iPhone Atlas

iPhone OS hacker GeoHot has announced the successful creation of an iPhone unlock for the iPhone OS 3.1.2 baseband. The new app called, Blacksn0w, will allow iPhone users to use their phone on non-Apple sanctioned carriers.

You'll have to wait a bit though, since the application will not be released by GeoHot until November 4th, 2009.

GeoHot, "To clarify, I have arbitrary code running on the baseband. "

(Credit: GeoHot)

GeoHot also posted this YouTube video demonstrating the exploit:

Apple on Thursday released an update for the iPhone operating system, bringing the current version of the OS to 3.1.2.

According to notes accompanying the update, Apple fixed three bugs, which may not seem like a lot, but they are important. Among the changes is a fix for what Apple says is a "sporadic issue," where the iPhone would not wake up from sleep mode.

The update also resolves an issue that could interrupt the cell network until the phone is restarted. A bug that caused a crash during video streaming has been addressed in iPhone OS 3.1.2.

Apple said iPhone OS 3.1.2 is compatible with the iPhone, iPhone 3G, and iPhone 3GS. The update is available by plugging your iPhone into your computer and clicking on the update button in iTunes.

Once finished, your iPhone will restart and immediately alert you to a Carrier Settings update. This is a very small update that will be completed without needing to restart again.

(Credit: Griffin)

According to iLounge, Apple has added a feature to the iPhone OS, as well as to Made-for-iPod and Works-with-iPhone certified devices, to include automatic download prompts when connecting accessories supported by iPhone apps. If you connect one of these accessories to you iPhone or iPod Touch, an alert box warns you about the missing application and asks for permission to install it.

(Credit: iLounge)

Griffin's iTrip, an FM transmitter with app support, is the first already-shipping accessory we found that supports this new iPhone OS feature.

(Credit: Griffin)

The iTrip app is optional. According to Griffin, the app enhances the usefulness of the iTrip by allowing you to control it from your touch screen. Once installed you can:

• Tune your iTrip
• Scan for clear frequencies
• Display the current FM station iTrip is using to transmit your music
• Have one-tap access to SmartScan
• Use a large, on-screen tuning knob
• Access three user presets

We're curious to see what future innovations developers will make using this new hardware/app compatibility.

(Credit: Apple, Inc.)

• Reset your iPhone by holding down the sleep and home buttons until the Apple logo appears.
• Restore your iPhone: In iTunes, click the Restore button under the Summary tab. Restoring the phone will erase contacts, calendars, photos, and other data on the phone, but will restore automatically backed-up information including text messages, notes, call history, contact favorites, sound settings, widget settings, etc. Of course, make sure that you back up your phone before restoring.

However, some issues--chronicled below--persist:

Podcasts are listed in random order for some users who are reporting that podcast episodes are not being displayed properly by date. We encountered this problem in one out of seven podcasts on a test iPhone 3GS. This bug has been confirmed by Apple, so look for a fix in a future firmware update.

Podcast sort bug.

(Credit: David Martin)

Random freezes or shutdowns are a major complaint for users after upgrading. The problem is the source of heated discussions within a huge Apple discussion thread containing nearly 900 posts. The problem seems to manifest itself whenever the iPhone goes to sleep, the user locks the display, or just randomly. When the user next tries to use the phone, he or she will find it completely unresponsive--the display remains blank and pressing buttons won't wake it. The only recourse for the user is to perform a reset as described above.

Battery life is another major complaint for users after upgrading and one we've encountered ourselves. So far, none of the usual fixes have resolved a problem some are claiming happens even when the iPhone is idle. Regardless, we've noticed on our own iPhone 3GS that battery life is significantly poorer after upgrading to iPhone OS 3.1. It isn't unusual to commute home at the end of the day with 25 percent or less battery life.

Apple is clearly aware of the battery problem and is actively trying to resolve it by engaging iPhone users in a study. Participating users will receive a special BatteryLifeLogging.mobilecongfig file that will capture Powerlog files from the iPhone when syncing with iTunes. The user sends the log files to Apple via e-mail or http://bugreport.apple.com. Hopefully with enough input, Apple will find the root cause of this problem and issue a fix in a future firmware update.

In the meantime, we suggest that you look at our guide to getting the most out of your iPhone battery for suggestions on improving battery life.

Slow or sluggish performance is a complaint from some users, blaming the problem on MobileMe syncing. According to a post by Skid on the Apple forums, you can resolve the issue by performing these steps:

1. Launch the Settings App
2. Go to Mail, Contacts, Calendars
3. Go to your MobileMe account
4. Turn off contacts and calendars
5. When prompted, delete them from your iPhone
6. Reset your iPhone by holding down the sleep and home buttons until the Apple logo appears.
7. Perform steps 1-5, but this time turn contacts and calendar syncing on.

If the above steps do not resolve the problem, another alternative is to delete your MobileMe account from your iPhone, perform a reset, and set up your MobileMe account from scratch.

Unknown error (-50) was an error we encountered when syncing from iPhoto to our iPhone 3GS on another computer. According to Apple, all we needed to do was sync using iTunes 9, which we had not installed on the second computer. After upgrading to iTunes 9 the problem disappeared.

A problem with Exchange is a source of complaints about the OS 3.1 upgrade manifested by 2G and 3G iPhone models failing to connect to Exchange 2007. Details about the issue can be found in the article, "Apple explains iPhone OS 3.1 Exchange changes."

Bricked iPhones caused by the OS 3.1 upgrade failing to apply was a source of complaints by some unhappy iPhone users. Fortunately, there is a fix for most "bricking" incidents: take the following steps to do a factory restore of your iPhone:

1. Press and hold Sleep/Wake and Home until the iPhone resets.
2. When the Apple logo appears release Sleep/Wake, but do not release Home until you see the prompt to connect the iPhone to iTunes.
3. Connect your iPhone to its USB sync cable.
4. iTunes should launch. If it doesn't, launch it manually.
5. Perform a restore of your iPhone's firmware, settings, apps, and media.

A handful of other common problems were reported with the OS 3.1 update for Wi-fi, the compass, and other small items. We've covered many of these in the posts "Major, minor iPhone upgrade problems and how to fix them," and the follow up post "More major, minor iPhone upgrade problems and how to fix them."

If the above fixes don't help with your OS 3.1 issue, consider following the Apple iPhone Troubleshooting Assistant before investing your time in calling AppleCare or visiting the local Genius Bar.

Tell us about your iPhone OS 3.1 upgrade problems in the comments.

Apple sent an e-mail to iPhone app developers on Friday afternoon announcing the App Store Resource Center, a destination for details on application review and distribution, ranging from advice on preparing an app for submission to managing an app once it is available on the App Store.

According to Apple:

(Credit: Apple)

"The App Store Resource Center provides details on how to get started with iTunes Connect, including setting up your account, contract and banking information, what you'll need to have prepared before you submit your binary, and quick reference guides on assigning a rating to your app and using keywords.

"You'll learn what you can do to ensure your app is ready for the approval process and what to expect during review. You'll also find guidance on managing your app, once it's on the App Store, including app-editing information, submitting updates for your app, and where you can find and leverage sales and marketing resources."

Apple also advised developers to "check out the News and Announcements section of the iPhone Dev Center for tips on submitting your apps to the App Store, turnaround time for app review, new program features, and guidance on everything from development and testing to distribution and marketing."

Developers need a registered iPhone Developer Apple ID and password, which can be obtained by signing up for a paid membership to Apple's iPhone Developer program, to access the App Store Resource Center and the iPhone Dev Center.

Apple has issued an advisory regarding security enhancements included in iPhone OS 3.1 and iPod Touch OS 3.1.1.

(Credit: Apple, Inc.)

Here is a synopsis of the 10 iPhone security vulnerabilities addressed by the latest operating-system update for the iPhone and iPod Touch. As expected, many of these security patches focus on the Web-browsing framework WebKit.

CoreAudio Changes to CoreAudio prevent maliciously crafted AAC or MP3 files from causing unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution.

Exchange support Changes were made to prevent a person with physical access to a device from being able to use it. Previously, if the user has "Require Passcode" set to a value higher than the "Maximum inactivity time lock" setting, this would allow a window of time for a person with physical access to use the device, including Exchange services. This update addresses the issue by disabling user choices for "Require Passcode" values greater than the "Maximum inactivity time lock" setting configured by the Exchange administrator. (Read more about the complexities of Exchange security in OS 3.1.)

Mobile Mail Changes to Mobile Mail prevent a person from using Spotlight search to view deleted e-mails.

Recovery Mode Changes to Recovery Mode command parsing prevents another person with physical access to a locked device from bypassing the passcode and accessing the user's data.

Telephony Changes made to improve the handling of incoming SMS messages prevent the receipt of a maliciously crafted SMS message that may lead to an unexpected service interruption.

UIKit Changes to UIKit fixed a problem wherein passwords may be made visible when a person with physical access to the device deleted a character (i.e. backspace) to make that character briefly visable.

WebKit--disclosed user names and password in URLs Changes were made to prevent the disclosure of user name and password via referrer headers for Web site linking; the user name and password are no longer included in the URL in the referrer header.

WebKit--numeric character references Changes were made to prevent an unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution after visiting a maliciously crafted Web site; a memory corruption issue was to blame for this and it was fixed through improved handling of numeric character references.

WebKit--cross-site scripting attack Changes to WebKit improved the handling of parent and top objects, thus preventing a cross-site scripting attack when visiting a maliciously crafted Web site.

WebKit--lookalike characters in a URL Lookalike characters in a URL could be used to masquerade a Web site; International Domain Name (IDN) support and Unicode fonts embedded in Safari could be used to create a URL which contains lookalike characters; users could then be directed to a malicious Web site that is a spoofed site visually appearing to be legitimate domain. WebKit will now replace those characters with its own characters rendered in Punycode in the address bar of Mobile Safari.

Previous coverage: Security updates in iPhone OS 3.0 and Security updates in iPhone OS 2.2.

Yelp shows me what's outside my window.

(Credit: Screenshot by Scott Stein/CNET)

The hot trend of 2009 has to be augmented reality, particularly with all the impressive tech demos and futuristic games currently in development across the world.

On the iPhone in particular, several companies have promised Twittering, search, and other navigation using layers of real-time data overlaid onto live video from the iPhone's camera. Imagine a heads-up display on reality itself, and that's what augmented reality is promising.

Apple has been onboard with these developments, promising that the upcoming OS 3.1 will provide full compatibility for AR apps. But it turns out we don't need to wait after all. In addition to French and British AR map programs hitting the App Store early, a much better and cooler solution has been lurking under our eyes the whole time.

Called "Monocle," it's an Easter egg within Yelp. As in, Yelp 3.0, the one that's currently available on the App Store. When I first read a tweet about it, I was disbelieving. But all you have to do is shake your phone three times like in some fairy tale to trigger the Monocle button, which suddenly appears on the top of the screen.

Launching it brings up honest-to-goodness overlaid restaurant and bar information that moves as you move, aided by the iPhone 3GS's built-in compass. It resembles the demos seen by the Layar browser.

That compass is key for AR apps to work properly, because it senses direction. GPS alone won't cut it, which means you'd better have a 3GS to pull this off. Give it a try, though, and let us know if your 3G will work on it. And don't forget to update the Yelp app before shaking.

Will we use this? Maybe not so much, but we sure will enjoy showing it off.

(Via Fast Company)

A video posted recently on YouTube demonstrates, on an iPod Touch, a potential security risk for users of iPhone OS 3.0. The bug allows e-mails that have already deleted to be viewed by searching for the title of the deleted message.

The results of the search display two copies of the message. Selecting either one of these the first time will cause Mail to crash. The second time you select the messages, the iPhone may display the original message or you may get a warning that states: "Message cannot be displayed because of the way it is formatted." You should note that the message is displayed in Mail as "1 of 0" and it is "partially downloaded." The download button used to retrieve the remainder of the message doesn't work.

Fortunately, one developer said this problem appears to have been resolved in iPhone OS 3.1 beta 3, since the developer was not able to recreate the bug after upgrading.

Update 08/19/09 at 8:19 PM PDT: The iPhone OS bug described in this post does not affect IMAP e-mail accounts, but it does affect POP e-mail accounts.

The iPhone OS 3.0 Camera Roll is running out of film for some iPhone users. A handful of photographers on Apple's discussion board are reporting that pictures taken with the iPhone camera and screen captures are disappearing from the iPhone's onboard photo library.

The bug, according to these reports, occurs when the photo names generated by the iPhone reach IMG_10000.xxx or higher, where the xxx represents either a JPG for photos, PNG for screen snapshots, or MOV for videos. Once you've reached this 10,000 mark milestone in your iPhone photography career, the Mobile Photos app no longer displays additional media files. Luckily, however, the photos are still there--they simply don't display on the phone.

Some users found help using the Phoneview utility from Ecamm on their Macs--the free demo version worked long enough to uncover the missing photos. PC users may be able to find their shots via iPhone Browser.