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Copyright © 2008 JoeT. Visit the original article at http://justanotheriphoneblog.com/wordpress/2008/11/25/best-buy-sells-iphone-tries-to-fleece-customers-with-some-accessory-sales/.

Now that Best Buy is selling the iPhone, it would appear that all is not quite so rosy for the consumer, who should be benefiting from the increased sales competition.   Apparently, Best Buy is counting on new iPhone customers not to do any price comparisons, because they are selling the iPhone 3G Dock for a good $20.00 more than Apple itself charges. 

While some of the accessories are priced the same as the Apple Store (such as the replacement headphones at $29.99), the 3G dock is inexplicably priced at $49.99.    When we asked a store manager why the price was so much higher, she essentially replied that Best Buy sets their own prices.   However, all is not lost, as she stated that Best Buy will match Apple Store prices providing that you can show that the price is $29.99 (with a printout of the web page, for example..).

A word to the wise — do some sanity checking on the prices before spending your hard earned cash at Best Buy…

Here is a screen cap of BestBuy.com’s price for the dock — exactly the same as the brick-and-mortar price.

Apple.com’s price:

Have you seen any other examples of excessive pricing of iPhone products at Best Buy or other stores?  Let us know…

For over a year now the iPhone has torn apart because it lacks the basic MMS functionality that has become and industry standard. There have been a few work around that have worked for some but not others such as Swirly MMS, but they all require you to first jailbreak your iPhone.

Telia is going to offer MMS to Scandinavian iPhone users on their network. A lot of use US iPhone owners are going to become extremely envious of those who finally are able to send picture messages without a problem. Telia subscribers will be able to download the homegrown iPhone application in just a few months.

There is still little information that tells just how Telia was able to achieve MMS functionality in the iPhone, but we predict that eventually it will find a way over to the US. With previous MMS “hacks” it is required to add the MMS feature to your AT&T plan in order for it to work. Last time we checked this did not cost any extra per month.

[Via MacWorld]

The FCC has recently published a patent for Apple that describes a secondary lighting system that can be used to give status updates on the iPhone while it is locked. Might this be foreshadowing a feature that the next iPhone will have?

“Secondary backlight indicator for portable media devices” was filed on May 18th 2007. The idea is a double-layered backlight for the iPhone or iPod; the rearmost layer shows items such as “paused”, “new mail” and other notifications by shining though cutouts in the primary backlight. The secondary backlight is designed to be a more energy efficient way to show notifications without the use of the primary backlight.

The status icons can change color or even flash depending on the backlight and user’s preference. This type of notification can replace the more common LED status lights. As usual there is no word on when this will be implemented in to an Apple device.

[Via SlashGear]

Pocket Jockey may sounds a little perverse but in reality it’s one of the weirdest games we have found on the iPhone. The game itself is your typical horse racing game, but it is played by shaking your iPhone vigorously. If you’re in a Wi-Fi area you can also play your friend to see who can shake it harder.

The iPhone Dev Team advised not to blindly upgrade to the iPhone firmware 2.2 without first knowing all the hidden changes that it will have on your iPhone. Recently Apple has taken more steps to prevent the jailbreaking and more importantly unlocking of iPhones. There is another application out there that helps users get an edge on the law by showing locations of red light cameras and speed traps NMobile is almost always up to date through users input an moderators confirmation. While there are free versions of such an application out there, this one seems to be much more reliable.

Rovio owners will be happy to know that there is a new way to control your new Rovio. Take the controls from your computer to your iPhone with the Rovio Driver application from the App Store you can even see the onboard camera in real time. Apple is the victim of yet another lawsuit, big surprise there. This time it also includes the cracking of iPhone 3G units that were reported shortly after the launch. Apple reportedly has continued to ignore the odd issue and customers would like to be over compensated by Apple’s wealth.

Attention all Wal-Mart customers, the iPhone 3G is soon to hit store shelves. That’s right, looks like they will be getting the unit shortly after Christmas (December 28th), more than likely because there will be a price difference. Now iPhone users can make the most out of their iPhone by turning it into a wireless add-on 10-key pad for their MacBook. Users can choose from 4 different skins to best suit their needs.

More iPhone backup batteries are coming to market, trying to cash in on the untapped extra battery market that Apple has decided not to get involved with. The Incase Power Slider battery not only gives you a boost of power when you need it most, but also acts as a protective case as well.  Remind us now, how large do you really need to make your iPhone? Mobispine has set out to deliver MMS to iPhone users around the world. It’s not going to be easy however; they need to brand each application to fit the specified carrier. We still don’t know how they plan to get it by Apple and their application approval process. This may just slip by like so many other banned applications.

Apple’s new iPhone firmware 2.2 came out this week and is certainly pleasing the masses.  Those who do not know what is included in the update are having somewhat of a problem finding what the features are. It turns out just about every feature that was previously leaked has made its way to the iPhone this time. The day after the new firmware released, the iPhone Dev Team pushed out there various jailbreaking tools, but this time with a very specific warning. Apparently this update can render the baseband permanently locked preventing a later iPhone 3G unlock. It appears that when the iPhone Dev Team speaks, they mean business.

As promised the iPhone Dev team has delivered the 2.2 firmware jailbreak in the form of the Pwnage tool and Quickpwn for both Mac and Windows machines. This update seems to be the real deal breaker in regards to future unlocks.

Upgrading using iTunes can forever eliminate your chances of ever unlocking you iPhone 3G. The baseband has apparently been changed now so that it will be near impossible to unlock in the future. For those who still don’t quite understand the meaning of the baseband:

Baseband 101

The ‘baseband’ is the generic name given to the internal components of the iPhone that handle the phone calls and Internet access. This ‘baseband’ is a tiny and unique independent computer system that runs inside your iPhone, it is separate to the main system that handles the applications (such as email and google maps) and it talks to the main part of the phone over an internal communications network. Think of it like a cable modem or other peripheral that is attached to your home PC that needs occasional updates. When a software update is released and presented to you within iTunes the baseband is sometimes updated (to fix bugs or add new features). The 2.2 update for the iPhone 3G contains such an update, so running the vanilla updater straight away with iTunes will reprogram and update the baseband. This could be bad for certain people, depending on your ultimate aim.

The iPhone Dev Team have included a few rules when upgrading to the iPhone firmware 2.2:

• GOLDEN RULE: If you have a 3G iPhone and want potential soft unlock in the near future do NOT use QuickPwn, and do not use the official ipsw or the iTunes update process without using PwnageTool.

• Read item 1 again and again.

• Please read all parts of this post before downloading and using these tools.

• The ‘late 2008’ MacBook/air/pro line of computers have an issue with DFU mode. While it’s possible to go from Pwned 2.1 -> Pwned 2.2 (using PwnageTool), you can’t yet go from stock to pwned. If in any doubt use a different machine.

• Choosing the correct tool is crucial. Be warned!

[Via iPhoneDevTeam]

Copyright © 2008 Brandon. Visit the original article at http://justanotheriphoneblog.com/wordpress/2008/11/22/jailbreak-for-22-goes-live/.

Ok – Seriously, if you didn’t know this yet – you’re either waaaay busier than I am, or this is the only blog you read. Either way I’m sorry but I’ve no great insights for you into this particular event. I’ve been too busy to even really dig into the new firmware (short of getting it installed) and since I’m on a new MacBook “pwning” my phone is currently not possible anyway. So, rather than waste your time with my haven’t touched it yet thoughts – here’s some links to folks in the know:

Copyright © 2008 JoeT. Visit the original article at http://justanotheriphoneblog.com/wordpress/2008/11/22/apple-achieves-technical-breakthrough-installs-new-faster-chip-in-iphone-via-software-update/.

OK, so it’s obviously not true, but that’s what it feels like.   The 2.2 update has vastly improved the performance of not just the core OS of the iPhone but of all of the installed apps, both native and from the App Store.   The AP News app, for example, used to take 10-20 seconds to refresh a news category – now it takes 2-4.    Even apps that took an eternity to load (Such as X-Plane) now load substantially and remarkably faster.   The stability is greatly improved thus far as well – X-Plane used to require a reboot immediately before play unless you wanted it to crash within 60 seconds or so.  That appears to be no longer the case.   In fact, with the exception of Safari crashing once, I haven’t had ANY app crashes yet; I would have expected a few by now prior to the update.

What have your 2.2 experiences been like? 

Copyright © 2008 JoeT. Visit the original article at http://justanotheriphoneblog.com/wordpress/2008/11/22/two-safari-bugs-left-unfixed/.

Given that Apple obviously did a lot of work to Safari in the 2.2 update, it is surprising to see that one of the biggest 2.1 bugs did not get fixed: Links to applications in the App Store still do not work, giving an error instead of opening the App Store program.

The other 2.1 bug that hasn’t been fixed: Safari still does not honor META REFRESH tags, meaning that redirecting users from one web page to another still does not work.

Copyright © 2008 JoeT. Visit the original article at http://justanotheriphoneblog.com/wordpress/2008/11/21/att-wifi-works-well/.

As an update to our report that AT&T’s hotspots were now open to iPhone users, I did have the opportunity to try it out recently on a trip and am pleased to report that it works pretty well.   Once connected, you are redirected in Safari to a page that asks for your phone number.  An SMS is then sent to your phone with a link that, when clicked, grants you 24 hours worth of access.

My one quibble?  There is a pretty quick inactivity timeout — so if you stop accessing the hotspot for more than a few minutes (say, to take a phone call – and Exchange Sync apparently is not enough activity), you will be forced to click that SMS link again to regain access.  It’s not a show-stopper per se, but it could be avoided.  I ran into the issue multiple times over a short (1 hour) stay.

Copyright © 2008 JoeT. Visit the original article at http://justanotheriphoneblog.com/wordpress/2008/11/21/iphone-22-update-released-rocks-some-socks-disappoints-others/.

Unless you were incommunicado today, you’ve probably already heard that the 2.2 update for the iPhone was released today.   The update fixes some reliability issues and introduces some new features.   For a first look, read on!

As it turns out, the rumors concerning what would be in 2.2 were pretty much dead on.   Here’s the official list of features/changes:

• Enhancements to Maps
- Google Street View
- public transit and walking directions
- display address of dropped pins
- share location via email
• Enhancements to Mail
- resolved isolated issues with scheduled fetching
of email
- improved formatting of wide HTML email
• Improved stability and performance of Safari
• Podcasts are now available for download in iTunes
application (over Wi-Fi and cellular network)
• Decrease in call set-up failures and call drops
• Improved sound quality of visual voicemail messages
• Pressing the Home button from any Home screen takes
you to the first Home screen
• Preference to turn on/off auto-correction in Keyboard
Settings

To this list, I will add one more feature that isn’t listed — they fixed all the bloody delays!   No longer does it take 10 seconds to open SMS or find a contact or to do any of several tasks that seemed to lock the iPhone briefly.   I still see minor responsiveness delays in Mail when mail is downloading, but nothing like it was under 2.1.   Everything is snappy again.  This alone is worth the update.

I haven’t made a lot of calls yet, but so far call setup seems to be much faster.   This will require some testing over the next few days.

I know you want some eye candy, so here’s a look at Street View in Google Maps.    First, it’s pretty faithful to the desktop browser version from whence it came.   I do want to clear up some misconceptions that some people apparently have about Street View – first, it’s not yet available everywhere in the US.   You’ll know if a given area has it because the pins dropped either manually or as the result of a search will have a red man figure on the right of the popup that is NOT ghosted out.   Here’s a dropped pin in an area with Street View and one without.

Dropped pins also now show you the address of the location the pin was dropped at – and this location can now be emailed!

Search results pins also show their Street View status:

The Street View images themselves are well presented, load quickly, and can be panned with swipes or zoomed in/out with a double tap (but only one step).   As with the desktop browser version, you tap on the arrows to move up or down a given street.  The "flashlight cone" inside the circle tells you what direction your view currently is. 

All in all, Apple has done a fine job with this update.  While some features that many iPhone users have been waiting for aren’t there (*cough*copy/paste*cough*), what is does is most welcome.