Social Apples

After jailbreaking, a lot of people starting diving into things they aren’t really sure of… let’s be honest, there are a lot of cool things in Cydia that not all of us know how to use.  Right?  The first piece of software we install — well there’s a lot — but one of them is OpenSSH.  This software gives you secure shell access to the file system on your iPhone.  This may not seem like a big deal to some of you out there, but anyone who’s familiar with Linux would love it.

After enabling OpenSSH, most people don’t know that they’ve just opened up their jailbroken device to the world.  A lot of people know that the root access password is “alpine” by default.  In order to prevent nefarious do-no-gooders from accessing your device, you need to change your password.

You can do this any way you’d like… but we’ll demo it from Terminal on a Mac.  You can also follow these steps with “Mobile Terminal” — an application found in Cydia.

1.  Open terminal and type: “ssh root@device-ip-address” (you’ll notice in the pictures, mine was 10.0.13.19).  You can find this on your iDevice by going to Settings, Wi-Fi, then tap the little blue arrow next to your SSID.

2.  If it asks if you’re sure you want to connect to the device… just type yes and hit enter.

3.  Type “alpine” when it asks for the password.

4.  Once granted access, just type “passwd” (that’s the change password utility).

5.  It may or may not ask you for the old password (that’s alpine)… then it will prompt you for a new password twice.

6.  Do not forget that password.  You won’t be able to do anything cool until you restore if you do.

That’s it.  If you need any more help with this procedure, just let us know in the comments.

For those of you who are still up and kicking at this time of the night, feel free to hit the update button on Cydia: you’ll find a new version of Ultrasn0w waiting for you.  Version 1.0-1 was released just before midnight PST on August 3rd.

This update will unlock any iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS or iPhone 3G running firmware version 4.0.1.  According to the Dev-Team, it’s actually okay to install the default Apple firmware, then install the jailbreak by heading to jailbreakme.com.  After updating Cydia, you’ll be able to install Ultrasn0w and toss in your new carrier’s SIM card.

Be warned, most SIM cards will require modification: i.e. splicing it into pieces to make it into a micro sim.  If you don’t know what you’re doing, we’d highly suggest finding someone who does… or spend a considerable amount of time reading up on the sim card hacking before you take a knife to it.  We’ll hopefully post some demos of the process in the future.

One of the biggest additions to the 27-inch iMac this past week (at least to the hardware-obsessed) was an extra SATA port on the logic board.  The extra port is for the lucky purchasers who have the money to dump into the SSD option.  Instead of making a different logic board for the upgraded machines, they included the port in every 27-inch model.  This is great news for those of us who like to get our hands into the hardware.

I’m actually an Apple-Certified technician, so please make sure you understand the risks: this addition may void your warranty if you decide to do this yourself.

Other World Computing (macsales.com) has begun offering a small modification to the iMac to run an eSATA connector out the bottom of your iMac.  It requires a Dremel, 2 screws and a female eSATA port.  The modification is actually pretty easy, just time consuming.  Their price of $169 is definitely enticing, but you’d be able to save a lot of money if you’re comfortable doing it yourself.

Keep in mind; this is definitely a gray area for your warranty.  Doing this by yourself, will assuredly void the warranty that comes with the machine.  Having an Apple-Certified technician do it for you could keep your warranty in tact.  Believe it or not, there’s a legal reason why Apple may have to honor your warranty even if you have a technician dremel a hole into the bottom.  We’ve talked with OWC specifically, they cannot answer this definitively… and if they come up with an official answer, we’ll let you know.

We’ve actually picked up one of these new models and will definitely put it through the paces and let you know how awesome it is.  If we build up enough courage (or hear an update to the warranty status) we’ll bust out the Dremel and add this upgrade to our iMac.  It looks awesome.  An external eSATA hardware RAID will definitely be a welcomed bonus to the iMac.

A tweet from @planetbeing this evening stated that he (and @MuscleNerd) have a working unlock that is ready to go with the iPhone 4 on iOS 4.0.1.  They’ve been testing it privately and — after today’s jailbreak — are testing it in an exclusive beta for the next 48 hours.

After that point, as long as they don’t run into anything glaring, we should see Ultrasn0w for every iOS device running firmware version 4.0.1.  Please keep in mind that the unlock is not yet supported for iOS 4.1.  In fact, Apple will probably shut down the exploits necessary to jailbreak and unlock before they release iOS 4.1.

The jailbreak/unlock game has been cat and mouse since the first software unlock back in 2007.  We would have actually put money on a bet that said the Dev-Team would wait to jailbreak/unlock until 4.1 was released.  We’re hoping to see a lot of fixes with iOS 4.1… so here’s hoping that the Dev-Team has found something good that will keep us going for a while.  iOS 4.1 is already in Beta 2 so it won’t be long before Apple sends it to their update servers.

In the days of iOS 3, the Dev-Team released a quick update to their jailbreak/unlock tools that was quickly squashed by Apple’s software engineers.  It took another 4 months for George Hotz to come up with his blackra1n tool.  Here at SocialApples, we love staying up-to-date with the latest iOS software, but we also realize that it can take time to get an easy solution for everyone.

We hold a very high amount of respect for the Dev-Team: comex, MuscleNerd, planetbeing, Saurik and all of the others who are involved behind the scenes.  Thank you for what you do… you allow us to use our devices without restrictions.  Apple, the ball is in your court.  You know that jailbreaking is popular, so how about we let this exploit slide for a while, eh?

One of our favorite iPhone Hackers, comex, has released a brand new jailbreak for devices running iOS4.  It works with every iOS4 device and will even jailbreak 4.0.1.

We find ourselves amused when we remember geohot’s blackra1n jailbreak for 3.1.2 in November… he specifically asked us to donate if we thought it was the easiest jailbreak ever.  It was never the easiest jailbreak ever but it was the easiest solution of the day.  We now have officially experienced the easiest jailbreak ever: jailbreakme.com (version 2).

This new jailbreak utilizes what’s known as “userland” jailbreak — back from the days of the 1st iPhone OS — it is the easiest solution to any jailbreak.  A userland jailbreak exploits code from the “user” side of the device’s software.  There’s also the kernel side: this is how we’ve been jailbreaking devices for a long time and it required the tethered jailbreaks of blackra1n, pwnage tool or redsn0w.  That brings us to explanation number two: it is done directly from your iOS device’s browser… there’s no software to install on your computer and no strings (cables) attached.

Do you need to jailbreak?  No… but it has some great benefits.  With a jailbroken device you can easily tether your iPhone to your computer for internet access without paying your wireless carrier’s exorbitant fees.  You can also unlock your iPhone (when the unlock becomes available) for another GSM carrier.  Cydia also has hundreds of packages just waiting for your jailbroken iOS4 device, so head over to jailbreakme.com and free your device.  It only takes a couple of minutes.

There were initial reports of issues with FaceTime and MMS after the jailbreak, but those issues have been fixed and won’t cause problems for anyone heading to the website now.  If you installed the jailbreak sometime on Sunday, make sure you open Cydia, update your packages and reset your networking settings… this will fix the FaceTime and MMS issues for anyone who’s having them.  If you still have issues even after following those instructions, just restore your device and re-jailbreak it.

For once in my life, I like the government.  The LoC has determined that jailbreaking or unlocking your mobile device is completely legal.  There’s not much more to say than that.  Ever since the first iPhone jailbreak appeared, legality was a question in everyone’s mind.  You own the device, shouldn’t you be able to modify it in any way you see fit?  The LoC thinks so.

The biggest part of this ruling is the potential that Apple will need to extend their warranties to the unlocked/jailbroken community.  If there is no longer a gray area, there’s no longer any reason that Apple should deny those users service.  Obviously, there is a large debate coming that will hopefully allow us to use our phones as they were initially intended.

Apple’s biggest fear is that we, the users, will completely mess up our phones with jailbreaking software.  In the time I’ve known the Dev-Team, I’ve realized they’re out for the best.  None of them would ever release software that deliberately bricked our devices.  They’ve always taken their time in developing the best software and only released when they were comfortable deploying it to thousands of devices.  There’s always risk… there’s risk in turning your device on… there’s risk getting out of bed in the morning.  Understanding those risks and choosing to push through them will help us live the best lives possible.  Sorry to get philosophical on you, but that applies to our lives and our technology.  Long live the Jailbreak!

iMac and Mac Pro supplies are running low at the Apple Stores and Starcraft 2 is coming on Tuesday.  Tuesday could be the best day since the Steam release for the Mac Gamers in the audience.  The iMacs are well overdue for an internal upgrade… not a re-design, just a spec bump.  The Mac Pros… well, they’re running dangerously old processor generations that has put them pretty far below the bar for power users.  We’re hoping to see a complete re-design of the Mac Pro since it (and it’s predecessor) hasn’t seen one since the initial PowerMac G5 launch during the summer of 2003.

In the rumored updates, we could see better base model processors, better graphics cards (please give us more RAM!), the potential addition of Blu-Ray, FireWire 1600 or 3200 — and — USB 3.0.  Apple is notorious for introducing new technologies on their desktops before they begin to phase them into their laptop line.  It’s widely expected that we’ll see something completely new in this round of updates.  Are we sure that they’re coming Tuesday?  Nope… we just want something awesome to use for Starcraft 2.

While we doubt that Apple would release new hardware in conjunction with the launch of the most anticipated game of the year… we still hold hope.  On Tuesday, July 27, Blizzard will finally release its new version of Starcraft for the Mac and PC.  Looking at the video above, the cut-scene game engine appears to be similar to Doom 3.  Slightly cartoony but still stunning graphics.  From the little we’ve seen, the gameplay seems to be very similar to the original… Terran, Protoss and Zerg — some units have the same abilities, others have been heavily upgraded.  To this day, I play the original Starcraft when I’m feeling nostalgic: I cannot wait to start playing this game.

If you’re just as impatient as I am, you can download Starcraft 2 via the digital purchase package.  It begins downloading the game now… but you’ll be able to install, activate and start playing at 10am PDT on the 27th.  It’s a 7GB download, so get going.  Now we just have to wait for Diablo III…

**Update**

MacRumors.com is now confirming our predictions based on a blog post from Gruber.  In addition to the suspected new Macs tomorrow, we may see the rumored Wacom-styled tablet from Apple (Magic Trackpad) and new cinema displays that match the quality and resolution of the current generation iMacs.  We’re rooting hard for new Xserves but get your desktop hats on folks, tomorrow could be a doozy.

During the iPhone 4 press conference last week, Steve Jobs showed us the first few videos of their new web series: “Hey, these phones suck too.”  We got a peak at BlackBerry, Samsung and HTC all demonstrating the same signal issue as the iPhone.  Since then, they’ve dedicated a whole page on their website to the accusation of other mobile companies.  They followed the pilot episode by adding the Nokia N97 Mini: this appeared to be directly related to Nokia’s blog response.  We came across episode three this morning which features the Motorola Droid X.

Here at SocialApples, we think the term “fanboy” describes us perfectly, but we also had enough of this finger pointing bulls**t in high school.  We thought Apple showed a lot of class this morning when the started automatically refunding iPhone 4 bumper purchases… but this kind of 8th-grade-he-did-it-she-did-it garbage really needs to end.  Apple’s PR nightmare, which started with haters and video cameras, has been complicated by their ever-lasting desire to smear the world with videos of other smartphones having signal issues.

How much is too much?  Apple has opened the floodgates to PR backlash, slander lawsuits and so much more.  What’s the point, I mean, really?  This isn’t improving their PR crisis.  In fact, it’s making them look like that kid in the corner with his finger up his nose crying for mommy.

At this point, everyone knows the iPhone 4 has signal issues.  That’s not going to change.  Even with a bumper, we’ve been able to reproduce the death grip.  Take a look at our video from last weekend: it clearly shows that the signal drops a lot easier on the iPhone 4 when compared to the iPhone 3G.  There is some reasonable truth to theory that it will happen with any phone.  You can block signal from practically any wireless device… but that still doesn’t explain why some users can reproduce the issues and others can’t.  I’m on my second iPhone 4: I can reproduce the death grip, easily.  I couldn’t get so much as a bar to drop with my first iPhone 4.  Same part of town, same signal, same person, different phone.  Coincidence?

I, personally, still hold true to the fact that there’s a hardware issue with the iPhone 4… and it’s not something that Apple’s willing to fix.  Are they sitting on unreleased information, or is it really a non-issue?  We’ve speculated enough, so let us know your thoughts in the comments.

After last week’s press conference, I was debating between getting a refund on my iPhone 4 bumper or just “buying” another case through Apple’s free case program.  If you look at the picture above, you’ll notice that Apple made my decision for me… rather, their computers made my decision for me.

Apple has initiated automatic refunds for all customers who purchased the iPhone 4 bumper.  Initially, it looked like everyone was told to go online, fill out a form and claim their refund… that’s obviously not the case (pun intended).  It takes a lot of heart to just blanket-refund everyone and shows a lot about the company’s desire to keep its customers happy.

Anyone else in the great case debate now has $30 extra that they can choose to spend or hold onto.  I might just go grab the iPhone 4 dock I’ve been eyeing.

Let’s face it folks, cell phones, whether we want to admit it or not, are released with bugs, issues, and a host of other problems that might crop up through normal, daily use. This fact was put on full display during Steve Jobs’ ‘Antennagate’ press conference last week when he highlighted common problems with antenna reception. The videos of a Blackberry, Android, and Windows Mobile phone experiencing similar dropped call issues illustrate that cell phones are asked to perform ideally in anything-but-ideal environments.

This Bits post in the New York Times outlines the domino effect of Jobs’ finger pointing tactic. RIM – the maker of Blackberry – was the harshest critic citing that “Apple’s attempt to draw RIM into Apple’s self-made debacle is unacceptable” and “Apple’s claims about RIM products appear to be deliberate attempts to distort the public’s understanding.”

Additional retorts came from HTC and Motorola, with HTC noting that: “The reception problems are certainly not common among smartphones. [Apple] apparently didn’t give operators enough time to test the phone.”

So what do you think?  Was Apple  finger pointing and deflecting their own issues?  What do you think of Jobs’ explanation during his press conference? Should he have outed other cell phone makers like that? — Let us know in the comments.

Source: New York Times’ Bits & All Things Digital