iPhone on Tesco Mobile coming Dec 14th

I know I don't usually post tech blogs on here but my tech blog is currently down as I am sorting out moving host, so I thought I'd blog here until I get that sorted.

Anyway, Tesco have announced the date for the release of the Apple iPhone on their network as being Dec 14th. They have also released the pricing of the tariffs you can get with the iPhone

#You can get it on contract for just 12 months, the shortest contract-length for the iPhone with O2 and Orange on a minimum contract-length fo 18 months. Unlimited Web and WiFi (with BTOpenZone) for the length of the contract and Pay As You Go owners get free Web and WiFi for 12 months. There is also a 24-month contract available.


There are two tariffs to choose from for Pay Monthly. The cheapest tariff is only £20/month and with that you can get £60 worth of calls & text per month. Your other option is £60/month where you get can get 'unlimited calls & texts' (subject to fair usage policy, as always). The price of the iPhone on the 12-month contract is also more expensive than other networks for obvious reasons (12-month contract). Pay As You Go prices are the same as on O2.

Full tariff details below. You can also check out the Tesco website for more details.

Guide to Jailbreaking your iPhone

The first time I got my iPhone I decided to jailbreak it a week after purchase. I had no regrets in doing so. Loved the fact that I could cooler apps than those found in the App Store and install themes, I even created a few themes for myself. Then after a 2.2.1 (if I recall correctly), I didn't decide to re-jailbreak my iPhone. Why? I can't really say. Could have been to do with the fact that it was a hassle to reinstall all the apps I download through Cydia as there was no way to save and restore them? Or perhaps because it became a secondary device after I started to use the BlackBerry 8900 as my primary device? Either way didn't jailbreak it again.

Until now.

Since I have been using the iPhone again a bit more than before, I thought I'd give the jailbreak another try. And I have just successfully jailbroken my iPhone.....again. Since the process of doing it this time around was so much smoother and easier than the first time around I thought I'd share the process with you.

WARNING: jailbreaking your iPhone does void your warranty. The guys at Apple will not be too pleased if you brought them a jailbroken iPhone to fix. That said, unjailbreaking your iPhone is easy, just restore your phone back to default and that's the jailbreak gone. Proceed at your own risk but as long as you follow the instructions you should be fine.

Another note to point out is that the process below only jailbreaks your iPhone, it does not unlock your iPhone. What's the difference? Unlocking your phone means that you would like to put another network simcard into your iPhone in the future. If you're not too fussed about your network then what are you waiting for? Follow the steps to jailbreak your iPhone.


Step 1 - Make sure that you have iPhone update 3.1.2 installed. I also recommended to backup your device, in case you want to unjailbreak your phone in the future.
Step 2 - Download the jailbreak program from blackra1n.com.
Step 3 - Connect your iPhone to you PC if it is not already connected. Run the blackra1n program. It is recommended that you run the program from C:\ drive, so move the file from where you downloaded it to to your C:\ drive. (Note: If you are running Vista or Windows 7 you should run it in compatibility mode and as "Administrator." To do this right-click on the file, go to Properties, then click the "Compatibility" tab. Makre sure the "run this program in compatibility mode for:" checkbox is selected and choose Windows XP Service Pack 2 from the drop-down list. Click "OK" to close the window. Right-click to run as the Administrator).  When you run the program you will get a very simple window with a button that says "make it rain", as shown below:

Step 4 - Click the "make it rain" button to start the jailbreak process. The message will than change to "entering recovery...", then "running...", leave your iPhone to do its thing. Once the jailbreak is complete you will see a picture of geohot's face (the creator of blackra1n), then your device will reboot.
Step 5 - Once your device has rebooted, launch the blackra1n app on your iPhone (it's a black raindrop icon). From here you can pick which installer program you would like to install. I recommended Cydia and Rock. Icy is for those who want to unlock your device (and this is near impossible if you've already updated to firmware 3.1.2)

Step 6 - Your jailbreak is complete. Once you have installed your preferred program(s). Launch any one of them from your iPhone and enjoy the apps.

The above procedure can be used on MACs too, there is a MAC version that can be download from the blackra1n website.

A couple apps I recommend downloading to get you going are:

• Winterboard - so that you can install themes
• Intelliscreen - allows you to see calendar entries, sms, email messages and other things from the lock screen
• Backgrounder - allows you to run apps in the background
  

I also recommended signing up to a RockID to allow you to save all the jailbroken apps you download so that these can be restored after an update (I haven't had to use it yet so I don't know if this works but I've signed up and enabled the save feature in the settings for the Rock app).

Other things to note: If Apple release a firmware update and you update, this will unjailbreak the device. You may have to hold off updating your device firmware if one becomes available. Always read the Cydia or Rock messages before updating the firmware as and when they become available. You may have to wait until there is an update to the blackra1in app before updating your device.

There you have it. A quick and easy process to jailbreaking your iPhone. Go ahead and liberate your iPhone now.

Help! What phone?

I've got myself into a bit of a pickle. For the past 9 months I have been using the BlackBerry Currve 8900 as my primary device. Prior to that I was using the iPhone. I fell in love with BlackBerry after being introduced to the device while working as an O2 Guru. I still kept my iPhone as a secondary device as I regularly use some of the utility apps and used the iPod but never used it as a phone.

I have loved everything about the 8900, just the instantness of getting messages, IMs, Facebook messages, comments, etc. But lately I've found myself picking up the iPhone more frequently, mainly to use the apps, games, reading my RSS feeds, twitter updates. I've thought about going back to using the iPhone but after a long hard think I don't really want to go back to using the iPhone, I'm into the interface, the touch interface. I miss using the touchscreen. I keep thinking about putting my sim into the iPhone, there's a tiny urge to do so but something stops me and it's because of the push notification that I get from the BlackBerry that I'll miss. So, I'm looking at other touchscreen phones I could get instead. I've thought about the Nokia N97 as I did enjoy my Nokia N95, from QuickOffice to the camera and would like go back to Symbian. Then again I've thought about getting and Android phone, purely because I have not used the OS yet and there's the geek in me that wants to try it out. Then there's the BlackBerry Storm 2. It's a BlackBerry, which will provide with the things I currently have and it's a touchscreen.

There's too much choice and it's doing my head in a little bit. But the two strong contenders are the HTC Hero and the BlackBerry Storm 2, with the iPhone trying to sneek itself in there. I think the only reason this is the case is because the iPhone has great apps that use quite regularly that I can't get on the other two. Actually, I'm not sure about the HTC Hero but I know I can't get the apps on BlackBerry, heaven knows I've tried. What are the apps, you ask? eBay app, SquareSpace app, twitter app (well I can get a twitter app on the BlackBerry but it's so much easier browsing through them on a touchscreen) and games are generally more fun on a touchscreen.






I've weighed my options and had a look at prices but being a student, already strapped for cash, I can only dream of owning those phones - the HTC Hero or the Storm 2, that is.

What do you think? Which should I get? Anyone know where I could get any of the two phones quite cheap (student budget), unlocked? Suggestions welcome.