FocuSoft Tech Blog |
- Pwnage Tool for iPhone OS 3.0 now live, ultrasn0w still on standby
- Spunky Sputnik LED Lamp
- Close to 700,000 Palm Pre apps downloaded to date
- Sonos CR200 controller outed by the FCC
- Flip Has Little Chance In An iPhone World
- Nokia E72 prototype gets manhandled, torn asunder
- Not Only Was Steve Jobs Sick, He Had A Liver Transplant.
- Steve Jobs Recovering From a Liver Transplant, Still Returning End of Month [Apple]
- Widgetizing The Web: Widgetbox Hits 500 Million Impressions A Month
- You don’t need no ROMs with this USB SNES cartridge reader
| Pwnage Tool for iPhone OS 3.0 now live, ultrasn0w still on standby Posted: 20 Jun 2009 06:36 AM PDT
That iPhone OS 3.0 jailbreak we saw the iPhone Dev-Team pull off earlier this week? It’s out now, or at least, part of it is. Pwnage Tool is now flooding torrents, but there’s lots of caveats here. Most importantly, this isn’t Ultrasn0w, which means if you’re wanting to use your toy on T-Mobile or another unofficial carrier, be patient — it’s also worth noting that the jailbreak doesn’t jibe with yellowsn0w, so those who rely on it should stay away for the time being. No compatibility with the 3G S, or at least, it probably hasn’t been tested… we wouldn’t recommend anyone setting the precedent here. You’ll need Mac OS X to run it, with QuickPwn for Mac and Windows coming further down the line. Ultrasn0w is also due out at some indeterminate future, so that all said, if you’re just needing right now a jailbroken device with spotlight functionality, hit up the read link for all the pertinent details. It should goes without saying, but they’re might a few negative side effects to it, and one of the big ones we heard is that YouTube might be fubar’d at the moment. Read – trois, drei, три, három! (Pwnage Tool released) [via EnGadget.com]
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| Posted: 20 Jun 2009 05:04 AM PDT
There is something retro-sexual about this Sputnik LED Lamp. It's just a concept so take your time and stare at it. Chances are that it will never reach production. A couple more pics after the jump.
Yanko Design via ubergizmo via DotGizmo Here is the original post:
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| Close to 700,000 Palm Pre apps downloaded to date Posted: 20 Jun 2009 03:21 AM PDT
There may not be a ton of Pre apps available just yet, but it looks like there’s enough to accumulate an impressive 666,511 downloads as of June 17th, which likely means that we’re close to or past the 700,000 mark by now. As you can see above in graph form courtesy of Medialets, things have been rising steadily as more and more apps became available, and there’s no noticeable sign of a drop-off even as apps remained around the 30 mark after the end of the first week. Of course, it’s obviously still a little early to draw any firm conclusions, and there’s no telling how things could shake out once the long-awaited PreFart and PreBeer apps make their debut. [Via Mobile-review] Filed under: Cellphones Close to 700,000 Palm Pre apps downloaded to date originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 20 Jun 2009 05:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Sonos CR200 controller outed by the FCC Posted: 20 Jun 2009 12:40 AM PDT
Without a doubt, Sonos makes an excellent wireless distributed audio system. If we had to nit pick (and we do), then its massive controller, the CR100 is easily the first thing to complain about. For starters it’s a $400 remote control that does one thing, it controls your Sonos audio system. Granted, the CR100 is rugged, splashproof, and turns on in an instant thanks to a built-in accelerometer; features that can’t justify the price, however, in light of the solid Sonos did its user base when it released a free Sonos controller app for the iPhone and iPod touch. The app even one-ups the CR100 with its on-screen QWERTY since the CR100’s scrollwheel isn’t exactly the best interface for typing out the name of an artist search. So imagine our intrigue when we saw a new CR200 Sonos Controller pass through the FCC. The new controller appears to prefer a portrait orientation (instead of landscape like the CR100) and was tested across 802.11g WiFi frequencies with a 24Mbps fixed data rate. While that doesn’t give us much to go on, at least it passed the tests meaning we could be close to an official announcement. Considering the controller’s physical design hasn’t changed since its launch in January of 2005, a few more days or weeks of waiting shouldn’t be a problem. Filed under: Home Entertainment, Portable Audio Sonos CR200 controller outed by the FCC originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 20 Jun 2009 02:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Flip Has Little Chance In An iPhone World Posted: 20 Jun 2009 12:21 AM PDT
As successful as Pure Digital has been with their Flip line of video cameras – selling $150 million worth of them last year – they face a new type of threat that they can't defeat. The video capable iPhone, and video mobile phones in general, will make them irrelevant in the next couple of years. Flip cameras have really grown on me. A year ago I didn't see any point in it, since most point and shoot cameras did everything the Flip could do at the same or better price point, and they took good pictures, too. The Flip was very simple to use, but the software wasn't so great and it didn't play well with Macs. I didn't see the point in carrying the extra device. But at the end of last year Flip released the Mino HD and everything changed. The device was a lot smaller than most point and shoot cameras, and took way better video (1280 x 720 high definition video v. 640 x 480 on most point and shoot cameras). They also fixed the software to work well with Macs. And the joy of taking a device out of the box – no cords or wires at all – was real. Their $590 million exit to Cisco was well deserved. I now love my Flip camera, and not just because the company sent me a check for $1.3 million. Along the way Pure Digital fought ridicule from the big video camera companies, who said nobody would want the device. Then, once Pure Digital proved the market, all those competitors jumped in with their own offerings. There are now many devices with similar tech specs as the Flip, but Pure Digital has managed to stay ahead of them all by innovating faster. Flip Can't Beat The iPhone That's just not something they're going to be able to do v. the iPhone and other similar devices to come. The new iPhone takes very good video (640 x 480). That isn't as good as the Flip, but it's still able to shoot perfectly good videos on the go (example), which is exactly what the Flip is for. And the iPhone has something that the Flip will never realistically have, cellular and wifi connectivity that lets you upload your videos immediately. No need to sync back with your base computer to edit the video and upload it. You can do basic editing right on the iPhone, and publish it to YouTube immediately. As an added bonus, that video can be geo-stamped via the phones GPS capability. That makes it significantly more useful as a video device than the Flip, and worth the reduction in quality. You already have to make some quality tradeoffs with the Flip anyway, so if you are going to have a second video device after your iPhone, it may as well be a slightly bigger video camera that you keep in your bag. I just don't see people grabbing that Flip when they run out the door. And one last killer feature of the iPhone – live streaming video from services like Ustream and Qik are already a reality – most TechCrunch authors have been using it for months on the old iPhone. At some point soon Apple will allow those apps to launch, and iPhone users will be able to stream video in real time from their phones to the Internet. The Flip still costs less than the iPhone, and the transition will be gradual. But most everyone carries a phone anyway. And within a couple of years video will be as ubiquitous on those phones as photos are today. Flip won't have a chance. Or do they? Flip As A Brand v. Flip As A Device Last year I wrote about a possible way for Amazon to fork it's Kindle business to really dominate the e-book market: build signature devices and actually pay ODMs to use the software in a unique reverse-licensing model:
Flip could do something similar – leverage its brand to convince handset manufacturers to Flip-certify their devices. Garmin, facing stiff competition for its GPS devices from mobile phones, is doing exactly this: "the nuvifone is Garmin's entry into the cellular phone market and considered key to the company's future. Cell phone carriers have increasingly been chipping away at Garmin's market, adding navigational features to their phones." There's no reason why Cisco shouldn't work with handset makers to make them "Flip certified" – high quality video hardware plus the awesome Flip software installed right on the phone. Another way for Flip to go is to launch a series of higher quality video cameras to compete higher up the food chain. Both strategies have big holes, and neither may work. But one thing is certain – In another year there will likely be multiple mobile devices that record video as well as the Flip, and have the benefit of GPS geo-stamping and mobile uploading. Flip will hit a huge brick wall. If the brand wants to live, it needs to adapt. Crunch Network: MobileCrunch Mobile Gadgets and Applications, Delivered Daily. See the original post here:
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| Nokia E72 prototype gets manhandled, torn asunder Posted: 19 Jun 2009 11:42 PM PDT
If you stop to think, really, about how much we take pleasure in seeing pictures of phones get utterly dismembered, it’s quite disturbing. So don’t think about it, and instead hit up the read link for a gallery showcase copious amounts of a prototype Nokia E72 innards, ripped apart alongside an E71 (on the right in the image above) for comparative purposes. There’s a very brief question-and-answer session just after the photos, but it’s definitely not gonna keep you satisfied between now and its third quarter launch window. Filed under: Cellphones Nokia E72 prototype gets manhandled, torn asunder originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 20 Jun 2009 01:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Not Only Was Steve Jobs Sick, He Had A Liver Transplant. Posted: 19 Jun 2009 09:19 PM PDT
After Apple initially tried to pass off Jobs’ gaunt physique as a minor ailment, Jobs himself came out in January and announced that the undisclosed illness he was suffering from would require him to take a leave of absence from the company. He has been on that leave ever since. But the good news in the WSJ report is that Jobs is in fact feeling well enough now to return to work as scheduled at the end of this month — which is just days away. But here’s an interesting nugget from the story:
That seems to suggest that the transition is well underway for Cook to eventually lead Apple. That shouldn’t be a surprise, Cook has done a masterful job in Jobs’ absence, pretty much doubling the value of the company’s stock during that time. Jobs has long been thought to be perhaps more important to his company than any single figure is to their’s. But his time away has seemingly proven otherwise. Of course, there was already likely a multi-year pipeline for products when Jobs left. The business angle is the important one here. Some have alleged that Jobs and Apple have held news of Jobs’ health too closely for a publicly traded company. But Apple’s board of directors, which includes Google CEO Eric Schmidt and former Vice President Al Gore, apparently were getting updates on the situation. Here’s what the WSJ had to say on that:
We’d be remiss if we didn’t note that the timing of this story appears favorable for Apple. This news breaks late on a Friday, after Apple has just held a successful launch of a very high profile new product, the iPhone 3G S, that sent the stock soaring today. Obviously, the market won’t be open again until Monday. In 2004, it was disclosed that Jobs had suffered from pancreatic cancer, which was cured. But, a side effect of that cancer is likely the thing that lead to this liver transplant, many doctors familiar with such things have stated. While little is known about the actual operation, the belief is that it was done in Tennessee, because first and foremost, the waiting list of a liver there is much lower than the rest of the country. From the WSJ:
It’s good to hear that Jobs has apparently recovered well from the very serious procedure, and we look forward to him returning to work, when he’s ready. Update: It’s worth noting that others brought up the possibility of Jobs being in Tennessee for something health-related months ago. Here’s one, here’s another, and the first comment here is very interesting:
Information provided by CrunchBase Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware. Continued here:
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| Steve Jobs Recovering From a Liver Transplant, Still Returning End of Month [Apple] Posted: 19 Jun 2009 09:07 PM PDT
The WSJ reports that Steve Jobs had a liver transplant two months ago in Tennessee. He is expected to still return to work later this month, even if only at a part time schedule. From there, the article goes on to speculate loosely, ever so loosely, that Jobs’ cancer had spread to his liver.
But those are far from facts. All we know is that the WSJ is saying Jobs got a transplant. Regardless, when Steve gets back to work, I think we should all welcome him back. [WSJ, via Peter K] View original here:
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| Widgetizing The Web: Widgetbox Hits 500 Million Impressions A Month Posted: 19 Jun 2009 07:39 PM PDT
That being said, Widgetbox is still behind other widget makers in the space, including competitor RockYou, which had 9.5 billion impressions in the past month, according to Quantcast. Clearspring also seems to have more of a reach than Widgetbox, but we don't have the comparable Quantcast numbers. Clearspring's widgets had 520 million unique visitors in April of 2009, according to comScore. We also received these comScore numbers of uniques for April 2009 for most of the widget producing platforms:
Widgetbox, provides tools for both novice and advanced developers to create a variety of widgets, from simple embeddable RSS feed readers (called "blidgets") to full social network applications for Facebook, Bebo, MySpace and others. Although Facebook represents only 1% of the widget maker's traffic, Widgetbox says that they are specifically targeting Facebook as a growing priority, recently launching Facebook Connect integration for users and widgets (which can be published in the Facebook feed). Perhaps this is because of Facebook's steady growth in the U.S. and its popularity abroad. Last fall, Widgetbox launched a blog network. To be part of the network, a blog owner needs to embed one of the 29 channel-specific widgets created by Widgetbox. Each widget displays the same leaderboard content as the Widgetbox homepage, which allows users to browse through a network's top blogs without having to frequently return to the Widgetbox site. The majority of Widgetbox's impressions come from blogging platforms Blogger and Wordpress, with a fair amount of traffic also coming from Bebo and MySpace. While Widgetbox is seeing success as a startup, it is competing in a crowded space of other more popular widget makers, including Rockyou, Clearspring, and Slide. Get the The TechCrunch Network Widget widget and many other great free widgets at Widgetbox! Crunch Network: CrunchBase the free database of technology companies, people, and investors See the original post:
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| You don’t need no ROMs with this USB SNES cartridge reader Posted: 19 Jun 2009 07:30 PM PDT
If you're like me, you play Super Nintendo in coffee shops all the time. Chances are, though, that you're not like me, so a little explanation is probably in order. Emulators are one of my favorite things, and I often indulge in a little Super Mario Kart or Chrono Trigger while I'm working. Unfortunately, ROMs still occupy a sort of legal grey area: you can only have ROMs of games you own, but few people really know how to create a ROM, so you end up downloading some. And if a few wily ones you never owned happen to make it into your download folder, you could be in big trouble, young man. Best avoid the whole mess and just use a DIY USB gadget like this one to dynamically generate a ROM from your actual cartridge whenever you feel like playing. Sure, you'll have to carry around a stack of SNES games, but here in Seattle everybody does anyway. The parts you need are listed here, but it actually sounds insanely complicated (I stopped reading after "thousands of little wires"). If you're a freakishly dextrous tinkerer/retro gamer, this is the project for you, but everyone else should probably just stick with the traditional way. Of course, if he gets this thing patented and sells it on some mod site, I'd buy one in a second, if only for the novelty. Here is the original post:
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There really isn’t much to say here beyond what are being reported as the facts. Apparently, Apple CEO Steve Jobs had a liver transplant two months ago, ![49333114b2e jobs.jpg Steve Jobs Recovering From a Liver Transplant, Still Returning End of Month [Apple]](http://www.focusoft.biz/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/49333114b2e-jobs.jpg.jpg "Steve Jobs Recovering From a Liver Transplant, Still Returning End of Month [Apple]")
Widgets were 
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