The more the merrier, we say (unless it's dinner guests). For the readers who've been keeping up on the matter of iPhone hacks, we'll be reporting on two recently found methods of unlocking your mobile:

The first way is a Do-It-Yourself hardware hack by George Hotz, and will have iPhone owners opening up their mobile. Before you get cracking, remember to have these items handy before heading over to George's blog (here) for the full instructions:

• An iPhone
• Some trusty case opener tools
• A soldering iron
• Fine pitch wire
• An unlock switch

You will also need to download several programming binaries to go along with the hardware hack - we've provided for them here. The tools below include certain software that you might need from Steps 5-8 of the hack (again, check Hotz's site for specific instructions). Now, before you get all gung-ho about this, keep in mind that this hack involves plenty of soldering, and will most likely brick your iPhone if you're not absolutely careful. You have been warned. George is hoping to have a simplified hack method ready by next week - hopefully, it won't be hardware-based.

Download: iPhone Hack Binaries (George Hotz)

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The software-based hack is available for reading in the Full Article

 

Have you fired up your Adium messenger recently? Well, I did just a few hours ago, and lo and behold, it's a version update! The Adium ducks are now quacking up to version 1.1! Although the previous update was released just a month ago, Adium v1.1 has actually been in the making for about a year now.

In fact, one of the biggest changes in this version comes all the way from 2006, built on a student project in the Google Summer of Code. The project has been incorporated into Adium v1.1 in the form of PSMTabBarControl, which allows you to customize your tabbing preferences on the fly. Here's the lowdown of that feature:

• You can arrange your tabs on any side of the message view, not just the bottom. Tabs are arranged vertically when you put them on the left or right edge of the window and horizontally when you put them on the top or bottom.
• Tabs handle overflow better by presenting a chevron (») menu, just like toolbars do.
• Tabs are now spring-loaded, so that if you drag something to a tab that isn't active, it will activate, so that you can position the thing you're dragging precisely within the inputline.
• You can have each tab display the number of unread messages, if any.

Of course, there's more to this, but the Adium team is encouraging all of us to discover the other new toolbar tweaks. Other notes from the changelog include the usual bug fixes and improvements. Aside from it being prettier and faster, there's also the following:

• Changes in the contact list, such as people coming online and going offline, animate smoothly.
• The contact list's ability to hide like the Dock at the edge of the screen has been improved.
• A new type of AdiumXtra, the menu bar icon xtra, has been created to let you customize the appearance of Adiumy in your menu bar; you can download AdiumMenuBarIcons packs from AdiumXtras.com.
• Buzz on Yahoo! and nudge on MSN are now fully supported.
• AIM DirectConnect should be more reliable and less memory intensive; it is now automatically initiated as needed.
• You can now import accounts and chat transcripts from iChat.
• Adium now warns you if you run Adium from the disk image. This will especially benefit new Mac users who aren't accustomed to working with disk images.
• Right-to-left text is handled property on MSN.

Download: Adium v1.1

If you're one of the lucky few to have an iPhone snuggled comfortably in your pocket or purse, and you're also one of the millions trekking the digital realms of Blizzard's World of Warcraft - here's something to satisfy both your main cravings in one shot: the World of WarCraft theme for the iPhone, courtesy of Dimos (Darkspear - H).

For a theme, it's definitely well-made, as it not only replaces the various icons with those from the game, it goes the extra mile of making the replacements relevant. For instance, the phone icon is replaced by the Hearthstone icon - and it's a common conception in WoW's RP servers that the Hearthstone itself is the reason why players are able to talk to each other via chat channels.

It's a small detail, to be frank, but it's the small details that can make or break things like these - and that extra consideration is always welcome.

Kudos to Dimos for letting iPhone users take a bit of Azeroth with them every time they step out. You can download the link to the theme pack via the link below.

Download: World of Warcraft iPhone Theme

If you are Apple, it's only logical for you to take a very good care of your iTunes business. After all, this particular online music retailer is the third biggest in the U.S. today. Just before the month of May ended, Apple released iTunes 7.2. This time, prior to the launch of the much-awaited iPhone, the Cupertino-based company decided to roll out build 7.3.

Needless to say, this update is connected to the Apple's new mobile phone. Here is the complete changelog for iTunes 7.3 as provided by Apple itself:

• Activate your iPhone service
• Sync iPhone with your music, movies, TV shows, and more
• Wirelessly share digital photos from any computer in your home with Apple TV

There are two versions of iTunes 7.3 - one for Mac users that is around 33.8MB in side, and another for Windows-based consumers (47.4MB). If you want to activate the iPhone service, please take note that you should be running at least Mac OS 10.4.10 or Windows 2000 with Service Pack 4.

Our link below should take you to Apple's download page for iTunes 7.3 Mac version. The link for the Windows build can be found at the bottom of Apple's page.

 

Do you know exactly what Apple's iPhone can do and how to access all of its features? Some consumers might be familiar with those already but seeing that it's still a few days away since the phone's official launch, we believe that all of us still have to learn a thing or two.

For the rest of us who weren't privy to that kind of insider info, we now have the option of taking a guided tour of the iPhone. The tour starts with an explanation of all the parts of the gadget. It then gets interesting after that since the video explains how to access all the features of the iPhone as well as shows a visual guide on how to do so.

They've done some pretty amazing stuff with this product, but it still poses the question of whether or not it is worth the expected retail price. To be quite honest though, after seeing all the features, it feels that the features Apple included is quite worth it.

Download the video. Check it out and tell us what you think about it. A little reminder though, the size of the download is around 173 MB.

Download: iPhone Guided Tour

 

At the rare times that you'd have to call Apple Support, you just might encounter a simple problem of recalling all those important numbers and details that might be asked of you. Especially if your computer is FUBAR'ed, then how the hell could you access all those info in your system? If you're the type to store all of your password notes and system serial numbers on your Dashboard care of some widget, then you're in trouble.

That's why Apple Support is extending its arms and helping you out. They've come up with a My Mac Cheat Sheet that you can print out and fill up. Sometimes, having a back-up hard copy of all your details is more useful than simply keeping it in 1s and 0s. Just make sure you heed the advice on top of the cheat sheet and never forget to hide it.

Download: My Mac Cheat Sheet pdf

Frovil Heavy Industries has just released an updated version for their nifty Apple application called Spotlaser. If this is your first time to encounter this app, what it basically does is that it makes file-searching much easier by creating Smart Folders and using a more advanced search engine.

With a user-friendly user interface, Spotlaser will search through your entire Mac for the files you need. You just have to type in the file/s' name, content, metadata, or any combination of the three at the search bar. And the great thing about it is that it's absolutely free!

As for system requirements, you're gonna need Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger) or later for you to run Spotlaser. Further information about Spotlaser can be found in Frovil's site, which you can access via the read link below.

Download: Spotlaser v1.3.1

Been having speed issues with Safari, eh? Yep, we know how annoying it is when you wait forever for the pages to load. So to help you out in that department, we're gonna tell you guys about the wonder that is Safari Speed 2.1.

Now a lot of you are probably using Safari Speed 2 already so we probably don't have to delve into that whole thing. But suffice to say, a lot of users have been complaining about some of that OS's features that slow down your computer's speed. To fix that, here's v2.1 which will help you load pages faster and customize your interface easier (to mention a few). Here are some more of the things you can expect in Safari Speed 2.1:

• faster page loading
• allows you to disable favorite icons and cache
• turn on and off Safari's debug menu
• PDF support
• easily switch interface between metal and aqua
• combines the features of previous applications
• support for multiple localizations
  

SafariSpeed 2.1 is actually a free upgrade for licensed users of SafariSpeed 2. And because SafariSpeed 2 is a shareware, you will be allowed to use it 11 times before they require you to register. Registration for SafariSpeed costs US$ 8 and can be paid via Scifience's online store.

Download: [Safari Speed 2.1 Trial Version]

Hailed as the application that could give QuickTime Pro a run for its money, Eric Brunstad's iRecord is a free recording application for Mac OS X that allows you to record videos and capture images. And did we mention that it's free?

Here are a few how-to's:

• Recording videos - just click the red button, end of discussion. Hehe, seriously though, that's all you need to do! To end recording, just press the red button again and the recorded footage will show up on your desktop.
• Capturing images - Drag the picture displayed in the window to the desktop, a TIFF image will be saved and will show up on your desktop.
  

Real easy, right? Oh and you're not obliged or anything, but for the kind souls out there who happen to like and appreciate this app, you can donate to good old Eric so he can continue working on iRecord and other projects that they'll host on Mind Sprocket.

Download: [iRecord v1.0]

If we had something like this for those dance machines in the arcades, our lives would be so much better. The Potion Factory team has finished with version 1.0 of their music arrangement app for the Mac, known as Tangerine!

Tangerine!, now with the exclamation point, is an iTunes plug-in that automatically arranges your music based on the beats per minute (BPM) of the songs. Unlike arrangement by genre, this lets you make playlists that the app deems to be moving with a certain beat, so if you want to go jogging with a quick beat, you might find everything from electronica to "Tunak Tunak Tun" on your final playlist . (A Daler Mehndi classic, by the way... - ed.)

Unlike the free beta versions, however, the latest version is now neither in beta testing nor free. It's currently priced at US$ 24.95, so only serious beatmasters may want to apply. You'll also need to use Mac OS X 10.4 to run the plug-in. Still, if you've got a hankering to figure out which songs move as fast as "Total Eclipse of the Heart," then this would be the app for you.