Qingbar MP101 iPhone/iPod projector
Taiwanese company Honlai specializes in display devices. Among them, there’s an intriguing iPhone/iPod/iPod Touch projector called Qingbar MP101. It’s kind of cute and quite frankly, it might even be useful in some situation (err… which? Wait, did I say that it was cute?). This LCOS projector is lit by an LED light and can project an image as big as 37″. Note that it supports other video inputs via a standard composite connector. Now the question is: how much is it?
[Via This article]
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This post was written by admin on August 29, 2008
8+ Hour iPhone Sync Timelapse Video (AKA Be Thankful For Your “Short” Two Hour Sync) [IPhone]
When I complained on twitter about a 2 hour iPhone sync, a Giz reader Brandon Lusk told me I was lucky. He had a much longer sync, sometimes over 6 hours. I called bullshit. And so, he provided me with two videos, timelapsed; this one is over 8 hours. That’s a full night of sleep. That’s a full day of high school. That’s longer than it takes to fly cross country, or drive from SF to Los Angeles. After seeing this video, I stopped complaining and tried to figure out what caused Brandon’s problem with him.
To troubleshoot the problem, he restored his phone from scratch, but even after reinstalling 7.7.1 iTunes and 2.0.2 firmware in his never-jailbreaked iPhone 3G, the sync is unbearably long. We even tried syncing on an Air and an iMac and used another cable. The only outstanding set of data Brandon had is that he loads 74 apps to his phone. And he says that by adding apps one at a time, his sync/backup time slowly goes up — so it’s not a single buggy app ruining the process.
Now, I’m sure Brandon’s case is an exceptionally complicated problem. He still has an iTunes error message pop up when he syncs, for example. His back up is an astounding 848.1 GB in size. And even when we both load up 50 apps on our phones, his sync is much longer at 4 hours. This is clearly not a normal example, but that doesn’t mean its not real, and it doesn’t mean it isn’t related to the big problem many have been suffering from since firmware 2.00 hit. Maybe Brandon can be our poster boy for the enternal sync/backup problem. Or, until Apple fixes it, we can watch this video every time we complain about the iPhone’s sync times and we can feel like it could have been worse. Like 8 hours worth of worse. But damn if that video doesn’t make you happy when it’s finally done with the transfer.
The song in the video is Foreplay/Long Time, by Boston, FWIW. [Brandon's blog, Foreplay/Long Time Amazon, iTunes]
His setup:
Both machines running 10.5.4 and iTunes 7.7.1 (but again, this started on 7.7)
Air is a day 1 1.6GHZ, 80GB and the iMac is a 2.8GHZ 4GB RAM 320GB HDDWhen I started, I had
997.1 MB of music (163 songs, all .m4a files, except 27 .m4p)
5 playlists
93.6 MB of photos
27 ringtones
No movies or TV shows
47 MB video (all video podcasts)
contacts, calendar synced to mobile me
3 other imap email accounts
74 apps (a lot, I know, but certainly not as many as you could possibly have)The sync added
No music
No playlists
No photos
No ringtones
No movies or TV shows
3.5 GB of video (99 podcasts, and this part only took about 10 minutes, as you can see in the video)
6 app updates (2 of which were not installed because of an error)
No new appsThe backup folder produced this time weighs in at 9,771 items and 848.1 GB
My observations:
It doesn’t matter if the app updates error or not, my last sync was 6:49 with 4 app updates, all of which were successful
Since 2.0, backup and sync has been very long, but not to this extent. Usually 1.5 - 2 hours
It started getting this bad about a month ago, right before iTunes 7.7.1 came out, an app crashed mid install via wifi app store, crashing the phone to the apple logo but not booting all the way
When it crashed like that, I put it in DFU mode and restored from backup, immediately had the same problem
Back to DFU mode and restored with fresh firmware - instead of crashing daily, it did it every few days, requiring DFU mode and fresh download of firmware
Did a complete wipe from within the phone, installed fresh firmware again, and started from scratch. New iTunes installation (removing support files first, empty trash, reboot, then reinstall) new firmware download
Since then, no more Apple logo of death, and very few app crashes in general, but still excruciating backup/sync times
If I skip the backup (I’m inclined to do that these days, since they are usually corrupted, even with a fresh copy on the desktop) it still takes at least 2-3 hours to sync
It’s been such a long time
I think I should be goin’, yeah
And time doesn’t wait for me, it keeps on rollin’
Sail on, on a distant highway
I’ve got to keep on chasin’ a dream
I’ve gotta be on my way
Wish there was something I could say.Well I’m takin’ my time, I’m just movin’ along
You’ll forget about me after I’ve been gone
And I take what I find, I don’t want no more
It’s just outside of your front door.It’s been such a long time. It’s been such a long time.
Well I get so lonely when I am without you
But in my mind, deep in my mind,
I can’t forget about you
Good times, and faces that remind me
I’m tryin’ to forget your name and leave it all behind me
You’re comin’ back to find me.
[Via This article]
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This post was written by admin on August 29, 2008
Samsung Ultrathin TV Looks Like Giant iPhone 3G [Ifa 2008]
Scratch one more notch for Apple design influence, because next year’s top-of-the-range Samsung Ultrathin All-In-One 1 looks like an oversized iPhone 3Gs, down to the finish in black or white. The 52-inch TVâwhich is 1-inch at its thickest pointâincludes all the circuitry and ports in its ultra-slim body, with no breakout boxes or hunchbacks. The result is the slickest TV we have seen in the whole of IFA 2008, beating the Sony ZX1. And the best looking so far this year.
While the slick Sony ZX1 is only 9.9mm, it also has a box in the middle and has to be set up on a stand because of that. The Samsung Ultrathin All-In-One 1 doesn’t, extending the circuitry across its back and tapering the glossy back cover towards the edges, in a very smooth curve. This is a design choice similar to the iPhone 3G and the MacBook Air (and before the anti-Apple fanboys protest, here’s a little tale: four days ago I asked one of the chief designers at Philips about Apple’s industrial design. “Do you think they are a big influence in consumer products?” I said. Smiling, he spent five minutes talking about the undeniable influence of the work of Ive and Co. in most of the stuff currently out there).
The Good: Amazing, beautiful design. It’s as beautiful and simple on the front as it is on the back. In fact, so nice on the back that, even while it’s perfect to be hung on the wall, I would like for it to be standing in the middle of a room. The picture quality doesn’t go far behind. Crisp image quality and very smooth motion, with an even distribution of light.
The Bad: You will have to wait until next year to get one.
Bottom line: The race towards the slimmest TVs continues, and I think Samsung has the winner so far. [More IFA 2008 Coverage]
[Via This article]
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This post was written by admin on August 29, 2008
Will AT&T Allow iPhone Tethering?
With the disappearance of Netshare, users donât have a way to do iPhone and laptop tethering without jailbreaking the iPhone. One user, who complained that AT&T offers data plans for the BlackBerry that could include tethering for an additional $30 per month, but there isnât one for the iPhone, says that heâs willing to pay the extra money for such a service, if only there was one. While we canât really confirm the legitimacy of it, but apparently he received one of Steve Jobsâ short email replies, which read:
We agree, and are discussing it with ATT.
Steve
Sent from my iPhone
[Via This article]
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This post was written by admin on August 29, 2008
IPhone Security Flaw Allows Bypassing of Password
Apple iPhone 3g owners, look out… there’s another flaw you need to know about!
Apple has promised to fix an iPhone security flaw that lets people bypass a password designed to protect personal information on a user’s phone. First discovered by MacRumors and confirmed by Gizmodo, the flaw also affects iPod Touch owners. Specifically, users simply tap the “Emergency Call” button on the password-entry screen, and then tap the home button twice. Doing this will allow the person to have access to a user’s favorites and a list of contacts. Clicking on any contact’s name will reveal the person’s phone number and will have access to the phone function — i.e. clicking on the e-mail function will let the person send an e-mail to the contact. While Apple works on an official patch to fix the issue, iPhone or Touch owners can go into the settings and change it so a double click on the home button will go back to the home screen instead of the favorites section. The security problem doesn’t give a mischievous person full access to the phone, but attackers can still wreak havoc by copying personal information and possibly racking up costly data charges on the phone. A similar flaw appeared last January, and Apple fixed it, but users were dismayed to see that it has reared its ugly head again. Apple has put a stronger emphasis into trying to get the iPhone into the corporate world, but security issues like this one make it difficult for companies to want to use the iPhone.
[Via This article]
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This post was written by admin on August 29, 2008
Major iPhone security hole discovered
According to Ars Technica, posters on the MacRumors forums discovered the security hole, and it’s a pretty big one.
First, for those of you who don’t password-protect your iPhones (and if you don’t, you should), here’s how it normally works: The moment you wake the iPhone, a numeric pad pops up, prompting you for a four-digit passcodeâno password, no joy. There’s also an “Emergency Call” button that lets you call 911 in a pinch. (You can access the password settings under Settings, General, Passlock Code; I typically set my iPhone to require the passcoode after 15 minutes of inactivity.)
Here’s the thing, thoughâif you double-click the Home key while in the Emergency Call screen, the iPhone will default to your Favorites menu. From there, an attacker could access your e-mail (it’s easyâjust click a contact’s email address, click “Cancel” from the new message screen, and you’re in), browse the Web (either through a contact’s URL, or through URLs found via Google Maps), and even make calls (just dial a contact’s number, then add a callâany call).
Reportedly, Apple already knows about the security hole and is working on a software patch. However, Ars Technica already has a simple solution: Just change the double-click preferences for the iPhone Home button (Settings, General, Home Button) to “iPod” (attackers can watch you videos and listen to your tunes, but that’s all), orâeven betterâto “Home,” which simply brings the iPhone back to the password screen.
Also, note to Apple: Would it have killed you to tell us about the security hole and the simple fix?
Related:
Passcode exploit (and fix) found for locked iPhones [Ars Technica]
Â
[Via This article]
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This post was written by admin on August 29, 2008
Apple acknowledges iPhone passcode flaw, promises fix next month
Apple’s taking a pretty lackadaisical attitude toward one of the most easily avoided security flaws in recent memory, calling the iPhone’s passcode lock bypass a “minor iPhone security issue” and saying that a fix will be rolled out in September. Thanks, Apple; we suppose it’d be a little too much trouble to ask for a fix sooner, even though you already fixed it once in 1.1.4. For what it’s worth, a company spokeswoman is quick to point out that the flaw can easily be hidden by changing the home button double-click functionality to take you to the home screen, but most users don’t know that, now do they? Way to show some hustle, guys — cookies and gold stars all around.[Via This article]
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This post was written by admin on August 29, 2008
Apple Acknowledges Huge iPhone Security Flaw, Calls It “Minor,” Announces Fix [Iphone]
Apple has acknowledged the huge iPhone security flaw we tested and reported on two days ago, promising an update for September that will fix the hole that can expose all your private emails, text messages and contacts. But instead of calling a spade a spade and acting as soon as possible, they have decided to minimize the problem:
The minor iPhone security issue, which surfaced this week, is fixed in a software update which will be released in September.
That jewel comes from an Apple spokeswoman, deciding to ignore what ourselves, Wired or the San Francisco Chronicle have classified as a massive security problem. Ms. PR rep: could you please send us your me.com and apple.com passwords so we can demonstrate how easily accessing your mail by clicking a button is not, and will never be, a “minor security issue”?
In the meantime, she points out to the user-driven fix, as if that would help the millions who have iPhones and don’t read Gizmodo, Wired, SFC, Reuters, or any of the outlets around the web that echoed the news. Not good enough, I’m afraid. [Reuters]
[Via This article]
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This post was written by admin on August 29, 2008
Rumor: Apple and AT&T Developing iPhone Tethering Plan [Rumor]
According to a pretty legitimate-looking email thread from one of our readers, Steve Jobs may have responded to complaints that, since the pulling of NetShare from the App Store, iPhone-to-laptop tethering is impossible without jailbreaking one’s phone. From our reader to Steve:
AT&T offers data plans for BlackBerry that include tethering for an additional $30 per month (a total of $60 per month for the BlackBerry+tethering plan).
It seems ludicrous that the same thing is not offered with the iPhone. I understand the desire to prevent tethering with the current data plan, but I am willing to pay more money to allow tethering! With such an advanced device, why can I not do so?
From “Steve” to our reader:
We agree, and are discussing it with ATT.
Steve
Sent from my iPhone
We’re not sure—that “Sent from my iPhone” kicker either makes this email completely legitimate or illegitimate, but it’s not a bad little rumor to start your holiday weekend early.
So would you pay extra to tether your laptop to your iPhone? [Image via Lifehacker]
[Via This article]
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This post was written by admin on August 28, 2008
