Can I jailbreak?

Posted by nkbish0p at 19:56 0
This depends on your device and your firmware. Not all devices on all firmwares can be jailbroken and you may have to wait for a jailbreak to become available.

If your device has firmware of 4.0.1 or below, it is very easy to jailbreak, and you don't even need a computer. Simply open safari on your device and go to the website "www.jailbreakme.com" and follow the onscreen instructions.

If your device is at firmware 4.1, it can also be jailbroken using Limera1n on mac osx or windows operating systems on your computer. Instructions can be found here

If your device is at firmware 4.2.1, the only jailbreak you can perform is tethered and you will need to connect your device to a computer whenever you wish to turn it on. I do not recommend jailbreaking your device in this instance and would instead advise you to wait for an alternative jailbreaking method.

If you have any interest in jailbreaking your device in the future, I would advise you not to update your iPhone firmware at any time until you know that the firmware you are updating to can be jailbroken. Remember also that if you update the firmware on a jailbroken phone your jailbreak will be lost.

The new and annoying iPhone SMS tones

Posted by nkbish0p at 11:50 0
If you are anything like me, you probably find it annoying when somebody in the near vicinity receives a text on their iPhone as everyone seems to use "tri-tone" as their message alert. I have always found this annoying as this causes everyone to reach for their phone as they are unsure whether it is their phone or not.

ios4.2 brings some good news.
The new firmware adds a number of new message tones, something I feel should have been added a long long time ago.

There is also some bad news however. They are terrible. For a sample, check the link below and watch the video and feel free to comment below.

App highlight: CineXplayer

Posted by nkbish0p at 10:13 0
If you had been following my blog over the summer, you may remember a post I wrote about how to convert video for your iPhone, iPod touch or Ipad. In this post I described how currently to get your .avi and .xvid video files onto your iDevice you needed to use a conversion program, but now, finally, this is no longer the case.

A new app, with specific iPhone/iTouch and iPad versions, called cineXplayer allows you to simply drag and drop your .avi or .xvid files onto your device in iTunes for conversion free playback on your device. The app includes a video tutorial on how to do this inside of the app and can be purchased for only £1.19 in the app store.

In my opinion, this is an essential purchase for anyone with a quantity of .avi or .xvid files as it saves a lot of time and effort that would have been wasted on converting the files, however the obvious problem with this app is that the apps will be copied onto your device uncompressed, taking up more space.


Look out for more app reviews coming soon.

new jailbreak, all devices ios4.1

Posted by nkbish0p at 12:38 0
Works on: Any device running ios4.1

Warning: If you use this process to jailbreak your device you will not be able to unlock your device to use with the carrier of your device. For more information on unlocking, visit the unlock page at the top of this blog.

  1. Update your device to ios4.1 in the usual manner in iTunes.
  2. Download limera1n from here
  3. Plug your device into your computer (must be a windows pc or laptop) and backup all your data. Make sure your device is switched on.
  4. Run the limera1n exe.
  5. Click the "make it rain" button.
  6. Follow the on-screen instructions.
  7. After the jailbreak completes, switch your device back on if it is switched off.
  8. Click the limera1n icon on your device.
  9. Click cydia then select install.
  10. After this is complete, switch your device off then back on again.
  11. Your device has been successfully jailbroken.

August update

Posted by nkbish0p at 17:33 0
Hi, I know its been a while since I last updated the blog, been on holiday for a couple of weeks and ironically a lot of things have happened in this scene over that time.

Earlier today I updated quite a large portion of the blog, the summary can be seen below.


Also, for those of you that haven't seen this yet:


Secondly,I have also added a poll on the right hand side of the homepage, please vote as it will help me make my blog more relevant and helpful if I know what devices to target my posts to.

Thirdly, I know I have not uploaded any new app reviews for some time, at the moment I am not quite sure what direction I want to take with this section of the blog so it is kind of frozen until further notice. I am welcome to any suggestions though so either post them here or write to me on twitter @bb0Nk.

Anyway, I hope you find the new content useful! If you have any suggestions for me, please contact me via one of the methods mentioned above.


A better way to buy the iPhone 4

Posted by nkbish0p at 20:47 0
Recently I have been researching the best way to buy the new iPhone 4 taking several factors into consideration:

-Value for money (what you get in terms of minutes and messages and what it costs)
-Whether the phone can be unlocked at a later date (important for people wanting to sell to upgrade)
-Network reliability, speed and signal strength.

I believe I have found the best possible option and it is how I intend to purchase my iPhone 4 once the white model becomes available from apple.

The best possible way to buy an iPhone 4

Although it may seem hugely expensive, the first step is to buy your iPhone from apple.com. This will cost you £500 for a 16gb iPhone or £600 for a 32gb which may seem extremely expensive. However bear with me and you will see what I am getting to.

A huge advantage of doing this is that your iPhone is factory unlocked and will always remain unlocked. This is great for using your phone abroad, and also lets you choose your own provider.

Secondly you will want to purchase a sim card from quidco.com here. The cost of the tariff is £25 per month and you will get the following:

-a short 12 month contract
-900 minutes per month
-1gb of mobile data per month
-1gb bt wifi per month
-unlimited texts

But that is not the end of the story; by buying your sim card from here you will also receive

£120 cashback!

Which means that the above tariff will, in effect only cost you

£15 per month!

Over 2 years, the total cost will be £500 plus 24 payments of £15 (do the cashback deal twice)
This works out at £860 or on average £35.83 per month.

Lets compare this to a typical vodafone contract:

Even an extremely cheap vodafone contract will end up costing you more than this:

for example, the £30 per month 24 month contract which includes:

-a long 24 month contract
-300 minutes per month (1/3 of what you get above)
-1gb of mobile data per month
-1gb bt wifi per month
-unlimited texts

and the handset also costs £169

Over 2 years, the total cost will be £169 plus 24 payments of £30
This works out at £879 or on average £36.63 per month. And you are getting 600 less minutes per month!

With more expensive vodafone contracts, the difference becomes even greater.

21/7/2010 app reviews

Posted by nkbish0p at 18:20 0
Right, I have been using a decent bunch of apps this week, so instead of writing them all up as separate posts, I have decided to write about them all together in a single post. I may adopt this format for future reviews if I feel that it works well.

Minesweeper

Anybody that had access to a windows computer before windows XP came out has probably played this before. Basically its the exact same game that used to ship on all computers, its a classic game and great fun. I have to admit that I am USELESS at minesweeper, but its still great fun to play. There are several options to increase or decrease the difficulty so it should be good for any skill level. As a bonus, even on an iPhone 3g the app is quick loading, so on newer models there should be little delay which is great to see on any iPhone application. Also, it costs nothing so there is little to lose by giving this app a go.

Live Poker 7K

If you enjoy playing poker, this app is pretty good considering that it is free. It allows you to play against real people over an internet connection which is always much more fun than playing against a computerised opponent on a game of this type. A drawback would be that as you have to wait for each player to play their turn, you can easily spend a long period of time playing this game without realising it but I guess an advantage is that you aren't losing real money at the same time. Considering the quality of the app, I am actually surprised that it is free, the graphics are better than the average app of this type and it also has push notifications, and a leaderboard to compare you to your friends on Facebook. There is also a built in chat feature which you may enjoy if you are the kind of person that enjoys talking to random people.

Free app a day.com

freeappaday.com is a website that informs visitors about apps that aren't normally free that have been put on promotion for a period of time so the user can download them for no cost. The first thing I noticed about this app was that the graphics are shockingly bad, even on a non-retina display iPhone 3g, so on an iPhone 4 they must be truly horrendous. Also, a lot of the promoted apps are promoted for a very good reason, they aren't very good and will hold your interest for only a short period of time and I imagine most of the apps presented will spend only a short period of time on a users device before they are deleted. It would make little sense if you had to pay for this application and as expected it is free.

Archetype

Archetype is billed as being the first truly decent iPhone FPS style game. This is an interesting market for the iPhone as most of the popular games on the iphone presently are unique to the iPhone and not really aimed at "hardcore" gamers. Hopefully with the release of this app, this will change. As a FANTASTIC feature, archetype is playable online in a similar manner to console first person shooters such as HALO. The best thing about this application is that it shows great potential for the future of iPhone gaming, however at the moment there are several flaws that will hopefully get updated in a future iteration of this app. In my opinion at the moment, the controls for this game could be greatly improved. Basically the game uses two "joysticks" on the screen that the player uses to control their character in the normal FPS manner. I think that these controls are not sensitive enough and they rely on the player moving their thumbs a large distance across the screen before their input is registered. However, this should be relatively easy to correct in a future version update.

I also noted the speedy performance of the application. Considering the fairly good graphics for the platform and the fact that the game is played online the loading times are extremely brief, even on the older ios hardware. To be picky, I would note that the in game sounds are relatively poor however.

Archetype is available for £1.79 in the app store and I would recommend it to anyone that plays console games of this genre to highlight the fact that this type of game is very playable on the iPhone's hardware. It will be made even better in the future when apple adds the "game centre" into their firmware as players will easily be able to compare high scores in a similar manner to xbox live.

Converting video for an apple device

Posted by nkbish0p at 19:40 0

Been a busy week or so, So I haven't had a chance to get much put on this blog for a while, but I have written the following tutorial to help anyone wanting to watch video on their apple device.

Watching a video on your iPod or iPhone is not as simple as many competing products. Your device will only recognise certain types of video and you will need to be able to convert any video you wish to watch on your device into a compatible format before you can view it.

I have used many different programs to do this over the years, but without a doubt the best program I have found is handbrake, and as a bonus it is also completely free.

Today I am going to be writing a tutorial for converting .avi/.xvid videos that have been downloaded from the internet and NOT DVD's, as these will need to be ripped onto your computers hard drive before you can load them onto your apple device.

This tutorial is going to be written for mac, as I am currently using my laptop to convert my video, although handbrake is also available for windows and the process is similar. If anyone would like a more windows based tutorail please leave me a comment and I will post this also.

  1. Firstly you will need to download handbrake from here
  2. Open handbrake and click source, and locate the avi file that you wish to convert for your device.
  3. Open presets (on mac hit toggle presets in the top left) and select the type of device that you have from the drawer that appears on the right hand side of your screen.
  4. Click start at the top of your screen.
  5. Your movie will begin converting and will appear in the "destination" that is written in the main handbrake window (see screenshot below). Video encoding can take some time (I would approximate around half the length to one third of the length of the film you are encoding on an average laptop).
  6. Drag your newly created file into itunes, and make sure your device is set up to sync video!

SHSH Blobs

Posted by nkbish0p at 17:56 0
Before reading any of this article, note this is only for people with newer hardware, specifically:

-iPhone 3gs or 4.
-iPod touch 3g.
-iPad.

If your model does not appear here, you do not need to read this. If you do not know what model of iPod touch you have, read

When you want to restore one of these devices in iTunes, iTunes will only allow you to restore your device to the latest firmware for your device. If you back up your SHSH blobs as you go through each firmware, you will be able to restore your device to any of the firmwares that you have backed up your SHSH blobs for. This is important to people that wish to be able to keep their device jailbroken, or people that would like the freedom to downgrade their firmware.

Even if you don't update your device, if it crashes, you may need to restore in iTunes. If you have no SHSH blobs backed up, you can only restore to the newest firmware which may not be jailbreakable. If you want to restore to an old firmware that can be jailbroken, you will need the SHSH blobs for that firmware for your device.

In this article I will be explaining how you can back up your SHSH blobs. I would advise anyone with any of the above devices to do this, especially if you have an interest in jailbreaking.

First of all I recommend reading this README as it gives a more detailed explanation of what this post is all about.

Secondly, you will need to download tinyumbrella from the "quick links" section of this website for the operating system that you use.

To save your SHSH blobs simply do the following.

  1. Connect your device to your computer and wait for it to be detected by iTunes.
  2. Open tinyumbrella.
  3. Click Save my SHSH.
  4. You are done, disconnect your device.

To restore your iPhone to a firmware that is below the one you currently have (downgrade firmware):

Before you do anything else, download the firmware that you wish to restore to from here

  1. Connect your device and wait for it to be detected by itunes.
  2. Click your device on the left had side of iTunes.
  3. Open firmware umbrella and click start TSS server.
  4. Hold shift (if using windows) or alt (if using mac) and browse to the firmware you wish to downgrade to.
  5. Click OK and your phone will restore.
  6. If after the restore is completed, your device is left in recovery mode, click "kick device out of recovery" in tinyumbrella.
  7. Turn your device off then back on again.
  8. Your phone has been downgraded.
Remember, you can avoid doing all this by simply not upgrading your device until you are sure the firmware you are upgrading to can be jailbroken and will be stable on your device.



Total phone comparison table

Posted by nkbish0p at 14:43 0



Above is a table comparing the best phone currently available from all of the major handset manufacturers in the UK. If a particular feature is the best currently available on any of these handsets it is highlighted green, if it is the worst it is highlighted red.

Due to amoled and LCD both having good and bad qualities, I have not distinguished between these two types of display, however as the super amoled display is better than both, this display wins this category.

Thinner and lighter phones have been rated as better, and larger screens have also been rated as better.

Update

Posted by nkbish0p at 18:21 0
Haven't posted on here for a couple of days, but I am currently working on a couple of big posts that should be up over the next fews days as well as the "unlock" section of this blog which I am also aiming to publish over the next week or so.

Meanwhile if there are any apps anybody would like to see reviewed, leave a request in the comments also I am going to be putting up a poll on here soon to see what kind of things I should be working on on here. Please remember to vote when this goes up.

Follow me on twitter for latest news and updates @bb0Nk

Touch Grind Review

Posted by nkbish0p at 18:24 0


Category: Games
Version: 1.2.2
Price: £2.99

Description

For anyone that was a teenager in the early 2000s and like extreme sports, the word "tech-deck" is probably familiar. For anyone unfamiliar with these, a tech-deck was a finger-skateboard, a minute skateboard that you "rode" with your fingers to do tricks.

Unfortunately at the time, I for one was pretty awful with a fingerboard, but now, help is on hand as there is now an iPhone app that allows you to control an onscreen fingerboard around a virtual skatepark and perform a variety of manoeuvres such as flips, spins and grinds which earn the player points which you can combine to get a new high score.

However, there is a big problem with this application. The fingerboard takes up almost the entire screen of your iPhone, so it is impossible to get a good understanding of whereabouts in the park you are! This is even more frustrating when you realise that the skatepark is actually quite small and you may spend a lot of time running into the edge walls.

If you play touch grind HD on an iPad, (or search youtube for a video of it) you will see what I think touch grind should have been from the onset. Although I believe it is great fun, it is equally frustrating trying to line your board up to complete the perfect grind when practically all you can see on the screen is a giant skateboard!


Touchgrind on the iPhone

Touchgrind HD on the iPad - a much better version of the same app.

Rating

3/5 although I think this app is a GREAT concept, it fails to execute its potential with its poorly thought out view perspective.

Dropbox review

Posted by nkbish0p at 19:37 0
(or how to turn your 16gb device into an 18gb device absolutely free)

Category: Productivity
Version: 1.2.2
Price: £free

This is a great app and it's also free, so you don't really have anything to lose by installing it. You will also need to download dropbox for your computer from the website < href="https://www.dropbox.com/">here.

Description

For anyone not familiar with dropbox, it is essentially a way to back files up online for free. For example, if you have a word document that you would like to access on two computers, say one at home and one at work, you can save the file into the dropbox folder on your computer and this will automatically save it to your online dropbox account, allowing you to open it on your other computer at work. From this perspective you could use dropbox to replace your USB flash drive, or to back up important files that you do not want to lose.

However, there is a more interesting use for dropbox in my opinion. If you install the dropbox app onto your device, and copy files into the dropbox folder on your computer you will be able to access these files on your device any time you have an internet connection without using up any of the storage on your device. This is great if like me you have a relatively small capacity phone, but lost of videos and songs you would like to listen to away from your computer.

For free, you get a 2gb dropbox account, but you can pay a subscription to dropbox and get 100gb of storage for $20 a month. This essentially gives you up to a 132gb iPhone!

Unfortunately for dropbox the iPhone and iPod touch impose some limits that reduce its functionality a little. For example, it will only allow you to play files on your device that your device is able to play "out of the box" you cannot use this app to play divx video for example.

Rating

4/5 unfortunately for dropbox its functionality is limited by the iPhone which means it loses a point. Alternatively, if you would like to play video content that your iPhone cannot play out of the box without converting it first, try Airvideo.



Doodle Jump Review

Posted by nkbish0p at 15:13 0


Category: Games
Version: 1.16
Price: £0.59

I'm going to say this straight away; in my opinion, this is the best game currently available on the iPhone and iPod touch and in my opinion everyone that owns an iPhone or iPod touch should download and install it immediately. It has been in the top 10 apps on the iTunes app chart for as long as i can remember and is a highly addictive and competitive game.

Description

Doodle jump is an extremely simple game. In my opinion, the simple games for this platform are usually the best. The idea of the game is to jump your "doodler" (a small character that you control with the accelerometer) between platforms and to get as high as you can. As you get higher and higher the types of platform change, you get platforms that disappear, platforms that move and platforms that you have to move around the screen yourself. There are also creatures between some of the platforms that you must shoot or jump onto in order to get past. The game ends if you miss a platform and fall of the bottom of the screen or if you jump into a creature, a black hole or a UFO.

However, the key to doodle jumps success in my opinion is the fact that you can play against your friends, by comparing your high scores across facebook. This makes the game extremely addictive, as you will constantly be trying to get the high score out of all of your friends, believe me, once you play this game a few times you will not want to stop.

Doodle jump also has frequent updates, though in my opinion these usually add little to the game as they are usually just composed of themes to make to world look different, for example one theme makes the "world" look like a jungle.



Rating

5/5 a fantastic example of the type of app that makes the iPhone a great gaming platform. Buy it now.
Posted by nkbish0p at 17:22 0
Below lies the current best jailbreak methods for every apple iDevice. I will attempt to update this page regularly as apple produces new firmware versions. It is important to remember that upgrading your firmware will remove your jailbreak and it advised that if you want to keep your jailbreak, you check here before updating. Follow me on twitter @bb0Nk for latest updates regarding this page.

==============================================================

If you are not sure which model iPod touch you have, read this guide

==============================================================

iPhone 2G and iPod touch 1G

Both of these devices are no longer supported by apple's firmware updates and as a result, have latest firmware 3.1.3. This is very easy to jailbreak using SPIRIT.

Caution: currently spirit will not work with iTunes 9.2. If you are using iTunes 9.2 and wish to use spirit uninstall iTunes and install version 9.1.1 from here.

  1. Make sure your device is updated to the 3.1.3 firmware.
  2. Download spirit from http://spiritjb.com/
  3. Connect your device to your computer and run spirit.
==============================================================

iPhone 3G

The iPhone 3g is still receiving updates from apple, so each update will require a new jailbreak. Currently the iPhone 3g has firmware up to 4.0. This firmware can be jailbroken using REDSN0W. This will also allow you to use the multitasking and homescreen wallpaper features given to the 3gs with ios4.0.

  1. Make sure your device is updated to the 4.0 firmware.
  2. Download redsn0w from here for mac or here for windows.
  3. You will also need to download the iPhone1,2_4.0_8A293_Restore.ipsw file which can be found here.
  4. Click browse and select iPhone1,2_4.0_8A293_Restore.ipsw. Its logo will look like a grey lego brick with an iTunes logo on one side and a picture of an iPhone on the other.
  5. Follow the on screen instructions. (more detail can be found here)
==============================================================

iPhone 3gs

The iPhone 3gs is still receiving updates from apple, so each update will require a new jailbreak. Currently the iPhone 3g has firmware up to 4.0.

The iPhone 3gs is currently much more complicated to jailbreak than any other apple device and the firmware cannot be downgraded easily. Therefore if you own an iPhone 3gs and want to keep it jailbroken it is VERY STRONGLY ADVISED that you do not update your firmware until it is possible to jailbreak the firmware you are upgrading to.

  1. If your firmware is at 3.1.3 or below and you do not wish to update to ios4.0 just yet, simply jailbreak using the method for the iPod touch 1g then open cydia and select "make my life easier" THIS IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT. This is called backing up your SHSH files.
  2. Although it is possible to jailbreak an iPhone 3gs to work with the new ios4.0, this process requires an earlier jailbreak, an iPhone manufactured before week 40 and pwnagetool which requires a mac computer and is an extremely complicated process. Therefore, at present I will not be posting a method on how to do this as people in this position will have previous jailbreak experience. However, if you would like me to upload this method, please leave a request and i will post it.
  3. Therefore, as an alternative until a better jailbreak solution is presented for ios4.0 for the iPhone 3gs, I would advise users to jailbreak at 3.1.3 using the method for the iPhone 2g. If you have already updated your firmware to ios4.0 and you have previously backed up your SHSH files i would advise you to downgrade to firmware 3.1.3 using the method outlined in the iPod touch 2g section, using the iPhone2,1_3.1.3_7E18_Restore.ipsw firmware file from here

==============================================================

iPhone 4

No jailbreak currently available, check back soon.

==============================================================

iPod touch 2g

The iPod touch 2g is still receiving updates from apple, so each update will require a new jailbreak. Currently the iPod touch 2g has firmware up to 4.0. This firmware can be jailbroken using REDSN0W. This will also allow you to use the multitasking and homescreen wallpaper features given to the 3gs with ios4.0.

The iPod touch 2g is much more complicated to jailbreak than the other iPods above and the firmware cannot be downgraded easily. Therefore if you own an iPod touch 2g and want to keep it jailbroken it is strongly advised that you do not update your firmware until it is possible to jailbreak the firmware you are upgrading to.

Before attempting to jailbreak your device, check your model number by going to settings>general>about and scroll down to "model". If this value begins with "MC" then you will only be able to perform a tethered jailbreak with ios4.0. This means that whenever your iPod switches off, you will need to connect it to your computer to make it run again. If your model number begins with "MB" you will not have this problem.

  1. Make sure your device is updated to the 4.0 firmware.
  2. Download redsn0w from here for mac or here for windows.
  3. You will also need to download the iPod2,1_4.0_8A293_Restore.ipswfile which can be found here.
  4. Click browse and select iPod2,1_4.0_8A293_Restore.ipsw. Its logo will look like a grey lego brick with an iTunes logo on one side and a picture of an iPhone on the other.
  5. Follow the on screen instructions. (more detail can be found here)
If you have an "MC" model iPod touch and wish to be able to do an "untethered" jailbreak, you will need to have firmware at 3.1.3 or below. If this is the case, follow the method for the iPod touch 1g at the top of this page.

If you have an "MC" model iPod touch and wish to be able to do an "untethered" jailbreak and you have already updated to firmware 4.0, you will need to downgrade your firmware to 3.1.3 before you can jailbreak it. This can only be done if you have previously saved your SHSH files on cydia. If you have not done this already you cannot downgrade your firmware. To downgrade your iPod touch, do the following:

THIS METHOD IS COMPLICATED AND I ADVISE USERS NOT TO ATTEMPT IT, BUT TO USE THE TETHERED JAILBREAK METHOD INSTEAD.

  1. Search the internet for a iPod2,1_3.1.3_7E18_Restore.ipsw file. It may not be legal to host this file so you may have to use a torrent website. Download it.
  2. Open iTunes, connect your device and perform a full backup.
  3. You will need to put your device into DFU mode. To do this, switch your phone off whilst it is connected to your computer then hold the home button for 3 seconds. Continue holding the home button and also hold the power button for 10 seconds. Release the home button and continue holding the home button until your computer recognises your device. The screen should be black.
  4. Navigate to C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\ (or Mac users can get to “/etc/” directory by going through “Go –> Go to Folder” from Finder.) and locate “hosts” file
  5. Open this “hosts” file in Notepad (for Windows) or TextEdit (for Mac OS X) and add this "74.208.105.171 gs.apple.com" right at the bottom of the text file.
  6. Hold down your shift key (or the alt key if you are using a mac) and click the "restore" button on the page for your device in iTunes.
  7. Browse for the iPod2,1_3.1.3_7E18_Restore.ipsw file that you just downloaded and select it.
  8. Allow your device to be restored to this firmware, this can take some time.
  9. If you get an error message, ignore it
  10. Now download a program called Recboot from here and run this to get your iPod out of recovery mode.
  11. Jailbreak using the method for the iPod touch 1g.
  12. Open cydia and select "make my life easier" THIS IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT. This is called backing up your SHSH files.

==============================================================

iPod touch 3g

The iPod touch 3g is still receiving updates from apple, so each update will require a new jailbreak. Currently the iPod touch 3g has firmware up to 4.0.
Currently, the iPod touch 3g can only be jailbroken up to firmware 3.1.3.

The iPod touch 3g is much more complicated to jailbreak than the other iPods above and the firmware cannot be downgraded easily. Therefore if you own an iPod touch 3g and want to keep it jailbroken it is strongly advised that you do not update your firmware until it is possible to jailbreak the firmware you are upgrading to.

If your iPod touch 3g is already at firmware 3.1.3, follow the method for the Ipod touch 1g.

If you have already updated your iPod touch to ios4.0, you will need to downgrade your firmware to 3.1.3 before you can jailbreak it. Remember, this can only be done if you have previously backed up your SHSH files in cydia, otherwise downgrading is impossible. Use the downgrade method above, but replace
with
iPod3,1_3.1.3_7E18_Restore.ipsw. This file can be downloaded from here

==============================================================

iPad

The iPad is still receiving updates from apple, so each update will require a new jailbreak. Currently the iPad has firmware up to 3.2.

To jailbreak the iPad on firmware 3.2, simply follow the method for the iPhone 2g from step 2 onwards.

==============================================================

identifying your ipod touch

Posted by nkbish0p at 11:14 0

This is a short guide on how to identify which model of iPod touch you have. This is important for users that would like to jailbreak their device.

As of June 2010, there have been 3 different iPod touch models.






If your iPod touch look like the top picture, you have an iPod touch 1g (1st generation).

If your iPod touch looks like the bottom picture, you have an iPod touch second or third generation (2g or 3g). The iPod touch (3rd generation) can be distinguished from iPod touch (2nd generation) by looking at the back of the device. In the text below the engraving, look for the model number. iPod touch (2nd generation) is model A1288, and iPod touch (3rd generation) is model A1318.

How to watch TV for free on your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad

Posted by nkbish0p at 18:10 0
Simple tutorial for today, but very useful especially at the moment whilst the world cup is on. I am going to show you how you can watch free-view television on your iDevice without even needing to jailbreak it first!

All you need to do is open safari on your device and browse to the website:

iphone.tvcatchup.com

If you do not already have an account at tv-catchup.com, you will have to create one and sign in before you use this service. Some of the channels you can view are listed below:

bbc1, bbc2, itv 1, 4, 5, itv 2, five usa. e4, itv 3, itv 4, more 4, bbc3, bbc4, fiver, film 4, bbc news, cbbc, citv, 4+1, e4+1, itv2 +1, cbeebies, 4 music, more 4 +1, itv 3 +1, itv 4 +1, film 4 +1, bbc parliament.

The service works over both mobile internet and WIFI, but quality is reduced dramatically if you are using mobile internet.

Bonus:

If you are using a jailbroken iPhone, and would like to watch WIFI quality video over your 3g mobile network search for "3g unrestrictor" in cydia and install it. This will allow you to view high definition video even when you are not connected to a WIFI network.




Best value iPhone 4 tariffs

Posted by nkbish0p at 20:01 0
Now that the iPhone is available from all of the UK's major networks, getting the best value deal can be difficult and confusing.

To save you the effort of shopping around to find the best iPhone deals, I have compared every tariff for the 3 biggest networks (o2, orange and vodafone) and compared their contracts to find the best value deals at every price point, for every handset.

All of the available contracts can be seen here:



To find the best value contract for your price point simply click the handset and contract length that you are interested in from the links below:




How to jailbreak ios4.0

Posted by nkbish0p at 11:14 0

Yesterday, apple released firmware 4.0 for the iPhone 3g and 3gs and the iPod touch second and third generation. This firmware cannot be jailbroken using spirit.

To jailbreak this firmware, you will need to download redsn0w from here for mac or here for windows. This will only currently work for iPhone 3g or iPod touch second generation. Search wikipedia for iPod touch to find out what generation number you have. If you are using an iPhone 2g or 3gs, an iPod touch 1g or 3g or an iPad, information on how to jailbreak your device can be found here.

You will also need to download an ios4.0 ipsw file which can be found here. IT IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT THAT YOU DOWNLOAD THE CORRECT FILE AT THIS STAGE. Make a note of where you have downloaded this file to.

Once you have downloaded redsn0w and the 4.0 ipsw file for your device, plug your iPhone into your computer and allow iTunes to perform a sync and full backup of your phone.

Once this is complete, install redsn0w, and follow the method below.

1- Click browse and select the ipsw file you downloaded above. The file will be named something like iPhone1,2_4.0_8A293_Restore.ipsw depending on what type of device you have and its logo will look like a grey lego brick with an iTunes logo on one side and a picture of an iPhone on the other.

2-Click next and after a slight pause the following menu will appear (this may look slightly different on a different operating system). If this does not happen, you have downloaded the wrong ipsw file, so try a different one.




3-The checkboxes should be selected as following:

Install cydia - make sure this is selected
Verbose boot - ignore this, it should not be selected
Custom boot logo - again, ignore this unless you know what it is
Enable multitasking - select this if you wish to be able to use multitasking on your device
Enable homescreen wallpaper - select this if you wish to be able to use your own wallpaper behind your app icons.
Enable battery percentage - select this if you wish to see a %number next to your battery icon telling you how much power you have left. I advise everyone to selct this as it can be switched off later in settings.

When you are done selecting these checkboxes, hit next.

4-Follow the on-screen instructions (plug your device into the computer and switch it off) and click next.

5- This next stage can be tricky, follow the instructions on the screen and hold the relevant buttons for the amount of time that the computer tells you to. If you do this wrong, don't worry, you can try again, it may take a few times before you get it right. If you fail, a pop-up will come up instructing you to try again. Make sure your phone is switched off before you try again if you switched it on accidentally. Once "waiting for reboot appears on your computer screen" you can release the home button.

6- A hard drive icon will appear on your iPhone screen with a green arrow, followed by a picture of a pineapple. Click finish on your computer and leave your iphone alone. Ignore any messages from iTunes.

7- Your iPhone will begin to reboot (picture of a white apple logo). Allow this to be completed.

8- Congratulations, your iPhone has been jailbroken! You may now unplug it from your computer.

CHECK BACK SOON FOR UPDATES AS TO WHEN THIS METHOD WILL WORK WITH THE 3GS AND iPOD TOUCH 3G.

Update

Posted by nkbish0p at 14:02 0
ibb0Nk has been quiet for a few days now, but don't worry, I have some important updates coming over the next week or so, I already have new posts written waiting to be updated so make sure you come back soon to check these out! (details can be seen in the "coming soon" section on the right hand side of this page)

Some important information for current iPhone owners

Later today, apple will release ios4, the fourth iteration of their idevice operating system, which adds many new features to their mobile devices. Details of these new features can be seen here. It is very important to remember that updating your device to ios4 will cause it to become unjailbroken, and you will not be able to use spirit to jailbreak it again. It is advised that if you wish to keep your device jailbroken, wait until new jailbreak tools are available for ios4 before updating your device (I will post a new jailbreak method for ios4 once it becomes available)

In other news, iPhone 4 will be released in the UK this thursday and it is expected that there will be very limited supply. If you want an iPhone 4 as soon as possible, I advise going to an o2, an orange or a vodafone store as early as possible on thursday morning to ensure you have the best possible chance of getting one. In the near future I will be publishing a post that analyses every contract available for the iPhone 4, so if you want the best value deals, I advise you to read this post first.

If this fails, the iPhone 4 can also be ordered from apple.com/uk contract free, though this is a relatively expensive option.

As always, best way to stay updated is via twitter @bb0Nk (the 0 is a zero).
Come back soon!
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