Category Archives: Windows
Update on yesterday’s post — More info on the battle of smart phones
When the concept ‘mobile phone,’ and the actual device were introduced around 30 years ago, people were amazed by the idea that one could build audio communication with others without the limitations and boundaries of location. (Quote THE STANDARD, an acclaimed English newspaper in Hong Kong.)
Nowadays mobile phones go far beyond; from video conferencing, word processing to online banking, this little device can do it all. It is a market that anyone would want a piece of, and different venders have been very active in providing new platforms, functions and devices to gain advantage in this enormous battleground.
One of the hottest topics in the mobile world lately must be the bang Apple iPhone brought to the market, and it continued to heat up in the past two years. From iPhone 2G to the latest iPhone 3GS, each launch has created huge expectations, and in reality its market is still expanding rapidly. According to the latest data from Gartner, Apple’s share of worldwide smart phone sales grew from 5.3% in the first quarter of 2008 to 10.8% in the first quarter of 2009. Gaining over 10% of the global market within two years is indeed very impressive, but what’s more significant is that in some sense this figure is created by one product only (if we consider all versions of iPhone as one). The 50000+ applications available for download also suggest the new market trend Apple has set.
Another smart phone that the market has showed great interest in is Sprint’s Palm Pre. Even though there are concerns about lacking in applications in the App Catalog, and no access to the webOS SDK(software development kit) by developers, Palm Pre still sold out fast when available in the US recently. Some critics believe the impressive sales of Palm Pre were largely related to current Sprint customers looking for an upgrade, rather than a flow of new Sprint subscribers, but the solid selling number shows its first stage of success, and there are huge noises of interest from countries and markets including Hong Kong, which are yet to have a scheduled launch date.
RIM
Another leading smart phone platform, Research In Motion’s Blackberry, also has a fruitful year. In the previous fiscal quarter, RIM’s $3.42 billion revenue increased 53% from $2.24 billion in the same quarter of last year, and shipped approximately 7.8 million devices After promoting ‘consumer models’ Blackberry curve 8900 and Blackberry Storm, RIM turned their focus back to business users, and launched Blackberry Enterprise Server 5.0 recently. BES 5.0 is a push-based server software, focusing on enhancing the connection link between BlackBerry smart phones and enterprise systems, applications, corporate phone environments and wireless networks. It integrates with IBM Lotus Domino, Microsoft Exchange, and Novell GroupWise, providing highly secured access to email, organizer data, instant messaging, browser and other enterprise applications.
President Obama’s insistence on keeping his BlackBerry device is a great example (especially for RiM) showing how tightly BlackBerry could merge into one’s life and BES 5.0 plus future launches would definitely stick to this angle.
All these platforms have their own advantages and supporters; along with the Android ‘Google’ phone, Windows mobile 7.0 platform, Nok ia’s partnership with 1nte, the haule of smart phones has probably lust began.
Program Contest for Windows Mobile? Trying to look like iPhone?!
iPhone’s success might be partly due to the vast array of imaginative and entertaining software for that platform, so Microsoft are doing the best to persuade the community to make software of iPhone in the form of a “Windows Mobile Software Contest” that is going to be held worldwide. This means that Microsoft are eager to excavate new software for the Windows Mobile.
A successful program should achieve a balance among the following aspects: creativity, functionality, aesthetic design, interface operation, usability and entertainment factors. It is suggested that team members may divide their respective roles as below: (It is not a must to have all these roles in a team)Ø Playwright: Create characters and arrange the storyboard.Ø Research: Collect and consolidate information the program requires.Ø Interface Graphic: Arrange interface elements and design graphics.Ø Programming: Determine data structure, program code and server.Ø Debugging: Testing and debugging the program and suggest improvements.Each team is required to appoint a team leader. The team leader will be the only eligible person to claim any prizes of this Contest. The Organizers will not be involved in any prize assign issues within the team.
False Twitter Invitations Leading to Spyware?
I’m sure some of the people who read this post follow “Welcome to the Underground” Blog and maybe other blogs by Twitter. However, did you know that some hackers send false Twitter invitations to lure people into installing spyware or downloading viruses?
Ever since Twitter became the major channel for information spread by Iran presidential election protestors, its popularity has rocketed upwards. Even the news of the Phoenix discovering ice on Mars was first announced on Twitter. However, all good things have a bad side. Cyber criminals are now sending false Twitter invitations to prompt installation of Trojans and virus worms!
From the format and content, the false invitations looks like that it’s a real one sent by the Twitter official site. However, if you look at it closely, you’ll find that the false invitation does not have the “inviting” link in contrary to the real invitations. In its place is a link that downloads a file called “invitation.zip” in the background that you cannot control, and lures the people who are considering joining Twitter into downloading the virus contained in the “invitation.zip”.
The virus in that zip file has been identified as a worm” W32.Ackantta.B@mm” by ESET nod32 antivirus (it’s definitelyNOT an email address!). This worm earlier appeared in February’s invitation card attack, which collects email addresses from the infected computers, and copies itself to those multiple addresses (this is how it’s supposed to work, but it’s usually blocked 90% by stronger av programs such as ESET or AVG).
I remind readers to upgrade their antivirus and communication software to prevent getting infected.
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iPhone and iPod Touch 2.0/2.0.1/2.0.2 unlock!
Ok, here is the much awaited iPhone unlock for Windows! This time, its not with the famous Pwnage Tool, developed by the iPhone dev Team, but we will use WinPwn. You can get WinPwn Here (Its a Rapidshare file from the official website, so no question of invalid or expiring links), the WinPwn has got a totally new GUI makeover, just like the Pwnage Tool and its easier than ever to use. Somethings which have have to keep in mind while updating are:
*UPDATE 6: Hey guys! I just wanted to tell you all that for unlocking your iPhone with 2.1 update, you will have to wait till Sunday, because I will add it to the V2!! And now for the sad part… I have decided to colse this post, i.e. there wont be any other updates here. Although, you can ask me for help down in the comments or mail me at: jvalintejpal@gmail.com
*UPDATE 5: Here is the list of all IPSW files available for online download for iPod Touch and iPhone:
iPhone
1.0.0: iPhone1,1_1.0_1A543a_Restore.ipsw
1.0.1: iPhone1,1_1.0.1_1C25_Restore.ipsw
1.0.2: iPhone1,1_1.0.2_1C28_Restore.ipsw
1.1.1: iPhone1,1_1.1.1_3A109a_Restore.ipsw
1.1.2: iPhone1,1_1.1.2_3B48b_Restore.ipsw
1.1.3: iPhone1,1_1.1.3_4A93_Restore.ipsw
1.1.4: iPhone1,1_1.1.4_4A102_Restore.ipsw
2.0.0 (2G): iPhone1,1_2.0_5A347_Restore.ipsw
2.0.0 (3G): iPhone1,2_2.0_5A347_Restore.ipsw
2.0.1 (2G): iPhone1,1_2.0.1_5B108_Restore.ipsw
2.0.1 (3G): iPhone1,2_2.0.1_5B108_Restore.ipsw
2.0.2 (2G): iPhone1,1_2.0.2_5C1_Restore.ipsw
2.0.2 (3G): iPhone1,2_2.0.2_5C1_Restore.ipsw
2.1 (2G): iPhone1,1_2.1_5F136_Restore.ipsw
2.1(3G): iPhone1,2_2.1_5F136_Restore.ipsw
iPod Touch
1.1: iPod1,1_1.1_3A101a_Restore.ipsw
1.1.1: iPod1,1_1.1.1_3A110a_Restore.ipsw
1.1.2: iPod1,1_1.1.2_3B48b_Restore.ipsw
1.1.3: iPod1,1_1.1.3_4A93_Restore.ipsw
1.1.4: iPod1,1_1.1.4_4A102_Restore.ipsw
1.1.5: iPod1,1_1.1.5_4B1_Restore.ipsw
2.0.0: iPod1,1_2.0_5A347_Restore.ipsw (Must purchase through iTunes)
2.0.1: iPod1,1_2.0.1_5B108_Restore.ipsw
2.0.2: iPod Restore 2.0.2 (torrent) mirror: iPod Restore 2.0.2 (Torrent)
NOTE*: I will update this as new firmware versions come out of course 🙂
NOTE2*: All iPod Touch Software upgrades from iTunes are stored in: C:\Users\[USER]\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\iTunes\iPod Software Updates
*UPDATE 4: THE MUCH AWAITED QUICKPWN GUIDE IS COMING UP IN A 1 – 2 DAYS!!! KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN FOR THE UPDATE!!!!
*UPDATE3: WinPwn 2.5 Beta 2 has been released, which provides the IPSW custom crash bug fixes, check out the completed guide below.
*UPDATE2: My WinPwn 2.5 is crashing each time I try to create an IPSW. So… please wait for sometime. Sorry for the inconvenience!
*UPDATE: iTouch Users: Right now, there is NO way to update to 2.0.1, as no SOFTWARE is available. The DEV Team has come up with a solution, but have not released it. CMW WinPwn is releasing WinPwn 2.5 on 2 PM EST on 29th August, i.e. Today. New Guide for iTouch users will come up by tomorrow or day after tomorrow, thanks for the patience!! Here is a pic of WinPwn 2.5:
– YOU MUST DO A FULL UNINSTALL OF WINPWN BEFORE INSTALLING THE NEW VERSION.
– MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THE LATEST VERSION OF iTunes.
– GET THE BOOTLOADER IMAGES: 3.9 and 4.6.
-GET THE PROPER IPSW RESTORE FILES HERE: 2G Restore Image(IPSW 2.0.1) and 3G Restore Image(IPSW 2.0.1).
– WinPwn 2.0.0.4 uses 300MB of RAM at peak due to IPSW being extracted in memory.
– You must first click browse and load an IPSW to use WinPwn (for newbies)
– If you see Failed to Load Image catalogue/payload catalogue, this is fine and wont cuase problems.
– If you already have service with AT&T do not activate or install the Youtube Fix.
OK, Lets get started!
Step 1: Install winpwn, iTunes, and extract your restore images and bootloaders to your desktop. Note: if you have a previous copy of winpwn installed, uninstall it before installing the new one.
Step 2: Connect your iPhone to your PC and load up winpwn. You will see this screen:
Step 3: Click “Browse .ipsw” button and select your firmware image(IPSW file) from your desktop. Note: winpwn will determine if you have an iPod, an iPhone 3g, or an iPhone 2g based off the firmware image you select and downloaded. So make sure you got the correct image(file). 2g and 3g iPhones have different firmwares!
Step 4: Now, click on “IPSW Builder”. You will get a screen with many tabs. First is the ‘Applications’ screen. Here you have three options: Cydia, Installer 2.0 and Youtube Activation click. Select Cydia (IT IS COMPULSORY!), then select the Youtube activation Fix ONLY IF YOU DONT HAVE A CONTRACT WITH A CARRIER CERTIFIED BY APPLE (LIKE AT&T IN THE USA, VODAFONE AND AIRTEL IN INDIA, ETC!!). Installer 2.0 is optional, I recommend right now that you don’t download it, because it has almost no apps. Here is how your screen will look like (almost):
Step 5: Click Advanced tab. This is a critical tab. If you have a contract carrier such as AT&T you do not need to unlock. So you must make sure everything is unchecked here. Again, if you have a contract carrier, select nothing here! If you do not have a contract carrier, you will need to use this to configure activation and unlocking. Check activate phone, Enable Baseband Update, Unlock Baseband, Autodelete Bootneuter.app. Click the two bootloader file buttons and browse for your 3.9 and 4.6 firmware we downloaded at the start of this guide. Your finished screen needs to look something like this:
Step 6: Now all you have to do is to click the “Build .ipsw” at the bottom of the window. Note: save your file to some place where you can find it (I saved it on the desktop). The default location is going to be hard to find. Winpwn will start the stuff and finally you will see the success box:
Step 7: Now, go to the main WinPwn screen and click on the “iPwner”. This will open a new dialog box, where you have to choose the ‘Custom IPSW’ which we last created in Step 5. Note: If you saved the Custom IPSW, (i.e. the one which we created in Step 5) in the same location in which you originally downloaded the 2.0.1 IPSW from the internet, then choose the ‘Custom IPSW’ and not the original IPSW:
Step 8: Good, you have reached this far, only a few more things. Now you will get a successful message that your iTunes has been Pwned!
Step 9: Get your phone into DFU mode. You cannot use any tools to do this. It must be hardware DFU mode only done by pressing the buttons on your device. Use this guide here for the steps. This works on every device so keep trying if you are having problems.
Step 10: While in DFU mode, open iTunes 7.7 (if already not opened), iTunes will recognize your iPhone in DFU mode (this may take a few mins (1-2) and then will prompt you to restore your iPhone. Press Shift and click on the Restore button. Choose the custom firmware IPSW we made. This will take about 10-15 minutes. You can either choose a new iPhone in restore or restore from a previously backed-up version.
Step 11: Congrats! You just upgraded!
If you need any help, just post in the comments, happy to help!!!!
****************************************************************************
UPGRADE TO 2.0.2
What all you will need:
1. IPSW files (242 MB each): 2G and 3G (choose 1 depending on which phone you have)
2. iTunes 7.7
3. Bootloaders 3.9 and 4.6 (Only for 2G Users)
4. Note that you have the latest .Net Framework!
5. Make sure that you have uninstalled all other versions of WinPwn and Downloaded WinPwn 2.5 here.
Step 1: Install WinPwn, get all the IPSW file, bootloader 3.9, bootloader 4.6 on the desktop. Attach your iPhone to the computer. Now load WinPwn. Choose the Default Mode and then select the device you have:
Step 2: After choosing your phone, you will be shown a new screen, which will have 3 options: 2.0, 2.0.1, 2.0.2. As this guide is for 2.0.2, choose 2.0.2:
Step 3: Now you will be asked to answer some questions. First will be if you are with an official carrier (like AT&T in America, Vodafone and Airtel in India, etc.) If Yes, then click the thumbs up, if no, then click the Thumbs down:
Step 4: Next it will ask if you want to unlock the iPhone or not. Click Yes, i.e. Thumbs Up. Next it will ask if you want a custom restore/boot image. Say no, i.e. Thumbs Down. Then, WinPwn will automatically Start Searching for the IPSW file on your computer, and if it finds it, It will automatically start building the custom IPSW file, otherwise it will prompt you to browse for the file manually:
Step 5: Now you will be asked if you need help getting into DFU mode. There will be a helper in the app to get you there. Use this DFU guide here.
Step 5a: Turn off your phone. Hold power, slide to power off, and wait. When it is done, give the green thumbs up on this dialog:
Step 5c) Restore your phone in iTunes using the custom firmware you just made. Note, this firmware file is most likely in the “my documents” folder.
Step 6) Open iTunes, it will tell you that the iPhone is in DFU mode, and then Shift+Click on restore button. And go to my documents and select the Custom Firmware File. There you go, done 2.0.2 is on your iPhone!!!!
Frets On Fire – The Free Guitar Hero
Frets on Fire
“Frets on Fire is a game of musical skill and fast fingers. The aim of the game is to play guitar with the keyboard as accurately as possible.” – Source
Frets on Fire is an amazing program that allows you to play a Guitar Hero like game on your computer without spending $80-100 on the guitar and game. This game is free and guess what! You can put ANY songs you want on it! I have found a good collection of songs you can download for it and the link is below. As for the game, a Free download can be found below as well.
A Good Collection of Songs to use with FoF
Enjoy rocking out on your keyboard!
~Musicmasteria
Windows Vista did not steal ideas from Mac OS X! (Or did they?)
I found this hilarious video on YouTube where a guy compares Vista and OS X in a battle of ideas. Its a comic untruth, but it certainly has a good point.
Alternatives To Demonoid
Since Demonoid is down, once again… *sigh*… I, Voltaire, want you to know where to go to get your torrents.
There are some hot options like the top public torrent site, The Pirate Bay , Mininova , Isohunt , TorrentPortal , as well as others. As for private trackers, I would check out AradiTracker .
However, my favorite is Torrent Search Engine Searcher. Yes, long redundant-sounding name. Heres the deal: Its a search engine that uses the search engines of many other torrent sites. Its real name is TorrentScan. All I will say is you can access The Pirate Bay, Mininove, Isohunt, and many other popular torrent sites from this site.
Happy Hunting!
[Game Preview!] Gears Of War (PC)
Yes, the GoW PC edition was supposedly released today, so we have a special preview for you:
As cracks come out, we might even have links for you!
Meebo – Firefox Extension
Do you use meebo? Meebo is a web 2.0 phenomenon. How it works is this: You go to www.meebo.com, and there you have a virtual desktop. You can log onto all your chat clients (AIM, MSN, Jabber, Gtalk, ICQ) and chat to all your friends in one convenient window. Yup. And here is the best part. You dont need to create a meebo account! Of course, you can if you want, because it is free. And all that requires is a username and email. Then, you can see all your logins saved at once!
Well, if you log onto meebo today, you can download a firefox extension that allows you to have your meebo buddy list as a sidebar within your Firefox. It’s pretty sick! Definitely check it out. Some pluses that the plugin provides: you dont have to go to meebo.com to log in, the plug in will do that for you. you can log in at the start of firefox as well!
Welcome to the Underground. 