Fear not, people who jailbreak your 3GSes! PwnageTool for the latest firmware, 3.1.3, is available and ready to crack, hack, and otherwise damage your iPhone.
I’ve stopped hacking my 3GS simply because too many things break after unlock. You should also keep your “SHSH hashes” backed up (basically keep the keys to previous versions lying around so you can revert. If you don’t know what it means, don’t upgrade.)
Otherwise, rock out, friends. 3.1.3 awaits.
This is the so-called HTC Incredible running on Verizon. It has a Snapdragon CPU with 256RAM and a bold and beautiful screen a la the Nexus One. Interestingly, it has two rear LED flashes and appears to be clad in a red backplate which reminds me of butterscotch pudding although a video, now unavailable, shows it is really red.
Click through for a UI shot. Also, can I just say that I am more in love with Android every time I see it? It just seems fresh.
A recent AT&T earnings call consisted of a lot of talk talk talk but one slide stands out: it essentially admits that 3G in San Francisco and New York sucked ween AKA were both far below their official performance objective.
Although I can’t figure out what the actual “Performance Objective” truly is based on this slide, those lines do seem to be going up. While anyone can make up a statistic, for AT&T to come out and say “we suck in those areas” is big news. Good on you, lads.
Now just let me search Google on 34th Street and Broadway without getting a “Cannot connect to server error” with four bars and plenty of bandwidth while not hanging up my calls to my mom and we’re good.
The slide goes on to mention the addition of RNCs (Radio Network Controllers) to those areas as well as a general improvement in calls in Q4 of 2009.
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I’ve used VoIP apps on the past few iterations of of the iPhone as well as a number of other devices including some from Nokia, HTC, and Samsung. Those apps always only worked over WiFi and have mostly worked as advertised. Experience shows that if there’s one thing cellular companies are good at it’s ensuring a call can get from point A to point B (although AT&T has been sucking wind lately). It’s what they’ve been doing for almost two decades.
Now that Apple has lifted the ban VoIP over 3G – note it is Apple lifting these restrictions, not AT&T – you have to wonder what’s going on. Won’t 3G tear down the network around our ears? Won’t dogs and cats start living together?
Absolutely not. First, most international carriers have used 3G for calls for years, if not decades. When I was working as a telecoms consultant, back when WAP was a big roll-out, we already had 3G provisioning systems. Heck, some of my former colleagues were preparing video calling before America even knew how to spell Skype.
Why wasn’t it broadly used until now? Because carriers hadn’t stress-tested the network nor did they have billing methods in place. Thankfully, the iPhone 3G did most of the work for them, ensuring them that even under heavy use conditions most networks can survive intact.
Despite AT&T’s inability to hold a connection for more than a minute, 3G over VoIP adds a negligible amount of load to the 3G network and, more important, is billable. In an era of $29 unlimited plans, carriers can’t make money on regular old calls.
They can, however, make money on 3G data, especially in roaming. Anyone who’s ever been bit in the hindquarters by a massive roaming bill will know that data is precious. You can buy a 300MB roaming plan on AT&T for $59 or else pay thousands off plan. That’s 300MB. People are so used to always-on Internet that 300MB of 3G can be eaten up in a few days time, resulting in a quick flurry of SMSes to remind you that the meter is still running. While the average person eventually gives up and turns 3G off, the road warrior sees no need: after all, he’s not paying. In the end, you have a delightful group of roaming businessmen with five-figure cellphone bills.
Is this always the case? No. But it’s definitely on someone’s balance sheet at most carriers. Think of it as business class for wireless – there are plenty of folks who fly coach, but if you have a couple of suckers with an expense account, why not charge them a few thousand more for a glass of bubbly and a warm dinner?
Apple Lifts 3G VoIP Restrictions, iCall with 3G Support Available Immediately
iCall VoIP services for the Apple iPhone and iPod Touch are now available for use over 3G networks such as AT&T wireless.
GREENWICH, Conn., Jan. 27 /PRNewswire/ — Apple Computer, Inc. has updated the iPhone developer SDK to allow VoIP over cellular networks. iCall is the first and only VoIP application that functions on the iPhone and iPod Touch over cellular 3G networks.
iCall is a market leader in desktop and mobile-based desktop calling platforms, including its highly popular version for the Apple iPhone. Until today, restrictions imposed on developers prohibited VoIP functionality on any 3G network.
VoIP on the iPhone has been the source of many debates with companies such as Google being denied access to the platform and the FCC inquiring as to the restrictions in the Apple App Store; iCall is one of the few VoIP applications that has been permitted by Apple to operate on the iPhone platform.
With the latest revisions Apple has made to the iPhone developer agreement and Software Development Kit, iCall for the iPhone and iPod Touch now enabled unrestricted free local and long distance calling over 3G data networks. iCall with support for VoIP over 3G networks is now available in the App Store for download. iCall is the first and only VoIP application available for the iPhone platform that allows use over 3G networks. iCall for the iPhone and iPod Touch may now be downloaded from the App Store here.
iCall CEO Arlo Gilbert is quoted as saying, “I applaud Apple’s decision to allow iCall to extend its functionality beyond Wi-Fi and onto the 3G networks. This heralds a new era for VoIP applications on mobile platforms, especially for iCall and our free calling model. I hope that now more developers will begin using our VoIP as a platform to integrate VoIP into their applications.”
About iCall, Inc.:
iCall is a privately held company providing a free and low-cost VoIP calling platform that is currently available for your desktop PC, iPhone and iPod Touch. iCall saves consumers money on phone calling through ad-supported calling.iCall was founded in 2005 by Arlo Gilbert and Andy Muldowney with the goal of providing low and no-cost calling services to consumers. In January 2006, iCall first released its iCall Free Calling desktop application. iCall’s free calling network now boasts over more than 4 million unique downloads.
In addition to consumer products, iCall offers wholesale VoIP solutions and a developer platform through iCall Carrier Services. iCall’s private network carries over 350 million minutes of voice traffic per month to destinations around the globe.
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The Motorola CLIQ is a nice phone. That’s point one. Point two is that it can actually play radio. Using a non-standard ROM, a user named Eugene found an FM radio binary and tried to run it on the CLIQ. After a little futzing, he was able to fire up the radio and listen to it right on the CLIQ. Who knew?
Rest assured it’s not available to the public right now. Watch AndroidGuys for further instruction.
While trying to fix the radio issue with Moto Blur on the LG ROM he has running on the CLIQ, Eugene stumbled across a lib file that was missing in the normal Blur ROM. He also noticed FMRadio was present in the bin file. After some deep contemplation (not really), Eugene loaded the bin and lib FMRadio files and an apk he found floating around–one intended for this purpose–and voila, FM Radio started working! So by bringing in the files from the LG ROM that the CLIQ hardware needed, he was able to bring life to a dormant feature.
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It seems that Apple may be inviting Microsoft’s Bing into the iPhone, at least according to BusinessWeek. In what could be some sort of bluff by Apple, Microsoft is apparently in talks to make Bing the default search engine on the iPhone, supplanting Google’s current position on the phone deck.
This does not mention if they’re moving away from Google Maps and YouTube, but by giving Microsoft the default search spot Apple could get a bit more revenue from traffic thrown at the provider.
BusinessWeek is positing that recent competitive moves by like the release of the Nexux One could have something to do with the decision to pursue another partner.
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Who knows what’s going on over in London right now but there are a few blolgers chilling out waiting for Nokia to launch something huge in 19 hours. The best thing? You can embed their little countdown thinger into your own blog, thereby completing the circle of blog wonkery. Writes symbian-guru:
Nokia has begun sending invites out to select media outlets (such as Engadget), inviting them to an event on this Thursday in London at the Paramount Club. The invite mentions that there is big Ovi news, but the press event is only 15 minutes, followed quickly by a Q&A session, so it’s not likely to be a major announcement, really.
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Bloops. Researchers have figured out how to crack 128-but UMTS 3G technology, thereby putting almost all modern phones in danger. The paper, found here basically describes a 2-hour process and is more a proof-of-concept than anything else. However, it could be used to listen to conversations after the fact.
As you’ll recall, old-fashioned G.S.M. was hacked a few weeks ago and with 3G down for the count there’s not much left to hide behind except good old security by obscurity. That said, I suggest we all learn Navaho like in Windtalkers.
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In the end, Google and Android will own the smartphone market. It won’t happen this year and it may not even happen in 2012 but the day is coming when Android becomes the de facto standard for smartphones.
This we know: Multiple manufacturers have reported that Android phones are on the way including up to five from Motorola this quarter and a number from Samsung this year. Google also has a number of handsets in for testing and should be rolling them out after the Nexus One.
While product in pipeline is also nice, I think the real value is in the software. At CES we saw Dell and Lenovo releasing Android phones running Android but without – and this is important – major Google branding or applications. This is, in the end, why Android will soon rule the roost: carriers can remove functions as it sees fit, thereby creating entirely new versions of the OS and UI for their own purposes.
The only problem? Google’s control of the OS pipeline. Various sources have complained that Google controls which OS version various manufacturers are allowed to use and the result is a segmented market with potentially fractured OS trees. However, in the end, the carriers and the manufacturers have control over the OS.
What’s going to happen to also-rans like Windows Mobile? I suspect manufacturers will roll mobile features into future desktop/laptop OSes, leading to a convergence of functionality for mobile Windows devices into Windows 7. Why have a dumbed down Windows Mobile when most devices are powerful enough to run a version of Windows 7? Microsoft is not out of the game, but as a mobile OS provider their days are numbered.
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Short Version: The Sprint Overdrive is a small, compact portable 3G/4G cellular data network to WiFi dongle designed for use by up to five people simultaneously. The best part is the ease of use and the worst part is the dearth of 4G networking outside of a few major cities.
Features:
Pros:
Cons:
Review:
We are of two minds about the Sprint Overdrive. In terms of design and usability, the Overdrive is excellent. It is a small, compact device with OLED screen and removable battery that holds a charge for about four hours of heavy use. Up to five users can access it at once and the security information appears right on the screen, allowing folks to glance over instead of asking you to give them the device to read the code off the back or, worse, having to look it up.
On the other hand, 4G is pretty sparse and on a good day we got sub 4G speeds in many of our tests in Vegas, although by any standard 4G there was sparse. At best we hit 2Mbps in real terms.
3G speeds were on par with what we’d expect in various Sprint coverage areas. A quick speed test gave us 355KBps down and 93KBps up. Various locations gave us the same numbers.
The device is $99 after $50 rebate and starts at $39 per month.
On the whole, this is a well-designed and clever product. Ideally you need to be in a 4G area to grab the full value but as those roll out over the next few months you might as well future proof now.
Bottom Line
Impressive design and good performance make this a dongle to watch.
Product Page: Overdrive
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Tingalin, the makers of the world-famous Tingalin app, have outdone themselves. Their new app, based on the magic of the Jersey Shore but not directly affiliated with the MTV show in any way features a number of useful tools for the Situation-in-training.
While the upcoming “fake tan” system is not yet in place, the app does have a nickname generator, a fist pump challenge that acts like Guitar Hero for bros, as well as a list of useful pick-up lines for meeting and wooing drunk honeys.
Finally, there is a glowstick.
The app, downloadable here, costs a mere 99 cents.
As we mentioned before, MTV has nothing to do with this app, an interesting oversight that should give future reality show marketers pause before poo-pooing the appization of their creative produce. In this case, MTV is now excluded from making their own Jersey Shore app in the same way it is excluded from surf ‘n’ turf night, excluded from ravioli night, and excluded from chicken cutlet night.
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We just did some live video from the Palm lounge where we saw the Pixi and Pre Plus, two improvements to the current WebOS line-up. Notable points? The 3D gaming was quite impressive and the design has been considerably improved in this iteration.
For one, there is no button on either device. Instead, you get a visual cue when in multi-tasking mode that allows you to tap to enter the home screen and slide to move back and forth. The devices have 16GB of memory and are Touchstone inductive charger plates built-in, which means you can use the Touchstone charger without changing the plates.
This model also includes WiFi built-in for both models.
We can expect these to drop on January 25th on Verizon, an interesting development.
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The era of 4G – WiMAX, basically – is dawning and the Overdrive from Sprint is the first creation in that brave, fast world. Sprint called out all the great ones, from Hesse, the CEO, to Ballmer, the other CEO, as well as a Frank Caliendo, that guy who does voices.
The device, which is shaped like a squarish hockey puck, is being touted as a hotspot away from your hotspot. It streams a 4G connection out of a package about as big as a stack of drink coasters.
We grabbed some photos of the characters in question and Sprint showed some of their funny commercials for the new device. Look for them because they’ll actually be good. The premise is that with the new overdrive four random people will enter your life to mooch your network – and never leave. Look for the bathroom scene.
No pricing or availability, but look for it soon in a WiMAX-capable area near you.
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Hey, good on Samsung for trying to make their own OS. I’m sure it will be wonderful for them. It saves them from having to, I don’t know, use Android? But what’s with all the Nokia Series 60 font usage in the UI?
These screenshots, which are floating around right now, show some of the UI elements of the new OS, Bada. The font they’re using is approximately (or exactly, I’m not a font scientist (fontographer?)) the same font used on most Series 60 Symbian phones.
Considering Samsung used to use Symbian it’s not a far reach to think that their UI team just hung on to some bad habits but S60 brings up a lot of bad memories for people.
Or could the worst be happening and is Samsung building Bada on top of Symbian, which is now ostensibly open source? We’ll ask, but we probably won’t want to know the answer.
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