Apple Moves Up to #20 on ‘Best Global Brands’ List

September 22, 2009 :: Posted by - SoSly :: Category - News

Macsimum News notes that Apple has moved up to #20 on market research firm Interbrand’s annual ‘Best Global Brands’ list. Interbrand pegged Apple’s “brand” at a value of $US15.4 billion, up 12% from 2008 and enough to boost Apple to #20 from #24 in the rankings.

The recession won’t take a bite out of this Apple. Declining Mac sales and fears for the company’s future without brand visionary Steve Jobs, were outweighed by record high iPod sales, doubling sales for the iPod Touch, and all-time high market share for Mac OS software. Price might be a barrier for cost-conscious consumers, but Apple responded quickly with high margin, low-priced products like the US $99 iPhone and a new, voice-activated iPod Shuffle. The Apple brand is the most supported within its industry, and among the most iconic of relatively young brands in the world.

The 2009 list was headed by Coca-Cola, IBM, and Microsoft, although Apple had the second-greatest increase in brand value (by percentage) after Google’s 25% increase among the top 25 companies on the list.

Via macrumors.com

Dev Team Releases 3.1 Jailbreak

September 16, 2009 :: Posted by - SoSly :: Category - News
3 • fun!

This is the low down on our tools for use with the 3.1 firmware from Apple, please read the whole post in full before attempting anything. Because of changes with Apple’s update techniques (that complicate the 3GS upgrade process) this will be a multipart release. This release starts with PwnageTool 3.1 for Mac OS X – this application supports the iPhone 1st Generation (2G), the iPhone 3G and the iPod touch 1G. NB: THIS DOES NOT SUPPORT THE 3GS OR 2G/3G IPOD TOUCH. redsn0w for Mac OS X and Windows will follow sometime in the near future, please don’t bug us about it – we’ll release when we have something ready.

  1. GOLDEN RULE: If you are using a 3G iPhone with ultrasn0w and rely on ultrasn0w to obtain cellular service, then you should only upgrade to 3.1 with a PwnageTool created .ipsw. – Stay away from Apple’s direct updates as described here and here please get up to speed on the whole subject by reading the information contained in these posts.
  2. If you have an original iPhone (1st generation) then 3.1 unlock works with this PwnageTool release. iPhone 3G users upgrading to 3.1 will need to continue using ultrasn0w with a PwnageTool created 3.1 .ipsw
  3. Please read all parts of this post before downloading and using these tools.
  4. Read items 1, 2 and 3 again and again.
  5. At the bottom of this post are the bittorrent files for the 3.1 capable version of PwnageTool.
  6. This app is suitable for the recent 3.1 release.
  7. This version of PwnageTool will NOT work for the iPhone 3GS.
  8. PwnageTool WILL work for Original iPhone (1st Generation), Original iPod touch (1st Generation) and the iPhone 3G.

Baseband 101

The ‘baseband’ is the generic nickname given to the internal components of the iPhone that handle the phone calls and Internet access. This ‘baseband’ is a tiny and unique independent Read more…

Is the future of Mac…the iPhone?

September 16, 2009 :: Posted by - SoSly :: Category - News

I was chatting with my TUAW colleagues this morning about Mac versus iPhone programming. And as per usual with these conversations, we veered in the direction of unfettered speculation. It’s an occupational hazard.

As someone who regularly develops on both platforms, I declared that the iPhone represents the future of Mac programming. The iPhone, I posited, offers a great new platform without the need to be fully backwards compatible like the Mac. Our own Victor Agreda challenged me to back up that position. After a bit of time and thought, I decided to do so in this post.

My key point is this: Apple’s engineers have learned a lot of important design lessons during the history of OS X. When the iPhone debuted, it gave those engineers the chance to rebuild an OS and an API from the ground up. Those engineers could craft a platform and its libraries that built on the Mac’s successes without Read more…

Downgrade Your iPhone 3GS Using Sauriks Server

September 15, 2009 :: Posted by - SoSly :: Category - News
web server

Thanks to Saurik for all of his hard work. Below is his explanation from saurik.com on how to downgrade your iPhone 3G S and also how to continue using his server for future Apple firmware updates.

Bypassing the Overlord

To this end, I have constructed a server that duplicates the functionality exposed by Apple’s signature server, except using “on file” results rather than live requests.

All we need, then, is to make iTunes use it. Luckily, most operating systems also have the ability to locally define bypasses on specific hostnames through a file called hosts. Using this, we can redirect requests to Apple’s signature server to Cydia.

So, open the file C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts (Windows) or /etc/hosts (Mac OS X) and add the following entry to the bottom of the file.

74.208.105.171 gs.apple.com

Now, when iTunes thinks it is talking to Apple, it is talking to Cydia Read more…

Saurik Explains His Ecid SHSH Storage Used By Cydia

September 15, 2009 :: Posted by - SoSly :: Category - News

IMG_0282 IMG_0283 IMG_0284

Caching Apple’s Signature Server

Please, for the love of all that is holy, do not e-mail me if you have problems. Instead, go to ModMyi.com, where there is a special forum called 3G[S] Downgrading, created for the purposes of this article.

Seriously: there is no way I could possibly hope to answer even the number of e-mails I’m currently receiving regarding this, and the article isn’t even out yet. There is this wonderful scene from Bruce Almighty where Bruce sees his e-mail inbox: that happens to me every day. :(

I have very little respect for Apple at this point: I make no secret of this fact. Apple, as a company, has turned into a corporate hypocracy, embodying the very ideals that it claims to be rebelling against. “Think Different”, as a slogan, has become a cold criticism of their own actions with regards to their product lines.

The Next Hope

Apple is not just a computer company: Apple is a movement. This concept was finally and truly cemented in the public mindset when Apple carved itself a lasting place in the history of marketing with its 1984 superbowl commercial for Macintosh.

Styled after the classic Orwellian distopia, 1984, this commercial was set in a future where all aspects of individuality had been stamped out by the overlords, constantly vigilant, watching from their television monitors.

This world, as well as everyone in it, was rendered in a blue and gray: some believe we are to see the overlords as IBM, well reknowned for their corporate beaurocracy, and soon to be hated for trying to control our very thoughts with their bland machinery.

Others, including the creative director of the commercial, Lee Clow, state that the commercial represents the abstract struggle of “the few against the many”: Apple’s Macintosh standing as a symbol of “empowerment”. [Wikipedia]

The True Enemy

However, as time grew on, Apple’s real stance on individual expression and “empowerment” in particular, became clear: they are staunchly against it. Apple’s insistence on controlling the experience of their products sounds very similar to the “garden of pure ideology” expoused by the Big Brother in their own commercial.

Today we celebrate the first glorious anniversary of the Information Purification Directives. We have created, for the first time in all history, a garden of pure ideology: where each worker may bloom, secure from the pests of any contradictory… thoughts.

Our Unification of Thoughts is more powerful a weapon than any fleet or army on Earth. We are one people: with one will, one resolve, one cause. Our enemies shall talk themselves to death and we will bury them with their own confusion. We shall prevail!

The Point of Jailbreaking

This is why many of us (upwards of 10% of all iPhone users, in fact) “jailbreak” our devices: we want choice. We believe that Apple has maintained its lead as the best mobile hardware platform provider, and Read more…