Sunday, February 3, 2008

MacBook Air - World's Thinnest Laptop



The world’s thinnest notebook is now shipping, Apple announced since January 30, 2008.



Apple CEO Steve Jobs holds an envelope containing the new MacBook Air during his keynote at the MacWorld Conference in San Francisco. The super-slim new laptop is less than an inch thick and turns on the moment it's opened. MacBook Air measures 0.16 inches (0.4cm) at its thinnest point while its maximum height of 0.76 inches (1.93cm) is less than the thinnest point on competing notebooks.


Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveils the new MacBook Air during his keynote at the MacWorld Conference in San Francisco. The super-slim new laptop is less than an inch thick and turns on the moment it's opened. MacBook Air measures 0.16 inches (0.4cm) at its thinnest point while its maximum height of 0.76 inches (1.93cm) is less than the thinnest point on competing notebooks


Apple CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs holds the new MacBook Air laptop computer as he delivers the keynote speech to kick off the 2008 Macworld fair in San Francisco. Jobs introduced the wireless Time Capsule backup appliance, iTV 2 and the new ultra thin laptop MacBook Air.


Apple CEO Steve Jobs holds up the MacBook Air after his keynote at the MacWorld Conference in San Francisco. The super-slim new laptop is less than an inch thick and turns on the moment it's opened.

Technical Specs


• .16 to .75-inch thickness on top

• 12.8 x 8.94 inches

• 3 pounds

• 5 hours of battery life with everything running


• Intel Core 2 Duo Processor at 1.6 or 1.8GHz, motherboard the length of a pencil.

• 800MHz frontside bus.

• 2GB RAM 667MHz DDR2 standard.
• 13.3-inch screen, LED backlit.

• 1,280 x 800 pixels

• Micro-DVI adapter (for DVI, VGA, composite and S-Video output)

• Intel GMA X3100 Graphics processor with 144MB RAM shared


• 1.8-inch 80GB HD or 64GB Solid State Drive (no moving pieces, just add $1,300!!!)

• Multitouch trackpad with gestures. Pans, zooms, rotates, etc.

• 802.11n and Bluetooth 2.1.

• Optional external HD for $99, USB-bus powered.

• Full backlit keyboard.

• One USB 2.0, one audio port, one Micro-DVI

Sunday, January 27, 2008

JAILBREAK 1.1.3 for iPhone

JAILBREAK 1.1.3 was finally released to the public... as I mentioned before it wont be released till February but due to public demand, it was eventually release by Nate True last January 25, 2008.

The iPhone Dev Team as they called it has done it again, creating a new version of jaibreak for firmware 1.1.3.







WARNING!!!!!

As Nate True mentioned, as all of the previous upgrades were risky, this new jailbreak is twice risky than before. If in case it fails, you can always restore your iPhone using iTunes and start all over again. And never forget to back up first!!!

This jailbreak, just like the jailbreak 1.1.2, comes as an upgrade to the previous versions of jailbreak. In other words, you need to have 1.1.1 or 1.1.2 jailbroken phone already, before you actually begin jailbreaking your iPhone.


Before upgrading... read this portion first!!!!

---JAILBREAK 1.1.3 will not give 100% working features, but this doesnt mean that you can't undo what has been done... you can always restore your iPhone from from an state the upgrader leaves it in. Well it wont work to a broken phone already... broken means like unusuable, totally broken, shattered glasses, hardware failure, wet iPhone... etc!!!

these are the FAQ from Nate True's website:

The iPhone can-I-upgrade list

1.0.0 to 1.0.2 phone: You must upgrade to 1.1.1 or 1.1.2 before continuing. If your phone has been unlocked (modified to work with a non-AT&T carrier) with anything other than iPhone SIM Free, you will not be able to proceed without re-locking your phone by upgrading to 1.1.3. Otherwise you're clear.

1.1.1 phone, unmodified: You need to head to "jailbreakme.com" to install Installer.app on your phone. After that you can perform the 1.1.3 soft upgrade.

1.1.1 phone, with Installer.app: You're clear to do the upgrade.

1.1.2 phone, unmodified: You need to do a downgrade to 1.1.1. Then go to 1.1.1 unmodified instructions.

1.1.2 phone, modified through Oktoprep and jailbreak.jar: You're clear to upgrade.

1.1.3 phone, unmodified: You need to downgrade to 1.1.1 first. Then go to 1.1.1 unmodified instructions.

An iPod Touch, any version: This upgrade is not for you. Look for a separate release from the real Dev Team for that. However Nate have had scattered reports that it still works on 8gb Touches.

after assuring everything on these FAQ you may now continue


Update - unlocked phones appear to remain unlocked and work properly after the update, according to scattered reports.

MAC VERSION - Download the 1.1.3 package maker and open it, then run Run_This. Read carefully, press Enter when necessary, and the image will be uploaded to your phone. Then skip to the Installer part below.



Here's how you do it:

- Start with a 1.1.1 or 1.1.2 jailbroken phone with Installer.app installed AND AT LEAST 300mb OF FREE SPACE.
- Plug in your phone via USB to your computer.
- Download, extract, and run iBrickr Special 1.1.3 jailbreak edition.
- iBrickr will determine what firmware you are running on your phone and make sure you can run the update.
- iBrickr will then guide you through the process of obtaining and modifying the 1.1.3 firmware (make sure to read everything thoroughly).
- iBrickr will upload the new firmware image to your phone. Note that this only puts the file on your phone and does not modify it at all, yet.
- When iBrickr finishes (should take about 10 minutes), it will tell you to go to Installer and install the "1.1.3 soft upgrade" package. Do that.
- The upgrade will stall at about halfway. THIS IS NORMAL. DO NOT INTERACT WITH YOUR PHONE WHILE THIS IS HAPPENING. Just leave it plugged in and leave it alone.
- When the installer finishes (this should take another 10-15 minutes), your phone should reboot with a fresh activated 1.1.3 firmware.

and you're done... if anything happened, just read the FAQ:


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


Questions / problems while running the image builder


iBrickr says my phone is not jailbroken.

Re-download iBricker - Nate re-published it to not require a jailbreak. iBrickr uploads the image to my phone very quickly.


You said it would take 10 minutes! That generally means that the creation of the image failed.

iBrickr needs 300 megabytes of free RAM on your computer (this is a requirement of sdelta3 which does the patching). Try quitting unnecessary applications or using a more powerful computer. Also try redownloading iBricker (Nate made some minor changes recently).


I'm using the Mac version and Run_This says there's no default application. What should I do?

Open Terminal.app (Command-Space, type Terminal, press Enter) and drag Run_This onto the black window that comes up. Then follow the instructions.


I have a PowerPC Mac. Can I run the Mac image builder?

No. I have no idea how to compile PowerPC binaries. If someone wants to compile them and send them to me I will post them.


I run Linux. Can I run the image builder?

Yes! Download the Mac version and re-compile vfdecrypt, dmg2img, and sdelta3 using the sources included ("make" in each folder should suffice). Then the script will run for you except for the final iPhone upload - upload 113_upgrade_image.bin to your phone using SFTP or something, to the /var/root/Media/softupgrade folder (which you will have to create).


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


Questions / problems while running the 1.1.3 soft upgrade from Installer


I don't see the "1.1.3 soft upgrade" package in my Installer.

Make sure you have the "Community Sources" package installed, and hit "Refresh" in the Sources tab. It should show up under "All packages".


When I install the package, it says "Main script execution error". When I hit OK it looks like it crashed.

This happens to some people, but it doesn't appear to affect operation. Your phone should update in about 10 minutes and reboot by itself. If that doesn't happen, you'll need to restore and try again.


When I install the package, it completely crashes my phone with the progress bar at halfway.

This is normal. It's updating your phone - don't touch it! Just leave it plugged in and let it do its thing. It's okay if your screen turns off too.


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


Questions / problems after the last reboot


Help! My phone is stuck at the Apple logo!

First, give it some time. Sometimes it just takes a while (up to 4 minutes) to boot. If that didn't work, your upgrade has failed. You need to follow the restore instructions further down.

Help! My phone has the "Connect to iTunes" graphic!

Your upgrade has failed. You need to follow the restore instructions further down


Why does the Google Maps My Location feature suck?

The 1.1.3 soft-upgrade does not upgrade the iPhone's cell phone radio. The new radio has features that aid Google Maps when there is no Wi-fi signal available. So the Maps app only has your Wi-fi positioning information to go on. Users have reported success installing Navizon or LocateMe, and using it once; then Google Maps starts working.


Why don't iTunes Store previews work?

This one I'm not sure about. They work for me. *shrug*


Why is there 300 megabytes of 'Other' eating up my phone after I upgrade?

That's the firmware image. Install and uninstall "1.1.3 Soft Upg. Cleaner" from Installer to delete the image.


Does iBrickr work for ringtones any more?

Not right now. But iPhone Ringtone Maker works great with 1.1.3. It's put out by a friend of Nate, and it works great. Totally worth the money.


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


PANIC: EVERYTHING IS BROKEN AND I NEED MY PHONE PLEASE HELP ME

If you're having a mental breakdown over having broken your phone (or me having broken your phone depending on how you look at it), this section is for you.

Yes, this solves the scrolling-looping issue too.

The one size fits all make-everything-better instructions Download the iPhone 1.1.1 firmware directly from Apple. Save it somewhere memorable.

Plug in your iPhone to your computer.

Press and hold Power and Home buttons on your phone until it asks you to connect to iTunes. In iTunes it will say you have to restore your phone. You do! But not to 1.1.3. Press and hold the Shift key (if on Windows) or the Option key (if on Mac) while pushing the Restore button in iTunes.

If you did it right, you should be able to select the iPhone 1.1.1 firmware from where you saved it. Let iTunes do its thing.

If the update fails very quickly, then you need to make the phone more receptive - check out further instructions below.

If the update goes through all its steps but fails at the end with an error (1015 generally), you may just need to run iBrickr (the normal version) to tell it to boot.

Now that you have a working 1.1.1 phone, you can proceed to upgrade using the list at the top of this page.

Failed restore instructions (Windows only for now) If your restore fails quickly, you have to make the iPhone a little more receptive.

Grab the classic iBrickr, and open it up while your phone is in the "Connect to iTunes" mode. There will be an option to "Begin the downgrade to firmware 1.0.2". Click that one. Your iPhone screen will turn white and iTunes will again complain about restoring.

Do the Shift-Restore trick again, and this time it will work, minus the 1015 error, which iBrickr can get around (restart iBrickr when it happens).


by the way.. all these FAQ and instructions were from Nate True's website... I just want to share it to you, my friends from Hubpages and my loyal friends in real life, and anyone who can't find his website... if you want to get his website address, here's the link.

if you find this article useful and you want to share some donations, you may click on the donations button on the right side of the page


Thursday, January 24, 2008

Jailbreak 1.1.3 for iPhone and iTouch

Hear Ye! Hear Ye!

It was announced that the firmware 1.1.3 for iPhone and iTunes has been jailbroken already... the newest software... jailbreak 1.1.3








The iPhone 1.1.3 Jailbreak is here, courtesy of Nate True and the iPhone Dev team. It's a Windows-only download right now, but Nate tells us that they've got a Mac version coming soon and it "should be quick".





Fot the Windows version, you need to download an install iBrickr (instructions are on Nate's site), which will guide you through downloading and installing the firmware. The whole thing will take about 15-30 minutes, based on estimates.


BUT..... the bad news is, the dev team is holding off on the release of the JailBreak until after the SDK is released this February. This is probably to avoid any future patches which will nerf the recently developed jailbreak.






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iTube182 Amplifier


iTube182 with valvedock



Audiophiles and non-audiophiles but are sound addicts this one is for you. The new iTube 182 is a fully integrated, single end, class A power amplifier. This new revolution features 7 valves and 3 line input stages to offer 18 watts per channel of the smoothest audio around.



Just like with all Fatman iTube Valve amplifiers, every aspects of sound reproduction are handled with incredible accuracy with a full natural sound stage which is precise and yet fills the listening room with breadth and depth.


With all the impossibles and possibles, the programme material is reproduced with supreme clarity, accuracy and openness with a beautifully warm tonality. Transients at all frequencies are handled with effortless ease, giving a tight and well controlled bass, a full mid range and a sparkling treble.


The iTube 182, like all Fatman products, achieves this superior performance and natural warmth through the employment of premium grade circuitry and genuine thermionic valves coupled with innovative design and meticulous engineering.



Audiophiles its time to get amazed again on this iTube 182.


The iTube 182 comes complete with full function remote control. This also includes a matching docking station suitable for all iPod products not including Shuffle. Cables are also included in the package.


iTube 182 Specifications



  • Integrated Amplifier (single-ended class A)

  • Source Inputs: 3

  • Max Output Power: 18W x 2

  • Frequency Response: 20-20KHz (±1.5dB)

  • Distortion: ≤ 2%

  • Signal to Noise Ratio: ≥ 86dB

  • Input Sensitivity: 230m V

  • Input Impedance: 100K ohm

  • Output Impedance: 4 ohm/8 ohm

  • Size (LxWxH): 382mm x 290mm x 157mm

  • Weight: 14.2KGs

  • Tubes used: KT94 (KT88,KT90,KT100) x 2, 6N3(5670) x 4, 6E2(EM87) x 1

Monday, January 21, 2008

Comparison of Apple iPhone and Nokia N95

Which is better? iPhone or Nokia N95





Apple has the iPhone and Nokia has the N95. Bothe phones were released recently. Both phones provides almost the same features. Nokia an all-in-one multimedia device and iPhone which is a cellular phone, multimedia player, a camera and PDA. I can say that Nokia N95, which was release earlier, is a stiff competitor for the iPhone of Apple.

The Nokia N95 and Apple iPhone
Nokia N95 has silver display, allows to watch videos, take photographs, send emails and call clients all through one device. N95 of Nokia was sold at a much higher price tag than the Apple iPhone, ranging at $700.

Nokia N95 have a unique two-way slide conept. It also offers GPS integration with maps to over 100 countries. Some features can be purchased well of course for additional cost. However, iPhone have much better maps feature integration and more detailed.


One of the best feature of these two phones is the design of it. In Nokia N95, with a two-way slide concept, can switch between two different modes: with numeric keypad on one side, which is common on most ordinary phones, and media keys on the other side. The concept of having the two-way slide is to give protection for the keyboard in which unlike from the iPhone, which gives a revolutionary touch screen interface and a virtual keyboard.

The Nokia N95 allows for both landscape and portrait mode, same thing with the Apple iPhone. However, the Apple iPhone offers a larger display at greater resolution at 320 x 480 pixels in comparison to the Nokia’s 240 x 320 pixels. The Apple iPhone interface is still remarkably more intuitive, elegant, and beautiful than all of its competitors yet the Nokia N95 does offer some competitive alternatives with a mixture of traditional features and increased multimedia capabilities.

Regarding the camera capabilities of the two phones, Nokia N95 is the winner with its 5.0 megapixels camera, which offers greater quality of photographs and higher resolution of videos, unlike with Apple iPhone which has only 2.0 megapixels camera. But, when it comes to photo and video editing, Apple iPhone tops them all in which Nokia N95 doesn't have that feature on the phone. Apple iPhone, enables you to take photos and video and edit them right then and there on your iPhone, and send them off to friends, family, and colleagues by email.

Through the HSDPA networks offering support to WLAN, EDGE, and WCDMA networks, the wireless capability of the Nokia N95 is faster than the 3G. The Nokia N95 also features S60 Software on Symbian OS, allowing for personalization through compatible applications.

Both phones also offer voicemail features, but Apple iPhone offers the unique visual voicemail option.



Battery life span is also a great deal for the two competiting phones. Currently, the battery life of the Nokia N95 is short, antenna is weak and the multimedia player does not have a contrast or brightness control. After improvemes and upgrades are made, this model will be a better option. For Apple iPhone, it has three sensors: an ambient light sensor that prevents waste of battery life and adjusts brightness and contrast of the display; an accelerometer for adjusting between landscape and portrait mode; and a proximity sensor that turns off the display and touchscreen when the iPhone comes closes to the body; as well as three switches that enable sleep/wake, volume up/down, and ringer on/off modes.

The answer for the question on the title still depends on your choice... as for me... i'm still with the Apple iPhone, but for camera capabilities, its with Nokia N95

Sunday, January 20, 2008

JANUARY SOFTWARE UPGRADE FOR iPOD TOUCH

The "January Software Upgrade" for the iPod touch, including Mail, Google Maps, Weather, Stocks and Notes. Mind you, this is not to be confused with the totally free 1.1.3 system upgrade, which brings the player up to date on iTunes 7.6 for rentals, etc., but has no apps of its own.



TAKE NOTE! YOU NEED TO BUY THE JANUARY SOFTWARE UPGRADE FROM ITUNES FOR $20 TO HAVE THESE APPS ON YOUR IPOD TOUCH!!!

WHATS NEW ON IPOD TOUCH WITH JANUARY SOFTWARE UPGRADE


Mail
It’s the best email you’ve ever seen on a handheld device. View rich HTML email with graphics and photos displayed inline, as well as PDF and Microsoft Word and Excel attachments.
























Maps
With Google Maps, tap a map instead of unfolding it. Quickly find where you are and the nearest café, post office, or other business on a map or satellite image. Even get directions and check traffic.
























Web Clips
Create Web Clips of websites and web apps, which then appear on your Home screen. So you can visit your favorite websites in just one tap.

























Customizable Home Screen
Make the Home screen your own. Change what's in the Dock. Rearrange the icons. You can add up to eight different Home screen pages and fill them with Web Clips.


Stocks
Check your stocks and track the market over one day, one week, one month, three months, six months, one year, or two years.



Notes
Take notes. Jot down a reminder. Make a to-do list. Then save or even email them. WIth the easy-to-use touch keyboard, Notes is an incredibly useful application.


Weather
Get a five-day forecast, including highs and lows, for cities around the world. Save your favorite locations so you can check the weather anytime.


Movies and Music
Rent a movie from iTunes and watch it on the go. Navigate through the chapters. And view the lyrics from your favorite music while a song plays.




(SORRY FOR THE BLURRED IMAGES.. I WILL UPDATE IT SOON)

iPHONE FIRMWARE 1.1.3 UPDATE

my friends..... for those who have iPhones and well yes, iPod Touch... there is a new firmware that needs to be downloaded.... the firmware 1.1.3... but before you upgrade your firmware.... you need to download the new version of iTunes as well...

The much awaited firmware 1.1.3 is now available..It delivers new features like the ability to send SMS messages to multiple recipients at once, faux-GPS on Google Maps via triangulation, Google Maps showing the hybrid map view, drag and drop icons on the home screen and bookmarks on the home screen (i.e. Webclips). There are also some new features, such as videos with chapters, the ability to display lyrics on music.

Apple Enhances Revolutionary iPhone With Software Update

MACWORLD SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --
Apple(R) today announced a free software update for its revolutionary iPhone(TM) that allows users to automatically find their location using the redesigned Maps application*; text message multiple people in one message; create Web Clips for their favorite websites; customize their home screen; and watch movies rented from the new iTunes(R) Movie Rentals right on their iPhone. With its revolutionary multi-touch user interface and pioneering software, users caneasily add significant new features to their iPhone through software updates whenever an update becomes available. New iPhone products shipping from the factory will include the software update and existing iPhone customers will automatically get the update for free when they sync their iPhone with iTunes (http://www.itunes.com/).

"iPhone doesn't stand still -- we're making it better and better all the time," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "We've delighted millions of users with this revolutionary and magical product and it's great to share these improvements with them."

Maps, one of the most popular and helpful applications on iPhone, has a new interface that is simpler and easier to use and adds incredible new features such as the ability to find your location automatically. With just the tap of a button, iPhone can now triangulate your position using nearby Wi-Fi base stations or cellular towers. You can use this as a starting or ending point for directions or to find local points of interest. The new hybrid map view combines map view and satellite view so you can see major street names overlaid on satellite imagery.Users can now create Web Clips -- icons on the home screen that take you directly to your favorite websites, including to the exact spot you have zoomed into. Web Clips are a great way to easily track websites that you frequently check such as news, blogs, sports sites and movie listings. In addition, users can now customize their home screen by repositioning any of the icons, and even create up to nine different home screens that they can easily flick between. iPhone's new software update also adds the ability to send the same SMS text message to multiple people, and iPhone saves a history of your text messages, so with one tap you can send a new message to the same group.

With Apple's new iTunes Movie Rentals, movie fans can rent movies on their computer, easily and quickly transfer them to their iPhone, and watch them anywhere on iPhone's gorgeous 3.5 inch screen. Users can also now navigate forward or backward through their movies by chapters, select alternate language tracks and view subtitles, if available.

Pricing & Availability The iPhone software update 1.1.3 is available immediately for free via iTunes 7.5 or later for all existing iPhone customers in the US, UK, Germany and France. New iPhone products shipping from the factory will include the software update and existing iPhone customers will automatically get the update for free when they sync their iPhone with iTunes (http://www.itunes.com). iTunes Movie Rentals are available in the US only.

Further information for iPhone can be found at http://www.apple.com/iphone.

*Availability and precision of Maps positioning features will vary depending on actual location.


here are some screenshots from gearlive.com of the new updates for the firmware 1.1.3




































































































































Bose QuietComfort® 3 Acoustic Noise Cancelling®



Of all the speaker system, or sound system or whatever they call it, i found only one product that will surpass all of existing sound systems in the world.... well im not really promoting this product but i tried a lot of headphones/headsets, or speakers but only BOSE comes the best one for me...




Nothing in Bose could be describe as "not bad"... everything are the best!





Bose have the latest headphone product, which im dying to get one as soon as possible (though i still need to pay my credits, but surely i will buy this product)... The best headphone is QuietComfort® 3 Acoustic Noise Cancelling® which reduces any distractions on your background.No other headphones does that.. but the Bose noise reducton and audio technologies work together to make it almost perfect headphone. It has the best sound system that it will give all the details of sounds. Small, compact, lightweight and easy to fit for hours of comfortable listening. for more informations about Bose QuietComfort® 3 Acoustic Noise Cancelling® pls click here