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GreenPois0n RC6.1 Brings an Untethered Jailbreak to all iDevices (Doesn’t require 4.2b3 SHSH!) released! GUIDE AND PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS INCLUDED!

admin — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 09:56:35 +0000

A new day, A new jailbreak has just arrived! The Chronic Dev Team has just been released GreenPois0n RC5 to the public to bring an untethered jailbreak for all iDevices. Unlike RedSn0w 0.9.7, this does not require 4.2b3 SHSH files to be saved on Cydia. If you just got your iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch for Christmas and want to jailbreak it now, then this is the jailbreak method for you Method below, and problems and solutions below:

**IMPORTANT** – THIS UPDATE WILL JAILBREAK THE VERIZON AND AT&T IPHONE 4/3GS, IPOD TOUCH 4G/3G/2G, IPAD, AND THE APPLE TV 2ND GEN!

**PLEASE READ** – IF YOUR IPHONE REQUIRES AN UNLOCK, STAY AWAY FROM THIS OR EVEN UPDATE YOUR IPHONE TO 4.2.1!

GUIDE:

STEP 1: DOWNLOAD GREENPOIS0N RC6.1 HERE MAC OSX!

DOWNLOAD GREENPOIS0N RC6.1 HERE WINDOWS!

STEP 2: CONNECT YOUR IDEVICE TO YOUR COMPUTER, AND LAUNCH GREENPOIS0N RC5

STEP 3: CLICK THE JAILBREAK BUTTON AS SEEN IN THE SCREENSHOT BELOW

STEP 4: FOLLOW THE ONSCREEN INSTRUCTIONS AND ENTER YOUR IDEVICE INTO DFU MODE

Press and hold the sleep button for 2 seconds
Continue holding sleep; press and hold home for 10 seconds.
Release sleep button; continue holding home for 15 seconds.

STEP 5: GREENPOIS0N WILL START JAILBREAKING YOUR IDEVICE

STEP 6: ONCE GREENPOIS0N SAYS “COMPLETE” , YOU CAN LET GO OF THE HOME BUTTON AND CLICK THE “COMPLETE” BUTTON AND QUIT GREENPOIS0N

STEP 7: YOUR IDEVICE SHOULD SHOW THE LOADER APP ON YOUR HOMEPAGE; TAP TO OPEN IT

STEP 8: USE THE LOADER APPLICATION TO INSTALL CYDIA. ONCE THE DOWNLOAD IS COMPLETE, YOUR IDEVICE WILL RESPRING, AND YOU WILL SEE THE CYDIA APPLICATION ON YOUR HOMEPAGE WHICH MEANS YOU HAVE SUCCESSFULLY JAILBROKEN AND UNTETHERED YOUR IDEVICE ON 4.2.1. **YOU MAY DELETE THE LOADER APP AFTER INSTALLING CYDIA**

ENJOY!

PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS WITH THE GREENPOIS0N RC5 UNTETHERED JAILBREAK:

Problem : I got stuck in “Greenpois0n initialized”, retried, re updated. It remains the same.
Solution : open “terminal”, type SUDO, open Greenpois0n as “Show package contents”, go MacOS folder & drag greenpois0n to terminal & hit enter. / Via iSurenix /
Problem : My iPhone / iPod is showing blank (black) screen after jailbreak, iPhone / iPod is still in DFU mode after applying jailbreak.
Solution : Leave your iDevice for two minutes, now press and hold both power and home button at the same time for 10-15 seconds until your iPhone / iPod boot as normal.
Problem : Greenpois0n loader is crashing when I install Cydia, I am unable to install cydia via greenpois0n loader.
Solution : For those having trouble getting Cydia via the GP Loader, just let redsn0w install it (don’t choose the Monte option) / Via MuscleNerd /

MORE PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS WILL BE ADDED HERE IF THERE WILL BE ANY MORE (HOPEFULLY NOT :\)

UPDATE 1: GREENPOIS0N RC5 2 JUST GOT RELEASED! LINK ADDED.

UPDATE 2: GREENPOIS0N RC5 3 JUST GOT RELEASED FOR MAC! LINK ADDED.

GREENPOISON RC5.2 FOR WINDOWS RELEASED! LINK ADDED.

UPRATE 3: GREENPOIS0N RC5 4 JUST GOT RELEASED FOR MAC AND WINDOWS! LINK ADDED.

UPDATE 4: GREENPOIS0N RC5 6 JUST GOT RELEASED TO JAILBREAK APPLE TV 2ND GEN FOR BOTH WINDOWS AND MAC. LINK ADDED.

UPDATE 5: GREENPOIS0N RC6.1 FOR WINDOWS AND MAC JUST GOT RELEASED. FIX FOR THE IBOOKS BUG INCLUDED! LINK ADDED.

Apple Drops iTunes 10.1.2 for Windows and Mac!

admin — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 09:40:52 +0000

Apple has released iTunes 10.1.2 today which includes support for the future CMDA iPhones (Verizon iPhones), and of course some bug fixes and stability improvements.

Here are the release notes:

“iTunes 10.1.2 syncs music, movies, and more with iPhone 4 (CDMA model) and provides a number of important stability and performance improvements.

iTunes 10.1 came with several new features and improvements, including:

• Use AirPlay to instantly and wirelessly stream videos from iTunes to the all-new Apple TV.

• Sync with your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch with iOS 4.2.”

This is not a required update but if you are one of those people planning on getting a shiny new Verizon iPhone 4 next month, then this update is definitely an update for you

This update is not confirmed that it is safe for jailbreakers at the moment. Check back here for future updates on this.

**UPDATE 1 – ITUNES 10.1.2 IS CONFIRMED TO BE SAFE FOR JAILBREAKERS AND UNLOCKERS**

Microsoft keynote video and photos – Announces Hulu Plus, Netflix, Windows SoC, Surface 2.0, Windows Phone 7 updates, and more!

admin — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 07:00:50 +0000

Today was Microsoft’s annual keynote presentation, which was led by CEO Steve Ballmer. They’ve announced a number of new things, such as:

Zune/Netflix/Hulu Plus/ESPN integration with Kinect
avatarkinect
Copy and paste for Windows Phone 7
New laptops using Intel’s Sandy Bridge processors
Windows 8 [?] running on SoC chips (such as ARM)
Microsoft Surface 2.0

A slimmed-down version of the keynote is shown in video below, as well as over 90 pictures! Don’t forget to check back tomorrow as we’ll be blog posting all day long as CES officially starts. Follow @gumballtech for all things CES and tech!

CES Unveiled!

admin — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 05:07:31 +0000

Today was the unofficial start of the 2011 CES. “CES Unveiled” was also today, where some companies were giving sneak peaks at some of their products. This is my first time to CES, and it was really fun. I saw a lot of people from some popular websites such as Engadget (Paul Miller), Gizmodo, TWiT (Tom Merritt), Patrick Norton (revision3/Tekzilla), and Molly Wood (CNET). View my full photo gallery down below, and don’t forget to watch the video above!

Be sure to follow me on Twitter @besweeet for more CES and tech coverage! http://twitter.com/gumballtech

Also, don’t forget to come by tomorrow! There are lots of live blogs that we’ll be doing.

Microsoft to unveil ARM-compatible version of Windows at CES

admin — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 20:47:52 +0000

Microsoft is set to unveil a new version of Windows that will be compatible with ARM-based devices at CES. Details aren’t exactly known at this time, but a very early version of it will be shown off during Microsoft’s keynote on Wednesday, January 5.

While it will be demoed at CES, it won’t be available for at least 2 years, according to Microsoft.

Microsoft’s initial goal was to make a version of Windows that will work with low-power/low-cost mobile devices. To me, this will be very interesting, because hackers and tinkerers will try and find a way to get it to run on every device out there, including Android devices, and possible older iDevices (as one can install Android on the iPod Touch 1G/2G and the iPhone 2G/3G).

A number of people are confused as to whether this is a good move for Microsoft, as Windows will need quite an overhaul to run on anything slower than todays recent hardware. Only time will tell!

Also, we’ll be at CES 2011! We’ll be bringing you as much coverage as possible from the halls of the LVCC (and other places, for that matter) January 4th – 9th. This includes blog posts (with pictures!), live blogging, and videos. We hope you come by to check it out! You can follow our Twitter account to check out our posts as they happen.

Follow me on Twitter for all things tech! http://twitter.com/gumballtech

Elgato eyeTV Hybrid USB TV tuner review

admin — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 18:32:15 +0000

The Elgato eyeTV Hybris USB TV Tuner is a nifty little device for watching live HDTV (or regular digital/analog TV, for that matter) on your computer. While it’s primarily geared towards Mac users, it will also work with Windows Media Center, either for Windows Vista or Windows 7. Not only will the eyeTV Hybrid pull in live TV, but it can also record external sources via its included S-Video/Composite video dongle. The best part? You can stream live video to an iDevice using the available eyeTV iOS app. The price is a bit hefty, though, at $150 (can be found a bit cheaper at a number of websites), but is it worth it? Read our full review to find out!

Included in the packaging is the eyeTV Hybrid, a remote control, USB extension cable, some software (CD), instruction manuals, and an S-Video/Compositie video dongle. This is basically an all-in-one kit for TV viewers!

Setup with your Mac is simple, and the software is really the heart of the operation. All you need to do is to use the included eyeTV software on the CD (you can also download it online fairly quickly, because copying the files from the disc can take over 15 minutes, while the download could take less than 5 for most people). Doing so will automatically detect all of the TV channels that are available to you from your TV service provider. eyeTV can also pull in TV Guide information, although you’ll need a subscription (you get 1-year for free) to do so. Also, eyeTV makes it easy to skip channels and start recording (since the software can act as a very good DVR). Don’t forget that you can use the remote to control most of eyeTV’s functions! Speaking of changing the channels, the eyeTV Hybrid is very fast at doing so.

Next, TV quality! TV quality will mostly depend on how well your TV service provider is bringing in the streams from various networks. For me, video quality was exceptionally good, especially when it comes to HD programming. I have a few dozen QAM HDTV channels, and some of them were in 1280x720p and 1920x1080p. The eyeTV software is able to detect the resolution, audio signal, video bitrate, frame rate, and a lot more. But, back to the quality. Some channels were pixelated, while others looked great. This wasn’t the fault of the eyeTV Hybrid itself, but more a problem of the TV provider (in my case, it’s Time Warner Cable). ESPN in HD looked fantastic (a 1280×720 channel), while HD Theater (a 1920×1080 channel) looks very pixelated. For a few raw video examples of what the eyeTV Hybrid can do with FOX HD and ESPN HD, click here and/or here.

If you’d like to use eyeTV to record TV programming, it’s a breeze to do. Recording of the video starts about 1 second after you click on the record button, which is considered to be very fast. Recording immediately stops when you tell it to. eyeTV also has the option to automatically convert your recordings (which are near-uncompressed MPEG files) for use on your favorite mobile device, such as an iPhone or Apple TV.

Overall, the eyeTV software is very simple to use and is the heart of the entire eyeTV Hybrid operation. It’s fully functional, feature packed, and is extremely easy to use.

Mentioned at the top of the post, you can use the eyeTV Hybrid to capture video from external devices when using the included S-Video/Composite dongle. You can use the eyeTV software to switch from the TV input to the external video input. This is useful for things like converting old VHS tapes to digital video, capturing video games from consoles, and a lot more.

The included remote control is most likely my least favorite feature of the package. It’s nice that they included one, but unless you have a perfect line-of-site to the remote control, it won’t work. If you’re using the eyeTV Hybrid on a Mac, such as a Mac Mini, where it’s stowed away in a cabinet or isn’t easily accessible, then you aren’t going to really be able to use the remote control. The included USB extension may help in some cases.

Optionally, you could use the eyeTV iPhone/iPad application from the App Store ($4.99, click here) to be able to watch live programming from your eyeTV onto any iOS device. It’s easy to setup, and is very feature-packed. You can schedule recordings, view the TV guide, and even watch video from either the Composite or S-Video inputs.

In conclusion, the eyeTV Hybrid is an amazing package for people who wish to watch TV on their Mac or PC. The eyeTV software is essential, and is easy and fun to use. While the price is a bit high ($150~), you won’t be disappointed with the quality and ease-of-use of the entire Elgato eyeTV Hybrid kit. Everything just works, and it works well. The eyeTV Hybrid is the best way to watch live television on your Mac.

Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/gumballtech

Full review: Samsung Focus

admin — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 21:15:26 +0000

The Samsung Focus is a great device. It’s thin, fast, sleek, and it runs Windows Phone 7. Available for $199 from AT&T (upgrade or new 2-year contract) or for $499 without contract, this is possibly one of the best Windows Phone 7 devices available.

Packaging

The Samsung Focus comes in rather basic orange and white AT&T packaging. Inside, you get:

Samsung Focus
Quick Start guide
Full printed manual
USB cable
Wall USB charger
1500mAh battery
Stereo in-ear headset

Included accessories

With the Samsung Focus, you get a standard set of accessories. The wall USB charger is very compact and works well. The Samsung Focus uses a micro-USB connection (located at the top of the device), which allows for charging and syncing. You can charge either via the included charger, or through your computer.

Also included is a decent headset. It comes with a set of different sized silicone eartips so that you can choose the size that properly fits in your ear. Choosing the right size will allow for the best possible sound and level of noise cancellation. It’s not that bad. Compared to what you’d get with some other phones, such as the Apple iPhone 4, the quality is decent. The quality of its built-in microphone is superb, and most users should feel just fine using this included headset.

Hardware

Spec-wise, the Samsung Focus is on par with more recent smart-phones from 2010. It has:

1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor
512MB RAM
8GB internal memory (for apps, music, videos, etc)
4.0″ Super AMOLED display (480×800), multitouch capable
5.0 mega-pixel camera with flash
Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n
3G support at HSDPA (7.2Mbps download)/HSUPA (5.76Mbps upload)
Bluetooth 2.1
microSD slot for cards up to 32GB
Proximity and ambient light sensors
Accelerometer
GPS
FM radio receiver
1500mAh battery

Overall, it’s very well-rounded when it comes to hardware specs. Something that I thought was interesting is the fact that it has a built-in FM radio, which I’ll get into a little bit later.

The 4.0″ super AMOLED display is very impressive. The colors are very vibrant, and everything looks nice and crisp, but its resolution of 480×800 may leave some iPhone 4 users let down. But, it is very responsive and multitouch works very well (zooming into photos or websites is perfect).

Design

The Samsung Focus is the thinnest amongst the Windows Phone 7 lineup. It measures 4.9in by 2.53in. At its thickest point, it’s only 0.39in (just for those who’re wondering, the iPhone 4 is 0.37in thick). It’s also quite thin. That was the first thing that I noticed when I picked up the phone. It’s an all-plastic body, and to some, it may feel quite cheap and fragile.

The front of the Samsung Focus contains the earpiece, and 3 soft-touch keys for going back a screen, going to the Windows Phone 7 home screen, and going straight to Bing search. At the top of the phone, you’ll find the micro-USB port (which has a sliding cover), and the 3.5mm headset jack. Moving over to the right side, you’ll find the power button, and the 2-press camera button. If you push the camera button in a little bit, it will automatically focus the picture. Pressing it all the way will actually take the photo. The bottom of the Focus has a small hole where the microphone pickup is located. The left side of the device has the volume rocker. I will say that the buttons are very easy to push, and you’ll find yourself accidentally pushing them occasionally. The back of the phone is where the camera, flash, and speaker are located. I’ll be getting into these things later on.

The back cover can easily by pried off with any sized fingernail, revealing the battery, SIM and microSD card slots, and more of the speaker. Again, the Focus supports microSD cards up to 32GB in size. It only supports full-sized SIM cards, but if you happent to have a microSIM, you can easily spend some time to properly align the card into the slot, and it will work just fine.

I’m quite pleased by the design of the Focus. The lightness may a bit odd for some people, but most will become quickly accustomed.

Earpiece and speaker

Contrary to what some reviews have said regarding the Focus’ earpiece, I found it to not be very loud (even at its maximum volume of 10) or clear. It can become somewhat of a hassle to try and figure out what the person on the other end is saying. The earpiece is honestly the only letdown that I have with the Focus.

Its speaker, on the other hand, is quite the opposite! The speaker on the Samsung Focus is very clear and much louder than expected. Listening to music is a very nice experience, and most people will be very pleased with the speaker.

Software

The Samsung Focus runs Windows Phone 7 version 7.0.7004.0. Preloaded on the phone are some AT&T applications, such as FamilyMap, myWireless, Navigator, Radio, and U-Verse Mobile. Samsung also includes one of their own applications, called Samsung Now. This application gives you weather, news, and stocks, all in a nice and elegant looking package.

Other than those preloaded apps, the rest of Windows Phone 7 is the same as on every other WP7 compatible device. The user experience is very clean and minimalistic. Users who are coming from a feature phone will be very satisfied with WP7′s easy-to-use interface and stock applications.

Camera (photos and video)

The 5.0mp camera on the Focus is quite good. Colors from the photos are very vibrant and clear. There may be some problems in very low-light situations, but if you can hold the phone steady enough, you can get a pretty decent dark shot. Windows Phone 7 also has a number of different camera options, such as autofocus modes, white balance, effects, contrast, saturation, ISO, sharpness, resolution (5mp: 2560×1920, 3mp: 2048×1536, 2M: 1600×1200, VGA: 640×480), and more. In case you’ve gone in over your head with the options, you can restore them all to their default values with a tap of a button. There’s also a 5x digital zoom, which is basically a digital crop of a photo. All of the below pictures were taken at 5mp at the default settings. I’ve also included an iPhone 4 comparison gallery.

Samsung Focus camera photo gallery

iPhone 4 comparison photo gallery

Video quality is mediocre. 720p video is recorded at 24FPS, which gives recorded videos more of a cinematic feel. To some, this may be great, but to most, this isn’t very good. General videos seem to lag and are choppy (because of that odd frame rate). The overall quality/crispness of the video isn’t that great, either. We had to use YouTube to upload the video. If you’d like to download the raw .mp4, click here.

Speed

The Focus has a Snapdragon processor that runs at 1GHz. Some apps open very fast (sometime instantly, after the little animation is over with), but the majority of applications will take quite some time to open. Twitter, for example, takes ages to open, and then once it’s actually opened, it’ll have to reload your entire Twitter timeline. This isn’t a problem with the phone, but more along the lines of the software.

Browsing the web is pretty decent. Web pages load at an acceptable speed, and attachments download pretty fast. Applications from the market download and install at a pretty fast rate.

When it comes to gaming, Windows Phone 7 isn’t really there yet. Yes, there are some “intense” 3D games, but the frame rate of most is very poor and depressing.

Battery life

Simply put, the battery life on the Focus is superb. I was able to get 35 hours and 15 minutes on a single charge under rather heavy use. Wifi, location, and auto-brightness were all on. I also had 6 email accounts setup, all of which checked for email once every hour. There was also a lot of web browsing, use of Foursquare/Twitter, a couple of phone calls, lots of text messages (some with pictures), etc. The Focus has an amazing battery. I wish my iPhone 4 did this well!

Multimedia

The Samsung Focus runs Windows Phone 7, which means it has a built-in Zune app. The Zune is very easy to use and looks great. Navigating through the various menus is a breeze. Finding a specific song to play is very quick and painless. The “Now Playing” screen is neatly organized and gives you everything that you need to really look at. The Zune is also where the video and radio features are located. Video playback on the Focus is really great, especially when watching 720p videos.

What’s missing?

Windows Phone 7 is at its first version. There are a lot of vital features that should be present, such as cut/copy/paste and multitasking. Microsoft has already said that these things will be coming within the next couple of months (via a software update), but really? Android has had multitasking since day one, and has already been around for a few years. You’d think that Microsoft would’ve spent lots of time on these basic yet needed features. Even Windows Mobile 6.5 has cut/copy/paste and some form of multitasking.

Wrapup

Samsung has done a fantastic job with the Focus (as well as the Galaxy S line of smartphones). Its thin design will please a lot of potential customers, and the fact that it runs Windows Phone 7 makes it an attention-grabber. Although, users who are used to the Apple Ecosystem or having hundreds of thousands of available applications will be left disappointed, as the Windows Phone Marketplace is very small and is filled with hundreds (if not thousands) of poorly developed apps. Good apps come with time, and the Marketplace will definitely be growing over the coming months.

So who’s this phone good for? Well, if you’re coming from a feature-phone, or someone who wants something very minimalistic and easy to use, then this is just perfect. If you’re someone who really relies on lots of apps, multitasking, If you’re already an Android or iOS user, you’ll find the Focus a pleasant device to use, but won’t be something that you’d want to use on a daily basis.

It really is a fantastic device, and I hope Windows Phone 7, in general, does well, but it truly isn’t for everyone. As a device, it’s awesome! The software is really what’s sort of bringing it down, but Windows Phone 7 is a powerful platform that a lot of people will be flocking to.

More photos

Twitter: http://twitter.com/gumballtech

Stylus Pen by Hard Candy Cases

admin — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 14:00:41 +0000

Have you ever wanted a stylus for your capacitive touch screen device? Chances are that your answer may be a “no”, but what if you could get the features of a stylus combined with a ink pen? The Stylus Pen by Hard Candy Cases does just that and is priced at $34.95. Offering a top-notch design and replaceable ink, the Stylus Pen is great for writing on paper and for controlling a device, such as an iPhone.

Made of nice-and-shiny chrome, the Stylus Pen is a real high quality piece of work. It has a bit of weight to it (seems to weigh about as much as an iPhone 4), but I like to have weighted pens. You can pop off one end of the pen and it will reveal either the stylus or the ink pen. If untwist the grip portion of the pen even further, you can replace the ink. The stylus portion is made of some sort of rubber material, and is very sensitive when using it on a mobile device (which is a good thing). Casual scrolling of web pages and news articles is a breeze.

While there isn’t much more that can be said about something like this, I will say that this product has made our holiday gift guide. You get the best of both worlds: An ink pen for physical writing, and a stylus for use on a mobile device. It weighs more than the average pen, but the functionality overcomes that possible downside.

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Photo Gallery

Pogo Sketch review

admin — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 14:00:14 +0000

A stylus may sound like something that shouldn’t even exist anymore, but there are times when one might like to have one. A stylus could be used for casual web-browsing, sketching/art, and a lot more. The Pogo Sketch by Ten One Design would be the one to get. Priced at a reasonable $14.95, the Pogo Sketch (also available in multiple colors) will suit the needs of anyone who just so happens to want a stylus. Not only does it work on mobile devices (any capacitive touch screen device), but it also works on the trackpad that’s found on the MacBook Pro and Magic Trackpad.

Made of lightweight high-end anodized aluminum, the smooth surface appeals to anyone and provides an acceptable amount of grip. The shirt clip at the top of the Pogo Sketch makes it easily accessible from a shirt pocket.

The stylus itself is a pleasure to use. I’ve been using it on an iPhone 4, Samsung Focus, and my MacBook Pro’s trackpad, and it works beautifully with all devices. What’s really neat is that you could combine a stylus and use Ten One Design’s “Inklet” application for Mac OS X to turn the trackpad into a little tablet for pressure-sensitive drawing (a list of just some of the compatible programs are available here) and handwriting recognition.

Overall, this is a very nice product (albeit there’s only so much one can say about a stylus)! Its design will please everyone who would like a stylus, and is the go-to choice for a stylus.

If you’d like to save some money on the Pogo Sketch, visit Ten One Design’s website on 11/26 between 12 a.m. and 12 p.m. to save between 25-50% off all of their products, or on 11/29 between 12 a.m. and 12 p.m.

Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/gumballtech

Photo Gallery

How to Add Images and Metadata to Windows 7 Media Center Movies

admin — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 14:00:06 +0000

So, you just got a spiffy new Windows 7 PC, and you’re setting up your media libraries. After organizing everything you open Windows 7 Media Center to watch a movie, only to find all your ripped backed up DVDs are missing images and metadata.

The fix is fairly simple, requiring only a few steps and a little time.

Step 1: Each movie file needs to be in it’s own individual folder. This in itself could be very time consuming, thankfully File2Folder Script 1.0 is a simple automated script to do it for you. Download and run the script.

Step 2: Once the folders are set up, you just need the metadata in xml format for each movie. The easiest way would be to go to DVDxml.com and download the file for each title, placing it the corresponding folder. DVDxml.com has a program for their Gold Members that will automate the process for you ($5 to become a Gold Member).

Step 3: Relaunch your Media Center, and enjoy the organization .

You can follow me on twitter @ZylearCreations

Transfer contacts from Address Book for Mac to Windows Phone 7

admin — Sat, 13 Nov 2010 19:16:20 +0000

If you’ve been disappointed by the lack of synchronization options for Windows Phone 7, you’re in luck, at least in terms of contacts. If you’re on a Mac and use Address Book to store all of your contacts, exporting them and importing them (via the Windows Phone website) is somewhat of a pain, as you can’t export them to a .CSV file. Well, you’re in luck!There’s an application called “Contactizer” (free 30-day unrestricted trial) that lets you export all of your contacts (with all of their information) into a single .CSV file that can be used with windowsphone.live.com.

This is more work than it should be in the first place, but this method works perfectly fine.

Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/gumballtech

Windows Phone 7 – First impressions (HTC 7 Surround)

admin — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 22:56:02 +0000

Today, Windows Phone 7 went on sale in the US. AT&T gets the Samsung Focus, HTC 7 Surround, and the LG Quantum. T-Mobile gets the Dell Venue Pro, and a few others (but who cares about T-Mobile anyway?). I went ahead and played with a HTC 7 Surround (which I should actually be receiving a review unit of by the end of the month) at a local AT&T store. My thoughts about Windows Phone 7 has been the same since the very beginning: Looks nice, isn’t too practical, may take longer than expected to get used to, lacks some important features. Those thoughts have been confirmed after playing with an actual device.

First, the HTC 7 Surround. It’s not the thinnest of WP7 devices (the Samsung Focus is the thinnest), but it still looks pretty good. The slide out surround-sound speaker is nice to have when you happen to be watching or listening to something. The kickstand is also nice to have.

Next, Windows Phone 7 as an operating system. It’s really not that bad. The interface is very fluid and smooth. There aren’t any signs of stuttering or any lag. It’s a pretty cool experience. BUT, the OS just doesn’t seem very practical. To get into an app, you must go back to your homescreen, find the app you want to go into, and then tap on it. If you have dozens upon dozens of apps, you’ll have to do a lot of scrolling, as app management isn’t really there. In other words, multitasking isn’t really there as well. Applications will run in the background, though. For instance, if you open a webpage in Internet Explorer (loads pages quite slow…) and move onto another app, and then come back into IE, you’ll be able to take off where you last were. The lack of copy and paste is rather disappointing, but it’ll be coming “in a matter of weeks”.

Windows Phone 7 seems quite promising, but there’s something about it that just isn’t clicking with me… Maybe I just need more time with it, but I think that a lot of people, after using iOS or an Android device, will be sort of disappointed and confused.

Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/gumballtech

Video

Find My Windows Phone

admin — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 13:00:03 +0000

Find my iPhone Windows Phone. Apple showcased the “Find My iPhone” a while back but it is surely not alone anymore. At Microsoft’s event today they added themselves to that mix, which also includes Verizon Wireless who will soon be adding that feature to it’s smartphone line up.

As opposed to having to pay the $99 premium to even use the feature on iOS, AT&T has announced it will be free. That may not be true of all carriers. To use the feature it looks as if all you have to do is head over to the Windows Phone site and sign in to find your phone.

They may be late to the Smartphone Wars but they sure are trying to reel in some buyers.

Why Windows Phone 7 interests me

admin — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 00:29:27 +0000

Yes, this is primarily an iPhone-related website, but it’s nice to get a dose of some different things every once in a while (which is what our writers try and accomplish). So! Why does Windows Phone 7 interest me? It’s different. It’s completely different than anything we’re all used to seeing or using. Sure, the iPhone is revolutionary and all, but iOS has basically remained the same for 4 versions (at least when it comes down to the UX). The first time I saw a screenshot of WP7, I instantly thought “well that’s neat”. Devices will start being released in about a month, and it really has me interested in buying a Windows Phone 7-based smartphone.Like I mentioned, Windows Phone 7 takes on a completely different approach to its user interface. WP7 has a more of a Zune-like interface, which I’ve always found as neat and intuitive. Lets compare what we know from the Zune’s interface (and Windows Phone 7), with the iPhone. The iPhone just gives you pages (and now, folders) of applications. Look at some screenshots of the interface from iOS, and then look at the screenshot from this post (which is below, since if you’re looking at this using the mobile version of this website, you can’t see the “featured image”). They are both completely different from each other, and this is what I really like. Now, lets take a look at Android. Android and iOS seems to have copied a lot of their UI elements and features from each other, which is normal, but they aren’t trying to take on a new approach towards the future. Maybe they’re planning on it (with Android 4.0, or iOS 6). Now, I said Android 4.0 and iOS 6, because I don’t think that their next versions are going to be much different than what we already have in Android 2.2 or iOS 4. I love my iPhone 4 and iOS, but the Apple ecosystem is just becoming quite boring.

But anyway, that was a little bit on what I think of Windows Phone 7. We may be receiving a prototype phone in so that we can do a complete review when devices become available at the end of October. Nevermind that.

Mmmm...... Windows Phone 7.

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Download iOS 4.2 beta 2 for all devices & iTunes 10.1 beta for Mac and Windows NOW!

admin — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 00:12:37 +0000

Apple this evening has released iOS 4.2 beta 2 for the iPad, iPhone 4, 3GS, 3G, iPod Touch 4G, 3G, 2G, as well as the beta of iTunes 10.1 for Mac OS X, Windows x86, and Windows x64. At the moment, actual details of what’s new in this release are unknown, but there are some changes to the way printing works as well as some Xcode related goodies. Release notes and download links for all are after the jump.

[spoiler show="Show release notes" hide="Hide release notes"]

iOS SDK Release Notes for iOS 4.2 beta 2

Introduction

iOS SDK 4.2 provides support for developing iOS applications and includes the complete set of Xcode tools, compilers, and frameworks for creating applications for iOS and Mac OS X. These tools include the Xcode IDE and the Instruments analysis tool among many others.

With this software you can develop applications that run on iPhone, iPad or iPod touch running iOS 4.2. You can also test your applications using the included iPhone Simulator, which supports iOS 4.2. Installing iOS SDK 4.2 requires a Macintosh computer running Mac OS X 10.6.4 (Snow Leopard) or later.

For more information and additional support resources, visit:

http://developer.apple.com/devcenter/ios/program/

Bug Reporting

Please report any bugs not mentioned in the “Notes and Known Issues” section using the Apple Bug Reporter on the Apple Developer website at: http://developer.apple.com/bugreporter/. Additionally, you may discuss these issues and iOS SDK 4.2 in the Apple Developer Forums:http://devforums.apple.com.

Notes and Known Issues

The following issues relate to using the 4.2 SDK to develop code.

Xcode

Xcode can sometimes appear to hang and unresponsive for a few seconds. If you run into this issue, you can disable the automatic documentation download, to prevent this from happening again.To disable the automatic documentation download, choose Xcode->Preferences->Documentation and uncheck the “Check for and install updates automatically” option.
In iOS Beta 2, there is a new option for specifying the Base SDK called “Latest SDK”. This is the Apple recommended (and best) choice for most iOS developers. It will cause your project to always use the newest available SDK.

Advertising

Using iAds for the first may throw some errors, often followed by a successful request. This should not block development and will eventually work.

Audio

The iPad screen rotation lock switch now functions as a sound/silent switch in iOS 4.2. This switch behaves as the ring/silent switch does on iPhone.Applications targeted for iPad will need to take this into account when implementing audio behaviors.For more information on audio behavior guidelines and how to implement them, see “Handling Common Tasks” in iPhone Human Interface Guidelines and the Audio Session Programming Guide.

Calendar

Calendar can now import .ics files directly as a way to add events. If your app has access to .ics files, you should test importing them with the UIDocumentInteractionController API.

GameKit

Apps can use the GKFriendRequestComposeViewController class to initiate friend requests.

Media Player Framework

Applications using MPMoviePlayerController and MPMoviePlayerViewController to play movies now automatically benefit from AirPlay for Videos, provided they use the standard transport controls. However, video streams that rely on cookies for credentials are not supported and should be passed in the URL.

Printing

iOS 4.2 devices can print wirelessly to printers that support AirPrint, including:
- HP Photosmart Premium Fax e-All-in-One Printer – C410
- HP Photosmart Premium e-All-in-One Printer series – C310
- HP Photosmart Plus e-All-in-One Printer series – B210
iOS 4.2 devices can print to printers shared through a Mac or a PC.
For iOS 4.2 beta 2, testing printing requires:
- A printer that supports AirPrint, running the latest available firmware
- A printer shared through a Mac running Mac OS X 10.6.5 beta, available on the iOS developer page
- A printer shared through a PC running iTunes 10.1 beta, available on the iOS developer page
Choosing the menu item “Open Printer Simulator” from iPhone simulator does nothing.Launching the PrinterSimulator directly from /Developer/iPhoneOS.platform/Developer/Applications provides access to the PrinterSimulator.

Simulator

Building an app that weak links CoreVideo.framework against the 4.2 Simulator SDK and running against the 3.2 Simulator will result in a crash. The same configuration will work when building against the 4.2 device SDK and running on a 3.2 device.

[/spoiler]

Thumbnail image - Beta details.

Donations

Would you like to donate a little bit? You can do so via PayPal by sending the donation to contact@gumballtech.com.

iTunes 10.1 Beta, Mac OS X – 65.9MB

iTunes 10.1 Beta, Windows x86

iTunes 10.1 Beta, Windows x64

iPad iOS 4.2 beta 2 – 520.38MB

iPhone 4 iOS 4.2 beta 2 – 622.31MB

iPhone 3GS iOS 4.2 beta 2 – 403.45MB

iPhone 3G iOS 4.2 beta 2 – 322.6MB

iPod Touch 4G iOS 4.2 beta 2 – 620.49MB

iPod Touch 3G iOS 4.2 beta 2 – 391.32MB

iPod Touch 2G iOS 4.2 beta 2 – 349.18MB

IE9 vs. Chrome 6 – Speed Test

admin — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 23:53:43 +0000

Today, Microsoft released Internet Explorer 9 beta 1 in both 32-bit and 64-bit flavors. How does it stack up to the rest of the competition? Well, it’s not quite there yet, but it is much better than the previous version of Internet Explorer. IE9 beta also boasts a nice new icon, which looks a lot sleeker than its predecessor. Speed test times after the break.

The below times were timed with WebWait, a simple page load timer. 10 websites were tested, and the overall times were added up. The two web browsers were tested on a system with a 2.66GHz Core 2 Duo, 4GB RAM, 9600M GT (256MB), 64GB SSD, all running on Windows 7 Professional x64 on a 20Mbps connection.

IE9 BETA 1 (9.0.7930.16406 X64)

Yahoo.com – 1.36s
MSN.com – 3.45s
Bing.com – 0.63s
Microsoft.com – 2.87s
Apple.com – 1.21s
Dogpile.com – 1.83s
Gumballtech.com – 2.14s
IMDB.com – 2.05s
TestDriveUnlimited2.com – 4.41s
TWiiPhone.com – 2.56s

TOTAL: 22.51s

CHROME (6.0.472.59)

Yahoo.com – 1.49s
MSN.com – 2.58s
Bing.com – 0.71s
Microsoft.com – 2.92s
Apple.com – 1.57s
Dogpile.com – 1.32s
Gumballtech.com – 1.94s
IMDB.com – 2.37s
TestDriveUnlimited2 – 4.80s
TWiiPhone.com – 2.14s

TOTAL: 21.84

Chrome won by 0.67s, which isn’t that much. What does this say? IE9 is looking to be a serious competitor in the web browser market. In fact, IE9 won the majority of the tests (6 out of 10). To the average user, IE9 will be plenty for them. To a power user, Chrome may still be the number one choice. IE9 is definitely going to be interesting once it is fully released.

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Thumbnail image

[Win] Jailbreak iOS 4 with sn0wbreeze

admin — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 15:52:49 +0000

ih8sn0w has released sn0wbreeze 1.6.1 for Windows (PwnageTool for 4.0, sn0wbreeze’s Mac OS X equivalent, is available here). You can jailbreak the iPhone 3GS (old bootrom, not jailbroken with Spirit), iPhone 3G, and iPod Touch 2G (non-MC model). It creates a custom already jailbroken IPSW that you can restore to from within iTunes. Instructions and download links after the jump.

Basically, you give sn0wbreeze the OFFICIAL IPSW file for iOS 4 (NOT the GM), set some options, and let it create a custom, pre-jailbroken IPSW file for you. Then, you restore to that IPSW file in iTunes. Your 3GS must already be jailbroken and not already on iOS 4.

If you don’t know whether your iPhone 3GS is on the new bootrom or not, run f0recast. If you’re on an iPhone 3G or an iPod Touch 2G (without the MC at the beginning of your model number), then you’re good to go with sn0wbreeze or redsn0w.

You can also use redsn0w (iPhone 3G, iPod Touch 2G) for Mac & Windows, and it doesn’t require a restore. If you’re on Mac OS X, you can also use PwnageTool.

Download Links (16.24MB, sn0wbreeze-V1.6.1.exe)

Since you can’t permanently screw up your device, we recommend playing with sn0wbreeze by customizing its options to your liking.

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Download iTunes 9.2 (DIRECT) for Mac & Windows

admin — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 21:04:46 +0000

Apple has just released iTunes 9.2 for both Mac and Windows. It contains several new features, including syncing for iOS 4, Folder management, and more. iTunes 9.2 also makes “scrolling much faster”. Read on for direct download links.

Mac OS X | Windows | Windows (x64)

One noticeable change is that the picture of your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch, now has a screenshot of the homescreen. It’s not your actual homescreen, but more of the default.

- Enjoy

[How-To] Windows Phone 7 Series Emulator

admin — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 00:45:51 +0000

Want to check out Windows Phone 7 Series before it hits the stores? Instructions on how to run the emulator (with all of the applications unlocked) are after the jump.

There are 4 things that you need to download. It’s quite a bit of downloading, but you need all of it for any of this to even work.

Once all 4 things are downloaded, install the first 3, and extract the hacked ROM to your desktop. Rename this ROM to “WM70C1.bin”. Head over to C:\Program Files (or x86)\Microsoft SDKs\WindowsPhone\v7.0\Emulation\Images, and rename the “WM70C1.bin” to “WM70C1.bak.bin”. Take the one on your desktop and move it to the Images folder.

Next, start “Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Express for Windows Phone”, make a new project, then start the simulator.

- Enjoy!

IE9 Developer Preview – Download Inside

admin — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 17:38:50 +0000

Microsoft today has released the developer version of Internet Explorer 9, Microsoft’s next web browser.

IE9 only scores a 55/100 in the acid3 web test. We will do our own speed tests later.

You can download it directly here.

iTunes 9.0.3 Released for Windows & Mac OS X

admin — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 22:10:46 +0000

Apple has just released iTunes 9.0.3, which contains the following fixes:

iTunes 9.0.3 provides a number of important bug fixes, including:

• iTunes no longer ignores your “Remember password for purchases” setting.
• Addresses problems with syncing some Smart Playlists and Podcasts with iPod.
• Resolves a problem recognizing when iPod is connected.
• Addresses issues that affect stability and performance.

You can download it through Apple Software Update, or stand-alone here: http://bit.ly/2E3DCZ

Cool Windows Game: Stick Soldiers 2

admin — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:07:02 +0000

Stick Soldiers 2 is a multiplayer game that you play either on a team in team deathmatch or you can do free for all mode.

Stick Soldiers 2 allows you to easily add user created DLC to the game via http://www.andrewrussellstudios.com/wsu/ and also the game files are easy enough to deal with that I was actually able to change the drawing of a weapon and insert it back into the game as my own. I have not yet figured out how to make it so one bullet is an, to use a phrase from cod:waw, ” insta-kill”, but I assume the game files being the way they are that someone could easily edit them.

There is also a built in level editor which I have yet to figure out how to save the levels I make.

As you can probably tell ss2 was not made by Andrew Russell, it was in fact made by another developer who sold the rights to it.

So as far as Stick Soldiers 2 goes it is basically a very simple windows game that brings the phrases FFA, and TDM, down to the bones of what they mean, and with community DLC and your own created content to import, this free game is a definite download.

Click the picture above to download (Windows Only)

There is also a well known cheat called god mode where you hit (`) to get to the console and type (god) to be invulnerable as well as (give all) which gives you all weapons in the game and full ammo.

Zune HD 4.3 Released

admin — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 18:07:02 +0000

Microsoft has recently released Zune HD software version 4.3.191. Changes include…

Support for 3D games and applications.
Auto-correct for typing.
A landscape keyboard.
Better web browser.
New “Keyboard” option in Settings.
New “Seek” and “Presets” option in Radio.
Several other bug fixes.

The Zune HD has the Nvidia Tegra GPU, allowing 3D gaming that is considerably faster than what you will get on a PSP. It will be very neat to see these things in action.

Windows 7 Upgrade DVD – Do a clean install!

admin — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 21:18:00 +0000

Windows 7 came out today. The upgrade copy of it is considerably cheaper than the regular copy. With Vista, you can only do a upgrade and still be able to use and active with the key given with the package. Although there was a workaround (install a lower copy of Vista using your upgrade DVD, then upgrade it to the version you’ve purchased), it just wasn’t a very practical solution. With Windows 7, you can use your upgrade DVD and upgrade key to install a nice clean copy, AND activate it!

Just go into the installer like normal, and choose Custom (Advanced), format the drive, and install it. When it’s done, activate, and enjoy using Windows 7.

Windows 7 Unboxing & More

admin — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 19:08:22 +0000

WINDOWS 7 IS HERE

So Windows 7 was released around the world. We went out to the store, bought it for $119.99 plus 20% off, and no tax. The total was $95.99, which was probably the best deal you could get on this (for the Home Premium Upgrade). Below are the pictures of the unboxing! [Throughout this post, click on an image to see its full size.]

The Windows 7 Home Premium upgrade box in all its glory!

The back of the box. Notice the system requirements on the left side. Also notice the little box in the lower-left: “DVD included: 32-bit and 64-bit discs inside”.

Left side of the box.

Top of the box.

Windows 7 next to Windows Vista, also purchased on the day it came out nearly 3 years ago. Notice the purchase price and stocking date.

Everything inside. You get a informative booklet, a ‘Upgrading from Windows XP?’ card, the 32-bit DVD, and the 64-bit DVD.

Another view of the DVDs.

There you go! Windows 7. As we are writing this post, it is currently being installed on to a 17″ HP laptop. We will be installing Windows 7 Professional x64 (which we received via MSDNAA) later on to a MacBook Pro via Boot Camp.

Questions? Comments?

1 Week ‘Till Windows 7 – Are you PUMPED?

admin — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 19:08:13 +0000

There are 7 days until the release of Windows 7 (October 22, 2009). Are you ready for it, or do you not care at all?

Windows 7 is undoubtedly Microsoft’s greatest version of Windows 7 yet. With a lot of visual and under-the-hood enhancements, Windows 7 may also be IT professional’s dream come true.

We are VERY pumped about this Windows release. We were even pumped with the release of Vista, which we actually loved more than XP. There are tons of performance tweaks and visual enhancements that easily make this one of the greatest operating systems ever made (here come the Apple fanboy’s).

We want to know what you think; we want to know whether or not you will purchase Windows 7, or obtain through other means. Let us know by sending us a reply on either @besweeet or @gumballtech, or by leaving a comment below.