iPod Nano Hacked, Will Soon Support Movies and iCalendars?

It looks like the iPod nano has been hacked. Developer and hacker James Whelton managed to bypass the device’s cache comparison and install a rather simple Springboard hack that allows for blank space creation – something that’s possible on jailbroken iPhones and iPads. As Whelton notes this is a very simple hack which will likely enable other devs to play around with the iPod nano and install bootloaders on it.

Most of all, Whelton discovered some hidden strings in the nano’s OS:

Next is the discovery in some of the device’s plists of reference to support of Movies, TV Shows, Apps, Games, vCards, Calender events and so on, with a few other cool things like a passcode lock. With the bypass I figured out, I hope to enable these pretty soon. It seems like the OS is a rehashed version of the previous Nano’s OS.

Details on how to bypass the iPod nano’s OS will be posted in the next days. While we’re pretty that Apple won’t open up the nano to 3rd party apps anytime soon, it will be interesting to see what the hacker community (or should we call it a “jailbreak” for the iPod nano?) will come up with. Check out the video below. Read more

In 2007, RIM Thought The iPhone Was “Impossible”→

In 2007, RIM Thought The iPhone Was “Impossible”

According to a former RIM employee:

RIM had a complete internal panic when Apple unveiled the iPhone in 2007, a former employee revealed this weekend. The BlackBerry maker is now known to have held multiple all-hands meetings on January 10 that year, a day after the iPhone was on stage, and to have made outlandish claims about its features. Apple was effectively accused of lying as it was supposedly impossible that a device could have such a large touchscreen but still get a usable lifespan away from a power outlet.

So that’s why they got left behind: they spent months making fun of something they thought wouldn’t be possible. They came out with their touchscreen smartphone eventually, the Storm, but it didn’t have all the features of the iPhone and, more importantly, it was already too late. Now RIM is struggling to catch up.

Also:

Imagine their surprise [at RIM] when they disassembled an iPhone for the first time and found that the phone was battery with a tiny logic board strapped to it.

Imagine their surprise when they disassembled an iPad.

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iPad 2 To Look Like an iPod touch?

When the iPad was announced, many quickly dismissed it as a “giant iPod touch”. According to the information posted by Japanese blog Macotakara, it looks like the next generation iPad will indeed look more similar to an iPod touch than it does in its current version. Basically, Macotakara analyzed the iPad 2 cases that have been floating around these weeks and concluded that they are designed for a device with a flat back and “tapered sides”, as reported by MacRumors. The new sides and back will presumably force Apple to relocate the speaker and adjust the position of the volume buttons as well.

The volume buttons on the side of the next-generation iPad appear to be of the split style with an oblong form factor as seen on the current iPod touch, as opposed to the rocker buttons used on the current iPad and the round split buttons used on the iPhone 4.

The current iPad 1st gen comes with a curved back and flat sides. The next gen one might be the exact opposite, although I don’t know much a flat back design would make it comfortable for users to pick up the device from a table or desk.

Macotakara also seems to think the iPad 2 will offer a rear camera as big as the iPhone 4’s one, capable of snapping high-resolution pictures. It is still unknown, however, whether these cases that have been posted on the internet are produced by people actually in the know of the next gen iPad 2 or just to generate traffic towards the promo websites.

Video below. Read more

This iPhone App Snaps Pictures With The Volume Buttons

Remember when Camera+ was removed from the App Store because the developers hid a feature in it that allowed you to snap pictures using the iPhone’s volume buttons? Apple didn’t want that and as far as I know they’re still going against apps that modify iOS’ standard functionalities such as volume adjustment. But then why is there an app in the App Store that lets you do just that? Quick Snap, available at $1.99 and released two weeks ago, enables you to take pictures using the physical volume buttons. I just bought the app and it works.

Not only does Quick Snap take pictures with the “+” volume button, it also triggers a timed shot with the other button. I don’t know how this app made its way into the App Store, also considering how much the developers promote the feature on the app’s description page. But other than that, the app isn’t really great. It’s got a less than decent UI and its animations when changing from portrait to landscape mode are slow. It saves pics to the camera roll, but it hasn’t got basic camera features such as zoom or tap to focus.

But hey, it’s got the volume buttons thing. If $1.99 is a good price for such functionality, then go ahead and buy it before Apple pulls it. I’m just surprised the App Review Team missed this one.

Update: And just as we expected, the app is gone. It wasn’t that great anyway.

iPhone Nano Watch: Worst of Both Worlds

We’ll never, ever grow tired of covering weird Chinese knock-offs of Apple products. What we have here today, though, can’t exactly be described as a knock-off: it’s something that doesn’t really exist to start with. It’s an “iPhone nano watch”, a strange combination of those iPod nano watches people have been wearing since September and the more popular iPhone with its distinctive UI. The iPhone nano watch has got a wristband and some clock functionalities I assume, but it also lets you “slide to unlock” and comes with a SIM slot, FM radio tuner, Bluetooth, USB, camera sensor and a speaker.

Don’t ask me how it’s even possible to make calls with this thing. I guess that’s why it’s still labelled as “engineering prototype” – hey, everyone deserves to be deeply tested, right? The iPhone nano watch will also get a headphone jack come the final release.

On a side note, I can’t wait to find a prototype of this one in a shady Shanzhai bar. Hit the source links for more photos. [Engadget via M.I.C. Gadget]

App Store’s Christmas Brings Millions of Downloads to Developers

All those new iPhone and iPod touch users tracked by the official Facebook app? Yeah, the spike in traffic and new users isn’t limited just to the Facebook app. According to numbers reported by The Next Web and Business Insider, Rovio’s blockbuster iOS game Angry Birds and Tapulous’ Tap Tap Revenge 4 generated over 1 million downloads and twice the level of traffic of last year, respectively. Put simply: this year’s App Store and iOS growth showed its results on December 25th by bringing tons of new customers and downloads to apps that already managed to gain a prominent position in the Store. Or was it because of all those people that got an iPhone, iPod touch or iPad under their Christmas trees?

A little bit of both, in my opinion. Surely lots of people got an iDevice for Christmas and rushed to the App Store to buy apps; we shouldn’t ignore the fact, though, that several developers discounted their apps before the iTunes Connect shutdown (which ends tomorrow, by the way) forcing many users like me to save money for Christmas (or iTunes gift cards) and buy apps altogether right before the family dinner. Either way, those are impressive numbers. Read more

Jailbreak Hack Allows You To Rename iOS Apps

Ever wished you could change “Twitter” to “Tweetie” on your iPhone, as it used to be back in the old days? Well, a jailbreak tweak now lets you do that with a single tap. The hack, developed by Ryan Petrich and called “Icon Renamer” allows you to rename any app on your Springboard by entering “wiggle mode” first, then tapping on the icon and typing the new name. Done. Easy as writing down a new folder’s name. You can rename any app, and changes won’t affect your app library in iTunes. The tweak’s pretty handy if you have to deal with apps that have long names (usually games) and are displayed as acronyms on the iPhone’s screen.

The tweak is free and available in Cydia. And no, you can’t rename Icon Renamer because that would be too meta.