9to5 Staff

 "We are not holding back on a release to make a UI prettier, we are not working on drop-shadows, pretty UI elements or color-schemes," says the iPhone Dev Team. "We are just making sure that everything is OK, everything is tested and everything is safe…What you are seeing is the world’s first jailbroken iPhone 3G running our own software." Here’s the video:

[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/1344970 w=400&h=302]
World’s 1st Jailbroken 3G Phone from iphonedev on Vimeo.

iSuppli has come forth with the most comprehensive bill of materials yet for the iPhone 3G.  There are lots of fun parts included but the one that stuck out was CSR BluCor6 Rom which means that, yes, the iPhone can do A2DP Stereo Bluetooth, should Apple allow that in a software update.  It also means that if Apple does enable some sort of Bluetooth tethering or synching  in the future, you will be able to get the EDR of 3.0Mbs connection speed.

The fun doesn’t stop there.  The Cambridge Silicon Radio chip includes a new baseband CODEC option called AuriStream.  From CSR:

A new ‘AuriStream’ baseband codec can optionally be used to provide a ‘toll’ quality wireless link with around a 40% handset power reduction compared with CVSD. Or, it can provide wideband quality for the same power consumption as CVSD.

The incorporaton of the latest scanning techniques means that standby power consumption also tumbles –  by as much as 86%!

The advantages don’t stop there! BlueCore6 can deliver Class 1 performance with no power amplifier, and with an amazing link budget, helping you provide your users with class-leading performance.

…and it’s smaller, and needs fewer external components than ever before.

Interestingly, If the bluetooth headset also uses the Auristream technology, another 40% of power reduction can be made.

Oh, and they have another new product called ‘RoadTunes’?

digg_url = ‘http://9to5mac.com/auristream-iphone-bluetooth’;

If you are pretty versed in the Apps store, as most readers here are, you might want to skip to about 1/2 way through.

http://services.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f8/452319854

Apple has finally sued Psystar, the maker of the OpenMac ‘er OpenComputers that run the Mac OS.  Psystar had been taunting Apple for months saying that a lawsuit wouldn’t hold up in court.  The Mac community was extremely surprised that Apple didn’t sick their lawyer hounds on them all these many months – perhaps signifying Apple being open to cloning once again.

Nope. 

Apple doesn’t use the O’Melveny Myers (blog killas) but the Townsend and Townsend and Crew IP and trademark guys for IP matters.

via Appleinsider

 Six months after making a promise to harmonise prices in order to stave off EU action, Apple has elected not to cut UK iTunes prices in order to bring them into line with those across the rest of Europe.

The company says that changing exchange rates have actually bought UK prices roughly into line with those across the rest of Europe.

Apple in January said it would reduce the prices it charges UK music fans for song purchases through iTunes. This was after a European Commission enquiry exploring collusion between Apple and the majors over how iTunes works in Europe.

At the time, Europe’s competition commissioner Neelie Kroes said: "The Commission is very much in favour of solutions which allow consumers to benefit from a truly single market for music downloads."

Six months later, and Apple now argues that currency changes have done the job for it, and prices are now in line across Europe.

"The announcement was that we would match the UK price to that of other lower priced European countries," an Apple spokesman said. "This is no longer necessary as exchange rates have effectively done it for us."

All well and good, but music lovers in the UK and Europe pay significantly more for their music than those in the US, where each song costs $0.99 (49p or 0.62 euros). Music costs 79p in the UK or 0.99 euros in Europe.

 Looks like Apple’s already cooking-up a swift update for the iPhone 2.0 software it shipped Friday, with one report claiming to have seen website traffic requests emanating from systems that ID themselves as 2.0.1.

Sure, this isn’t hard and fast evidence, but what makes it even more interesting is that requests identified as coming from these purported patched ‘phones all seem to emanate from the area around Cupertino and Atlanta (Apple and AT&T HQ, respectively), at least that’s what the Boy Genius is saying.

It’s no act of faith to conceive Apple to be working on a software patch for the release. Given deployment across six million or more devices, widespread public use of the software is bound to generate a few addressable faults, And, with reports of failed OS 2 installs on iPod touch models and many user complaints that some first-gen iPhones have become more unstable since the install, Cupertino’s iPhone teams will be hustling to make good any damage, particularly as Apple’s newly-promoted senior VP iPhone Software Scott Forstall’s new position pretty much seems devoted to work to smooth over these post-release software cracks.

 Apple must wake up as its front room media solution-cum-hobby, Apple TV is under attack

Microsoft has announced a new deal with Netflix under which the latter service will offer Xbox LIVE users who are also members of Netflix Gold free access to over 10,000 films and a multitude of TV shows – all directly through the Xbox.

From the Netflix website, members simply add movies and TV episodes to their individual instant Queues. Those choices will be automatically displayed on the TV screen via Xbox 360 and available to watch instantly. 

It’s a significant move that underlines the additional value you get from using TV-connected console systems, rather than more limited streaming boxes (such as the Roku Netflix box that’s now available).

The Xbox plays games, accesses the internet, plays DVDs and more, while Apple TV does not.

 John Schappert, corporate vice president of Interactive Entertainment LIVE, Software and Services Business at Microsoft said: “We are creating a completely new social entertainment experience, and Xbox 360 will be the only video game system where you can access your library of instantly streamable movies from Netflix and turn any room into a virtual movie theater.”

 Remember Skyhook? The people who helped Apple put a little location-sensing inside the v.1 iPhone? 

Well, hot on the heels of the most recent Apple mobile, Skyhook has introduced XPS 2.0, its next-generation hybrid positioning system that combines signals from Wi-Fi access points, GPS satellites and – now – cell towers to deliver location data for mobile handsets (such as the…)

The company insists it is offering the most advanced positioning system in the world by combining its positioning algorithms with comprehensive environment survey data.

The original version of XPS delivered "multi-mode" location switching between WPS and GPS readings based on availability and error estimates. XPS 2.0 combines raw Wi-Fi, GPS and cell tower readings to produce a single hybrid calculation. In the most difficult indoor and urban environments, XPS can, for example, leverage signals from just two GPS satellites to improve Wi-Fi location accuracy by 35%+. In a typical deep urban setting Assisted-GPS (A-GPS) can only produce a location 70% of the time outdoors due to blocked signals. 

It’s fast, too – XPS delivers a location in just 4 seconds from a complete cold start compared to 30-60 seconds with just A-GPS. 

The company has also reached a deal with CSR that brings Skyhook’s advanced location capabilities to CSR’s Wi-Fi silicon, making it easier for device makers to launch location based services.

As part of the XPS 2.0 launch, Skyhook Wireless is also introducing its first cellular positioning system that uses Skyhook’s fleet of field signal surveyors. Today the system covers major US and European cities expanding to full Skyhook global coverage by the end of 2008. 

By now it is a forgone conclusion that Apple will use Intel’s latest Centrino 2 platform in its new Macbook Pro Line-up.  Back when Apple used PowerPC, no one knew what chips Apple would use or when they would come out.  Now that Apple is on the very transparent Intel roadmap, we know what is next.  That next is the Centrino 2 line.  Oh and quad-core in August??

The code-name Montevina refers to the fifth-generation Centrino platform, now formally named Centrino 2. It was scheduled for release at Computex Taipei 2008, which took place on June 3 – 7, 2008, but was delayed until July 14, due to problems with integrated graphics and wireless certification. 

Some fun facts about the Centrino 2 Platform:

• Centrino 2 will top out at 29 Watts compared to Penryn’s 34.
• Clock speeds ranging from 2.26 GHz to 3.06 GHz
• RAM support for DDR2-667, DDR2-800, DDR3-800, DDR3-1066 and DDR3-1333 SO-DIMMs
• Main support for DisplayPort with an external connector attached to the motherboard along with full supplemental support of HDMI, DVI, and VGA standards.
• an Intel WiFi Link 5100/5300 mini-PCIe adapter (code-named Shiloh), and the add-on card WiMAX (802.16) (code-named Dana Point), or the Intel combo WiFi/WiMAX Link 5150/5350 mini-PCIe adapter (code-named Echo Peak).
• NAND flash-memory caching branded as Intel Turbo Memory (code-named Robson 2).
• Gigabit Ethernet LAN controllers 82567LM and 82567LF (code-named Boazman)

More From Crave:

There are five new processors available within the Centrino 2 family. Athe the high end is the Core2 Extreme Mobile Processor X9100, which it says is the "highest performing mobile processor." Intel has removed overclock protection, and generally tuned it to impress gamers. To demonstrate, an Intel employee played the PC version of Assassin’s Creed on a notebook with the Extreme Mobile Processor.

The company says it will enable the new 2.8GHz processor to consume 60 percent less electricity than its 2.33GHz processor on a single task, and it will get that task done 30 second faster.

Also in Centrino 2, 802.11n Wi-Fi will be standard. Intel says to expect five times faster wireless connections, and twice the range, but to get ready for WiMax coming this fall. Though not available immediately, future versions of Centrino 2 will come with built-in WiMax capability.

 We brought you a video this morning showing one iPhone disassembly, now we can bring you a second glimpse inside the device, this time from TechOnline. This tear-down once again confirms the firms who managed to slip a component inside the Apple device. There’s two videos, part one looks at the main board, while number two (available here) explores what could be a cooling relationship between Apple and Samsung. 

 We think this looks really useful, it’s a new and free service to help you get your laptop back if it is lost or stolen. Free and private solution, Adeona launched today, put together by researchers at Washington and California (San Diego) univerisites.

This is the first Open Source system for tracking the location of your lost or stolen laptop (Mac, Linux and Windows) that does not rely on a proprietary, central service. This means that you can install Adeona on your laptop and go – there’s no need to rely on a single third party. What’s more, Adeona addresses a critical privacy goal different from existing commercial offerings. It is privacy-preserving. This means that no one besides the owner (or an agent of the owner’s choosing) can use Adeona to track a laptop. 

Adeona is designed to use the Open Source OpenDHT distributed storage service to store location updates sent by a small software client installed on an owner’s laptop. The client continually monitors the current location of the laptop, gathering information (such as IP addresses and local network topology) that can be used to identify its current location. The client then uses strong cryptographic mechanisms to not only encrypt the location data, but also ensure that the ciphertexts stored within OpenDHT are anonymous and unlinkable. At the same time, it is easy for an owner to retrieve location information.

The Mac OS X version also has an option to capture pictures of the laptop user or thief using the built-in iSight camera and the freeware tool isightcapture. Like your location information, these images are privacy-protected so that only the laptop owner (or an agent of the owner’s choosing) can access them.

 Sit back and look forward to new generations of voice-controlled games on the Mac, beginning with their debut on the iPhone. What’s making this happen is that a company that specialises in embedded speech interfaces for mobile devices has decided to make a move on the iPhone – and with iPhone running a version of OS X, it’s logical to expect Mac-bound movement in future.

Fonix Speech today introduced its Fonix VoiceIn 5.0 tool-kit for the iPhone 3G. This includes a license and run time engine fee to video game developers.

"We expect to leverage our prior successes with video game developers that incorporate Fonix VoiceIn Game tool-kit for an increasingly growing mobile video game market," says Steven G. Jones, Fonix Director of sales and business development. "A hands free game like Tom Clancy’s ‘EndWar,’ developed by Ubisoft, features Fonix VoiceIn for Games and is a natural fit for the iPhone 3G."

Jones then began to wax quite lyrical on the iPhone’s potential as a gaming platform, saying the device would, "explode the market with the powerful, easy-to-use and intuitive Fonix voice interactive software."

In addition to Ubisoft, Vivendi, EA Sports, Harmonix and other game developers that have licensed Fonix speech technology, the company expects "an increasing number of new game developers to release games for the Apple iPhone 3G."

Fonix VoiceIn software allows for voice command interface across multiple platforms including XBOX 360, PlayStation 3, Wii games, PC and Mac videogames. 

Apple confounded most estimates on first weekend iPhone 3G sales, delivering a record one million units sold by Sunday night. The company also revealed ten million applications to have now been downloaded from the App Store.

Only RBC Capital Market’s Mike Abramsky had anticipated global iPhone sales on the launch weekend would reach one million, while Piper Jaffray’s Gene Munster had anticipated less than half this mark, 425,000 unit sales.

The news is certain to please investors, and provides slight justification in terms of the activation problems which plagued most customers in the US and the UK on launch day Friday 11 July.

Apple’s UK network partner O2 last week told Macworld UK: "Demand is really high. In some of our stores we have been selling 40 iPhones an hour – the same level of sales those stores usually do in a day."

Dominic Hulewicz, O2’s head of convergence services and both a Mac switcher and former BlackBerry user as a result of the iPhone said: “We’re seeing phenomenal demand. I was staggered.”

Apple CEO Steve Jobs seems ebullient, too, saying: “iPhone 3G had a stunning opening weekend,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “It took 74 days to sell the first one million original iPhones, so the new iPhone 3G is clearly off to a great start around the world.”

Applications available from the App Store now number 800, that’s 300 up from the 500 offered on launch and indicative of the company working its way through a huge pile of submitted apps, prompting Jobs to remark: “The App Store is a grand slam, with a staggering 10 million applications downloaded in just three days,” said Jobs. 

What makes these figures singularly significant is that the number of mobile phone handsets expected to be sold next year number 1.35 billion, with smartphones set to account for 270 million of those.

Apple has aimed at selling ten million iPhones during the current calendar year. While it seems off to a very strong start, we’ll have to see if the promise of Apps is sufficient to maintain momentum, as Nokia, RIM, Palm and others begin to answer back with their product introductions.

Yep, it is a hit, in case you couldn’t tell by the store lines, Apple is announcing today that they have sold 1 million iPhones this weekend.  According to Apple:

Apple® today announced it sold its one millionth iPhone™ 3G on Sunday, just three days after its launch on Friday, July 11. iPhone 3G is now available in 21 countries—Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK and the US—and will go on sale in France on July 17.

“iPhone 3G had a stunning opening weekend,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “It took 74 days to sell the first one million original iPhones, so the new iPhone 3G is clearly off to a great start around the world.”

The new iPhone 3G combines all the revolutionary features of iPhone plus 3G networking that is twice as fast*, built-in GPS for expanded location-based mobile services, and iPhone 2.0 software which includes support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync and runs over 800 third party applications available through the new App Store. In the US, the new iPhone 3G is priced at just $199 for the 8GB model, and $299 for the 16GB model**. 

Oh…and the App store downloads topped ten million.  This isn’t actually as significant because a lot of those apps are free and previous iPhone and iPod touch users are downloading these.  Still, it is getting a lot of use!

PC World has  put together a graph (in color!) depicting the average battery life of some common 3G smartphones.  We guess that Apple’s 3G chip isn’t so horible after all because iPhone came up on top.  According to PC World, ‘The 3G iPhone’s 5-hour, 38-minute battery life isn’t great, but it still beats that of the 3G competition.’

As a commenter below points out, we guess PC World forgot about Nokia, the world’s #1 smartphone maker….

Last.FM who we last heard from as giving Indie artists a sweet deal on distributing their music, just got an opportunity to open up their selection to many more ears. Their iPhone/iPod player application that is available for free from the Apps store allows playing of their whole music library.  Here’s a quick video to show you how it works.

[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/1314214 w=400&h=400]
 

Last.fm iPhone Demo from Toby on Vimeo.

If you can excuse the rampant advertising (hey, they got to make a living right?) here’s a pretty good instructional video on how to take apart the iPhone 3G without destroying it.  Possible uses include instaling another battery, a new color of back panel or solder on some more Flash storage.  Good luck with that!

While you were sitting on line yesterday and trying to get your new iPhone activated, the Dev team was hard at work perfecting the Pwnage tool. It looks like they’ll be ready with it any minute now…

For higher quality video…

Click here

Oh, and here’s another:

[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/1327111 w=400&h=302]
Bootneuter 2.0 from iphonedev on Vimeo.

Today was supposed to be an exciting day for Apple and iPhone users but things went south when Apple’s activation servers went out and people effectively got bricked iPhones.   After waiting hours/days in line on a blistering hot summer day, many first day iPhone customers found that their activations couldn’t take place.  They were given the iPhones and told to go home and activate.  Unfortunately, when they got home, they still had problems.  Still, 3G iPhone customers got off easy.

Even more infuriation was felt by those EDGE iPhone 2.0 updaters who essentially killed their phones for the better half of the day when prompted to update by iTunes to iPhone 2.0.  The software update happens but Apple needs to re-activate your iPhone.  Instead of activations, iTunes was spitting out errors.

It looks like the high activation rate from the 3G iPhones plus all of the old iPhones being updated created the perfect storm to kill the activation servers.

Anger was felt.  Words were spoken, things were said.  Fanboys got upset like if you told them their should be a right mouse click utton on a MacBook.

But noweveryone has a working iPhone again.  And things appear to be happy in Appleland.

Oh, BTW, just about every AT&T store is out of iPhones and most Apple stores are running out as well.  Here in New York lines have been blocks long all day.  We think Apple might have sold a lot of iPhones.

We’ll check back in tomorrow.

 We’ve been sent this fix by reader, Will, we haven’t tested it. If you are in iLimbo, you may want to try this to get things moving again.

"I called Apple and here are the steps to leave recovery mode:

1. Disconnect phone from computer
2. Hold down the power button & turn phone off
3. Wait around an hour
4. Press the home button, & plug in cable to computer ( don’t let go of home button) When itunes comes up & says it finds a phone in discovery mode, then release the button 

I tried this and it did what it was meant to, offering me the option to restore; however, I didn’t go the whole way and restore it as I want to keep the v2 software till the problem is sorted. However, it may be that someone has a bricked phone and wants to at least make it useable again."

And a second potential fix – please, please people – we don’t know if these work for sure:

• Do not unplug the phone from the computer or close iTunes.
• Keep clicking on the iPhone tab on the panel on the left of the iTunes screen.
• Wait for the error message to pop up.
• ‘OK’ out of it then click on any other tab in the panel – music, iTunes store, whatever.
• Then click on the iPhone tab again.
• Repeat ad nauseum.
• Sooner rather than later, it *will* complete the process, reload everything and get working again.