iPhone Hacks

Trick to Enable Japanese Emoji Icons on your iPhone; No Jailbreaking Required

iPhone firmware 2.2 gave iPhone users the ability to create and view messages with Emoji icons. But it was available only to iPhone users on Japan's SoftBank network.

There are couple of ways to enable it: use the hack that an iPhone developer had figured out or install Emoji app via Cydia. But both these solutions needed a jailbroken iPhone.

Folks at Winandmac have figured out another trick to achieve this without the need to hack your iPhone.

Freeverse Demoes TV version of Popular iPhone Game - Moto Chaser

I had reported about the undocumented TV-out feature in iPhone Firmware 2.2 SDK which allow third-party iPhone apps to send video out through the dock connector to an external screen like a television.

Freeverse, the developer of popular iPhone game, Moto Racer (now renamed as Moto Chaser) with help from well-known iPhone developer and blogger at Ars Technica, Erica Sadun has just created the TV version of Moto Chaser using this TV-out feature which is quite impressive.

Vietnamese Hacker Unlocks iPhone 3G at Hardware Level

We have heard about the hardware-method to unlock iPhone 3G using turbo or proxy SIM cards (which does not work with iPhone firmware 2.2).

We have also reported about the iPhone dev team who are working tirelessly to release their software method to unlock iPhone 3G and appear to be very close.

There is apparently a third way to unlock iPhone 3G. You can get your iPhone 3G physically unlocked by an industrious Vietnamese hacker.

Fix to Resolve Poor Battery Life Issue After Upgrading to iPhone Firmware 2.2

We have already seen some issues reported by users after upgrading to iPhone firmware 2.2 which was released by Apple on Nov 21 and workarounds to fix them here and here.

Based on some complaints from readers here at iPhone Hacks and discussion threads over at Apple forums it appears that some users have observed that their iPhone battery is draining much faster after upgrading to iPhone firmware 2.2.

iPhone Firmware 2.2 SDK Reveals Undocumented TV-out Features

Well-known iPhone developer and blogger at Ars Technica, Erica Sadun has discovered that the updated MediaPlayer framework in the recently released iPhone firmware 2.2 Software Development Kit (SDK) offers an option to export video-out live to a connected TV screen.

Theoretically the undocumented feature will allow third-party iPhone apps to send video out through the dock connector to an external screen.

iPhone Firmware 2.2: More Problems and Workarounds to Fix them

Apple released iPhone firmware 2.2 late last week which includes many improvements such as Google Street View, Podcast over-the-air download and bug fixes for or the Safari crashes, the iPhone Safari exploit and more.

We had published an article about some of the problems that iPhone users had reported after upgrading to iPhone firmware 2.2.

This is a followup article on workarounds for some more problems that iPhone users are facing after upgrading to the latest firmware.

Hack Enables Japanese Emoji Icons on iPhone Firmware 2.2; No longer Restricted to Japan's SoftBank Network

iPhone users can create and view messages with Emoji icons with iPhone Firmware 2.2, it was one of the undocumented features of iPhone firmware 2.2. But it is available only to iPhone users on Japan's SoftBank network.

If you are not in Japan and were disappointed to find out that you will not be able to use the Emoji icons then there is some good news for you.

An Irish iPhone developer, Steven Troughton-Smith has figured out a way to enable it on the iPhone using a simple hack.

Apple Breaks Hardware Method to Unlock iPhone 3G with Firmware 2.2

Prior to the release of iPhone firmware 2.2, the iPhone Dev Team had warned iPhone 3G users to avoid upgrading to it when its available until they give an all clear.

They later confirmed that iPhone 3G users who were interested in unlocking their iPhones should NOT upgrade to the latest firmware.

But when Apple released iPhone firmware 2.2 on Thursday night quite a few 1st gen iPhone and iPhone 3G users ended up accidentally upgrading their iPhones to the latest firmware as they reported that iPhone firmware 2.2 also included an update for iPhone 3G's baseband firmware.

Based on reader comments here at iPhone Hacks and other discussion forum threads it appears that Apple has broken the hardware method to unlock iPhone 3G with firmware 2.2, as they are no longer able to use their iPhones 3Gs after upgrading.

iPhone Dev Team Releases Pwnage Tool 2.2.1 which Fixes Bug related to "Simple Mode"

The iPhone Dev Team had released PwnageTool 2.2, QuickPwn 2.2 for Mac & QuickPwn 2.2 for Windows yesterday for iPhone Firmware 2.2 that was released by Apple on Thursday night.

However, there was a minor bug where iPhone users had problems using the "Simple Mode" in PwnageTool  and as a workaround had to use the "Expert Mode".

They has just released Pwnage Tool v2.2.1 which fixes the bug related to "Simple Mode".

Please check out the earlier post for the download link as there are some important points that you should be aware of before using the PwnageTool

Thanks Jose for the tip!

Dev Team Releases PwnageTool 2.2, QuickPwn 2.2 for Mac & QuickPwn 2.2 for Windows; Supports iPhone Firmware 2.2

The ever-so dependable iPhone Dev team have delivered yet again. They have released updated versions of their PwnageTool and QuickPwn Tools to jailbreak and unlock the 1st Gen iPhone and jailbreak iPhone 3G running iPhone firmware 2.2 that was released by Apple only on Thursday night.

They have also updated the PwnageTool so that you can create a custom firmware (.ipsw) which will not contain the baseband update but still bring the new features of iPhone firmware 2.2 to iPhone 3G.