If you run Windows and can’t restore iOS 7 beta with DMG file you downloaded, try this easy fix.

Wow, although iOS 7 isn’t officially released, there are already thousands of people (excluding developers) testing the iOS 7 beta.

If you have a PC, you may bump into a problem when trying to restore or install iOS 7 after downloading the iOS 7 beta firmware and registering your UDID.

DMG files are native on Mac OS. These archived or zipped files are commonly used to hold OS X programs. Opening DMG files on a Mac system is easy: just double click the file to mount it and that will reveal its contents.

However, on Windows, users cannot open DMG files by default. If you need to restore an iOS 7 Beta file, you need to extract the .IPSW file contained within the DMG file.

How to Extract iOS 7 beta IPSW from DMG File

1. Download and install 7-Zip which is a free open source program for Windows capable of opening almost any archived file including DMG files.
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Just 4 steps to get you going! You still can test drive iOS 7 if you haven’t done so by registering your device’s UDID.

I’m certainly looking forward to the official release of iOS 7 this fall!

UPDATE: If you already registered your UDID, you can purchase the direct download links here.

Finally, the iOS has a new look after no major interface update since iOS 5. I have a mixed feeling about the new update, but overall I think it looks good. Some of the UIs look familiar e.g. the message/SMS window resembles Microsoft Windows phone OS.

iOS 7 is scheduled for public release this fall. In the meantime, if you’re eager totest drive it right now, there are a few things you need to know before installing it on your device.

• iOS 7 beta is a pre-release software which may be unstable, buggy and has no warranty on it. Apple releases it only for developers to test and provide feedback to Apple.
• If you update to iOS 7, you can still downgrade your device but only to the latest iOS which is currently at iOS 6.1.3.
• That means you will lose your jailbreak especially if you have an iPhone 5, iPhone 4S or any A5-based devices.
• Only if your device’s UDID is registered on Apple’s developer program then you can install iOS 7 beta, or any beta releases software. Get your iOS 7 UDID registered here.

How to Install iOS 7 Beta on iPhone 5, iPhone 4S, iPhone 4 or iPad

Before you begin, please be sure this is what you want to do. Something may go wrong which may cause data loss, void your warranty, losing your jailbreak or unlock etc.You will have to spend many hours just to get your device working again. If you don’t wish any of these these to happen, stop, and forget about the whole thing. Otherwise, proceed below:

1. Download iOS 7 beta by Googling for it, create an Apple’s developer account or direct download from here (for paid UDID registration customers only, currently uploading, page is password protected, only available for paid customers).

2. Install the latest version of iTunes and backup your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch.

3. Put your iDevice into DFU mode while your device is connected to your computer.

4. On iTunes, click Shift+Restore (PC) or Option+Restore (Mac).

5. Point it to the iOS 7 you just downloaded in Step 1.

6. Wait for the restore to complete. If you have registered your UDID, it will activate normally. Continue with the activation steps. That’s it!

iOS 7 files are huge, they’re about 1.1GB in size so think about your connection speed and how long it would take to download them.

If for any reason you wish to go back to iOS 6.1.x, you can repeat the steps above, but be sure that you have iOS 6.1.x firmware downloaded for Step 5.

If you’re an Apple fan, I’m sure that you won’t be disappointed with this latest iOS.

UDID Registrations allow you to register your iDevice so you can test out iOS Beta firmwares. By registering your UDID as a developer, your iDevice can have the ‘sneak preview’ of the new iOS before it is made available to the public to the rest of the world! We are now giving you this unique opportunity to test it on your device.

Each iPhone, iPad and iPod touch has its unique device ID which consists of strings of characters.

Click on this link and follow the basic steps to find your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch’s UDID. You can also get your UDID by going to the App Store and install UDID+.

It is also possible to get your UDID via iTunes by following these simple steps:

1. Open iTunes on your computer.
2. Plug in your iDevice
3. Select your device under “Devices” on the left hand side of the screen
4. Ensure you’re on the Summary tab
5. Click on the text that says Serial Number. It should change to say Identifier (UDID)
6. Select Copy from the Edit menu or right click on this number and copy it
7. Submit your UDID in this order page.

How do I get iOS 7?

Unfortunately Due to Apple’s policy, we are not allowed to directly link you to pre-released software. We provide UDID Registration which allows you to be able to use iOS Beta firmwares, we cannot provide you with the iOS 7 download files.

However, as soon as we found a suitable link we will provide it here.

Will I Lose My Factory Unlock or Jailbreak?

If you have officially unlocked your iPhone, you will not lose your unlock. If for any reason you need to go back to iOS 6 or below, you will lose your jailbreak (unless if you have the SHSH; for A4 based devices and below). So please be sure that this is what you want or if you’re OK to test iOS 7.

Ready to test drive? Get your UDID registered here. It’s valid for one year!

Most people think that once you lost your iPhone you will never see it back, unless, if the person who found your iPhone is kind enough to return it to you. If you’ve installed Apple’s Find My iPhone, potentially it may help you find it as well, but not always.

Let’s admit it, the iPhone is a highly desirable device. A lot of people couldn’t resist it if they found one or if they can buy it at a good price (stolen ones are usually sold cheap).

I’m writing this case study to share with you guys how we helped one of our many customers track and find his iPhone back. It took him less than a week to find the whereabouts of his stolen iPhone which is quite impressive. Normally there’s no chance for you to find out about what happened to your iPhone or even with the police’s help, it will take ages before they would have any information about your iPhone’s whereabouts. Please be sure to read my blog on ‘It’s Possible to Track Your Stolen with ICCID and CTN‘ which I wrote two weeks ago.

Our customer, Mr. S used our service called ‘Find Your Stolen or Missing iPhone‘ last week. He lost a 16GB iPhone 5 which was purchased around December last year.

We only need two piece of information to help track his iPhone.

• The IMEI number – can be found on the box, receipt or invoice from the store you purchased it. Your carrier may have this information as well.
• The phone number of the SIM card that went missing with the iPhone.

We need the phone number just for comparison whether it’s the same or different with the missing number. It’s not really necessary to have this information but it will be very useful.

After Mr. S placed his orders, we used his IMEI to check his iPhone information on Apple’s database. The basic check didn’t return any useful information so we used a more advanced check that returned the following:

• First Unbrick Date: 12/18/12 [this shows when the iPhone was first restored using iTunes, unbrick is Apple's internal terminology for 'restore']
• MAC Address: 30F7C570xxxx [the iPhone's hardware address, not important for tracking]
• Last Unbrick Date: 06/01/13 [the date of when the iPhone was last restored using iTunes]
• ICCID: 898602A119128xxxxxxx [the information needed to track his phone, the SIM's card unique identifier]
• Unbricked: true [means it's already restored]
• Unlocked: true [means it's already unlocked]
• Unlock Date: 06/01/13 [self explanatory]

The query didn’t return any phone number; although sometimes it would if the iPhone’s FaceTime is activated, but with the ICCID, it now gives him a step closer to find his iPhone. This website has an ICCID reverse lookup function that will tell you the carrier and phone number tied to the ICCID. Upon entering the ICCID, it returned the following result:

Based on screenshot above, it has been identified that the carrier used on his iPhone is from China Mobile (he was using China Unicom before), the phone number is 1571xxxxxxx (the last 7 digits were intentionally concealed), the SIM card was made in year 2012 and the current location is at Guangdong Province in China.

Mr. S lost his iPhone in Beijing and now it has traveled to the South of China which is approximately 2,000km away. With China Mobile and police’s help, he’s now able to locate the current user of his iPhone.

This service is available to all users worldwide and not specifically in China. It’s quicker if the missing iPhone has been restored on iTunes with a SIM card inserted and FaceTime activated. If you just lost your iPhone, consider using our service here.

Our other IMEI related services are also helping those who have been scammed into buying blacklisted iPhones. As many of you are aware, once a device is blacklisted by a carrier, it can never be used.

If you happen to be a victim of a scam and have no way to use your iPhone again, be sure to check our IMEI/ESN/MEID services to see if there’s a possible solution for you.

We regularly use our iPhones to take photos for almost any occasion. We can take brilliant results when it’s bright and sunny but it gets really bad when photos are taken indoors or when it’s dim. Although our eyes are able to adapt to low light conditions pretty well, our smartphone cameras or digital cameras are still not capable of doing that. Software enhancement or better lenses are able to improve our photos like the one on Nokia’s Lumia 928, but it’s still not up to the level that we expected.

Meanwhile, scientists at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) of Singapore has invented a new camera sensor that’s a thousand times more sensitive than current camera sensors used on our iPhones and digital cameras. The new sensor is made from graphene is able to detect broad spectrum light, from the visible to mid-infrared, with high photoresponse or sensitivity.

Graphene, as shown in the photo above, is a million times smaller than the thickest human hair (only one-atom thick) and is made of pure carbon atoms arranged in a honeycomb structure. Graphene has a high electrical conductivity and it’s also durable and flexible.

The inventor of this sensor, Assistant Professor Wang Qijie said:

“We have shown that it is now possible to create cheap, sensitive and flexible photo sensors from graphene alone. We expect our innovation will have great impact not only on the consumer imaging industry, but also in satellite imaging and communication industries, as well as the mid-infrared applications”

The graphene sensor is also very energy efficient which is 10 times less energy than current sensors, that means we can have improved battery life on our devices especially our iPhones which constantly have issues with short battery life.

If you wish to learn more about this exciting discovery, you can check the article here. Hopefully smartphone makers would adapt this technology soon so that everyone can enjoy low light photography and we can take great fireworks photos during a grand celebration.

Source: Nanyang Technological University. “Clear photos in dim light: New sensor a thousand times more sensitive than current camera sensors.” ScienceDaily, 30 May 2013. Web. 3 Jun. 2013.

Apple and AT&T are currently on a blame game about mysterious data leakage and excessive data usage in iOS 6. While they’re pointing fingers, iPhone users are affected by this issue and it’s been largely debated on Apple’s support forum. The discussion thread now has more than 100,000 views since iOS 6 was launched. You can also read an article about this on Forbes.

Apple is usually fast in fixing this type of problem especially if it involves data and security. When Verizon’s customers were complaining about huge data consumption last October, Apple quickly released carrier settings update for Verizon iPhones. Unfortunately, AT&T customers are not that lucky, at least not yet.

The guy that wrote the article on Forbes put up some fixes as suggested by AT&T support on his website (you may want to try yourself if you’re affected):

iOS 6: Setup to Optimize Cellular Data Usage…
Many of the iPhone 5 iOS default network Settings are intended to create best user experience and performance, by utilizing available WiFi and high speed LTE and/or 4G Cellular Data networks.

If your cellular data plan is limited, less than a One GB per month, it would be wise to work through the defaults, and turn off those services that are not important to you.

Network Reset: reset the network connection…
Make sure you know [or have saved] your various wifi passwords so you can quickly set them up again.
Settings, General, Reset, Reset Network Settings.

Cellular Data: turn it Off when you don’t need it…
This may sound messy, but it is really no more so than turning off WiFi, or Bluetooth, when you know you will not be using it. Maybe Apple will move this setting to the front page of Settings, as they have done with Bluetooth in iOS 6
Settings, General, Cellular, Cellular Data, Off.

iCloud Backup: Turn it Off except when you need to do a Backup to iCloud…
Otherwise iPhone will automatically do a Backup over WiFi and/or Cellular Network, while it is on Power, and sleeping.
Settings, iCloud, Storage and Backup, iCloud Backup, Off.

iCloud Documents & Data: turn off the use of the Cellular Data connection, until you need it…
Settings, iCloud, Documents & Data, Use Cellular Data, Off.

Location Services: make sure only the apps you consider critical are switched on…
These are new Settings in iOS 6.
Settings, Privacy, Location Services, and turn Off each Application that is not important to you.
Obviously you would tend to leave On Maps, Photo, Find Friends, Find My iPhone, Weather and Siri.

System Services: apparently, some of these can be demanding on Cellular Network usage…
Settings, Privacy, Location Services, and scroll down past the notes at the bottom of the list of Applications, and select System Services, and turn them all Off except Cell Network Search.
If the Maps Traffic service is important to you, turn it On, but be warned it may be a bit of a hog.

Notification Centre: work through each Application carefully, to determine what you really do need real time?
Settings, Notifications, select each Application, and turn Notification Centre, Off, if you do not need Notification in real time…

Siri: every iPhone User now understand how to use Siri…
However you should be aware that Siri support has been expanded significantly in iOS 6, to include operation of your iPhone, to send text, make appointments, find restaurants, make bookings, and handle your dictation. The catch is that Siri services contacts the Apple Server via the network to translate your voice, do the searches, and return your results. You can leave Siri On but be aware of using Siri, when you are only connected via Cellular Data, and low on Data Usage remaining…
Settings, General, Siri, Siri, On. by default,…

There is also a new setting included in several Applications which allow you to turn off the Cellular Data Connection while they are active…
Music: Settings, Music, Use Cellular Data, Off.
iTunes and App Store: Settings, iTunes and App Store, Use Cellular Data, Off.
Podcasts: Settings, Podcasts, Auto-Downloads, Use Cellular Data, Off.

Mail: you can set up mail to better manage Cellular Data Usage, if it suits your operation…
Settings, Mail, Contacts, Calendars, Fetch New Data, Push, Off, and set Fetch to Manually.
And select, Advanced, and for each Mail Account, Select Schedule, Manually.

And finally, here are a few more services you can probably do without, to further reduce Cellular Data usage…
Advertising: Settings, General, About, scroll down to Advertising, Limit Ad Tracking, On.
Diagnostics and Usage: Settings, General, About, scroll down to Diagnostics & Usage, Don’t Send, On.

Some more tips…
For heavy data transmissions sessions on WiFi, switch to Airplane Mode, then switch WiFi back on again while your session is in progress. This mode will prevent iOS 6 from switching the Cellular Data midway through the session, should WiFi stumble….

It would be nice if Apple and AT&T can work together to find the underlying issues and release a permanent fix. This is not an anomaly for sure judging by the thread on Apple’s support forum.

Are you affected by this? Have you considered unlocking your AT&T iPhone to change to a different carrier?

First of all, it’s important for you to know that all iDevices including iPhone, iPad or iPod touch will need to go through an activation process during their life cycle. This is designed by Apple so these devices are activated legitimately and can be tracked in their database.

Device activation sometimes can be a pain, especially if you encounter activation issues such as the one that requires you to enter ZIP/SSN, invalid SIM card error (usually caused by locked iPhone) or even error caused by Apple blacklist.

According to the iPhoneWiki, “Activation is the process by which a new (or newly restored) iPhone or iPod touch can get by the “Emergency Call Screen” (iPhone) or “Connect to iTunes” screen (not to be confused with Recovery Mode; the activation screen has a battery icon in the top right corner to indicate this) to access the SpringBoard.”

iTunes connects to Apple’s activation server called ‘Albert’ to complete the activation process.

If you do a general IMEI check using Apple’s GSX access, a typical result you will get:

MODEL: IPHONE 4 16GB BLACK
IMEI: 0128xx00937xxxx
SERIAL: 61136ZLxxxx
CTN: 82102839xxxx (what’s this? Click here to learn more)
iOS: 5.0
MAC Address: 28E02C2A9B62
ICCID: 89823003100110xxxxx (what’s this? Click here to learn more)
Last Restored: 2011-10-14
Network Unlocked: False
Activation Status: Yes
Activation Date: 2011-10-07
Activated Carrier: KT Freetel – Korea, Repub
Original Carrier: Korea KTF
Applied Policy Id: 58 – APAC Service

Notice the line in bold above, it says Applied Policy APAC Service. APAC is a short form Asia Pacific which consists of all countries in Asia and the Pacific region.

iPhones sold in this region may not necessarily be tied to a specific carrier; so if you get an IMEI check with the result above, the activation or applied policy can be changed to ‘Unlocked.’ The status can be changed by using our APAC iPhone unlocking service.

One final tip: Your iPhone’s next tether activation policy or applied policy is the “carrier” or status of your iPhone. Any other status besides “unlock” means your iPhone is still not officially unlocked. An example of an already unlocked iPhone would be:

IMEI: 0128xx00937xxxx
Serial Number: 61136ZLxxxx
Part Description: IPHONE 4 16GB BLACK
Product Version: 6.1.2
Coverage Status: Out of Warranty
Coverage End Date:
First Unbrick Date: 07/10/11
Last Unbrick Date: 17/05/13
Next Tether Activation Policy Description: Unlock.
Lock Status: Unlocked

Thanks to the our customer who owns the iPhone above, who officially unlocked his APAC iPhone with us a few days ago.

Apple is probably the only smartphone producer that does phone unlocking remotely. As you probably already know, iPhone unlocking is done via iTunes. When you connect your iPhone to the computer, iTunes will read the IMEI and send it to Apple’s activation server. The server then checks their database that stores information on every iPhone that was ever produced to determine if your iPhone is eligible for unlocking. If your iPhone has been “flagged” as “unlocked”, iTunes will receive the status and unlocks your iPhone automatically.

There are tons of things we can do with our iPhones but sometimes there’s one or two important function that seems to be missing from the iOS. Whether it’s intentional or not, we don’t know for sure. That’s one of the reasons why jailbreaking your iPhone can bring added benefits if you wish to add additional tweaks or features which are “not available” by default in iOS.

Jailbreaking is not always the only solution to enable certain features on your iPhone. For instance, there may be times when you need to shoot a video with your iPhone without actually recording the sound, probably for an artwork or just to save you some additional work (and hard disk space) when doing post-production of a video.

Camera Plus Pro is an app that can disable sound recording when shooting your video. When I last checked on the App Store it costs $1.99 to purchase this app. It’s really a small price to pay if you need to enable this function on your iPhone 5.

To disable sound during video recording is a straight forward process. Once you have downloaded and installed the App on your iPhone, simply do the following:

1. Launch Camera Plus Pro app. The Main camera preview will come up.

2. Tap on Settings button from Options panel as shown below.

3. Next, go to Videos section and set Audio Capture to off.

4. Once that’s set, press on Done button and you may begin recording your video without audio being recorded.

All subsequent videos will not have audio recorded and you may notice the file size has been reduced since there’s no longer data available for audio.

Do take note that if you want sound to be recorded or captures in future videos, you will have to manually switch the Audio Capture to ON. You don’t wanna miss out especially if you are recording some important events.

Any other app or jailbreak tweak that does this?

Do you think you’re not getting enough speed from your LTE? This hack might double or triple your LTE performance.

It is mankind’s instincts to go for speed. Internet speed has significantly increased for the past few years but it’s still not fast enough for many of us. If you’re one those folks who always strive to find something faster, then this hack is really for you.

If you’re interested with the technical aspects of this hack, read on. Otherwise, just head on straight to the tutorials below. In the carrier update file which you occasionally get from iTunes, band preferences were intentionally set by AT&T to limit you to a certain band rather than the band giving off the strongest signal, when available, both with LTE and HSPA+, according to the founder of this hack.

The same hack from T-Mobile LTE was released last week, which essentially modified the carrier file and ultimately improves your iPhone or iPad network performance with enhanced band management. In order to be able to hack something like this, one must have deep understanding of latest mobile network systems and how cell towers around you operate.

Before you begin, please proceed only at your own risks. Remember to backup your iPhone or iPad in case something goes wrong.

Steps:

1. Download the hacked carrier update in the link below (in order to protect the download link from leechers, please support by Liking, +1 or Tweet below)

2. Once downloaded, allow iTunes to accept carrier bundle updates by doing on these:

A. If you are using either a 32-bit or 64-bitWindows, you will need to open command prompt (Start > type CMD) and then type the following followed by enter:

• 64-bit: cd C:\Program Files (x86)\iTunes then type: iTunes.exe/setPrefInt carrier-testing 1

• 32-bit: cd C:\Program Files\iTunes then type: iTunes.exe/setPrefInt carrier-testing 1

B. If you own a Mac, open terminal and type the following and hit enter:

• defaults write com.apple.iTunes carrier-testing -bool true

3. Once that’s done, click on the tab for your iPhone 5 and click “Update” or “Check For Update” while holding down the Alt/Option key for Mac or the Shift key for Windows.

4. Point it to the file you just downloaded in step 2, select the file and click Open. iTunes will now update your carrier settings.

5. Reboot your iPhone to experience a faster connection on your iPhone.

In any case if you encounter a problem while doing the steps above, you can always roll back by doing the following:

• Non Jailbroken iPhone/iPad: Go to Settings > General > Reset > Erase All Content and Settings and Restore From Backup.

• Jailbroken iPhone/iPad: Using iFile or similar, Go to var/mobile/Library/Carrier bundles/iPhone and delete the ATT_US.bundle folder and another folder called “Overlay” located in var/mobile/Library/Carrier Bundles. Reboot your iPhone. In some cases, a second reboot may be required if the data indicator is only showing “3G”. This behavior is completely normal.

While some people may notice some speed increment, the hacker also put up a disclaimer saying:

This hack does NOT guarantee that you will see any dramatic changes or any change at all as certain areas are simply limited because of population density, natural features that degrade signal, the traffic on a specific tower, and even the amount of spectrum the tower is limited to as not all LTE towers have been upgraded to 10MHz on the downlink for higher bandwidth support. If you feel this hack has not helped you, we have provided a way back to defaults, if you choose to do so.

Well, we do hope that it’s going to be beneficial for you and all did go smoothly. If you think your network speed is faster, do share your experience below.