Developer opera is announcing the release of the latest build of the iNdependence application. This Mac OS X app is based on the Cocoa application programming environment (API), and will provide users with a means of jailbreak activation, SSH installation, and ringtone/wallpaper/application installation on their iPhones. Here are the updates leading up to version 1.2.3:

•  Version 1.2.3:
• This version fixes a number of bugs in version 1.2.2, makes 1.1.1 activation a bit easier, and also adds the ability to have 3rd party applications show up in SpringBoard when using the 1.1.1 phone firmware. If you have previously used iNdependence version 1.2.2 to jailbreak/activate a 1.1.1 phone, and want to use 3rd party applications, use the included SpringBoardPatcher application.
• Version 1.2.2:
• This version works with phone firmware 1.1.1, although the activation/jailbreak process is a bit more complicated now. The documentation has been moved from the README file into the Help menu within the application itself, so please read through that before asking questions.
• Please note that if you have used anySIM or other free SIM unlocking solutions (anything except for the iPhoneSimFree solution), and you upgrade to 1.1.1, it will wipe out the SIM unlock and render the phone and text message part of your phone inoperable. Everything else will work though.
• Notes:
• This program does not work with the iPod Touch [You'll need iJailbreak for that]
  
• This program will not perform a SIM unlock. However, it will activate your phone with any type of SIM card.
• Starting with version 1.1.1 (and higher), iNdepdendence has been updated to work with iTunes 7.4. Do not use previous versions of iNdependence with iTunes 7.4 as it (in combination with a bad iTunes restore) could cause your phone to endlessly reboot!
  

Users who have further questions regarding this application will want to visit opera's site for further information (via the source link).

Download: iNdependence v1.2.3

The first release of iJailbreak for the iPod Touch is here. For those who are new with the "jailbreaking" scene, it was first started by Niacin, Dre, Martyn, NerveGas, and the rest of their team. They had created a preliminary jailbreak for the iPhone and iPod Touch. The release today is of iJailbreak v0.2.1 - a jailbreaking application built on the preliminary hack from last week.

iJailbreak is a program that you run on your Mac OS X Tiger - yeah, as for now, the Power PC users would have to sit and wait a bit -  so that you can basically "free up" you iPod Touch to allow third party applications. What's interesting here is that it was coded by AriX, a 13 year old!

You can download the app below and install it on your Mac. Just be careful with working on this as there have already been reports of freeze ups. If anything happens, you can still always restore your iPod back to factory default settings using iTunes.

Download: iJailbreak v0.2.1

A lot of people who are the proud owners of an iMac aren't satisfied with just serving one master, so to speak. Thanks to the Boot Camp utility developed by Apple Inc., iMac users are given the opportunity to run Windows based applications through a separate partition on their hard drives.

Unfortunately, a lot of problems have been surfacing when it comes to running their dual-OS iMacs properly. These were most commonly found on computers that used NVIDIA's MXM slot format for the 24-inch iMacs. However, word from AppleInsider is that testers from Apple are validating a small patch that can solve these hiccups in the system.

Customers are having an especially hard time convincing customer support that these glitches in their systems were inherent to the iMac and not just a glitch within Boot Camp. Also, because Boot Camp is considered a beta when run under Mac OS X Tiger, it receives no official technical support from Apple.

The new patch confirms that the system failures can be controlled through software alone and its success depends largely whether the testers can isolate the remaining bugs in the system. Labeled as "iMac MXM Updater 1.0," the new patch has yet to have a release date, but with the advent of the new Mac OS X Leopard this October, the MXM updater will have the opportunity to be tested on the newer operating system as well.

Reports have it that Apple has already finalized all of the features for its next operating system Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard. We also got word that its current OS, Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger, has just received its final maintenance and security updates.

This is consistent to earlier reports that Leopard has finally reached the release candidate stage. Furthermore, AppleInsider points out that Apple has started giving out hand-outs and training materials to its staff to prepare for the Leopard launch.

According to speculations, Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard will be available in the week of October 22 with October 26 targeted as the official launch. Meanwhile, the above mentioned updates come in two packages - build 8S161 for Power PC Macs and build 8S2161 for Intel Macs.

These two focused primarily on Dashboard with fixes provided on the software's underlying Webkit foundation and number-oriented widgets. Apple, however, keeps mum on the matter. The only official things dished out by the company are the seeds update for Leopard named 9A557/9A559 designed to fix wireless networking and RAW image viewing.

Move over Mr. Green Duckie! The popular Windows IM client that is Trillian is now headed to the Mac OS X platform. Now how's that for some good news for the Apple fanatics? Yes, there's Adium - which I hold so dear to my heart, BTW - but the prospect of getting Trillian as well is still something worth gushing over. This goes to show that more and more applications are "porting" their way to Mac.

Cerulean Studios, the guys developing the software, have been able to retain the core functions of Trillian as it is on Windows, Flash, and iPhone. But what's going to be different with the Mac OS X version is that it is re-written from scratch on Objective-C and Cocoa. They've managed to already come up with an alpha version, and it's still going under tests. If you want to be part of the testing pool, you can jump in on the fun via the Read link below, where you can get more details.

Meanwhile, everyone else - Adium fans included - is excited to see the public version for Trillian on Mac. There's no info on when Cerulean Studios will release it, but you can bet your Duckie, we'll be right on it with updates.

For those of us waiting on pins and needles for the release of the highly-anticipated Mac OS X Leopard, here's some good news that should put to rest some nagging worries: Apple has recently rolled out a new seed update to developers, one that takes care of a few bugs in the system as well as test some new features for the Mac OS itself.

The seed update, named 9A557/9A559, contains fixes to the wireless networking and RAW image viewing in the development build of Mac OS X Leopard. Not only that, but it also tests some new features in the Software Update Mechanism itself. This is a great follow-up to the last seeded update, 9A559, that included a host of bug fixes and UI tweaks. Note that this update does not change the Leopard seed number.

While we have yet to see an actual retail build of the Mac OS X Leopard, it's certainly great that Apple's taking steps to eliminate any and all bugs.

 

Here's another Apple for gravity to toy with. If your love for Apple's industry-spurring MessagePad in the past decade or in 2004's D: All Things Digital exposition, then this bit of news might rekindle that flame. CEO and creative spark Steve Jobs once hinted at that same event how they were proud of an unreleased product he simply named "an Apple PDA."

Newton MessagePad. If there's anything new to develop in the days that the Apple iPhone is enjoying much success in Western hemisphere, then it would be Apple's PDA with multi-touch technology. AppleInsider reported that they were clued in about the PDA project inside Apple, and it was said that it experienced a few halts due to development focus on the iPhone.

But now that the iPhone's out and successors are already in development, engineers have returned to the PDA development process, or that's what is believed. Sharing similarities with the iPod Touch and iPhone, the new PDA is said to have an integrated version of Mac OS X Leopard.

Other claimed features include a 720 x 480 liquid crystal display, covering almost the entire surface of an ultra-thin "slate" about 50% larger than the iPhone. And pushing further into multi-touch technology, the PDA would promote drag-and-drop and cope-and-paste mechanics, to spur the features' adoption.

Headplay is probably every couch potato's dream. Imagine a TV. Now imagine being able to take it anywhere and everywhere you go (except perhaps in the shower), and being able to watch movies or play games on it anytime you want. That's the concept for the new "Personal Cinema System" device, Headplay.

Headplay is a head-mounted device; basically, a TV you wear on your head. You can connect it to your gaming consoles, your DVD Player, your iPod, your PC, and maybe your Betamax player if it hasn't choked on dust yet. If it has a video out function, Headplay can most probably display it. You can also plug in a memory stick and Headplay can run the media files - movies, videos, and images - with its own built-in player.

Once you're behind the lenses of Headplay it's pretty easy to just relax and go dead to the world around you. It's nothing but you and the screen, with the stereo sounds blocking off everything else. It's like your own movie screen inside your living room.

To read the complete review of Headplay - what it is, what it does, how it plays on Microsoft's Xbox 360, Sony's PlayStation 3, and Nintendo' Wii on it - click on the link for the full article.

 

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.

It was initially reported that Apple recently seeded Leopard 9A528d. Now MacRumors reports that Leopard 9A559 is being made available to ADC members for further testing. So far, there are two known issues that the Cupertino-based company must address.

First is an upgrade issue from Tiger to Leopard on Power PC systems. Details were vague on what exactly goes on when such a process is attempted, but but we'll give you an update as soon as we find out.

The second concerns incompatibility issues with HP printers. Driver issues seem to be at the core of this one, and a fix is said to be coming in. Apple must now fast-track Leopard finalization to beat the October shipping deadlines to make good on its promise after the initial delay of the new OS last April.