. You should wait for the Pwnage Tool to update so you can create a custom firmware without the included baseband update included in 2.2.1 from Apple. If you do update to the new firmware from through iTunes, then you risk losing the possiblity of unlocking your 3G iPhone in the future.  Here’s a video from muscle nerd that goes through what you can and can’t do with the 3G and 2G iPhones as well as the 2G iTouch.

That’s right, Apple has released Firmware 2.2.1 and its available through iTunes. Note, if you have yellowsn0w installed, then DON’T UPDATE. At the moment there have been reported issues with this firmware and yellowsn0w. And here it is straight from the horses mouth.

Hold your horses! - blog.iphone-dev.org

There is an iPhone and iPod update available in iTunes - it is numbered 2.2.1 (5H11a).

Please DO NOT update. We will investigate and report back to you ASAP.

As far as the changes that this update brings to iPhone’s…

• Improves the general stability of Safari.
• Fixes an issue where some images saved from Mail do not display correctly in the Camera Roll.