Categories
Apple

New Prices Of iPad, iPhone & iPod Touch In UK After VAT Hike Announced

If you are in the UK, you may be aware of the increased VAT rates that consumers now have to pay for their goods. Electronic items like the iPhone and iPad has attract VAT charges of 20% – up from 17.5% that was levied last year. One may have expected Apple to absorb the hike to maintain their original price points. However, Apple has now announced that the prices of their devices will now be priced higher in order to keep up with the new VAT charges.

Consequently, a 16GB iPhone 4 will now cost £510 instead of the earlier £499. Also, the entry level iPad – the 16GB Wi-Fi only model – will now cost £439 instead £429. Prices of Apple’s iPod devices too will see an increase. The new starting prices for iPod Touch, iPod Classic, iPod nano and iPod Shuffle will now be £193, £197, £131 and £40 respectively.

Apple prices in UK

Categories
iOS Mobile

Poor Battery Life On iPod Touch After iOS 4 Upgrade – Issue Persists

Looks like it has been a long time since we talked about the battery issue with the recent iOS updates on iPod Touch. Back in September this year, we had written about an issue experienced by many iPod Touch users who had upgraded their device to the then latest iOS update.

The common complaint was that updating the iPod Touch to iOS 4.0 resulted in an overnight drop in the average battery life of the iPod. We had also suggested a temporary fix to the issue back then.

Now with Apple having released iOS 4.2.1, one may have assumed that such issues may have become a thing of the past. However, it looks like the battery drain issue continues to affect a significant number of iPod Touch users.

One common observation is that the Wi-Fi on the affected phones do not seem to be deactivated when the phone goes to sleep. Normally, the iPod Touch would only reconnect to Wi-Fi everytime it is “woken up“. But the Wi-Fi on the affected phones continue to stay active even when the device is in idle mode thereby draining battery life. The root cause for this could be an application – native or third party. But that is yet to be ascertained.

Have you been able to decipher it on your end? Let us know in the comments or join other folks in the deliberation on the Apple support forum here.

Categories
iPhone iPod Touch Tips and Tricks

Find My iPhone For iPhone 3G(S) & iPod Touch 2G Available

If you are an iPhone 3G/3GS owner who has just updated to the new iOS 4.2.1 platform, you may have been disappointed to see that the free Find My iPhone feature is not available on your model – by default, that is. Apple has always been known to push the sale of its newer handsets by making certain attractive features unavailable on the older models. This time however, they have simply chosen to make it a much more cumbersome  process.

So technically, it is possible to set up the Find My iPhone feature on your phone provided the service is available in your country. This is how you will do it.

I : Get hold of an iPhone 4, iPad or iPod Touch 4G (from a friend or family member who hasn’t set up a MobileMe account yet). Download the free Find My iPhone app by clicking here.

II : If you don’t have a MobileMe account yet, launch the application and create a new MobileMe account.

III : Now go to Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars > Add a MobileMe account and enter your MobileMe login credentials

IV : Turn the Find My iPhone on the MobileMe account on

V : Launch the recently downloaded application once again and enter your MobileMe account details

VI : Now get hold of your older iPhone or iPod Touch model and download the Find My iPhone app once again from the App Store

VII : Go to Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars > Add a MobileMe account and enter your MobileMe login credentials

VIII : Launch the downloaded application and enter the MobileMe login account to set up the functionality

IX : If the newer iPhone/iPad model is not yours, disable the MobileMe account from Settings and delete the application.

You are done. You can now track your iPhone or iPod Touch anytime it gets lost.

Categories
iOS iPad iPhone Software and Apps

Jailbreak & Unlock iPhone 3G/3GS On iOS 4.2.1 Using RedSn0w

There is some good news if you are the owner of one of the older iDevices like the iPhone 3G and iPod Touch 2G or iPhone 3GS (running the older bootrom). The iPhone Dev Team has noted that iOS 4.2.1 jailbreak for these devices is already ready for download.

This is thanks to the updated RedSn0w 0.9.6b3 that was released last week to jailbreak the GM build of the iOS. The Dev team says that the recently launched iOS 4.2.1 is primarily a public version of the GM build and so the same RedSn0w tool should work on these devices as well.

A word of note if you are also looking to unlock your devices. A new updated version of Ultrasn0w that will work on these devices (with the older bootrom) is expected to be released later this week. So unless you have an iPhone 4 or a 3GS with new bootrom, your device should be good to use by the end of this week.

Categories
Accessories Sprint

Sprint ZTE Peel iPod Touch Case With Mobile Hotspot Access Launching

Sprint has had a lot of success in recent times in their mobile hotspot business. The company has sold a lot of Overdrive units to iPhone and iPad owners who are looking for 3G and 4G data access while on the move. Now, a similar offering may be coming to iPod Touch albeit in a different form.

Folks at BGR have claimed that Sprint may be launching their new ZTE Peel iPod Touch case as early as next week. The iPod Touch casing that will also double up as a mobile  hotspot rendering unit will go on sale starting November 14 at Sprint stores in the United States. While the price of this casing itself is not known as yet, we have heard that the carrier could offer the network access at a price of $29.99 per month for up to 1 GB of data. That’s without a contract.

If the success of the Overdrive is anything to go by, Sprint could turn out to be successful here as well. Let’s see.

Categories
Jailbreak

Jailbreak iOS 4.1 On iPhone 4,iPad & iPod Touch 4G With Redsn0w

The iPhone Dev Team have released an enhanced version of the Redsn0w software that was released last month that let users of iPhone 3G and iPod Touch 2G to jailbreak iOS 4.1 on their devices. The new Redsn0w 0.9.6b2 is capable of jailbreak all the iOS devices including iPhone 4, iPod Touch 4G and the iPad. The Dev team writes,

In the meantime, we’ve also incorporated the limera1n exploit into redsn0w.  But we’ve added a few extras:

  • custom bootlogos for iPhone3G/iPhone3GS/iPod2G users (with qualifying bootroms)
  • an option that implements the “DFU” button in PwnageTool.  This button (which you can use from Windows) lets you prepare your device for a custom DFU.  Even if you’re purely a Windows user, you can get a trusted friend to run PwnageTool over your IPSW to create a custom IPSW.  You can now install that custom IPSW on your own Windows box, after you run this redsn0w version.

The latest release is available for both the Windows and Mac platforms and makes use of the very same Limera1n exploit that was used by George Hotz as well as the Chronic Dev team in their jailbreak releases. You can hit this link to read more about the latest update as well as on other important instructions.

Categories
Jailbreak

Jailbreak iPhone 3G On iOS 4.1 Using RedSn0w 0.9.6 [Windows]

Last month, the iPhone Dev Team released the latest version of the Redsn0w jailbreak tool that would enable users of iPhone 3G and iPod Touch 2G to jailbreak iOS 4.1 on their devices. Unfortunately though, the release was only compatible with the Mac system which meant Windows users had to wait for some more time.

The wait is now officially over. The latest Redsn0w 0.9.6 for iOS 4.1 on iPhone 3G and iPod Touch 2G is now available for Windows users. If you are a seasoned jailbreaker, you can go ahead and click this link to get started on the jailbreaking process.

If you are wondering about the SHAtter exploit, let’s clarify that this jailbreak uses the age-old DFU-mode exploit and does not make use of the recent exploit. Just so you know, the Greenpois0n jailbreak tool built with the SHAtter exploit is scheduled to be released on 10/10/10 at 10:10:10 AM. Not a long time away, either.

Categories
iPod Touch Product Issues

Users Complaining Of Jitter On iPod Touch With Docking Station

Several users on the Apple forum have recently been noticing jitters and random squeaking noises when their iPod Touch 3G is connected to a third party docking station. According to these users, the issue has been primarily occurring ever since the device was updated to the iOS 4.1 platform. Docking stations where the problem has been observed include Wadia 170iTransport, Onkyo ND-S1, Musical Fidelity V-Dac and Musical Fidelity KW DM25 DAC.

According to a Wadia support executive, Apple has worked on this issue for the future versions and that the jitter issue should not affect devices running iOS 4.2 (when that’s released).

Some users have however reported having seen improvements after a full factory restore. A user writes,

I think i have found a solution. What I did was a full factory restore, and when using the dock set ‘Autolock’ in the settings menu to never. It seems to have sorted the problem for me.

Are you one of those who is affected? Did this resolution work for you? Write in the comments.

Categories
iPod Touch News

AirPrint Support For iPod Touch 2G Dropped

It has been over two weeks since Apple officially introduced us to their new iOS-based wireless printing technology caleld AirPrint. Back then, the new feature was reported to be supported on iPod Touch 2G and later and iPhone 3GS and later. Bizarrely though, the press release and the AirPrint page on Apple have been silently modified since then to note that the feature is actually supported on iPod Touch 3G and later (and not 2G as was initially proclaimed).

It is not clear whether Apple has merely corrected a typo that existed earlier in their press releases or if this is a technical/business decision to not allow this new technology on the older iPod Touch model.

Nevertheless, this is not an entirely surprising decision. The second generation model of iPod Touch is pretty close in technology to the iPhone 3G unit and considering that AirPrint is not supported on iPhone 3G, it is pretty reasonable to expect Apple to pull the strings this way.

Categories
Accessories iPod Touch Jailbreak

Turn iPod Touch Into iPhone With New Apple Peel Accessory

A team of two Chinese brothers have reportedly developed a new accessory that will let you turn your iPod Touch into an iPhone – for just $78. The accessory, named Apple Peel 520, is an iPod Touch case that comes installed with a circuit board and battery that can be secured around the iPod Touch like any other casing. Users will also require to install a software on the iPhone that will make it possible for users to start using their iPod Touch as an iPhone.

Since the procedure also requires you to install a software, it goes without saying that you will need to jailbreak your iPod Touch. Losing warranty doesn’t look like a big deal if you are to factor in the money that you would end up saving. The iPod Touch starts selling from $229 and with the case, the total price to start using your Touch as a phone is just close to $310 – that’s a deal compared to $1060 that you may end up paying for the iPhone through your two year contract.

Quite understandably, Apple is not pleased about the latest accessory and have warned users about the potential harm they could invite in the form of warranties getting voided and devices getting bricked. According to Jonathan Hudis from the American Bar association, the product may not last long – at least in the US. He says,

“The brothers who invented this Apple Peel probably ran down a list of how many ways could they annoy Steve Jobs. I could not see Apple standing by to let this continue, especially if it results in product shipping into the United States.”

Nevertheless, the product is shipping as on date and is available on the popular Chinese eCommerce website, Taobao.