It’s only been a handful of days since Apple released their iPhone OS 3.1.3 firmware update through iTunes, and the iPhone Dev Team has already come out with a way to jailbreak the new firmware. The new firmware does little more than fix buggy battery level indicators and Japanese language keyboards, so most of you probably won’t need to install the update. But, there’s invariably going to be a subset of jailbroken iPhone users that can’t resist the urge to update to a brand spankin’ new firmware. For those of you in this group, the iPhone Dev Team has released PwnageTool 3.1.5 to jailbreak iPhone OS 3.1.3!

The PwnageTool utility creates a custom iPhone restore file that you can use to update and jailbreak your iPhone in one felled swoop. PwnageTool 3.1.5 will strip the iPhone OS 3.1.3 update file of its newer baseband modem firmware and replaces it with an older version that can be unlocked with ultrasn0w – this allows you to keep using your iPhone unlocked on any GSM carrier in the world. If you were to update your currently unlocked iPhone 3GS to iPhone OS 3.1.3 without PwnageTool, iTunes will replace your iPhone’s baseband firmware with a new version that cannot be unlocked.

For those of you using a newer iPhone 3GS or had previously updated your firmware to a newer version (05.11.07), you’re going to want to avoid updating to iPhone OS 3.1.3 altogether, if you plan to use your iPhone on unofficial GSM carriers. As long as you stay at iPhone OS 3.1.2, you can jailbreak your iPhone 3GS using blackra1n or PwnageTool and then run GeoHot’s blacksn0w unlock utility to free your iPhone of GSM lockdown.

Get PwnageTool 3.1.5 here.

Are you having trouble coping with the reality of not having one of Apple’s “magical” iPads in your hands? Rather than sweat through the next couple months in want of the slick tablet device, you can try to trick your desires into submission with a DIY iPad. It’ll be made of paper and no more useful to you than any other placebo, but it might just be enough to help you sleep at night.

If anything, printing out, cutting, and assembling the paper iPad will kill some time as you wait for the tablet to launch in a couple months.

Credit for the iPaperPad goes to Revolutionary Concepts‘ Jess Silverstone.

[Via: JohnChow]

The iPhone OS 3.0 and 3.1.2 firmwares have been jailbroken through various methods for some time now, but you may have noticed that you can no longer tether your iPhone. That’s because the latest fixes that Apple put into the iPhone OS 3.1.2 pretty much killed the data tethering (IPCC tethering) hack that allowed jailbroken iPhone users to use their phone as a wireless 3G modem. Today, the always impressive iPhone Dev Team has resurrected IPCC data tethering on the iPhone. How, you ask? Through the new redsn0w 0.9.3 iPhone jailbreak utility!

If you’ve used ultrasn0w or PwnageTool, you’ve already acquainted yourself with the Dev Team’s work. This latest release of redsn0w differs from PwnageTool in that it doesn’t touch the baseband firmware (the code that controls how your cellular modem connects to wireless networks) and doesn’t even need iTunes to do its thing.

Rather than creating a custom .ipsw restore file that is used to restore and jailbreak your iPhone, redsn0w breaks into your iPhone like a ninja and hacks out all of Apple’s firmware protection technologies. iTunes never comes into play. All you need to do is connect the iPhone to your computer, fire up the redsn0w utility, and you’ll be good to go in a matter of minutes.

redsn0w blasts blackra1n out of the water by offering features like automatic Cydia installation, custom logos, afc2 and the IPCC tethering hack. The new redsn0w utility’s IPCC tethering hack is itself enough reason to run redsn0w, even if you’re already jailbroken.

To hammer home just how easy it is to use redsn0w, we’re not even going to post a redsn0w “How to” guide/tutorial. Download and read up on redsn0w here. Done.

redsn0w 0.9.3 (bottom of page)

[Update]
Okay, maybe a little guidance is in order here. For clarification, you’ll need the redsn0w 0.9.3 beta to get the IPCC tethering hack working again – find at the bottom of the page via the link above (or here). Once you’ve run redsn0w, you’ll have to download a custom IPCC file (carrier bundle), which tells your iPhone that you are allowed to tether on a given carrier.

1. Point your iPhone Safari browser here, and download an IPCC file that corresponds to your region and carrier.
2. Once downloaded, install the IPCC file and replace your existing carrier bundle.
3. Navigate to Settings > General > Network on your iPhone to enable tethering.
4. You now have tethering enabled on your iPhone 3G/3GS running iPhone OS 3.1.2!

Nokia is bringing their Ovi Maps Navigation service to the Nokia N97 (along with a slew of other Nokia smartphones) on January 28th, but you don’t have to wait for the official update to start playing with free GPS navigation on your N97. Nokia N97 Blog has posted instructions for getting Nokia’s Ovi Maps installed on your N97 in a couple of easy-peasy steps. Why would you want to do this, you ask? Well if you don’t, you’ll have to wait until the end of the next week to get Ovi Maps on your phone, and that just isn’t going to be fun.

The process is simple – just download the Ovi Maps .sis file to your computer from here. Then you copy the .sisx file to your N97 and run the file and off you go! Head over to Nokia N97 Blog if you need more details.

[Via: NokiaN97Blog]

Yeah, the N900’s native browser is badass enough to actually load the real Google Maps front page, but it take forever to load and isn’t what you’d call “mobile friendly”. Luckily, YoDude from HowardForums has put together a nice little solution that will definitely do the trick.

1. Download and install Oleg Romashin’s Geolocation extension. This will let the Maemo browser talk with the N900’s integrated GPS.
2. Download and unzip Gmaps.htm and zoom.htm from YoDude’s compilation to somewhere on the N900.
3. Navigate to to Gmaps.htm using the N900’s file manager, and bookmark it or put a shortcut on the homescreen as you see fit.

Blammo. It’s a bit complicated, and there’s no panning, but it’ll certainly do the trick until we get a more elegant solution similar to other smartphone platforms. 

[HoFo via FoneArena]

Those who are curious and brave enough to dive deep into the BlackBerry operating system’s guts will be interested in hearing about this tool for accessing hidden engineering screens. It’s a pretty simple process.

1. From the homescreen, hit Alt + Shift + H (or Alt + EACE on SureType devices like the Pearl, or Escape + tap top-left three times followed by once on the top-right on SurePress BlackBerrys). This should bring up an extended Help Me! screen.
2. Take the values shown there (App Version including the bracketed value, PIN number, uptime since your last reboot, and how long you want your Help Me! screen replaced by engineering screens) and type them in the corresponding fields in the Thyth-o-matic Engineering Screen Unlock Code Generator. Do not close the Help Me! screen, since the code generated is specific to the uptime shown there.
3. Type in the unlock code provided and voila, your Help Me! screen accessed via Shift + Alt + H (or otherwise) will be switched to Engineering Screens for the duration you chose.

Unless you know what you’re doing, you don’t want to mess around with what’s in here since there are some relatively low-level functions here that could seriously mess up your BlackBerry. However, it’s worth enabling out of idle interest or technical utility, as the case may be. You can see the internal temperature of the battery, check internal logs, memory usage, all sorts of stuff.

For those who are really hardcore techies, check out the algorithm used to generate this code, since the automated generator probably won’t last long online after RIM legal gets its rage on. Big ups to Thyth for putting this together.

[via BerryReview]

If you accidentally updated your iPhone 3G/3GS to the latest iPhone OS 3.1/3.1.2, then you’re also stuck with baseband version 05.11. If you recently bought a factory fresh iPhone 3GS with OS 3.1 or 3.1.2 already loaded, then you’re in the same boat. That used to be a bad thing, because baseband 05.11 couldn’t be unlocked to work with unofficial SIM cards. Today’s release of “blacksn0w” changes all that. The blacksn0w software unlock utility is now available to unlock any iPhone 3G or iPhone 3GS running the latest iPhone OS 3.1.2 and baseband 05.11!

Yes, that includes brand new, out-of-the-box, iPhone 3GS’s.

If you’re running an older version of the baseband (04.26), simply jailbreak your iPhone and run Ultrasn0w. You can find your baseband firmware version by navigating to Settings>General>About>Modem Version on your iPhone. We have jailbreak (PwnageTool) directions here and unlock (ultrasn0w) directions here.

For the rest of you in the “baseband 05.11″ boat, keep reading for a step-by-step tutorial to unlock your iPhone…

Read the full article »

The iPhone’s big 3.5-inch display is great for watching videos and viewing photos. It’s also great for boring your friends with photos from your Napa Valley vacation (trust us, that vineyard was way more impressive in person). Here’s a quick tip to keep your photos locked in a particular orientation:

Simply rotate your iPhone into the orientation you’d like, then tap-and-hold on the photo. A little “Copy” bubble will appear, effectively locking the photo in place.

The tap-and-hold method isn’t elegant or optimal, but it sure is convenient. Give it a try next time you’re sharing photos with friends!

[Via: Lifehacker]

In-line auto-completion can be a godsend when you’re tapping out a long-winded email. Unfortunately for all you HTC Touch Pro2 owners, HTC decided to disable the feature in favor of you using the trick slide-and-tilt QWERTY keyboard. Auto-completion is still available through the Touch Pro2’s Windows Mobile Professional OS, but it takes a little fiddling to get it back up and running. According to XDA user k99w, all it takes is a couple registry changes to re-enable auto-completion.

First off, be aware that editing your Windows Mobile registry can potentially leave you with an expensive paperweight. That’s the worst-case scenario. Second, always make sure to backup your data – you never know what could happen. Third, you do this at your own risk.

Here’s how:

1. You’ll need a Windows Mobile registry editor. PHM Registry Editor is a good editor – especially since it’s free.
2. Search your registry for “HKLM\Software\Tegic\eT9\XT9SupportMSSi” and make sure it has a value of 0
3. Search for “HKLM\system\currentcontrolset\control\layouts\e0010409″ and change:

• Ime File: \windows\et9ime.dll to Ime File: \windows\compime.dll
• Layout Text : ET9 IME to Layout Text : COMP IME

4. Reboot your phone.
5. Enjoy auto-completion!

For more Pro2 customization tips, check this out.

[Via: WMExperts]

There are iPhone apps that allow you to record phone conversations for blackmail your personal records (SpoofApp and Recorder 10 are good examples), but they apparently weren’t up to snuff for DIY gadget hacker Adam Byers. The currently available iPhone apps require that you jailbreak your iPhone, pay by the minute for call recordings and can only record calls originating from the iPhone [credit to Adam for the clarification]. That just wasn’t going to cut it. Instead, Byers took it upon himself to craft his own hardware solution to the iPhone call recording problem. The end result is a big black box that obviously puts function over form, but allows you to record both sides of an iPhone conversation relatively easily.

The only catch here is that you have to make your own iPhone call recording “Black Box” yourself. If you don’t know your way around a wiring diagram and a soldering iron, we’d suggest you stay away from this mod. Those of you with some electrical engineering experience will probably still find this mod to be too much of a hassle (jailbreaking your iPhone is soo much easier). The five remaining DIY hackers out there can find instructions for making an iPhone hardware call recorder here.

Just remember, recording phone conversations isn’t exactly 100% legal everywhere. Make sure you keep that in mind before recording a phone conversation.

[Via: Gizmodo]