The Inquirer reports, that Apple’s latest gadget has been rejected from using on networks of George Washington University and Princeton University. The iPad seems to have massive issues with network stability.
Read more on The Inquirer…
Monopoly – a game that almost everybody knows – has been revived and redesigned for the virtual sphere as “Monopoly City Streets” (MCS). As many other news services have already written thousands of pages about it, we’re not gonna repeat it here. To summarize: it seems this game is fun for many millions around the globe.
Sadly although the makers have already taken actions against issues and problems by upgrading hardware and by resetting the whole game to enable everybody to start anew, there are aswell technical as social issues unsolved all over.
I for example have today bought an 8 million street and built some little houses on it. See here how you can become the leader of the game with an 8 million street. And no, I was not cheating. I enjoyed playing with real competition until this happened:
So how often does this happen? I wrote an error report, but how many other people do that? The most logical consequence would have been to sell the street immediately to get the cash transferred for real…
About a year ago a company called ASEM released a device called EFI-X. This device has been claimed to be capable of booting several Microsoft Windows versions and Mac OS X Leopard.
Legal concerns
From the beginning there were question regarding the legal status of the device. But ASEM claimed the device is legal, although it circumvents Apple’s binary protection using Apple’s copyrighted secret operating system keys (OSK1 and OSK2).
Technical issues
Anyway EFI-X devices had some issues. Many forums reported about problems with Bonjour and sharing in general. In the meantime articles from the official EFI-X support forums have been suddenly disappeared. Customers reporting issues or solutions and workaround to severe bugs have been banned from EFI-X support forums – our own help article to recover almost lost data was removed aswell and one of our members has been officially banned from their forums (the reason was this article in october 2008).
Examining EFI-X in deep
Now some frustrated customers who are on the other hand technologically very familiar have examined the EFI-X device in deep. One of the main points AsereBln found: in contrast to what EFI-X is stating: “Our approach is entirely different, (..) all our code and development is our own only” – they seem to be using program code that has been developed by the OSX86 community though. They seem to be using “Disabler.kext“. Moreover another user (RezRov) found out the EFI-X Windows update software seems to be violating the LGPL as it incorporates a modified USB device library (libusb-win32).
Use of possibly unlicensed 3rd party program code, possibly illegal use of Apple security keys, and customer support below grade for a 170€ (250US$) commercial product that seems to be the summary about a year after product launch.
Lessons learnt
We suppose end users should be aware of this possible hassle. Only an original Apple Mac is really hassle free and 100% compatible to a Mac. But if you are technologically interested and have the time and motivation search the OSX86 communities for setups. The OSX86 forums are full of knowledge and willing to help. But remember a PC won’t ever be 100% compatible to a real Mac.
The “little Palm Apple battle” goes into its next round. A week ago Apple released iTunes 8.2.1. This update blocked Palm Pre users from synchronizing music and movies with iTunes. We reported about this update and the technical implications of the sync feature here.
Palm has now released a firmware update (webOS 1.1.0) for the Palm Pre. According to Palm’s blog entry this update contains the following features:
Got issues with the Update?
Our fellow Heise.de News (german only) recommend not to update your Palm Pre while it is connected to iTunes. In case you did that and your Palm Pre does not interact on USB anymore, do a hard reset with unplugging the battery.
With the latest update of iTunes 8.2.1 Apple eventually blocks Palm Pre users from syncing with iTunes. It seems Palm knew very carefully how to emulate the iPod verification protocol of iTunes. How comes?
Some major Palm Guys are former major Apple Guys
One could ask Palm’s CEO Jon Rubinstein, or Palm’s SVP of Product Development Mike Bell, or Palm’s spokeswoman Lynn Fox. As all of these three guys are former Apple guys. Rubinstein was Apple’s architect of the iTunes-iPod concept, Mike Bell was the Vice President of the Mac Hardware Division, and Lynn Fox was Head of PR at Apple.
Anyway Apple now decided to fix this issue and bar Palm Pre users from using iTunes for syncing. But what looks like a simple update in the first place may be viewed as a strategic answer to Palm’s boldness to make the Pre pretend being an iPod for iTunes.
Some Technical Aspects
According to DVD Jon the iPod emulation was not too complicated. Palm needed to emulate
But the the root USB node (IOUSBDevice) still identified the emulated iPod as a Palm Pre (find more details here).
David vs. Goliath
Does Apple fear Palm here? It seems like Palm is putting Apple under some pressure here. The Palm Pre is widely considered as the only real iPhone competitor and allowing it to sync with iTunes would make it more favourable for users who don’t like the proprietory iPhone concept. On the other hand Apple’s step to block it from iTunes again makes the iPhone and iPods the only choice for iTunes users. Anyway it shows obviously that a little fight is going on between Apple and Palm. This topic is under hot discussion on the PreCentral site.
Palm’s spokeswoman Lynn Fox just responded to Apple’s step “Palm’s media sync works with iTunes 8.2. If Apple chooses to disable media sync in iTunes, it will be a direct blow to their users who will be deprived of a seamless synchronization experience. However, people will have options. They can stay with the iTunes version that works to sync their music on their Pre, they can transfer the music via USB, and there are other third-party applications we can consider.”
NOTE: This walkthrough is for iPhone OS 3.0 only!
For MMS on iPhone 2G with firmware 3.1, buy SwirlyMMS on Cydia Store
I. Abstract
Many iPhone 2G users are not very amused about Apple’s update policy. As of iPhone OS 3.0, owners can eventually use MMS on their iPhones. All owners? No, not the ones who have iPhones from the very beginning.
The MMS feature is not officially available on the iPhone 2G, although there is no technical reason for the limitation – as we’ve seen with SwirlyMMS.
This seems to be one of Apple’s ways to tell you you need to get a new iPhone at least every two years. Quite expensive you think? Right, but get used to it as this seems to be Apple’s business strategy of lifecycles with many products.
Anyway, Apple provides one of the best user experiences for their products and that’s the point why you are here reading these lines.
To make things short. There is a way to make MMS work on the iPhone 2G with firmware 3.0. Kudos fly out to Geniusan for the ActivateMMS2G patch, and to Craig_16 (this walkthrough is based on his findings!).
II. Requirements
You need to have the following configuration:
Of course you’ve done a backup of your contacts, your calendar, and your photos, didn’t you?
And you need to have your carrier settings available (!!!!). Search MMS settings here before you proceed! In the following example we’re going to use a reseller of the german T-Mobile network called Callmobile. Callmobile got these settings:
| Internet / Wap | Callmobile Germany |
| APN | internet.t-mobile |
| Username | tm |
| Password | tm |
| Visual Voicemail (not available!) | |
| APN | |
| Username | |
| Password |
| MMS settings | |
| APN | mms.t-d1.de |
| Username | t-mobile |
| Password | mms |
| MMSC | http://mms.t-mobile.de/servlets/mms |
| Proxy | 172.28.23.131:8008 |
blank
III. Preparations
The preparation steps are intended for user who already have tempered to make MMS running but failed. Those steps help restoring the iPhone to a status where we can eventually enable the MMS feature. Our recommendation: if you didnot try to make MMS running yet, you may want to read these steps anyway and apply most of the steps as available.
Pre.Step 1: Resetting Cellular Data Profiles
If you already tempered with the network settings to make MMS work, you first need to reset the settings. On your iPhone go to
Settings » General » Network » Cellular Data NetworkReset Settings
Reset button
Network button to leave the settings menu andReboot your iPhonePre.Step 2: Removing Cellular Profiles
On your iPhone go to
Settings » General » Profile
Remove
Remove
Reboot your iPhone nowPre.Step 3: Uninstalling ActivateMMS2G
On your iPhone go to
Cydia (available on jailbroken iPhones only! Wanna do a jailbreak now? Go here.) andManage
Packages
ActivateMMS2G
Modify
Remove
Confirm
Reboot Device
IV. The Walkthrough
After having applied all the preparations we now have the situation that all of us should have almost the same conditions with the cellular network settings. This is an important condition.
Step 1. Installing ActivateMMS2G
On your iPhone go to
Cydia (available on jailbroken iPhones only! Wanna do a jailbreak now? Go here.)
Search,
Enter manually ActivateMMS2G, and when found:ActivateMMS2G
Install and Confirm
Reboot Device
Step 2. Installing A Custom Profile
On your iPhone go to
Safari and open this website: http://help.benm.at (kudos!)Mobilconfigs create
enter in all fields the required mms settings, got it? According to our example for Callmobile we enter this:
Enable ThetheringGenerateInstall
Install Now
Donequit SafariReboot nowStep 3. Adding Appropriate Cellular Settings
On your iPhone go to:
Settings » General » Network » Cellular Data Network
don't touch or edit the following entries: MMS/APN, MMS/Username, and MMS/Password. Once edited manually they will be lost and missing, because they will not get saved after leaving the menu. You would then have to start over above with point III. Preparations. You got me, right?MMSC and MMS Proxy first.MMSC is http://mms.t-mobile.de/servlets/mms andMMS Proxy is 172.28.23.131:8008
Network button to leave the settings menu andReboot now to make sure the iPhone has loaded the new MMS settingsStep 4. Sending two Test MMS’
What we here basically do is, we’re gonna send the MMS to us. This allows us to check if receiving works and this also auto-enables the MMS feature on many carriers worldwide (not with AT&T in the U.S., sorry). After sending the first MMS you may receive an SMS instead that tells you you can watch the MMS on the internet. This is because the carrier has not updated your MMS capability yet. Now wait about five minutes and send another MMS to your own iPhone. This time you should receive it.
This is how we do it. On your iPhone go to:
MessagesNew Message icon (also note that a camera icon will be left to the text field)
your own iPhone cell number
camera icon and take a photo
Send button
If anything does not work: we recommend to check the internet for your carrier specific settings. In 99% of the cases it is not related to the iPhone, but due to wrong carrier settings. Or your carrier simply has deactivated the MMS feature for your subscription (i.e. AT&T)!
Step 5. Editing the EDGE/GPRS Internet Settings
Again on your iPhone ;-) go to:
Settings » General » Network » Cellular Data NetworkCellular Data fieldsAPN is internet.t-mobileUsername is tmPassword is tm
Network button to leave the settings menu andReboot your iPhoneV. Final words
You should check if your EDGE/GPRS settings work by deactivating your Wi-Fi and go online via GPRS/EDGE only. People reported it may be slower than before. We cannot confirm this. EDGE/GPRS is slow like hell anyway. If you are running a subscription that supports Visual Voicemail you can also enter the appropriate information after reboot and test if it works.
Did we tell you about our sponsors? They help us maintaining this site free. You may visit them to check their coolest offers. Thanks! If you got questions, additions or shouts, don’t hesitate…
Microsoft’s new service Live Mesh targets at connecting different operating system platforms and even mobile devices for interchange of documents. Live Mesh allows accessing documents and files even via web interface. Live Mesh clients are available for Windows XP, Vista and for Mac OS X Leopard. Sadly there is no Linux version yet.
As the Live Mesh technology is still in development the last Mesh update for the Mac showed sad side effects.
Bug Description
The Mac OS version of Live Mesh can be started. Live Mesh seems to be busy for a while but before being allowed to login, Live Mesh eventually crashes. The Live Mesh icon next to the clock is available but the signin option is greyed out. Microsoft has addressed this issue in an article to be found here.
This issue has got nothing to do with if you are running a software hackintosh with EPOS I. nor a hardware hackintosh with EFI-X, this issue is also well known to genuine Macs.
Solution
Resetting Live Mesh preferences and reinstalling Live Mesh
Reset Live Mesh preferences Part I.
Applications folderRight click on Live Mesh.appShow Package Contents 
Contents folderResources folderDouble click the “CleanKeyChain” program
Reset Live Mesh preferences Part II.
home folder in the FinderLibrary -> Application SupportRemove the Live Mesh folder (throw into your trash) 
Reinstall Live Mesh Part I.
ApplicationsLive Mesh.appRemove Live Mesh.app (throw into your trash)Reinstall Live Mesh Part II.
Login to your Live Mesh account (click here).Select the Mac device (here: MyMek as it is Lab Hackintosh) 
Remove Device from Live MeshReinstall Live Mesh Part III.
Add Device in your Live Mesh account 
Select Button to Download the most current version of the Live Mesh client application:Open the downloaded LiveMesh.dmgInstall Live Mesh by throwing it into your Applications folderInclude Mac again into your Mesh
Start Live Mesh client application and sign in 
Add the current Mac to your Mesh 
Enjoy…
According to forum reports the iPhone DFU mode, which is required to install custom firmware with PwnageTool, does not get detected properly after updating Mac OS X to 10.5.6.
That means you cannot Jailbreak or Unlock the iPhone currently. The iPhone Dev Team has investigated in to this issue and comes to the conclusion that this is not a countermeasure by Apple, but a bug in the new kernel.
The Phone Dev Team names possible fixes for 10.5.6. As always: you do this at your own risk!
1. Replace the following plugin kexts from within IOUSBFamily.kext with the ones from 10.5.5 and then rebuild kextcache (if you don’t understand this, then you shouldn’t attempt it!)
/System/Library/Extensions/IOUSBFamily.kext/Contents/PlugIns/AppleUSBHub.kext
/System/Library/Extensions/IOUSBFamily.kext/Contents/PlugIns/IOUSBCompositeDriver.kext
2. Use a USB hub in-between the DFU device and the Mac and insert/reinsert the iPhone’s USB cable.
3. Use a PwnageTool created .ipsw on Windows! Oh the irony!
If you did not update yet to 10.5.6 better don’t do it and wait for a fix or for 10.5.7 to be released.
The PC version of the long awaited game Grand Theft Auto IV has yesterday been released to the european markets. First tests show the game is as outstanding as its console versions, released earlier this year. Anyway forums are full of bug reports by people using ATI based graphic cards. The game crashs even before it gets started. NVidia users also report issues, but at least it starts after some starting attempts.
The german Gamestar.de is currently doing a poll. This poll (with currently n=4787) shows that about 75% of the users experiencing heavy issues like permanent crashes. Only 5% say GTA runs seamless without issues.
You may rethink your Chrismas wishlist at this time. What about a Playstation 3? Besides the fact that the game plays wonderful on that device, it’s also got a Bluray/DVD/mp3/Xvid/DivX player included ;-)
We read all over the net and found some solutions to the most common issues that occurred. If you are kinda conservative user, we’d recommend not to update to firmware 2.1 and wait until a PwnageTool and QuickPwn update has been released. Since the iPhone Dev Team is reacting very fast, this should take only some days.
Known Workarounds:
Error 1600 and Error 6: restore with stock firmware 2.1, then QuickPwn (you may then put into restore mode and install custom IPSW, but it’s not necessary- credits to “HomeGrown”).
Error 1600: when Pwnage asks, if already pwned your device, answer NO, no matter if you pwned if before or not (credits to “Maurofoto”)
Error 1600: let iTunes download firmware 2.1 again (you may delete it from the local folder if you already downloaded it via iTunes. Folder on a Mac: ~/Library/iTunes/iPhone Software Update/), then exit iTunes, prep a custom IPSW using Pwnage, delete the iTunes downloaded firmware from the above mentioned folder again and copy your custom IPSW to that folder, but name it exactly as the original firmware was named (credits to “Markat”)
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