Apple’s first salvo against iPhone hackers has finally dropped in the form of an iPhone firmware update, available today. At least Apple is warning users before they install the update that they run the risk of bricking their iPhone if they proceed. Apparently, the update tries to remove Installer.app.
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If you are looking for cheap iPods or iPhones, then check out this new Dashboard widget for Mac OS X. With the Refurb Store widget, you can be the first to benefit from the best offers and deals of the refurbished iPod and iPhone (from the U.S Apple Store). The widget also displays prices on refurbished Macs.
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The free unlock software for iPhone, anySIM v1.02, is now available through the Installer.app. This makes unlocking your iPhone much easier through the graphical interface and not requiring any further transfers. This latest version of anySIM includes many bug fixes and makes the entire unlocking process much quicker overall. You can also choose to download anySIM directly if you don’t wish to use Installer.app.

A U.K. based VoIP services provider, TruPhone, has announced the development of new software to enable iPhone users to make voice calls over WiFi. This would greatly lower the cost of making calls since the call data is transfered over the Internet instead of the mobile network, very similar to Skype. When the iPhone is not in WiFi range, calls would be made through the SIM card and billed as normal.
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Not really. But the team that delivered unlocked iPhones to the masses, causing Master Chief Steve to arm his spartan rifle, has something much better to share than Halo 3 cheats. Instead, the iPhone dev team has promised the availability of a new tool that will restore an unlocked iPhone to its factory-fresh state. A restored iPhone can then be safely updated with the iPhone’s next firmware update, which Apple warned, would render unlocked iPhones into bricks. This tool should be available later this week. Now if we could only get bubble shields to protect us from future firmware updates. Let the battle commence.

The removal of the lock, a bug, was a major step forward in the iPhone development. It made the iPhone free and useful to anyone, not only to those in certain countries. — the iPhone dev team

We’ve mentioned each of these in previous posts, but since the total sum is worth more than each of it’s parts, we’ll wrap them all up here in one post. The suite of web apps that many users affectionately refer to as Google Office (much to Ballmer’s double chin chagrin) is now mostly optimized for iPhone. These apps include Gmail, Google Calendar, and Google Reader (rss). We’ve been hearing reports of an optimized version of Google Docs (documents, spreadsheets, presentations) but have yet to see one it materialize. We’ll keep you posted when it happens, or let us know if you see it before we do.

Here’s a handy list of links to the iPhone and iPod touch versions of Google apps.

• Gmail
• Calendar
• Reader

• AT&T suspends Smart Limits, a parental blocking feature on its wireless service. Kids worldwide rejoice.
• iPhone users get organized. Google Calendar now iPhone-friendly.
• Apple will brick unlocked iPhones within a week. Don’t update the firmware until the water is safe. Future updates could render the iPhone inoperable.

The iPhone headphone jack is just another wtf moment in Apple history. Whether or not it’s more wtf than say, the iMac hockey puck mouse, is certainly debatable. But c’mon Apple, seriously, wtf? Why in the world would you design a recessed headphone jack that is incompatible with every audio device on the planet? Do you really have to squeeze us for an extra $30 bucks for a compatible headset?

For those of you who can’t bear to shell out the extra money for Apple’s official iPhone headset, we recommend you get this lovely headphone adapter for only $4 from Helium Digital. It’ll let you listen to your iPhone or iPod touch with any headphones you choose. And if four bucks is too rich for your cheap blood, then go ahead and hack your headphone jack. Assuming you own have a knife, of course.