Well sports fans its me again your friendly iPhone junkie to bring you an update on whats happening in the world of iPhone hacking.  I have managed to drag myself away from WoW long enough to write a post, So let’s go….

Break these chains…

The big news that hit today is our favorite iPhone hacking group has finalized a hack to allow us 3G users to use our iPhones on different carriers, other then ATT.  This hack, known as a software unlock, updates the basic software that controls the telephone portion of your phone to allows it to talk to other networks.  This is pretty big news, it gives you the option to take your iPhone overseas with you and plug in someone else’s SIM (Subscriber Identification Module) into your phone and use it on their network.  This isn’t just for you globe trotting folks either, you can use say a T-Mobile SIM in your iPhone or any other GSM provider either here in the US or abroad.  So say goodbye to those huge ATT bills and unlock your iPhone and take it someplace cheaper.

The update that had to crash the party…

Apple has been dancing around ways to try to disable ways to pwn the iPhone for a while now but this time they took some pretty drastic action.  With the recent release of 10.5.6 Apple has found a way to thwart would be jail breakers at the OS level.  When the update is applied to a 10.5.5 makes it so the machine will no longer recognize the iPhone in what we call DFU mode, or restore mode.  So if the computer can no longer recognize the phone in this state, it renders any software talking to the phone useless.  Of course by now the small army of iPhone hackers out there are already hard at work at finding a way around this, it should only be a matter of time before the adopters of this newest update can enjoy a nice jail broken phone.

So long and thanks for all the swag…

Normally when I write on this blog its mainly about the iPhone and iPhone related news, but today I want to take a break from that and give tribute to a long standing event that as of this morning has its days numbered.  Earlier today, Apple computer issued a press release stating that they would be pulling out of Macworld, a long standing Apple/Mac OS trade show. And the upcoming one that is scheduled for early next year (2009) will be the last that Apple computer will be attending or putting on.  I understand their reasoning behind not wanting to spend the enormous amount of money that comes with putting on a show of this size, but it also saddens me as a computer user.

Let me impart to you some of my history with computers, I grew up using Mac’s in my household, since I was 3 years old when I started using a Mac 128k in my dad’s study I knew I would be using computers for the rest of my life. After getting into computers, I wanted to learn more about new an exciting products and technologies, this info was usually presented by Apple in the form of trade shows, Macworld being the largest.  So every year about this time I would start to keep a weary eye on the mailbox, and eventually the web, in hopes to find some information about what Apple could be releasing that year at Macworld.  Even in my later years when I switched over to the world of Start Menus and keystrokes like Ctrl-Alt-Delete, I would still watch the keynotes of Macworld while sitting at my desk in front of my Windows machine and talk to my dad over AIM while they were going on to discuss the latest and greatest  from the fruit flavored company.

So to you Macworld and Apple I would like to thank you for all the great product annoucments and memories you have provided me over the years, from the newton to e-world, Mac OS 6-10, and of course the iPhone.  Thank you for always putting on a great show and keeping me on the edge of my seat waiting to hear about your next new rabbit you are pulling from the proverbial hat.  As a sidenote in the same press release Apple said Steve Jobs, the turtle neck man himself, will not be giving the keynote this year, this is most likely due to his declining health , I wish you well Mr. Jobs, and hope to hear many more annoucments from you in the future via webcasts.

I’ll be updating today as we get more information as many of you know we’re waiting for the unveiling of an update to the Macbook Line.

 
If you check the apple store you’ll see that it’s currently down:

Pre-Conference Rumors and pictures here at apple insider.

Update picture from engadget

Gizmodo has a live feed of this as well.
Pic from Gizmodo:

Apple outgrew the market for 14 months, 17% Market Share now.

Verification notebooks are made from a solid piece of aluminum now. Start with 2.5LB piece of metal end up with a quarter pounder with cheese.  er 1/3 Lb notebook base.

Now on to the nVidia chipset stuff.

GeForce 9400M - pretty fast… 3x to 8x performance increase

Whoa, multi-touch glass touchpad.

There is no button?! The buttons are setup in the software for customization, that is strange.

Run Down of Features:

Glass TouchPad
All aluminum
Connectors all on one side
Thinner Display
KB buttons are backlit
LED - Backlit display - less battery power
Magnetic latch
Sudden motion sensor
isight/mic (usual)
Mini display port that drives any type of connector with an adapter (sold separately of course…)
5 hours of battery life when using the Nvidia 9400 4 on the 9600 

Price Points:

Macbook Pro: 
15.4 Inch $1999 2.4 GHZ 2GB RAM
15.4 Inch $2499 4GB RAM

Update to the MacBook Air - new Nvidia 9400M 120GB drive, 128GB SSD and a Mini display port.

24″ Cinema Display LED
3 connectors
1920×1200 Resolution
$899 (I can buy a 24″ Benq display for $400. )

$999 for entry level macbook. 
$1299 Better stuff
$1599 the bestest
New Macbook Aluminum Body
LED- Backlit
Nvidia Graphics
Multi-Touch Glass touchpad
Mini-Display Port

3d gaming on a Macbook is now possible - meaning you can get reasonable performance out of these things now.

Ok www.apple.com and check out the videos.

Watch this video:

Rep. Maxine Waters: The report cites a December 2004 Los Angeles Times investigation disclosing how members of the congresswoman’s family have made more than $1 million in the last eight years by doing business with companies, candidates and causes that Waters has helped. Before publication of the Times investigation last year, Waters declined to be interviewed, but said of her family members: “They do their business, and I do mine.”