Just some great news I recently read on the Chronic Dev Blog:

“In other news, break is over, time for work and school again. More importantly, time for me to slow down on hacking my new Apple TV and start working on iPod Touch 2G again. Yes, I take a vacation just like everyone else that is reading this blog.”

Just some happy news for the New Year.

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This is a post clarifying some issues that I have encountered with new iPod Touch owners. For those of you who received Christmas presents of the iPod Touch type, YOU CANNOT JAILBREAK YOUR IPOD YET. Since I am assuming that most of you have received the second generation iPod Touch, that was for you. If you are unsure, just see if your stainless steel back is rounded or not. If it is, it is not hackable yet. If not, then you can hack it. Don’t complain about not being able to hack it or how unfair it is. The iPhone Dev Team is in the process of jailbreaking it now, or are at least getting ready too. Until it is finished, read this post to see what you can do with your device.

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Although this sounds crazy, there is a rumor reporting of a possible tablet sized iPod Touch with a 7 - 9 inch screen.  It seems kind of out there but would be a lot of fun. Just imagine watching movies or playing Tap Tap on a 9 inch screen.  Of course, it would also have its draw backs. The current model has a 3.5 inch screen, the 9 inch screen would not be as easily portable, probably have a high price, and I don’t know how it could be adaptable to any of the hundreds of speakers systems that support iPods.  To be honest with you, this sounds like just another crazy rumor, but it would be pretty cool if it was not just that.

If at all, this new iPod would launch this coming fall.

Happy New Year,

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Although the following may sound disheartening for those yearning for the 2G JB, it does make sense and should be respected:  

Documentation does not equal progress

This was the title of the latest post by the Chronic Dev Blog.  It is there to address two issues. The issue of complainers, AKA all the people pissed off at the iPhone Dev Team.  They have done a wonderful job on the 3G iPhone, for which they should be praised.  It is too bad that they are not too enthused about the 2G JB but we have the Chronic Dev Blog.  Now the owner of the site is making slow progress but he isn’t really getting paid and it is not his responsibility to pump out miraculous JBs everywhere. We should be thankful he has taken on the challenge and supportive of his efforts. The second thing this addresses is what his blog and posts are about.  Well. . . it is in the title, documentation does not equal progress. He is just trying to keep everyone updated about his findings and shouldn’t be judged negatively on his speed of progression. Just reminding you to support all those in the JB community.

Happy Holidays

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Sorry we were not online yesterday but my host called me mid-day to tell me that I was slowing down their server and they had no choice but to suspend the hosting for this website. Looks like lots of people got iPod Touch’s for chirstmas as the site got 6,000 uniques before 11am.

I just talked to my host this morning and got the site back online. Though, they told me if it happened again I would have to find a new host for the site. Anyone have any suggestions or willing to host the site? I can give you a link on the site and a couple bucks per month for hosting.

If you have any ideas or willing to host contact me at: kdollar (at) gmail (.) com ….the () are there to protect from email spam.

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Good news everyone. A new dev team has taken up the challenge and decided to jailbreak the 2G. The reason we are announcing this so late is because there was a lot of speculation going about whether or not it was a fake or not.  We are pretty sure that it is legit.

They are called  Chronic Dev and we are pumped for what they might have in store for us 2G owners. Here is their website:

http://chronic-dev.org/blog/

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Post Script: Just like the iPhone Dev Team, I believe they will not like being haggled about their progress so we are asking that you just be a bit patient.

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I think we’ve all seen enough of these and I just wanted to warn you guys: Don’t fall for fakes!

Youtube.com is probably the biggest winner here.  Don’t go searching there.  They will have you download .exes with viruses and all sorts of crap. Some of them are almost funny:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ix5gEKly6fQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evcXl_Vxl_0&feature=related

But seriously, don’t search them in youtube or google because all you will find are fakes.  Chronic Dev looks promising and that is who we are banking on at the moment.  So what we are asking for is patience.

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All of you torrent users out there will love this news. If you own a jailbroken iPod/iPhone, torrents can be in the palm of your hand. It is simple to use, whether you want it on your iPod or on your computer. Here is how to do it.

1. Download Stuff

• In Cydia, download dTunes. This will download dTunes and Safari download plugins. The plugins do exactly what they say: they allow you to download any file from Safari.
• In Cydia, download Mobile Terminal. You need this later.

2. Download files from thepiratebay.org.

• You can download files from inside of dTunes, but it is hard to navigate n its window. In Safari, you have more control and it will work the same way.

3. Get the torrent running

• Once you have downloaded the torrent file, open dTunes. Click on the torrent file.  Click OK.

4. Open Mobile Terminal

• Inside Mobile Terminal, type “./gettorrent” (without the quotations). This will start the downloading process. Depending on your internet connection and the amount of seeders, the speed will vary. Mine peaked at about 400 kbs.

5. Get the files

• If you want to actually get the files instead of having them just be on your device, ssh (howto here) into your device. Your downloaded files will be in root/var/mobile/Library/Downloads. You can then find the files there and move/copy them from there.

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For those of you who have a jailbreakable iPod Touch (not second generation) then these can still be downloaded in addition to those awesome apps from your Jailbreak.  But this is for those poor saps that have an 2g iPod Touch and would just like some apps that I find useful.  All apps but the game Enigmo were free when I downloaded them.

 

Music:

VLC Remote Free - a very useful app for those that have VLC player and would like a remote.  Its a bit tricky to set up but well worth the effort.

Last.fm - just a good way to get some music if you have the Internet.  Based off of the useful site.

Pandora Radio - works like Last.fm and just another source for some music that you may not own.  The only problem with this and the above app is its inability to run in the background, so once you exit out so does the music.

 

Tools:

a2Z Unit Converter Pro - a handy unit converter that goes as far as currency and blood volume

AP Mobile News Network - A news App that gets you some great and mostly depressing news. 

Emerald Time - not that useful, just interesting. Gives you the exact time derived from some complicated sources.

ePokerHelper Lite - a Texas hold’em app that helps you with decisions.  Meant for those games were you have a whole bunch of fast players that don’t give you the time (for me, the very long time) that it takes you to do pot odds in you head. This version does not actually give you the pot odds equated with your bet, which makes it not as useful, but rather gives you a percentage based on your hand. Not really for advanced players.

Free Translator - Gives you the translation in the other language. So if you typed in “Hello” for Mandarin it would give you the actual Chinese character and not just the Arabic version , “Ni Hao”.

iTranslate - Picks up where Free Translator left off and gives you the Arabic lettering system.

Google Mobile App - Initially very cool because it houses all the Google Open Source apps. But not as impressive because it just links you to the website.

i. TV - one of the best ones out there. Tells you theatre listings, tv channels, and allows you to watch some trailers

Flixster - I use this with i.TV.  It shows you what movies are in Theatres, the Box Office, Upcoming, coming out on DVD. Has nicer visuals than i.TV.

MagicPad - The best To Do pad that I have found. I have tried a number of others and they just seem to compicated and busy. I like this one for its copy and paste ability and simplicity.

Wikipanion -  a nice Wikipedia app that gives you a nicer and easier to use user interface than safari.

Discover - One of the coolest apps ever. Lets you transfer stuff onto your ipod via the web.  A must have.

Email2SMS - A texting service that seems cool enough but the texts arrive way after they were sent. I’m keeping it hoping for an upgrade.

Shazam - An app that uses the nonexistent microphone on your iPod Touch to identify music playing in the background at a party or something. Really cool app, but as of now vestigial. I’m hoping  on getting a sleek microphone to use with this and the next app.

fring - a VoIP app that hooks up to a number of VoIP services for free.

Night Stand - a fancy digital clock when your iPod is on your dock.

RemotePad - allows the user to use the iPod Touch as a mouse for your mac or PC.  A bit tricky to setup but well worth it.

TWC - The Weather Channel - a bit more detailed than the one that comes with the iPod.

WiFinder - A app that finds surrounding WiFi that your iPod doesn’t and sees if it is password protected or not. Haven’t used it too much but I think it will come in handy sometime. 

KTdict C-E - A Chinese dictionary. The best one I have found. Gives you the character, Pinyin, and translation.

WorldWiki - An app that gives you some useful facts about each country in the world.

Eureka - A Look up engine for words and their meanings. 

Trivopaedia - A very cool app that houses tons of facts about anything. From “Apollo missions” to “Best and worst films ever” to “Flower meanings” to “Morse Code” and “Brightest stars”.

Backgrounds - You probably already have this one, its just a useful Background downloader that uses the Internet to house hundreds of them.

 

Visual stuff:

Dice - a cool but not very useful app that has good visuals of well . . . dice.

Zippo Lighter  - a cool concert app.

Cradle - employs both touch and the accelerometer to move newton’s cradle. Fun to play around with.

 

Games 1:

iChess - I’m not very good at chess and the computer seems to be quit intelligent. It allows you to play against an opponent or computer which is nice. 

“Worder” and “Word Wrap” - two apps that are a play off of the online game “Text Twist”.

Sudoku 101 - a nice free app that allows you to play in Chinese Characters and Roman numbers. This free app only allows you to play up to difficulty level “moderate”. This doesn’t seem high but was still challenging.

Sudoku  - a visually appealing free Sudoku app that has higher difficulty levels than the above.

Tetsuki - a game I’d like to learn, looks fun.

 

Games 2:

Enigmo - a cool puzzle app that has very good visuals and doesn’t get old.

TapDefense - a cool line wars app. Very addicting.

Topple - fun and free for now, so get it fast. Was actually kind of difficult.

Lux Touch - a simplified game of Risk. Very fun.

 

The above are merely apps that I have found useful or fun, you may not.  But if you have any other, maybe less known apps that you would like to share with the community just comment on them. 

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