TechGazing

Ever since it was released, jailbreaking the iPhone (releasing it from the restrictions placed by Apple and operators) has become a full-time industry. Although most consumers are content with what the iPhone offers, many have hacked it to be able to access applications and features not approved or supported by Apple and/or the operators offering the device. However, jailbreaking (as the process was called), was a tedious and risky process, taking hours, requiring users to hold certain buttons, and running the risk of rendering their iPhones useless. As a result, jailbreaking was relatively rare and handled generally by hackers who often charged a fee for jailbreaking an iPhone.

Well, that was in the past. Now, one can simply jailbreak an iPhone 3GS, 3G or iPhone 4 by going to a website on the phone. All one needs to do is open the Safari browser on one’s iPhone, and go to http://www.jailbreakme.com. The site will download some files and at the end of it all (generally about 15 minutes over a Wi-Fi connection), your handset will have been jailbroken and will be able to access apps not just from the Apple App Store, but also from Cydia, the app store which features stacks of apps from other developers, many of which have been rejected by Apple. You can even make your iPhone independent of your operator by downloading an app from Cydia, letting your iPhone work with just about any sim card. And if you do not like your iPhone after jailbreaking it, you can simply roll it back to a previous version by syncing it with iTunes.

There is, of course, a catch - the jailbreak works only on iPhones running iOS 4, and jailbreaking your device will result in voiding its warranty. Still, there are many people who will take the risk, just to get the opportunity of trying out more apps. We already have. It actually works.

The iPhone 4 might be attracting a lot of controversy over its signal reception, but it already has a fan in one of the biggest names in Bollywood - Amitabh Bachchan. The Big B made no secret of how much he likes the device when he recommended it to yet another Bollywood superstar, Shah Rukh Khan.

It all happened over Twitter with Shah Rukh tweeting: “iPad…iMac…nokia…kindle…so much wifi around me feel like a holographic 3d image of myself in space.Marconi we’ve come a long way baby.” Bachchan promptly responded: “shahrukh ! May I add to your wifi world of confusion - get the iphone4 .. It is just incredible ! Ha ha” Of course, we do wonder where Shah Rukh got a Kindle with WiFi (none officially exists), but even then, we doubt the iPhone 4 - or any tech device - has ever had a bigger endorsement. We do hope this will make Apple bring the device to India sooner than expected!

It is not really official, but the tech rumour market in India is abuzz with the news that the new iPhone, iPhone 4, will be seen in India in September. Both Vodafone and Airtel are expected to offer the phone to their users. The 16 GB model is likely to carry a price tag of around Rs 35,000, while the 32 GB model will cost about Rs 40,000. Those are stiff prices, in best iPhone tradition, and one can only hope that the service providers will come up with some subsidy, allowing users to get their hands on the phones for a lower price, while locking them in to a contract. Mind you, that did not happen with the iPhone 3G and 3GS. That said, there will be those who will be willing to shell out even Rs 40,000 for the latest edition of a phone that is being hailed as the best in the world, reception issues notwithstanding.

Apple has just addressed one of the biggest complainst about the iPhone - the absence of multi-tasking. The latest update to the iPhone OS, called iOS 4,brings multi-tasking to the device they call the Godphone as well as a host of other features, such as the option to change wallpapers (yep, believe it or not, you could not do so earlier), get all your e-mail in a unified mailbox, and organising apps in folders (once again, this was not available earlier). There are also significant improvements in terms of speed and battery consumption, as well as the addition of iBooks, Apple’s new e-book reader, although you still cannot purchase books directly from the Apple iBookstore in India.

The update is free and works on iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4 and the 3rd generation iPod touch. While iPhone 3G users can also update their phones, they will not be able to access most of the new features, most notably the multi-tasking. Mind you, at 378 MB, it is not exactly a small download. Still, it is well worth it, given the features it adds to what we think is the best phone in town.