A free iPhone app everyday
Just like at Christmas, some good people are giving away 1 iPhone app free everyday. Today’s app (Reign of Swords) is apparently the winner of Spike TV’s Video Game Awards “Best Hardcore Mobile Game” of 2008.
It does take some time visiting the website everyday but heck, I can do that for a free, potentially good game 
[via - Gizmodo]
The $1000 iPhone app
We finally have a proper iPhone app that costs more than a frickin MacBook! Yes, we remember the “I am Rich” app but let’s face it, it was only meant for show-off and lasted only a few days before Apple pulled it out.
BarMax was designed by Harvard lawyers to help law students pass the Bar exam. It consists of a full 2 month course including audio lectures, practice tests and more. As of now, it’s meant only for the California Bar exam but BarBri plans to launch the app for other popular states by the end of this year. In case you want to try before spending that hard earned money (duh!) there is a free trial version of the app.
And just FYI, the second most expensive app isn’t too far off. It’s a video surveillance app called iRa Pro and will cost you $899.99!
[via - Gizmodo]
How to upgrade and unlock your iPhone using blackra1n
This time, the unlock is best said – “short and sweet”. For this you need little or no technical expertise and works out of the box.
I know we’re late at posting this info, but better late than never. For the regular readers, here you go.
To upgrade all you need is
- Your iPhone – Hope that’s still in one piece.
- iPhone Firmware 3.1.2 – (2G | 3G | 3GS) – Choose the right firmware according to your model.
- blackra1n unlocking software.
The upgrade process is the similar as explained in our earlier articles, but I am putting that here anyway.
The missing iPhone key
A friend just made me realize that the iPhone (and iPod Touch) keyboard does not show a backtick (`) key on it’s keyboard when you are typing into text boxes. I tried every possible combination but no, it just wasn’t there. And to tease us mortals, it appears automagically in the email keyboard. Imagine the fate of those (like my sad friend) who have backticks in their passwords.
Now seriously, what is stopping them from doing this apart from being a snob. For fuck’s sake they have keys like (¿) and (¡) on the iPhone keyboard!
In app purchase paves way for unlockable demo apps [iPhone]
Apple introduced in app purchases with the iPhone 3.0 OS. Until now, this feature was available in paid apps only. A recent email from Apple to developers reveals that it is now available for free apps as well.
This means that developers can now release demo apps and users can unlock the full app using in app purchase. This eliminates the need to release lite and full versions separately. Apple will keep its standard 30% revenue share from such purchases.
Here are the excerpts from the email sent from Apple to developers:
“In App Purchase is being rapidly adopted by developers in their paid apps. Now you can use In App Purchase in your free apps to sell content, subscriptions, and digital services“
“You can also simplify your development by creating a single version of your app that uses In App Purchase to unlock additional functionality, eliminating the need to create Lite versions of your app. Using In App Purchase in your app can also help combat some of the problems of software piracy by allowing you to verify In App Purchases.”
Will this also pave the way for unofficial cracks? Maybe. But I have a strong feeling that Apple is becoming the M$ of mobile computing.
[Yahoo! via iPhoneIndia]
How to turn off iPhone screen when using Skype [Tips]
This is one of those posts that a few of you might think – “I already knew this” or “Does this really deserve a post?“. But I am gonna post it anyway, because its one hell of a useful tip if you’re a regular user of this iPhone application and didn’t figure this out before.
The Skype Application supports calls using the iPhone headphones, and of course it comes with loads of features – one of which is to turn off the screen using iPhone’s built in proximity sensor.
On the other hand it also lacks some features, a few to say are, to be able to
- Run the app even when the screen’s locked.
- Switch off the screen when the headphones are being used.
- Continue call when there is an iPhone alert (like SMS, Cal Alert etc) instead of going on hold/disconnecting.
and a few more which we’ll try (*rant*) and cover as a separate post.
Photoshop now on your iPhone
The iPhone (and iPod Touch ofcourse) truly have become a major computing platform. Everyone these days seems to be launching the iPhone version of their popular dekstop/mobile apps.
The latest one to join the bandwagon is Adobe. They’ve launched a limited sorta edition (obviously) of Photoshop for the iPhone. It’s called Photoshop.com for mobile (what’s with the webapp-ish name?). According to Adobe it allows you to:
- Crop, rotate, change color with just a touch.
- Give an extra glow with Soft Focus.
- Get artsy with Sketch.
- Apply one-touch effects like Warm Vintage and Vignette.
All this with undo! (these marketing guys are becoming really cheap these days)
Now since it has not been launched in Indian App Store (why?) I’ll have to login to the US one to download and review it. If you do it before me and hate it, drop me a warning email/comment.
[via - DPReview]
Do not upgrade your unlocked iPhone to 3.1.2
Although it’s been in news the whole day, do NOT upgrade your iPhone to 3.1.2 if it’s unlocked and you want it to stay that way.
It’s clear from the warning below that the release by GeoHot called Blackra1n will only jailbreak your iPhone on OS 3.1.2.
WARNING: Even though the GeoHot jailbreak supports 3.1.2 do not update if you are on iPhone OS 3.0.1 or 3.0. You will lose your unlock. Use PwnageTool to safely update to 3.1 without performing a baseband update. If you really must have 3.1.2 then wait for the next version of PwnageTool. If you have already updated to 3.1 or 3.1.2 without using PwnageTool then you’ve lost the ability to unlock for the time being. You can now use BlackRa1n to at least regain your jailbreak
So hold your horses, freedom is still a release away.
[via - Gizmodo]
iPhone OS 3.1.2 released by Apple
Apple has released iPhone firmware 3.1.2 yesterday. The update comes with the following fixes & improvements:
-
Resolves sporadic issue that may cause iPhone to not wake from sleep
-
Resolves intermittent issue that may interrupt cellular network services until restart
-
Fixes bug that could cause occasional crash during video streaming
DO NOT upgrade if you are on a jailbroken or unlocked iPhone. The iPhone dev team has given the following update on their blog:
-
PwnageTool and redsn0w are not yet compatible with 3.1.2
-
There is no estimated release time for compatible tools (please don’t bug us about this).
-
Any information we have regarding this update will be posted here.
-
You can also follow us on twitter – @iphone_dev
[via Dev Team Blog]
Character count in iPhone SMS app
SMS stands for Short Message Service. Its meant to be short. This is why the character count is limited to 160 characters. You go beyond 160 and the message is split into two or more parts. Depending on the network and handset, you might send and receive it as a single message, however, majority of phones and networks will split it in two messages.
This is why most phones have a character count displayed on the screen when you are typing a message. This is helpful if you have a costly messaging plan. Even a single character above 160 and you will be charged for two messages instead of one.
Along with other most obvious features, character count was also one of the basic features missing from the iPhone. Apple did not even care to include this in the massive 3.0 upgrade which included most other highly demanded and obvious features. iPhone users are thus deprived of this feature till date.
Luckily, if you have a jailbroken iPhone, you can install the free “SMS Helper” app from Cydia. This little super useful tool will plug in to the standard SMS app on the iPhone and will display the character count (in place of the Send button) as you type. When you are done, just tap on the count and your message will be sent. Pretty neat.
[Via BigBoss]
Twitter