Iphone2g
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Daily Update for October 21, 2013
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here. No Flash? Click here to listen. Subscribe via RSS
Did you know that the iPhone 2G is a collector's item?
When it comes to mobile gadgets, most tech junkies only care about the latest and greatest. If it's not cutting-edge, you might as well not bother, right? Well, not quite. It seems that the original, non-3G iPhone (commonly referred to as the iPhone 2G) has risen sharply in value after becoming obsolete. In fact, if you have a mint specimen you're willing to part with, you might be looking at US$1,000 or more. Ever the pulse on current gadget values, the eBay "Completed Listings" page for the iPhone 2G is somewhat jaw-dropping. First, you have folks asking $5,000 or more for unopened units, which never sell. But there are several examples of "new" iPhones with open boxes going for north of $600, with sealed boxes successfully selling for as much as $1,999. Unfortunately, these lofty figures are reserved for the cream of the crop, and if your device is in "Used" condition you can expect less than $100 for it. Still, it's extremely rare for a years-old phone to actually rise in value later in life. I mean, when was the last time you heard of someone paying $2,000 for a brand-new Motorola RAZR flip phone?
Whited00r lets you install iOS 5 look-alike on old-gen iPhones and iPod Touches
If you're still rockin' an ancient iPhone or iPod Touch and are fed up with friends teasing you at every chance with their new-style multitasking and reminder features, we've got some good news for you. A new software, dubbed Whited00r, will let you install portions of iOS 5 on the first two generations of the iPod Touch, iPhone 3G and even your O.G. iPhone. Whited00r accomplishes this by simply acting as a custom firmware -- à la CyanogenMod 9 on Android handsets. There are, however, a few traits that devs haven't been able to mimic, which include core services like the App Store (though, you can install apps via iTunes on your home machine), Notification Center and iCloud. So, for those of you clinging to your outdated hardware while you wait for the "next big thing," you can at least freshen up its features (at your own risk) with a coat of whitewash at the source below.
Bootlace lets you install Froyo on your iPhone without a computer
It may not solve some of the problems involved with actually running Android on an iPhone, but the recently released Bootlace 2.1 application for jailbroken iPhones does at least make the installation process easier than ever. Unfortunately, it only works with the iPhone 2G and 3G at the moment, but it will let you install Android 2.2 (a.k.a. Froyo) directly on the device without the need for a computer. Hit up the source link below for the complete installation instructions -- and insert your own joke here about the iPhone running Froyo while your Android phone is still stuck at 2.1.
TUAW tested: iPhone 4 works with original iPhone dock
Editor's Note: We inadvertently neglected to acknowledge the other tipsters who brought this feature to our attention. Thank you to Alan Wyman, 'iPhone Coder,' DocRock & everyone else who pointed this out. Over on Twitter, user TheiJcaP tipped us to the fact that the new iPhone 4 does work with the original iPhone dock. Being fanatical OCD maniacs moderately well organized, one and all, we headed off to our carefully labeled "outdated iPhone parts" box and pulled out some spare docks for units that are no longer serviceble. Just as promised, the iPhone 4 fit perfectly into the dock, and even now my new unit is continuing its initial sync (yes, I do have a lot of data to transfer) in a happily near-vertical position. This is just one of those tiny little bits of synchronicity that bring joy in life. It's not going to clean up oil spills or end disease and suffering, but what a lovely discovery and a pleasant surprise in our more immediate day-to-day world.
Here's how to install Android on your iPhone 2G
Last week, planetbeing claimed he'd ported Android to the iPhone. This week, Android A Lot says you can, too. If you've got an original iPhone 2G handy, there's now a 68-step guide that can walk you through the entire process. In a nutshell, you'll use iPhone Explorer to copy over the Android files, then turn your Mac or PC into an Ubuntu virtual machine to install the OpeniBoot software. When you're done, you'll probably have a dual-booting iPhone that can swap between iPhone OS and an experimental version of Android 1.6 at startup, but don't quote us on that -- we haven't had a chance to test the unholy matrimony for ourselves. We're going to try to give this a shot next week, and we'll report back from the other side... if there is another side. Blurry video walkthrough after the break, useful step-by-step text at our source link.
Apple granted design patent for original iPhone, iPod touch
Apple may have enough patents and patent applications to wallpaper its entire Cupertino campus, but we're guessing this is one it's been especially eager to get: a design patent for the original iPhone and iPod touch. That, of course, covers the "ornamental design" of the devices and not their functionality, which means that any other devices that look a little too similar are now treading on even more dangerous territory than before. As with other Apple patents, you'll find Jonathan P. Ives and Steve (no "P") Jobs listed among the fourteen inventors, and you'll also find plenty of references to earlier patents and other relevant devices -- including a pointer to none other than one of our posts on the infamous Meizu M8. [Thanks, Fabian]
Steve Jobs apparently says original iPhone won't be upgraded in the future
Now that the iPad is out and iPhone OS 4 has been announced, it looks like Steve Jobs is taking a little time to catch up on his email -- in addition to taking up the new SDK rules, it appears he's very tersely confirmed what we sadly suspected all along: the first-gen iPhone won't get an upgrade to iPhone OS 4. That makes a certain amount of sense, given that Apple's subscription accounting model for the original iPhone only booked free upgrades for 24 months, but really, that's just paperwork -- we don't see why Cupertino couldn't at least allow for an iPod touch-style paid upgrade, especially since the upgradeable iPhone 3G runs essentially the same hardware. And let's not forget that first-gen iPhone owners paid more or less full price for their devices, so if this is true, Apple's summarily dead-ended a $400 phone just under three years after it launched. Of course, none of this is officially confirmed yet, so anything can change -- we've pinged Apple for comment and they haven't responded yet, but we'll let you know what we find out. [Thanks, Tanzeel]
MMS for iPhone 2G and tethering on OS 3.1.2 explained, not for the faint of heart
Let's be clear upfront that this isn't for the casual iPhone jailbreaker, but if you feeling like living on the edge, you can give your original model an added boost of MMS capability, or any device with OS 3.1.2 the power to tether. Highlighted in a series of tweets today by iPhone dev team lead MuscleNerd, whiterat (for MMS) and two-bit (for tethering) will get the job done, but both require tinkering with the baseband, which is exponentially more advanced and brick-inducing than, say, installing Cydia. Venture forth with the instructions beyond the read links below. [Via 9 to 5 Mac] Read - iPhone 2G MMS Read - OS 3.1.2 tethering
