This is the low down on our tools for use with the 3.1 firmware from Apple, please read the whole post in full before attempting anything. Because of changes with Apple’s update techniques (that complicate the 3GS upgrade process) this will be a multipart release. This release starts with PwnageTool 3.1 for Mac OS X - this application supports the iPhone 1st Generation (2G), the iPhone 3G and the iPod touch 1G. NB: THIS DOES NOT SUPPORT THE 3GS OR 2G/3G IPOD TOUCH. redsn0w for Mac OS X and Windows will follow sometime in the near future, please don’t bug us about it - we’ll release when we have something ready. 

GOLDEN RULE: If you are using a 3G iPhone with ultrasn0w and rely on ultrasn0w to obtain cellular service, then you should only upgrade to 3.1 with a PwnageTool created .ipsw. - Stay away from Apple’s direct updates as described here and here please get up to speed on the whole subject by reading the information contained in these posts. 
If you have an original iPhone (1st generation) then 3.1 unlock works with this PwnageTool release. iPhone 3G users upgrading to 3.1 will need to continue using ultrasn0w with a PwnageTool created 3.1 .ipsw 
Please read all parts of this post before downloading and using these tools. 
Read items 1, 2 and 3 again and again. 
At the bottom of this post are the bittorrent files for the 3.1 capable version of PwnageTool.
This app is suitable for the recent 3.1 release. 
This version of PwnageTool will NOT work for the iPhone 3GS. 
PwnageTool WILL work for Original iPhone (1st Generation), Original iPod touch (1st Generation) and the iPhone 3G. 
Baseband 101 

The ‘baseband’ is the generic nickname 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 3.1 update for the iPhone 3G contains such an update, so running the vanilla updater straight away with iTunes will reprogram and update the baseband. 

SIM Free/SP Unlocked/Factory Unlocked iPhone 3G 

This applies if you bought your iPhone 3G for $$$$$$$. This model of iPhone 3G doesn’t have an Service Provider lock (aka factory unlocked) and you are able to put any SIM card into the phone and get service. Your phone is already unlocked so you do not need to worry about baseband updates, simply upgrade to 3.1 using iTunes and then use PwnageTool to create an ipsw and then use this to jailbreak your phone. 

iPhone 2G (1st Generation) 

Use PwnageTool to do the magic and then restore with iTunes using your newly created .ipsw ‘nuff said, you don’t need to worry about anything, the baseband will be unlocked, the phone jailbroken. 

iPod touch 1G (Original iPod Touch) 

Use PwnageTool to create a firmware image and restore with that .ipsw using iTunes. 

iPod touch 2G 

Sorry, no support at this time within PwnageTool, use Redsn0w for an earlier (pre 3.1) firmware release instead. 

iPod touch 3G (New iPod Touch) 

Sorry, no support at this time within PwnageTool 

Official Bittorrent Releases - 

PwnageTool_3.1.dmg.5089960.TPB.torrent 
SHA1 = ccc1e5db026362fc7eb9a40c76322b1fdcc90332 
Unofficial Mirrors 

The following links are unofficial download mirrors, you download these at your own risk, we accept no responsibility if your computer explodes or if it becomes part of a NASA attacking botnet or even worse if your hands fall off mid-way during the use of these files. We do not check these links or archives and we accept no responsibility with regard to the validity of the files, or with other content these links provide or with the content that is on the linked site. Always check the published SHA1 sums. We would prefer that you downloaded the official bittorrent release that is linked above, but you are welcome to try these if you really must. Mirror owners should email direct links only to blog@iphone-dev.org , please don’t place mirrors in the comments as they will be deleted. 

http://www.peltner-kfz.de/PwnageTool_3.1.dmg
http://foskarulla.com/PwnageTool_3.1.dmg
http://fosk.it/PwnageTool_3.1.dmg
http://bentkowski.com.pl/PwnageTool_3.1.dmg
http://www.iemanduitnederland.nl/PwnageTool_3.1.dmg
http://downloads2.touch-mania.com/PwnageTool_3.1.dmg
http://miphone.ca/iphone-dev/PwnageTool_3.1.dmg
http://dehek.us/PwnageTool_3.1.dmg
http://iphone.h4ck.org.il/PwnageTool_3.1.dmg

(via The iPhone Dev Team)

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Apple today held their It’s Only Rock & Roll event & announced some new features & products as expected.

-iTunes 9 <-download link
-iPod classic 160GB model returns
-iPod touch 64GB model debuts
-iPod shuffle new colours & special edition & camera
-iPod nano with camera 
-iPhone OS 3.1

A pleasant return as Steve Jobs, Apple CEO delivers his 1st keynote in quite a while. Here’s a rundown of what happened.

Steve takes the stage.

I’m very happy to be here today with you all. As some of you know about 5 months ago I had a liver transplant, so I now have the liver of a mid-20’s person who died in a car crash. I wouldn’t be here without such generosity. I hope all of us can be as generous and become organ donors.
“I’d like to thank everyone in the community for the support, and Tim Cook and the exec team at Apple. Thank you.

He announces that Apple has sold 30 million iPhones to date & then announces iPhone OS 3.1 (available today). A new feature in 3.1 is now the Genius feature extends to Apps as well. Also that 30 000 ringtones from the 4 major labels will be available for $1.29 USD.

iTunes 9 is then introduced. (Oh iTunes 8 we barely got to know you…)

A new feature that iTunes 9 brings is Genius Mixes.

Imagine a genius DJ that plays endless mixes of songs from your library that go great together. You just click on one of the mixes, and start playing it — and it will go on and on and on. It’s like a great radio station

They also announced improved syncing features

but the killer feature for iPod touch & iPhone owners, Application Management

& there’s even more. Another new feature announced was Home Sharing.

The iTunes Store also gets a nice revamp

and a summary of what iTunes 9 brings to the table

Phil Schiller then takes the stage & begins to talk about iPods.

he compares the iPod touch to having a portable computer in your pocket, which is unlike…

(Apple taking a little stab at Dell)

He then goes on to compare the iPod touch to Sony’s PSP & Nintendo’s DS

Some games are then demoed by their developers, some notable titles include:
Assassin’s Creed II & Madden (available today).

New prices for the iPod touch

Apple then announces the return of the 160GB iPod classic

Now on to the shuffle

& the new special edition

Ahh yes the infamous ‘One More Thing’

Looks like the rumors of an iPod with a camera are true

You can with one click send a recorded video to YouTube. The new nano also now includes an FM radio.

Summary of the new iPod nano

& in typical Apple fashion all the new goodies are available today.

the new iPod family

& thats about it. Good to see that Steve’s back & that the iPod line is alive & well & thriving.

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Apple’s worldwide single-carrier exclusivity model for each nation is seen as fleeting, as a new report suggests the iPhone could be available for carriers other than AT&T in the U.S. within a year.

In his latest note to investors, Gene Munster, senior research analyst with Piper Jaffray, takes on 14 “unanswered questions” that surround Apple. They address the company’s financial guidance, the iPhone, iTunes, iPods and Apple retail stores. One prediction suggests Apple would add new iPhone carriers in the U.S. with the debut of a new product in the summer of 2010.

“For various reasons the company moved from an exclusive relationship with French wireless carrier Orange to a multi-carrier model,” Munster said. “In France, the company now enjoys dramatically higher market share (in the 40 percent range vs. about 15 percent in ROW) than in countries with exclusive carrier agreements (such as AT&T in the U.S. where the iPhone has market share in the mid-teens). We believe Apple is seeing the increased unit sell-through more than offset the slightly (~10 percent) deteriorated economics per unit involved in non-exclusive agreements.”

This as the iPhone 3GS has had an outstanding launch, with Apple having trouble keeping the device in stock. The Piper Jaffray report states that the new iteration of the iPhone “seems to have exceeded Apple’s internal expectations.” Additionally, Munster does not believe Apple will offer another model below the $99 iPhone 3G with a cheap, mass-market device. Noting that $10 basic phone models dominate markets like India, he said Apple would likely pass on that segment of the market.

The Piper Jaffray analyst is not alone in believing the iPhone could jump ship next year, as others believe Apple is looking to Verizon as a possible alternative. Even Denny Strigle, Verizon’s president, has been complimentary of the iPhone this year, as his company is rumored to be fast-trackingits new 4G network for launch by early 2010. AT&T, meanwhile, is said to be continuing its negotiations with Apple, in an attempt to keep the iPhone exclusive through 2011. While customers have been extremely satisfied with Apple’s phone and have embraced it, many U.S. customers have been disappointed with the AT&T network.

In his report, Munster also believes that Apple is dissatisfied with the current status of video content offered in iTunes. Specifically, he said the video store is lacking HBO and is often tied to limited movie availability periods.

“We believe Apple is unhappy with the current status of video on the iTunes Store and is working to change it,” Munster said. “These changes, however, will take time, in the form of lengthy negotiations, in order to bring the rights for TV and movies up to speed in a digital world.”

Munster believes that Apple will eventually offer a monthly subscription offer for TV shows on iTunes. At a cost of $30 to $40 a month, he said the company could offer unlimited access to content from network and cable providers. If the Cupertino, Calif., company were to offer a subscription model, he believes it would replace a consumer’s cable bill.

“While timing on the launch of such a new product is very uncertain given the negotiations that would need to take place, Apple may work to launch it simultaneously with a new version of Apple TV, or an undated Apple TV software within the next year,” he said. “Moreover, we believe Apple has wisely avoided a subscription music model, as music listeners prefer to listen to their own music, and listen to it frequently. Movie watchers, on the other hand, prefer to rent, and typically only want to see a movie once or twice. Likewise, TV viewers are not accustomed to purchasing TV shows on an a-la-carte basis, and a subscription TV service would likely be more appealing.”

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Apple may begin charging full price if you try to redownload an app you have already bought over the iPhone, according to a report by The iPhone Blog.

The warning message pictured below has been appearing to some users on the iPhone 3.0 beta firmware. Previously if you had purchased an iPhone app you could remove it and then easily redownload and install it on your iPhone as many times as you like.

Now the warning dialog suggests that you must re-download it using your computer; otherwise, you will have to pay full price for the app again.

The iPhone Blog believes that this is due to the on-device account management coming to iPhone 3.0. The ability to log in and out of multiple iTunes accounts on your iPhone could lead to the sharing of iPhone purchases with others who haven’t paid for them.

Unfortunately, this could inconvenience the many who have legitimately purchases and simply prefer not to have all their apps always installed.

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Apple’s engineering department is still working hard towards the summer release of iPhone OS 3.0. It has released beta 4 to developers only two weeks after beta 3 was released.

Like most Apple updates, we suspect that the new beta 4 includes several stability and performance enhancements that might make the beta more pleasing to use, if you are testing it.

It is too early to tell what kinds of changes have been made in beta 4, but we suspect that it will not take long for people to discover them.

along with the release of iPhone OS 3.0 BETA 4 comes a pre release (for developers only) of iTunes 8.2

Apple has seeded a new version of iTunes to developers which may include Blu-Ray support.

A MacRumors forum poster noticed that the about screen for iTunes 8.2 includes references to Blu-Ray data from Gracenote, suggesting that iTunes could support the reading/recognizing of Blu-Ray discs.

iPhone OS 3.0 Beta 4 now supports the use of multiple iTunes accounts, according to the Apple Blog.

There is now a new “Sign In” button at the bottom of the Featured page in App Store. Apparently, you’ll be able to create a new iTunes account, though this does not seem to be working at the moment.

In Settings, the “Store” entry that was a placeholder in Beta 3, and which did nothing, has gained an icon and is now working. Tapping on it brings you to a page where you can sign in and out of an account or view account information. If you choose “View Account”, you’ll be prompted to sign in once more, just like how it is when viewing account information in iTunes on the desktop.

Once you’ve done so, you’ll be presented with information such as your contact details and the balance remaining in your account. You will also be able to redeem gift codes from within this page, instead of having to find the “Redeem” button in the Downloads section of the built-in iTunes app, a step I have always felt to be rather counterintuitive.

This feature may have been added to work in conjunction with the In-App purchases supported by OS 3.0.

Via - iClarified ——————————————-

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Apple has put up a webpage to countdown the 1 billionth iPhone app downloaded from the App Store. To celebrate this significant milestone, Apple will be giving away prizes such as a $10,000 iTunes Gift Card, an iPod touch, a Time Capsule, and a MacBook Pro.

The number of iPhone apps has crossed the 33,000 mark but since Apple has removed, rejected or banned iPhone apps from the App Store for reasons such as copyright issues, duplicating functionality, offering tethering functionality, based on limited utility, content or materials found objectionable, just a ridiculous app etc, the active iPhone apps is just above 31,500 (and counting) as per AppShopper.

The approaching milestone of 1 billion iPhone apps downloaded reveals some interesting details:

If you purchase all the iPhone apps from the App Store, it would cost you $87,856.17. 
The most popular price for an iPhone app is still $0.99. There are 14,159 iPhone apps available at that price range. If you had thought it would be free apps then it is still a distant second with 7,863 iPhone apps available for free.

The average cost of an iPhone app is $2.63 including free apps which indicates that the average cost is slowly coming down. The average cost was $2.79 when the App Store had crossed the 25000 mark, it was $3.12 when the App Store had crossed the 10,000 mark.

The number of the iPhone apps that are being added every month to the App Store is increasing steadily. 3,808 iPhone apps were added in Dec 2008, 4,843 added in Jan 2009, 5,549 iPhone apps in Feb 2009 and a massive 6,719 iPhone Apps in Mar 2009.

iPhone games is the most popular category of iPhone apps with 6,660 and Weather is the least popular category with 170 iPhone apps.

Apple also published the all-time top 20 iPhone apps, both paid and free.

Top 20 All-Time Free Apps: 
1. Facebook 
2. Google Earth 
3. Pandora Radio 
4. Tap Tap Revenge 
5. Shazam 
6. Pacman Lite 
7. Backgrounds 
8. Touch Hockey 
9. Labyrinth 
10. Flashlight 
11. Urbanspoon 
12. Movies 
13. iBowl 
14. Lightsaber Unleashed 
15. SOl Free Solitaire 
16. MySpace Mobile 
17. Virtual Zippo Lighter 
18. The Weather Channel 
19. BubbleWrap 
20. Remote

Top 20 All-Time Paid Apps: 
1. Crash Banidcoot 
2. Koi Pond 
3. Enigmo 
4. Bejeweled 2 
5. iBeer 
6. Moto Chaser 
7. Pocket Guitar 
8. Flick Fishing 
9. Tetris 
10. Texas Hold Em 
11. Super Monkey Ball 
12. Pocket God 
13. Cro-Mag Rally 
14. Ocarina 
15. Fieldrunners 
16. iFart Mobile 
17. Touchgrind 
18. iHunt 
19. iShoot 
20. Monopoly

(via iPhoneHacks.com)

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Tuesday marks the end of Apple’s one-price-fits-all model at the iTunes Store, where songs will now fall into one of three pricing tiers, with many of the most popular tracks commanding a 30% increase from 99 cents to $1.29.

Many songs will remain priced at 99 cents while some older and less popular tracks are expected to fall to 69 cents. But as of Tuesday morning, those cheaper songs were few and far between. Instead, Apple appears to have made price increases its first priority.

As of press time, 6 of the top 10 and 29 of the top 100 songs on the digital download service saw their price increase 30 cents to a $1.29. Many of those same songs remain at 99 cents over at the Cupertino-based company’s largest digital rival, the Amazon MP3 Store, where none of the top 10 singles and only 10 of the top 100 songs are priced above 99 cents.

Apple has long placed the blame for this week’s hikes on the record labels, who are struggling to adjust to the digital marketplace for their content now controlled by iTunes, which last year became the world’s largest retailer of music.

The iTunes operator said back in January that this week’s changes would correlated directly with new prices commanded by record labels, who otherwise would not have been willing to make their music catalogs available on the service in unprotected iTunes Plus format.

“[B]ased on what the music labels charge Apple, songs on iTunes will be available at one of three price points — 69 cents, 99 cents and $1.29 — with many more songs priced at 69 cents than $1.29,” said Apple chief executive Steve Jobs.

While iTunes has rejuvenated interest in music and drawn in buyers that may have joined the masses of pirates on peer-to-peer file sharing networks, it’s fragmented sales for labels at the same time. The lone sore spot has been a loss of high-margin album sales with consumers instead taking advantage of iTunes’ a-la-carte format to cherry pick their favorite tracks without forking over the full $10+ that the service — and traditional brick-and-mortar music stores — charge for an artist’s complete work.

As such, the labels are now scrambling to find ways to cash in on their most popular offerings. One approach has been a concept called iTunes Pass. Similar to an iTunes Season Pass for TV shows, the digital offering combines upcoming album releases with exclusive singles, videos, and other media that will be made available to subscribes over the period of several weeks or months for a premium price.

In February, Warner’s Reprise Records kicked-off the program with an $18.99 iTunes Pass that coincided with the release of Depeche Mode’s new album Sounds of the Universe. According to the Wall Street Journal, this week will see the second installment of an iTunes Pass — a $17 subscription from Sony Corp.’s Epic Records for the pop band the Fray.

“It’s one more thing that helps offset the negative,” said Apple iTunes chief Eddy Cue, who sees iTunes Pass as a means for record labels to keep their album releases relevant for longer periods of time. “[Once a traditional album] gets out the door, you can’t update it, you can’t refresh it, you can’t do anything to it.”

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Apple’s penchant for keeping its partners out of the loop reportedly cost the company its relationship with alternative rock band U2, which recently drew sponsorship from rival smartphone market Research in Motion.

According to a report in the GlobeAndMail, Toronto-based radio DJ Alan Cross recently came face-to-face with Bono following a secret concert in Boston where he struck up a conversation with the U2 frontman about the band’s new partnership with RIM.

“I’m very excited about this,” Bono is reported to have said. “Research In Motion is going to give us what Apple wouldn’t — access to their labs and their people so we can do something really spectacular.”

Asked whether this had something to do with a new application U2 wanted to create to allow fans to interact with the band as part of its “U2 360″ tour, Bono reportedly said, “You’re not far off,” before disappearing into a crowd of people.

Last month, U2 announced that the new tour — expected to be its biggest yet – would be sponsored by Research In Motion’s BlackBerry line of smartphones, distancing itself from its one-time ally in the iPod maker.

“This tour announcement marks the first stage of a relationship and shared vision between RIM and U2 that we expect will lead to new and innovative ways to enhance the mobile music experience on the BlackBerry platform for U2 fans,” said U2’s manager Paul McGuinness. “We look forward to sharing more details as the relationship unfolds.”

In October 2004 Apple and the band hosted a special event together to introduce the new black and red iPod U2 Special Edition.

“U2 is one of the greatest bands in the world and we are floored to be working with them,” Apple chief executive Steve Jobs said at the time. “We just want to make some innovative products together, and we hope U2 fans will love having their very own special edition iPod.”

The partnership continued to blossom the following year when U2 helped launch the new iPod video with an ad campaign featuring a live music video for the track “Original of the Species.” In June 2006, yet another product emerged as a result of the partnership: a U2 branded video iPod.

U2’s Bono was also believed to be instrumental in compelling Apple to release several (Product) Red-braned iPods (1, 2, 3, 4), a portion of the sales of which went to help benefit the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

(via AppleInsider.com)

&

Apple has released an iTunes update. According to Apple this makes iTunes faster and more responsive. This also improves working with large libraries, browsing the iTunes Store, preparing sync with iPod and iPhone, and optimizing photos for syncing.

In addition:

• Supports syncing with iPod shuffle (3rd generation).
• Allows friends to request songs for iTunes DJ.
• Adds Genius sidebar for your Movies and TV Shows.
• Improves performance when downloading iTunes Plus songs.
• Provides AutoFill for manually managed iPods.
• Allows CDs to be imported at the same sound quality as iTunes Plus.
• Includes many accessibility improvements.
• Allows iTunes U and the iTunes Store to be disabled separately using Parental Controls.

iTunes 8.1.1 also adds support for HD movie rentals and also fixes a number of bugs, including issues with VoiceOver and syncing with iPhone or iPod touch.

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