One More Tap » Firmware

iOS Firmware – Downloading Straight from Apple

xcool — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 07:25:47 +0000

I thought I’d upgrade my iPhone 3GS (which was recently semi-retired, but has since found a new home in my wife’s handbag) with iOS 4.2.1, since that is the first version to ever support Find My iPhone. I wanted to be able to locate the phone (and thus, my wife) if required.

So, I went ahead and search for the direct download, knowing that Apple would not be offering the said firmware anymore from within iTunes, now that iOS 4.3.1 is out in the wild. I found a couple of sites, and managed to grab a copy. However, upon trying to perform the upgrade, I was greeted with Error 3194. Yes, the darned error code which basically means that you can’t install that particular version of iOS onto your device because Apple would not allow you to do so anymore.

The story behind this is, Apple would stop signing older firmwares whenever new ones are made available. Signing is a process that happens when you install new versions of iOS onto your device, whereby iTunes checks with Apple’s servers and ‘signs’ the installation. I’m not about to jailbreak my device, so I went ahead and installed the latest firmware, which is 4.3.1 (build 8G4).

Anyhow, since this post relates more to direct downloading the firmware from Apple’s website (Apple continues to offer older firmwares, although they wouldn’t sign it, I am not sure why), we’ll stay on topic and provide you with the locations. You are free to do whatever you please with the IPSW files that you download, which I know most of you will use it to jailbreak older devices.

iOS Firmware – Direct Download Links

iPhone OS 3.0 Released

xcool — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 17:38:05 +0000

After much anticipation, including rumored (yes, rumors!) delays – Apple’s iPhone OS 3.0 finally sees the day with its release for both iPhone and iPod touch. Build number for this release is 3.0/7A341 – it seems to match the GM seed version that I have for my iPod touch.

Users can get the download straight from iTunes by clicking on the Check for Updates button. iPhone owners get the update for free, while iPod touch owners will need to purchase the update for only $9.95 – this is due to Apple’s accounting practice.

Most of the features are already quite familiar with those of us who swarm Apple news and rumor sites daily. Here’s a list of changes listed by Apple – they cover both the iPhone and iPod touch:

Cut, Copy & Paste – self-explanatory, one of the most requested feature debuts with this new update
Landscape keyboard – built-in apps now have this feature, something which should be there since day 1, if you ask me
MMS – iPhone only, not many people sends MMS, but since you asked for it, please go ahead and make full use of it
Spotlight Search – find what you’re looking for across the device from one convenient place
Voice Memo – capture a memo, meeting or any audio recording, iPod touch owners will need to attach a microphone
Internet Tethering – iPhone only, now you can share your internet connection with your laptop via Bluetooth or USB
Peer-to-Peer Gaming – now you could waste more time, with a friend, provided the game supports it
Push Notifications – apps can now receive information and let you know its there, even then the app is not running
Movies, TV Shows and Audiobooks purchase via Wi-Fi – get the best entertainment titles from iTunes directly on your device

And many more. Head on over to Apple’s site for more details on the update. iPhone users. iPod touch users.

One more thing. If you device has been unlocked somehow using one of the (ahem) available utilities, I’d suggest that you wait for an official unlocker to be released.

iPhone OS 3.0 Software Sneak Peak – Keynote Now Available

xcool — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 06:28:48 +0000

Apple has just made the keynote video of the presentation on March 17 available. You can choose to either view the streaming version or download a higher resolution version directly from within the iTunes Store.

iPhone OS 3.0 Announcement

xcool — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 22:10:50 +0000

Apple has just announced iPhone OS 3.0, a major update to the operating system that runs both the iPhone and iPod touch. It comes with a number of incredible features for developers and consumers alike.

Beginning with changes for the developers, Apple mentioned that the SDK (Software Development Kit) for iPhone OS 3.0 features up to 1,000 new APIs. According to Scott Forstall, Apple’s Senior VP for iPhone Software, the main objective is to help developers succeed, and that is thru making the SDK the best tool ever for creating software on the iPhone OS platform.

iPhone OS 3.0 will also support In-App Purchases – this makes it possible for developers to sell subscriptions, new levels for games or new chapters for e-books, for instance. We’ll see less of apps like Guide-to-London, Guide-to-Paris, Guide-to-Frankfurt appearing in the App Store, each being sold separately. Instead, developers can now offer an app called Guide-to-Cities. Guides for a certain city are sold separately inside the app. The business model for In-App Purchases remain the same, developers get to keep 70% of the revenue, with Apple taking a 30% cut.

Another new exciting feature is Peer-to-Peer. Based on Apple’s Bonjour technology, and utilizing the Bluetooth chipset, the new set of APIs allow iPhone owners to ‘find’ each other, create an IP connection, and then play a game together. Peer-to-Peer is not limited to games only. Developers can, for instance, create an app that shares contacts between devices.

Accessories – developers can now build apps that talk to certain hardware, over the dock connector or using Bluetooth. This can be achieved via standard or custom protocols. For example, an FM transmitter – in iPhone OS 3.0, developers can now create a customised app that pairs with the transmitter, then find the right station and tunes in.

Next is maps. Apple now allows developers to embed the map technology built into iPhone OS. Besides that, turn-by-turn navigation apps are now allowed. However, developers would need to create their own maps instead of relying on the built-in ones due to licensing.

Push Notification – better late than never. Apple had to re-architect the solution based on developer feedback, after it was announced six months ago. Scott mentioned that the architecture is now ready to go.

Apple also made available a new set APIs for streaming audio and video as well as In-Game Voice. The media player now adjusts the quality based on the available bandwidth.

Cut. Copy. Paste. Yes, the rumors are true! It took Apple some time to enable this, citing security issues. Cut, copy and paste works according to the rumor: double-tap, select cut, copy or paste, then double-tap again to paste.

Besides enabling MMS, iPhone OS 3.0 will also enable support for sending multiple photo attachments via the Mail app. Landscape mode has also been added to most Apple-shipped apps, like Mail, Notes and SMS.

Two additional calendar types will be supported in iPhone OS 3.0, first being CalDAV, second being subscription .ics format.

One last major new feature of iPhone OS 3.0 is Spotlight – the search technology built-in to Mac OS X. You can now search your Calendar, songs, Notes and etc. A new Home Screen app called Spotlight will be made available to support searching in a single place.

Other minor new features in the new OS include Note Sync, Auto-fill, YouTube accounts, stereo Bluetooth, Wi-Fi autologin and anti-phising.

Apple is making the new iPhone OS 3.0 SDK available today in beta format. Check out http://developer.apple.com/iphone/program/sdk.html for more information. For the rest of us, iPhone OS 3.0 will be deployed this summer (June) as a free update to all iPhone customers. iPod touch users will need to fork out $9.95 to get the update.

iPhone OS 3.0 Preview: http://www.apple.com/iphone/preview-iphone-os/
iPhone OS 3.0 Media Event stream: http://events.apple.com.edgesuite.net/0903lajkszg/event/index.html

Coming Soon! iPhone OS 3.0 – Cut & Paste, Palm Pre-like Features

xcool — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 15:38:45 +0000

The cat is out of the bag. Coming this March 17 is a special event by Apple. Rumors on the internet are now travelling faster than the speed of light – Apple would be announcing the features of iPhone OS 3.0 during this event.

What’s in store for us? Well, to begin with, there’s Cut & Paste, as revealed by Kevin Rose during SXSW Live Diggnation. Here’s a description of cut and paste, Apple style – double-tap to bring up a magnifying glass with two quotes, you drag quotes around text string to select, and then you can cut/copy and paste.

Check out the following video recording of the announcement at SXSW Live Diggnation. Pardon the strong language, though.

Besides that, expect to have the iPhone now on par with the Palm Pre, features wise. I foresee this to be the integrated social network contacts, unified messaging, notifications and multi-tasking features the the Pre touted. Let’s see how Apple does their version of these features.

No word on whether MMS will make the cut or not, but seriously, I personally use MMS just to post pictures to Facebook. The iPhone can do much better in terms of posting pictures to Facebook using the official client. Video recording doesn’t seem to be making it as well due to technical limitations – writing too often to the NAND flash memory would burn it out.

There you have it, version 3.0 of the iPhone OS seems to have only two notable new features. But again, these are just rumors. March 17 is just right around the corner. Heck, there’s no indication that the firmware will be released on the same day itself. We’d probably see this coming in a few months time? And, what do you think of Kevin Rose’s claims? Will he finally get it right this time?

One More Tap » Firmware

iOS Firmware – Downloading Straight from Apple

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