Since writing this post, it appears that AT&T has disabled the USSD service reminder messages for Medianet prepaid data packages. Icing on the cake: they also opened the 3G faucet. Considering these significant improvements to the value proposition of GoPhone, we’re down to 3 reasons.

One can only surmise that executives schemed these crippling aspects to AT&T’s GoPhone prepaid offerings to exploit every inducement towards a “postpaid” (ie. 2 year contract) plan.

I’ve been trying to equip unlocked Nokia devices with prepaid data accounts for benevolent design research purposes integral to my work at Parsons on mobile media design work for grant funded projects.

1. Relentless balance reminders. Even with a $20 100MB package for a month’s worth of data access, you are barraged with irritating and intrusive balance reminder service messages, after every single use. You’ll need to click to dismiss the message after every text message and every data connection, and certainly when data intensive apps are running in the background, such as Google Maps with Latitude. These USSD messages, apparently, cannot be disabled by a customer service representative. Clearly, they are an intentional annoyance disguised as a customer service to coerce you into a 2 year contract, or flee to a competitor.
   Update ISSUE RESOLVED

   

2. No 3G data support. Online chatter can be found espousing the merits of enjoying pre-paid 3G data, but the phone company was listening. These comments remain mythical and historical musings, as GoPhone data only supports 2G (EDGE GPRS only), as of this writing, no matter how much you’d be willing to pay. Again, they’ll be happy to convert your account to a “postpaid” commitment in order to subscribe to 3G data.
   Update ISSUE RESOLVED
3. No unlimited data offering. The same online whispers that spoiled the party on 3G prepaid data probably cued AT&T to cap its data offering to 1MB and 100MB denominations. Of course, this never implied tethering, although many forumistas falsely claim that prepay is the ultimate loophole.
4. No visual voicemail on iPhone. At least without doing naughty things like jailbreaking, it is reported that visual voicemail is not supported on a pre-pay GoPhone plan and SIM in an iPhone. To not have visual voicemail on an iPhone is like having a PBJ without the first ingredient. Apparently, the executives responsible for upholding the 2 year contract conspiracy agree.
5. No international roaming (beyond Mexico). Although the prepaid target market is clearly revealed by this sales policy, it dissolves the possibility of being able to keep a prepaid globetrotter number and bounce around the Earth’s sublime GSM network based on the à la carte reality of travel — it’s occasional and ad-hoc, not a feature to add to a monthly plan.

Research suggests that T-Mobile is the better choice for prepaid services in the United States. At the minimum, they do not employ the dealbreaker balance reminders, which is enough reason for me to expend my remaining balance and get a new number from the local German provider of mobile telephony. Those Europeans sure know a thing or two about running a mobile phone infrastructure. But there are so many reasons why telecom (and law enforcement, for that matter) will always keep prepaid mobile telephony a stinky deal.

Video clip on YouTube

David Carroll, Sven Travis, Benjamin Bacon, and Haiyan Huang debuted their mobile media installation, “1000 Cellphones” at the opening of Synthetic Times 2008, a media arts exhibition at The National Art Museum of China, Beijing, as a Cultural Olympics venue.

1000 Cellphones is comprised of custom bluejacking and bluetracking software visualizing active devices on four aligned flat-panel displays mounted in the foyer of the museum’s café.

The software extracts the last six digits from discovered device MAC address ID signifiers gathered by the tracking tools. It then converts these digits to an RGB Color HEX value, and renders a 2D perspective particle in virtual space. Device names animate across the screen, revealing radio identification evidence of the most recent 10 devices found.

In addition, devices are bluetooth push “spammed” mysterious photographs to willing device users.

The custom PULL software tools were written in Python, mySQL, PHP, XML and ActionScript 3.0. PUSH tools are “off the shelf” Bluetooth spammers.

“1000 Cellphones” and the Synthetic Times exhibition remain on view through July 3, 2008 at the National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China.

• View photo gallery of Synthetic Times 2008 Exhibition
• View photo gallery of 1000 Cellphones Process Documentation
• Visit official Synthetic Times website

Steve Jobs “just says no” to Flash on iPhone. Well, on first glance, that’s just what he says now, and we all know, like a good episode of Lost, there’s always more to unpack and nothing is what it seems. Considering Adobe’s product line, the so-called “missing middle Flash product” suitable for the iPhone doesn’t yet exist. The middle product refers to something between Flash Player for the desktop and Flash Lite for mobile devices. But, considering the pipeline, it’s only a matter of time before Adobe AIR Mobile hits iPhone and just about every other mobile device, smack dab in the middle of the entire mainstream interactive media ecosystem.¹

Despite all the nay-saying, Adobe seems determined to get Flash on OS X Touch.

The brilliance of both Apple and Adobe waiting for Adobe AIR Mobile to launch is that it addresses all issues and pleases both parties politically:

• AIR Mobile is likely to be built upon AJAX, WebKit and Flash Player with the ActionScript 3.0 VM, as it is on the desktop, so it will be robust, efficient, modern and support both Apple’s and Adobe’s standards. It will please developers, designers, open standards proponents, lovers of proprietary goodness, and every other regular user who just wants everything to just work.
• AIR Mobile will solve the installation and distribution problem inherent in Flash Lite. Flash Player for the desktop has never been about standalone application installation. AIR on the desktop bridges this gap. It’s only a matter of time before Adobe sends AIR into the mobile device space and allows creators to put mobile app icons on standby screens with a few clicks. Just think Apple AppStore, or jailbreak AppTapp for Adobe Mobile AIR.
• AIR Mobile will bridge the fading distinction between web – desktop – mobile by allowing creators to write software in one environment (eg. Flex Builder) and distribute codebase to all three of these crucial platforms in a truly hybrid sense.
• It’s really no coincidence that Apple and Adobe are both investing heavily in products named “Air” — the notion of the data-cloud, cloud-sourcing, everyware, and webware is nascent. Narrow-minded jargon-lovers will call it Web 3.0, but intelligent folks will hopefully leave this lame version number moniker behind and use the appropriately visionary language espoused here.

Multi-touch API is the key

The central unresolved issue that remains is a multi-touch API. Any version of Flash for iPhone will need to have its intrinsic APIs updated for multi-touch and that will need to translate to a higher-level ActionScript object so that designers and developers can trap events related to multi-touch gestures. Without gestures like pinch, flick, zoom and others, it’s really pointless to put Flash on iPhone.

At the end of the day, talk about politics, performance and battery life are probably just the red-herrings that both Apple and Adobe need to work out the vexing issue of multi-touch APIs. In fact, it will probably take a few years before all platforms (Windows Mobile, Symbian, Android and iPhone) all reckon with multi-touch on all levels of hardware and software.

The alleged YouTube Mobile Safari plugin in OS X Touch 2.0 beta is probably all the beehive needs to chill out and give Apple and Adobe the breathing room they need to get multi-touch worked out, and deploy Mobile AIR on a dizzying and divergent array of devices, platforms and crotchety carriers.

Previously:

• YouTube plugin for Mobile Safari Suggests No Flash in iPhone 2.0←
• Will iPhone Ever Run Flash?←

Footnotes

1. This is based only pure postulation and not informed by any confidential Adobe insight.

Specula-palooza Rocks On

The latest in Flash and iPhone rumor-mongering suggests a YouTube plug-in for Mobile Safari will accompany this summer’s Touch OS 2.0 update. An uncorroborated claim indicates that this plug-in is contained within the recently seeded developer iPhone SDK 2.0 beta firmware.

This would theoretically enable embedded YouTube movies to work on the billions of pages that currently flaunt the dreaded blue question mark icon. Presumably, a page with an embedded YouTube SWF player might show a thumbnail with a play icon that when tapped would load the clip in the native YouTube player or some embedded player within Mobile Safari. This would be similar to what happens when you load an embedded MP4 video file via the native QuickTime player within the iPod function.

In technical terms, Mobile Safari may parse the OBJECT and EMBED tags that point to the YouTube SWF player and redirect the path to the video into its own native player.

It’s important to note that not all YouTube videos would work. In fact, numerous clips not encoded to MP4 H.264 remain only available in the Flash codecs Sorenson Spark and On2 and therefore would not play in the Mobile Safari YouTube plugin. Although, Apple and Google seem to be colluding to convert the vast user-generated video library over into the H.263 format. It’s truly doubtful that OS X Touch 2.0 contains additional video codecs beyond H.263.

However, rather than subscribing to comment stream appearing below rumor sites, this YouTube Mobile Safari plugin is very likely not a clue towards a Flash player for iPhone. In fact, this could be the kiss of death for the chances of seeing it soon.

This kind of Mobile Safari plug-in access is precisely what Apple is shielding from Adobe (and other third-party developers, thanks to the sandbox intrinsic to the SDK). In many ways, a YouTube plugin acts as a trojan horse to usurp dominance from Flash in favor of WebKit and open standards. For most people who crave a Flash Player for iPhone, it’s the frequent dead-end to embedded YouTube clips that has them most irked. Once that kink is worked out, will users really miss Flash?

The other crucial importance of a Mobile Safari YouTube plugin is that it bypasses the main sticking point: how to implement multi-touch via an ActionScript API in the Flash Player!

We’re not suggesting Flash Player won’t ever appear on OS X Touch, but if a native YouTube plugin appears for Mobile Safari this summer, it has big implications for Adobe’s mobile strategy, and concerns the long-term viability of Flash as a de-facto standard if the mobile medium cannot be captured.

We’d love to see Flash on OS X Touch. There is a vast designer and developer community out there fluent in ActionScript that would thrive in a Touch world. It’s all about a multi-touch API from here on out. We’ve tinkered with both Mobile Safari web application design with WebKit and AJAX and also attempted to pick apart Cocoa Touch. There is no middle ground yet, and the Touch application market is nascent and fractured as a result. You’ve either got really crappy web applications or sketchy jailbreak apps. Yes, this summer’s launch of the AppStore will change the game forever. But, until the vast Adobe-enabled developer community is employed to create, the market will be constricted by limitations and learning curves.

Previously: Will iPhone Ever Run Flash? ←

1. Existing 1.1.1 or 1.1.2 jailbroken phone — early upgraders or new owners may consider this guide to downgrading 1.1.3
2. Installer.app (AppTapp by Nullriver pre-installed)
3. Possible disabling of Google Maps “Locate Me” feature
4. The usual fearless audacity to perform authorized operations on a licensed device.

Similar to the iPhone 1.1.2 jailbreak and earlier ones, the process involves patching the Apple firmware files and then flashing the phone. The controversy around jailbreaking ultimately centers around copyright and maybe even DMCA concerns. Obviously, this is a developing story, evolving the continuing saga of cat-and-mousing.

The Google Map Location feature that comprises the most useful feature of 1.1.3 may not be available with the jailbreak for SIM unlockers according to the early reports, so this may be a deal-breaker for aspiring jail-breakers/un-lockers. As always, if you don’t know the difference between jailbreaking and unlocking, then you either need to educate yourself or run, far away from this stuff. Perusing the comment chatter out there, many are experiencing difficulties with the jailbreak and compatibility concerns.

Assuming you’ve got a 1.1.3 iPhone and need to downgrade before jailbreaking, this process promises to be a confoundingly elaborate process, probably consuming several hours of your time. If you just need to jailbreak to 1.1.3, the process is probably fairly quick and painless.

Get the iPhone 1.1.3 jailbreak » All the usual warnings and disclaimers apply. We publish this information for editorial and historical purposes and not as evidence of our actions. We have not tested the downgrade or Nate True jailbreak.

Via Erica Sadun via Nate True via the Dev Team

Original iPhone hackster extraordinaire Nate True has used some undisclosed means to peek into firmware 1.1.3 and discovered essential file system structural changes that will allow Official SDK based third-party applications to run and install easily. Notably…

1. SpringBoard appears to display whatever is in the /Applications directory. Earlier firmwares used a .plist XML configuration file. Then, at 1.1.1, Apple dropped the editable text file in favor of a locked SpringBoard, which, in turn, was quickly hacked with SummerBoard and other unofficial apps for re-ordering and adding. Perhaps, the SpringBoard home screen is even more efficient at 1.1.3 in that it simply renders the contents of the /Applications directory.
2. Applications run as the user “mobile” instead of as “root” which clearly sandboxes official apps and resolves numerous security concerns with opening up the platform for third-party development.
3. Preference files are stored in the “mobile” user directory (/var/mobile) instead of the “root” user directory (/var/root), a natural extension of implementation #2.

Via Nate True at cre.ations.net

Further consideration yields the basic assumption that Apple can release the SDK, and even launch titles from third-parties that will effortlessly install into iPhone 1.1.3 without additional updates required. The iPod Touch update purchased via iTunes is probably the essence of what’s to come.

The burning question remains, however. Will the jailbreak scene still thrive after officialization commences? What about the magnificent Nullriver AppTapp Installer? And the further exploits of his majesty Nate True?

It was a fun ride, and we certainly garnered a small portion of the incredible Google search term traffic related to iPhone hype in 2006. I’m afraid we’ll be waiting out the dark period until February 2008, when the official SDK is released and a new generation of extensibility emerges for Touch applications. We also anticipate a significant iPhone firmware update at MacWorld 2008 in January to tide us over. Not to mention all the brouhaha that will sound out when the 3G version hits the streets.

In short, the jailbreak process became too arduous and the reliability of some common applications became dubious. Naturally, this is no surprise, given the fact that Apple had no reasons to support these endeavors. Indeed, the post-SDK era will involve mediation through digital signatures, and the indy iPhone developer market will writhe in pain. But, if it means that applications will be sturdy, well designed, and accountable to performance and efficiency standards, we have to admit that it’s probably worth it, having learned the hard way. When it comes to a mobile phone, the basic functions are more crucial than on a desktop or laptop computer. Things like basic communications capabilities really do, just have to work.

With an 1.1.3 update rumored to be hitting the servers this week sporting voice recording and disk mode storage, the jailbreak process promises only to get more arcane.

Patience Required, Running 3rd Party Apps on iPhone OS X 1.1.2 possible.

Is Apple is winning the cat and mouse game against pre-SDK application development, despite best efforts on behalf of the dev community?

Our testing reveals that incremental downgrades towards 1.0.2 and then back up to 1.1.2 indicate success. Employ the TIFF exploit in 1.1.1 via Jailbreakme.com in Mobile Safari; Use AppTapp [in Tweaks (1.1.1)] to install the “OktoPrep” package prior to upgrading to 1.1.2; and finally run the Conceited 1.1.2 Jailbreak kit (Java .jar on Mac, Batch .bat on Windows).

That means that if you’ve upgraded or buy a new iPhone during the 1.1.2 release phase, you’ll need to follow an absurd downgrade-upgrade sequence:

1. Downgrade to 1.1.1
2. Downgrade to 1.0.2
3. Upgrade to 1.1.1
4. Jailbreakme
5. AppTapp
6. OktoPrep
7. Upgrade to 1.1.2

Disclaimer & Warnings

Some users may have luck skipping the 1.0.2 downgrade, mileage will vary. This information carries the usual caveats: These modifications may void your warranty, implied support by Apple and who knows what else. An iTunes-based Restore does not fully erase your iPhone and return it to its 100% pristine state from the factory. Indeed, preference files remain between restore and updates, from third-party apps. Use at your risk.

More on Jailbreak OS X 1.1.2

The downgrading process involves:

1. Obtain the Apple firmware files (no longer as easy to get directly from Apple)
2. Ensure firmware files have .ipsw extension (not .zip)
3. Enter Recovery mode (DFU)
4. Use iTunes to Option (Shift) – Update and choose appropriate firmware package
5. Endure with patience
6. Trick out of Recovery mode (with iNdepenence)

The tricks of doing this efficiently involve:

• Learning some nuances to getting into the proper recovery mode
• Then, how to get out of it; let iNdependence sit for a minute connected!
• Disable sync of your iTunes media and then re-syncing when you’re done, to save time during the restore.
• Kill the iTunes Helper process (Activity Monitor on Mac, Task Manager on Windows), preventing the auto-connect between iPhone and iTunes.
• Let iTunes re-activate your phone (if you’re on AT&T), at the right moment
• Or use iNdependence or the Conceited tools to activate,
• Or use the secret keypad code sequence (see Conceited Tools README) to sneak into Safari to use Jailbreakme, (without AT&T)
• Re-install your custom app selections with AppTapp
• Re-apply your SummerBoard mod,
• Re-order the icons through Customize,
• Re-install your NES ROMs with SFTP/SSH or the new Bonjour/AppleTalk file-system mount method

On Teaching Mobile Application Design at Parsons

Dr. Dobb’s Journal, legendary software design publication, published our phone interview on its web portal yesterday on the subject of teaching mobile media design at Parsons Communication Design & Technology. John Dorsey, the editor of Dr. Dobb’s, offered probing questions that got at the nature of the program, the challenges of teaching Flash for application design, and how various tools and platforms can fit together in a technology curriculum at the service of the arts. This is all very interesting when you consider Dr. Dobb’s target audience, clearly hard-core coders and application developers. It’s a good sign when engineer-types are starting to take what’s going on in art and design schools more seriously. These distinctions are very much starting to blur.

» Interview

It’s never been easier to install custom applications

You can now jailbreak your iPhone or iPod touch to install third-party applications with extraordinary ease. Visit the URL pictured above with your Mobile Safari and in an instant your device’s file system will be opened and the AppTapp Installer will appear on your Springboard after a restart.

Via Erica Sadun at TUAW — Instant Jailbreak for iPhone and iPod Touch

If you’re new to all of this, check out Erica’s advice for where to go from here.

This method supersedes all previous methods, including our own process← that we document in meticulous detail, now deprecated in favor of using AppSnapp. Interestingly, this method uses the TIFF Exploit of Mobile Safari to open up the lockdown of the system, and then does Apple the favor of patching the security hole!

See the Instant One-Touch Jailbreak Method as a simple alternative to what’s described in detail below. It takes advantage of the TIFF Exploit in Mobile Safari to jailbreak simply by visiting a site. It then patches this scary loophole after installing the Nullriver AppTapp into your Springboard.

Original Post

We threatened to write this tutorial, and our own experimentation with AppTapp 3 beta on the latest firmware and the ensuing customizations like SummerBoard and Customize on iPhone 1.1.1 forced us to become very familiar with all the nuances of compatibility and the absurd downgrade-to-upgrade process. We’ve published our meticulous notes as a PDF guide where you too can install native third-party apps and customizations without using the command-line, as long as you comply with the following requirements:

• AT&T customer. No SIM unlocks.
• Mac. Intel or PowerPC. No Windows, but the iNdependence tool can be substituted for the PC equivalent.
• OS X 10.4.10 — Leopard support untested.
• iTunes 7.4.2
• iPhone 1.1.1 and 1.0.2 firmwares
• Novices, beginners, newbies welcome — patience required
• Experience modders may adapt this guide for other platforms, scenarios

Download the PDF guide which includes download links to the required tools, including iNdependence 1.2.4 (.dmg), the iPhone 1.0.2 firmware files (.ipsw) and the Nullriver AppTapp installer (.zip). Folks may groan about the PDF document as opposed to universal HTML formatting, but be assured that the PDF contains screen shots of crucial dialogs and is as detail-oriented as they come. It’s probably the best step-by-step tutorial out there at the moment. In the spirit of full disclosure though, it’s fifty steps long, but does not require any command-line. We’re not sure if this is step forward or backward, but it’s a reliable, well-tested method, either way.

Important notes that deserve republishing outside of the PDF guide:

1. Do not install both Trip1PogoStick and SummerBoard on 1.1.1 — you’ll get startup freeze (stuck on Apple logo), especially if you’ve used previous 1.1.1. upgrade methods, including iNdepenence 1.2.2. and/or Trip1Prepz. We made this mistake and that’s what inspired us to start fresh and document every step for you. Use iTunes to restore to a fresh 1.1.1 state if this occurs.
2. Do not install the 1.1.1 tweaks with SummerBoard. They are not compatible SummerBoard and Customize and will screw up your Springboard forcing to to restore to 1.1.1 and then start the 50 step process all over again. We attempted this and ended up with a blank Springboard, no icons, and no phone functionality. This is the closest we’ve come to a brick, yet, in all our of hacking tests.
3. Do not follow any of these steps and discard this document immediately if you are not prepared to void your warranty and any obligation of Apple or AT&T to support you in these endeavors. They have clearly stated that these modifications are in violation of their use agreements. In fact, it is not yet easy to even truly make a factory fresh iPhone, without any trace of third-party modifications, in the event that you might want to return your device. Although using third-party applications is far less risky than unlocking your firmware to run on other networks beyond AT&T, it’s still considered an unauthorized activity. No warranties are implied by these instructions. You follow these steps at your own risk as assume all liabilities herein. If you have any reservations about these activities, delete this document and forget about iPhone modding. We have no responsibility for your actions and provide this information for academic research purposes only.

Once installed, you’ll enjoy SummerBoard and its themes and customizations as well as the Customize program, albeit buggy on 1.1.1, does allow icon ordering. Anal Retentive iPhone Hackers rejoice! Note that the vertical flicking of SummerBoard on 1.0.2 is replaced with the horizontal paging that you may have already experienced on early versions of 1.1.1 exploits.

Furthermore, it is recommended that AppTapp 3.0 beta run on iPhone firmware 1.1.1, so if you’re a 1.0.2 hold-out, you’ll need to consider taking the plunge. If you’ve already upgraded to 1.1.1 and have not yet jailbroken and installed AppTapp, methods are readily available via search and usual enthusiast sites. In the meantime, we are considering working on We’ve written [and have since, deprecated!] a detailed tutorial that guides someone through that process while we wait for Nullriver to release the Installer installer for AppTapp 3.0 for iPhone 1.1.1, and any comments urging us to spend the effort would be most appreciated.

It’s going to be very interesting to see how Nullriver’s efforts fare in light of Apple’s recent revelation that a Touch SDK (iPhone and iPod touch) will be released to developers in February 2008. Either Apple will characteristically buy them out and perhaps absorb AppTapp into the official native distribution system (à la CoverFlow), deploy their own superior version of an iPhone installer system, or let AppTapp live and let live. Only time will tell. But we do applaud Nullriver’s fierce achievements in setting the bar high for pre-SDK native iPhone development and UI design.

For those who cannot wait for an AppTapp 1.1.1 Update

See our Install AppTapp 3.0 beta in iPhone 1.1.1 without Command Line tutorial←

Certainly, at this moment, we can only assume that Nullriver is busy updating their AppTapp installer to integrate the revised jailbreak and install procedure required with the iPhone 1.1.1 software update. Only in the past few days have the new symlink technique tools been released in beta. Ironically, you use AppTapp in the process of preparing your iPhone 1.0.2 to update to 1.1.1 and then apply another third-party hack to get around the recent lockdown of the SpringBoard, which no longer uses the DisplayOrder.plist file to determine the visibility and ordering of icons on the main menu, rendering SummerBoard obsolete in favor of another hack which allows horizontal-style scrolling to add more icons.

What you’ll lose with 1.1.1

By gaining the 1.1.1 features such as the WiFi Music Store, Home button double-click shortcuts, and space-bar double-tap for a period feature, among other minor tweaks, you will lose certain things you might have enjoyed under 1.0.2 and under, with the third-party applications and enhancements. This includes losing the ability to order the icons in the SpringBoard with rSBT, applying SummerBoard themes, and perhaps most critically for some, the ability to create custom ringtones. iPhone 1.1.1 requires a strange ring tone file format (.m4r) and tools to create these files don’t seem to be available, yet. This is especially disappointing as it effectively eliminates your ability to create sound effect ringtones, or install the brilliant Cellphone sound that’s found deep the iLife sound library. Why does Apple think we only want musical ringtones? What if customers find them dreadfully annoying, and would prefer a simple ring that sounds like a cellphone, such as the one featured on the original iPhone TV commercials!

Update requirements

Once a step-by-step procedure was published by iPhoneAlley, we decided we would take the plunge and see if it works, rather than wait it out for Nullriver to release their elegant “next-next” wizard that handles the process easily and command-line free in a single fool-proof method that minimizes opportunities for error. We can confirm with amusement that, indeed, the 1.1.1 software update does allow third-party programs to be installed. Although the process is different, it’s not really any more or less scary than the original manual method we used before AppTapp was released with its novice-ready installation. In fact, the tools and methods have actually evolved since, and someone who fits the following profile could consider doing this also:

1. Have a Macintel (no PowerPC or Windows support at this time)
2. Have an AT&T account (no unlocked SIMs; free/open source unlocking tools aren’t ready yet)
3. Have about 30 minutes of patience to follow directions very carefully
4. Have some experience with AppTapp, Terminal, SSH and SFTP
5. Don’t mind potentially voiding your Apple warranty

Disclaimer, Warning, Caution

If you don’t qualify with all of the above conditions, you should definitely either wait for Nullriver to update AppTapp for 1.1.x, or think again about your inclinations to modify your iPhone.

Otherwise, all the usual warnings and disclaimers apply: Do this at your own risk. We assume no liability. Future updates from Apple are almost certain to close whatever loopholes were discovered at this point. Third-party applications make modifications to your iPhone, such as write preference files, that an Apple support technician might be able to detect, even after performing a Restore.

Further clarification

We followed iPhoneAlley’s step-by-step instructions, which are adequate for those of us that fit somewhere between a command-line hacker and a novice. The process takes about 30 minutes and seems to be reversible with the described downgrade feature. It’s important to make the clear distinction between “unlocking” and “jailbreaking,” the former is a far more risky endeavor where you modify the deep innards of the device to allow SIM cards and service providers other than AT&T. Inoperable bricked phones have been reported with the 1.1.1 in this case. Jailbreaking is simply opening up the iPhone’s file system to allow read and write access to allow the installation of third-party software and other customizations. Unlocking and 1.1.1 upgrades is probably still too risky at this point, while jailbreaking seems to be fairly safe.

Lean Machine

It’s worth noting that there are only two third-party applications that we ended up installing on our newly upgraded 1.1.1 system: NES and Chat. All the other programs are basically proof-of-concepts, raw experimentations, non-essential and easily forgettable. However, retrogaming and a genuine IM client, two things that might never be officialized by Apple (via AT&T) are considered indispensable additions to sorely lacking features of the factory feature set: games and IM.

UPDATE October 20, 2007

It turns out that the release of iNdepenence 1.2.2 was probably premature, as a later, greater version (1.2.4) emerged on October 18 that resolves some key issues with 1.2.2, that include how the Springboard is handled. Anyone who used 1.2.2 (us!) could have either used some patches released to resolve issues, or end up starting the whole restore, downgrade, exploit, upgrade, re-install process all over again. We’re compiling a tutorial and notes as we go through it. Stay tune for a posting on the subject.

UPDATE October 15, 2007

A new version of iNdependence was release today (v1.2.2) on Google code which supports Jailbreak on 1.1.1 firmware. It includes a special UI to perform and prepare for the 1.1.1 update which is not indicated in the iPhoneAlley step-by-step guide that we followed. Any users that have not yet updated form 1.0.2 to 1.1.1 should read the included Help documentation to learn the best method of preparing for 1.1.1 and then using their post 1.1.1 upgrade procedures available in the Firmware tab of this program. If you updated to 1.1.1 from 1.0.2 before this was released, you may need to downgrade with it, and then re-update to allow the ability to perform jailbreaks in the future. In the procedure outlined by iPhoneAlley, you really only get a one-shot-deal to jailbreak, so this new method is clearly preferred. We’ll comment on our experience preforming the downgrade and then re-upgrade using the new version of iNdependence.

UPDATE October 16, 2007

Some experiences in using iNdependence 1.2.2 to manage the migration to iPhone 1.1.1 while preserving AppTapp and jailbreak access (not SIM unlocking) follow. The built-in Help provides the step-by-step directions, however, it still needs some work, as it confusingly refers to itself in a circular fashion. We would still recommend waiting for Nullriver to release AppTapp for 1.1.1 if you’re at all weary of needing to carefully follow an arcane set of instructions or avoid using the command-line altogether. This update to iNependence achieves jailbreaking capabilities on the new firmware, but that’s about it.

Helpful Hints

Things to watch out for, not well documented in the built-in Help, when working with iNdependence 1.2.2 and the 1.0.2 to 1.1.1 upgrade process with jailbreak:

• The built-in Help documentation does not cover how to install AppTapp. However, you can use iNdependence or an SFTP client like CyberDuck to copy the Installer.app file found within the AppTapp installer package. Once copied, you can SSH into your 1.1.1 iPhone and trigger launching it via the command-line. Then you can enter the conceited software beta installer link into your MobileSafari, adding the required Trip1PogoStick hack, to allow the 1.1.1. SpringBoard to display programs, including Installer. Refer to the iPhoneAlley tutorial steps that cover these aspects, and ignore the steps that are covered by the new iNdependence method, which precludes the need to preform the installation of the Trip1Prep step. That seems to be the symlink trick that allows the 1.1.1 upgrade, but iNdependence handles that during its Pre-1.1.1 and Post-1.1.1 steps. On the iPhoneAlley tutorial, they say not to use iNdependence or use the traditional AppTapp installation. Although true in the case of the AppTapp installation, this tutorial needs to be updated to account for the reality that iNdependence has since been updated, and can be used to update to 1.1.1, in fact, offers a preferred method which retains the jailbreak. By following the iPhoneAlley method, you lose the jailbreak after completing the upgrade. It’s gotten very confusing, indeed. Apple is doing an excellent job of altering the infrastructure just enough to disrupt our efforts significantly.
• Be sure to kill the iTunes Helper process using Activity Monitor. Otherwise, iTunes will launch during many of the required reboots, and could interfere with the crucial timing of the re-activation.
• Temporarily deactivate your media syncing in iTunes, especially if you have downgrade. This will save you lots of time as the iPhone gets “erases” and re-built. Re-check the boxes for your songs, photos, videos, etc. after the process has been completed and sync up.
• We discovered the hard way, that you really want to let iTunes perform the Activation, rather than use iNdependence. It appears that if you use iNdependence to activate the phone and then deactivate it, iTunes does not appear to successfully re-activate, and thus you become dependent on iNdepedence. Yikes!
• Although the built-in Help claims that your YouTube will be fine during this process, we found that it did not work after the process. Fortunately, we easily found this reference, where you can download the appropriate security key files and upload them to the correct place on your iPhone file system (/var/root/Library/Lockdown/), and this seems to restore YouTube functionality.
• You’ll need to re-sync one additional time after the process is complete to get your Apple iTunes Music Store account properly associated with your WiFi Music Store in order to purchase music on the iPhone.
• Don’t forget to change your SSH passwords from the defaults, to help prevent getting truly hacked by a malicious user on some WiFi network. iNdependence does make it easy to change these passwords in the SSH tab.

Indeed, we could work on a write-up that combines the best of what’s offered on iPhoneAlley and the iNdepenence built-in Help, but by the time we finish that, Nullriver might have their brilliant AppTapp Installer updated, and then, like before, it’ll be a waste of time, thankfully. It’s very likely that some other passionate modder has beat us to the punch, by now.

Hyperbole Essay Muses a Protestant Split Over Jesus Phone

Release a breakthrough product, ready the defenses. Slash prices within 60 days of its release. Pre-test an elaborate consumer store credit program. Maintain control of user experience, revenue streams, and product integrity. Expedite firmware drops to shore up security against an unpredictably vigorous, yet independent, and ingenious rogue software design movement. Monitor ensuing online chatter and surveil the field, ready to deploy assets.

Such is the life of Applists, at the brink of factioning off into a ruthless, fringe element, no longer allegiant to Pope Jobs. These followers protest, disillusioned with the rejection of their effusive prayers and deeds in the name of the product’s church. Emblems of the faith, splendid exemplars of user interface mantras led by installers as elegant as “undocumented features,” spreading customizations and innovations of every whim as if Gnostic Gospel. Each passionate shortcoming of the breakthrough product, much hyped, yet still maligned beyond nitpick, had been redeemed, by painstaking devoted minds, dedicated to unlocking the mysteries of the revolutionary creation, without manual, in disobedience to advice and guidance.

Today the mark is 1.1.1 vs. 1.0.2 — those who have crossed over towards Applist orthodoxy and those resistant, not yet yielding, making due without holy sanctions, verified creed. Perhaps it’s the attraction of a more personal relationship with the Godhead, the sacred code, Kabalah’s sublime intertextual numerology, the open principles of touch-based human interface guidelines and their applications, Gnostic texts canonized by Memex. This divine intimacy of the populace is too much for the orthodoxy to stomach, unmediated transgressors. Only deep within the Vaticanal campus of Cupertino, could the details of iPhone be realized and celebrated through masses. Or could they? The orthodoxy obediently applies edicts from axis mundi, replete with sharia, releasing newly inscribed sacraments of commerce, and trivial revisions to interface ritual, all as sacrifices to the Godhead in the name of stablity, security, and eschatology. The reformists resist the superficialities of bug fixes, feature tweaks, and new revenue streams in favor of purist pursuits of homebrewed exchange and unmediated gadgeteering.

Watch the iPhoneDev splinter group, the prophets Erica Sadun, and her followers, all Digging, the global audience, Natetrue and Nervegas and Nightwatch, all the great disciples of the tripartite theory of Jobs, Ives, and Schiller; now splintering off into a Protestant reformation, rejecting the hegemonies, the hierarchies, the corporate religiosity that puts shareholder before stakeholder, priest before parishoner, mission before congregation, partner before customer, policy before press, business before pleasure.

Other churches reap followers by addressing the misgivings of these loud voices, the difficult choice of switching allegiances, and selecting new identities could be the most drastic reaction to the Applist inquisition. Once dedicated followers, so-called fanboys, mavens, influencers, the variously labeled, occasionally ridiculed, persecuted acolytes of American design purity, objects painstakingly assembled by Chinese workers, clothed in their consumer best, they are lovingly delivered to lavishly spoiled consumers, whose lives change instantly, noticeably, invisibly, despite clear markings and insignia.

Needless to say, we aren’t the only ones jolted into a state of doubt, of second-guessing, a crisis of faith. Our iPhones remain 1.0.2, our AppTap apps continue to dance upon our SummerBoard with a flick, semi-useless, yet somehow indispensable reminders of cherishing the essentials of open, of freedom, of flexibility. We remember not to take for granted the simple joys of the original Applist congregation, enabled to seek more personal relationships with what the breakthrough product enables, beyond expansion and customization: retrogaming, instant messaging, operating systemics, electronic literature, voice recordings, recreation, media redistribution, virtualization, and location-based positioning.

The factionalization inevitably reflects the disconnect between the hierarchy and its Diocese. Cupertino must enforce and enrich its control and influence over the essential elements of its worldview, the device software. There are specific fiduciary duties towards contractual partners and shareholders that assess profound regard in refocusing the consumers attention towards revenue streams and away from endeavors that distract from ongoing tithing. Yet the followers, in their humanistic zeal for coming to know the the device software more intimately, more greatly, more intrinsically, unlocked an interconnection that may not have even been intended for mere mortals. This Pandora’s box exemplifies the detachment of the Tripartite from its congregation. Such a clearly precedented trait of Applists was forgotten, and now fracturing ensues.

Will devotees of Apple fracture into subservient and subversive sects, now prompted to select allegiances?

Web Ink for Mobile Media Curriculum

Adobe published a case study on my work with students at Parsons Communication Design & Technology in the area of mobile media design.

Firmware Update Unsettles

The long awaited firmware updated is released today. We’ve speculated its identifier as iPhone 2.0 and other possibilities, but the important thing is that new features and capabilities are added for free to expand the software offerings of iPhone. Certainly, not everyone will be 100% impressed with what’s been added today, as you can only please most of the people some of the time.

Early reports suggest that this update does not break or “brick” when applied to a device with un-authorized third-party applications, especially using AppTapp. However, early reports suggest that the installed applications are wiped out as the fresh OS install essentially reformats and reinstalls. If you’re insistent on preserving your third-party apps, it’s advisable to wait for Nullriver to release a new AppTapp tested with 1.1.1 support before launching forward with the update. However, bricking is likely with SIM unlocks. Certainly, the comment streams will be awash with controversy.

Mobile Touch Screen WordPress Theme In The Works

In response to the proliferating importance of portable touch-screen interfaces, we have started the design and development of a WordPress theme for iPhone and iPod Touch devices. The theme will make your WordPress site look and behave like a native application, taking advantage of the special requirements of a touch-screen, flick-and-slide scroll interface minimizing zoom-pinching, all using Joe Hewitt’s iUI JavaScript and CSS library.

The project is currently in a pre-alpha release state. We have released an early alpha, with a distant dream publish it to the official WordPress theme site. Anyone who is interested in helping to test and develop the concept should contact us by email. Let it be known that we are not the first to attempt a WordPress iUI theme, although we are working a more comprehensive implementation than what Justin Barkhuff has already achieved while on his year-long honeymoon!

» Try WordPress Touch pre-alpha on your iPhone or iPod Touch.

If the Touch theme does not appear right away, keep trying, by refreshing or revisiting this link. For some reason, the cookie that tells WordPress to use this theme isn’t registering correctly.

Release Notes

• You can simulate the experience by viewing the Touch theme without an iPhone or iPod Touch by using Safari 3.1 or the Webkit nightly build, the iPhoney simulator, or the official iPhone simulator as part of the SDK.
• Viewing this theme in other browsers will probably yield unpredictable and undesirable results.
• Your browser will remember your theme choice in a cookie. To reset back to the standard theme, choose Preferences > Theme > Desktop within the Touch theme main menu.
• As stated above, if you don’t succeed in triggering the WordPress Touch theme to appear, be persistent. This is an known issue to be resolved. It has something to do with the theme switcher plugin I’m using.

Design Goals

• Optimize WordPress consumption for the WebKit touchscreen user-interface model — in progress
• Focus on mobile use-cases, to allow a quick consume, easy lookups — in progress
• Employ best practices for iPhone and iPod Touch interface design conventions — in progress
• Allow options for auto-detection, user-selection and return to standard desktop views — in progess
• Introduce glossy icons for menus, with preference to disable — to do
• Introduce auto-resizing thumbnail management and disabling LightBox photo gallery features — to do

Specula-palooza

Risking iPhone coverage overexposure, today we ponder one of the most interesting questions about the future of Flash, iPhone and web standards. Despite assurances by Uncle Walt that Apple and Adobe are hard at work on a Flash Player for iPhone, plenty of naysayers, skeptics, and player-haters have voiced strong speculations that Flash will never appear on the iPhone for strategic, practical and technical reasons. A quick scan of comments on various iPhone related entries across the web reveals an almost universal plea amongst everyday users indicating that a dearly missed feature from Mobile Safari is the presence of a mainstream multimedia plugin. In fact, the world’s most popular piece of software in history, is well known to be absent from iPhone.¹

Mobilizing the Means of Production

Those who have written about why iPhone should not have a Flash Player don’t mask their agendas. These voices are usually programmers and developers who have always been hostile to Flash, mostly because it threatens their grip on the means of production, by bringing software and interface design to the masses. Indeed, we’ve seen the worst and the best of the web, as a result. Furthermore, because Flash has always been a mainstream, populist, albeit proprietary media format, it has been deployed for reach and ease of creation, rather than robust performance. When imagining a Flash Player for iPhone, its high-octane thirst for processor cycles does not bode well for battery life.

Monopolizing Web Standards

The second significant argument against iPhone Flash is Apple’s strategy to deploy its WebKit “web standards” platform for all third-party application development. Indeed, the recently redesigned Apple.com site has reduced its use of Flash significantly, in favor of JavaScript and browser based features, so-called AJAX. The argument goes that Apple doesn’t want to forsake its influence on the consumer-level interface design market by inserting Adobe’s trojan horse into the battlefield.² This perspective does make a lot of sense, but leaves out a tremendous amount of nuance, that we’ll investigate here.

A Muted Voice

The assumption that web standards based technology, such as JavaScript, can wholly replace Flash functionality is only somewhat true, especially on iPhone.³ Certainly, the support of JavaScript and its embrace by the web developer community over the past three to five years has changed the face of the web, earning the popular title of version 2.0. However, Flash offers some essential multimedia capabilities that JavaScript alone cannot yet offer. This includes audio support. It’s no coincidence that Bejeweled for iPhone is mute. Especially considering that many iPhone users may have stereo headsets plugged in during use, there are unimaginable uses for audio based applications, especially when combined with locative media technologies. Imagine a sort of audiopedia. The differences don’t start and end with audio support, however. Even Apple’s newly touted Web Gallery feature, part of a .Mac subscription with the iLife personal media suite needs to use Flash for its carousel photo browsing interface.⁴ Indeed, only the Flash Player offers the multimedia engine to manipulate the images as a responsive interface with the reach required on this consumer grade product.

I Want My MTV

Certainly, the most common deployment of Flash Player on the web recently is for web video. It was almost shocking to watch the FLV video format surpass RealPlayer, Windows Media and QuickTime as the most important, influential web video format, in what seemed like a matter of months, with much thanks to YouTube and others. A recent Adobe Flash Player 9 public beta featured H.264 video support, which seems part of its strategy to preserve the dominance of Flash video, especially as Apple and Google migrate towards this non-Flash based video standard. However, until the myriad of embedded SWF FLV players on perhaps billions of web pages get updated to auto-detect the client and deliver the appropriate video by codec, the web will still appear to be littered with missing plugins on Mobile Safari.

Assumptions and Speculations

Let’s proceed with the assumption that Walt Mossberg was correct, and indeed, Apple and Adobe have reached an agreement to release Flash Player iPhone in some manifestation, at some time. Of course, he could be blindly speculating like the rest of us, just running on the fact that it feels crazy for Flash not to be there. But, let’s hope he’s as well-connected and respected as they say he is.⁵ There are several scenarios for the future of Flash iPhone, which should only contribute to the over-saturated discourse by further complicating the biased opinions with an understanding of Adobe’s perspective, previously, and conveniently left out of the discussion.

A Straight Port of Flash Player 9

In this scenario, Adobe compiles the current version of the desktop Flash Player 9 for the ARM processor of iPhone. This scenario would allow all of the existing web-based Flash content to function within Mobile Safari. Authors who create content in ActionScript 3 would enjoy a noticeable improvement of performance and energy efficiency on the iPhone, since this type of content would play in the more recent Flash Virtual Machine, a marked improvement over previous runtime environments, across Windows, Mac OS X and Linux. However, the vast majority of Flash content on the web right now was created in ActionScript 1.0 and 2.0, and so does not take advantage of the improvements to the runtime. Indeed, the skeptics are correct when they assume that running web pages with Flash content, even animated banners, would put an unfortunate drain on the battery.However, what’s crucially missing from a simple straight-on port of Flash Player 9 for iPhone is a substantial confrontation with the multi-touch interface. This is likely the deal-breaker for this scenario. Although, ActionScript and Flash button symbols might offer some means of developing and designing for the iPhone’s multi-touch interface, it’s more than likely that despite the best efforts of Flash coders, the existing means to respond to mouse-based interactions will fall short of the requirements needed to respond to multi-touch. Gestures like pinch, tap-zoom, and flick are difficult to imagine as ActionScript events. Indeed, Adobe probably needs to reckon with the reality that ActionScript needs a true multi-touch API. This could be one of the many reasons why we can only assume that iPhone Flash is in development now, and may be for quite some time, especially based on Apple’s delay in releasing an official iPhone SDK.

Probability: Very Low

Flash Player 10

Looking into 2008, perhaps third or fourth quarter, we have to assume that Adobe will continue to release improved versions of the Flash Player. Version 10 is likely to provide Adobe with the required release cycle needed to fully contend with Apple’s native iPhone application API and SDK release schedule. It’s much more likely that ActionScript libraries will be written that allow true response to the multi-touch gestures, such as pinching, flicking and zoom-tapping. It’s really difficult to imagine a Flash Player on iPhone without this crucial ActionScript API.Furthermore, this allows Adobe to potentially release new versions of the Flash and Flex authoring tools that will compile in Flash Player 10, and subsequently, support a runtime environment that is tuned to the needs of the ARM architecture and precious battery life. It’s been frustrating to read the Flash iPhone haters and their blatant neglect for Adobe’s expertise in the area of building a Flash Player for mobile devices. There has simply been no mention of the possibility of Flash Lite for iPhone.

Probability: Medium

Flash Lite 2.1

Flash Lite is a very special version of the Flash Player for mobile devices, such as Symbian Series 60, Windows Mobile and others. It is not the Flash Player that typically sits in an embedded browser, like the vast majority of Flash content out there. Instead, Flash Lite content exists as standalone, full-screen, mobile applications, or more appropriate mobile media implementations such as a standby screens, wallpapers, screen-savers, and even the device’s native UI.Not only is Flash Lite compiled to the particular device, and so is limited by its processing and memory capabilities, but it also has proven to be very energy efficient, accordingly. Indeed, authors must specifically design and code for Flash Lite. It is in no way, a conversion from desktop Flash content. In this manner, designers and developers alike, are rightly forced to contend with the requirements of mobile media, in terms of interface, content and use-case considerations.It’s possible that Adobe could port Flash Lite to iPhone instead of the expected desktop Flash Player. In this regard, Flash Player would exists as a widget on the SpringBoard home-screen of iPhone, and not as a Mobile Safari plugin. Although it would not fix countless broken plugins in pages that use Flash Player, it would offer mobile media design opportunities for Flash on iPhone. Specifically, Flash Lite already offers APIs to interact with mobile phone specific features, such as triggering the vibrate, detecting battery life, and cell network signal strength. These capabilities are not offered on the desktop version of Flash Player, and may or may not be available in Apple’s official native iPhone application API or SDK. Only time will tell.In this scenario, Flash Lite becomes an avenue for designers and developers familiar with Adobe’s toolsets to create applications that exist as standalone native experiences, rather than embedded modules of Mobile Safari. In many ways, this supports the special needs of mobile media more appropriately than simply making the familiar Flash just work. Imagining a port of Flash Lite for iPhone could mean the opening of a vast market for native iPhone widget applications, designed by designers, and not restricted to hard-core Objective C programmers. Indeed, this is a threatening prospect for those that are eager to carve out a niche in iPhone application development. However, Flash Lite 2.1 probably does not offer the means to react to multi-touch gestures like pinch, flick and tap-zoom, and so it’s probably not the version we will eventually see.

Probability: Low

Flash Lite 3

Just as the desktop Flash Player is constantly updated, the mobile Flash Lite player is also expected to be evolving. It is said, that a forthcoming version of the Flash Lite player, perhaps 3, will bridge the gap between the embedded browser Flash content and the standalone mobile specific Flash Lite content.⁶ In other words, Flash Lite 3 could play not just in the mobile device’s web browser, but could also run within its native operating system environment. This jives with Adobe’s efforts to seed the use of Flash outside of the browser and distribute a desktop based native runtime, called AIR, the Adobe Integrated Runtime. In addition, a Flash Lite 3 would address the concerns of a multi-touch API, and the required energy efficiencies for battery life, memory usage and processor cycling, as well as provide ActionScript to trigger mobile device specific features intrinsic to Flash Lite.In this case, Flash would exist in two manifestations on iPhone: as standalone native applications on the SpringBoard home screen, and as a Mobile Safari plugin, playing the usual desktop based content. This gives developers, designers and end-users the best of all worlds. Flash content can be created with mobile use in mind, considering the unique user interface and energy efficiency required. Everyday users will enjoy not only the full multimedia web they’ve grown accustomed to on the desktop, but also will enjoy a market of native mobile applications that arguably, the Objective C programmers of the world, simply cannot singlehandedly service.

Probability: Medium-High

Conclusions

Flash will appear on iPhone eventually. There is no doubt that Adobe will roadmap this device into its strategy for Flash Player, Flash Lite, or both.Yes, there are significant performance, interface and user considerations that must be addressed as Flash appears on iPhone. Adobe has already demonstrated an accomplished ability to service the mobile media market. It’s only a matter of when, and what form iPhone Flash takes as it appears beneath our beloved glass multi-touch screens.One can only imagine the pressure Adobe’s product planners are putting on its Flash Player team to fit iPhone into the needs of the short-term and long-term strategy. In the short term, Adobe needs to get Flash on iPhone within the next three to six months to capture the required developer and designer audience, and compete with the ascendancy of Mobile Safari and native iPhone applications. In the long term, Adobe needs to get it right, and release a iPhone Flash Player that addresses the specific needs of both mobile media and the vast legacy of desktop Flash content out there. A premature release could spell long term disaster for Flash, as it needs to compete with the rapidly expanding Open Source and Web Standards movement. We haven’t mentioned Microsoft’s entry into the web media space with its recently launched Silverlight platform, but until we stumble upon a site that actually uses it, it’s irrelevant.Although there are many who would like Flash to just go away, because it’s not open source, not free, and tends to be used to bombard us with annoying banner ads and horrible interface design models, Flash is not going away anytime soon. However, how Apple and Adobe navigate the uncharted territory of merging mobile and desktop user experiences along with multi-touch interfaces, will certainly determine the relevance of Flash in the years to come.

Footnotes

1. See Adobe statistics on Flash Player downloads.
2. See Roughly Drafted’s analysis.
3. See A List Apart’s analysis.
4. See Cabel Sasser’s Twitter which claims dibs on this observation.
5. See the profile of Walt Mossberg in the New Yorker.
6. Speculative, but based on reliable, but undisclosed interactions with Adobe. Also, see Bill Perry’s entry on the subject.

Read Packing Lite: A mobile media interface design primer on Adobe’s Developer Center to get my perspective how to adapt to directional-pad based devices in Flash Lite. I detail the process of transferring SWF files to Nokia Series 60 devices and analyze a 4-way menu example from Adobe’s Content Developer Kit (CDK).

» Packing Lite on Adobe.com

Nullriver Software releases full GUI iPhone Installer

iPhone enthusiasts and novices rejoice as the first native application installation software is released allowing you to install and maintain 3rd party iPhone applications in a user-friendly, graphical interface. Multi-step command-line hacking is no longer required to get programs installed into your iPhone. A natural Mac installer automates the process of getting the installer set up on your iPhone. Enjoy the beta before it goes shareware, as widely anticipated. This makes our own step-by-step guide← and countless others somewhat obsolete!

Download AppTapp Beta →

Article to be published on Adobe Developer Center

Packing Lite: Getting Started Designing Interfaces for Mobile Media

I wrote an article/tutorial for Adobe’s Developer Center to be published at the end of August covering how to get started designing interfaces in Flash Lite on Nokia Series 60 devices. It details how to get equipped for mobile media design using Flash and the Flash Lite platform, install Flash Lite content on Nokia S60 phones with Bluetooth or Nokia’s PC Suite, discusses the unique interface design challenges, and looks at an example, highlighting the issues.

Stay tuned, as I’ll be sure to post the link to the article when it goes live. Article pushed live at 5 PM PST, August 17, 2007←

Sporting provocative bullet points, this essay may not be new news, but it speaks refreshing truths while standing the test of time.

» Download essay [PDF]

This scholarly paper by was originally presented as a talk for the conference Mobile Communication: Social and Political Effects, held on April 29-30, 2003 in Budapest, and is collected in Mobile Democracy: Essays on Self, Society and Politics. We’ve come upon this text during regular research in pursuit of an interesting range of academic treatments concerning critical viewpoints of mobile media and electronic culture. The “Global Nomads in the Digital Veldt” essay stands out in the collection for its succinct expressions that thoughtfully document complex social changes in deceptively simple terms. Despite the arcane literary device in the title, the writing is downright accessible and the core message articulates a cogent framework for thinking about mobile technologies and society.

Meyrowitz’s use of the Veldt to encapsulate his message is regrettable. He plays off Marshall McLuhan’s coinage of “global village,” contrasting it with a reconceptualization of cyberspace as a primordial hunter-gatherer society. We agree with the idea, and we can even visualize the metaphors. But we’re belly-aching on the word-play, the sprechen-spiel. Perhaps it feels hokey and detached while attempting to persuade us with trite McLuhan soundbyte style textual imaging. Our cover image◊ might suggest our frustration with attempts to photo-illustrate the idea of a global nomad in the digital veldt. We also succumb to the tendency to pepper titles and blurbs with metaphors that amuse with clever yet esoteric cultural literacy for readers — something catchy that sums up an idea with a wordy picture.

Even for an academic paper, however, the reference is unnecessarily obscure, and diverts readers away from the simple elegance of his central point. That said, his word choice motivated us to conduct some cursory research into the term veldt, and so we sidebar now in order to reveal subtle ironies that redeem his transgression. Our electronically nomadic research trail begins with the Wikipedia→, jumping off to a copy of the Ray Bradbury short story→ of the same title, off to a quick cheat using a study guide→, and ending up at veldt.com→, which upon closer look, manages to poetically reinforce Meyrowitz’s metaphor. When you perform a View Source on the empty page, you discover the anonymous author’s epitaph embedded as a comment in the HTML source code:

veldt.com is dead.
old, useful content may come back to life, when i find the time.
i may post at veldt.vox.com
but no guarantees.

it’s not been all that fun, blogosphere.

Clearly, the proprietor of veldt.com has wandered on to greener pastures, perhaps disenchanted with the promise of online social networks only to find the veldt a hostile playground of disillusionment rather than the abundant network of social connections and benevolent discourse. There is rewarding irony in this discovery when you connect it linguistically with the use of Veld, the low German form of the word, which means, according to Wikipedia, at retrieval:

[...] a place that is generally overgrown or has gone fallow, such as a thicket or a field that has become overgrown from lack of maintenance.

Comparing the term “Digital Veldt” with the vernacular that emerged through unfortunate force of popular lexicon — “blogosphere” — we can’t decide which is worse. In fact, no one has even come close to coming up with a quality term for describing the electronic human condition, and do it with a pleasing aesthetic and semiotic.

Now this diversion aside, it’s still not clear after re-reading “Global Nomads” why the author selected the Veldt to image the lonely wasteland of electronic communications. Despite misgivings with the literary references, the essay still stands as an important discussion of how electronic media fundamentally alters humanity and its societies. We’ll get over our squabbling and get to the point by quoting the core passage of the essay where Professor Meyrowitz states his uniquely succinct observations:

From “Global Nomads”

A key feature of the electronic era is that most physical, social, cultural, political, and economic boundaries have become more porous, sometimes to the point of functionally disappearing. This seemingly simple proposition has far-reaching significance and implications. The relative products, services, and channels of communications have been leaking into each other. While the key change is literally happening “at the margins” of all social systems, the change is not simply something happening “out there.” As the margins change, the contents of all forms of human organization change. As a result, we are experiencing a dramatic shift in our sense of locale, identity, time, values, ethics, etiquette, and culture.

The increasing functional permeability of boundaries — combined with the continued physical existence of most of those same boundaries — explains the contradictory feelings we have in the early 21st century: Many things still seem the same, and yet everything is somehow changed. In our electronic landscape, we have thinner distinctions:

• between here and there
• between now and then (and yet to be)
• between public and private
• between male and female spheres
• between child and adult realms of experience
• between leaders and average citizens
• between office and home
• between work and leisure
• between business and customers
• between users and producers
• between news and entertainment
• between one field or discipline and another
• between different media genres
• between simulated and real
• between copies and originals
• between direct and indirect experience
• between biology and technology
• between marginal and mainstream

Your thirst for additionally succinct world-changing bullet points will be quenched, as the author delivers another set of bullets that further illustrate twenty-first century living. At least scan for the passage where he connects his idea of global nomads to September 11, 2001.

Response

More than any other essay in the collection, “Digital Nomads” provokes us enough to seriously consider undertaking the multimedia production of photo-illustrating all of these bullet-points, a sort of electronic media peer review. Or at least, we’re interested in annotating the quotation with commentary hyperlinks. We’re not through with this one yet. Too many unresolved considerations remain.

Credits

Essay quotations © 2003 by Joshua Meyrowitz.
Photo by Teseum via Flickr. Photo-illustration by mercurious via Creative Commons licensing.

Impressions.

Although Gizmodo→ is recommending that those who haven’t already early-adopted should wait for the first software update, the iPhone is a stunning achievement. Really the only salient reason offered by Gizmodo for waiting applies to users who constantly MMS and/or SMS to multiple recipients. Despite owning many phones capable of both these features, we must admit that we rarely, if ever, use these features. Otherwise, the iPhone offers a feature set where we find ourselves using it instead of our laptop, perhaps because the elegance of the multi-touch interface makes the conventional OS seem blasé by comparison. Or, maybe it’s that we truly enjoy the personal nature of using the device, and marvel at its ability to overcome the limitations of the screen size, input methods and network capabilities.

Problems.

Update, August 2, 2007: iPhone Sofware Update 1.0.1 delivers the goods→ 

Unresolved issues that are real disappointments.

1. Issue Resolved→  The iPhone Car Bluetooth interface is not working well with my Audi A3 factory Bluetooth integration. Although it pairs beautifully and offers a terrific integration with the navigation system’s interface, the Bluetooth connection does not remain connected, and periodically drops and inconsistently reconnects. Perhaps the polling frequency of the Bluetooth software implementation needs to be adjusted in the forthcoming software updates to more reliably maintain the headset profile connection?
2. Issue Resolved→ The iPod Car integration kit is not working. This extremely expensive, official dealer-installed accessory that allows an iPod connected through the glove box to offer audio playback through the factory unit and charging does not seem compatible with the iPhone. The compatibility warning appears, suggesting the Airplane Mode to be activated. In either setting, the audio does not playback through the system. It is reduced to an inconvenient car charger. This is perhaps our greatest disappointment and we do hope that Apple improves compatibility with various Dock Connector accessories in the future updates.
3. I hate to write about this, but indeed, my first iPhone was a lemon. It froze, crashed and resisted the restore process. AppleCare customer service and my local Apple Retail store offered stellar customer service, however, and gladly replaced my unit, without much hassle. The replaced unit runs flawlessly, and clearly, there was a hardware issue, probably a faulty NAND RAM unit with my first one.

Wish List.

The Top Ten features that we’d love to see in the forthcoming software updates.

1. Junk Mail filter. It’s a shame that junk mail filters have truly become an essential aspect to any usable email client, and anyone who uses a standard POP or IMAP account can attest to the difficulty of using the iPhone email client without spam filtering.
2. Improved Bluetooth implementation. We’re talking full A2DP wireless stereo headset support, more aggressive polling to maintain headset or car kit connections, and full disk mode access via Bluetooth. Basically, a non-crippled, optimized implementation, and that’s not too much to ask.
3. Improved Dock Connector accessory compatibility. Obviously, Apple is worried about the interference caused by the AT&T cellular network frequencies. You’ve heard that distinctive ‘dih-dih-dih-dih’ that interferes with speakers nearby your phone as a call comes in. It would be better if you could accept this interference and enable full compatibility mode for legacy dock connector devices.
4. Disk Mode. You should be able to mount the iPhone as a USB drive and through Bluetooth to exchange files. This should also enable the file based editing of wallpapers and ringtones. In addition, manual media management should be allowed through drag-and-drop control in iTunes, as supported in iPod connections.
5. iChat. Surely, AT&T strong-armed Apple into not including iChat on the initial 1.0 release to swindle customers into opting for biggest SMS account features. It’s no coincidence that even the most expensive plans limit text messaging to 200 per month. However, an iChat client offered by Apple is badly needed.
6. Games. The multi-touch interface, motion sensors and brilliant screen are begging for games. You simply need something to enjoy on this device while you’re in the subway or in other network dead-zones. Not to mention, games are, uh, well, fun.
7. Nike+ compatibility. The Nike Plus system should work on the iPhone. It is not recognized as a compatible accessory.
8. Dock Remote Control. This is perhaps the most elaborate request, that will likely be enabled by a third-party and then absorbed by Apple into a Leopard upgrade release. We’re talking an SMS interface on your laptop/desktop, call control with caller ID, brightness/backlight control, iTunes remote access (so you can play off your iPhone instead of off your main device), and the ability to configure certain settings.
9. iSync Bluetooth synchronization support for Contacts, Calendars, Notes, non-media data. Obviously, Bluetooth is too slow to sync media files. But that feature could be achieved over WiFi, as is implemented on the Apple TV product.
10. iTunes Music Store. We’d like to buy music, movies, TV shows, games and subscribe to Podcasts directly on the device. Maybe it would only work while on a WiFi network until the 3G iPhone arrives, someday.

A collaboration between the Academy of Arts and Design, Tsinghua University, Beijing and Communication Design and Technology, Parsons The New School for Design

Objective

Develop a design prototype to present to the Art and Design Academy and BOCOG proposing an interactive Mobile Visitors Guide for the 2008 Beijing Olympiad. Comprising of a desktop web product and a downloadable mobile media component, the Mobile Visitors Guide will offer travelers to Beijing helpful information about Olympic events, venues, the visual identity system, transportation, language assistance, and the unique and vibrant culture of China. In particular, the mobile component offers visitors a useful electronic assistant to navigate the city and manage culture shock and language barriers.

Goals

The workshop students (RedStudio) will present prototypes and design documents suggesting and demonstrating how this product might be further defined and developed. The short timeframe (three weeks) will not allow the creation of a fully functional product, but we hope that it inspires further study and development.

Solution

Adobe Flash technology offers the best platform to rapidly design and prototype the Beijing Olympics Mobile Visitors Guide. Using Flash Player to deploy the desktop web feature prototype and Flash Lite to deploy the mobile media prototype on Nokia Series 60 handsets, the students will easily integrate design and content across delivery mechanisms for a unified and integrated user experience.

Mobile Media Enabling World Class Hospitality

Everyone knows that the Chinese are famous for great hospitality, and preparing for the 2008 Summer Olympics is no exception. However, the rapid pace of development and the intricacy of the Chinese language and culture creates
barriers for visitors to enjoy their experience in Beijing. Now that most people carry a mobile phone or laptop when they travel, the Mobile Visitors Guide solves common problems for foreigners to help them communicate across languages, discover the delights of the city, manage its challenges, and more easily find their way around.

An Essential Companion

In the New China, driven by high technology and media innovations, visitors to the Olympics Beijing 2008 should enjoy digital services to help them make the most of their time here, whether on their laptop or mobile phone. Consider these modules:

• Find your way. Visually link event schedules to venue locations and find your way by subway, taxi, bicycle or walking.
• Keep score. Follow sports events by medal counts, in real-time, as winners are announced.
• Communicate. Blaze through the language barrier with common translations for useful phrases and situations on your mobile. Get pinyin transliterations, hanzi characters and audio pronunciations. Point your way out of a tricky situation using Chinese characters on your mobile’s screen. Hand over your mobile and let the Beijinger listen to your needs.
• Participate in China’s Cultural Olympics at the National Art Museum of China and use a mobile phone in an experimental large-scale group interaction within the gallery spaces.
• Explore and discover the Old Beijing and take a guided tour through the famous hutongs, an intricate maze of traditional culture and cuisine.
• Meet the Five Friendlies. The Fuwa have a great life story and getting acquainted with them will help you better enjoy their intricate symbolism which elegantly evokes the many layers of Chinese language and culture, not to mention the universal spirit of the Olympics.

Conclusion

This project prototype was presented to the Academy of Arts and Design, Tsinghua University on June 20, 2007. Relevant industry critics from Nokia and Microsoft R&D laboratories in Beijing attended the presentation.

Presentation Photos

See also

Red Studio: Teaching Design at Tsinghua↑