I have a friend who runs a laser engraving company . He is reporting that many of his customers who are trying to order iPhones and iPods are being limited by apple to only 5 devices per day. Bulk orders are seemingly being rejected by apple. This isn’t Apple insider information or a report from a purchasing director at a large retail store, simply an observation. Why else would Apple be limiting the rate at which its products are purchased?
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According to the infamous environmental group Greenpeace, "If Apple really wants to reinvent the phone, it needs to design out ALL hazardous substances and materials from its handsets and peripherals” (Greenpeace). So what Greenpeace is really saying is that they dislike technology. All cellular phones and for that matter nearly every piece of electronic equipment contains some hazardous substances.

From my research, I have found that Apple is one of the good guys. They recycle more computers than nearly any other computer manufacturer. They actively encourage their customers to recycle their computers and handsets. Furthermore, Apple has committed itself to using less of the toxic materiels that Greenpeace has particular problems with including chlorinated plastic polyvinyl chloride and "brominated flame retardants". Presumably this material was added to the iPhone to ensure that when a lithium battery inside of an iPhone fails, that the phone does not burst into flames thereby preventing the possibility of maiming of the user or worse.

If Greenpeace really wants to make a dent on the environment maybe they should open a line of Greenpeace PC and Electronic Recycling stores. Or if that is to much to ask, maybe Greenpeace could get the word out that all electronics contain what they would consider hazardous materials and should be disposed of at a facility capable of properly recycling and disposing/neutralizing such materials.

So Greenpeace, butt out of Apple’s business. They along with Dell are one of the good guys in pioneering the use of environmentally friendly materials and more importantly in pioneering environmentally friendly practices such as PC recycling.




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APPLE has made a bit of an error when the trying to flog its Iphone in France.

According to French newspapers, Jobs' Mob forgot that it is harder to screw over consumers in the EU in the same way it can in the United States.

Although Apple says it has a deal with Orange, negotiations with the French telco are running aground because they do not want the same bizarre lock-ins which have been seen over the pond.

French consumer laws specifically prohibit the dependent sale of a product and a service which means that Orange will have to sell the Iphone with and without subscription. Apple is not happy with that and, since it has refused to let Orange flog a subsidised Iphone as part of a package, there is little reason for anyone to sign up for an Orange deal.

Orange insists that it has got a contract signed and there is a chance that it will be able to flog the Iphone before Christmas. However Apple is not happy about the way that things are going.

France could be the only place in the world where the Iphone has to be sold unlocked and some Apple executives think this is a bad idea.

There is a badly translated version of the French press stories here .

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See ebay auction for details or Contact Us .
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I just love that title!

found it on ( reddit )
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Bloggers and hackers aren't the only ones sticking it to iPhone maker Apple Inc. for its closed minded approach to user-customization of the touch-screen handsets -- Nokia has taken advantage of the situation by launching a print and web campaign dubbed "Open to anything."

"We believe the best devices have no limits. That's why we've left the Nokia Nseries open," the Finland-based handset maker wrote on its new "Open to anything" website. "Open to applications. Open to widgets. Open to anything. So go ahead and load it up. What it does is up to you."

The campaign, which was accompanied by the posting of similarly-worded bills in New York City this past weekend, is an obvious response to the latest iPhone update on Thursday. As Apple had warned, the software patch disabled versions of the Apple handset that had been "unlocked" to operate on wireless carries other than AT&T, while adding a couple of new features like the Wi-Fi iTunes Music Store.

In addition, however, the update wreaked havoc on a number unmodified iPhones and those iPhones which had been only modified to run third-party software applications but had otherwise remained locked to the Apple-approved carrier. Users who reached out to Apple for help in reactivating those phones were turned away (video) in the same manner as those users who had unlocked the devices against Apple's stated policy.

The Cupertino-based firm's harsh stance was met with considerable outrage because, unlike unlocking, users who had installed third-party applications simply to increase the usefulness of their pricey handsets -- in addition to those who had done nothing at all -- were suddenly being informed that they had voided their warranty on the handset as a whole and were on their own in attempting to somehow reactivate those phones.

The matter is complicated by a number of factors, primarily what is now being perceived by some as a poor job on Apple's part to convey its stance on third-party applications to iPhone users earlier in the handset's lifecycle. Recent comments from an Apple executive even made it appear as if the company was taking an indifferent stance to the development and installation such third-party apps. Additionally, Apple's public warning seemed only to target unlockers rather than those installing applications.

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The iPhone V1.1.1 update, which shipped Thursday, is a giant patch, fixing issues with its mail service, Bluetooth and seven bugs in Safari.

By Sharon Gaudin
InformationWeek
September 28, 2007 10:09 AM


Apple came out with an iPhone software update on Thursday that patches 10 security bugs that could enable a hacker to remotely execute malicious code, reveal e-mail credentials or even make a call without the user's consent. In some cases, however, where the user has tinkered with the guts of the iPhone, the software update has rendered the phone unusable.
The update -- iPhone V1.1.1 -- patches one bug in Bluetooth, two in the device's mail service, and seven in its Safari browser. The U.S.-CERT is "strongly encouraging" users to review the advisory and follow best practices in determining what updates should be applied.

The fixes come out amid a lot of brouhaha in the research and hacker communities about software for sale that would enable the smartphone to work on any service provider with a standard GSM SIM card. Just this past Monday, though, Apple warned users that unlocking the programs used to connect the device to cellular networks other than AT&T (NYSE: T)'s causes "irreparable damage." The company also warned that the modifications would probably cause the iPhone to be inoperable when the updates were released.

It's not yet clear what the total affect will be from the fixes on unlocked devices, though reports are surfacing online that the update has disabled at least some unlocked iPhones. It's being reported on Gizmodo that the software update may make unlocked iPhones unusable.

"For those who have "unlocked" their iPhones, there were stories in the press over the last week that a future update would turn the unlocked iPhones into expensive paperweights," wrote Jim Clausing, a handler with the Internet Storm Center, on their daily blog. "It is unclear at present if this update is the one that does it or not (probably not based on the descriptions of the updates included)."


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Using mobile phones for more than 10 years gives a consistent pattern of increased risk for at least two different types of brain tumors. This was the conclusion of a summary that reviewed sixteen other research studies from seven countries – USA, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, United Kingdom, Germany, and Japan.(1)

Cell Phones Are Like Radios

Cell phones are more like radios than traditional telephones in your home. They emit low levels of radiofrequency energy (RF) in the microwave range while being used. They also emit very low levels of RF when in the stand-by mode. Using a cell phone can place the radiation antenna close to the user’s brain and this can lead to the absorption of comparatively large amounts of electromagnetic energy.

There has been an on-going debate about the safety of cell phones for many years. While, not surprisingly, the cell phone industry and various health authorities have assured users that the technology is safe, recent research has suggested otherwise.

Researchers at the Department of Oncology, University Hospital in Sweden reviewed sixteen published studies that looked at cell phone use and the rate of brain cancers. They concluded that:

“For both acoustic neuroma and glioma (two types of brain cancer), overall risk was increased in the whole group, but significantly increased for ipsilateral exposure (tumor on the same side of the brain as cell phone exposure)…These results are certainly of biological relevance, as the highest risk was found for tumors in the most exposed area of the brain, using a latency period that is relevant in carcinogenesis.”

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APPLE'S VOW to void the warranties of Iphones that their owners have unlocked could land it in hot water, writes Phone News .
The US Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act provides protection for consumers that prohibits Apple from voiding an Iphone warranty due to third party modifications or enhancements.

However, if Apple can prove that its written Iphone warranty legally and specifically prohibits unlocking, or that the modification or enhancement of unlocking the Iphone has damaged the device, it might get away with disclaiming warranties on unlocked Iphones.

Cellphone manufacturers generally consider a successfully unlocked cellphone to retain its warranty, although a device that has been unlocked unsuccessfully can be considered to have a voided warranty if it can't be repaired by reflashing the firmware.

Further, the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act prohibits Apple from disabling or damaging an Iphone merely because it can detect that it has been unlocked. It does seem to permit Apple to require that an unlocked Iphone be relocked to AT &T's service. However, other laws and regulations seem to prohibit this, too.
There are technical points of law involved here, so don't take our word for it. However, it seems almost certain that someone with a good telecommunications lawyer will seek to establish whether or not Apple can legally void the warranties of unlocked Iphones.

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You heard that the new firmware bricks unlocked iphones ? Get this: Apple just confirmed to me that running any third-party app at all voids the warranty, and you won't be covered if your iPhone bricks for whatever reason. The reasoning is that Apple cannot distinguish between other third party apps and those that have been confirmed to combine with the new firmware to cause iPhone Brick-itus. (Apple specifically named iUnlock and the GUI version, AnySIM.) What I don't get is how is running an app on an OS X iPhone more dangerous than running third party apps on a Macbook running OS X? I don't know, I'm not a genius, I just play one in my diorama. I don't think there's a way to track use of unauthorized apps, so before you go in for service, restore your iPhone to a born again software virgin status. There you go, iPhone rebels playing with AppTapp--we are all bandits and too dirty for warranty.

CUPERTINO, Calif., Sept. 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Apple has discovered that many of the unauthorized iPhone unlocking programs available on the Internet cause irreparable damage to the iPhone's software, which will likely result in the modified iPhone becoming permanently inoperable when a future Apple-supplied iPhone software update is installed. Apple plans to release the next iPhone software update, containing many new features including the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store (www.itunes.com), later this week. Apple strongly discourages users from installing unauthorized unlocking programs on their iPhones. Users who make unauthorized modifications to the software on their iPhone violate their iPhone software license agreement and void their warranty. The permanent inability to use an iPhone due to installing unlocking software is not covered under the iPhone's warranty.
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Worse yet, will it cost you extra? Its looking like both might be answered with a yes. Maybe not though, depending on how you read the email, does it mean you have to purchase an extra messaging plan or is it referring to the data/messaging plan that already comes with the iPhone service plans?

A gentleman by the name of Jordan apparently received a txt message from AT&T informing him that his messaging package now included text, picture, and instant messages for the same price of $19.99 per month. It also added that no action was required, but that’s got to be wrong since that IM software isn’t going to get on the iPhone on its own.


This whole text message looks kind of fishy though, first the phone number is pretty weird, then the format of the whole text message is messed up. The first line goes from all caps with “AT&T FREE” to just the first character capitalized before it even reaches the colon signifying the end of the heading. Then there is a question mark at the end of “Good News” like as if more features without having to pay more money is ever going to be a bad thing? Anyways, like I said, its kind of fishy.

iPhone to include IM and picture messaging soon? [via BoingBoing]
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Back in 1971, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak (founders of Apple Computer Inc.) went into business to build ‘Blue Boxes’. A device that allowed free illegitimate phone calls by faking the signals used by AT&T (Apple’s exclusive network carrier). In the picture, you can see Woz with a ‘Blue Box’.

From Wikipedia:
An early phreaking tool, the blue box is an electronic device that simulates a telephone operator’s dialing console. It functions by replicating the tones used to switch long-distance calls and using them to route the user’s own call, bypassing the normal switching mechanism. The most typical use of a blue box was to place free telephone calls - inversely, the Black Box enabled one to receive calls which were free to the caller. The blue box no longer works in most western nations, as modern switching systems are now digital and no longer use the in-band signaling which the blue box emulates. Instead, signaling occurs on an out-of-band channel which cannot be accessed from the line the caller is using (called Common Channel Interoffice Signaling (CCIS)).

The Apple Founders not only built those devices, but Steve Jobs also sold them to his fellow students at the University of California, Berkeley. Allegedly they demonstrate the product by making prank calls.

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When the iPhone first came out, one of the sought-after features for the device was a Global Positioning System service that could be used with the handset.

Since Apple has yet to provide one, third party outfits seem the way to go. Yesterday, software company Navizon released its Virtual GPS software for the iPhone.

The software, which retails for US$24.99, triangulates signals from Wi-Fi access points and cellular towers to give the user their position. Users can download the program's .zip file directly and add the application to their iPhone via Installer.app , then connect to a Wi-Fi location and create a login.

From here, click the "Locate Me" button to allow the program to find you on the map. For best results, run the "Locate Me" function at least twice in order to have the Wi-Fi scanner become fully operational.

The program is distributed as trial-ware and will remain functional for 15 days before pushing the user to register it.

If you've tried the Virtual GPS program or have two cents to chip in regarding the iPhone and GPS, let us know in the comments.

Thanx to Rick Stenson of Qualnetics for the tip
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That’s right, for $5, maybe less depending on what you have handy, you can replace your iPhone’s busted screen. It won’t work if you puncture far enough through your phone to actually break the LCD, but it it’s just the glass, read on.

The parts list is a 1/32-inch thick piece of plexi-glass, transparent plastic, something of that nature, a razor blade, Dremel, scissors, and Goo Gone. Eye protection is also recommended, but that’s probably only for the part where you use the Dremel.

Use the razor blade to scrap off the remnants of the previous glass screen, cut out the plastic to fit, use paint or a Sharpie to black out the areas that are supposed to be black, use the Goo Gone to remove the left over glue on the LCD screen, then affix the new plastic cover. Word is the touchscreen still works just like it should, and unless someone gets up close, they can’t tell the difference.


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My son is an iPhone genius.

He's not yet three but can already tap the phone's touch screen well enough to play his "Dora the Explorer," "Little Einsteins" and "Sesame Street" videos.

"I do it myself, Daddy," he says before settling into his car seat and firing up the phone's video iPod for a car ride.

Making road trips more enjoyable for him was a surprising iPhone perk. So was not having to buy a DVD player for the family car.

Shaping Up the Competition
Techies were bound to love Apple's (Nasdaq: AAPL) first smart phone, but it's far more than just another pretty handheld package. After nearly three months, I've found that the iPhone and the tech innovations it introduces to the market are packed with features that make family life simpler and even safer.

Still, even with the recent US$200 price cut, the iPhone costs $400. That's a big bite into any family budget .

The price cut is unprecedented for Apple, coming less than three months after the iPhone's release and fueling speculation of poor sales . Apple, however, announced it sold 1 million iPhones in the first 74 days. The iPod needed two years to sell that many.

Apple's new price puts the iPhone in the same cost range as Motorola's (NYSE: MOT) Razr2 and Palm's (Nasdaq: PALM) Treo. Cheaper iPhone models and/or competitor versions from Samsung , LG Electronics and Sony Ericsson should be out by the holidays.

The good news is that what the iPhone delivers now at that price will eventually become standard on new cell phones and handsets. It has even helped us save time and money here and there.

Dora Saves the Day
My son almost couldn't believe Dora was in the palm of his tiny hand, the first time I downloaded the episode "Rojo, the Firetruck" from iTunes. It costs $2 per cartoon, but I was happily surprised to find out the "Sesame Street" TV shows were free. (When was the last time anyone gave a parent something so useful, for free?)

Suddenly long car and airplane rides seem less daunting.

However, the feature isn't the only family-friendly iPhone perk. Here are a few others:

Lost Dog
I lost track of my five-year-old beagle, Chico, the other night. I spoil him, so that's why I let him play in front of the house without a leash and collar while I cleaned my car.

A scary thought flashed in my mind: You lost your dog.

Fortunately, there were plenty of recent photos of Chico in my iPhone.

I could use them to show neighbors or even make missing-dog posters, thanks to the built-in camera's high clarity.

Ten minutes passed, and Chico eventually poked his head out of some bushes.

However, the incident taught us another important feature of the iPhone: With the included USB cable, parents can instantly download photos of a lost child (or pet) that can be used by authorities and neighbors during an emergency search. I know for most parents it can be unnerving just to think about a lost child, but it's good to know iPhone photos would work well with police computers and the Amber Alert system, which displays photos of missing children on electronic, roadside billboards.

Convenient Camera
The phone's high-quality camera also keeps us from missing unexpected moments for the family photo album when our digital camera isn't handy.

I really liked my old Razr cell phone, but its camera produced grainy pictures compared with iPhone's two-megapixel versions. The iPhone also syncs easily with home computers (PCs and Macs), and the image software is a breeze.

A Busy Parent's Best Friend
The iPhone is handy for those unexpected moments. You can use it to take a photo of a car accident scene or even a crime in progress. The iPhone's Web browser will also let you quickly find the business name and location of nearby gas stations with the cheapest prices or check on local, up-to-the-minute traffic conditions.

Then there's the $50 I saved when I bought a computer back-up hard drive at a Radio Shack store after using my iPhone's Web browser, Safari, to check prices at other stores.

Can the iPhone make you a better parent? Not necessarily. However, it certainly can make you a better-prepared one.

For better or worse, it also introduced my young son to a cutting-edge tech world. Who can put a price tag on that?

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If you bought your iPhone before August 22, you may be eligible for an instant $100 electronic credit toward the purchase of products at the Apple Retail Store or the Apple Online Store. See the terms and conditions below for more details.

To receive your credit, Click this link!


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HaRRo over on the iPhone Dev Team has already upped the ante -- just hours after releasing the first free, open source iPhone SIM unlock software, he's already got an early beta version of the graphical one-click iPhone-based software cooking. We tested out an early build (sorry folks, it's not quite ready for release yet) and can confirm that despite the visual glitches you see above, it's already a fully functional one-click unlock solution, not different from IPSF's paid unlock software. Unfortunately, you still have to actually get the app onto the phone and go through the faux-activation process with your SIM afterward (and re-enable YouTube, if you so choose), but this is the first major step in automating the process of quickly and easily unlocking everybody's iPhone. More information -- including the final build of the GUI unlock -- will be posted as it comes to HaRRo's iPhone unlock site (hit the read link).

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Could VoIP on Apple’s new kit take on the might of the iPhone?


The idea first surfaced over on Apple Gazette, where bloggers have suggested that, thanks to the inbuilt Safari browser, you’ll be able to get Skype going on the touchscreen jukebox when it arrives in the next few weeks.

Potentially, this could give tech savvy punters the choice between laying out on a hallowed iPhone or simply hacking their music machine into a web-friendly mobile.

This is all reliant on the mic-toting iPhone headphones working with the iPod Touch however. And we’re betting that Apple’s already thought of this sneaky loophole and found a way round it.

Still, that kind of behaviour hasn’t stopped hackers freeing the iPhone from its pesky chains. We’ll be on the prowl for any news, so be sure to keep it here at iPhiend.
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The iPodtouch's physical storage limitation of 16GB enraged a lot of people. Why? Most were worried that they wouldn't be able to store much of the video that they wanted to watch on their beautiful new 480x320 screens. However, Apple allows you to play movies over the net. Don't believe us? Point your iPhone/iPodtouch browser over to:

http://www.apple.com/trailers/iphone

Yep. Links to Quicktime movies. Full 480x320. Full stereo sound and amazing video clarity. They also start up right away and play fully without having to catch up if you are on relatively speedy Wifi enabled Internet connection.

So what is stopping us from taking our incredibly diverse .mp4 movie collection and putting it on the web? Not much really.

Just point your Web Server directory to the folder that has your media files. No index.html page necessary - just enable directory listing on the webserver and allow the web browser to open the mp4 files. Now we have an iPod with 2TB of storage.

Technically, this can be done with music files and audiobooks as well. Anything that is read by Quicktime/iTunes should be compatible. Perhaps Apple should run with this on a Airport Extreme update? This functionality would be really easy to build in and make simple for the masses.

As long as we are near some Wifi - which isn't that infrequent! Now Bring on the 3G iPhones!


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The first free iPhone unlock software has been sold and successfully installed today by Mr Paul Taylor, from the UK. Giz was there as an exclusive witness, but when things went very wrong —and the process failed repeatedly giving a “baseband communication error”— I jumped in to help. After some troubleshooting we identified the problem —and I am afraid that it could mean that the software unlock may not work with all SIM configurations. [Updated Sept. 11, 02:52AM EST: iPod Sim Free has issued an application update to fix the problem we discovered during unlocking. Jump to see their statement.]

Nobody has told you this yet, but as I discovered, not everyone would be able to apply the iPhone Sim Free patch to unlock the iPhone. The key seems to be in the SIM card’s PIN. If you can disable it, everything seems ok to go. But if you can’t, it looks like you should have to forget about the iPhone Sim Free software for now.

As I was able to see today, the customer experience to unlock an iPhone is not pretty. In fact, it could be absolutely awful because most final users don’t know anything about SSH, SFTP or the Terminal. If you already have your iPhone jailbreaked using a software like iFuntastic for Mac (current version doesn’t work with iTunes 7.4) or iBrickr for Windows, installing the application will be a breeze: just drag and drop it inside the Applications folder inside your iPhone.

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