Legal iPhone JailBreaking, What do we really Get?

Legal iPhone JailBreaking, http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
I too was very happy to hear the new about the new US Government rules making unlocking and jailbreaking iPhones or any other phone not a crime Even after Apple told them that jailbroken iPhones could crash cell towers ( Apple has told government(PDF) that jailbroken iPhones could crash cell towers). But before dreaming of jailbroken iPhone 4 formed on my mind, I realized that this would only bring a few more developers to the hacking scene. Like the HTC hacker, conflipper, who went through hoops before finally trying to settle with HTC.There might be a few app stores and app market places. I even wonder, there might be some commercial apps and app stores providing banned subjects like porn apps and content, proving the never ending American entrepreneurship. May be now I can get Google Voice running on iPhone :)

"When one jailbreaks a smartphone in order to make the operating system on that phone interoperable with an independently created application that has not been approved by the maker of the smartphone or the maker of its operating system, the modifications that are made purely for the purpose of such interoperability are fair uses."

Nothing more, nothing less. There might be openings for banned iPhone Apps but does not Cydia do that already. I might want to pull out that Cydia code and begin hacking, so I can have my own personal store. But all in all, I am happy that this is now an open issue. Also have to thank the Government for not buying Apple bull about blowing up Cell towers.

ThinkFlood RedEye mini, Finally In Stores!

ThinkFlood RedEye mini http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/

After months of waiting, I was, finally the ThinkFlood's RedEye Mini is in the stores now. RedEye Mini is a Portable Universal Remote for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. I thought and still think it might be a better remote controller than the plethora of controllers that lies around living room, evading discovery and prevents me from enjoying some music over big speakers or watch some quality TV, like Discovery Chanel.
But unlike those remotes, my iPhone is always with me, except when the it is being charged on it's cradle. So I have placed the order, for $49 remote controller that plus into the earphone plug and allows me to control almost anything that is remotely controllable via infrared.
My only worry is what do I do when I manage to misplace this tiny device!
ThinkFlood via Endgadget

Press Release;
Available Now: ThinkFlood RedEye mini, Portable Universal Remote for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch

New RedEye mini and ThinkFlood's Original RedEye Remote on Sale in 52 Countries

WALTHAM, MA--(Marketwire - July 20, 2010) - ThinkFlood (http://thinkflood.com/), maker of RedEye remotes for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch, today announced availability of RedEye mini, the world's most affordable and feature-rich portable universal remote adapter for Apple iOS devices.

RedEye mini, the second product in ThinkFlood's RedEye remote line, plugs into the headphone jack of the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad -- transforming it into a completely portable universal remote. RedEye mini hardware requires the RedEye app, a free download from the App Store.

RedEye mini owners can easily operate anything controlled by infrared signals anywhere they go: TVs; cable and satellite receivers; gaming consoles; Blu-ray, DVD and digital media players; and more.

"RedEye mini works so seamlessly and seems so simple in concept that it's easy to overlook the amount of engineering that went into it," said ThinkFlood President and Founder Matt Eagar. "Ultimately, it's that surface simplicity which makes it wonderful -- just drop the mini into your headphone jack and immediately you have a powerful, customizable remote that goes beyond systems costing several times as much. It's also a lot of fun."

More about RedEye mini

* Available now in 52 countries (US MSRP $49)
* Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch and iPad
* Download IR codes anywhere using a 3G connection or Wi-Fi
* Activity-based control and macros (common in advanced home theater remotes)
* Smaller than a thumb drive; comes with carrying case
* Database of 45,000+ IR codes; ability to learn commands from existing remotes
* Free in-app TV program/channel guide (coming later this summer for the US and Canada)
* Customizable touchscreen buttons, Multi-Touch and motion gesture shortcuts
* Leaves iOS device's dock connector open for charging

About ThinkFlood
ThinkFlood (http://thinkflood.com/) designs and develops remote control hardware and software. Its RedEye line of networked universal remote control products for mobile phones, MP3 players and tablets offers features and functionality previously available only in remotes costing several times as much. ThinkFlood is a privately held company headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts.

Software for RedEye mini (the RedEye application)
RedEye is much more than a simple infrared adapter for your phone, and software plays a key role. At ThinkFlood we develop our software in-house and strive to provide regular updates and improvements. Here are some of the things that we feel set our software apart from the crowd:


• Activity-based approach

We believe your home theater should be organized around what you do, not what hardware manufacturers produce. One touch to play a movie, touch again to watch TV - no more trying to remember which audio and video inputs you need.

• Smart actions

Many other remotes have "macro" capability (the option to have one button send two or more signals). RedEye goes beyond macros with smart actions that actually keep track of things like whether a device is on or off. Smart actions are particularly useful when switching activities - when you transition from watching TV to playing a DVD, RedEye is smart enough to leave the TV on.

• Customizable button layouts

RedEye gives you a unique button layout for each activity you create, so the "remote" you use when listening to music is different from the one you use when watching TV. You can customize everything from button placement to size. We even have hundreds of channel logos built right into the application.

• Activity templates

Customizable button layouts for each activity are great, but creating them from scratch can be a lot of work. When you create a new activity, RedEye starts you off with a well-designed template. And by template we don't mean a single, standard set of buttons. Instead, RedEye uses information like the activity type (Watch TV or Listen to Music?) and the devices you include in the activity (do you route your sound through an A/V receiver or your TV speakers?) to determine what buttons to include and how they should function.

• Macro and toggle buttons

In addition to the usual tap or tap-and-hold functionality you expect, it is easy to make RedEye activity buttons perform more advanced functions. Macro buttons can send out multiple commands - for example, a smart mute button that turns on closed captioning when turning off the volume. Toggle buttons can switch between different functions each time you press them, like the classic play/pause button on a CD or MP3 player.

• Shortcut gestures

Touchscreens are great because they provide the ultimate flexibility - custom layouts for each activity being one example. However, they can make it harder to tap the right button when you are channel surfing or otherwise need to be looking elsewhere. RedEye uses the full functionality of the iPhone - multitouch and the accelerometer - to overcome this limitation. Choose from any of five motion gestures and eighteen multi-touch gestures for any button in your activity layout.

• Customizable delays

When executing a series of actions - for example during the launch of an activity - it is important to be able to fine-tune the delay between commands. RedEye allows you to insert delays of up to 20 seconds in 0.05 second increments.


• Quick launch

You want to be able to pick up your remote control and use it right away. If your remote is an app on your phone, then it has to launch fast and put you in the driver's seat right away. RedEye is optimized to launch quickly and to bring you right to the activity in progress. And now if you are using iOS 4 on a device that supports multi-tasking it's even faster than before.

• Online infrared code database

Sure, RedEye can learn commands from your existing remote controls, but who wants to do that? Our software is backed by an online database of more than 45,000 infrared codes covering over 1,200 device manufacturers, so there's a good chance we have what you need. And because the database is stored on a web server rather than on your phone or the RedEye hardware, you get updates to the database as soon as they are available - no need to wait for the next software release.

• Integrated channel guide (coming soon)

Version 1.3.0 of the RedEye software will include an television channel guide covering cable, satellite, and over-the-air broadcasts in the United States and Canada. With the channel guide you no longer need to take up the space on your main screen while you decide what to watch next. It is also easy to filter the list based on your favorite channels so that you don't have to scroll through dozens of screens just to find what you want.

• Toolbar hiding

The iPhone screen is pretty big, but sometimes you want to get everything out of the way and focus on your remote control. RedEye gives you a few different options to remove clutter and take control.

• Disabling the sleep timer

The iPhone's built in sleep-timer helps you conserve battery, and so you want to leave it on in most cases. However, when you are sitting down within arm's reach of a charging cradle, you might prefer to keep the phone awake. A simple setting in the RedEye app allows you to disable the sleep timer while the application is running without disabling it for all applications.

• Multitasking

Beginning with version 1.2.0, RedEye fully supports iOS 4 multitasking, which means that you can get back to controlling your activities even faster than before.

• Retina display support

RedEye now provides high resolution button images so that everything looks crisp and clear on your new iPhone 4.

OpenStack. An Open Source Cloud Initiative By RackSpace And NASA.

OpenStack. An Open Source Cloud Initiative http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
If you ever wanted to have your own cloud environment, RackSpace, together with NASA is paving the way. Vanting to promote and support interoperability in the cloud, RackSpace is releasing it's file and server code to the open source. NASA is also joining the initiative by contributing technology that goes to power its Nebula Cloud Platform.
Writing about the initiative;

OpenStack consists of two projects. The first is a fully distributed object store based on Rackspace’s Cloud Files offering called "OpenStack Object Storage". The code is available today at OpenStack.org. The second piece is a scalable compute-provisioning engine based on the NASA Nebula cloud technology and Rackspace Cloud Servers offering called "OpenStack Compute." Developers can download components of OS Compute beginning today at OpenStack.org. The first release is expected to be available later this year. So starting today, anyone can build their own cloud using the same technology that underlies two of the largest and best ones out there.

While many obstacles are falling in the way of open source, I thingk this initiative by rackspace and the consortium is something worthwhile, we have seen in a while.
I like what they had to say about openness and commitments;

• COMMITMENT #1: We are producing truly open source software. No artificial limits will be placed or performance limitations maintained. No licensing model – one free, one paid – will be introduced. We are releasing the code under the Apache 2.0 license which allows the community to do with the software as they see fit, including implement into other distributions or “for fee” offerings.
• COMMITMENT #2: We are committed to an open design process. Rackspace will provide dedicated project leads to guide the roadmap on behalf of the community. We will hold regular design summits—open to anyone—which will produce a roadmap to guide development.
• COMMITMENT #3: All development will be done in the open. We will maintain a publicly available source code repository to simplify participation.
• COMMITMENT #4: We will maintain an open community. Healthy, vibrant developer and user communities are the basis of any open source project. Most decisions will be made using a "lazy consensus" model. All processes will be documented, open and transparent.

Droid X May Bring Hope To Some And Moral Happiness To You

 Click here to get the free postage paid mailing label(PDF)

Droid X May Bring Hope  http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
With Droid X making waves, Verizon expects to have many new customers purchasing Droid X ( perhaps some from the other camp, dropping the "Not So Perfect" dodgy iPhone 4 for something that is perfect ) and old customers seeking new experience. Either way you will be able to help some one and feel good, in two ways, just by donating your old phone.
Verizon always had the phone recycling program and their zero landfill policy preventing, damaging substances from harming the environment. So the first reward is that you can join the group of people, 7 million so far, who donated their old phones, and make sure that the phone be used for the best, rather than poisoning some ground water somewhere.
The second benefit is that most of those donated phones are still usable. Verizon refurbish them and sold for reuse. Of those more than 90,000 phones have been donated with free wireless service, to victims of domestic violence. Verizon has also granted more than 7.9 million dollars to organizations working to prevent domestic violence. I am sure you have heard of hopeline program, if not please visit. If you thought that does not happen around you, look closer, it is said that one in every four women experience domestic violence in her lifetime. You may be the lucky one to be associated with one of the three, so please help the fourth one.
You can donate your old phone at any Verizon store. Thanks. (Disclaimer : I work, in my free time for one such organization trying to save the fourth woman.) You can donate your phone via mailhttp://aboutus.vzw.com/communityservice/HopeLineLabel.pdf as well.
Verizon responsibility blog

iOS 4.0.1 Software Update Ready For You

iOS 4.0.1 Software Update http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
Apple has released the iOS 4.0.1 Software Update for iPhones. According to Apple : also mentioned in today's Apple iPhone 4 antennae press conference : the update improves the formula to determine how many bars of signal strength to display on iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, and iPhone 3G. The real signal strength remains the same, but the bars on iPhone will indicate it more precisely.
I have no idea how it displayed earlier, perhaps now it will display more bars no matter what the signal is! Wow, Thanks Apple for the update.