In what is probably the best unintentional marketing campaign for the Incipio iPhone 4 case, an iPhone 4 has survived a fall from 13,500′ after slipping from the pocket of a skydiver.

Amazingly enough the iPhone, pictured above, survived the drop, despite landing on the roof of a building from the height of a plane. Despite suffering a broken enclosure and touchscreen, the phone continues to make and receives phone calls, and was able to be located by using the Find My iPhone feature. The aforementioned Incipio case didn’t make it out alive, but it sounds like it absorbed enough of the impact to let the phone continue to function.

This Pulitzer-quality important news event was reported by CNN.

Using the command line open tool, you can immediately launch any URL from the Terminal into the default web browser of Mac OS X. In other words, you’re launching the specified site into a GUI browser from the command line.

The syntax to open any URL into the default web browser like this is remarkably easy to use and remember:

Read more »

Update: Apple has confirmed the release date of Lion as July 20. MacBook Air ETA is yet to be determined.

Sick of 10.7 Lion and MacBook Air release date rumors yet? Us too, but as we enter into the second half of July we’re running short on time for OS X Lion to be released this month as expected. The good news is that when Apple sets a date, they almost always meet it (ignore the white iPhone 4), and the better news is AppleInsider says they have received word that Wednesday, July 20 at 8:30am ET is the magic time:

According to people with proven track records who would be in a position to know, the new product launches are set to occur later this week. Specifically, one person said the products would be released on Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. Eastern.

A Wednesday release is slightly earlier than what WSJ’s AllThingsD reported last week, placing a “Thursday or Friday” timeline for the new hardware and software.

Refreshed MacBook Airs are said to include Intel Sandy Bridge Core i5 and i7 processors, 4GB of RAM standard, a starting storage capacity of 128GB SSD, and a return of everyones favorite backlit keyboard. It remains to be seen what GPU will be bundled with the refreshed MacBook Air, but most analysts expect it to be the Intel HD 3000 chip.

The same AI report says that Mac OS X 10.7 Lion was delayed slightly due to logistical issues with distribution through the Mac App Store, in addition to some unexpected problems with the Resumes feature. The GM build of Lion was released on July 1.

One of the new features in OS X Lion and OS X Mountain Lion is the “Resume” ability for all applications to save their last state, meaning when you relaunch the app or reboot your Mac, the application will “resume” and reopen again showing all of the windows and data that was last in use. This is a great feature for some apps and situations, but there are also times where you don’t want past app states to reappear.

Read more »

The recently released iOS 4.3.4 update has been jailbroken by a new version of redsn0w. Most iOS 4.3.4 devices are supported including the iPhone 4 GSM & CDMA, iPod touch 3rd and 4th gen, and iPad 1. For now, iPad 2 owners must stay on iOS 4.3.3 and continue to use JailbreakMe 3 as it is the only option for that hardware.

This is a somewhat typical Redsn0w jailbreak, with the main limitation being it is tethered only. Be sure you understand completely what a tethered jailbreak means and it’s limitations, but in short, anytime you reboot your iOS device it will have to be connected to a computer and booted with the assistance of the Redsn0w application.

Download Redsn0w 0.9.8b3

As usual, Mac and Windows versions are available:

• Download now (Mac)
• Download now (Windows)

The iPhone Dev Team suggests most users stay on iOS 4.3.3 so that they can continue with an untethered jailbreak. Remember, the only change in iOS 4.3.4 was the fix for the PDF hole that was utilized by jailbreakme 3, but that hole can be patched independently through Cydia or by upgrading iOS itself.

Other than the tether, the process of using this version of redsn0w remains the same as the prior version. If you need assistance, you can follow a walkthrough for 4.3.3.

Want to upgrade the memory on your new 2011 MacBook Pro for a great price? Amazon is offering an 8GB upgrade (2 X 4GB) DDR3 Laptop Memory Kit (1333MHz Unbuffered CL 9 SODIMM) for just $50 after a $10 mail-in rebate from Corsair. The kit installs on the most recent Core i5 and Core i7 series of MacBook Pros from 2011.

Corsair 8 GB DDR3 Laptop Memory Kit with free shipping on Amazon

The deal is still a very cheap $59.99 without the rebate, but why not save an extra $10 and mail it in? Here’s the rebate form (PDF).

The RAM comes with a lifetime warranty from Corsair, but after you install the upgrade don’t forget to run a RAM test to check for any problems or defects.

Using curl we can retrieve the HTML & CSS source code of any specified URL and even the http header info, but some sites serve completely different content or HTML to different OS and browser versions, this is done by detecting their user agent. Because of this, we can spoof the user agent of another browser version and operating system, and this allows web developers to quickly get access to those alternate variations of a sites source code. For the purposes here, we’ll achieve this from the command line by using curl.
Read more »

What an awesome Mac setup this is… connected to those three 30″ vertically oriented displays is a Mac Pro under that desk. I’m going to assume this is an iOS developer considering there are code editors open on screen, not to mention the six iPhones under all the displays.

If you’re wondering, rotating a Macs screen orientation is just a matter of holding down Command+Option when you open the Displays panel in System Preferences, but if your monitors don’t have a way to stand sideways that won’t do you much good (you can do this with the MacBook Pro & Air lineup too and just rest it on it’s side if you really want to).

This comes via Flickr, but I’m pretty sure I originally saw it on Twitter somewhere…

Thunderbolt MacBook Pro hardware will support dual external displays daisy-chained by compatible Thunderbolt hardware, according to an image that popped up on Apple’s website. This suggests the possibility that upcoming MacBook Air refresh may support the same feature.

This image comes from a recent post on MacRumors, where they noted that Apple accidentally leaked a new Thunderbolt LED display by posting images to Apple.com prior to an official launch. That is obviously a blunder on Apple’s part, but I found the daisy-chaining of Thunderbolt displays much more interesting than the fact that a new Cinema Display is coming out soon. MacRumors also points out that with current MBP models, only the 15″ and 17″ would support this ability, but hopefully refreshed MacBook Air’s will too.

Read more »

You may know by now that OS X Lion drops Rosetta support, that means old PowerPC apps will no longer run in Mac OS X 10.7 Lion.

List What Installed Apps Are Incompatible with OS X 10.7 Lion

For incompatible applications, all you are looking for is the “PowerPC” designation, here’s the easiest way to get a list of these installed on your Mac:

• Launch System Profiler (from Spotlight or hold down Option > Apple menu > System Profiler)
• Look for the “Software” menu on the left side Contents list
• Click on “Applications”
• Click on “Kind” to sort your installed applications by architecture type, scroll through the list until you see “PowerPC”

Anything listed as “PowerPC” will not run in 10.7 Lion. Intel and Universal apps will run just fine.

If you are completely dependent on one of these PPC apps, you may want to try a dual boot OS X 10.6 and 10.7 configuration, or just skip upgrading to Lion until a Lion-compatible version of that app is made available.

If you look in System Profiler and none of your apps are listed as PowerPC, you should have no compatibility issues. You can view the broader Mac OS X Lion system requirements if you haven’t done so already, but aside from requiring a 64-bit processor they are fairly lenient.

Read more »

iOS 4.3.4 update has been released by Apple, the update is aimed at patching the PDF vulnerability in iOS 4.3.3 that allowed JailbreakMe 3 to work from a web browser. Because of this, if you used a jailbreak like JailbreakMe 3, do not upgrade to iOS 4.3.4 or you will lose your jailbreak. Users who are not dependent on jailbreaking should upgrade to iOS 4.3.4 because it patches security holes.

The update has been pushed out for all iOS 4.3 compatible hardware, in addition to a special version of iOS 4.2.9 for iPhone 4 CDMA users. You can download the update directly from iTunes, or you can use the direct download links below to obtain IPSW files per device.

iOS 4.3.4 Direct Download Links

These are direct download links for IPSW from Apple’s servers:

• iPhone 4 (GSM)
• iPhone 4 (CDMA) (iOS 4.2.9)
• iPhone 3GS
• iPad 2 (WiFi)
• iPad 2 (GSM)
• iPad 2 (CDMA)
• iPad 1 (WiFi)
• iPod touch 3rd Gen
• iPod touch 4th Gen

If you have any trouble downloading the firmware, right-click and ‘Save as’ and be sure the file downloads as a .ipsw and not .zip. After you have the proper file, hold Option (Mac) or Shift (Mac OS X) and click on the restore button within iTunes. You can read more about using IPSW files here if you are unsure.

Have you ever wondered specifically what processor was being used on a Mac, including processor type and CPU speed? It’s actually quite easy to retrieve CPU information from the command line in Mac OS X, though the commands to use to get the processor information may be unfamiliar to many.

We’ll show two ways to grab a Macs CPU details from the command line of MacOS and Mac OS X. These tricks work on virtually all Mac OS versions and CPU architecture types.

Read more »

We’ve all been waiting for it, we’re seeing the Lion apps pop-up on the App Store, and Lion has been said to launch alongside new MacBook Airs, so they must be due out any minute now right? Close, AllThingsD says their sources have confirmed the new MacBook Air’s are arriving “late next week” and to “look for an announcement Thursday or Friday“.

Admittedly, AllThingsD’s article seemed a little vague, but before you jump to conclusions that they are randomly guessing, their executive editor Kara Swisher chimed in to directly address any skepticism in their articles comments:

“We never guess. You’ll see.” is about as strong of a statement as one could make to address the doubters. To put some further bite into that language, All Things Digital’s Kara Swisher and Walt Mossberg are known to have tipsters inside Apple, and have both even interviewed Steve Jobs directly on numerous occasions:
Read more »

Remember that classic Sesame Street song “Everyone Makes Mistakes”? Your sister and your brother and your dad and mother too? Well even Apple does too, at least in regards to their website stock photos.

In an amusing picture featured on the Apple Store’s Parallels Desktop 6 page, the Parallels USB installer stick is jammed into, well, the Ethernet port, which is several ports away from the proper USB location on a unibody MacBook Pro 15″ model. Oops.

This is almost as funny as the four-eared cat engraved on the iPad. I’m sure the image will get fixed quickly, and to be fair, this could be a generic product shot provided by Parallels or a third party, so it may not be Apple’s mistake at all.

Thanks for sending this in Scott

Read more »

One of the most highly desired features of iOS by anyone who shares an iPad is the ability to have multiple user accounts. This would allow parents to share iPads with their kids, friends to share with friends, and me to share the iPad with my girlfriend, and everyone could have their own custom springboard, app settings, wallpapers, and settings without interfering with others.

Multi-user accounts won’t be appearing officially in iOS anytime soon – as far as anyone knows – but if you jailbreak your iPad you can get an app from Cydia that does allow you to access and switch between multiple user accounts on the iPad right now.

Side note: if you’re new to jailbreaking but want to try this out, the absolute easiest jailbreak method for iPad and iPad 2 is by using JailbreakMe 3 with iOS 4.3.3, it’s entirely web-based at jailbreakme.com and as simple as it gets, just be sure to backup your iPad before starting.

The app is called iUsers and here’s how to download and use it:

• Launch Cydia and add “cydia.iblogeek.com” as a repository
• Search for iUsers

After you’ve downloaded iUsers, you add and switch user accounts with:

• Tap on Settings > Extensions > iUsers
• Tap “Add User” and enter a name, passcode, and choose to give them full admin access or not
• To switch user accounts, go to your iPad lock screen and tap on the Accounts button in the corner to bring up the user selector, shown in the screenshot up top

I came across this app on MacStories and they caution that iUsers might not work well with backups because it reboots Springboard to activate, but if you’re cool with that risk then this is a nice add-on. I have to say that of all the new features that iOS 5 introduces that eliminate the need for a jailbreak, this is one that Apple really should include in future iOS versions, it’s just too useful not to.

A demonstration video of iUsers is embedded below:

Read more »

Spotify, the extraordinarily popular streaming music service that took Europe by storm, has just launched in the USA. Currently it’s open by invite-only, but no big deal, we have a handful of invites to give away, so here’s how to get in the drawing.

Enter to Win a Spotify Invite from Us!

Here’s all you need to do to enter:

1. Follow @osxdaily on Twitter (if you don’t follow us we can’t direct message you an invite)
2. Tweet the following: “I want a @Spotify Invite from @osxdaily because ______” (give any reason you want a Spotify invite)

We will select winners at random and we’re going to give them all away today by 8pm PST, so hurry up if you want a chance. The drawing is only open to US residents, because the codes only work for US residents and EU residents already have Spotify anyway.

Update: Check your Direct Messages on Twitter, we’ve sent out a ton of invites. Stay tuned, if we have any more we’ll send those out too!

Read more »

Despite the fact that today is (was) the speculative launch day, OS X Lion has yet to appear. Nevermind that though, the good news is that Apple is rapidly accepting Lion-ready apps to the Mac App Store, indicating that a launch will be very soon.

If you’ve been following along here, we pointed out earlier in the week that Apple had just recently began accepting Lion apps to be reviewed for the Mac App Store, which cast some doubt on a launch this week. Additionally, we cited AppleInsider who suggested that Lion was pushed back to the “week of July 21st” due to some last minute security issues, and separately, we’d also been hearing that Lion would be launched next week, but the reliability of those sources has yet to be determined (no offense people) so just take that info with a grain of salt. Here’s what we said, which also touches on what “Lion-ready” means for OS X apps:

Independently, we have heard chatter of a July 19th or July 22 launch for Lion, but like all other claims on a specific launch date, they appear to be mostly speculative. The only certainty is that Apple appears to maintain a fluid timeline for the Lion release, but putting the launch off a week or two would give Apple plenty of time to approve Lion-compatible apps for the Mac App Store. Among other things, Lion compatibility means 64-bit architecture and also generally includes support for Lion-specific features like Versions and Full Screen apps.

As you can see in the screenshot above from the app WordCrasher, some of the Lion-ready apps on the Mac App Store specifically point out support for fullscreen mode, Resume, and Versions.

For it’s part, Apple has thus far announced simply that Lion will be released in July on the Mac App Store, but has yet to provide a specific day when 10.7 would be widely available.

Update: In addition to WordCrasher, BusyCal, Cruz, Pilot eLog, Harmony Worship, ShortCuts, SwordSoft Layout, and many more have also been added to the App Store with Lion support.

Need to know exactly when your Mac was last booted, put to sleep, or woke from sleep? You can get precise information about boot and sleep times directly from the command line, which can be invaluable for anything from troubleshooting various Mac problems to scheduling scripts, or even for your own forensic purposes to determine when a computer was last used.

Each of these command strings requires input into the Terminal, that application can be found in /Applications/Utilities/ or launched from Spotlight or Launchpad. We’ll assume you have some experience with the command line, though copying and pasting the command strings will work just fine.

Read more »