Hasta La Gadget!

We’ve just heard from AT&T that new carrier settings for the iPhone 3G and 3GS will be available “late morning” Pacific Time (which would be early afternoon Eastern) this Friday, September 25, which will finally enable MMS support. Owners will have to tether up to iTunes to grab those settings, so fish out your cable (as if you don’t have it permanently attached to your machine already) and make sure you’ve got some solid time in front of the computer to check for the update over and over (and over) again, alright?

[Thanks, Frank]

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

AT&T slips some iPhone MMS rollout details for Friday originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Sep 2009 15:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Practically all summer, the buzz surrounding TomTom’s forthcoming iPhone GPS app was near deafening. But said noise apparently didn’t penetrate the labs at Navigon, as that very outfit has produced what’s easily the most full-featured option on the market today. Just a week after updating the already-great app with text-to-speech, iPod controls and location sharing, the company is now proclaiming that live traffic will splash down in October (at least in North America). The update will enable the software to utilize real-time speed data from drivers currently en route as well as historical information in order to alert you of slow-downs and re-route you when necessary. We’ve personally seen live traffic functions fail more often than not, but we’re giving Navigon the benefit of the doubt here until we can test it ourselves. Best of all, it’ll only cost MobileNavigator users (priced at $89.99) a one-time fee of $24.99 for lifetime traffic, and if you snag it within the first four weeks after it goes on sale, that rate drops to $19.99. So, TomTom — what now?

Filed under: Cellphones, GPS, Software

Navigon adding live traffic to iPhone navigation app, asks ‘TomTom who?’ originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 17 Sep 2009 09:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Last week Wired.com provided an overview on iPhone OS 3.1, the latest upgrade for the iPhone operating system. As is always the case with iPhone software updates, this one removed unauthorized apps for jailbroken (i.e., hacked devices). We also forewarned iPhone 3GS owners of a major loss: After upgrading to 3.1, they cannot downgrade to an earlier version of the OS to jailbreak again and regain access to their unauthorized apps. Fortunately that problem has already been fixed.

Jay Freeman, creator of the unauthorized Cydia app store for jailbroken iPhones, has posted instructions on how iPhone 3GS owners can downgrade from iPhone OS 3.1 to 3.0. The process is actually pretty sneaky.

For the new iPhone 3GS, Freeman explains, Apple now verifies the authenticity of the software whenever you attempt to restore the device to factory settings (i.e., format the iPhone and reinstall the OS). Apple stopped signing 3.0, so iPhone 3GS owners could not downgrade from 3.1. Now Freeman has launched a method to trick iTunes into signing from his own servers. The instructions for downgrading are listed on his personal site. Even if you didn’t upgrade to iPhone OS 3.1, Freeman recommends you follow these steps anyway to “future proof” your iPhone 3GS through future updates.

Meanwhile, owners of the first- and second-generation iPhones are in luck: Dev-Team, the famous group of iPhone hackers, has released a tool to jailbreak and unlock iPhone 3.1 for their devices. So they need not worry about losing access to their precious unauthorized apps. It’s unclear when iPhone 3GS owners will get a jailbreak solution, but it appears the Dev-Team is hard at work.

See Also:

• Everything You Wanted to Know About iPhone 3.1 But Were Afraid to …
• Video: Unlocking the iPhone 3GS
• 6 Reasons to Jailbreak Your iPhone
• iPhone Jailbreaking Could Crash Cellphone Towers, Apple Claims …
• Rejected By Apple, iPhone Developers Go Underground

Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

Noticing a “Policy Requirement” error when trying to use your Microsoft Exchange account after upgrading to OS 3.1? Then there’s a good chance you’re not using an iPhone 3GS, as Apple has just confirmed via a support page that the upgrade can now enforce the Exchange ActiveSync mailbox policy requiring encryption on the device, which just so happens to only be supported by the 3GS (guess that “S” stands for more than just speed). Not surprisingly, the only solution for non-3GS users is to contact their Exchange Server administrator and hope that they’re willing to change the policy to no longer require device encryption.

Filed under: Cellphones

iPhone OS 3.1 enforcing Exchange device encryption, only supported by iPhone 3GS originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 11 Sep 2009 14:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Okay, we’re in the final countdown to Apple’s Only Rock and Roll event, and some interesting bits of info have hit the wires while we’re waiting. First, AppleInsider claims a “historically reliable source” has leaked the entire new lineup of iPods, complete with model numbers, and it’s somewhat surprising if true: not only do capacities remain the same apart from a 160GB iPod classic, the iPod touch is absent from the list — leading some to believe its upgrade has been delayed due to rumored technical issues with the camera module. AI also says the nano is getting “significant changes” to Nike+, but doesn’t go into further detail.

There’s also been an interesting press release this morning from Harmon Kardon, which is touting that its new Bridge III iPod / iPhone dock and AVR 2600 and 3600 receivers can “play back HD video from iPod or iPhone products.” Seeing as there’s no (official) way to even get HD video onto an iPod or iPhone right now, that seems to indicate there’s a change a-comin’ — and seeing as we’ve already gotten the iPhone 3GS to play back 1080p video, the addition of HD video support to at least some of the i-line seems like a no-brainer. We’ll see what’s true and what’s just wishful thinking soon enough — the liveblog starts in just a little bit!

Update: And just in case you couldn’t get enough sketchy cases, Cygnett has some listed on its site that seem to show a new nano screen size, as well as a new touch with a camera. Things are definitely heating up, stay tuned.

Read – AppleInsider leaked list of new iPod models
Read – Harmon Kardon says new dock can play back HD video from iPhone

Filed under: Cellphones, Portable Audio, Portable Video

Last minute Apple rumor roundup: iPhone HD video out, no new iPod touch? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 09 Sep 2009 11:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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