iPhone and iPod Area

What is this we hear? The Jesus Phone isn't perfect and might actually be flawed? It seems like hackers are having a field day over a security glitch by Apple which allows them to play with iPhone’s proxy settings, redirect internet traffic to a malicious site and even disable Safari, Mail and other iPhone apps. If this didn't give your heart palpations, then the fact that you need to do a full wipe to get rid of it, will surely do!

The problem is the setting, which allows configuration files to be installed over-the-air through Safari. Hackers can take advantage of this, as they can make their configuration file report back as “Verified” and even fool you in thinking its from Apple itself! Tricky buggers aren't they?

So what do you do? Well, just stay away  from something which looks like the screenshot above!

Image courtesy Mobile Crunch

What is this we hear? The Jesus Phone isn't perfect and might actually be flawed? It seems like hackers are having a field day over a security glitch by Apple which allows them to play with iPhone’s proxy settings, redirect internet traffic to a malicious site and even disable Safari, Mail and other iPhone apps. If this didn't give your heart palpations, then the fact that you need to do a full wipe to get rid of it, will surely do!

The problem is the setting, which allows configuration files to be installed over-the-air through Safari. Hackers can take advantage of this, as they can make their configuration file report back as “Verified” and even fool you in thinking its from Apple itself! Tricky buggers aren't they?

So what do you do? Well, just stay away  from something which looks like the screenshot above!

Image courtesy Mobile Crunch

When GeoHot talks, you listen because you never know what he’s up to. Earlier today he gave some pretty disappointing news on Twitter by basically saying that there was no way to jailbreak the latest iPhone 3GS and iPod Touch models on OS 3.1.3, and that there was not much hope for an untethered jailbreak.

But we all know GeoHot and how he likes to be challenged. I’d bet you that he’s dissecting OS 3.1.3 as we speak and looking for some exploit. That’s what I think anyways.

In the meantime, the Dev Team has been working hard on redsn0w (see tutorial) and has found some workarounds to jailbreak older models.

Do you think GeoHot will show up and save the world again?

"GeoHot Says “No Jailbreak For You”" is an article by the iPhone Download Blog sponsored by the iPhone Store. Feel free to leave a comment or discuss this topic in the forum. For the latest iPhone info, don't forget to follow me on Twitter.

When GeoHot talks, you listen because you never know what he’s up to. Earlier today he gave some pretty disappointing news on Twitter by basically saying that there was no way to jailbreak the latest iPhone 3GS and iPod Touch models on OS 3.1.3, and that there was not much hope for an untethered jailbreak.

But we all know GeoHot and how he likes to be challenged. I’d bet you that he’s dissecting OS 3.1.3 as we speak and looking for some exploit. That’s what I think anyways.

In the meantime, the Dev Team has been working hard on redsn0w (see tutorial) and has found some workarounds to jailbreak older models.

Do you think GeoHot will show up and save the world again?

"GeoHot Says “No Jailbreak For You”" is an article by the iPhone Download Blog sponsored by the iPhone Store. Feel free to leave a comment or discuss this topic in the forum. For the latest iPhone info, don't forget to follow me on Twitter.

With national healthcare and economic recovery now assured, and peaceful wind-down of international tensions – Obama’s minions have now turned their attentions to the next national calamity – communications infrastructure.

Already, Obama admistration officials are warning that the launch of the Apple iPad, coming next quarter, could bring communications to a standstill as new users swarm wireless networks.

“Apple’s iPad announcement has set off a new round of reports of networks overburdened by a data flow they were not built to handle,” said Phil Bellaria, director of scenario planning for the federal government’s Omnibus Broadband Initiative.

“With the iPad pointing to even greater demand for mobile broadband on the horizon, we must ensure that network congestion doesn’t choke off a service that consumers clearly find so appealing or frustrate mobile broadband’s ability to keep us competitive in the global broadband economy,” wrote Bellaria.

Bellaria likened the iPad’s debut  to AOL’s decision in 1996 to offer unlimited Internet access to its users via dial-up modems.

“For months, users had trouble connecting and, once they did connect, experienced frequent service outages. The FCC even held hearings on the problem,” said Bellaria. The iPad features 802.11 Wi-Fi connectivity, as well as 3G cellular connections.

Bellaria said the potential for network slowdowns triggered by iPad-mania demonstrates the need for updated wireless infrastructure and regulatory policies.

“Reaching an always-on wireless broadband future means that the spectrum can no longer remain attached solely to uses deemed valuable decades ago,” he said. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 provides millions of dollars in funding for wireless network upgrades.

Where were these same bureaucrats as our broadband speeds slid to 29th rank in the world?  We’re behind Korea, Latvia, Romania, Lithuania, Sweden, the Netherlands, and even Bulgaria [our speeds are half as fast as theirs]. We do outrank Haiti – but their mobile service is still much more reliable than ours.

AT&T can’t withstand drizzle, God help them in an earthquake.

It’s about time we had an enlightened and informed national communications policy NOT dictated by corporate thieves or clueless federal bureaucrats.

Don’t we deserve better broadband than Bulgaria?

The inimitable Dev Team continues to make life easier for thousands of iPhone users who hate living by Apples rules and regulations. As many of you are aware,  RedSn0w 0.9 debuted recently and you can check out our guide on how to make that baby work its magic here. Now an updated version of RedSn0w 0.9 is available which now contains the IPCC tethering hack for iPhone OS 3.1.2.your

So if you fancy installing  some cellphone Carrier Bundles that would let you connect your computer to the internet via your iPhone, then read our instructions below.

The first step requires you jailbreaking your iPhone and for that read our guide here. 

After this, download the correct MobileConfigs file from http://www.benm.at/help/help.php and install it on the iPhone. Please ensure you have the right files and that you install them directly on your iPhone. After this just reboot your iPhone and visit us using your iPhone 3G connection! If you are interested in knowing about tethering and its history with iPhone, check our guide here.

Better safe than sorry. There’s no better way to sum up why you should take the time to update your iPhone and iPod Touch with the latest iPhone OS 3.1.3 software released yesterday.

The update fixes flaws that could lead to arbitrary code execution or application crashes when playing maliciously crafted mp4 files, viewing maliciously crafted TIFF images, and accessing maliciously crafted FTP servers. The update also fixes a USB-related issue that could grant unauthorized access to data on locked iPhones. Also included is a fix for an issue where Mail could send unwanted data in certain situations when HTML 5 media elements load.

According to Apple, the update also improved battery level accuracy on the iPhone 3GS, fixed a problem where third party apps might not launch.

iPhone OS 3.1.3 is available to iPhone and iPod touch users that have already installed iPhone OS 3.1.2. The update is free and can be installed through iTunes when your iPhone or iPod touch is connected to your computer.

The update can take 30 minutes to complete and requires patience during several restarts as your device updates firmwear. Once begun — never interrupt the update process.  We’ll have additional information at our February iPhone meetup.

My fiancee and I are at month #3 of our travels around South East Asia, and like I did with Australia and New Zealand, I’d like to tell you about my experience traveling with my iPhone in Bali, Indonesia.

Ignorance Will Kill Me

When I first arrived in Bali about 3 weeks ago, I didn’t have much hope to get my iPhone hooked up to a local carrier. Sure my iPhone is jailbroken and unlocked but I thought that Bali would never be able to provide me with what I really wanted: 3G.

I was way too judgemental and didn’t deem necessary looking into a pay-as-you-go plan. I simply assumed that Indonesia didn’t have 3G. How stupid was I!

Then one day I met with the owners of the hotel we were staying at (Villa Bintang in Nusa Dua). It all started with me being curious about their computer set up. After exchanging a few words, I realized that they were French, so we kept chatting in French.

It turned out that Bamboo (the wife) owned an iPhone and couldn’t figure out a few things with it. I told her that I knew my way around an iPhone and in 2 minutes, all her iPhone issues were just gone. I asked her if Indonesia had the iPhone and she said that they don’t, but she had bought hers in France on her last trip back home. She also confessed that she had paid about $30 to unlock it.

So I asked her what service she used and she told me to get XL, one of the many carriers available in Indo. She advised that I’d go get a SIM card in one of these little shops across the street from the hotel.

Getting Hooked Up With 3G and Talk Time

I first went to the shop by myself and I asked the woman about a SIM card and Internet for my phone. She said she could give me a SIM card and talk time, but to get Internet on my iPhone, I would have to go to the company’s headquarter in Denpasar, 30 minutes away. That sounded kinda strange so I asked her again and she confirmed that I needed to “activate” the Internet plan in Denpasar.

I didn’t buy anything and I went back to the hotel to ask Bamboo about this. She explained me that these little stores don’t want to deal with Internet for some reasons I didn’t really understand. But she said that she would walk me through it.

Bamboo then came with me and helped me set up my plan. It just took a few seconds. We walked in the shop (note that there are literally hundreds of these in Bali), I paid about $2.5 for a SIM card and an additional $30 for 3 million pulsas (units).

After doing a quick manipulation on the phone – dialing *123# – and selecting an Internet package, I was all good to go. These 3 million units I bought for $30 actually got me 1.5GB of data.

I was surprised how quick it was. At no time I was asked for an ID or anything. It took about 2 minutes from the time we got in to the time we left, and this included me practicing my “thank you” in Balinese…

I was also suprised by the massive amount of data I had for about $30. 1.5GB is huge! That sure was a change from Australia where every MB costs you a fortune.

The Downside

Getting a SIM card and 3G in Bali sure is easy but I have to admit it’s not as reliable as I would hope. 3G here is pretty slow and I noticed that it just disconnects every few minutes.

I tried tethering my iPhone over 3G on a few occasions but it just didn’t do it. It would work for 2 minutes, then lose connection, then come back for a minute, then break up again, etc… I don’t have the patience for this and when I really want to be productive, I don’t mind paying $1 or $2/hour to access the web in an Internet Cafe (they are everywhere).

Conclusion

All in all, getting a SIM card in Bali was probably the most pleasant experience I had dealing with getting a phone plan. It was fast and cheap. Even though the network is not very reliable and makes me miss AT&T, I am still glad I got my iPhone hooked up with a local carrier. I can now tweet, check emails and read the news from almost anywhere on the island, which to me is priceless. After my lovely fiancee, my iPhone really is my best travel companion!

If you have experiences traveling with your iPhone, please share them in the comments. I always enjoy reading your stories.

"Traveling With An iPhone: My Experience In Bali" is an article by the iPhone Download Blog sponsored by the iPhone Store. Feel free to leave a comment or discuss this topic in the forum. For the latest iPhone info, don't forget to follow me on Twitter.

Hours ago, Apple released iPhone OS 3.1.3 and as usual in this case, I recommended that you do not update if you care about your jailbreak or unlock.

Turns out we have some good news from the Dev Team. It is currently possible to jailbreak the iPhone 2G, iPhone 3G, and iPod Touch 1G running OS 3.1.3.

Update 1:  [Don’t go near this if you have 3GS, newer ipt2G, or any ipt3G] Thanks to daring experimenters in the comments, we can confirm that yesterday’s redsn0w works for today’s 3.1.3 update for iPhone 2G.  Just point it at the 3.1.2 iPhone 2G IPSW after doing update or restore to 3.1.3.  So far we’ve only confirmed this for iPhone 2G.  (Note that if this does work for iPhone 3G too, you can *only* use it if you don’t care about the unlock.)

Update 2: [Don’t go near this if you have 3GS, newer ipt2G, or any ipt3G] Can confirm that this method works for iPhone 3G and iPod touch 1G too.  Don’t do it for iPhone 3G if you need an unlock though (really, don’t!). For older iPod touch 2G, we’ll need a small (1-character) change in redsn0w source.

What does that mean? It means that if you have an iPod Touch 1G, an iPhone 2G or an iPhone 3G, you can use RedSn0w to jailbreak your iPhone 3.1.3. If you care about ever unlocking your iPhone, DO NOT do this. Just wait and stay away from the update.

Here is what you have to do to jailbreak your iPod Touch 1G, iPhone 2G or 3G. First, update to the latest 3.1.3 firmware from iTunes, then simply follow the directions in my RedSn0w tutorial. Download the latest version of RedSn0w and when asked to choose for a firmware, make sure to choose 3.1.2.

This method reportedly works for jailbreaking the 3 devices mentioned above. It doesn’t work for the iPhone 3GS and for other iPod Touches.

The Dev Team is currently working on it. I will update you as soon as we get more info. Make sure to check the jailbreak section for up-to-date information about jailbreaking.

"Jailbreak iPhone 3.1.3" is an article by the iPhone Download Blog sponsored by the iPhone Store. Feel free to leave a comment or discuss this topic in the forum. For the latest iPhone info, don't forget to follow me on Twitter.

Apple released iPhone OS 3.1.3 just a few hours ago and it it is now available for download directly from iTunes or from our iPhone downloads page.

This is a very minor update, and to be honest, it’s almost deceiving. If I had to give my opinion on this, I’d say that Apple released firmware 3.1.3 just to piss off the Dev Team, who released RedSn0w 3.1.2 jailbreak just days ago.

The “fixes and improvements” for iPhone OS 3.1.3 are as follow:

• improves accuracy of reported battery level on iPhone 3GS
• resolves issue where 3rd party apps would not launch in some instances
• fixes bug that may cause an app to crash when using the Japanese Kana keyboard

Additionally, Apple has updated the baseband from version 5.11.07 to 5.12.01 on the iPhone.

As usual when a new firmware update is released, it is recommended for jailbreakers and unlockers alike not to update their device. If you update to 3.1.3, you will lose your jailbreak and/or unlock.

More info will follow as it comes. For up-to-date news about jailbreaking, make sure to read our iPhone jailbreak section.

"iPhone OS 3.1.3 is Out. Jailbreakers Beware!" is an article by the iPhone Download Blog sponsored by the iPhone Store. Feel free to leave a comment or discuss this topic in the forum. For the latest iPhone info, don't forget to follow me on Twitter.