TamsIJungle

As the iTunes store currently does not allow the dispatching of press samples, many developers have switched over to using .mobileprovision files instead. While these files were intended for beta testers rather than members of the press/public, they work pretty well…if you adhere to the following:

You need an iTunes account
This is pretty devious from Apple: if you don’t have an iTunes account, you can’t run mobileprovision files (at least, I couldn’t). So, the first step involves getting an iTunes account (with fake data, select None as payment method and you are set to go).

You need to have at least one app installed and appearing on your PC
Install one app to your mobile device (I used Google Earth - available for free from the iTunes app store), and synchronize your device to make the program appear on the desktop (in the media library, under Applications). If the “Applications” tab is not visible, running .mobileprovision files usually does not work!

Once these two conditions are met, hit the link below for further instructions:
Install an AdHoc distribution

P.S: You can rename the file to anything you like as long as the .mobileprovision extension remains the same. As iTunes requires that each “profile” has an unique name, renaming the files can be very helpful..

Apple’s marketing machine is extremely careful whenever it comes to Office functions for iXXX devices. The reasons for this are short and sweet: full (aka edit, save, etc) Office support currently is not available! However, the iPhone (and the iPod touch) can display office files to some extent…the question is how well they do it!

The next parts will look at Word, ExCel, PowerPoint and PDF files - but before we can look at them, it’s time to think about how to move them to the device. As iTunes can not transfer these files, we are left with two options: email and web.

Web
This is the most cumbersome method: upload the files to a server, open safari, open the URL and presto!

E-Mail
As many iPhone users will lack a web server of their own (but have a second POP3 email account), this straight-forward method works better. Send an email to your second account using your desktop and attach the file. BTW: you do need a second email account, as most desktop email programs delete all email off the POP3 server on receipt.

Then, power up the iPod/iPhone and check your mail. One can clearly see the attachment at the bottom of the message:

Clicking on it starts the download process:

Once the download is complete, the file type is displayed. Click the icon to open it…

I am fully aware that this process is not exactly smartphone-worthy. Palm OS users can send a file to their mobile device with a single click, PocketPC and S60 users can do so via a “removable drive”. Nevertheless, being able to look at files on the go can also be helpful sometimes…stay tuned for a look at the actual viewers!

P.S. IMAP mail boxen allow you to save emails on the server, and thereby save you a lot of time. Cheap IMAP boxen can be had at our web host brainsware!

P.S.2 Attachments coming from IMAP servers are not saved locally - they must be redownloaded every time. Could be a benefit of POP3…

People owning an iPod touch 2G are out of luck - the current version of QuickPwn cannot jailbreak these devices
Sometimes having “legacy” hardware pays out: my first-gen iPod touch has a hardware vulnerability which will ensure its jailbreakability for the years to come (according to iphone-dev).

Apple’s recent firmware update brought a variety of small changes which made it incompatible with WinPwn: but QuickPwn makes for a lovely substitute. Download QuickPwn here, connect it to your PC and follow the steps displayed on-screen as they pop up (be prepared to press the buttons):

The jailbreaking process took about 10 minutes on my Core Duo workstation; images displayed on the iPod’s screen inform you about the state of the procedures:

After jailbreaking, your iPod will reboot. Surprise surprise - all your stuff is still there. However, you now have two new application “stores” to choose from…offering a wealth of jailbroken applications:

I have already picked out a few interesting ones - stay tuned!

Even though Apple’s iPod touch includes Google Maps, even the second-generation device doesn’t include a GPS receiver. Instead, the WiFi radio is used in a pretty weird fashion in order to find out an approximate location.

Do NOT ask me how this works - I recently gave it a pop out of sheer boredom, and was surprised by the highly accurate result. The red X marks the place where the device was, while the pin shows where it thought to be:

Unfortunately, the routing is less than stellar. I made the program device a route from my office to the city centre, and was surprised by the bad algorithms used. The road outlined in red has been a main road for ages, but the iPod apparently still didn’t find out about that. My manually-generated route would have been about 50% faster…the original route isn’t optimal, but leads you to the target in the end!

In the end, it all comes down to the two classic issues of location-based services: map data and location detection. Unfortunately, the iPod touch doesn’t fare too well in either of the two disciplines…while the lack of accuracy is understandable, the bad maps leave me worried about the iPhone 3G’s performance.

What do you think?

The folks at CNet’s have made a fool of themselves quite a few times in the past - Donald Bell is the next one who joins the hall of shame:

The latest firmware for the iPod Touch (version 2.1) is available for both the first- and second-generation players, and adds support for on-device Genius playlist creation, Microsoft Exchange push e-mail, multi-language keyboard and dictionary support, MobileMe, multiple calendar management, contacts search, and a scientific calculator.

This is wrong - firmware 2.0xx contains the scientific calculator. It can be accessed by tilting the device into landscape mode and waiting for a few seconds - this Google Video shows it in action!

I am not sure why this wrong piece of information is being spread. We could be looking at an omission here (these things happen to the best editors)…but I also consider it highly likely that this is a fake story planted by Apple in order to get people to upgrade to version 2.1 of the device’s firmware.

As of now, jailbreaks for version 2.1 are not available. Apple has patched a variety of security holes which have been used for jailbreaking in the past…and it could very well be that Apple now tries to reduce the amount of jailbroken devices floating around.

People using jailbroken firmwares usually are tech-savvy…and tech-savvy folks love scientific calculators. It could thus be a marketing ploy on the end of the Cupertinians, with poor Sir Bell taking the flak. Or - it could also be lack of recherche…

What do you think?

Firmware 2.0 added a screenshot function to iPhones and iPod touch devices. This is very useful for analysts like yours truly, as it makes creating screenshots for reviews very simple. Unfortunately, these screenshots are not synchronized automatically by iTunes - getting them must be done by hand. Follow the steps below to get to screenshot syncrhonization nirvana:

Step 1 - connect device to computer
The first step is pretty logical. Connect your iPod touch (or iPhone) to your computer and make it link up with iTunes.

Step 2 - open “My Computer”
Amusingly, the iPod touch will show up in the My Computer form of your PC. The image below was made on a German PC running Windows XP Professional:

Step 3 - double-click the iPod Touch’s icon
Your iPod’s content will show up in a pane similar to the one below. Thumbnails can NOT be generated; however, the view mode can be changed to show the file names:

Step 4 - get the pictures off the box
The next and final step is straight-forward…just mark the pictures, right-click them and copy them off to whereever you want to save them to. The transfer will be very slow, however - getting 20 screenshots off my iPod touch took about 3 minutes on my dual-core 1.6GhZ machine… .

Treat the two images above as your proof - the process really works as outlined above! Good luck!

In the past, Palm’s Treo smartphones have had issues related to data enclosure and emergency calls. Now Apple’s devices have chimed in - Gizmodo reports an issue that allows attackers to circumvent the password protection.

The issue involves starting an emergency call and then pressing the home button to open the Favorites bar. From there on, other applications including Safari, Email and SMS can be accessed…

Until Apple ships a firmware patch, the solution is simple: go to Settings, Click General, home Button and set it to Home…

So far, I haven’t been too successful with WinPwn - getting “Cydia” onto my iPod touch hasn’t quite worked out so far. But this has now changed - the screenshot below should prove my point:

The WinPwn team has released version 2.0.0.4 of the program a few days ago, and has finally managed to correct the bugs that led to corrupted firmwares being created.

Be wary of recovery mode when it comes to installing “patched” firmware versions - instead, the so-called DFU mode must be used as the OS must by bypassed while installing the new firmware.

Accessing this mode is easy - just connect your iPod touch to the PC, and press down the home and power keys until the device powers off. After a few seconds, release the power button while continuing to hold the home button until ITunes recognizes your device. Then follow the instructions at step 3 here…

This one could be interested to all folks who are into jailbreaking. An iPod touch can be “restored” to any firmware version by following these steps:

Make the iPod touch enter recovery mode
Prepare a PC connection cable. Then, power off the iPod touch (long press on power button). Hold the home button while connecting the USB cable, keep holding the home button until the following screen appears:

Open iTunes
Now, open iTunes. The program will bicker about having found an iPod in recovery mode:

Install a firmware of choice
Click recovery while holding the Shift button. A file selection dialog will pop up. Choose your firmware of choice:

The flashing process will then begin. it can take up to 30 minutes - so better be patient:

“Apple-ize” the firmware
People who feel paranoid can now “appleize” their firmware image afterwards. Just go into debug mode once again and click restore, but this time without holding the shift key. iTunes will download the official, current version from the Apple server and install it…

Fir example, here is an iPod touch that was “updated” to firmware version 2.0 via a file from apple’s FTP server. As the firmware has been “Appleized”, the App Store can be accessed:

In the end, it all comes down to finding the correct firmware images. Firmware versions ranging from 1.1.1 to 2.0 are available from Apple and from various third parties - a bit of Googling usually helps out here. However, please be careful about software licensing - the use of some images may not be legal in some jurisdictions. Tamoggemon Publishing can not be held liable for any issues you may encounter…

Note to any Apple guy reading: this blog is hosted in Austria, a country with intact press freedom for technology journalists. Tamoggemon does NOT condone or recommend the usage of pirated firmware! So: please leave us alone.