Top iPhone Resource

Griffin TuneBuds In-Ear Headphones With Mic for iPhone 3G, 3GS

karthik — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 16:50:48 +0000

I was looking for a Bluetooth Stereo In-Ear Headphones for my iPhone 3GS. But, with the Thanksgiving Black Friday deals just around teh corner, I didn’t want to spend the prices they are at right now.

So, I looked for a good pair of In-ear headphones with mic and found Griffin TuneBuds.

I found Griffin TuneBuds Mobile with Mic for iPhone 3G, 3G S (Black) for an awesome price of < $20 in Amazon.com.

Griffin TuneBuds Mobile Features

- Slim headphone/mic plug connects to your iPhone headphone jack, allowing you to jump between incoming phone calls and listening to music with a press of a button.
- TuneBuds deliver powerful low-end response and crisp, clear treble, and include three sized pairs of cushioned earpads for a custom fit.
- High-sensitivity microphone for crystal clear phone conversations.
- ControlMic button does it all — Answer calls to your iPhone or send them to voicemail in Phone mode; play, pause and skip through your tunes in Music mode.
- Earphone cable is sheathed in nylon braiding for strength, good looks and durability.

My thoughts

For less than $20, I think this is a great buy. If you are looking for an In-ear headphones because the Apple headphones won’t fit, you won’t be disappointed with this pair.

It comes with 3 different sized ear buds, a carrying case. The sound quality is on par with Apple’s headphones but I am no audiophile. I certainly wasn’t disappointed with the sound quality and in fact I have to keep the volume down at work as I couldn’t hear my phone ring with these on at the same volume levels I used my previous headphones.

I like the cable material as it keeps the wires from tangling. It has a cloth-like texture and some reviewers have said that it is the downside to it too as it broke down quickly for some. But it looks fine to me and I will update this post if it breaks for me after some use.

Another silver lining is that Griffin’s customer support is awesome (@Griffintech) and I am confident that they will replace these buds if they break unusually early.

[Disclaimer: We use our referral links for products we like and using those links helps running this site]

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How To Change Your iPhone SSH Root Password?

karthik — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 19:44:09 +0000

Dutch iPhone jailbreakers were in for an unpleasant surprise with a wallpaper giving them a message saying their iPhone has been hacked. As you can see he directed them to a website and asked for money to find out how to clean their iPhone. The hacker first wanted money but has changed his mind and has posted instructions on how to clean up anyways.

As this incident points out, chances are you haven’t protected your iPhone from such a hack either.

SSH (Secure Shell) enables you to get on to your iPhone just like you would on a Linux or Mac OS terminal. You can access files in your iPhone and do all kinds of stuff in it.

Unfortunately, all iPhones ship with the default ‘root’ user account with a password of ‘alpine’.

So, if you had SSH enabled anyone who finds your iPhone in a network can get into your iPhone with the root password. And this is bad. Let’s see how you can protect your iPhone.

Go to Cydia
Install Mobile Terminal app
Open Terminal app
Type passwd and hit enter
Enter alpine for your old password and enter new password twice
That’s it!

Just remember that anytime you restore your iPhone to factory settings, the root password is going to be set back to the default password. So, remember to change it again then.

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Quick Fix: All Apps Crashing While Loading

karthik — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 01:40:32 +0000

Something weird started happening last night with my iPhone 3GS. My iPhone is on firmware version 3.0.1.

Out of the blue any app I launched just started crashing. They wouldn’t even try to open it. They will just crash within a second of tapping the app icon. All the native apps like Phone, Mail, Maps, etc worked fine but none of the other App Store apps.

If you experience this issue and start looking for help, the most common advice you might get is to restore your iPhone to factory settings and try installing apps again.

Before you try something drastic like that, try this quick tip.

Uninstall any one app from your iPhone. Install any app from App Store.

That’s it!

This little tip I came across in a forum worked like a treat. If your apps keep crashing on launch, try this quick tip and hopefully you don’t have to do anything dramatic.

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Twidget Displays Twitter Updates in Lockscreen

karthik — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 02:30:54 +0000

{ Jailbreak app }

If you have a jailbroken iPhone or iPod Touch, now you can access your Twitter updates right on your iPhone lockscreen with this cool app from Cydia.

Twidget is a jailbreak app that is available in Cydia. Just make sure you have the iSpazio repository installed.

After installing Twidget from Cydia, you will see a Twidget app installed. Just launch it, enter your Twitter credentials and go to Winterboard and enable Twidget.

You will see Twitter updates right on your lockscreen now.

The cool thing is that you can click those little tabs to switch between the different views and even refresh without unlocking your lockscreen!

How cool is that?

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Availability: Cydia [iSpazio repo]

Price: Free

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Nikon Learn & Explore iPhone App

karthik — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 12:00:52 +0000

Nikon has released a cool new iPhone App that a Nikon camera owner as well as any photography enthusiast will enjoy.

You get to enjoy excellent images & videos that you can enjoy and draw inspiration from plus it has a huge glossary of photography vernacular that you can now have in your finger tips.

Here is the App Store description of the key features of Nikon Learn & Explore

Images and Video: Scroll through galleries of images and view videos that both educate and inspire.

Insights & Techniques: Learn the fundamentals of photography and get advice on shooting techniques that will help you improve your skills and take better pictures.

Nikon World: Nikon’s quarterly print magazine is available complete with stunning images and audio slideshows from some of the top professional photographers working today.

Photography Glossary: An easy way to find a definition for the photographic terms you’re interested in.

Favorites: Store and retrieve your favorite images and articles for fast and easy access.

I really like the Insights & techniques section to peruse leisurely while waiting somewhere. It is rather short at the moment (~25 articles) but they do cover the important ones though.

Also, the photography glossary is going to very handy for me as I am always trying to remember the photography terms while playing with my Canon SX10 IS. Plus, you can save your favorite articles, images, and glossary terms for immediate reference.

Canon has the Easy-PhotoPrint iPhone app but I have a feeling they will be coming out with their own Learn & Explore kind of app soon.

At the moment, if you are a photography enthusiast, grab this excellent app.

Screenshots

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Availability: App Store [iTunes link]

Price: Free

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iPhone 3.1.2 Unlock Blacksn0w Coming On Nov 4

karthik — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 03:55:04 +0000

I know it’s freaking confusing with all the names – redsn0w, pwnagetool, purplera1n, blackra1n, sn0wbreeze, etc, etc.

We are going to add a yet another unlock tool name to this mix on Nov 4.

George Hotz (aka geohot) has announced that he is releasing iPhone 3.1.2 unlock software code named blacksn0w on Nov 4.

Dev Team had long released iPhone 3.1.2 jailbreak and unlock through the Mac-only PwnageTool. Unusually this time though, Windows users have been left out with no release of a 3.1.2 compatible redsn0w jailbreak tool.

Geohot’s blackra1n is the only option for Windows jailbreakers so far but the unlock had eluded everyone. Until now.

There is a lot of drama surrounding the release of blacksn0w but at the end we are set to win with the free iPhone 3.1.2 unlock software. Geohot has proven very reliable in the past and he is one of the original iPhone hackers. Let’s see how this one goes.

Stay tuned and we will be bringing you the latest news on iPhone firmware 3.1.2 unlock here as soon as it breaks.

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TomTom iPhone Car Kit Available in US (Unboxing Video)

karthik — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 14:52:47 +0000

After months of the TomTom iPhone App making it’s way into the App store, TomTom car kit is now available for purchase.

You can get TomTom iPhone car kit from either the Apple Online Store or TomTom website for $119.95. Amazon still lists the TomTom Car Kit for iPhone as unavailable and points it back to the Apple Store.

Apple Store however indicates that the kit will ship in 2-3 weeks and I have seen this message for at least a week now. They definitely missed the October shipping date they originally promised.

So, if you are wondering what you get for the hefty $120 bill, here are some feature listing. Remember, TomTom says the car hit works only with iPhone 3GS & 3GS and I have seen reports that iPod Touch isn’t supported.

TomTom iPhone Car Kit Features

Secure docking

Secure mount with unique design docks iPhone to the desired position on the car windshield or dashboard, using a twist-and-lock motion

Adjustable mount securely rotates iPhone to either portrait or landscape mode for optimal positioning and widescreen route display

Easily removed with one twist upon arrival at a destination

Enhanced GPS performance

Built-in GPS receiver reduces the chance of signal drop in areas where GPS reception is limited, such as cities with tall buildings or forested areas

Significantly improved positioning accuracy in all areas

Built-in loud speaker and microphone

Clear voice instructions through the built-in speaker, so users can hear directions loud and clear

Integrated microphone and speaker allowing hands-free calling while driving

Additional features

Charges iPhone while on the go, so it stays fully charged

Plays your iPhone music through the AUX OUT port over your car stereo**.

* The TomTom car kit for iPhone is available in the US, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Finland, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxemburg, Norway, Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands, the UK, Sweden and Switzerland.

** Requires AUX IN car stereo and optional audio cable

The car kit also require you to be running iPhone OS 3.0 or later. Here is an unboxing video of the car kit I found recently

With Google’s free GPS Navigation app hitting the Droid phone with Android 2.0, it is going to be very interesting to see when Google comes up with one for iPhone. And when they do, considering Google’s app is free, I have a feeling we as consumers are going to see some competitive pricing in this area.

Granted Google’s app is more like Motion X GPS and a few others which rely on data network for its function as opposed to TomTom, Navigon storing map data in your iPhone. But, then I’d rather use a free GPS app from Google than pay $200+ for TomTom app & the car kit any day.

How about you?

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Opal UI iPhone Winterboard Theme

karthik — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 16:00:18 +0000

One of the big reasons to jailbreak your iPhone is the Winterboard themes that can make your iPhone your own!

Opal UI Winterboard theme is one those awesome clean but unique themes out there. If you are a fan of gray and a retro apple lock screen, you will love Opal UI. It is one of the complete winterboard themes and offers more than 100 icons.

How to Install Opal UI?

Your device must be jailbroken.
You must have Winterboard installed via Cydia.
You must have BigBoss and PlanetiPhones Repository added to Cydia.
Search for Opal UI in Cydia and install it.
Launch Winterboard and activate Opal UI.

Screenshots

Don’t forget to check out our collection of our favorite iPhone Winterboard Themes. Also, did you we have a collection of Pogoplank themes too?

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Shipwreck iPhone Game Review

karthik — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 12:00:37 +0000

Shipwreck is a fun little game from CandyCane. If you have played Fuzzle, Melodical then you are already aware of CandyCane and their cool graphics in their games.

Shipwreck is a fun game where your objective is to direct ships and boats of various sizes to their dock without them crashing into each other.

You can redirect ships by drawing paths on the screen.

If you have played the popular game Flight Control or Harbor Master, Shipwreck is almost the same with a little different game play.

You get to dock red boats in a small red dock and the big yellow whips in a bigger dock.

The game play is pretty easy to start with but it quickly gets hectic with more ships appearing fast. It is very addictive and will be a great time killer when you whip out iPhone and look to play a quick yet entertaining game.

You get to see your own statistics but theire isn’t a global scoreboard yet with OpenFeint or something similar.

Future versions promise several more ports, different game modes & global high scores.

If you have Flight Control, I would say don’t bother with this. But, if you haven’t played with a game such as this, you can certainly pick it up this week for FREE.

As for paying $0.99 for Shipwreck, I’d pick Harbor Master which is also $0.99 plus there is a free lite version that you can try before you buy.

Screenshots

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

Availability: App Store [iTunes store]

Price: $0.99 (Free on sale)

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iTunes 9.0.2 is Available for Download

karthik — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:39:50 +0000

iTunes 9.0.2 update is available with a few new features and lots of bug fixes.

I like the improvements to Home Sharing where you can now select to always automatically transfer purchases between computers.

Plus, there is more flexibility with syncing iPhone and iPod.

What’s New in iTunes 9.0.2

iTunes 9.0.2 adds support for Apple TV software version 3.0, adds an option for dark background for Grid View, and improves support for accessibility. iTunes Store accessibility requires Windows-Eyes 7.1.1 or later.

iTunes 9 comes with many new features and improvements, including

An improved look and feel, including a new Column Browser for easily browsing your artists or albums, movies, TV shows, and more.

iTunes Store has a brand new look, with improved navigation for quick and easy exploration.

iTunes LP and iTunes Extras create unique experiences that feature exclusive interviews, videos, photos, and more — available with select album and movie purchases on the iTunes Store.

Home Sharing helps you manage your family’s iTunes collection between computers in your home. iTunes can automatically transfer new purchases, or you can choose just the items you want.

Genius Mixes are created for you by iTunes and play songs from your library that go great together.

iPod and iPhone syncing now allows you to organize your iPhone and iPod touch home screens directly in iTunes. Syncing is now also more flexible, allowing you to sync individual artists, genres, or TV show and Podcast episodes.

iTunes U items are now organized into their own section in your iTunes library.

Sync with iPod nano (5th generation), iPod classic (Fall 2009), and iPod touch (Fall 2009).

iTunes 9 also includes many other improvements, such as HE-AAC encoding and playback, more flexibility with Smart Playlists rules, simpler organization of your media files inside an iTunes Media folder, and more.

iTunes 9.0.2 update does not harm a jailbroken iPhone or iPod Touch and it should be fine to update to this version.

It’s good to see another update that fixes little annoyances and also improves on user experience.

To download the new version, just hit ‘Check for updates’ option in your iTunes Help menu. Or you can get the current version here

Top iPhone Resource

Griffin TuneBuds In-Ear Headphones With Mic for iPhone 3G, 3GS

Griffin TuneBuds Mobile Features

My thoughts

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How To Change Your iPhone SSH Root Password?

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Quick Fix: All Apps Crashing While Loading

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Twidget Displays Twitter Updates in Lockscreen

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Nikon Learn & Explore iPhone App

Screenshots

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iPhone 3.1.2 Unlock Blacksn0w Coming On Nov 4

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TomTom iPhone Car Kit Available in US (Unboxing Video)

TomTom iPhone Car Kit Features

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Opal UI iPhone Winterboard Theme

How to Install Opal UI?

Screenshots

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Shipwreck iPhone Game Review

Screenshots

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iTunes 9.0.2 is Available for Download

What’s New in iTunes 9.0.2

Download iTunes

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