It’s been out for only 6 days, and already the iPhone/iPod Touch firmware version 1.1.3 has been jailbroken by the iPhone Dev Team. According to Jonathan Zdziarski, the developer of the NES.app application for the iPhone and iPod touch and also a member of the iPhone Dev Team, the jailbreak is software-based and was created by himself and six other members. From Jonathan’s page:

“I wasn’t going to post anything, but since there is a lot of confusion surrounding the 1.1.3 jailbreak, I thought I’d clear a few misconceptions up. The iPhone-Elite team and the iPhone/iTouch Dev teams have recently merged and collaborated on a software jailbreak for v1.1.3. I’ve posted some screenshots here and here. Overall, it took the work of about seven members, including myself, to craft this jailbreak - it was a true team effort. It has been previously speculated that this followed up a previous hardware jailbreak, but this is not the case. The software method we used involves some fancy command-line work, however a few other team members have already begun writing scripts to perform most of the difficult stuff, dramatically reducing the amount of time and brain power you’ll need to invest. As to why it hasn’t been released yet, we’re actually a bit torn about the subject. Some of us would like to see it released, but at the end of the day it really does make sense to hang onto the method until next month when Apple’s SDK is released.

According to the post, the jailbreak will apparently not be released soon, apparently not until past the SDK is released (end of February). This could be disappointing for those who upgraded to the 1.1.3 firmware from jailbroken devices, but we can hope that when the SDK is released there will be no need for jailbreak applications.

The last jailbreak for the iPhone and iPod Touch was 1.1.2, which required a downgrade to 1.1.1 and back to 1.1.2. There was also a variety of methods to jailbreak the iPhone and iPod Touch after this, including the TIFF exploit in Safari. With the 1.1.3 update, Apple has made it more difficult to jailbreak the devices, not unlike the catch-up game that PSP users are playing with Sony right now.

[via iPhone Atlas]

It’s been.. 3 minutes since the keynote has ended and the Macbook Air is already on the Apple Site

10:09: Macbook Air. “The World’s Thinnest Notebook”

10:10: Comparing to Sony TZ notebooks, 3 lbs — too much compromise with other features.

10:12: Macbook Air is 0.16″ to 0.76″ thick. It fits inside an envelope.

10:12: Magnetic Latch, 13.3″ widescreen

10:13: LED backlit, iSight, Macbook-like keyboard but with light sensor, multi-touch trackpad

thanks to Gizmodo for the pic

10:15: Showing off trackpad, moving windows, rotating windows, etc.

10:16: 1.8″ hard drive, 80 GB hard drive standard, 64 GB SSD as an option.

10:17: 1.6 GHz standard, 1.8 GHz option — kinda slow, isn’t it?

10:20: 45 Watt MagSafe, 1 USB 2.0 Port, Micro-DVI, Audio Out

10:21: 802.11n + Bluetooth 2.1

10:22: New feature called Remote Disc for installing things via CDs and DVDs, Macbook Air has no optical drive, Superdrive accessory for $99.

10:23: 5 hours of battery life

10:24: 2GB RAM standard

10:25: $1799, ships in two weeks, preorder today

10:27: Environmentally friendly, recyclable case, mercury and lead free display, BFR free circuit boards, etc.

A quick check shows that the Macbook Air 1.8 GHz with 64GB SSD drive on the Apple Store is $3098. Ouchies. That’s pretty much specced out, besides the addition of a Superdrive (USB plug-in) for $99, and Ethernet Adapter for $49.

An overview of the Air will be written this afternoon. Check in later for it and more overviews on the new iPhone/iPod Touch features, Apple TV features, and iTunes Movie Rentals.

So here we are. It’s time for Macworld 2008. Refresh your browsers and get ready for an exciting morning. The keynote starts at 9 AM PST.

8:15 AM: People are beginning to get press badges for the keynote. No one has been allowed in yet, as far as I know.

8:50 AM: Press is about to be let in to the Center.

9:00 AM: People are in the Center now, Coldplay playing while we wait for the Stevester.

9:05 AM: Starting the keynote in a minute or so..

9:13 AM: Lights beginning to dim.

9:14: Get a Mac Ad playing..

9:14: Steve is on stage, talking about Leopard selling 5 million copies, almost 20% of installed base has upgraded.

9:17: Microsoft Office 2008 is shipping as of today.

9:19: Time Machine is good, but not good enough for notebooks. New product announced: Time Capsule

9:19: Time Capsule is Airport Express with build in hard drive for backups.

9:20: Two versions announced: 500 gb - $299, 1 TB - $499.

9:20: Showing Mac/PC ad for Time Machine

9:21: Second thing: iPhone

9:21: iPhone been out on market for 200 days, 4 million sold. 20,000 sold per day average

9:23: iPhone holds around 20% of Smartphone market in US

9:25: Talking about SDK coming out in February, “we wanted to give everybody something today too”… New features announced: Web Clips, Maps with GPS location, home screen customization.. etc, (just like 1.1.3 firmware)

9:28: Still demoing all the different features, SMS texting, etc.

9:30: Showing “Add to home screen” feature

9:31: Up to 9 Webclips on your home screen at a time

9:33: Showing off Locate Me feature on Google Maps, uses Google and Skyhook wireless

9:34: Update 1.1.3 is available today.
9:35: Mail, Maps, Stocks, Notes, and Weather are now available for iPod Touch (finally). $20 upgrade for iPod Touch users (WTF?)

9:35: Third Thing: iTunes

9:36: 4 billion songs sold as of last week, 20 million sold on Christmas day. 125 million TV shows sold. 7 million movies.

>

9:37: iTunes Movie Rentals

9:38: Every major movie studio is on board, Touchstone, Miramax, MGM, Lionsgate, Newline, Fox, WB, Disney, Paramount, Universal, Sony.

9:40: Over 1000 movies available. Watch on Macs, PCs. all iPods and iPhones on the market.

9:40: Watch the movies instantly.

9:41: Library titles are $2.99, New Releases $3.99.

9:42: Launches today in U.S., International is later in the year. Updates will follow for iPods/iPhones and iTunes.

9:45: Apple TV take two, no computer requirement, rent movies, DVD and HD + 5.1 Surround sound. Audio and Video podcasts, and photos from Flickr (woo) and .Mac.

9:46: Syncs with iTunes, HD rentals are $4.99, 100 titles available today

9:47: Showing demo of Apple TV

9:49: Preview movies from interface, see what other renters of that movie have rented.

9:51: Showing a scene from Die Hard, third time we’ve seen Justin Long today.

9:52: Searching through iTunes Movies

9:53: Showing off new UI for Apple TV

9:56: Showing Photos feature, stream directly off of .Mac servers

9:58: Showing Flickr on Apple TV, really nice looking.

10:00: Flickr causing some technical difficulties.. demo is now over, reviewing the features

10:01: Apple TV update is a free software update. Price has been dropped $70 to $229. New software update will be out in two weeks.

10:02: Welcoming CEO of Fox to stage, Jim Gianopulos.

10:05: Apple is reinventing the movie rental model

10:07: Talking about DVDs, Family Guy DVD has a iTunes compatible copy.

10:07: Stevester is back on stage.

10:08: Fourth Thing: There’s something in the air..

10:09: Macbook Air. “The World’s Thinnest Notebook”

10:10: Comparing to Sony TZ notebooks, 3 lbs — too much compromise with other features.

10:12: Macbook Air is 0.16″ to 0.76″ thick. It fits inside an envelope.

10:12: Magnetic Latch, 13.3″ widescreen

10:13: LED backlit, iSight, Macbook-like keyboard but with light sensor, multi-touch trackpad

thanks to Gizmodo for the pic

10:15: Showing off trackpad, moving windows, rotating windows, etc.

10:16: 1.8″ hard drive, 80 GB hard drive standard, 64 GB SSD as an option.

10:17: 1.6 GHz standard, 1.8 GHz option — kinda slow, isn’t it?

10:18: Paul Otellini, CEO of Intel taking stage, talking about processor size.

10:19: Steve back on stage

10:20: 45 Watt MagSafe, 1 USB 2.0 Port, Micro-DVI, Audio Out

10:21: 802.11n + Bluetooth 2.1

10:22: New feature called Remote Disc for installing things via CDs and DVDs, Macbook Air has no optical drive, Superdrive accessory for $99.

10:23: 5 hours of battery life

10:24: 2GB RAM standard

10:25: $1799, ships in two weeks, preorder today

10:25: Showing ad for Air

10:27: Environmentally friendly, recyclable case, mercury and lead free display, BFR free circuit boards, etc.

10:29: Steve–First two weeks of 2008, we have updated MAc Pro, introduced Time Capsule and Macbook Air, updated iPhone, iPod Touch, and Apple TV, and added movie rentals for iTunes.

10:31: Randy Newman about to perform

Well, that seems like it is it. Thanks for all of you who stayed for the whole thing, and an overview of all the new products will be up this afternoon.

As some of you may know already, I will not be attending the Macworld Keynote this year. Unfortunately, the requirements for a press outfit to attend the keynote does not allow Apple Reporter to attend. Specifically, there must be two writers at Apple Reporter, and it must get at least 1k readers each day. Obviously these aren’t goals that are being met right now, but perhaps next year Apple Reporter will be there.

But onto the keynote. Tomorrow at 9 AM PST (12 PM EST), Steve Jobs will begin the annual keynote that has the entire internet predicting. Since we won’t be there, we will be Liveblogging the Liveblogging as it were, and by that I mean liveblogging what I’m hearing in the Apple blogs around the internet.

It’s going to be a busy morning for the entire blogosphere. I’d like to thank Engadget, TUAW, and Gizmodo in advance, as they will probably be the blogs I’ll be liveblogging. Obviously those sites will have more info since they will be there, but I hope that you will stick around to read it here.

For those uninitiated to the Keynote procedure, it is a good idea to refresh this page every 30 seconds to a minute to get the most up to date announcements. Check back at this page tomorrow before the keynote begins so you can stay on top of the announcements right from the beginning. Overviews of the product announcements will be posted in the afternoon after the keynote. Have fun reading!

MACWORLD LIVE COVERAGE CAN BE FOUND HERE

NetNewsWire, one of the best RSS readers for Mac OS X, has been updated to version 3.1, and along with that, the software is now completely free.

NetNewsWire was created by Brent Simmons, and version 1.0 was released in February of 2003. In 2005, a company called NewsGator purchased Ranchero Software, Simmons’ company, and their application NetNewsWire. In June 2007, NetNewsWire 3.0 was released, and added integration with iLife products and Growl support, as well as a new interface. As of version 3.1 (released January 10, 2008), NetNewsWire is completely freeware, and offers support with Bloglines and NewsGator’s RSS syndication service, as well as a tabbed browser built-in and an interface quite similar to Apple’s Mail client. Brent was also the creator of Marsedit, a popular blogging client for Mac OS X that was purchased by Red Sweater Software in February 2007.

According to an Ars Technica interview, Simmons, creator of NNW, is “totally excited about NetNewsWire going free! It’s an ideal situation, a developer’s dream come true: I get paid to work on software I love, and everybody can use that software. How sweet!” It appears that NewsGator is now offering all of their RSS readers for free, such as NetNewsWire and FeedDemon.

NetNewsWire has been briefly covered before on Apple Reporter in the post “What’s on your Dock?” where it was shown that I myself use NetNewsWire. I use it to gather all my Mac related feeds (my news source for writing), such as Macworld and TUAW.

NetNewsWire can be downloaded at the NetNewsWire homepage at NewsGator.

Apple, along with the Mac Pro, have updated their Xserve server product today. From the Apple press release:

“Starting at just $2,999, the new Xserve has up to two Quad-Core 3.0 GHz Intel Xeon processors for 8-core performance, a new server architecture, faster front side buses, faster memory, up to 3TB of internal storage and two PCI Express 2.0 expansion slots for greater performance and flexibility. “With the latest Intel processors and no client access licenses, Xserve offers unbeatable server performance and value for under $3,000,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing.”

Not much else to say, I don’t know much about Xserve. It is interesting to note that the Mac Pro and Xserve were both updated in the middle of the CES (Consumer Electronics Show), because of Intel’s announcement that the Penryn is now shipping with computers. If you haven’t caught it yet, the Mac Pro and Xserve contain the new Penryn chips.

Remember, only 6 days till Macworld. If Apple is announcing products right before it, they must have enough things to keep us entertained at the Jobsnote.

Apple has refreshed another of their products, the Mac Pro. The is now an 8-core machine (that’s 2 quad-core processors now).

Yeah, it’s pretty much awesome looking. The new features, straight from the Mothership themselves:

“two of Intel’s new 45 nanometer Quad-Core Xeon processors running up to 3.2 GHz, powerful new graphics and up to 4TB of internal storage, offering the ideal system for creative professionals, 3D digital content creators and scientists.”

Here’s the basic configuration, without any features added:

• Two 2.8 Quad-Core Intel Zeon Processors
• Two GB of RAM (2 x 1GB)
• One 320GB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/s Hard Drive
• One ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT 256MB Video Card
• One 16x SuperDrive
• Apple Mighty Mouse and New Apple Keyboard
• Mac OS X Leopard

The new basic configuration is $2,799 shipped, or as low as $67 a month with financing.

It was announced today that Andrea Jung, CEO of Avon Products, Inc. has joined Apple’s Board of Directors. Jung is the most recent addition to Apple’s Board of Directors, the previous being Dr. Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google.

The announcement is important because it shows that Apple has diversity in its higher ranks. Throughout the years, Apple has been criticized for their lack of diversity in the higher-levels of their corporation. This addition shows that Apple is not just run by a bunch of shriveled up old men. From the Stevester himself:

““Andrea is a strong CEO and marketer and we look forward to benefiting from her insights and experience as a member of Apple’s board. Andrea will be our eighth board member, and I think she will add a new dimension to our already lively board discussions.”

Here’s a little info about Jung straight from the Apple press release:

“At Avon, Andrea is responsible for developing and executing all of the company’s long-term growth strategies, launching new brand initiatives, developing earnings opportunities for women worldwide, and defining Avon as the premier direct seller of beauty products. She was elected president of global marketing in 1996, an executive vice president in 1997, president and a director of the company in 1998, chief operating officer from 1998 to 1999, chief executive officer in 1999 and chairman of the board in 2001. Previously, she was executive vice president of Neiman Marcus and a senior vice president for I. Magnin.

Andrea is a magna cum laude graduate of Princeton University, is fluent in Mandarin and was the first woman elected chair of the Cosmetic, Toiletry, and Fragrance Association in March 2001, a role she held until early 2005.”

The article at Apple then goes on to praise Avon for its beauty products (iLotion, anyone?) and then of course, praising themselves (”Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s..”).

The current (January 7th, 2007) members of the Board of Directors at Apple are as follows:

Bill Campbell

Chairman and former CEO

Intuit Corp.

Millard Drexler

Chairman and CEO

J. Crew

Albert Gore Jr.

Former Vice President of the United States

Steve Jobs

CEO, Apple

Andrea Jung

Chairman and CEO, Avon Products

Arthur D. Levinson, Ph. D.

Chairman and CEO

Genentech

Dr. Eric Schmidt

CEO

Google

Jerry York

Chairman, President and CEO

Harwinton Capital

Thanks to money.cnn.com for providing the image provided to them by Avon.

Adium, arguably the best IM client for Mac, has been updated to version 1.2, adding features such as improved menus, improvements to Jabber support, better group chat and better Applescript support. From the Adium team:

“The Adium team is proud to announce the availability of Adium 1.2. This is a major feature release with a ton of fantastic improvements as well as a a ridiculous number of bug fixes. We’ve discussed many (but not all) of the new features themselves previously on the blog, including the improved Adium menu item and account management features, various and sundry improvements to Jabber support (including SSL certification authentication, server-supplied action support, and discovery services browsing), fixed Bonjour local area network messaging with file transfers, better group chat (conferencing), a completely rewritten Applescript dictionary which should lead to all sorts of powerful new interactions with other programs, and detachable groups. (One ‘advertised’ feature which did not make it into Adium 1.2 was MSN personal messages; development efforts for these are still in progress by the libpurple team. A future version of Adium will have this enhancement once it’s ready.)”

Next on the Adium team’s list of improvements are MSN personal messages (a favorite of MSN users), and eventually video chat. Adium has been covered on Apple Reporter before, as one of our “Apps of the Week”.

More info about Adium: (from the App of the Week post)

Adium is a chat program that was first developed in 2001 by college student Adam Iser. Since then, it has had a long and confusing developing cycle, involving name changes and version number mix-ups. As of this writing, Adium is at version 1.1.4, and is currently the most popular IM solution for Mac OS X. While there is virtually nothing wrong with it, one frequently requested feature is A/V chat, which is being worked on as I write this. Adium offers almost complete customization, from message styles to contact list windows, dock icons to sound sets. It is also open source, and completely free. Is there anything wrong with it?

Adium is available for download here.

Boy Genius Report reports (odd wording) that Jay-Z, who has recently retired as President of Def Jam Records, is apparently entering into a deal with Apple to start an iTunes record label. While the topic of an iTunes record label has been floating around for some time, it would seem that now would be the right time for Apple to launch their own label.

What’s interesting is that until around now, it would’ve been impossible for Apple to start their own label. The debacle between Apple Computer and Apple Corps. has begun to settle, and according to Paul McCartney, The Beatles’ collection of music will be on iTunes in the first quarter of 2008. This decision could be one of many settlements between the Apples, another of which apparently would be to allow Apple Computer to pursue a place in the record industry, at least more of a place then they have made with iTunes. According to Charles in the BGR comments:

“Apple Corps, the Beatles’ company, has an agreement since 1991 with Apple Inc. that Apple Inc. can never get into the music industry. They tried to sue Apple Inc. over iTunes, but the judge ruled in Apple Inc.’s favor. If Apple Inc. were to start a record label, that would be crossing the lines of their agreement.”

If the rumors are true, this would signify an entirely new venture by Apple, and perhaps would trump many, if not all of the other announcements at this year’s Macworld.

Ryan Block, editor of Engadget has posted his predictions about Macworld 2008. From the post:

“…a day doesn’t goes by I’m not asked at least a few times what inside dope I’ve got on what Apple’s introducing at Macworld. My stock response is (and always will be), “Everything I know is published on Engadget.” Now, I’m also not usually one to grasp at predictions (just not my thing), but what the hell. If you’re curious as to what I THINK — and not necessarily know — will go down at MW08, here’s the shortlist…”

Some of the predictions are pretty interesting, certainly things I wouldn’t think about, such as refreshes to the Cinema Display and different video outputs on the laptops. While Ryan has said that the list are guesses, I am sure that the chief editor of the most popular tech blog on the Internet is likely to know at least something about Macworld.

I’d like to put in my opinion on some of the items that Block addressed also.

Number 1 - iPhone SDK: The SDK, which has been promised by Jobs already, is sure to be given an official release date, as well as more insight into what the SDK really is. Hopefully the SDK will be powerful enough that Apple will have to continually shutdown third-party apps in every firmware update.

Number 2 - The Slim Laptop: Already been covered.

Number 3 - iPhone 2.0/3G: Something that everyone is pretty much expecting, the 3G iPhone has already been confirmed by the AT&T CEO, and Steve Jobs himself has said that the 3G iPhone will be out next year.

For the remainder of the predictions, you can go to Block’s site and read the predictions there.

Note: The above picture is a mockup from MacNewbTube that has been used in previous posts.

Happy New Year! It’s 2008, and that means Macworld is in about two weeks. Unfortunately, I will not be attending (Apple Reporter doesn’t meet the requirements for a media organization), but I will keep up with the big stories from Macworld, including Steve Job’s keynote on January 14th. Also, if readers wish to inform me of any news they’ve picked up on, you can email me at kristianfreemanATgmailDOTcom.

Products

2007 was a big year for Apple. All of us who have been waiting for the moment that Apple really broke into the mainstream were ecstatic when iTunes had reached 3 billion downloads on July 31st. We were amazed when the iPhone was released on June 29th to rave reviews. And like always, we were happy to see that the iPod was/is the best MP3 player out on the market, thanks to the release of the third generation iPod Nano, sixth generation iPod (classic), and iPod Touch.

Reputation

In 2006, Apple was pretty much known for the letter “i”. There was the iPod, iTunes, the iMac, if you saw something that started with that lower-case “i”, it had to do with Apple and one of their products. This year, Apple was more than just the creator of the iPod. Apple’s market share in the computer industry rose to 8.1%, and it is now the third most-selling computer vendor in the United States. With the release of the iPhone and new iPods, Apple’s stock (AAPL) rose to the highest they have been in 4 years this December. 2008 looks to be a great year for Apple’s reputation, if they continue on the streak they’ve been going on so far.

Macworld

Like I said earlier, Macworld is in less than two weeks. With the expected announcement of the Macbook Slim and a 3G iPhone, Macworld is sure to be a big hit. The Slim, one of the most anxiously awaited products in Apple’s lineup (behind any new iPhone, of course), will probably be one of Apple’s best-selling laptops, assuming it is announced. And since AT&T’s CEO Randall Stephenson has already been quoted as saying the 3G iPhone is in the works, it would be surprising if it wasn’t announced at Macworld, but more surprising if it wasn’t announced this year.

Apple has a lot going for them, and with another year of high sales, it seems they can do no wrong. 2007 was my first year of being an Apple fan and a Mac user, and I am eagerly waiting 2008 and the new products I can hopefully get. As a reporter, I’d like to say congratulations to Mr. Jobs and Apple in whole for another good year. Keep on keepin’ on.