Information Security, Apple, Film, Gaming & All Things Technology.
After all the complaints that have been directed towards the photo rating app, BeautyMeter, Apple have finally pulled it down.
The app is photo sharing platform where you rate others pictures based on appearance, however the company does not directly check each picture and so pictures of underage girls were found on the app and caused a huge uproar against Apple’s approval process, once again.
Apple released the iPhone OS & SDK 3.1 Beta yesterday. Here’s a list of what people have found to be changed so far:
– MMS is now enabled by default (Still not supported by AT&T).
– A “Fraud Protection” toggle is now available in Safari settings.
– Voice Control over Bluetooth is now available, allowing users to Initiate calls and control music playback via Bluetooth headsets.
– iPhone startup and shutdown and app launching times have improved.
– Trimming video clips on the iPhone 3GS now offers the ability to save the edited version as a copy rather than simply overwriting the original file.
– New APIs allow developers of third-party application to access and edit videos.
– iPhone vibrates when rearranging Home screen icons.
– OpenGL and Quartz have seen improvements.
The official iPhone UK carrier O2, have been reported that they are to be the official carriers for the Palm Pre. O2 has always 
had a strong smartphone market in the UK and with the iPhone and Pre being sold in the same store it will make things a little more interesting.
It seems this will be true as the O2 owner Telefonica, reportedly secured global rights to the Pre back in March.
O2 owner Telefonica reportedly secured broad global rights to the Pre back in March
Apple today, released the 3.1 beta for the iPhone firmware and SDK; both the SDK and the firmware are available for testing and development to paid members of the iPhone developer program. Although this is pre-release software and details should remain under NDA, some details will leak out soon.
Some wonder why Apple have released the 3.1 Beta so close to the release of 3.0 to the public. Some think that it’s not just bug fixes, as Apple would probably release it as 3.0.1 if so. Apple may have worked out the exploit in which the Dev-Team use to jailbrake devices and patched it in this new release, so upgrading is to be taken at your own risk and may stop you from jailbraking until the Dev-Team work it out.
As the iPhone user-base increases, so does the piracy user-base of iDevices. Many developers have been or are now implementing features to stop piracy of their apps. You will have read how BeejiveIM stopped working for pirated copies, now Spokko, the makers of Light Wars have also implemented a feature that stops pirated copies from working.
This has only been implemented into the new update but from what I know the original 1.0 release will not stop pirates using it, it’s interesting to see how developers are taking different methods to stop piracy.
Stack v3 for iPhone is the latest project from Steve Troughton-Smith, the project brings the Mac dock Stack feature to the iPhone in true style.
Shown above is the fan style which fans out the icons of added apps much like on the Mac does with files. The stack can be placed anywhere on the dock. The function of Stack for iPhone is to give a quick and easy access to your most used apps to save time from switching between screens.
This shows the grid view which Mac users will also be familiar with, this gives the user a lot more space to have there most used apps compared to the fan view.
To add an app to the Stack just drag it onto the icon and it will be added. To remove an app open the Stack and hold down then move your finger to bring up the shown notification which allows you to remove the app, this can be turned off in the settings to just remove without asking you first.
In the latest alpha (6b), the stack rename feature has been activated and allows you to rename the Stack so it appears to be a normal app.
Once the Stack has been renamed, you must re-spring the springboard for it to take effect.
Overall the Stack app is very stable and although in alpha, I have experienced few problems with it; there may be the odd UI tweaks needed here and there, but overall the app works amazingly well for those searching for a quick way to access apps.
As the Stack v3 is currently in alpha, to get a copy you must donate via the official site to get a copy, plus I must add it is only for Jailbroken devices, as Apple wouldn’t allow this sort of app. If you wish to test out the previous version for free then go here.
The project shows a lot of potential and I’m very excited to see what else can be added to this and keep following the developers twitter to get updates on the project along with others.
I’d like to thank Steve Troughton-Smith for allowing me to get hold of the alpha so that I could write this review.
If your an iPhone owner you will of most likely have heard of, or used one of Steve Troughton-Smith’s app’s at some point or at least heard of them. He was the one who worked out how to tether the iPhone months ago.
He currently has 6 projects listed on his official website some of which are App Store approved, others are available via Cydia, however a project he’s been working on a lot recently is the Stack app, which gives the iPhone and dock like Stack feature. The new v3 has a lot of things to look forward to and the early alphas are promising, I’ve got hold of the alpha earlier and will be writing up a full review over the weekend.
The Dev-Team announced today that the 24Kpwn exploit that the hybrid team used on the iPod Touch 2G, is still 
applicable to the bootrom of the iPhone 3GS, therefore meaning the same sort of technique can be used as current jailbraking tools such as redsn0w.
The good news is also ultrasn0w can used used on the iPhone 3GS, without any modifications.
Apple are still continuing there effort to fix these flaws in the iPhone which allow for jailbraking and it will take a while for the Dev-Team to safely work out the new efforts made by Apple, ready for the new tools.
The Dev-Team today announced the release of the avidly awaited Ultrasn0w soft unlcock for iPhone & iPhone 3G, not the 3G S yet, as that’s not been jailbroken.
Follow these instructions to get Ultrasn0w:
The Dev-Team have once again jailbroken all 3.0 devices, with the release of Redsn0w for Windows & Mac a few minutes ago it now means Windows users can now jailbrake their iPhone.
Torrent Download Links:
PwnageTool 3.0 (Mac)
Redsn0w 0.7.1 (Windows)
Redsn0w 0.7 (Mac)
HTTP Download Links:
PwnageTool 3.0 (Mac)
Redsn0w 0.7.1 (Windows)
Redsn0w 0.7 (Mac)
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