Just a few days after iOS hacker pod2g announced that he’d performed an untethered jailbreak on a device running iOS 5.0, he’s managed to jailbreak an iPhone 4 running iOS 5.0.1.

That means that if you’re planning to jailbreak you iPhone or iPod touch once the tools are released, it’s safe to update to iOS 5.0.1 now.

There are a few caveats. If you plan to carrier unlock your phone, you’ll still want to backup your SHSH blobs first. The exploit pod2g is using has also only been tested on older iOS devices. It probably won’t work on an iPhone 4S or iPad 2.

Pod2g hasn’t announced when he’ll release the tools for jailbreaking iOS 5.0.1 to the public.

Right now the only way to jailbreak a device running iOS 5.0 or newer is to perform a tethered jailbreak. That means that you need to connect your device to a computer with a USB cable and run some software on the PC to jailbreak the iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad. If you need to reboot your mobile device you’ll need to connect it to a computer and run the software again, otherwise most features will be inaccessible.

An untethered jailbreak removes this restriction. Once you jailbreak your device you can reboot it at any time without losing your jailbreak or the ability to use your mobile device — at least until you upgrade to iOS 5.0.2 or whatever the next version of Apple’s mobile operating system turns out to be.

Siri is one of the most talked-about features of the new iPhone 4S. Sure, Apple’s latest phone also has a dual core processor which offers better performance than the chips found in the iPhone 4 or the latest iPod touch. But Apple’s new voice-assist service which lets you ask your phone questions — and get real answers is the show-stopping feature that makes the iPhone 4S special.

But it turns out that there’s really no technical reason Siri couldn’t run on older iOS devices. Apple just doesn’t offer it for any device other than the iPhone 4S.

That’s despite the fact that Siri was a standalone, third-party app until Apple bought the company that makes the software and incorporated the technology into iOS 5.

In fact, hackers have been trying to figure out how to port Siri to run on older iPhones and other iOS devices for the last few weeks — and now Steven Troughton-Smith has managed to get it working.

Up until now, we’ve seen a few folks get the software to start running — but since Siri needs to contact Apple’s servers to actually answer your questions, it wasn’t fully functional.

Troughton-Smith managed to grab some files from an iPhone 4S, copy them to an iPhone 4 and show Siri working perfectly.
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Hot on the heels of Geohot’s Limera1n tool for jailbreaking some iPhone and iPod touch models running iOS 4.1, the folks at the iPhone Dev Team have launched a new tool based on the same exploit. In a nutshell what that means is you can use the new greenpois0n tool to jailbreak the iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPad, or 3rd or 4th generation iPod touch as long as those devices are running iOS 4.1.

Greenpois0n was due out this weekend, but Geohot surprised the iPhone hacking community by launching his software first, using a different exploit than the one greenpois0n was originally based on. Rather than alert Apple to two separate security holes in iOS 4.1, the iPhone Dev Team decided to delay their launch in order to retool the software and make use of the same exploit as Limera1n. That means even if Apple released a software update that removes the security hole, the Dev Team can go back to plan A and release a new version of greenpois0n using the other exploit.

For now you can only run greenpois0n from a Windows PC, but a Mac-based tool is coming soon. There will also be a future release that will add support for the 2nd generation iPod touch and the new Apple TV.

Once you jailbreak your device you’ll be able to install applications that aren’t available in the iTunes App Store and access settings that aren’t normally made available.

Update: There are now Windows and Linux utilities for running greenpois0n. An OS X version is still in the works.

Netflix has launched an updated version of its mobile app for iPhone and iPod touch. The release notes mention some bug fixes, but the most important new feature is support for video out if you’re using the iPhone 4 or 4th generation iPod touch. The Netflix iPad app already had video out support.

Of course, neither of these devices has a built-in video output, so you’ll need a docking station with S-Video or component output capabilities.

If you’ve got a dock, you’ll be able to stream videos over the internet to your TV using the mobile app. No $99 Apple TV required (although an $8.99/month Netflix subscription is required). You also won’t have a remote control, so you’ll have to use your iPhone to play, pause, fast forward, or rewind your video.

The Netflix app for iOS is available as a free download from the App Store.

Update: There’s now an easier method for installing Flash on a jailbroken iDevice. See below.

There’s good news and bad news for iPhone users who have been hoping to get Adobe Flash up and running on their phones. The good news is you can do it now. The bad news is that it only works on iOS 4 and you need to jailbreak your device.

Oh yeah, more bad news:

• Flash for the iPhone isn’t supported by Apple or Adobe.
• There’s no support for video streaming yet.
• It’s not even called Flash at this point, but rather “Frash.”
• Installation is kind of a pain at this point, even if your phone is already jailbroken.
• Frash for iOS 4 is only available as an alpha right now, so it might not be all that stable/
• Since the iPhone wasn’t designed with Flash in mind (or vice versa), this will probably wreak havoc on your battery life.

But if you really, really want to play Farmville on your phone or view Flash-based ads on web sites, you can do it now. It looks like the hacker who ported Flash to run on iOS has made a sort of Flash-on-demand feature, which means your web browser will tell you when it encounters Flash content and you have to tap the screen to see Flash. This should allow web sites to load much more quickly than if you left Flash enabled all the time.

Blogger Grant Pannell has posted detailed instructions for installing Frash on the iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPod touch 3G, or iPad. And if you want to see Frash in action on an iPhone 4, check out the video after the break, courtesy of Redmond Pie.

Update: OK, it looks like there’s an easier way to install Flash/Frash on an iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, Ipod touch 3G, and iPad. You simply need to:

1. Open the Cydia app on your jailbroken device
2. Click the Manage button, and then select Sources
3. Tap the Edit button and then select Add
4. Add “http://repo.benm.at” (without the quotation marks
5. Search for Frash and click the Install button.

via Engadget, Comex, and Gizmodo

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Now that it’s easy as pie to jailbreak an iPhone 4, you might be looking for other ways to free your mobile phone from Apple and AT&T’s grip — like unlocking the phone so that it can work on other mobile networks.

Now there’s an app in the Cydia store for jailbroken iPhones. It’s called ultrasn0w 1.0-1, and it can unlock the iPhone 4 and iPhone 3G and 3GS so that you can use the phone on networks that aren’t AT&T.

You can check out video after the break for instructions on jailbreaking your device and installing ultrasn0w to unlock your device.

Bear in mind, jailbreaking and unlocking your phone will probably void your warranty. But if you were planning on using your iPhone on T-Mobile or another network, you probably weren’t expecting your warranty to be valid anyway, were you?

via Engadget

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Want to run iPhone apps that aren’t available in Apple’s App Store? Then you might want to think about jailbreaking your iPhone or iPod touch. But up until today there was not easy method for jailbreaking a device running iOS 4, including the new iPhone 4 or older devices that had been upgraded.

But now the folks at the iPhone Dev Team have made jailbreaking as simple as visiting a web site and sliding a button.

Basically, all you have to do is open Safari on your mobile device, visit jailbreakme.com, and slide to unlock your phone. Once it’s finished, the unofficial Cydia app store will be added to your home screen.

As the FAQ says, jailbreaking lets you run apps and install themes that aren’t approved by Apple, and federal courts have recently ruled that it’s legal for users to jailbreak their devices in the US (although it’s not entirely clear if it’s legal for hackers to provide the tools to do so).

While this is one of the first mainstream tools for jailbreaking iPhone 4 devices, the browser-based tool also works with devices running earlier versions of the iPhone operating system including the iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch running iOS 3.1.2 and up. Some users are reporting that jailbreaking their phones is causing problems with Apple’s FaceTime and MMS apps — although a solution to those problems appears to be in the works.

Update: The Facetime and MMS issues have been resolved. So if you use Jailbreakme.com now, you shouldn’t have a problem. If you used it previously you can install an app called iPhoneDelivery that will fix both problems.

Update 2: Wondering why you might want to jailbreak your iDevice? Check out my tutorial for enabling apps to run in the background on older iPhone and iPod touch models.

via Redmond Pie

FaceTime for the iPhone 4 is a pretty awesome tool that lets you make video calls to other iPhone 4 users. Unfortunately there are a few limitations. Both you and the person you’re calling have to be on WiFi, since FaceTime doesn’t currently work over 3G. You’ll both need to have iPhone 4 devices, obviously. And the way things work right now, you actually have to start a normal phone call and then transfer to FaceTime.

But what if you just want to know if your contact is available to talk at a glance? Or what if you want to start a video chat without first making a phone call? While desktop video chat apps like Skype offer a buddy list that shows you who’s online or off, FaceTime doesn’t have that feature.

That’s where FacePlant comes in. It’s a third party app that basically functions as a buddy list for FaceTime. You register for an account with your name and iPhone 4 phone number. And if your friends all do the same thing, FacePlant can tell you who’s online. You can tap on the name for your online contacts to start a voice of FaceTime call.

FacePlant isn’t available in the App Store yet, but it should be coming soon.