If you want to make your iPhone 3G close-focus and are brave enough to do it yourself, then you're in good luck. defor has posted a step-by-step how-to, and you'll just need a good sense to follow directions accurately and some stable hands.

If you have a jailbroken iPhone or iPod Touch, you'll want to pay attention to what Orb Networks has to say. They have a new service which allows you to watch live TV feeds on your unit. Too good to be true? Nah. A video that shows you how to get it today is on the full article. Watch it and believe.

Starting to feel jaded with your iPhone's default preference setting? We feel for you. The daily use of the iPhone can make one feel some what wishing for something new, the iPhone's SpringBoard App contains hidden preferences you can align to your taste.
 
Just head on over to the full article for more.

Thanks to the iPhone Firefly media service, you can stream your iPhone media library - audio (preferably) or video - over to iTunes on your computer, your neighbor's computer, or your buddy's computer. You'll need to sort through the settings to get the service to work, however, because while it looks like a simple, three-step process, it has hiccups (like many a hack and tweak).

First and foremost, anyone interested in streaming their media to an iTunes host will have to navigate to a site using the iPhone's Mobile Safari (we know, it looks like it's starting to become a fad). The address is the Read link below. This site has the files required to install Firefly on your iPhone's Installer.app.

Failure in this section often results to a web redirect or a download failure. If you manually enter the address at the Read link below, it should solve most of your problems. Once you run Installer.app, you now have the option to install Firefly. Do so, and prepare for the next step.

For this step, you'll need to consult your computers settings. Whether on Mac or PC, you'll need to run iTunes and set it up correctly. Head on over to the program preferences, enable sharing if you haven't already, enable "Look for shared library", and then configure your system's firewalls to accept proper incoming connections (easy peasy on Mac OS X Leopard).

Techies might want to get real down and dirty with ports and all for this one, but for a test run, a simple general permission is alright. Some firewalls come with application gateways, so you'll have to allow iTunes to communicate with other system processes or daemons in order to function.

With the firewall ready, your iPhone should now be letting its library be known as "shared", so try and navigate to that shared library in iTunes. You really can't miss it - it's labeled by the name of your iPhone. When you select it, you'll have to log in, so if you haven't messed with your media password, it should remain as "dottie" - even for Apple Software 1.1.1.

When you play a song, it should play through the speakers of your computer. Of course, not all situations are flawless, so don't hit yourself on the head if nothing is coming out of your speakers but static. This issues will need to be straightened out with a full-fledged guide - one thing we don't have our hands on yet. Stay glued to this space in case one comes up.

Apple is already basking in the success of OS X Leopard's launch, but it's not all roses for those who upgraded to the latest version of Mac OS X. A poster from Gizmodo encountered a rather pesky problem while in the process of trying to create a back up with the Time Machine application, but managed to come up with an easy solution.

He was trying to format the disk for backup use, but the disk was still in FAT32 system - the file format for Windows PC - even after formatting, rendering it useless for OS X Leopard. After making a few calls, he was able to make out a solution, all of which are thoroughly outlined and explained in case you encounter the same kind of problem.

Check out how to fix the disk formatting problem in the Read link!

New Leopard users who want more bang for their buck may want to try activating one of the missing features that should have made it into the final version of Leopard: the Star Wars hologram effect for iChat and PhotoBooth. We're not sure why these effects were cut our from the final version in the first place, but as long as we get them it doesn't matter, yes?

The steps needed to install or activate this awesome iChat effect involves a bit of tweaking, but the steps written by Mac Rumors poster elbows are thoroughly explained enough to guide even those unfamiliar with manipulating codes. In any case, the end result is worth it, so give it a try if you have Apple's OS X Leopard.


Check out the detailed steps in the Read link!

Apple has just released an iPhone Human Interface Guideline out into the web. This is basically a developer's FAQ for creating web applications optimized to run on their iPhone. Aside from providing for a run-through of the sort of file content that's available on the Apple Mobile, it also offers up guidelines for working with specific design issues on the said phone.

For the iPhone owners, this could be taken as a sign that the company's branching out to make the most of their phone's WiFi connectivity, and its OS. But while web apps optimized for the phone are already an exciting proposition, another clause included in the guide also grabbed our attention:

Note: Currently, developers create web applications for iPhone, not native applications. Therefore, this document focuses solely on the presentation of web applications and other web content on iPhone.

As it says, "currently." While it's too early to tell, are looking at the possibility of Apple releasing developer's kits for running native apps on the iPhone? It's not exactly a far-fetched idea at this point, given that we're already witness to plenty of homebrew applications (NES.app is just one example) for the mobile. Web developers interested in poring over the full document's details can access it via the read link below.

 

Because there's a way to unlock the iPhone, there's also a way to reverse that process. It was recently reported that Apple claimed a future firmware update could render an unlocked iPhone unusable, but the company apparently washed its hands off users who deliberately modified their phones against the stipulations put forth by Apple.

But just before the shining light from Heaven was no more, suddenly a "re-locking" guide rolls down the iPhone community's way, and everyone's hopeful again. If we let upgrade-or-die quarrels aside, this guide gives iPhone users a choice to get in line with the latest features, without compromising their third-party applications (limited by the extents of restore, of course).

The guide, though still quite iffy on the easy-to-follow end, has had some good feedback on re-locks and just about as many bad results. While the reason behind locking failures is still being figured out, you might want to stave off from re-locking (or updating, as the argument stands) until the success statistics feel more favorable to you.

Check the Read link below for the guide ad verbatim, which has been pointed toward the proper section for re-locking. Be aware that there is a fair chance of failing in the locking procedure and proceed with caution. The guide offers solution in Apple Mac OS X and Windows, whichever environment that suits (or is available to) you now.

Lifehacker.com has published a simple and easy-to-understand tutorial on how users can install third-party applications on the Apple iPhone. If you're an iPhone owner looking to get a taste of iPhone homebrew, then this might just be the tutorial you're looking for.

The first step in the tutorial involves "jailbreaking" the iPhone. This process allows users to proceed with the installation of third-party applications. Mac and Windows users have to use different software to do this, with the former using AppTapp Installer and the latter using iBrickr. Of course, these aren't covered by your iPhone's warranty, so it's strictly a "do this at your own risk" thing.

The tutorial not only includes the basic how-to it also lists a few of the more useful iPhone applications currently available. You can also check out a few of the third-party iPhone applications we've covered in the past by clicking here. You can check out the full tutorial by clicking on the Read link below.

The Apple iPhone doesn't support A2DP, which allows users to transmit stereo audio to Bluetooth headphones. However, Earle Davies, a reader from tuaw.com has found a way to make it work... to a certain degree.

We say to a certain degree because while you can get the music and sound to stream to the headset, the iPhone still plays audio though its built-in speakers at the same time.

If you still want to try it, switch on the headset and wait for your iPhone to recognize it. Once it does, go into the Visual Voicemail screen and tap the Audio button in the upper right.

You'll receive an audio selection dialog that lets you choose where to send the iPhone's audio. Select the Headset option, switch over to the iPod, play some music or a video and there you have it. Your iPhone is now streaming music to the headset.

Hopefully, Apple will develop its own A2DP bluetooth headset that will allow users to listen to their music on a headset. Until then, we'll probably be stuck with workarounds like this unless some enterprising coder can work out a way for us to do this much more easily.