Amazon Kindle 2 Arrived and Google Books on Cell Phones

Amazon has released Kindle 2, the new Kindle e-book reader.

Kindle 2, the latest wireless reading device, weighing about 290 grams, which is lighter than a typical paperback and as thin as most magazines. Kindle has a new 5-way controller, enabling precise on-screen navigation for selecting text to highlight or looking up words. Kindle is completely wireless and ready to use right out of the box, with no other setup needed. Kindle also features a new Text-to-Speech feature that can read out text for the user.

Kindle 2 holds over 1,500 books. The Kindle 2 is pried at $359 (approx Rs. 17400), and will be released on February 24.

Amazon had recently announced that it is working on making Kindle e-books available on a range of cell phones also, the details of when and which phones are not yet available yet.

Google also announced recently that 1.5 million books titles available from Google Book Search service can now be read on Apple iPhone and the phones running Google’s Android operating system. For now that is G1 by T-Mobile.

BlackBerry Storm parts pricier than iPhone's

Market research firm iSuppli has taken apart the BlackBerry Storm and discovered that the sum of its parts is worth more than those of Apple's iPhone 3G.

Components used to build new Research In Motion smartphone cost about $203, according to iSuppli. Verizon Wireless, the exclusive carrier of the Storm, sells the device for $199 after rebates and with a two-year service contract. Meanwhile, the total cost of components in Apple's 8-gigabyte iPhone 3G, which was introduced last summer, is $174. AT&T, the iPhone's exclusive carrier, sells the 8GB device for $199 with a two-year service contract.

These total device prices don't include the cost of software, licensing of patents, or distribution, but rather just the cost of the actual physical components. While the roughly $29 difference may not seem like much, it certainly adds up after millions of phones are sold.

Neither Verizon nor RIM has disclosed how many BlackBerry Storms have been sold, but published reports suggest that RIM sold about 500,000 of the devices during the first month the phone was on sale. Apple sold 1.1 million units of the first-generation iPhone, by comparison, in the first two months it was on the market. And sales after that quickly ramped up.

So why are Storm's components more expensive than those of the iPhone?

There are a likely several reasons. For one, the iPhone 3G is a second-generation product, and Apple may be getting better component prices from suppliers. But iSuppli also notes that the Storm is a more complicated device that requires more components. According to the research firm, the Storm's total component count is 1,177, of which 151 are mechanical in nature. The iPhone 3G includes 1,116 components.

The Storm also packs in more wireless technologies than the iPhone. For example, it offers the EV-DO air standard, along with CDMA 2000, GSM, WCDMA, and HSDPA. This allows the device to roam around the world on different carrier networks.

Another reason the Storm may be more expensive is because it's using an expensive chip from Qualcomm. The Qualcomm MSM7600 baseband processor costs about $35 and accounts for 17.2 percent of the Storm's total component cost.

The Storm is also more expensive than other RIM devices, such as the BlackBerry Bold, which costs about $177 to build. The Bold uses Marvell Technology Group's PXA9xx Integrated Baseband processor, which is less expensive than the Qualcomm chip. But iSuppli says the cost differential can mainly be attributed to the Storm's touchscreen and its supporting electronics.

The Storm, RIM's first touch-screen device, was supposed to be Verizon's iPhone killer. But customers who bought the device are complaining of buggy software and hardware glitches. A Wall Street Journal article published earlier this week suggests that Verizon and RIM rushed the device to market, perhaps before it was really ready. The newspaper notes that Jim Balsillie, RIM's co-CEO, said the companies reached the Black Friday deadline "by the skin of their teeth," after they had missed a planned October debut.

New iPhone firmware reveals code for next model

What will Apple's next iPhone look like? The only changes might be under the hood.
(Credit: Apple)

As might be expected, it doesn't seem that the iPhone 3G will be Apple's last iPhone.

MacRumors has discovered code inside the OS X 2.2.1 firmware released earlier this week that describes an "IPhone 2,1" model. Previous discoveries have shown that Apple uses this labeling nomenclature for both the iPhone and the iPod Touch.

The original iPhone was labeled "1,1", while the iPhone 3G was model "1,2." The iPod Touch has already advanced to a second-generation design, as the iPod Touch released at September's music event received the "2,1" label inside its firmware.

Little else is known about iPhone "2,1." It's reasonable to assume that since the iPod Touch number changed significantly with the addition of a new processor, that such an upgrade might be coming to the next iPhone. P.A. Semi has been working on iPhone chips since last spring, and other evidence has surfaced indicating that Apple might be planning to upgrade the iPhone's graphics sometime in the near future.

Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller seemed to imply earlier this year that Apple was locked into a June/July upgrade cycle with the iPhone, noting that Macworld's January date conflicted with a number of Apple's regular product cycles. So, perhaps another summer iPhone release is on tap.

How to Unlock your iPhone 3G

The iPhone world has been clamoring for this one for awhile. And what better way to start the new year then by playing around with the Dev Team's newest creation--an official unlock for the iPhone 3G. We'll run through the basics of this wonderful little tool and show you exactly how you can jailbreak and unlock your phone. You'll be able to run as many third-party applications as you want on your device. And more importantly, you'll be able to use your iPhone on any cell phone carrier you want.

What's an Unlock?

Unlocking your phone allows you to use it on any carrier you want, not just AT&T. You'll pop out your AT&T SIM card and insert the SIM card of a different carrier. The iPhone doesn't allow you to do this normally, so a little bit of hacking is involved.

Is it safe? Will I break my iPhone?

Possibly. There's always the worry that the unlocking process will royally screw up your phone--but the only way to deal with that is to read the situations of others who have attempted the procedure before you. As long as you follow the instructions closely, you will greatly reduce your chances of bricking (screwing up) your iPhone. Beyond that, once you've unlocked your iPhone, you'll want to approach new iPhone updates with suspicion. Don't just click "update" in iTunes--wait for the various iPhone hackers to release (and safely test) new tools that will allow you to redo the same procedure on the new firmware.

Is it easy to do? Hacking an iPhone sounds difficult!

It is. It used to be difficult, but a number of one-button (or two-button) programs have emerged that greatly simplify the process of doing evil things to your iPhone. Don't worry. Even a cat could unlock an iPhone at this point.

How do I do it?

If you want a picture step-by-step, this link will walk you through the 3G unlock. But for the most part, unlocking a 3G iPhone is easy enough that we'll just need a few steps to tell you how to do it. Here we go!

1) Upgrade your iPhone to the 2.2 Firmware

This one's easy. Fire up iTunes and update your phone to the latest update, 2.2. If you've already done this, then you are one step ahead of the game. If not, you accomplish this task by clicking the "Update" button. Magic! Be sure to backup/sync your phone prior to doing so, and write down any note, programs, or settings you want to keep!

2) Pwn your Phone

Download Quickpwn. This is the application you'll use to jailbreak your phone prior to unlocking.

Connect your iPhone to your PC all USB-style and fire up Quickpwn. The program is as self-explanatory as a jailbreaking application could be. Select your phone. Select your phone's firmware (which should appear naturally, as you did the update through iTunes. If not, download it here). Install Cydia or Installer (we prefer the former). Follow the directions. Enjoy a hot cup of tea while you wait.

3) Install the application repositories

If you opted to install Cydia, fire up the application on your newly jailbroken iPhone and add the following application repository: http://apt9.yellowsn0w.com/

If you went for Installer, add this repository: http://i.yellowsn0w.com/

If you have no idea how to add a repository, fiddle around in each application's settings and options menus. It'll be there, trust us.

4) Install yellowsn0w

Use either Cydia or Installer to install yellowsn0w. Once the server finally lets you do so (it's getting hammered right now), run the application. Then turn off your iPhone. Grab a paper-clip and follow these instructions to pop out your SIM card. Slap in the SIM card from the new carrier you want to use. Turn on your iPhone. If the carrier doesn't pop up after a bit of a wait, repeat the process to remove the SIM and try doing it again.

5) Crazy Troubleshooting

Switching to T-Mobile? Turn off 3G on your iPhone settings (under Networking) before switching SIM cards.

Turn off any PINs on your SIM card before making the switch.

Make sure you're using the latest version of yellowsn0w. It should update in the Cydia/Installer menus automatically, but you can always make sure that the available version matches the newly released version by hitting up the official Dev Team blog.

i'll be monitoring the 3G unlock all day, and i'll let you know if we come across anything else! And you can always leave comments about the success / destruction of your iPhone 3G below.

How to Convert Youtube Videos to Apple iPhone Format

If you remember our last post on different iPhone Video Formats we mentioned that the video files are generally of H.264 format and when you are watching youtube videos they are not of H.264 format, hence you cannot directly transfer youtube videos or movies.

Using Videora you can convert all types of video files (avi, divx, xvid, flv, x264, vob, mpeg, DVD’s, YouTube, etc.) into MPEG-4, H.264 video format which you can play on the Apple iPhone. This process is as simple as converting itunes to Mp3 format.

How to Convert Youtube Videos to Apple iPhone Format

If you remember our last post on different iPhone Video Formats we mentioned that the video files are generally of H.264 format and when you are watching youtube videos they are not of H.264 format, hence you cannot directly transfer youtube videos or movies.

Using Videora you can convert all types of video files (avi, divx, xvid, flv, x264, vob, mpeg, DVD’s, YouTube, etc.) into MPEG-4, H.264 video format which you can play on the Apple iPhone. This process is as simple as converting itunes to Mp3 format.