Built into the Boxee Box’s settings is an option to enable Windows file sharing, which allows any sort of storage device attached to the Boxee Box to be shared over your local network. I’ll be walking you through the steps in this simple tutorial.

The Benefits

But before you do that, some of you may be wondering why would you want to do this. What are the benefits? You’ll benefit most from this if you already own an external hard drive.

First off, buying a traditional NAS hard drive could cost you anywhere between $130 and into the thousands (if you’re real serious). Another alternative to this solution would be to build your own NAS server, but that’s overkill for a typical user like you and me. Plus, an entire computer that’s left on 24/7 could eat up some serious power. Think about your next electricity bill. Yikes.

This is why using your Boxee Box as NAS is a good, low-powered, multi-purpose solution. I haven’t done my own tests, but the fine folks over at AnandTech included power consumption tests in their Boxee Box review. Their conclusion was that the Boxee Box draws between 11.2 and 15.2 watts (depending on what it’s processing) with an average of 13 watts. Now compare that to an average NAS server. You’re talking 100 to 150 watts of power… and even that’s conservative.

All that being said, let’s set up our Boxee Box.

One

From the home screen, press the menu button on your remote. Highlight the settings icon as seen in the picture above and press enter on your remote.

Two

Once you’re inside the Settings menu, navigate to the right over to the network sub menu.

Three

From here check off “Enable Windows file sharing”. You can set up a password on the guest account if you wish. This will prevent others from accessing your files on your network. I also suggest giving your Boxee Box a static IP address so you’ll always be able to find it on your network. In the same menu, click Network in the left panel and then set Configure to Manually. Type in your IP settings and save it.

Four

Now that your hard drive is set up on your Boxee Box, you’ll want to access it from your computer. In Windows 7, you can map a network drive by opening Computer and clicking Map network drive. Type in your Boxee Box’s IP address and the name of the folder on your external hard drive (i.e. \\192.168.0.5\seagate). If you’re using Mac OS X, you can follow these instructions to map the network drive.

I know this is a pretty simple tutorial, but it’s been so convenient for me I just had to share this tip to fellow Boxee users. If you have any other useful Boxee Box tips or tricks, be sure to post them or any questions you have in the comments below.

The post How To: Turn Your Boxee Box Into A Fully Functional NAS Drive appeared first on pinglio.

TimePlay is an interactive experience that lets you play trivia and other games on the big screen at participating theaters. Through an app for your iPhone, Android, BlackBerry, or a phone number you can dial you can use your phone as a controller to play.

How Does It Work?

First you have to download the app that corresponds to your device. There was talk of offering other controllers at the theaters, but so far I haven’t seen them. You can call a number and use a conventional cell phone as a controller with a provided number. Once in a TimePlay location, simply join the TimePlay Wi-Fi network at the theater, open the app, and you’re ready to go.

You can register to get free offers, and you can even use these offers right from the phone. You have a MYSTUFF section that keeps track of your points, what you have won, and a list of locations where the app works. Once you hit connect you use your touch screen to interact with what shows up on the big screen, from hitting the answers in trivia to manipulating objects on screen (like throwing virtual fruit as seen above).

The Experience

Overall it was okay. I answered a few questions and played some silly games. Before I knew it the trivia and fun were over, and I got a free popcorn all while waiting for the movie previews. It reminded of me of the old trivia questions they use to put up before movies, but you just kind of played on your own. With TimePlay everyone in the theater plays and displays their scores on the big screen. The guy in the control booth above does have some control over the games and can change the game types. It was also pretty responsive – the WiFi didn’t lag at all! Not bad for a movie theater hotspot. From what I overheard from other movie goers later, each individual theater room has its own TimePlay experience.

As it stands now, it’s only offered in Toronto, Canada. While the company is its own entertainment company and not part Cineplex Odeon, I haven’t heard what their future plans are even though they have offices in London and Los Angeles. You can check out the TimePlay website to see a nice video of the whole experience.

What are your thoughts on TimePlay? It’s not in the U.S. yet, but would you welcome it? Let us know in the comments below.

iTunes Link: TimePlay

The post App Review: TimePlay for iPhone appeared first on pinglio.

Apple’s CEO Tim Cook broke the news during its Q3 financial earnings call:

“We’ve also just updated the entire MacBook line, will release Mountain Lion tomorrow and will be launching iOS 6 this Fall. We are also really looking forward to the amazing new products we’ve got in the pipeline.”

As we’ve reported in the past, Mountain Lion will contain new features that will bring the OS even closer to iOS. Messages, Notification Center, Reminders and many more new features will help merge the two together.

For $20 and over 200 features, what reason is there not to upgrade?

Source: Apple Press Info

The post Apple Announces Mountain Lion’s Release Date During Earnings Call appeared first on pinglio.

The Good

The most obvious upgrade is the availability of Ice Cream Sandwich, Android’s somewhat-newest (considering the recent news of Jelly Bean) OS, right out of the box. The Incredible 2 is capable of updating to ICS as of July 2012. If you have 4G available in your area then the service speed of the phone while browsing the Internet or downloading a file should be the next most obvious upgrade. A slightly speedier 1.2 GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor was present, which is always nice, but it wasn’t enough to blow me out of the water. While the 8 megapixel camera tied to the Incredible name has never wavered, the addition of HTC ImageSense to the newest version of the Sense overlay truly helps produce some amazing, crisp images. Sense 4.0 is still as clean as previous versions and offers personalization just like it always has. Beats by Dre audio adds a true boost to your music while keeping with the color scheme of the bloodline.

The Not So Good

One aspect I found to be disappointing was that the line has yet to catch up with the size craze. The Incredible lineup has always been similar in size to the iPhone lineup, and my hope has always been that it would break that trend. I guess I’ll have to wait until next time around to see if that wish will get granted. Another “why the heck haven’t they addressed this?!” aspect was the charging port. It’s still this ugly, unfinished micro USB port that could really use some finesse. Sure, it’s functional, but it seems like they would take more time to work on this one aspect that is really the only drawback of its otherwise finished appearance. Per usual, there is bloatware (apps you most likely don’t want but are going to get anyways) present, but with the glory that is ICS you are able to at least disable those apps. Sense already breaks up some of this bloatware into categories (such as Verizon Apps), but I really wish it would then take those apps out of the main selection. I don’t want to see them once, let alone twice.

Droid Incredible 4G LTE Gallery

If you’re looking for a solid, reliable 4G device for Verizon and your hands are too small for the Galaxy Nexus, take a look at the Droid Incredible 4G LTE. It definitely deserves the attention. Plus, it’s reasonably price – as low as $40 in some situations. Get out there and find the best price at your time of purchase, and always inquire about price matching at your local wireless retailers before paying for shipping and waiting for the device in the mail.

The post Verizon HTC Droid Incredible 4G LTE Review appeared first on pinglio.

What’s new in iOS 5.1.1?

To be honest, not much. Apple released the 5.0.1 update (which translates to iOS 5.1.1) on May 11, 2012. It added the ability to watch movie and TV show previews in HD (exciting, right?) along with some fixes like AirPlay connectivity issues and a Netflix login issue. Of course it also “includes fixes for issues affecting stability and performance”.

What about the jailbreak?

This jailbreak is only compatible with the 2nd generation Apple TV. That means it’s likely this jailbreak will not work if you bought your Apple TV after March 7th, 2012 – when the Apple TV 3rd generation was released.

• Couch Surfer
• Last.fm
• Maintenance
• Media Player
• NitoTV
• Plex
• RSS Feeds
• Rowmote
• Weather
• XBMC

Most of the available packages for jailbroken Apple TVs are compatible with this jailbreak, but Overflow and Remote HD are not yet supported.

Warning: Just like every other iDevice jailbreak, your Apple TV preferences will be reset.

What You’ll Need

• 2nd generation Apple TV
• Apple TV remote
• Micro-USB cable
• Latest version of iTunes
• Seas0nPass: Windows | Mac

One

Once you’ve downloaded the latest version of Seas0nPass, extract the .zip file. Inside you’ll find an .exe and a .txt file.

Two

Run the Seas0nPass program by double clicking on it. The first thing you’ll see are two options: Create IPSW or Boot Tethered. The boot tethered option provides a way for users to boot their jailbroken tethered Apple TVs, but because we’re dealing with a version of iOS that was jailbroken as an untethered jailbreak it does not apply to us. Click the Create IPSW option to start downloading the latest version of iOS for Apple TV.

Three

By default, Seas0nPass will always try to fetch the latest untethered version of iOS (5.1.1) for users’ convenience. The latest version of iOS (5.0.1/9B206f) for the Apple TV is able to jailbroken, and Seas0nPass should now be downloading it. After the download has finished, Seas0nPass jailbreaks the IPSW right on your computer. Once it’s done, you’ll have to start the process of uploading jailbreak files to your Apple TV.

Four

Grab your micro-USB cable and plug it into both your Apple TV (right below the HDMI port) and computer. Do not plug in the power cable, and if iTunes opens, close it before proceeding.

You should notice the LED light on the front of your Apple TV is blinking. Take your Apple TV remote and hold the Menu + Play/Pause buttons and let go after 7 seconds to put your Apple TV into DFU mode.

Five

Seas0nPass will begin to upload the appropriate files to your Apple TV. This shouldn’t take more than one minute.

Six

Once Seas0nPass has completed uploading the files, iTunes will automatically open and start restoring your Apple TV with the custom IPSW it downloaded and created earlier. This entire process is automated and does not require you to do anything. Just sit back and enjoy the restore. Once iTunes is done restoring your Apple TV with iOS 5.1.1, unplug your micro-USB cable and plug in the power and HDMI cables to connect it to your TV.

Seven

Run through the Apple TV setup. It’s important to connect the Apple TV to your WiFi or wired network. Once inside, you’ll notice a new menu icon with the FireCore logo. Clicking that icon just simply takes you to the Settings menu, so we need to install more custom software by SSHing into the Apple TV.

Eight

We need to find the Apple TV’s IP address so we can SSH into it to run a few commands. From the Apple TV homescreen navigate to the right to the Settings menu. Select General and then Network. Next to IP Address is your Apple TV’s IP address.

Nine

You won’t be able to SSH into your Apple TV from your TV (stupid TV!), so jump back on your computer and download an SSH client. I suggest using Putty for Windows and the terminal application on Mac OS X. Type in your Apple TV’s IP address in the Host Name (or IP address) field. Click Open and you will be prompted to log in as a username. Type “root” as the username and type “alpine” for the password. If you’re using terminal in Mac OS X, type in ssh root@AppleTV.local where AppleTV is the name of your Apple TV (if you’ve changed it).

Ten

It’s always good practice to change the default passwords for root and mobile users on your Apple TV. After you’ve logged in as root, type the following commands:

passwd

Type your new password for the root username twice.

passwd mobile

Type your new password for the mobile username twice.

Eleven

Now type the following commands right after each other. Be sure to type the commands as I had issues with copying and pasting them into Putty. Press Enter after each line:

apt-get update
apt-get install com.nito.nitoTV
reboot

After you run the second command, you will notice it will ask if you want to continue. Of course you do, so just type “y” and hit Enter.

Finally, the last command will obviously reboot your Apple TV.

Twelve

When your Apple TV restarts you will see that you installed nitoTV, which acts like Cydia on a jailbroken iPhone; nitoTV is a package management system that allows users to download packages via a user interface. From the homescreen, scroll down to nitoTV and open it. You’ll see a list of packages that you can install. Browse through some and install any that you like, but keep in mind that Overflow and Remote HD are not yet compatible with iOS 5.

Your Apple TV is now running jailbroken iOS 5.1.1. Enjoy your new apps like XBMC, Exposed, and Plex. If you want even more functionality out of your Apple TV, you should consider buying aTV Flash (black) from the fine folks at Firecore who brought you this jailbreak.

Enjoy your jailbreak! If you have any questions, please post them in the comments below. Provide as many details as you can, and I’ll do my best to help you.

The post How To: Jailbreak iOS 5.1.1 On Apple TV 2 With Seas0nPass appeared first on pinglio.

I had used Lookout in the past, but it had seemed a bit intrusive for my tastes. (Popups and items in my notification bar on occasion will deter me from an app, unless they’re very useful.) Having sold Kaspersky for Windows at Best Buy and dealing with it on campus at Olivet, I wanted to stray away from there as well. Some of the other “top names” on Lifehacker’s report were unfamiliar with me, so I began checking out a few of the company’s web sites. That’s when I found BitDefender and knew it would be the one.

Features

With the free edition, the user is able to scan for malware on their phone’s storage devices as well as in applications. BitDefender also offers the ability to remotely locate a device anywhere in the world. If you subscribe to their premium service, however, you are also equipped with web security on the default Android browser as well as remote lock and wipe capabilities.

Another handy feature of the premium version is the ability to send an alert to the device in case you’ve lost it locally… such as in your couch cushions. Twitter, Facebook and even Identity Theft protection services are also offered. When paired with a compatible BitDefender PC product, parental controls can be enabled as well as Safebox, BitDefender’s backup service. Most features are available through a convenient web control panel as seen above.

Every experience with this application has been great. Geolocation tracks my phone to its exact location. I haven’t worried when sideloading .apks onto my device thanks to the scanner running every time an app is installed. Even when I run a manual scan, it’s quick and efficient… around a minute on my Galaxy Nexus gets through all installed applications as well as all storage.  The Application Audit feature tells me what each of my installed apps have access to (Internet, privacy features, and what may cost extra) on my device. The message/alert feature works great, as shown above.

So, if you’re on Android 2.2 or higher and in the market for a stealthy antivirus solution, BitDefender has you covered. Have any experiences with antivirus solutions for Android, BitDefender or otherwise? Drop them in the comments below!

Google Play Link: BitDefender Mobile Security (Free)

The post App Review: BitDefender for Android appeared first on pinglio.

Before You Begin

If you’re already running a tethered version of the iOS 5.1.1 jailbreak, you should not follow this tutorial. Instead, you should use the Rocky Racoon tool to convert your tethered jailbreak to an untethered jailbreak. Simply open Cydia, search for “Rocky Racoon 5.1.1 Untether” and install it. Reboot your device to ensure it’s untethered. That’s it! Enjoy your iOS 5.1.1 untethered jailbreak.

Note: Do not uninstall the Rocky Racoon package from Cydia. Your untethered jailbreak now depends on the package, and if it’s uninstalled your device will no longer be untethered.

For those of us not as lucky (or impatient), read on…

What You’ll Need

• Any iOS device running iOS 5.1.1 except the Apple TV and the newest model (R2) of the iPad 2 WiFi
• GreenPois0n Absinthe 2.0.4 for Windows, Mac OS X, or Linux
• Latest version of iTunes
• iOS device USB cable and computer

One

Sync your iOS device to your computer with iTunes so we can use this backup later. Skipping this step could result in losing recent apps, data, contacts, etc.

Two

If your iOS device is not currently jailbroken, then proceed to Step Three. If you are jailbroken, read on.

Now that you’ve made a backup of your iOS device, you’ll want to either make a backup of your Cydia packages or create a list the packages you have installed so you can reference it later and download them. If you want to backup your Cydia packages, I recommend downloading PKGBackup ($7.99) from the BigBoss repo in Cydia. My preferred method of “backing up” my Cydia packages is simply taking screenshots of my listed Cydia packages under Manage > Packages in Cydia.

Three

Now that we’ve made a backup with iTunes and our jailbreak packages, we have to wipe our device clean. Unlock your iDevice and open the Settings app. Scroll to General > Reset and tap the Erase All Content and Settings button. If you have a passcode set up, enter in your passcode to confirm you want to erase all content and settings. Then tap the red Erase iPhone (or iPad, etc.) button. Your device will reboot and display the loading circle.

According to Apple, this process can take “a few minutes to several hours”. Due to the possible longevity of this step, be sure your device is plugged into a power source during the erasing process. I tried using this process on my jailbroken iPhone 4S, and 16 hours later my phone was still displaying the loading circle. It was obvious that nothing was really happening behind that spinning circle, so I put my iPhone into DFU mode, restored it as a new iPhone on iOS 5.1.1, and then ran the erasing process again. It was just 5 minutes later and my phone was erased and set back to its defaults.

Four

Once your device is done erasing, you’ll have to update it to the latest version of iOS – 5.1.1. Open up iTunes again and click the Update button inside your device’s menu. iOS 5.1.1 will begin downloading in iTunes. Once completed your iDevice will begin updating to iOS 5.1.1. When prompted to Set up as a new iPhone or choose from a previous backup, choose the backup we created earlier and restore your phone.

Four

Download Absinthe 2.0.4 for Windows, Mac OS X, or Linux if you haven’t already. Once it’s finished downloading, extract your copy of Absinthe 2.0.4. If you’re running Windows, double-click the zip file and click Extract All or right-click and choose Extract Here with WinRAR. If you’re running Mac OS X, double click the zip file.

Five

If you’re running Windows, right-click on the file we just extracted called “absinthe-win-2.0.4.exe” and click Run as administrator. If you’ve jailbroken your iOS device in the past, you’ve probably noticed that this step is new to the jailbreak process. Instead of the .exe file running the jailbreak program like before, this .exe is a self extracting .exe that contains the real .exe that runs the jailbreak program (that’s a lot of .exe’s, right?).

After you click Run as administrator, a command prompt window will open and the file will begin extracting the jailbreak files inside a new folder called “absinthe-win-2.0.4″. Inside this folder is the jailbreak program called “absinthe.exe”.

Six

Ensure that your iDevice is plugged in and ready to be jailbroken. If you have a passcode set, now is the time to remove it by going to the Settings app > General > Passcode Lock > set to Turn Passcode Off. Now right-click on the “absinthe.exe” file on your computer and click Run as administrator. Absinthe will detect your iDevice type. Once you click the Jailbreak button, iTunes will close and the jailbreak process will begin.

Seven

The jailbreak process should take about 5 minutes depending on your computer and iDevice. During the jailbreak process, your iDevice will display the Restore in progress text and will restart. Once its completed Absinthe will read Done, enjoy!. You can close the Absinthe program now. On your iDevice, you’ll notice Cydia on your springboard. Tap to open it up and let it creating the filesystem.

That’s it! Your iDevice now has the latest version of iOS and is jailbroken with GreenPois0n Absinthe! Don’t forget to reinstall all your Cydia packages. If you’re looking for new packages to install, check out some of our favorite jailbreak tweaks. Post any questions in the comments and I’ll do my best to answer them!

The post How To: Jailbreak iOS 5.1.1 Using GreenPois0n Absinthe 2.0 appeared first on pinglio.

Abinsthe 2.0 jailbreaks the following devices running iOS 5.1.1:

• iPhone 4S
• iPhone 4
• iPhone 3GS
• iPad (3rd gen)
• iPad 2
• iPad 1
• iPod touch 3G
• iPod touch 4G
• Apple TV 2G

Users can download the tool from the GreenPois0n website, or click the direct download links below.

Mac OS X | Windows | Linux

We will be publishing our How To tutorial on jailbreaking your iOS 5.1.1 device! Stay tuned! Check out our tutorial here!

Update: The Chronic Dev Team just tweeted that a new release of Absinthe has been released. Absinthe 2.0.1 fixes “a possible hang that could occur in certain situations” according to its changelog. All download links on pinglio have been updated. Enjoy!

Update 2: Absinthe 2.0.2 was released to add support for the iPhone 4 (GSM) 5.1.1b build 9B208.

Update 3: Absinthe 2.0.4 added support for the latest version of the iPad 2 (2,4) and also fixed a lockdown error with a workaround.

Source: greenpois0n Blog

The post Absinthe 2.0 Pushed To The Public, Jailbreaks iOS 5.1.1 appeared first on pinglio.

The biggest feature of the new Incredible, which comes as a surprise to no one, is the Beats Audio integration that plays across all forms of multimedia. HTC describes the feature as “thundering bass, soaring midrange and crisp highs”. Of course the biggest (and best) feature of the phone is its 4G LTE capabilities. Verizon says customers should see 4G speeds between 5 to 12 Mbps on the downlink and 2 to 5 Mbps on the uplink.

Specs

• 4-inch super LCD qHD display
• 8 megapixel rear-facing camera with LED flash
• Front-facing camera
• 1.2 GHz dual-core Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ S4 processor
• Mobile Hotspot capable to share 4G LTE connection with up to 10 Wi-Fi-enabled devices
• Support for up to 32 GB microSD™ memory card
• 1,700 mAh lithium ion removable battery

Check out the gallery below for pictures and the press release for more information.

Droid Incredible 4G LTE Gallery

The post Verizon Debuts The New 4G HTC Droid Incredible appeared first on pinglio.

Adam Johnston Mockup

Adam Johnston first posted his mockup in the MacRumors forums today. He said that he wanted to create a mockup that illustrated the rumors surrounding a new iPhone with an aluminum back casing and larger display.

Patrick Eckert Mockup

Just like Johnston created his mockup based on a bigger screen size, Patrick Eckert also showed off his mockup based on iOS 6, a new charging port, and a darker aluminum body.

Which mockup would you like to get your hands on? Let us know in the comments below.

Source: 9to5 Mac Forums

The post New Future iPhone Mockups – Apple Worthy? appeared first on pinglio.