stuart piazza .blog

*So you just Jailbroke your iPhone to utilize the latest features of the iPhone OS update (3.1.2) while having the option to install and customize your phone almost any way you want.

Everything is running smoothly. You’ve installed WinterBoard to make your theme look shiny and sweet. Perhaps you’ve installed some Android apps such as AndroidLock to add some of the beloved features found in Android to your iPhone. **Maybe you’ve even purchased MyWi to tether your iPhone to your laptop & actually take advantage of your “unlimited” data plan.

But what happens when your Jailbreak breaks? It’s happened to all of us, and is bound to happen to you if you are constantly changing your theme functions or installing new repositories and unofficial Apps.

What does one do when their phone goes into the dreaded “Apple Screen of Death” and their iPhone becomes an  iDoorstop? Is all lost? Nope. It’s software, and software is always reversible.

So let’s start by trying to figure out what you actually did to your poor iPhone to make it stop breathing. ***Afterward, I’ll guide you through what to do to bring your iPhone back up and running in no time.

Before you do any of this, and especially before you jailbreak your phone for the first time, make sure to back it up in iTunes. You’ll need that backup for later if your phone becomes unresponsive.

Editor’s Note: I’m not going to tell you how to Jailbreak your phone. Check your good ol’ friend Mr. Google.

Here is a list of known issues that will cause a Jailbroken iPhone to crash and become unresponsive:

• Installed a bad or unsupported repository in Cydia or Rock My Phone. A repository is a feed of items (apps) that become accessible to you once you add the link to the “list” hosted somewhere on the internet. If this list isn’t made correctly, or if it’s just not yet supported by Cydia or Rock (the Jailbroken equivalents of the App Store) then your iPhone may become confused and crash. Don’t install Cydia repositories inside Rock and vice- versa.
• Installed an app over an app. If one of your apps isn’t working correctly, you may need to reinstall it. But DO NOT simply download it again and install over the one you already have installed. If you do, the permissions of the disk inside your iPhone will become corrupt because two things are trying to access them at the same time – the system, and then the current reinstall process. If you don’t want to “brick” your phone then make sure to remove the app first. This can easily be done inside Cydia or Rock.
• An App didn’t install correctly. Yeah, something happened, and more than likely something became corrupt. Sorry, friend, it’s time to restore or re-jailbreak. See below.
• Installed a bad App. One of the downsides to Jailbreaking is that you can now install almost any iPhone supported App out there. But these Apps aren’t tested and verified by Apple – they are made by just about anybody and can contain malicious code or are buggy enough to crash your whole system. Unless you know the ins and outs of SSH, it’s just to restore or re-jailbreak. See below.
• Trying to update your Jailbroken iPhone. Don’t even think about it. If your phone is Jailbroken, why would you even think about installing an official Apple update over it? That’s a guaranteed break right there. Just wait for someone to crack the update or remove your Jailbreak and install if you rather have the official software update. See below.
• Something else. Random OS crash, out of memory, overheating, almost anything that can cause a computer to crash can, and will, cause your iPhone to crash. In most cases, especially with a Jailbroken iPhone with newly made changes, your phone will go into restore mode and you’ll be forced to start over. See below.

So now you know what you did and what probably caused your iPhone to die. Let’s bring it back from the dead. Check out the Restore or Re-Jailbreak guide after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

When a brand new product comes out on the market, especially if it is made by one of our favorite companies, we just have to have it. I’m not talking about the new cellphone model that Motorola comes out with every week, I’m talking about something brand new and extremely over-hyped that places itself in the back of our mind until we have it in our hands.

For example, remember the Xbox 360 launch? It was one of the first consoles ever that caused people to camp out in the blistering cold weeks before just to snag one of the ten consoles that a brick and mortar store received. The PlayStation 3 and the Wii caused similar effects upon consumers, but they weren’t nearly as competitive as the Xbox 360 launch.

But what happened with the Xbox 360? There were massive failure rates – over half of the consoles sold to early adopters overheated and had to be replaced. Microsoft responded by redesigning the system.

What did they do? Well, for starters, they implemented a new cooling system to make sure that the “Red Ring of Death” was a thing of the past. Sure, I’m sure it still happens here and there, but it’s not the market mess that it was the first year that the Xbox 360 was out.

So it’s a year later and Microsoft is fixing the consoles and preparing the huge shipments of the new ones with the new cooling system. The PlayStation 3 is about to be launched and everyone is talking about HDMI. “The PlayStation 3 has HDMI and is truly HD unlike the Xbox 360″, they said. “I’m going to get a PlayStation 3 because component cables suck,” they said. So what did Microsoft do? They took this perfect time of reconstruction to add HDMI and even larger hard drives to compete with Sony.

Hey, those of you who camped out in the cold, took off work and school, and even that guy who was followed home from an Xbox 360 launch and got robbed, guess what? Your crappier console is going to have problems and not have some new features because you early adopted! Sounds fair, right?

This is a perfect example of how early adopting is a bad thing to do. Sure, you can be one of the first to use it, but if you wait, something good may happen. A new generation is always around the corner which will almost always include new features and functionality for the same price or even cheaper. And to those of you who paid $600+ for a PS3 on eBay the first week that came out, I truly feel sorry for you. The PS3 now has more harddrive space and functionality than ever, and they’ve been in stock only a few weeks after you got yours on eBay.

When GameStop asks you if you want to pre-order the next Xbox, the Xbox 720 or whatever, say no. The next generation of gaming is going to be the same or worse. Everyone sees now that controlling the market and keeping supply under demand increases hype, and thus allows the market to flourish with software sales before hardware. Thanks, Nintendo.

Does this apply only to gaming? No! Think about the iPhone. Thousands camped out outside of malls and Apple Stores to get their hands on the first generation of the device – the one that didn’t have 3G. Apple dropped the price $200 only a few months after it came out. Thanks to Steve Jobs and his Open iPhone Letter, Apple did offer a $100 store credit for those who got it first, but they were still out another $100. Also, less than a year later, the iPhone 3G was announced which deemed the first generation pretty much useless. Then, less than another year later, the iPhone 3GS came out, which is the only version of the iPhone that runs iPhone OS 3.0 smoothly.

But what about the people with extra cash in their pockets that needs to own absolutely ever generation out there? They are the fortunate ones in the technology world, I suppose, but companies need to think about everyone by increasing the lifespan of their products. Apple especially leaves out features just so they can have a new update next year and make everyone buy the almost same product again.

So just remember this. If you early adopt, you will be disappointed. If you buy, for example, the iPad (3G version) now, which lacks some features that were hoped for and it is all during the transition of everything to 4G and beyond, you will be disappointed. It doesn’t have a camera – within a year it will. When something is announced, let everyone else get it first and see how things go. If there’s no announcement of a change to the lineup shortly thereafter (6 months), then grab one. If a new generation comes out, then you’ll be the cool kid on the block. It pays off to wait.

Earlier today, Apple finally announced their long awaited and hyped tablet – the iPad. Though it’s close to the mockup that you guys seem to love (that link has now been accessed over 20,000 times), here is what it will really look like when it ships later this year:

Check out Apple’s site for the full list of specs and features. Most of them have been previously discussed about on many different sites and there wasn’t nothing really of surprise, except there is no camera and the pricing is insanely generous (starting at $499). Hey, for the amount of hype this thing got, Apple seemed to deliver.

Also, click here to watch the full keynote in High Quality.

Official Update: Apple iPad Announced! (But check out the still cool mockup below)

For those of you who have been following some of my recent projects, you’ll know what DigiDose was. For those of you who haven’t, it was a gaming/technology blog that hit a pretty high point but then fell due to some political issues of our talented team. DigiDose has been collecting dust for a while, but because of Apple’s supposed “tablet” related news later today, DigiDose has been getting a tens of thousands of hits because of one single picture:

This Apple Tablet mockup was sent to us by an anonymous tipster during the time that I ran DigiDose. We created a post with it alongside some other pretty good mockups to show what the Apple Tablet may look like. Though recent news shows that the Apple Tablet may be either called the iSlate or now even the iPad, this mockup introduces some of the looks and features that the device will probably have.

I’ve decided to host this image on my blog now so that you all can comment and view it here – if you search Twitter for “DigiDose” you’ll see that this image is being passed around in extreme numbers and even sent to news sites such as CNN. I’ve also redirected any DigiDose traffic that would have gone to that image to this post.

If you are the original author of this mockup and can prove it let me know. If not, just enjoy this slick rendition of what will hopefully be announced later today and please, discuss away.

I don’t know about you, but I’m extremely excited for Mass Effect 2 coming out tomorrow. If you still haven’t pre-ordered or paid for it in full somewhere else, you should check it out at Amazon (and this week’s Daily Deal) – it’s only $56.99, no tax in most areas, and it comes with a $10 Amazon Gift Card. You also get that silly Inferno Armor bonus that other places are offering, and if you order it today and select Release-Date Delivery, you’ll get it tomorrow when everyone else gets their copy.

Also, make sure to check out my review of Mass Effect 2 later this week.