Jailbreaking a career?

Jailbreaking is legal for about a year now, allowing people to install third-party apps onto their phone. For the tech savvy people, you can see their craigslist adds stating they can jailbreak your phone today offering up a service so that you can install third party apps. These people using tools like RedSn0w, limera1n, sn0wbreeze are earning a hefty salary jailbreaking 30-40 phones a day, which takes less than 5 minutes. Personally, I don't see Apple being unable to stop this from happening unless they can fully close up all the holes so that people can't exploit iOS. This begs the questions, how long will they be able to do this for and is it worth quitting your day job?

Anonymous

"Anonymous" has declared an attack on Sony with the current situation with the fight between Geohot vs Sony. If people are experiencing slow downs to Sony's network this is because they are caught in a battle where "Anonymous" are making Denial of Service (DoS) attacks on Sony's Network. "Anonymous's" claims Sony (a greedy company) has denied access to the free flow of information. Sony has admitted to being able to view other people's ip addresses and will pursue everyone who visited Geohot's website. "Anonymous" finds this abusive to Sony's customers unbearable because people should have the right to install third party applications. They relate the current situation to being like buying a new computer and being punished for removing programs from it. "Anonymous" plans to stop the attacks until they are satisfied with Sony's actions.

Anonymous Style:
Knowledge is free
We are Anonymous
We are legion
We do not forgive
We do not forget

iPad 4.3.1 released untethered Jailbreak from redsn0w

Those of you waiting for a 4.3.1 untethered jailbreak, you don't have to wait no longer. The "dev-team" has released their untethered version of redsn0w capable of jailbreaking almost all apple products like iphones, ipods, ipads and apple tv, with the exception to the iPad2. Redsn0w has been released for both Windows and Macs. For those who rely on a carrier unlock should stay far away from redsn0w and the new 4.3.1 firmware. Check out the "dev-teams" website for full details and files needed. It looks like Apple is closing all the holes and making it harder for hackers to find exploits, especially in the iPad2. Hopefully, in the near futurethe iPad2 will become jailbroken so users and install third party applications.

iphone 5 delay? or is it?

Since Apple has not formerly announced a release date for iPhone 5, we technically can't say it's going to be delayed. But, there does seem to be good reasoning to this. The original rumors was Apple was planning a summer release of 2011. Since then, a couple of people began to speculate Apple's iOS "preview" at June's WWDC, and resulting in a wide spread of news that iPhone 5 won't be released till end of 2011 now. For sure, we can not assume iOS 5 will release with iPhone5 despite previous situations, excluding the iPad and iPod's. In addition, Apple has stated they were planning to release the white iPhone in the Spring, and with the release of the Verizon iPhone finally being released, customers are hesitant to think about locking into a provider. Though if we do see an iPhone5, in my opinion it won't be that dramatic of a change, much like the transition between 3g to 3gs or ipad to ipad2. All in all, only time will tell.

LiveProfile dares to try

Looks like another free cross-platform messenger has arose to the BlackBerry Market as of March 26. For those who didn't notice "Kik messengers" short lived appearance on the BlackBerry market before they were sued by RIM, hopefully "LiveProfile" won't suffer the same fate. "LiveProfile" is claiming free membership compared to "WhatsApp" where only the first year is free. In addition, they seem to offer instant real-time chatting, much like Google Wave. One good advantage is it uses push notifications that seems to be helping the battery usage, says some Beta users.

The biggest thing I think they have to overcome is convincing the blinded BBMers out there that this is better than what they are currently using. If "LiveProfile" can succeed to do that without getting sued, they win. I say give it a try, and I'm waiting for the day RIM gets beaten in their own game, which shouldn't be too long ;)

Bit Coin?

Imagine cash that doesn't physically exist, but does exist in a virtual world , the internet. You'll be able to buy and sell things, like it was the real thing, and the whole world would use the same currency. Bitcoin is a peer to peer (P2P) virtual currency that has no central authority to issue new money or keep track of transaction. Instead, these tasks are managed collectively by the nodes of the network. Your computer creates more bitcoins, and anyone can create it. They estimate the total number of coins that can be created will be 21,000,000,000. Some advantages of bitcoins is it's decentralized, anybody can create a limited supply, but it is difficult to create. Money is about trust, and that seems to be a huge factor for the startup currency. But who know's the concept seems to be there, but how secure is it? Will this idea really work, or will it just be phased out?

Kinect makes PS3 Move look like a nightmare

Microsoft's Kinect has been out for a while now, and for those with the knowledge have been able to do some pretty interesting things with it. For the most part huge development seems to be taking place, even without an Xbox. For example, developers have created some augmented reality programs, and the ability to capture 3D video on their computers. For the most part, Xbox Kinect was designed for Xbox, but has now been seen running on the PS3. This doesn't look good for PS3's Move that launched just before the Kinect. This mod recognizes gestures taken from the Kinect and interprets them into PS3 buttons. While all of this is still proof of concept, it won't be long till customer's realize why'd they bought a PS3 Move in the first place.

http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/21/xbox-kinect-on-ps3-is-kevin-butlers-worst-nightmare-come-true/

Turn off javascript on your BlackBerry?

RIM has issues, and we all know it. Adding fuel to the fire to Blackberry's incompetent wap browser, a big exploit has surfaced in BlackBerry OS 6. Reported in RIM's browser is a Java Script-related bug that malicious websites could possibly gain access to your data stored on your phone and your memory card. RIM has commented on this issue explaining they haven't seen evidence of anyone exploiting the vulnerability, but are urging people to be safe and disable Javascript on infected devices, or to be safe disable it ahead of time until the issue has been patched.

In my opinion and it still ceases to amaze me, when I ask people, "what's so good about Blackberry's?" Their only response is BBM. BBM is NOT a reason to stay with a platform, especially when Blackberry's rely so heavily on everyone else staying on it too. But, then again people seem to hardly use RIM's browser and most of it's other features because of the lack of usability, so maybe this won't affect that many people. All-in-all, androids got issues, and so does other OS like iOS, symbian, meego, etc, but they do have A LOT of other good features to back it up. Included is more references, and a tutorial on how to be safe. ( Link )

The Atrix has landed

Today Bell releases Motorola's flagship phone, the Motorola Atrix. The Atrix isn't your average phone. It's the first of its kind with a micro-dual core processor to hit the Canadian market. In addition, it supports the 4g network from bell, stating speeds of 14.4Mbps. For enthusiasts like me, I would have been willing to wait in line for it today, but there are some drawbacks which led me to purchase it's competitors the HTC Desire HD. The biggest upset for me is the Moto Blur. Having an HTC Desire HD allows me to not only root the phone, but install a custom light weight firmware. Compared to the Atrix, installing custom roms looks to be in a distant future with no one knowing how compatible it will be with the attachments (ex. Laptop ). Furthermore, the build quality doesn't seem up to par. There's no metal bits, just a lot of plastic which makes it feel cheap, but factoring in the performance and other excellent features puts it back into the competition.

Pi- DAY!

Today marks another March 14, or as some people know it as π(Pi) day. Today (3.14.11) marks another year for the mathematical constant because March (3) and the day (14) represent the 3 most significant figures of Pi. How does one celebrate Pi day? Some bake pies, or measure circumferences, wear a Pi shirt, etc. Whatever it is, we should recognize the power of Pi.

iPad 2 Jailbroken!

Some users use Apple products as they were intended to be used, others like to use it the way they want it to work. For the iPad 2, it didn't take long for it to be jailbroken. Having an Apple device that's jailbroken means that they'll be able to install 3rd party apps, and basically have root access to the deveice. Apple continues its battle against hackers like Comex to stop this from happening, but only 3 days after it's release (March 11.2011), Comex seems to have done it again. Comex hasn't released the jailbreak to userland yet, but people can expect it soon.

PS3 to the Cloud

A new update is available for Sony PS3 version 3.60. Along with the increased security to stop possible jailbreakers and exploits, Sony has included online storage for saved games. With a subscription to Playstation Plus, Sony will allocate 150mb to its cloud for you to use. This will be a great feature, especially those who move about, and can take their games to another PS3. By having all your saved games in the cloud, you can take the game to another PS3 console, input your PSN account and have access to all your saved games. In addition, the trial between David and Goliath, or GeoHotz vs Sony doesn't seem to be looking too good. The court has allowed Sony to have records of past visitors of his site since 2009. This means that Sony has everyone's IP's that visited GeoHot's site, and who knows what they plan to do with it. The thing to realize is if Sony wins the case, GeoHotz won't be the only one in hot water.

BBM on android and iphone

RIM is highly considering porting BBM to other platforms like android, and iphone. RIM seems to be looking at other companies which have developed a similar application to BBM and reaping the rewards. The reason for their choice still seem to be a speculation, but could signal a transition from a hardware company to a software company. Although no pricing is confirmed, a monthly fee seems appropriate, compared to a one time cost for customers. Once BBM is released to other devices, who knows if die hard Blackberry users will still use RIM's devices. Personally, I think this is a good decision from RIM to concentrate on the things their good at, and not try to compete with the top dogs in the hardware department. I can imagine a lot of people have been waiting for this day, and to be in the exclusive club of BBMers, but one things for sure, I won't be jumping on that band wagon.

Windows 8 installed in 8 Minutes?

Leaks of the new windows 8 have been showing up on the internet via screen shots. The new windows 8 has some pretty big claims. For example, to be able to revert back to a vanilla install in 2 minutes. For some this is nothing new, but to the average users this means easier methods to restore to a clean snapshot, without the hassle of having to do things like clone your drive. Another claim is that it'll do a clean install in 8 minutes, reports Win7China. How they do this is unclear right now, but I guess we'll have to wait and see as I doubt any more leaks will be put out for a while

Overlooking the truth with all the Hype

So with all the Buzz going around about the iPad 2, we can get caught up with reality. What Do I mean by that?

I mean the iPad 2 will still have to sync with iTunes. The whole point of a tablet is to be standalone, but Apple continues to make such a powerful product be tied down to a computer. In comparison to Android tablets which doesn't necessarily need to be binded to a computer, and other full OS tablets.

Apple is always mysterious, and such a secretive company. With that said, they make there products that way too. How much RAM with the iPad 2 have????? We didn't find out the answer for the first generation iPad's till the release were a complete tear down was done showing 256mb. As good as the processor is, will the iPad 2 even have 1GB of ram like most of the competitors tablets?

Same old screen and battery.....boring.... Where's the retina display that we were hoping for? How many frames per second will we get?

MONO speakers...... what can i say?

In reality, the iPad too looks to be only slightly better, with only a couple of key features. Something to note is all the applications in the APP store to date isn't optimized and won't use the dual core processor to it's full potential. Again.. only time will tell

Rumors Answered

On Wednesday March 3, Apple announced the iPad 2. Steve Jobs made a guest appearance to introduce the next generation of Ipad's. As most people guested, the iPad 2 will feature a front and back camera. In addition, it's much thinner then the original iPad and comes in your choice of white or black. A feature they kept is the use of a home button, which was rumored to be removed. The price remains the same as when the first generation iPads were released along with the storage space sizes (16,32,64 gb). The biggest change is the processor now sporting the new A5 1GHZ dual-core micro processor instead of the single-core A4 on the old iPad. Ipad 2 will support 850, 900, 1800,1900 bands on GSM/Edge and will also have a Verizon model for the CDMA. The screen remains the same, along with the use of the same battery. Overall sounds like a good product, but will wait and see how it matches up with the other dual core tablets.

Honeycomb on Google's Lawn

Google continues their tradition of having desert statues placed in front of their lawn to represent every generation of android. Along side to join Gingerbread, Cupcake, Donut, Éclair and Froyo comes it's new member Honeycomb!

Motorola Xoom Overclocked to 1504MHZ!

As some of you may know the new Motorola Xoom uses the new dual-core tegra 2 processor, clocked at 1ghz factory setting. SetCPU has now updated SetCPU to support some dual core devices, and demos his Motorola Xoom running amazing bench marks. He uses Quadrant which achieves a bench mark of 3105! He also does a bench mark using Linkpack producing a score of 47MFLOPS. The results, show that he acheived only 36 MFLOPS from the factory frequencies, that's a 11MFLOPS difference. While the overclock was done for benchmarking purposes, it is almost sure that we don't consider in the battery life, and whether someone would use Motorola Xoom set to that clock speed daily. This is just the beginning for dual core devices, and what they plan to achieve this year.

iPad 2 keynote?

Hopefully, most of us are excited about the iPad2, and that apple will resolve most of the complaints from the first generation iPad's. An iPad 2 event is rumored to be on March 2nd in San Francisco. Unfortunately, Steve Jobs won't be making his famous keynotes wearing his turtle neck sweaters due to his medical leave. In his place will be with either be Phil Schiller or Tim Cook.

So I just thought I would mention a couple of rumors that seem plausible for features that will most likely be on the iPad 2. Like the iPhone 4, the iPad 2 is rumored to feature a 7inch retina display. This is a pretty big change because the iPad 2 will be in the same category as the Motorola Xoom, and Rim's Playbook. In addition, the iPad 2 will feature wifi and a GSM/CDMA model. This will allow Verizon user's to purchase and use this device. One big complaint from people was no camera on the first generation iPad's. Well, Apple looks to be adding a front facing camera for facetime, and a camera in the back for stills and video. This rumor arose from iOS 4.3 which featured the facetime app, and from developing iPad 2 cases that support that claim. Furthermore, Apple may finally remove the home button. In iOS4.3 people have found gestures to be incorporated. These gestures allow people to close apps, switch between apps without the use of the home button. Only time will tell, and hopefully that time will be March 2nd.

Humans Vs Computer

Computers built by the brightest people have been able to challenge the best at their own game. Take for example chess. IBM has developed Deep Blue, one of the pioneering chess super computers that beat raining chess champion Garry Kasparov. Now IBM has developed Watson, a super computer designed to answer questions in natural language. IBM tested Watson's abilities against the best on the popular game show Jeopardy, and won. Watson was not connected to the internet, but was built together with 90 IBM power 750 servers. An avatar was used on the game show, but the actual computers were in a different room in IBM's research facilities. It is amazing how far technology has come and looking into the future how this will help many people. For example, doctors who need to diagnose a patient. When faced with so much data in the world today, how can we store all that in our heads and recall it fast enough. This brings me to wonder with the increased amount of data in the world, will we be able to house it all and differentiate the useful data from the data that will mislead our judgment

On Cloud 9

So what's next? EVERYONE has had a time where they were afraid to lose that ONE important document, file or picture. Why does it seem more ok if we lost it now than before? Maybe because you've uploaded it to dropbox or the picture is on facebook. Our data today has shifted beyond personal computers whether people notice it or not. I can store a file over the web and retrieve anywhere in the world. Does everyone one still need a full OS? Half of us used web-based services and don't even realize it, example, Google docs, twitter, You-Tube, Facebook. What's best is knowing that it works with any device with a web browser, whether it be on a MAC, or a PC, Linux WHATEVER. Who really even cares where the file is located anymore, in-reality if it works people don't take notice where it came from, as long as it worked.

This topic seems to be more and more integrated with reality now as companies are already giving us a taste of the future. Google has developed the CR-48, which is a bare bone laptop that basically has nothing but a browser. Apple is rumored to create ipods with songs that will never be stored actually on the ipod. Something for everyone to think about because the future is here and most of us don't even notice it.

HTC Facebook Phones?

For those who can't seem to stay off facebook, HTC and Facebook are designing new lower-end devices dedicated to Facebook widgets. These phones will contain an F button which allows users to always stay on top of news feeds, and upload pictures quicker. Two phones are rumored, but no specifications have been officially put out. One phone will feature a QWERTY keyboard with a smaller screen and the other feature no keyboard, but a bigger screen. These phones will allow users completly immerse themselves into social networking, and with them being lower-end devices we will sure see more android users. The question is, has social networking reached its peak? What's next?

The Benchmark for Dual Core Phones

When you ask people, "What do you think of tablets?" They'd most likely refer to Apples iPad. The iPad has set the tone for tablets, and companies are competing to develop a better product. Like the iPad set the tone tone for tablets the Motorola sets the tone of having the first dual core mobile processor. Although the phone has not be released yet, it's sure building some hype. The suspected release date is set for March 6.

Some nice features about the phone besides the 1ghz dual core mobile processor is it supports all bands of HSDPA (850, 900, 1900,2100). It has a 4.0 inch screen along with the first phone with qHD technology making it easier to read indoors and outdoors. In addition, it has one 1gb of ram, making multi-tasking effortless. It features a front and read facing cameras to support video chat and the ability to record and output in HD. The Atrix also has a finger print reader for those who want a more secure phone, but will also be intertwined with its accessories.

As said before, this phone outputs HD up to 720p from a mobile dock connected to the tv that can act as a media server. It also makes it easier for users to showcase photos and video they have taken and would like to show relatives. The thing that excites me the most is the laptop attachment. The ability to have your cell phone have the equivalent power to a net book is astonishing. The laptop accessory cannot be used standalone so all the processing power is from the phone, which runs on android 2.3 (gingerbread). Well see in the next few months when people start reviewing the phone, and other companies try to raise the bar.

YouTube Easter Egg

SO. I was randomly on youTube minding my own business, listening to David Guetta and then the video had to load. Being a fidgety person that I am I decided to press the arrow keys repeatedly (it's what I do, blame First person shooter games like CS...). Next thing you know I'm playing snake on youTube. Just thought you guys would be interested in case you get bored in class or anything.

So, here's how to reproduce it:
-make sure the focus is on the youTube Video. ( A way to make sure is to just pause and resume the video)
-press the left arrow, hold it, then press the up arrow.
-might take a couple of tries, here's what you should see (screen shot). Enjoy Snake...

It's the simple things that google does

Google has done it again. Unlike every other companys, google has the luxury to fund development for ridiculous new ideas whether they're good or bad. If the product fails it won't cause the company too much grief. With that said google has been flourishing with the development of mobile apps. One example is they have made google maps a breeze to use, coupled next to google navigation makes the perfect match. In addition, they have made google documents a real easy experience on mobile devices. Enough about the old stuff, Google has added another feature for mobile phones. It's small, but it made me realize how much we rely on google and use it everday. So, if you search "weather"on www.google.com on your mobile device you'll get a whole weeks weather report without ever visiting a site. It's small things like this that I appreciate. Not only that, but they make it look so appealing like it was an actual app. So far, it seems to only work for iphone and android devices. For blackberrys, it's been required that they can't see the slider, which makes this such a unique experience. Overall this feature is pretty handy and something I would recommended. What will google come up with next? BTW I did this whole blog on my android device, that adds another thing for google. Link for
More information: http://googlemobile.blogspot.com/2011/01/weather-on-your-mobile-phone-now-with.html

Technology more closely Integrated in your Home

U-socket, is an interesting new gadget I found while browsing around the internet that caught my eye. The people at FastMac have turned your regular wall outet to one that can charge USB devices. This socket outputs, DC 5.0V 2100 mA (2.1amps), which suprisingly charges most MP3's, ipod's/iphone's, PDA's, and many more ranging from USB 1.0-3.0. Unfortunatley, what stopped me from trying this product out, is it can't charge iPad's because it can't output enough power, which is a major downside. But, besides the point, U-socket seems like an overall good prodcut and could pave the way for the future.

This brings me to the main reason I've decided to post about this product. Gadgets now a days seem more dependent on being charged through a USB. Companies can reduce the number of wires and can use a USB wire and an adapter to convert to a wall charger. With the U-socket, device users' are less inclined to rely on turing on their computres in-order to charge their devices. Will we soon find our homes have built-in dedicated USB outlets? Will we soon see all products not require the need of a wall-outlet?

http://store.fastmac.com/product_info.php?products_id=458

Lady Gaga broadens her Art to Technology

Lady Gaga is known for her unique artistic style, and has now combined her art with technology. Lady Gaga helped design 3D glasses by Polaroid that allows users to instantly take photos with a built-in camera and display them on the glasses'. The glasses' is made from LCD screens, that allows other to see.

A segway into another related topic is the product, "Eye-Fi", which isn't your ordinary Memory card. This memory card has built-in wifi capabilities which makes it really easy for people to upload their photos. No more cables needed, because "Eye-Fi" automatically uploads your photos to your computer. In addition, "Eye-Fi" also has the capabilities to automatically upload pictures to Social Networking sites, like Facebook, mobileMe, Photobucket, and many more.

http://www.eye.fi/

CES 2011/First Post of the New Year

What better way to start off my blog then to talk about CES 2011. A New Year marks new gadgets, new technology and innovations. As some of you know, CES 2011 was on January 6-9, and for those who don't know what that means, it's time to show off new gadgets. Companies bring there latest toys they've been working on and give a taste of what to look for within the year.

Some general categories to definitely watch out for is the tablet industry. Tablets are becoming more and more popular. This year there are sure to be competitors to compete against the most raved tablet to date, the Apple Ipad. With android making a huge name for itself, we are sure to see a tablet from them (Honeycomb OS) and from RIM, "The Playbook". Is touch in?

In addition, to new cell phones with dual core mobile processors, compared to current mobile processors like, the"Snapdragon ", the "Hummingbird", "Apple A4", and many more. More power means more information. Will the 4g network be enough? Will we no longer require to pay for Cable internet providers, when we can just pay for a wireless data plan?

Also be on a watch for the TV industry. Will Netflix, Hulu and any other 3rd party online streaming company cause a disturbance to cable networks providers? Companies like Apple, Sony, and Google are encouraging this new style of viewing shows. Purchasing only what you watch to save you money, for example, Apple TV, Google TV. Also be on the look out for applications on your TV, like your mobile device.

All will be answered hopefully this year.