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I’ve simply paired my Apple wireless keyboard with my iPad via Bluetooth. A special thanks to one of our commercial producers who noticed me tearing the office apart in search something that would suffice as a stand. The $3 book stand that she provided works amazing!

My first instinct was to reach for a mouse. Naturally that led me to look into whether there was even the slim possibility that Apple had included mouse support. There’s really no big shocker here: they didn’t.

I can’t say that surprises me, given the amount of research and marketing put into developing a successful touch-based platform. Including mouse support would almost seem counterproductive to Apple’s overall vision; a concession to the old way of doing things.

However, despite my skepticism, I am really pleased with the overall experience of using a wireless keyboard in conjunction with traditional touch manipulation of the device.

After eight hours of continuous office use today, I’m convinced that a new MacBook can come off my wish list. I’ll be just fine with my iMac and iPad.

I was right.

It seems that Dev-Team member, “MuscleNerd“, has posted a first look at what’s being called the “Spirit” jailbreak. The video is nothing fancy, just a few minutes of SSH and command line iPad manipulation, but it’s a start.

That said, I suppose it would be foolish of me to expect the teenage douchebaggery machine to sit idle in times of innovation. Much like a booster following his alma mater, I still enjoy a good prank and occasionally watching a well thought out foray into juvenile delinquency.

However, this is just bush league.

First off, RIM is doing it all wrong. We all know the first step to a successful product launch is to secure a remote production facility, preferably in a country with negotiable morals and with access to a limitless population of unquestioning drones content to live in a remote industrial shanty town that you establish. And remember, nothing builds synergy like a routine, yet thorough cavity search of all assembly personnel. For added impact and some international press, feel free to rough up a Reuters or AP reporter.

How do you know when your product has made it? First, market share. Second, when employees start killing themselves for disgracing the company.

Of course I’m being sarcastic, and Foxconn, Apple’s components supplier, ships parts around the world to countless Western electronics manufacturers, but it highlights just how big of a deal the iPhone has become.

That said, it’s no surprise that a recent Crowd Science poll, and subsequent 9to5 Mac article detailed that almost 40% of current BlackBerry users “prefer Apple’s iPhone for their next smartphone purchase.”

Clearly, if you’ve spent any time on my blog you’ll know that I’m an iPhone guy– no debating that. But for the past two years I’ve endured countless watercooler conversations where BlackBerry owner after BlackBerry owner touted their beloved RIM device, claiming to “prefer it to the iPhone”. I’m glad to know that, at least for 40% of you, your claims were total bullshit.

While there’s no question that devices comparable to Apple’s iPhone are already available to consumers– none of them are BlackBerry devices. The BlackBerry is a capable device, but to say you prefer it to the iPhone is like saying “I prefer to churn my own butter because I like it”. Sure, you can have a preference, but let’s not act as though churning your own butter is as efficient as purchasing it in the store.

Keep your head up. I’m sure your contract will be over soon.

Don’t Worry! Here’s How To Fix It!

Every year around the holidays the iTunes gift cards start rolling in. It’s a safe play for distant relatives, friends and colleagues. Needless to say, I’ve gingerly scratched the adhesive backing off many an iTunes gift card. That said, I wasn’t terribly surprised when this time around I scratched too hard and took the gift card’s secret code off with the adhesive. Perhaps I was due.

Granted, it was my fault, but I was out $25.

Moreover, I was relatively unsure of where to start and I had a lot of questions: Do I return it to the store where it was purchased? Should I contact Apple directly? Is getting reimbursed even a possibility?

I was happy to learn that, as suspected, my issue was not an isolated incident and Apple does have measures in place to assist consumers with recovering their iTunes gift card credit. Better yet, it required no phone calls or in-store visit and can be done entirely through iTunes.

How To Obtain The Secret Code

So Easy, A Caveman Could Do It

There’s no doubt that for the better part of its existence the Xbox 360 has been plagued by the dreaded “Red Ring of Death”.

In a perverse way, it’s the cancer of the 360 community– if you’ve been around long enough and you haven’t been impacted by it yourself, you at very least know someone who has.

In 2007, amid criticism for failing to best PlayStation’s three-year warranty and facing an inordinate number of complaints regarding hardware failures, Microsoft opted to extend the Xbox 360′s warranty.

While my Xbox 360 is no stranger to the Red Ring, I’ve always managed to keep it in check with a handy (and free) trick. Keep in mind that this trick is only a temporary fix and the lifespan of the repair will vary depending on any number of variables, including frequency of use, temperature of the unit, etc.

If you browsed around the Web, you probably noted that most first-hand accounts of this fix point out that you will probably have to repeat it every two to three weeks. While that may be true for most, I recently went 3+ months without an issue.

That said, it’s free, painfully simple and requires only a jacket or towel.

Enjoy the video.

Back in the early days of iPhone jailbreaking, things weren’t exactly easy. Jailbreaking my first generation iPhone took the better part of a few hours, running command line scripts and ensuring that you had the correct files for your particular baseboard or flavor of OS.

I’m happy to say that this time around, it’s a whole lot easier!

First off, jailbreaking, not to be confused with unlocking, is the process of breaking the chain of trust within the iPhone, giving it the ability to run unsigned and unapproved apps. While jailbroken phones are often unlocked as well, allowing them to function on any GSM carrier (not just AT&T), one does not need to unlock the phone to take advantage of a plethora of useful apps.

Jailbreaking the iPhone via Pwnage Tool will not only give it the ability to run unsigned apps, but will also install the Cydia package management system (think unofficial App Store, if you will). You can the install and/or uninstall tons of apps, extensions and add-ons to your iPhone directly over the air.

Step 1: Back-up Your iPhone

This seems rather self-explanatory, but it’s best to back up your content and media before attempting a jailbreak. This takes on an extra level of importance due to the fact that we will have to add the content back to the phone once we have jailbroken it– and it’s always best to work from a recent back-up to ensure you aren’t missing any recently added content.

Step 2: Download Pwnage Tool

The iPhone Dev Team has long been known for tackling each new firmware revision and developing a handy tool to facilitate both jailbreaks and unlocks. An international collection of developers and hackers, the Dev Team maintains an updated blog with troubleshooting information, FAQs and news about upcoming changes to the iPhone firmware. If you are interested in unlocking/jailbreaking iPhones, it’s definitely your one-stop shop.

To put this question to rest early, Pwnage Tool is only available for Mac. So if you’re a Windows user and you don’t know a Mac owner, this would be a great time to make a new friend.

Unofficial download mirrors:

• http://downloads2.touch-mania.com/PwnageTool_3.1.4.dmg
• http://download.sourcekills.com/PwnageTool_3.1.4.dmg
• http://old.bielsipod.de/Daten/PwnageTool_3.1.4.dmg
• http://www.hackthatphone.net/PwnageTool_3.1.4.dmg

Once downloaded, you can run Pwnage Tool and you should be presented with a screen similar to the one pictured. You should note that Pwnage Tool offers you a few different modes to choose from, depending on your level of comfort or desire to customize. That said, about 85% of users are probably going to want to opt for “Simple Mode” as it will ask you a series of simple questions to expedite the configuration of the jailbreak.

It’s important to note that Pwnage Tool will jailbreak and/or unlock phones. So if you need your iPhone to work on say, T-Mobile, make sure you answer “No” when the tool asks if your phone “would activate normally”. Once you have answered the prompts from Pwnage Tool, it should begin to create a custom installer file (IPSW) file that will replace your existing iPhone OS. In the event that Pwnage Tool cannot locate the previous version(s) of the iPhone OS (which are traditionally stored on your computer), it may prompt you to supply one. In this rare case, search Google for the most recent IPSW, noting the version number in your search.

Step 3: Apply The Custom Install File Via iTunes

When Pwnage Tool has finished performing its magic, your iPhone has yet to be changed. In order to apply the custom IPSW we built using Pwnage Tool, we must now restore from iTunes.

Pwnage Tool should have placed your phone into recovery mode (see image). In the event that Pwnage Tool does not launch recovery mode on your phone, or you faced an error and had to turn back, follow these directions to activate recovery mode.

With the iPhone in recovery mode, connecting it to iTunes should yield this message.

While the iPhone is connected, you should see a button for “Restore”. Option-click “Restore” (Shift-click on Windows). This should provide you with a file selection box which allows you to select which firmware you would like to load on to the device. Select the custom firmware bundle we created via Pwnage Tool, which more than likely resides on your desktop.

Once iTunes has installed the custom IPSW, you should note that your music, videos, apps and accounts are have been removed from the phone– no worries. Simply restore from your last back-up. It may take up to 20 minutes depending on the amount and size of the media you are transferring back to the phone.

After your phone’s media has been restored and the restart has completed, simply find the newly-installed Cydia app and start downloading unapproved apps!

That’s it! Happy jailbreaking!