New iPods? Yes please.
Apple just finished live streaming their latest press event, which for starters is pretty awesome that they finally live streamed it! Outside of announcing the expected new iPod touch, they also announced a new Shuffle and a new Nano.
For me, the new iPod touch is the most interesting. Retina display, front and rear facing cameras, HD video recording, A4 chip. All the things you’d expect after the iPhone 4, but it’s nice to see that Apple actually include all those updates in one refresh. 8GB model is $229, 32GB for $299, 64GB for $399.
I don’t really care about the Shuffle, but I do think it’s interesting that Steve had to concede and bring buttons back to please the users. New 2GB version of the Shuffle is $49.
Nano looks pretty slick, loses the video camera and click-wheel and moves to a nice square touchscreen and adds a clip on the back. 8GB for $149, 16GB for $179.
iOS 4.1 is dropping next week for the iPhone / iPod touch bringing HDR camera mode, Game Center, TV show rentals, and general bug fixes to the table. But better yet, iOS 4.2 hits in November for iPhone / iPad / iPod touch with wireless printing being the big feature of interest to me.
Jailbreak 101: Installing Flash on your iPhone/iPad
Despite Steve’s best efforts to murder Flash it still lives on, and maybe you’re one of those people who really wants Flash on your iDevice. Well, you’re in luck! Hacker extraordinaire, comex, has some up with a little something called Frash, which promises to bring Flash playback to your iDevice.
Previously you had to install Frash by compiling the .deb file yourself, but someone made a.deb and has added it to a Cydia Repo.
Note: This version of Frash will not work on the iPhone 3G. It should work fine for iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS and iPad.
Warning: This is an alpha piece of software which is being updated with bug fixes regularly, installing from this repo does not guarentee you’ll recieve updated versions of Frash. To follow the development of Frash and compile the latest and greatest version yourself, check out comex’s GitHub page for it.
Here’s how to install Frash on your device:
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What Apps Should I Download For My iPhone?
Lifehacker released their ‘Lifehacker Pack for iPhone’ this week, so I figured in honor of their list, we’d go ahead and compile a nice group of lists recommending you the best apps around. Whether your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch is brand new, or maybe you just got a brand spanking new iTunes gift card and are itching to spend it on something, we could all use a good list to point us in the right direction from time to time. As you might imagine, there’s alot of crossover between these lists, so pick your favorite and go to town!
- The Lifehacker Pack for iPhone
- Gizmodo’s Essential iPad Apps
- PCMag.com The Top 40 Free iPhone Apps for 2010
- Digital Trends Best iPhone or iPod Touch or iPad Apps
- Gamepro.com 25 Best iPad Games
- TechRadar.com Top 30 Best Free iPhone Apps
- Top 40 Best Free iOS4 Apps
And of course, don’t forget to check out our growing list of reviews for iPhone apps, iPhone games, and iPad games. And as always, if you’d like us to review a game or app for you, just let us know in the comments. You still have a few days left to get yourself entered into our contest to win a $25 iTunes gift card!
How To: Watch Netflix Instant Streaming on Your Jailbroken iPhone
I ran into this over on Lifehacker this week, anybody try this yet? Sounds great if it works! Full details after the break.
Jailbreak 101: Jailbreaking Redux
A few weeks back I covered how to jailbreak your iDevice, but now there’s a new, easier way to do it, one that also doesn’t require the use of a computer to complete. Oh, and it adds supports for iOS 4.0 and 4.0.1!
Now this jailbreak works on the device itself and uses a PDF exploit that Apple says it already has a fix for, so jump on the bandwagon and make sure not to install iOS 4.0.2 when it drops next week as it will likely break this exploit.
Ready? Here we go.
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Hijinks Reviews: Helsing’s Fire
Publisher: Clickgamer Technologies Ltd
Platform: iPhone, iPod touch, iPad
Cost: $0.99 [iTunes Link]
Released: Jul 10, 2010
Version Reviewed: 1.0
I purchased Helsing’s Fire on the recommendation of my friend, Bob Sacamano (I told you about him in my last iPod game review). We were sitting around, shooting the breeze, and he mentioned this new game he was interested in trying. So we both downloaded it and gave it a whirl, and both came away with the same reaction, we’ll get into it a bit after the jump. Read More
Hijinks Reviews: The Jim and Frank Mysteries – The Blood River Files
Publisher: Chillingo Ltd
Platform: iPhone, iPod touch, iPad
Cost: $0.99 [iTunes Link] – for a limited time
Released: Jul 09, 2010
Version Reviewed: 1.0
I stumbled across The Jim and Frank Mysteries the other day, as I was perusing the App Store on my iPod. It was receiving 4.5 out of 5 stars on only about 45 ratings, boasted over 20 hours of engaging gameplay, and it warned of being a “TIME LIMITED INTRODUCTORY PRICE!” I’d recently played the Chillingo game Pro Zombie Soccer and enjoyed it, so for $.99, I figured I’d give it a try. In short, I’d like to congratulate Chillingo for going 2 for 2. Read More
Why your iPod won’t charge (and what to do about it)
Show of hands if you’ve seen this message on your iPhone or iPod touch:
“Charging is not supported with this accessory”
Why not? The music and video still works… why wouldn’t charging be supported? It upset me too. I tried connecting it to an older Alpine stereo and it flashed me the error.
The short and sweet of it? Previous to the 3G iPhone and 2G iPod touch, the pin-out configuration of the connection used a FireWire standard for the location of the charging pin. The newest generation switched to using a USB pin-out standard, and low and behold, the charging pin is different!
Enter the Scosche passPORT charging adapter. The $20 adapter (Apple actually sells it, as well as many other retailers) switches the charging pin-out, but allows the rest of the data stream to pass-through. However, there are limitations… this from Scosche’s website:
“The charging adapter is specifically designed to fix the charging error associated with several iPod and iPhone accessories. If the accessory you are intending to use does not initially support the audio or video functionality of the iPod or iPhone , the charging adapter will not enable these features.”
What bothers me is there had to be some poor tech from Scosche who took this call:
Customer: “Hi, I’ve got a problem.”
Tech: “What can I help you with?”
Customer: “Well, I bought your charging adapter for my iPod touch, but I can’t see the video on my TV!”
Tech: “Are you connecting your iPod to your home theater system?”
Customer: “No, I’ve got it connected to a wall-mount charging adapter.”
Tech: “Great, now we need a disclaimer…”
