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Absinthe 2.0 used to jailbreak nearly one million iOS devices in a single weekend
973,086 iOS devices were jailbroken in a single weekend thanks to Absinthe 2.0, which was released on Friday. Chronic-Dev, one half of the Jailbreak Dream Team tweeted the announcement yesterday, adding that 211,401 of those freed were third-generation iPads. If you want to loosen your own Apple-branded handheld from the clutches of Cupertino's control, then the warranty-worrying software is still available -- with the promise that it's so easy, your grandma could do it.
Bouncetrap review and interview with Playscreen
Right before Macworld I had a chance to try out Bouncetrap from Playscreen, and talk to the team behind it. Bouncetrap [App Store link] costs $.99US, and fans of simple, fast games will probably love it. I'll go into the mechanics of Bouncetrap first, then get into what the Playscreen team had to say.The graphics are retro in way, calling to mind the sprite-based animation found on the GameBoy Color. But the animation, effects and (most importantly) mechanics are tightly integrated to provide a fun game. Your goal is to drop or bounce balls into available holes on the screen. The placement of those holes appears random, but that's where the hidden beauty of this app becomes clear: there's strategy involved in playing Bouncetrap. Balls roll across the top, and you tap to release them onto the board. Either they fall in a hole, or they bounce on a resting ball or "spinner" (like an old pinball table). There are bonuses, and there is definitely a method to the madness. If you spent hours playing Bubble Bobble, Puyo Pop or Bust-a-Move then you will love Bouncetrap.There's nothing in Bouncetrap that makes it a spectacular iPhone or iPod touch game, however. It only takes advantage of tapping on the screen, and I could easily see playing this on any other handheld. That doesn't detract from the fun, it's just an observation. But Playscreen, the people behind Bouncetrap, do have a lot of experience beyond the iPhone. More on that in the second half of this post.%Gallery-42362%
iPhone 3G unlock revised, now with less beta
The iPhone Dev-Team works in mysterious ways, but it also works in quick ways. Granted, the iPhone 3G's initial unlock took way longer than anyone would've liked, but when reports started surfacing that it wasn't working particularly well after the first beta release earlier in the week, they appear to have worked doubletime to get a better version into circulation. The release is now up to v0.9.4 -- still beta -- but if you tried the first cut and struggled, we'd suggest giving the new version a whirl.
iPhone 3G unlock demoed on video
We can't unlock ours for a few days yet, so why don't we sit back, relax, and watch the boys and girls at the Dev-Team shoehorn their iPhone 3G onto T-Mobile while we wait? Follow the break for all the nail-biting action!
iPhone SDK - What you need to know
For those expecting a low-level bit-by-byte account of what the SDK means, Erica will return momentarily after a break from her (epic) type-a-thon this afternoon to give you the low-down. While we all wait for our downloads of the SDK to start here at TUAW's globe-spanning offices, let's just recap on what you need to build your next, earth shattering, application for the iPhone and iPod touch: Mac OS X Leopard An Intel-based Mac (sorry, PowerPC folks -- this one's an Intel-only show) Xcode a free Apple iPhone developer account and the SDK itself -- note that access to the SDK is not going to cost you ninety-nine bucks. It's free, though getting the application approved and out onto devices will set you back the $99. Sadly, if you're wanting to run off and pick up a copy of said SDK, you're likely to be left wanting. Apple Developer Connection is 'pulling a Twitter' (much like Twitter itself did, during the event) and is totally unresponsive to most visitors. That said, when the ADC site comes back online, be sure to scroll to the bottom of this page to get in on the SDK (note, existing ADC members need to update their memberships too and sign up as iPhone developers to access the SDK).
