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Archive for December, 2011

Last Minute Mac Gift Ideas & Deals: RAM & SSD Upgrades, iPods, External Hard Drives & Monitors, Apple Books, and More

Dec 19, 2011 - Leave a Comment

Christmas Icons

If you’re a last minute shopper like me, the next few days are when everything gets done. We’re quickly closing in on the final eligible days to receive free shipping by Christmas Eve from Amazon, so with that in mind we’ve compiled a list of some great Mac gift ideas and deals, whether you are shopping for a loved one or just getting yourself something nice for the holidays.

RAM and SSD upgrades, external monitors and hard drives, USB keys, iPod touches, Kindles, Books about Apple, software downloads, and more:

Steve Jobs, Apple History, and Mac Books

Mac RAM Upgrades

SSD Drive Upgrades

Software

Macbook Air

iPod Touch and iPod Nano

External Hard Drives

USB Flash Drives

External Monitors

Kindle

Happy Holidays!

Jailbreak iOS 5.0.1 with Redsn0w 0.9.9b9

Dec 19, 2011 - 92 Comments

Jailbreak iOS 5.0.1 with Redsn0w 0.9.9b9

Update: An untethered version is now available, here is our guide: How to jailbreak iOS 5.0.1 untethered with redsn0w.

Redsn0w 0.9.9b9 isn’t the first jailbreak for iOS 5.0,1, but it’s certainly much easier to use thanks to native 5.0.1 support. This basically means you don’t have to point it at older firmware to perform the jailbreak, but it does still require a tether boot.

Requirements:

  • iOS 5.0.1 installed
  • iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPad 1, or iPod touch 3rd & 4th generations

If you already have iOS 5.01 installed you do not need to download any IPSW files.

Jailbreaking iOS 5.0.1 using Redsn0w 0.9.9b9

These instructions are the same for all compatible iOS devices and from running redsnow in Mac OS X or Windows:

  1. Download redsn0w 0.9.9b9d: Mac OS X or Windows
  2. Launch Redsn0w and click on “Jailbreak”
  3. Put the iOS device into DFU mode by holding down the power button for 3 seconds, then start holding the Home button as well for an additional 10 seconds, then release the Power button but continue to hold the Home button for another 15 seconds
  4. Wait while the jailbreak is installed, this will take a few minutes. When finished you will see a “Tethered Jailbreak” popup window reminding you of the tethered status and the iPhone screen will no longer display gibberish text
  5. Still in Redsn0w, click back to the first screen and click on the “Extras” button
  6. Click on “Just Boot” and put the device back into DFU mode again the same way as before, or follow on screen, then let the iOS device boot tethered

Your iOS device will now boot jailbroken and is free to use Cydia.

Remember that if the battery dies or if you reboot the device manually, you’ll need to perform the tethered boot with redsn0w assistance again. This is the difference between a tethered vs untethered jailbreak and why people prefer untether solutions, the untether is in the works for iOS 5 but not yet available to the public. We’ll keep you posted when we learn more.

Update: Links to redsn0w 0.9.9b9d have been updated.

Update 2: You can now untether existing iOS 5.0.1 jailbreaks with Corona

Update 3: Redsn0w 0.9.10b1 is an untethered jailbreak now available, here is how to use it

How to Print Screen in Boot Camp

Dec 19, 2011 - 1 Comment

Mac Keyboard

Macs don’t have a “Print Screen” button like their Windows PC keyboard counterparts, but taking screenshots from a Mac that is booted into Windows by way of Boot Camp is easy with a few keyboard shortcuts:

  • Capture Full Screen: FN+Shift+F11
  • Capture Front Window: FN+Option+Shift+F11

Note that on some larger Apple keyboards Boot Camp maps F14 as the printscr button instead, allowing you to just hit F14 for the full screen or Option+F14 to grab a window. Also, some keyboards label the function key as “fn” and the option key as “alt”.

These keystrokes are mapped to the Windows Print Screen function, and the screenshot will be copied into the clipboard which can then be pasted for use elsewhere. It’s not quite as convenient as having the screen capture saved directly to the desktop, but that’s just the way it works in the Windows world.

Nice tip from MacTrast, who notes that you can also tweak a setting in Windows to remove the necessity of hitting the function key.

Enable the Emoji Keyboard on an iPhone

Dec 19, 2011 - 4 Comments

Emoji on iPhone

The Emoji keyboard is now included directly in iOS for all iPhone (and iPad / iPod touch) users to access, it just needs to be enabled. iOS 5 or later is required before continuing:

  • Launch Settings and tap on “General”
  • Tap on “Keyboard” and then again on “Add New Keyboard”
  • Scroll down the alphabetical list to “Emoji” and tap on it to appear in your list of active keyboards
  • Close out of Settings
  • Enter into any text entry location: Messages, Notes, Mail, etc
  • Tap on the globe icon next to the Spacebar button to access the newly enabled Emoji keyboard

Tapping any Emoji icon enters it into a text field as if it were a standard character.

Anyone running iOS 5 or later will be able to see the Emoji icons sent to them. If you’re interacting with a Mac user, as long as they are running 10.7 they can also see the graphical icons because Emoji support was added to OS X Lion as well.

Add Emoji Keyboard to iPhone

Outside of communication, you can so some fun tricks with Emoji, like adding the icons to iOS folder names (or on the Mac too) to customize the appearance of the homescreen.

Redsn0w 0.9.9b9 Jailbreak for iOS 5.0.1 Released [Download Links]

Dec 19, 2011 - 13 Comments

Redsn0w 0.9.9b9 has been released by the iPhone DevTeam to jailbreak iOS 5.0.1. It is still a tethered jailbreak and the process is mostly the same as before, except users no longer have to point the redsn0w application at older 5.0 IPSW.

Supported hardware continues to be iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPad 1, iPod touch 3rd or 4th gen. The iPad 2 and iPhone 4S are yet to work, but the upcoming untethered iOS 5 jailbreak should bring those two devices as well.

Download Redsn0w 0.9.9b9d

Mac and Windows versions are available:

If you’re already jailbroken on iOS 5.0.1, this version of redsn0w won’t be of much use to you, although the updated version includes a variety of bug fixes and minor changes to supported hardware.

Update: Here is a guide on how to use redsn0w 0.99b9 to jailbreak iOS 5.01

Update 2: Updated links to latest version, Redsn0w 0.9.9b9d

Santa Uses an iPhone 4S and Siri in the Latest Apple Commercial [Video]

Dec 18, 2011 - 7 Comments

Santa using the iPhone 4S

Apple has started to air a new Christmas themed TV ad for the iPhone 4S and Siri featuring none other than Santa Claus. The commercial is the most entertaining iPhone 4S ad yet and features Santa asking Siri for directions, what kind of weather to expect at various locations around the country, requesting an email from Mrs Claus, and finally asking about his schedule, which Siri responds is filled with 3.7 billion appointments.

The ad has the same background music as past iPhone 4S commercials, which actually sounds a bit like Christmas music at this point. It’s also worth pointing out that the ad doesn’t even mention either the iPhone 4S or Siri by name, it just shows an Apple logo at the end.

You can watch the video below, or just wait for it to show on TV.

Steve Jobs: Billion Dollar Hippy – BBC Documentary [Video]

Dec 17, 2011 - 8 Comments

The recently aired BBC documentary Steve Jobs: Billion Dollar Hippy may have a dumb name, but the show itself is worth a watch for anyone interested in the subject matter. About an hour long, it features classic footage of Steve Jobs, in addition to interviews with a variety of Apple execs and industry leaders, including Steve Wozniak, John Sculley, Andy Hertzfeld, Tim Berners-Lee, Avie Tevanian, and many more names that will be familiar if you follow Apple history or have read the Steve Jobs biography.

The video looks to have been posted to YouTube unofficially, so watch it while you can.

Mount a DMG from the Command Line in Mac OS X

Dec 17, 2011 - 3 Comments

Mount a DMG from the Command Line in Mac OS X

A helpful command line tool called hdiutil is included in Mac OS X that allows disk image files (.dmg extension) to be mounted directly from the Terminal, without the need of using the GUI. Using hdiutil for such a task is helpful for scripting or remote connections through SSH.

Mounting a Disk Image File (DMG) from the Terminal

From the command line use the following syntax to mount the image:

hdiutil attach /path/to/diskimage.dmg

When the .dmg is mounted, a message will display something like this:

/dev/disk1 Apple_partition_scheme
/dev/disk1s1 Apple_partition_map
/dev/disk1s2 Apple_HFS /Volumes/Mounted Disk Image

Take note of the last entry with the name of the just mounted disk image, you will use the first part of this line to unmount the disk (/dev/disk1s2).

Unmounting a DMG from the Terminal

Recalling that the device name of the mounted image, use the following syntax to unmount the dmg:

hdiutil detach /dev/disk1s2

If you missed the device location earlier, you can retrieve information on all mounted drives and images by using:

hdiutil info

Locate the name of the mounted image and note the /dev/disk entry alongside of it.

The hdiutil tool works to mount .iso and other image files as well as being able to convert them to other disk image formats.

Mac Setups: Mac Mini TV Setup, MacBook Pro, and iOS Hardware

Dec 17, 2011 - 5 Comments

Apple gear setup

This reader submitted Mac setup features a dual use Mac Mini and a MacBook Pro, as well as a bunch of great iOS gear. The Mac Mini connects to a TV to function as a digital hub for the household, alternating between the 32″ TV shown in the picture and a 55″ HDTV in another room, where it serves up video, pictures, and other media.

The hardware shown includes:

  • Mac Mini 2010 8GB RAM, 320GB HD
  • Samsung 32″ LCD TV/Monitor
  • MacBook Pro 13″ late 2011, 8GB RAM, 500 GB HD
  • iPhone 4 16 GB (Verizon)
  • iPod Touch 4 32GB
  • iPad 2 White 16GB
  • Apple Wireless Keyboard
  • Apple Magic Trackpad
  • Seagate 2 TB External HD (via AEBS)
  • Not shown: Apple Airport Extreme Base Station, Apple Airport Express (extender)

The background image shown on both Macs is the planned new Apple “Spaceship” campus set to be built in Cupertino, California.

If you want to setup a Mac Mini media center yourself, we’ve covered two guides in the past: a simple walkthrough for a basic media center and a full featured media center with remote torrent capabilities.

Thanks for sending this in P! You can submit your own Apple gear setup shots to: osxdailycom@gmail.com

Fix “No SIM Card Installed” Error on iPhone 4S by Installing iOS 5.0.1 Build 9A406

Dec 16, 2011 - 6 Comments

No SIM Card Installed error on iPhone

The recently released iPhone 4S specific build of iOS 5.0.1 resolves an ongoing SIM card issue that was effecting some users. The issue would cause some iPhone 4S’s to not recognize a SIM card, with the iPhone reporting a “No SIM Card Installed” or “Invalid SIM” error message, in addition to the phone not connecting to a cellular network.

To resolve the error, users have two choices:

This makes the latest iOS 5.0.1 update a welcome change for iPhone 4S users who frequently encountered the problem, and this also answers the question as to what exactly the iPhone 4S specifc 9A406 build of iOS 5.0.1 aimed to accomplish. Thanks to MacRumors for discovering this.

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