Hasta La Gadget!

Apple released the iPhone OS 4 beta less than 24 hours ago, and already hackers have jailbroken the new operating system.

In the video above, Eric McDonald, better known as “MuscleNerd” of the iPhone Dev Team, demonstrates an iPhone running OS 4 with Cydia installed.

Cydia is the underground app store only accessible with jailbroken iPhones — that is, iPhones that have been hacked with software to free them of some of Apple’s restrictions. Some third-party developers have opted to distribute their software through Cydia after their apps were rejected by Apple.

In light of Apple’s new iPhone developer agreement, Adobe developers might just have to turn to Cydia to get their apps onto the iPhone. Apple’s revised agreement stipulates that iPhone apps must be originally coded with Objective-C, the language used in the iPhone SDK. That implies Apple will reject any app coded in a different language and automatically converted into a native iPhone app. The new rule is especially bad news for Adobe, who is touting a tool called Packager for the iPhone, which enables Flash developers to easily port their software into iPhone apps.

Apple will release iPhone OS 4 this summer for iPhone and iPod Touch customers. For iPad owners, the OS will be available fall.

See Also:

• Video: Hackers Have Already Jailbroken the iPad
• DMCA Exemption Unlikely for iPad Jailbreak
• 6 Reasons to Jailbreak Your iPhone
• iPhone Hacker Thinks He's Cracked the iPad, Too
• Jailbreakers Battle Apple for Control of iPhone

Web browsing fiends of the world already have enough reason to envy N900 owners on account of the built-in browser’s excellence and the availability of an official Firefox release — both with full Flash support — but if that’s enough, there’s now another name-brand option in the works. Well, sort of. You see, Chromium for Maemo isn’t an official port — but the Maemo community is filled with tinkerers, and that has inevitably led to the availability of a hacked version of the Debian release that apparently works quite wonderfully on the N900 (yes, including Flash) with a 100 score on the elusive Acid test. It’s said to be a little buggy at the moment, so hopefully that’ll improve over time; you’ve got to download and install the package manually rather than going through a repo, but as an N900 owner, odds are pretty good that you’re familiar with the tactic already. Perhaps Google wants to take this little project over?

[Thanks, Sp4mer]

Google’s Chromium project ported to N900 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 09 Apr 2010 11:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Music helps the weary exerciser work harder and, according to a hacker named Steve, the louder the music the more vigorously you work. So, he grabbed a motion sensor and an DIY MP3 player, stuffed them both into a disused French Vanilla Cafe coffehouse beverage drink container (ooh, la la), then wired the works together to pump out the jams louder when you’re really burning those calories — or to get quieter when you stop for a breather. It’s all fearlessly demonstrated in a video after the break featuring Steve, a jump rope, and a little bit of Bono. Make sure you stay through the credits for a deleted scene!

Continue reading DIY motion feedback MP3 player gets louder as you jump rope and do stuff (video)

DIY motion feedback MP3 player gets louder as you jump rope and do stuff (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 09 Apr 2010 10:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Did you order a Enso zenPad? If so, you’ll be happy to hear that the company has decided on a concrete release date; its website is now ticking down the days, hours, minutes and seconds until May 8th, when Enso claims they’ll finally ship the rebranded Smit MID. Problem is, if you ordered your zenPad on March 22nd — the day we wrote about it — you will have waited 47 days by the time the device ships, exactly two days too many to get a PayPal refund. But more importantly, manufacturer Smit has now disavowed any knowledge of a deal, and Enso itself has admitted that the zenPad as such does not currently exist. We’ve done quite a bit of digging and even spoke with an Enso founder to get the whole story. Enough promises have now been broken and lies told that if we were you, we’d request refunds ASAP, but if you still want to hang on for a chance at a $155 Android tablet, you can hear the whole tale right after the break.

Update: We just spoke to Enso CEO Alberto Armandi, who says that the company has now secured the necessary funding to make good on orders, and promises that he will ship us a zenPad for review within two weeks. We’ll revisit this story then. Meanwhile, read how we got to this juncture after the break.

Continue reading Enso’s zenPad is vaporware, get refunds while they last (update)

Enso’s zenPad is vaporware, get refunds while they last (update) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 09 Apr 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You thought $500 to start for a silly tablet was bad? How about another $410 to get the thing in some other color than raw aluminum? Yes indeed, ColorWare is at it again, this time dunking the back of iPads into giant vats of Technicolor dreams — or nightmares, depending on what combination of hues you choose. You can make your own design, with separate colors for the back, logo, and home button, but there’s no escaping that $410 service charge — or you can pay $910 for a new, painted 16GB model. The 64GB model is a whopping $1110, but the inspirational promo video after the break is entirely free.

Continue reading iPad gets ColorWare’d, your retinas and savings may never recover (video)

iPad gets ColorWare’d, your retinas and savings may never recover (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 09 Apr 2010 09:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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