Podcast Goodies in iPhone 3.0

Last night I had just updated my subscribed podcasts for the first time in quite a while, so as you may expect I had a few updates that I needed to listen to.  So after syncing and crawling into bed, I set up my iPod and got Buzz Out Loud going.  When I went to check if I still had it set to repeat I found something completely different that I had never heard of Apple doing.  Three new buttons for while you’re listening to podcasts.  These are (from left to right) email link, go back 30 seconds and increase speed.
I was quite surprised when I went to turn off shuffle and Tom Merritt and Molly Wood starting talking at double their usual speed!  But it makes me wonder just what other little updates Apple has added into their new iPhone update…

iPhone 3.0 in Australia

I remember reading somewhere that, in Australia, the iPhone 3.0 software is coming out this Wednesday (tomorrow!).
I for one can’t wait for this. Copy and paste, and landscape keyboard in practically every app now will make a pretty big difference for me on the productivity front. The iPhone can be used for so many things now that it’s essentially a separate laptop for me.
Hopefully the blog I read it on was right and 3.0 does come out tomorrow!

iTunes 8.2

I checked my software update on my Mac when I got home from school today, and found Apple has updated iTunes again.

Version 8.2 is no major update.  All it does (that I know of) is give support for the iPod/iPhone 3.0 firmware and fixes a few more bugs and problems.

Also, Quicktime has been updated, however it only improves performance and fixes some bugs.

No major news on the iTunes front.  I guess we can now just hope that 3.0 is released in WWDC ’09

Source:  Gizmodo

Jailbreaking

Today, I decided to change my mind about keeping my iPod touch on official firmware. When your iPod touch or iPhone is jailbroken, you can do so much more (and half of the stuff that you can do, Apple should have put into the official firmware ages ago). I have already gone about installing Winterboard and customizing my interface.
However, I have just thought about things. For one, it’s apparently illegal (not like that has stopped anybody). So on thy front, it’s better to have official. The second argument for me going back to official is the fact that if something goes wrong, you can send it in to get fixed, and three, I used to have it jailbroken and I had so many problems with from crashes to random restarts.
So all in all, what this post is really about is my confusion about whether or not it is better to have my iPod on official firmware, or jailbroken firmware. If only Apple would simply let us create custom themes for official firmware, we may not even need to have a jailbreak at all…

Wrong Time To Buy an iPod

I found this on CNET blogs. David Carnoy basically goes on a rant about why it is the wrong time to buy an iPod. His main point is that an iPod Touch is basically the same thing as and iPod video. It has nearly all of the same features and the iPod ‘Classic’ has a lot more space. According to David, the only reason people want the new iPods etc. is because of the ‘coolness factor’. Apple makes their products look so cool that it makes people want them. David claims that sure, the first few days of the release is the time where you think “I gotta have one!” but after the hype starts to wear off, you start to realize that it doesn’t really have any new features.

I don’t think David has really changed my mind. I still want the iPod Touch as it has the Wi-Fi music store etc. It isn’t just the coolness factor that lured me.

Anyway, read this article and you can make your decision.

Source: CNET Blogs

Be Careful When Hacking Your iPhone

According to a post on ArsTechnica, Apple is refusing to honor the warranties on hacked iPhones, so it looks like you’re going to have to be extra careful when you’re hacking your iPhone unless you have a spare 4 – 5 hundred bucks lying around!

Source: ArsTechnica

My iTunes Widgets

Apple has come out with a new iTunes Store feature. This is pretty cool. They can show the songs you have recently bought, your favorite artists and your favorite movies; and it’s all based on your iTunes purchases, so if you use LimeWire, then it probably won’t work.

Wireless iPod and iPhone control

Whilst many gadgets can control an iPod, Timex, In conjunction with Apple, has released a watch that controls iPods wirelessly! Dubbed the iControl, the watch can aso control the iPhone, when it is in “Airplane” mode. the iControl comes with the basic controls for an iPod, like, Play/Pause, Skip forward/reverse and raise/lower the volume. The watch presumably comes with an attachment to connect to the iPod/iPhone, and RF would be ideal, but i can’t help but wonder, ‘If you’re in a plane, and HAVE to put your iPhone on “airplane mode” doesn’t that mean that you’d be undoing that by using an RF watch to control your iPhone?’.

Aside from all the iPod-enhancing features, the watch comes with several features, including a 50-lap memory, and training log, meaning it can remember all the laps you’ve done, calculate the average time for a lap, and all the date details. if you’re into that sort of thing. The iControl is waterproof at up to 328 feet and is available in pink, blue, green, orange and gray/black. It is in stores now, and has a recommended retail of US$125.

First Native iPhone App

I found this on Digg which led to a Gizmodo article about the first native iPhone app that people have created.  It’s in Google Code right now.  It is only a terminal emulator but something like this will definitely lead on to bigger and better programs.  The iPhone is turning more and more like a fully fledged computer every day!  Before you know it we won’t need our computers because we have the iPhone.The link to the article is here.  You can see a video there of a guy actually using the app.