Jailbreak 1.1.3 -- Just Don't Do It

Over the last several days, I have used the "Nate True" soft upgrade to 1.1.3 and have attempted to upgrade using the "official dev team" upgrade. My experiences are as follows:

First, the Nate True soft upgrade worked as described. However, since I had a number of jailbreaked applications on my phone when I executed the upgrade, they all vanished from the summerboard. When I used installer, I could see the package logged as installed. Most of the packages could be uninstalled and then reinstalled and they appeared in the summerboard and worked as before the upgrade.

Unfortunately, there were several that would take a "script error" and would not delete (from memory, two were the Guitar and he HP21 Calculator). Since the installer thought they were installed, I would not reinstall them. It was for this reason that I decided to use the dev team's "official" upgrade.

Unfortunately, after a day of attempting to use the directions found on http://www.iphoneatlas.com/2008/01/27/guide-jailbreak-any-iphone-with-113-macwindows/, I did not succeed. On top of that, I have had to restore the phone and lost all contacts, calendar, stock, weather, and notes entries. While I can recover much of this information, I cannot recover all of it.

As a result, unless you simply want to hack the phone for the "fun" of it, I HIGHLY recommend that you leave the phone as Apple intended it. With each subsequent upgrade that Apple releases, the corresponding steps to jailbreak that phone become increasingly complicated and subject to numerous errors. My net out is that the effort is simply not worth it. If and until such time as a jailbreak method becomes MUCH simplified and provides the capability to recover previous data, I am sticking with what Apple has provided.

More Info in Google Reader Update

I also just noticed another change to the Google Reader application. When you click on the "See original" link in any article, instead of moving you to that page, it now opens a new page to present the original. As a result, your reader stays at the last article you were reviewing.

Again, nice touch.

Updated Google Reader

Amid all the news last evening on the availability of jailbreak 1.1.3, a neat update went unnoticed: Google made yet another update to their iPhone applications. This time it was the Google reader app. Google has now made it possible to add subcriptions directly from the application (see image below).

When you touch the "Feeds" button, a new button is available, "Add subscription". When this button is pressed, the user is taken to a new screen that provides a search and add capability.

Nice feature and nice touch Google.




posted from iPhoneSlide.com

Jailbreak 1.1.3 Problem -- Anyone Seen This?

I think the news on the jailbreak for update 1.1.3 has been adequately covered in a number of other blog posts. However, when I ran the Windows version (using iBrickr), it did not quite install correctly. Granted, I now have 1.1.3 on my iPhone and have the ability to add and run third-party native apps. However, when the update was installing, it took a script error. Then when I restarted the iPhone, the only third-party app that showed up was the installer.

At that point I went to reinstall the third-party apps I had previously placed on the phone and they did not show up! Out of curiosity, I went to the uninstall button on the AppSnapp application and the various applications showed up there. That is, they did not show as installed (and they could not be found on the Springboard), but they did show as able to be uninstalled.

At that point, I began uninstalling the applications. However, there were several that would not uninstall because of a "Main script error." Of the ones uninstalled, when I went to reinstall them, they installed and work just fine. There were a few exceptions where the application was designed for 1.1.2.

However, there are some really great applications that I would like that will not uninstall. Anyone have this problem? Anyone have any idea how to go about a fix without downgrading and starting all over again?

MobileCast

I would love to move to Update 1.1.3 because I don't particularly like being an "outlaw." The iPhone provides an outstanding user experience, but there are some features available through jailbreaking that I have become dependent upon. One of these is "MobileCast," a simple podcast downloader and player.

The reason it has advantages over iTunes? First, you don't need iTunes. MobileCast manages direct RSS podcast feeds. Second (and most importantly), MobileCast allows the user to download over Wi-Fi. This is a major advantage because the user can download content anytime and anywhere there is an Internet connection--even over EDGE although I don't advise it. The iPhone is about convenience and MobileCast is a major enabler.



posted from iPhoneSlide.com

MacWorld Prediction Accuracy

Okay, I took my guess just like a lot of other people. So how did I do? Let's see:

1. An iPhone 16 Gb. MISSED
2. Early introduction of the SDK along with the announcements of a number of new applications immediately available through iTunes (new release 7.7). MISSED Sort of. There was a new release of iTunes (7.6), but the SDK is now "late February.
3. iPhone email Exchange compatibility. MISSED
4. Update 1.1.3 (or perhaps a 1.2.0) that will incorporate the teasers seen in the leaked video of the release as well as much-needed enhancements. SPOT ON. Indeed, only the things in the leaked video were in the release.
5. Enhancements to the Wi-Fi iTunes store that will enable podcasts and videos to be downloaded wirelessly. MISSED
6. Among the videos that will be available, Apple will announce its agreement to carry movie rentals--they will be available through the Wi-Fi store or iTunes directly to a home machine or a souped-up AppleTV. GOT ALL EXCEPT THE WI-FI ACCESS.
7. Joint announcements by Yahoo!, Google, and perhaps others of significant extensions of their Web sites to accommodate the iPhone format. MISSED
8. Announcement of an agreement enabling extended Wi-Fi iTunes store usage at airports, certain hotel chains, and perhaps additional business establishments. MISSED
9. Joint announcement of the availability of the 3G iPhone along with AT&T's announcement of rapid expansion of its 3G network. MISSED

And the total is: 2 of 7 of 29%. Pitiful, pitiful, pitiful.

iPhone/Apple Goodies at MacWorld Expo

Well, since everyone else appears compelled to weigh in on what will be announced at the 2008 MacWorld Expo, I thought I might as well provide my prognostications to the pile appearing in the blogosphere. Herewith are my predictions:

1. An iPhone 16 Gb. This is logical allowing the top end of the iPhone line to be filled-in and perhaps allowing the 8 Gb to see a price drop, perhaps to $299. The phone will come standard with the 1.1.3 update. The 16 Gb iPhone will not have a replaceable battery.
   
2. No iPhone 3G. If one is introduced, it will be introduced as debuting with 3G service to Japan or a similar announcement. This will place the machine coming to market in the Spring at the earliest, Summer more likely, or Fall (before the Christmas rush) as the most likely. It also gives Apple time to determine whether to put it at a higher price point, or to retire the 8 Gb model. Either way, there will be both a 3G and a 2.5G model on the market at the same time. If the 3G model is introduced, it will not have a replaceable battery.
   
3. Early introduction of the SDK along with the announcements of a number of new applications immediately available through iTunes (new release 7.7). I would expect that many of these applications are available from installer.app developers (let's face it, some of this stuff is great, especially the games, and they pose no threat to Apple).
4. Flash availability on the iPhone. There doesn't seem to be much discussion of this topic anymore, but it would be an easy addition that would significantly extend the functionality of Safari considering how many sites use Flash. It would also be a logical early SDK-developed tool.
5. iPhone email Exchange compatibility. This one will come from either Microsoft or one of the many companies providing these capabilities to Palm and others today. Again, this is a logical SDK-developed tool.
6. Update 1.1.3 (or perhaps a 1.2.0) that will incorporate the teasers seen in the leaked video of the release as well as much-needed enhancements. Among this are: a) icon management as seen in the video; b) Google map location as seen in the video; c) custom pin placement as seen in the video; d) bookmark as icon application on the springboard as seen in the video; e) copy-and-paste; and f) flash-disk storage.
7. Enhancements to the Wi-Fi iTunes store that will enable podcasts and videos to be downloaded wirelessly.
8. Among the videos that will be available, Apple will announce its agreement to carry movie rentals--they will be available through the Wi-Fi store or iTunes directly to a home machine or a souped-up AppleTV.
9. Joint announcements by Yahoo!, Google, and perhaps others of significant extensions of their Web sites to accommodate the iPhone format. These would go far beyond what has been announced by Yahoo! and Google recently. Indeed, they may take the form of additional custom applications available as a result of the SDK.
   

These latter predictions are the result of this being Apple's show, but they will not want to leave out the content providers that make the iPhone so functional. Therefore, they will be involved in some type of joint presentation. Then there are the reach predictions. Not sure whether they are realistic at this time, but I would predict they are coming:

1. Announcement of an agreement enabling extended Wi-Fi iTunes store usage at airports, certain hotel chains, and perhaps additional business establishments. The latter would be tied to Apple's existing contracts with AT&T, O2, Deutche Telekom, and Orange.
2. Joint announcement of the availability of the 3G iPhone along with AT&T's announcement of rapid expansion of its 3G network.

Those are my thoughts. What do you think I have wrong. What have I left out?

Blogging from the iPhone

I just happened to come across a nifty little Web 2.0 (sort of) application that is optimized to take emails from an iPhone and post them to a variety of different possible blogging sites. The service, called "iPhoneSlide," is especially nice is that it allows the blogger to insert photographs into the blog posting. Below is a screenshot of the iPhoneSlide Website found at http://www.iphoneslide.com.



posted from iPhoneSlide.com