the_computer_boss wallpaper for your iPhone
A CB wallpaper I Photoshop’d for the iPhone. It’s on mine, and now it can be on yours 
(click image to enlarge)
Add comment July 8th, 2009
Posts filed under 'Apple'
[iPhone] Setup Push Gmail for iPhone
Despite iPhone 3.0’s push notifications and previously mentioned Google Sync’s contacts and calendars syncing chops, push Gmail still hasn’t come to the iPhone. But with the Prowl iPhone application, you can now push Gmail notifications—and then some—to your iPhone.
What Prowl Does
The $3 Prowl iPhone application [iTunes App Store Link] works in conjunction with Growl, the universal notification application for Macs, to push desktop notifications to your iPhone. (The current release of Prowl in the App Store doesn’t yet support Growl for Windows, but the latest unreleased version already does—meaning Windows users should be able to do this once Prowl updates.)
How It Works
Whenever an application sends a notification to Growl, Growl sends that notification to Prowl’s servers, which in turn sends a push notification to your iPhone. So, for example, if you’ve got Growl set up to display new Gmail notifications (details below), Prowl can push those same notifications to your iPhone. The cool part about Prowl is that it doesn’t just work with Gmail—it works with anything that Growl does.
NOTE: What you’ll get after following these instructions isn’t true push email, but it’s a pretty solid approximation. In fact, in order for it to work consistently, you’ll need to have an always-on computer to push your Growl notifications to your iPhone. But until something better comes along, it’s a pretty strong alternative.
Set Up Prowl with Growl
If you haven’t already, go download and install Growl (it will install as a new preference pane in the System Preferences of your Mac).
Next, head over to the Prowl web site and register for an account (Prowl doesn’t even require an email address). Once registered, download the Prowl plug-in for Growl, unzip it, and double-click the Prowl.growlView file to install the Prowl plug-in to Growl.
Once you’ve done that, you’re ready to set up Prowl on your computer. Fire up the Growl preference pane (System Preference -> Growl), then click on the Display Options tab. Select Prowl in the Display Styles list on the left, then enter the Prowl username and password you registered with and click Verify to make sure Growl can properly talk to Prowl’s servers. (If everything’s copacetic, you’ll see a green checkmark next to the Password field.). If you want to use Prowl as the default for Growl (meaning you want the majority of your Growl notifications pushed to your iPhone), you can also set Prowl as the default from the Default Style drop-down.
When you set Prowl as your display notification type, you still get to choose what your Growl notifications will look like—you just do so through this Prowl display options menu. Make sure you’ve ticked the checkbox labelled Display notifications using style, then select the style you prefer (I’m a smoke person). You can also adjust what kind of Growl notifications Prowl will forward and when—for example, I’ve set Growl to only send notifications to Prowl when the priority is at least High, and I only send notifications when my computer has been idle for more than 5 minutes (presumably you don’t need push notifications if you’re already sitting at your computer).
If you’ve already downloaded Prowl to your iPhone (and choked on the $US3 price tag—yeah, we’re cheap) and logged into your Prowl account from your device, any new Growl notifications with Prowl set as the display type will push those notifications to your iPhone. Pretty cool, huh? That can potentially include anything from your IM client to your iTunes notifier and, yes, Gmail. Of course, Gmail requires a little more set up.
Set Up Gmail Notifier with Growl and Prowl
In order to get Gmail playing nice with Growl, you’ve got a few more steps to go. First, you need to download and install the Google Notifier for Mac—the official Gmail and Google Calendar notifier from Google. Next, download the Google+Growl plug-in for Google Notifier, unzip it, and install the Google+Growl Utility to your Applications folder. When you run it, this little utility keeps its eye on the Google Notifier and pushes any new email updates (and event alerts, if you wish) to Growl… which, if set up with Prowl, pushes the alert to your iPhone.
To make sure Google+Growl is set to work with Prowl, open up Growl one more time, click the Applications tab, and double-click on Google+Growl. Make sure Prowl is set as the default display style, then click the Notifications tab. On this tab, you’ll see a notifications drop-down with New Event and New Gmail selections. Make sure that both are set with Prowl as the display style. (If, like me, you’re setting Prowl only to push high priority Growl notifications, make sure you set the priority to High as well.
Keep in mind that you need to keep Google+Growl running in the background for the whole system to work, too. It all sounds fairly convoluted for something that should be so simple, but once you’ve got it set up, you shouldn’t have to do any fiddling after that
A year or so ago I was using a third-party background app (required jailbreak) called iMapIDLE that simulated push for Gmail, and while it looks like something similar is undergoing review for the App Store, the Prowl approach seems like another very solid one. It doesn’t require you to hand over any usernames or passwords to a third party, since the notifications are all coming from your computer, and it can work with all sorts of notifications that Growl already supports (imagine getting a notification that your BitTorrent client just finished downloading that movie while you’re picking up dinner, for example).
As I said above, Windows support for using Prowl in conjunction with Growl for Windows isn’t quite there, but it should be very soon, making this a pretty solid solution for rolling notifications for just about anything from your desktop—and that, we like very much.
Got something clever you’d like to use Prowl for aside from Gmail push notifications? Have another, better method you’re already using? Let’s hear it in the comments.
- [via LifeHacker]
Add comment July 8th, 2009
Music Video Shot Entirely using iPhone 3G S
Steve Ellington from the theautomaticfilmmaker.com let us know that he’d shot the above music video entirely on the new iPhone 3GS. While Ellington had fun filming the little robot, he was also “quite impressed with the camera.”
CBS4 in South Florida must also have been impressed. They claimed the “new iPhone good enough for the evening news” when a producer shot a segment entirely on Apple’s latest handset as well.
Add comment July 6th, 2009
[iPhone] iPhone Update 3.1 Changes
As many of you heard, Apple has seeded the firmware 3.1 beta to iPhone developers. An anonymous tipster has released the following changes in the OS:
- Options for MMS are back on AT&T, but not sending or receiving.
- Non-destructive video editing means trimming a clip no longer saves over the original video but gives you the option to “Save as copy…”
- Voice Control now works over Bluetooth
- iPhone vibrates when moving icons
- Updated AT&T profile to 4.2
- Updated modem firmware to 5.08.01
- Improvements to OpenGL and Quartz
- APIs to allow third party apps to access videos and edit them
- You can now paste phone numbers into the phone app’s dialer. This wasn’t possible under 3.0
- While pasting phone numbers, a neat feature is that it will convert alphanumeric phone numbers into a real phone number (e.g. 1-800-FLOWERS becomes 1-800-356-9377)
- Calendar appointment popup notifications now display the “Location” field from the calendar entry
- Ability to save video attachments in emails to your camera roll
Looks like a decent update. Usually .1 updates are there to patch up little holes in the .0 update version. I am especially happy about non-destructive video editing feature. The trim feature was really missing that. The ability to save video attachments in emails to the camera roll is also very handy. As always, I’ll keep my ear out for more news, and keep you posted!
1 comment July 2nd, 2009
“Welcome to Macintosh” makes it to Pay Per View
Welcome to Macintosh, is a feature length documentary that goes into the different ways Apple has changed the world. Welcome to Macintosh went from the international, independent film festival circuit to pay-per-view TV on Wednesday.
“The goal was to make a film that you can show to anyone, even someone that has never used a computer, and have them understand why so many people love Macintosh, Availability to all US Comcast customers goes a long way toward completing that goal.” -Josh Rizzo, Co-Director.
“Welcome to Macintosh is informative and entertaining for the computer illiterate and Mac geeks alike” -The Capital Times
If you’ve wondered what makes Apple such a big deal, you will understand after this film- even if you’ve never even seen a Mac.
Add comment July 1st, 2009
22 iPhone 3.0 Features You May Not Have Known About
This post is from http://www.ismashphone.com/ – I do NOT take credit for it. I really enjoyed it, so I thought I’d share. All credit goes to the awesome work of iSmashPhone.
So you’ve got the new iPhone OS 3.0, and you might even be running it on your brand new iPhone 3GS. You probably think you know everything there is to know about the device and the new features the latest firmware update gave to it. You’ve probably even read our article “How To Use The Best 40 Features Of iPhone 3.0” and decided that with those 40 features you became a three-oh-pro. Well I beg to differ, because here’s 22 more hidden iPhone 3.0 features that you might not have known about. And if you knew them all, congrats!
1. Control Scrubbing Rate
Scrubbing refers to rewinding or fast forwarding through a video, song, podcast, or audiobook by scrolling the grey “position” ball left or right near the top of the screen. You may have noticed in the past that it was difficult to get to the exact spot you want to be.
With iPhone 3.0, simply hold the ball, and slide your finger down. The lower you slide your finger on the screen, the slower scrub rate you will scroll with.
When you scrub directly on the position bar, you go at Hi-Speed. When you scroll down some, you go at Half Speed. Some more and you get Quarter Speed, and a bit more you get Fine Scrubbing. Apple made it very easy to get to where you wanna be in a media clip.
Note: This works even for videos on websites where it doesn’t explicitly say what “scrub speed” you’re operating at.
2. Hold “Live” Phone Number
When you come across a phone number in Safari or anywhere else that’s “live”, meaning highlighted blue like a URL, you can press and hold it for the following options:
- Call #
- Text message
- Create new contact
- Add to existing contact
In the screenshot above I pressed and held the “1-800-MY-APPLE” number on Apple’s support site. Just tapping on the number without holding it prompts the familiar “Call” option.
3. Email More Than 5 Photos At Once
In our 40 tips article the “share up to 5 photos via email” tip was mentioned. Turns out (thanks to one of our commenters) there’s an easy work around to the 5 photo per email limit. Simply use “Copy” instead of “Share”.
How it works:
1. Go to your camera roll
2. Click the arrow in the bottom left corner
3. Select as many photos as you’d like
4. Press copy
5. Open Email
6. Paste and send all the photos you want!
4. Press And Hold A Number For Other Font
I’m not quite sure as to the purpose of this new feature, but it certainly is a new one. When typing, hold any of the numbers (0-9) on the keyboard and you can choose to write the number in a larger, different styled font.
Notice how the alternate font is also less bold.
5. View .gif Images
You can now view .gif images on your iPhone. When you receive a gif file as an attachment via email, it will be displayed in all it’s semi-automated glory. However, when you try to save the image, it only saves a still shot of whatever position the image was at that moment. Even though .gif images aren’t all that common these days, it’s still nice to know that your iPhone can handle them.
6. LOL
I’m sure you already know what I’m referring to. Apple decided to annoy the world by making the phrase “lol” always auto-correct into “LOL” on all iPhones, no matter where you’re typing (SMS, Email, etc…). The problem with “LOL” is that it makes it sound like you reaaally found something funny, when in reality you just want to portray a slight smile or maybe just fill some space with a meaningless three letter acronym. Luckily, on iPhone 3.0 “lol” stays “lol”. No capitals.
7. Rewind 30 Seconds
When watching a video, listening to an audiobook, or tuning into a podcast on your iPhone, you can tap a button to go back exactly 30 seconds. The reason for this feature is to help you get back to where you were after zoning out. We’ve all zoned out while trying to listen or watch something on our iPhones, and it’s a pain to get back to where you think you were. You end up going back too far, and then going too far forward. That’s where easily going back 30 seconds comes into play.
Note: This only works for media bought and downloaded from iTunes.
8. Text Message Box Increased In Size
When writing a long text message, the text-message box used to only stretch to about 4 lines in width, causing you to have to scroll back through the message if you need to go back. The box now stretches all the way to the top, right up to the recipients name.
9. Swipe Stocks Mini-Graph
You probably heard about the updated stocks application, but you might not have noticed that you can scroll through three different information panels where the mini-graph is (the bottom rectangle.) Just swipe left or right iPhone style to see top news about the company and other stock info. Also, pressing on the number to the right of the company name now includes market cap as one of the display options.
10. Contact Edit
No matter how you get to the contact, you now have the “full” version of the contact available, meaning that you have full access to edit the contact’s info. In the previous firmware, when accessing a contact’s info from somewhere like SMS, you could only view their information, and not even all of it. This minor mistake was fixed, and it’s worth remembering that you can now edit a contact no matter how you get to it.
Here’s a sample of accessing “Edit Contact” via “Contact Info” inside of a text message.
11. Copy A Text Message Bubble
You’ve probably mastered copy and paste by now, but this little trick makes copying a text message even simpler.
How it works:
1. Double tap a text message bubble
2. Press Copy
3. Paste!
12. 11 Maximum Pages
In the previous iPhone firmware, you were only allowed 9 pages on your device. Now, probably due to Spotlight search, you can have up to 11 pages on your iPhone, which means you can have up to 180 total icons on your iPhone (including the basic ones that your iPhone came with.)
13. Promo Codes
iTunes offers promo codes in various ways. You can either buy (or be gifted) an iTunes gift card, which automatically adds money to your iTunes account so you can buy whatever your heart desires. You can also get a promotional code from an iPhone app developer as a “tester”. The new 3.0 firmware allows you to redeem promo codes of both types directly on your iPhone.
We at iSmashPhone give away promo codes for applications on our Twitter page, so be sure to follow us there. It works on a first come first serve basis
Go here to learn more about how iTunes promo codes work.
To access promo codes, simply open up iTunes on your device, go to “More”, and go to “Redeem”.
14. Keyboard Update
There are several little changes to the keyboard. While these certainly won’t change your iPhone experience, it doesn’t hurt to know as much as possible about this extremely expensive little rectangle. That being said, here’s what’s new:
- Holding “.” now gives you the option to type “…”
- Holding the quotation mark button (“) allows you to chose whether you want straight or curved quotation marks.
- Holding the quotation mark also allows you to input this: “>>” or “<<”
15. Curse Words
This is one of the most convenient updates in the iPhone 3.0 firmware. The iPhone no longer tries to auto-correct every single curse word you use. I’ve tested it out in notes, and I even got creative. The iPhone lets everything slide, auto-correct free. Just test it out on your own.
16. Tethering Hack
There was an iPhone hack recently released that allows U.S. iPhone users with AT&T to start using internet tethering now, even though AT&T does not yet support it.
Go here for step by step instructions.
Of course, keep in mind that you are doing this at your own risk. And also be cautious because since tethering is not yet approved for the iPhone by AT&T, you may get billed extra for it. While it’s unlikely, it’s certainly possible.
17. iTunes U
The new firmware has enabled all iPhone and iPod Touch users to access Apple’s awesome iTunes U educational video collection directly from the mobile device. There are tons of recorded lectures (by the entire semester!) Be sure to check out Walter Lewin’s physics lectures from MIT (they’re second best only to Feynman’s lectures!)
To access iTunes U, open iTunes on your iPhone or iPod Touch, go to “More”, and go to “iTunes U”. Everything there is free, so enjoy.
18. Interruption By Phone Call
When you are running an application and it gets interrupted by an incoming call, the application automatically comes back to life after the phone is hung up. This is a very convenient feature, even though it doesn’t work smoothly by any means. I am almost positive that this feature is not constant, and fails for some applications.
Note: The app doesn’t restart from where you left off, but rather it reloads again. So if it’s a game, yes, answering the call will cause you to lose progress.
Here’s an example of a good game of Touch Grind getting interrupted by a phone call:
19. Revert Back To App After Syncing
Just like number 18, if you are running an iPhone app when you start syncing the device with iTunes, the app automatically revives once the sync is over. In the past the main home screen would just appear. Just like with phone calls, an app will automatically fire back up rather than “instantly resume” as we’d all like it to.
20. Close Apps While They Are Opening
You’ll have to test this one out to believe me, because there’s really no way of capturing screenshots that depict this process. As you open an application, tapping the home button as soon as the app starts opening does exactly what the home button should do – it takes you home. In the past, the iPhone would have to first load the app, and then it would close it back up. The whole process was all buggy and slow, but not in 3.0. Try it out (use a game or some other app that typically takes a longer time to load.)
21. Jailbreak With redsn0w
The word jailbreak says it all. Go here to read a step by step guide to jailbreaking your iPhone 3.0 using redsn0w on either a Mac or a PC. It’s very simple, and there’s nothing to be afraid of.
Here’s a photo of my jailbroken iPhone running the new 3.0 firmware (notice the Cydia and Boss Prefs icons.) iPhone 3GS is jailbreakable but jailbreak is not available for it at this time.
22. Unlock With ultrasn0w
If you need to unlock your iPhone 3.0 to use it with an unsupported carrier (such as T-Mobile, the most popular non-authorized iPhone service), you’ll need to follow this guide to unlocking your iPhone with ultrasn0w. Unlock is not available for iPhone 3GS at this time.
____________________________________________________________________
Add comment June 30th, 2009
[iPhone] 3G S is Fast, Fast, Fast!
I know- you get it. S is for Speed and all that. But, recent tests have proven that the 3G s not only displayed significantly faster graphics, and CPU performance- but possesed more power than originally thought.
- The CPU performance is Faster by 40-70%
- The fillrate* is 3x to 4x higher
- Texture effects and filters are about 10x faster
I wonder what future games and apps will look like. Don’t worry 2G, and 3G owners- I highly doubt the developers will abandon you guys. There are millions and millions of older generation iPhone owners. So we shall wait an see when 3G S exclusive apps will emerge.
Add comment June 30th, 2009
[News] Apple’s Online Availability Tool lets you check iPhone Inventory from Home
If you’re one of those unlucky folks having trouble finding a 3G S in your area- you’re in luck! Apple has made things much easier with an online tool which lets you check which store in your area has them in stock. It tracks the status of both 16GB and 32GB models, in both colors.
Check out the tool here.
Add comment June 29th, 2009
What is RSS?