I’m still using the original iPhone after 18 months. The recent iPhone OS 3.0 upgrade has made my iPhone a wholly different phone, much more usable and pleasurable to use. The final missing piece was really MMS support, which is enabled for iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS.

Now, original iPhone users can also send and receive MMS — for free.

How to enable MMS on your original iPhone

0. Upgrade your original iPhone to OS 3.0. Unlock and Jailbreak your iPhone.
1. Open Cydia on the iPhone. Install the Cydia package “ActivateMMS2G” and reboot (power off and restart).
2. Go to http://help.BenM.at on your iPhone.
3. Go to the second Mobileconfigs link, the one that allows you to create a custom Mobileconfig.
4. Enter your MMS APN (i.e. mms.plusgsm.pl) for both of the APN fields (Mobile Internet and Visual Voicemail) and enable tether. Some networks do not require ausername or password, some do. Check with your carrier’s website for details.
5. Press generate, install it, press OK, then immediately reboot. Do not check the settings.
6. Go to Settings > General and scroll down to profile. If it says 2 (or more) profiles, delete/uninstall the one(s) that are not called “help.benm.at” (i.e. delete all but the one you just installed). If it only says help.benm.at, skip to step 8.
7. After deleting the other profiles, go back to help.BenM.at and repeat steps 3-5. The first time you try to install it, it may fail or hang while installing (it did for me anyway) if this happens, press the home button, reopen Safari, then try again, it should work.
8. Once your iPhone has rebooted, go to Settings > General > Network > Cellular Data Network. Your MMS APN should be present in every APN field.
9. Fill in your MMSC and MMS Proxy. Check with your Carrier for details.
10. Reboot your iPhone.
11. Open Messages and try to send an MMS. If it fails, check your settings are correct.
12. If it is successful, go back to Cellular Data Network and change your Cellular Data APN to the one appropriate for your network.
13. Test your data connection.
14. Go to Settings > Messages. Turn on MMS Messaging. Test your MMS.

Enjoy!

As always, do this at your own risk. Remember to backup your iPhone and find out how to restore before you start.

[ via Hackint0sh forums ]

The wait is over. If you own an Apple iPhone 3G, you can now do a software unlock for free. The iPhone Dev team has released ultrasn0w, which will allow you a more or less painless unlock experience.

Here’s how to do it in 7 easy steps:

1. Upgrade to iPhone OS 3.0 using iTunes
2. Jailbreak your iPhone 3G using redsn0w or PwnageTool (this will also install Cydia/Icy)
3. Run Cydia or Icy
4. Please add the repo repo666.ultrasn0w.com to Cydia or Icy
5. Search for ‘ultrasn0w’ in Cydia or Icy. Install ultrasn0w
6. Reboot your iPhone 3G
7. That’s it — Enjoy!

Note : T-Mobile USA users should disable 3G before using ultrasn0w. If you have an iPhone 3GS (or iPhone 3G S, whatever Apple calls it now), you’ll still have to wait a while.

On the surface, the new iPhone 3G S looks exactly like the iPhone 3G. Even under the hood, the improvements have been subtle and evolutionary rather than revolutionary. The difference between the 3G S and the 3G is much smaller compared to the difference between the 3G and the original iPhone. So while we expected that the 3G S would sell well, we didn’t really think that it would give us any surprises.

Well. Apple has sold over 1 million iPhone 3G S (or is it iPhone 3GS?) Apple announced the sales figures yesterday, with a quote from Steve Jobs, no less. (Yes, he’s alive and reportedly back at work).

Both the 3G and 3G S took 3 days to reach a million units sold, so the 3G S is holding up well. Apple also revealed that 6 million customers have downloaded iPhone OS 3.0. Although we don’t know how many upgraded (and successfully reactivated) after the download, having 15% of the customer base download a new firmware update after just a week is impressive. Some of these 6 million downloads would be for the iPod touch, which means some additional revenue to Apple at ten bucks a pop.

How long will it take the Palm Pre to sell a million units, I wonder?

First off, Palm’s App Catalog has been doing well. The App Catalog is Palm’s version of the Apple App Store. Even though the number of applications is still small, Palm Pre users have been downloading apps at a steady pace. Medialets reports that although we only have about 30 apps right now, these apps have been downloaded over 600,000 times. That’s certainly a good start — as the number of Pre users grow, we should see a similar explosive growth in app downloads.

Why are there so few apps right now? It turns out, Palm won’t be able to release the full SDK to developers until later this summer. Engadget reports that the software and developer services to support the SDK just aren’t ready yet.

When the iPhone first launched, for the first year all we had was web apps. Those apps are still around. So until the developers can get cracking on native webOS apps, you can take advantage of many web apps which work well with the Pre web browser.

For early adopters of the Palm Pre, Palm has already released a software update. webOS 1.0.3 makes some improvements in the built-in Email, Calendar, and Contacts apps, among others.

I’m sure there are many people (like me) who are debating whether to get the new iPhone 3G S. One of the main features is an improved camera, with higher resolution, autofocus and added video capture capability. But just how good is the new camera compared to the old one? Guy Kawasaki has published some photos on his blog that shows the difference. The new camera produces much sharper and more detailed images.

The video camera is actually pretty good, too. It records video in VGA resolution (640 by 480) but it manages to capture a surprising level of detail. Look at the video below (by Andy Ihnatko) to get a feel of the quality.

Apparently, the iPhone 3G S is even more powerful than advertised : it’s capable of capturing High Definition (HD) video up to 720p resolution. Maybe an iPhone HD is next on the list for Apple?

It’s been quite an exciting week in the iPhone world, first with the release of the latest iPhone operating system (iPhone OS 3.0), followed by the arrival of the new iPhone 3G S in selected countries. I’ve watched with envy as my colleagues upgraded their iPhone 3G and iPod touches to the new iPhone OS 3.0. What have I been waiting for? The ability to unlock my original iPhone, of course. The opportunity came to me this morning when the iPhone Dev Team released the latest version of PwnageTool.

I’ve used PwnageTool several times before, so I was pretty confident with the process. With PwnageTool, I built a custom rom which unlocked and jailbreaked my iPhone. The new custom ROM is then used to update my iPhone to the new 3.0 operating system. The whole process took about 15 minutes, and was pretty painless.

I’m happy to say that I’m quite pleased with iPhone OS 3.0. The cut-copy-paste alone is worth the price of admission, but there are many other features as well. I’ll write up a more comprehensive review later.

The iPhone Dev Team has been hard at work, and they have released a new tool called redsn0w. redsn0w is an easy to use, multi-platform, multi-device jailbreaking and unlocking tool. However, it’s early days yet, so there are limitations :
- You can jailbreak and unlock iPhone 2G / original iPhone
- You can jailbreak the iPhone 3G and also the iPod touch (first and second generation)
- It is available for Windows and Mac OS X, but it may have problems with older Macs running on PowerPC

As always, you do this at your own risk. Remember to backup your iPhone before hand.

These are the best of times, these are the worst of times. Palm has announced that CEO Ed Colligan is leaving the company, to take a position in Palm’s investor Elevation Partners. Colligan has been with Palm since the very beginning.

Palm had a trio of core managers in the early days : Jeff Hawkins (the product guy), Donna Dubinsky (the business lady) and Colligan (the sales/marketing guy). They were responsibile for popularizing the PDA. At one point, the three broke away from Palm to form a separate company Handspring, which created the first true smartphone, the Treo 600.

Both Hawkins and Dubinsky no longer have day to day dealings with Palm, and Colligan is the last of the original three to go. There’s been a lot of ups and downs — Colligan was the person famously said he believed that no company (he called Apple “one of the PC guys”) would be able to walk in and win customers in the smartphone market. This was back in 2006, in response to Apple’s announcement of the iPhone. Unfortunately (for Palm), the iPhone became a runaway success, leaving Palm in its wake.

Of course, there was that famous “intervention” done by Engadget. In the latest gdgt podcast, Ryan Block, Peter Rojas and Josh Topolsky recap the story behind the infamous Open Letter to Palm.

Colligan will be replaced by Jon Rubinstein, who will be assuming the role of CEO in addition to his current role as chairman. Rubinstein was part of the original iPod team at Apple. With Rubinstein, Apple now has another “product guy” at its helm.

Palm is no longer market leader, and in fact is now the underdog in the smartphone space. The Palm Pre was a successful launch, but we’ll have to see how Palm executes the distribution of the Pre in the rest of the world.

Good luck, Palm.

The Palm Pre had a good first weekend, selling over 50,000 units and generating quite a bit of hype. On Monday, though, Apple proved who’s boss and came out with all guns blazing. Say hello to the Apple iPhone 3G S.

The “S” stands for Speed, i.e. in terms of a faster processor as well as support for the faster HSDPA network (7.2Mbps). Other than that, the new iPhone 3G S looks and feels identical to the current iPhone 3G. This is what you get :

- a better camera (3.2 megapixels, with auto focus, auto exposure, and auto white balance). Video capture at 30 fps (frames per second), and geotagging is supported for photos and videos.
- better graphics (3D video acceleration in hardware)
- fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating for the touchscreen
- magnetometer (digital compass)
- voice control
- Nike+ support
- better battery life

What you don’t get :
- a second front facing camera
- faster WiFi (802.11n)

The iPhone 3G S will be available in most countries by June 19th. Pricing is set at $199 for 16GB version and $299 for 32GB version, subject to contracts of course.

And the rumour of the $99 iPhone? It’s true. Apple is still selling the plain jane 8GB iPhone 3G as an entry level phone.

During Apple’s WWDC (World Wide Developer’s Conference) keynote, they also announced a refreshed MacBook line (more unibody goodness, swapping Express Card for SD, and integrating the 13inch MacBook into the Pro line). Apple’s new operating system Snow Leopard also went into Gold Master (i.e., ready for production) with an upgrade price of just US$29.

And what of the Palm Pre? Apple did take a few digs at the competition, most notably in the number of apps available in the App Store. The score : Palm 18, Apple 50,000.

The Palm Pre is here. After a long, long time, Palm finally has a credible product out in the market that is entirely their own. No more hiding behind Windows Mobile and a 5-year old second hand operating system, the Palm Pre is set to make or break Palm, which was once the leader in smartphones and mobile computing.

In an incident not at all Palm’s fault, the Pre actually sparked a bit of a brouhaha in the netcasting (podcasting …) world. Veteran old media / new media statesman Leo Laporte blew up on Mike Arrington, when Arrington questioned Leo’s integrity for having a review unit of the Pre. But that’s not the news.

Let’s do a quick recap of the initial reviews of the Palm Pre smartphone.

Great look and superb feel. Well-conceived OS with multitasking and instant notification. Multitasking puts a big suck on the battery. Puny
(Steven Levy, Wired)

The OS is great. There’s no ifs ands or buts; it’s really refreshing to see something that’s brand new with a UI unlike anything else out there — the hardware is lacking.
(The Boy Genius)

To put it simply, the Pre is a great phone, and we don’t feel any hesitation saying that — what Palm has done is not only a major feat for a company of its size (and its dire position), and we think it’s an important step in the evolution of mobile computing. Just like the iPhone’s notches up the ladder, and the G1’s contributions, the Pre moves the game forward in a very real way.
(Joshua Topolsky, Engadget)

I find the Pre to feel rather solid in the hand and folks will be surprised how small it is. I am impressed with the browser experience and the speed on the Sprint 3G network — definitely faster than the iPhone, T-Mobile G1 and BlackBerry Storm.
(Early impressions by Kevin C. Tofel & James Kendrick, jkOnTheRun)

Palm has hit a home run with the Pre — the merging of the software and the hardware is as close to seamless as I’ve ever seen on a device.
(Dieter Bohn, Precentral)

The Pre may have hardware that’s worse than the G1/G2, but the whole package—the software and the hardware—isn’t bad. It’s good. It’s different. That’s something we can get behind.
(Jason Chen, Gizmodo)

Overall, the Palm Pre is without a doubt one of the finest examples of a next-generation smartphone – one that pushes the boundaries of your imagination and takes it to a Wireless 2.0 world filled with exciting new possibilities. The Pre is a device that allows you not only to Think Different but to Think Very, Very Different…
(Andrew, Treonauts)
Here are some more reviews from “the usual suspects”:

• NYT – David Pogue
• USA Today – Ed Baig
• WSJ – Walt Mossberg

• Time – Josh Quittner
• Newsweek – Dan Lyons
• PC Magazine – Sascha Segan
• Laptop – Mark Spoonauer
• SlashGear and MyPre – Vincent Nguyen
• PC World – Ginny Mies

Of course, news of the Palm Pre is slightly overshadowed in anticipation of that other phone which is supposedly due to be announced on Monday, with rumours still going fast and furious at the last minute. We’ll just have to see what happens on Monday.

In the meantime, welcome, Palm Pre. Welcome back, Palm.

I like the idea of the Universal Search in webOS. Aside from the on-board data, you can search Google, Google Maps and Wikipedia. Palm has now included the ability to search Twitter as well.

Palm’s version of the Apple App Store, called App Catalog, was also demonstrated. App Catalog should be available on Pre phones at launch, although we have yet to hear of how many apps will be offered.

Here’s a video featuring Palm boss Jon Rubinstein and investor Roger McNamee, which was shown at the conference.