Tag: Apple

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iPod Classic Comes to the iPod Video

I first saw this story on digg.com.

The guys (H3X, bounci.rabbit.123, vettefan, saXas, matthew98, supernatural, and xxDriveNxx) over at iPodwizard.net have re-written the 5G (fifth generation iPod) iPod’s firmware, so it looks like the new iPod Classic’s.

The new iPod Nano and iPod Classic have a new interface. While navigating through the menus, half of the screen is taken up by a floating image of album artwork.

One thing that’s missing on the 5G version of iPodWizard’s hack that the iPod Classic has is Coverflow. Also the images don’t float, like they do on the new iPods, but iPodWizard’s work is very cool, nonetheless.

When I first used the iPod Classic to iPod Video firmware hack, I had the problem of my iPod going into a “Boot Loop” – after the firmware was written, during the reboot, the Apple logo would disappear while the drive clicked and then cycled again.

Putting the iPod into the disk mode by holding select and play allowed me to do a restore to the original (Apple) firmware. Then I downloaded a version of the firmware “without the boot loops.”

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iPhone Unlocked

Hackers have been working on unlocking the iPhone since its release. Today Engadget is showing a video using iphonesimfree.com‘s software to unlock the iPhone.

What’s this mean? You’re no longer locked into a $1,389 first year cost (phone+minimum service plan) for an iPhone in the US. You can choose the provider you want and use any SIM card from any network provider in any country.

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Hi, I’m a Mac, and I’m Your Enterprise Computer

Lisa Nadile, writing for CIO.com gives advice on integrating Macintosh computers into existing IT infrastructures.

The article discusses in-house support, application integration and management. The one thing that she fails to address is the state of enterprise hardware support from Apple. AppleCare Enterprise Hardware support, for example, offers premium support for their enterprise hardware – XServe and XServe Raid. The standard Apple Warranty and AppleCare Protection Plan has limited on-site service. That just isn’t going to make it in the enterprise.

I must state that currently, I am not an enterprise customer. I’m railing because my Macbook is sitting in Tennesee (the national Apple Laptop Repair Depot), waiting for a main logic board. I just got off the phone with Apple Support and they indicated that it could be up to 5-7 business days for the part to become available for my repair. Wouldn’t one have common parts available, if one were in the repair business? Luckily, I don’t do anything or I couldn’t afford to be without my primary notebook for two weeks.

On the other hand our, Dell Inspiron 700m experienced a trackpad problem, and the next day, a Dell representative replaced the part on-site.