Free Soft

Sanyo knows that some of us are still upset that the futuristic fictional universe of The Jetsons doesn't look like it'll come to pass, so they've thrown us a bone: a Wi-Fi digital picture frame that looks like it came straight out of Jane Jetson's foyer. The innards are pretty unexciting , with Windows CE and 256mb of onboard memory to complement a fairly standard set of picture frame capabilities, including a wide range of storage support, Picasa downloads and limited audio playback. The frame more than makes up for being a technological bore by looking completely amazing, in a retro-futurist kind of way.

It looks like it'll be Japan only for now, but expect about a $400 price tag if it ever makes its way over here. I'm not even sure Mr. Spacely could drop that much on a picture frame, though. [Sanyo via Akihabara]

Tagi: albo digital, george jetson, frame capabilities, digital picture frame, storage support, board memory, akihabara, mr spacely, innards, wi fi, price tag, sanyo, windows ce, home furnishings, ly, bore, jets, universe, japan, downloads

So now that it's out that Apple is spying on you, people have been clamoring for a way to hide your IMEI from the all-seeing eye of Apple's Stocks and Weather applications. These apps send your IMEI as well as your iPhone firmware version to Apple for their nefarious usage statistic processing.

This is a big deal, because the IMEI is sent in plaintext, over any Wi-fi network you may currently be connected to. So anyone listening on that network will be able to grab your IMEI and do stuff with it, like, um, yeah, I'm not sure they can do anything with it.

Until now you just had to avoid the Stocks and Weather apps and/or wrap your phone in tin foil to prevent them from reading your thoughts.

Concomitantly, I have produced a simple command-line utility to patch out the nefarious code from Stocks and Weather allowing you to check your portfolio and the weather without worrying about...

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Tagi: tin foil, imei, iphone, seeing eye, phe, wi fi, apps, stocks, weather, apple, command line utility

Thanks to the excellent work of the iPhone Dev Team and the porting work of Jay Freeman as well as the authors of 3Proxy, it is now possible to "tether" your iPhone 3G and use its Internet connection on your laptop.

Warning - Tethering your iPhone is against the iPhone data plan terms. AT&T could slap you with huge fees if you overuse this. I recommend only using it during emergencies.

Here's the basic rundown:
- Jailbreak your iPhone 3G
- Install 3Proxy and Terminal
- Create an ad-hoc Wi-fi network using your laptop
- Join the network with your iPhone
- Find the iPhone's IP address
- Open Terminal and run the proxy program
- Open Safari on your iPhone and open a web page
- Configure your browser to use the proxy

I will be using a Mac and Firefox to demonstrate,...

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Tagi: jay freeman, iphe, 3proxy, proxy program, open terminal, iphone, wi fi, rundown, firefox, 3g, emergencies, safari, amp, web page

Thanks to your positive feedback and reports, we proudly present the immediate availability of Installer 4.0b5.

What's new?

• Many visual enhancements and fixes in regards to source and packages display.
• Fixed an issue with failing installs with dependencies under some circumstances.
• Fixed a bug causing package information to be displayed incorrectly (size 0 bytes) on the first access, or when the custom information HTML page (such as packages from Big Boss' repository) was not displayed.
• When updating a package, and one of its dependencies also has an update available, the dependency will be updated as well.
• The package icons will only be downloaded when on the Wi-Fi to help you save on bandwidth.
• The repositories are being refreshed upon Installer.app launch so you always stay on the bleeding edge with the updates. This is exeperimental behavior and we're not yet sure it will make it to the final release.
• Fixed a script command Confirm that was returning invalid button index for the "OK" button.
  
• Lots and lots of both cosmetic and internal application core fixes that improve the overall performance, presentation and stability of the application.

Meanwhile, we have also took the opportunity and updated Community Sources package. It now includes a repository for modmyifone.com (which needs no introduction, imho), and iphone-notes.de that has BSD Subsystem and OpenSSH, as well as numerous carrier bundles and other useful stuff.

Tagi: iphe, community sources, other useful stuff, big boss, script command, bleeding edge, dependencies, wi fi, repositories, positive feedback, launch, imho, repository, enhancements, butt, bandwidth, circumstances

Just as we're coming to grips with the entire netbook phenomenon, low end manufacturer Coby comes up with something even lamer. "[Midget PCs] are smaller than a netbook but not THAT small." Midget PCs. Lovely.

What's makes a midget PC different than a netbook? If you listen to Coby's marketing director, they're a whole new category of computer meant for leaner times. As far as I can tell though, the PoqetMate-7 and PoqetMate-9 are just netbooks, albeit extremely cheap ones. Coby hasn't offered many specs to ponder, but the models, primarily differentiated by screen size (7in and 9in) will run Linux atop a Chinese Longsoon processor. Past that, I wouldn't expect much more than a Wi-Fi adapter and a few ports, bringing the PoqetMate in line with low-end netbooks like the Asus EeePC 701.

Coby plans to bring these to discount retailers, including traditionally computer-averse stores like Kroger and Rite-Aid, by March, making the PoqetMate-7 the first $100 computer to be widely available in the US. [AKIndi via TheGadgetSite]

Tagi: asus eeepc 701, netbook, coming to grips, coby, rite aid, kroger, wi fi, new category, category of computer, ports, hasn, laptop, models, linux, marketing