Siri For Older iDevices Now Available

Installing Siri on unsupported devices without setting up proxy server is now available by using AssistantConnect4S! This yet one more Cydia tweak regarding Apple’s voice-recognition assistant software makes it possible to import Siri on your iDevice other than iPhone 4S.

There have been several Siri ports available for wielding jailbroken devices, but even the best one required a moderate amount of configuration in order to get things up and running satisfactorily. Not to create a gap between your expectations and what you perceive, it should be noted that nothing compares to real Siri, even not this latest tweak called AssistantConnect4S… However, it’s comparatively better when iPhone 4S users are allowed to send their authentication info to non-iPhone 4S devices quickly and simply via email…The recipients can then use Siri natively without having to rely on a proxy server to handle requests. In order to avoid blacklisting or detection, it’s recommended to only send the data to no more than 5 other devices. Once your device gets the authentication, you’re allowed to use Siri in full, and as wished-for!

Despite the fact that Apple began purging Siri use on proxy servers, and although the reliable Cydia developers supplied a fix almost as quickly as the action was discovered, it’s a fact that the company dislikes the unauthorized use a lot. Moreover, iPhone 4S has been declared to be the only one capable to run Siri, but that doesn't hinder many jailbroken device owners to set alarms and reminders, search for places to eat or send SMSes with the voice-recognition software!

However, AssistantConnect4S is not a panacea and has some requirements to be fully functional. You’ll first of all need to jailbreak your device to install this tweak. Also note that when you use the tweak for the first time, you’ll need to open AssistantConnect4S and reboot your iPhone 4S. Once rebooted, open up AssistantConnect4S and activate Siri.

Below you’ll find a video tutorial spread over the internet recently, describing a step by step process on how to setup AssistantConnect4S on the iPhone 4S and AssistantConnect on non-iPhone 4S devices. Do not forget t come back and share your thoughts about this latest tweak!

One More SIRI Hacking

Hackers are continuing working on SIRI and they are discovering something new in it everyday. 

As for now, we meet with Lingual - a new jailbreak-only tweak, from Code Themed team, that allows translation from English to 30+ languages. The developers hope to include translation to English in a future update. We have not installed the tweak, but some people have reported that they have tested it and it works flawlessly, quickly pulling in results using Microsoft’s Bring Translate API as a backend. Its only limitation is that backend is not strong enough and sometimes fails to correctly translate phrases. But it is said that developers of Lingual cannot be held accountable for Bing’s shortcomings and they have done an important work in such a short period of time. This could prove a useful tool at your disposal.

To use the tweak say to SIRI: “translate [something] to [language]” or “what is [something] in [language]?” No icon will be added to your home screen and no settings are available for the tweak. Just install and talk to SIRI.

Your iPhone without Carrier IQ

Did you know that your telephone tracks you with Carrier IQ? Or you do not even know what Carrier IQ is?

Never mind, most people did know neither one , nor second until this week.

Carrier IQ is a service which helps manufacturers to collect information about how you use their products in real world. It serves the information up. With this information manufacturers study performance, make business decisions and improve products. The software is installed by your carrier or your phone manufacturer; it is not part of any Operating System. However, most people did not know about that.

Carrier IQ is an "embedded analytics company" and it says that its software is installed on over 140 million devices.

This week a hacker chpwn has tweeted that he had found Carrier IQ software in iOS3. It has been confirmed that these references actually exists in iOS5 also and it has different name:

/usr/bin/awd_ice2.

However it seems that it is more limited for iOS than for Android. The hack says on his blog: "...it does not appear the daemon has any access or communication with the UI layer, where text entry is done." If this is true, it means that iOS has no connection with your passwords, emails, SMS texts, etc. and most important, Carrier IQ only kicks in when your phone is in Diagnostic Mode.

In a word, no one sure knows what is being logged and sent off but the fact is that people do not like this, they feel like someone is controlling them and that is comprehensible.

“We stopped supporting Carrier IQ with iOS 5 in most of our products and will remove it completely in a future software update. With any diagnostic data sent to Apple, customers must actively opt-in to share this information, and if they do, the data is sent in an anonymous and encrypted form and does not include any personal information. We never recorded keystrokes, messages or any other personal information for diagnostic data and have no plans to ever do so” – affirmed apple on Thursday. You know the company usually considers complaints of its users,(for example, the recent survey proved that iPhone 4S has a satisfaction rate above 90%) will you believe it or not, it is up to you.

Use Bluetooth without tapping anything

To use Bluetooth or other Settings with only your voice is not very difficult. Here is a tip given by a hack.

All you have to do is to create a contact and then in the Web site field put the code for the system preference. 

Example: Contact name is Bluetooth and the Web address is prefs:root=General&path=Bluetooth

After this, activate Siri and say “Bluetooth.” the contact Card will open a clickable link right to the Bluetooth settings.

See other common settings: 

Sounds: prefs:root=Sounds

Brightness: prefs:root=Brightness

Airplane Mode: prefs:root=Airplane_Mode

Wallpapers: prefs:root=Wallpaper

With using the same procedure, you can create contacts to launch applications as well.

Hope you are not too lazy to turn the settings off manually… until hackers discover a way to turn them off with SIRI’s help.

Is not this useful for you? Enjoy with your phone and do not disturb your hands. 

via tipb.

PwanageTool 3.1.4 by iPhone Dev-Team

The iPhone Dev Team has just released PwnageTool 3.1.4 for Mac OS X. This release supports the 3.1.2 iPhone software for the following devices: iPhone 2G/3G/3GS and iPod Touch 1G/2G.The iPhone 3GS is now supported out of the box in PwnageTool 3.1.4 (or if you have upgraded to 3.1.x in iTunes)The iPod 2G is still supported in PwnageTool 3.1.4 but you must already be jailbroken. The iPod touch 3G is NOT supported.

According to the Dev-Team, iPhone 3GS users can jailbreak and unlock iPhone OS 3.1.2 using PwanageTool, but there is a catch: it will only keep the unlock for the cellular baseband intact if you have been jailbreaking and unlocking your iPhone 3GS using custom IPSW files beginning with iPhone OS 3.0 or earlier. (If that describes your situation, all you have to do is install ultrasn0w via Cydia after you perform a restore using one of the no-baseband-alterations custom IPSW's you created previously.)

The Dev-Team advises that 3GS users get and save their ECID hashes for iPhone OS 3.1.2 now, since this could be an important component of future jailbreaking efforts. If you have installed Blackra1n using our tutorial and are encountering problems with mobilesubstrate, winterboard, diskaid, or ifunbox, the Dev-Team has some custom IPSWs that can help. They also warn Blackra1n iPhone 3G and 3GS users that if the stock 3.1.2 firmware is used, there is no short-term unlocking solution. The Dev-Team is still working on hacks for the latest iPhone basebands.

GOLDEN RULE: If you are using a iPhone 3G or iPhone 3G(S) with ultrasn0w and rely on ultrasn0w to obtain cellular service then you should only update your device with an .ipsw that is made with the new PwnageTool. There are no second chances with this. You need to remember that PwnageTool will provide an upgrade path to newer versions of the iPhone software in the future.

Reference:
http://cut.io/ay28

iPhone 3GS' Built-in Encryption "Sucks"

One of the "missing" functions in iPhone and iPhone 3G has always been encryption capability. This can somewhat be compensated by using third party software, for example a commercial SafeWallet or a decent freeware alternative Keeper. However, if a device has built-in security features and they are good and strong, using built-in features is almost always better. For example, think about TPM-enabled laptops. I'm pretty happy with my HP and I feel quite safe. Even if it is stolen, the sensitive data is protected.

What can be said about iPhone 3GS' built-in encryption functionality? The main purpose for including encryption in iPhone 3GS is to make the device appealing to business users. Unfortunately, if you are a business user like me and depend on iPhone 3GS' built-in encryption, think twice before protecting sensible data with it.

As it turns out, a couple of minutes and a couple of freeware applications is what it takes to crack iPhone 3GS' encryption. At least, this is what an iPhone developer and a hacker Jonathan Zdziarski claims. According to Zdziarski, iPhone's encryption is poorly implemented. The bottom line is that, even though iPhone 3GS includes a built-in encryption, it's totally useless. After all, what's the use of security features that cannot be trusted?

Let's hope that Apple will improve this drawback in the future firmware releases. Meanwhile, third party software is the way to go.

Reference: http://cut.io/fMSV

Unlocking and Jailbreaking iPhone OS 3.0

Yesterday, when I was just about to head to my bed, I noticed on the Dev Team blog that finally Ultrasn0w had arrived. Half asleep, I decided to give it a try. When I bought my iPhone 3G, it was already unlocked and jailbroken by the shop. So, I'm a rookie in this respect. As promised, I'm writing about my experience with the upgrade process. Hopefully, this post will be useful if you have not upgraded to OS 3.0 yet and plan to do so. Let's start.

Overall, the process went smoothly and took about 40 minutes. As long as you follow a couple of easy steps, you shall have no problems.

STEP 1. The first step is very easy. You just connect your iPhone to your PC, start iTunes and use upgrade your iPhone to OS 3.0. Once this has been done, your iPhone will have OS 3.0 on board. However, as expected your iPhone won't be able to register on your cellular operator. DON'T PANIC. This will be sorted our quickly.

STEP 2. As a step two, you run the redsn0w application. Here is a link for the redsn0w web site http://redsn0w.com/. I downloaded the app via the official torrent. You are welcome to use any of the numerous mirrors.

This step involves a tricky moment. You shall switch your iPhone in a so called DFU mode. It may take you a couple of tries before you succeed (it took me two). I highly recommend visiting this link http://www.iclarified.com/entry/index.php?enid=1034. You can find a detailed instruction and a video there.

Also, you shall install either Cydia or Icy. In the past, I used to have Cydia and it is very cool. Now, I decided to go with Icy. You select this when you run redsn0w.

One more thing with this process is that you will have to locate the OS 3.0 image downloaded by iTunes. On Windows Vista and Windows 7 you typically find it in this location: "C:\Users\USER\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\iTunes\iPhone Software Updates" where USER is your Windows username.

STEP 3. Run Cydia or Icy and add the repo repo666.ultrasn0w.com. As you know, in ultrasn0w the last O before "w" is a digit zero not O. So, keep this in mind.

STEP 4. Search for "ultrasn0w" in Cydia or Icy and install ultrasn0w. Please note that, when you first run Cydia or Icy, it may take a while before the repos are updated.

STEP 5. Reboot your iPhone.

PLEASE NOTE: According to the Dev Team, T-Mobile USA users should disable 3G before using ultrasn0w!!!

So, the process is quite straightforward and simple and generally, you shall not experience any difficulties. If I did this easily, you shall do easily as well. Again, this was a first hand experience from a total rookie :)

Why Have I Jailbroken My iPhone?

Have you ever asked yourself why people jailbreak iPhones? Well, I think that Apple has placed some artificial restrictions on iPhone. For example, we know that iPhone is inherently a multi-tasking capable device. Yet, we don't get this feature. Jailbreak your iPhone and it will be come multi-tasking-enabled. A number of other areas can be mentioned where jailbreaking iPhone makes sense.

Recently, I've been asking myself a question why I have jailbroken iPhone. To admit, there are only a couple reasons. First, jailbreaking has given me much needed multitasking. Second, I use a VoIP application Siphon. Finally, there is one serious reason - tethering. I have switched to iPhone from Nokia E90 Communicator. I'm acustomed to using mobile phones as modems. So, why shall I not be able to use iPhone - a 3.5G device as a modem?

Unfortunately, even with iPhone 3.0 software, jailbreaking might remain the only way to fully use iPhones potential. So sad, so sad.

Apple Says Jailbreaking is Not Legal

Finally Apple has made the first formal public statement about its legal stance on iPhone jailbreaking. As expected, Apple believes that iPhone jailbreaking is a violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) and infringes on its copyright.

EFF has asked the Copyright Office to recognize an exemption to the DMCA to permit jailbreaking in order to allow iPhone owners to use their phones with applications that are not available from Apple's store. Apple's response is pretty obvious. According to the company, few users of jailbroken iPhones actually jailbroke it themselves. Instead, they downloaded software created by other parties to make that happen. Most likely, this is a correct assumption.

The number of users who use jailbroken iPhone is estimated to be in a region of hundreds of thousands. I've been using a jailbroken iPhone and I can confirm that after jailbreaking, iPhone becomes a totally different device. Great software is available for jailbroken iPhones and I can't imagine giving this up. Recording video, using Siphone for VOIP and Backgrounder for multi-tasking enabling your iPhone - are just a couple of great examples of functionality that iPhone gets after jailbreaking. Finally, iPhone is a great device based on a legendary operating system. After jailbreaking we have a total control on the device and while this might not be important for most of the iPhone users, for technology enthusiasts and power users, jailbreaking is important.

Source: http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/02/apple-says-jailbreaking-illegal

Linux Running On iPhone and iPod Touch

The iPhone Dev Team announced that Linux 2.6 Kernel is available for the first and second generation iPhones and the first generation iPod Touch. The second generation iPod Touch reportedly has a different and faster processor.

So far the development team has managed to get a serial driver, frame buffer driver, serial over USB driver and Interrupts and MMU Clock. They also have read-only support for the NAND, but it has not been ported over yet. In the future we will see support for sound, accelerometer, baseband support, touchscreen, write support for the NAND and wireless networking.

As with all first advancements this is still just a rough draft of the port. Even though the alternate operating system is running on the iPhone, many drivers are missing.

References:
http://blog.iphone-dev.org/
http://linuxoniphone.blogspot.com/2008/11/linux-on-iphone.html

Hacker creativity drives Apple iPhone innovation

Since the iPhone was born, there’s been a rift in the user community between those who keep the iPhone the way Apple intended, only updating when Apple releases something new. On the flip side, there’s the “jailbreak” community, who has been opening up the iPhone to new applications and uses, though admittedly to the detriment of some user’s phones, for the same amount of time. Whether Apple admits to it or not, the iPhone “hackers” have been responsible for all the recent innovation to the iPhone.

That isn’t really limited to the iPhone. Apple is famous for working off the ideas established by open source programmers. For instance, Virtue Desktops, an open source free app that allowed users to have multiple desktop spaces available, was essentially copied and made better by Apple in the application Spaces for Leopard.

With the iPhone, there were tons of games and applications created by “hackers” who wanted users to have the full range of the iPhone platform without all the nuisances of Apple’s limitations. That looked like games, multiple home screens, rearrangeable icons, ringtones, and more.

Far be it from Apple or Steve Jobs to not jump on an opportunity to release the ideas of others in a more streamlined, secure format to the general public. In the wake of those hacks, look how closely Apple’s updates have paralleled the works of the hacking community. That isn’t to say Apple is wrong for doing so. It just goes to prove that open source platforms and “hacking” or creativity as some like to call it are a necessity, and the companies that follow that community’s lead will benefit.

All the users who never jailbroke their iPhones are holding their noses high because Apple came around with the innovations in a secure form, but without those revolutionaries, there is a very good chance the majority of users wouldn’t have the features in their iPhones they now do. So keep on jailbraking and pushing the limits, oh programmers and vigilantes.

AnySim Goes Open Source

The makers of a popular iPhone unlocking software AnySim have made a decision to make the source code of the hack open source. The source code went online on Friday 7 December.

It's not a secret that open source projects enjoy contribution from many developers. Because of high commitment, the quality of open source software is quite high and bugs are fixed quickly.

Quickly updating software is very important when it comes to unlocking code. There is some speculation that Apple will be releasing new firmware update this month. Taking this into consideration, the development team's move to make AnySim open source is a good decision.

This will keep the software a step ahead of Apple and it will be extremely difficult for the Cupertino company to keep the phone closed.

Yes sure, consumers will benefit from this. Well done!

Hard Work for Hackers - iPhone Firmware Update Is Coming

A new firmware update for the iPhone is expected to be released by this Friday. Apple will update the devices firmware to version 1.1.2 when the company starts selling the phone in the UK and Germany. It is expected that the firmware update will break recently released hacks.

Some of the enhancements in this update include support for additional language character sets and a fix in the TIFF image-rendering library, which is common for the Safari browser, the e-mail client and the iTunes.

Naturally, the 1.1.2 firmware update will be released via iTunes.

Jailbreack Your iPhone

The iPhoneSimFree team has finally managed to break through Apple's latest firmware in order to unlock the iPhone for use on other carriers.

The unlocking software, SimFree v1.6, is available through various resellers around the world. And there is good news for those who have already purchased the previous version of the hack. Previous iPhoneSimFree software owners won't have to pay for the upgrade.

Freeware unlocking software has quickly put commercial hacks almost out of the game. However, with the release of 1.1.1. iPhone firmware, the commercial hacks are still in the game and as expected iPhoneSIMFree was was the first team to release the hack.

I believe iPhone users are now more confident that one way or another, either commercial or freeware unlocking method will appear. So, no matter what Apple does, after a short delay, users can still enjoy using iPhone with a carrier of their choice.

Unbrick My Heart

Have you fell in love with you iPhone? I bet you have. Was your heart bricked after updating the firmware to 1.1.1.? Positive again. Don't worry. The help is on the way to unbrick your heart.

But the news is not as good as you might be expecting. The hack does really unbrick your iPhone and get the 3rd party application back in game, however, unlocked phones still can't call.

Basically, the process of unbricking your iPhone is to downgrade the firmware from version 1.1.1 to 1.0.2. Well, if you have ever had PSP then you might know this process. The same has started for iPhone.

Detailed instructions and video can be seen on Gizmodo.

I believe hackers are working hard to get dialing function back as well. After all iPhone is a phone, isn't it?

Come on, Brick My iPhone

Apple has just released promised firmware update 1.1.1. and the company has also kept the promise about fighting hacked iPhones. Indeed, the update bricks the phone in many cases. If you are lucky enough and your wonder device survives, you have good chance of losing your photos, music and contacts. Unfortunately, even those who have not hacked their devices experienced this. Apart from this, after you update the firmware, the phone gets relocked and third-party applications stop functioning. Other anomalies are possible as well. This is just a matter of time.

So what? I think Apple has overdone the job of fighting unlockers. I don't think it will take long until unlockers release unlock-my-iPhone-1.1.1. It's up to you whether to wait or not. If we take into account that there are no revolutionary features in the 1.1.1. update, maintaining status quo can be the most reasonable choice for unlocked iPhone owners.

iPhone Hacks Void Warranty, But Who's Scared?

On Monday Apple warned that iPhone hacks void the warranty. Moreover, the company said that the phone would stop functioning after the next software update is applied. As Apple has explained unlocking programs "cause irreparable damage to the iPhone's software".

Sorry Steve, but this is a complete b*** s*** and I believe this statement has a sole purpose to frighten those iPhone users who have no clue about how phones, software or computers work.

Even if you are unfortunate enough to brick your iPhone, it can be recovered relatively easy. Moreover, the percentage of known facts of iPhones becoming bricked after applying the hacks is quite low.

To be frank, I expected more "serious" efforts from Apple to fight unauthorised use of the device. Of course, this will scare some users but not enough to eliminate hacking.

Time to Fight iPhone Unlocking Hacks?

Finally, for the first time Apple has officially said that the company would fight attempts to use the popular device on unauthorized networks. Aren't you a bit late Steve? What have you been doing until today? Oh, I beg my pardon. The company was busy "dating" potential hubbies in Europe. Pretty good excuse. So, now after the iPhone is a couple of days far from hitting the shelves in the UK, Apple started to think about fighting illegal hacks. But time has played for Apple this time as well. I can imagine thousands of people who have bought the device in hopes to use iPhone with carriers of their choice. It's now possible to get the unlock hack for free, but what about those who have paid $50 and $99 for the commercial hacking software?

I am confident, announcing that the company would take legal actions against the unlockers at this stage is a part of a marketing campaign as well. Though, on the other hand it was expected that sooner or later Apple would start doing so. But the question is how effective the company will be in this endeavour.

anySIM Gets a GUI - Well Done iPhone Dev Team

It looks like that iPhone Dev Team is working hard on their free iPhone unlocking hack. If the initial release required quite a hassle and command-line wizardry, now the free unlock software can be used by non-geeks as well. Simply, the team has released a GUI to the unlocking hack which makes unlocking your iPhone unbelievably easy.

So, if you want to use your iPhone with ANY mobile operator, don't want to pay $50 or $99 for the unlock software and don't want to mess around the command-line tools, simply download the anySIM and enjoy your unlocked iPhone.

Bad News For Commercial iPhone Unlockers - iUnlock Works

There's bad news for resellers of commercial iPhone unlock software. The iPhone Dev Team has released a free hack to unlock iPhone.

Both Gizmodo and Engadget posted the news on Tuesday evening confirming that the hack worked!

At the moment, the hack is not a one-click solution though. Rather it requires you to download a few things and do some command-line level work. This should not be a problem for an average computer user. However, compared to the commercial hacks, it has a big advantage. It's free and is available immediately. The team is working on the graphical version of the tool. This should allow less experienced users to take advantage of the free unlock software.

This news will make many iPhone users happy. After all, it is now possible to use the gadget with any cell phone operator at no additional cost.

Photo source: Engadget