So, a third update to the  iPhone called iPhone 3G [S] where s = speed, as if iPhone wasn`t fast enough. Either ways, its coming out June 19th and people are more excited than ever … Why ? here are some reasons to cheer on

1. Pricing

   Ok here is the deal.
   iPhone 3G [s] 16GB – $199
   iPhone 3G [s] 32GB – $299
   What is Apple thinking, I can still remember when iPhone 4GB (2G) costed a bomb. Either ways, less price is always good for the consumer (Without the Operator Strings Attached). By the time this baby hits India, it`ll be costing around $700-$800 (which would also require a contract with the Operator )

2. 3MP AutoFocus Camera with Video Recording

   I always felt iPhone’s camera was one of the best camera’s amongst all its competitor although it was just 2MP.
   Now Apple is offering 3MP Autofocus, which can automatically switch to Macro mode with any object around 10cm away from the camera. Also this baby can record VIDEO, Perfect

3. Same Size, Same Weight as iPhone 3G

   Added features but not an ounce more

4. Digital Compass

   Now this is something new which I never thought would be built in a phone . Either way, it doesn’t hurt to have an extra feature when your phone can already play music, click pictures, GPS, Web etc etc…

5. Very Resistant !

   It seems this iPhone is highly resistant to water, oil since it has a new outer body. Now you don`t need to worry when you “accidently” drop your drinks on your phone.

6. iPhone OS 3.0

   Yeh, it will be OS 3.0 powered so there are lot of accessibility features. Some include complete sentence recognition, multiplayer gaming, read aloud text etc.

The iPhone 3G [s] has plenty of more features including a fitness program to keep track of your calories !

Frankly its not a VERY huge update to the existing iPhone 3G. Rumors are that the new iPhone 3G [s] still won`t allow you to transfer files via bluetooth and lacks A2DP i.e playing audio wirelessly to your bluetooth stereo headset.

and YES, its coming this June 19th,

Click Here to know about the iPhone 3G [s] Specs

Updated : v1.1
Some users have reported that after installing firmware 1.1.4, the phone doesnt detect the SIM. In this case, the baseband has to be reverted back to the old one. So you have to download one more software called KiPhone and 2 extra steps have been added to show how its done i.e Step 5 and Step 6.

You might be wondering, why I am writing a tutorial about Downgrading an iPhone’s firmware, well 3 days back I got an iPhone 2G from a friend. It was running v2.0 firmware. Since v2.0 firmware doesn`t support the good’ol Installer (Installer : An application used to download and install a wide variety of applications packages hosted online. Something similar to Itunes App Store except this is free . Ofcourse data transmission charges are applicable as per your network), I decided to downgrade the firmware to 1.1.4 since there are lots of applications available for download on 1.1.4.

Anyways I decided to run a check on google to find the perfect method to downgrade the firmware and what results were quite disappointing. There were millions of methods and barely any of them worked. (I tried quite a few) So this tutorial is for people like me who wasted hours trying to downgrade their iPhone firmwares but don`t have a clue on how to go about it.

Warning : Vision Master Designs is not responsible, if in any way your phone gets damaged after following this tutorial/procedure. This procedure worked fine for me and so I am posting a simple workaround for people struggling to find a solution on downgrading their phones.
This Procedure is for the 1st generation iPhones

By the way, thanks to apple, your phone can always be restored via iTunes(in the locked state), if anything goes wrong. This Procedure works for both v2.0.0 and v2.0.1

If any queries, you can always post a comment. So read on !

First of, you require the following Softwares.

1. Apple iTunes 7.5 : Click Here for a direct Link from Apple
2. ZiPhone 3.0 : Used to Jailbreak,Unlock,Activate and downgrade baseband if necessary, with just a click of a button.
   Click Here to Download the Windows version
   Click Here to Download the MAC version
3. KiPhone : Download KiPhone to help you restore your iphone’s baseband version.
   For Windows – Click Here
   For Mac – Click Here
4. Firmware 1.1.4 : Click Here to download

Note : If you have any other version of iTunes installed i.e apart from 7.5, please uninstall it !! Even though you have the latest version of iTunes (i.e 7.7.1) please uninstall it and install iTunes 7.5. Also Delete the iTunes Library.itl located in My Documents -> My Music -> iTunes.
In Windows Vista C:\Users\username\Music\iTunes.

Step 1

Assuming you have installed iTunes 7.5 and rebooted your computer. Open up the taskmanager i.e Ctrl+Alt+Del and goto processes. End Task iTunesHelper.exe.

Step 2

Connect the iphone via the USB cable. See whether iTunes detects the iPhone. Either ways, whether it detects the phone or not, open up iTunes. Now you have to put your iPhone into DFU mode.

Step 2.1 – DFU MODE

This is very important. Please note that there are 2 modes in which your iPhone can be put on while restoring any firmware.

1. Recovery Mode : This is the mode where you see the cable connector with the itunes logo image on the iPhone. Your iPhone will display the following image on its screen.

   

2. DFU Mode : This mode is used while flashing your iPhone with a new firmware or a old firmware. It is independent of iTunes as well. Most people have the problem of entering into the DFU mode. The main way to distinguish between Recovery mode and the DFU mode is, from the screen of the iPhone.
   In DFU mode, the screen is completely blank unlike recovery mode.

   Method to get into DFU mode :

   1. Please first switch of your fone.
   2. See to your fone is connected to your computer. Start iTunes.
   3. Press the home button and the sleep/wake button together. Keep both of them pressed. Start counting till 10
   4. After you finish counting till 10, release from the sleep/wake button !! only the sleep/wake button. But please keep your home button still pressed !
   5. Keep the home button pressed till you see the following screen on your iTunes.

      

Step 3

Click OK. Now keep your “Shift” Key pressed and click on the Restore button. You`ll see that a browse window popped up. Select the iPhone1,1_1.1.4_4A102_Restore.ipsw which we downloaded.
Click on Ok ! You`ll see that the firmware file is being Extracted and Installed.
Finally during the Verification Stage, you will encounter an error. (Most probably 10xx error)

Note : As long is it is not a 16xx error, there is nothing to worry about. If you encounter any of the 16xx errors, then there is a 90% chance that you are not using the correct iTunes version.

Step 4

After you encounter the 10xx error, you will notice the screen of iPhone is that of the “Recovery Mode” i.e you`ll see the above Recovery mode image on the screen of your iPhone.
Provided you see this image on your iPhone, Restore the firmware again. !

Thats right, restore the firmware once again.

Keep the shift key pressed and then select the firmware file and restore AGAIN ! –> Very Important

Step 5

If you encounter the same error after the second restore, no problem. Quit iTunes.
Now you have the 1.1.4 firmware with the wrong baseband. To correct it, Open KiPhone. Please unzip all the files into a folder before starting Kiphone.
Run KiPhone with options
Debug Boot – CHECKED
iErase – CHECKED
downgrade – UNCHECKED

Step 6

Once you have performed the task with kiphone, run Itunes 7.5 again and restore the 1.1.4 firmware once again. Now the firmware with the correct baseband will be written. You may have to put your phone into recovery mode/DFU mode if its not being detected by iTunes. Finally to Unlock the iphone follow Step 7.

Step 7

Open up ZiPhone 3.0. Click on “Do it ALL” as shown below.

You`ll see lot of white text scrolling by, once the procedure is finished, you will have a UNLOCKED, JAILBROKEN iPhone with firmware 1.1.4.

You will notice that, ZiPhone automatically installs Installer

You can use installer to install various applications.

In the next post, I`ll tell you how to access the iPhone via SSH and install applications via SSH.
Also I`ll give a list of most wanted applications on the iPhone. Till then Cya

Congratulations !

So the hype is finally over…After a gruelling wait of 22 days from the first world wide launch of the iPhone 3G, iPhone 3G was finally launched in INDIA and some select countries on 23rd August (2nd Worldwide launch). I may be a bit late in informing this news, but this post is more than just a report reporting the launch of the most awaited gadget in India.

iPhone 3G is locked to the 2 of the Country’s major telecom giants viz. Airtel, Vodafone. Both have launched the phone with high speculations and *ahem* very high price ! The iPhone 3G here costs Rs.31000 – 8GB(Black) Model and Rs.36100 – 16GB(Black/White) Model, thats approximately $740 and $860.

Currently there is no software which directly unlocks the iPhone 3G, but lets hope someone soon makes a breakthrough.

Vodafone and Airtel both have some attractive schemes along with buying the iPhone 3G. Some important information on iPhone 3G’s warranty, if the iPhone 3G is unlocked or so within the first year of the contract, then Warranty is VOID.

Airtel has also tied up with Apple to bring the APPSTORE here in India, and create Operator-Specific applications. iPhone 3G running on other networks won`t be able to use apps specially designed to run only on a Airtel Connection.

For

I really don`t have the words to express. This phone is the most innovative one in its category. We have seen many touchscreen phones before. but this revolutionized the concept of a mobile phone. There are more advanced phones than this, but the launch of iphone cracked open a new era of touchscreen computing for other manufacturers as well.
So many phones have come out as ‘iPhone Killers’, that just shows the the authority of this phone in the market.

But just to name a few of the prime features

1. iPhone3G supports 3G. Currently India doesn`t have 3G support, but by mid 2009, 3G services are expected to start.
2. GPS Support.
3. 3.5″ 16M-color TFT display with a resolution of 480 x 320 pixels
4. Ipod and Video
5. Faster than 1st gen iPhone
6. TV-out port

Flaws

I`ll tell you, there are people who hate the iPhone. I couldn`t believe it. I love this device for its looks and innovation. But are only ‘looks’ of prime importance ??

1. No A2DP. I don`t know how many people use bluetooth stereo headsets, but I am one of those who use it. I bought a SE DS-220 to be used with my SE K550@W610 and it works like a charm. I love it. But with iPhone 3G, you can`t use it .
2. Cannot transfer files via bluetooth.
   I hope this can be fixed in the future firmware upgrades from Apple.
3. Cannot forward SMS messages.
   There are 3rd party apps who do this.
4. No Video Recording
   There are 3rd party apps who do this.
5. 2MegaPixel Camera. No autofocus, no settings
   Rs31K and I would expect atleast 3.2MP.
6. Cannot remove battery
7. No Java Support
8. No support for office documents
9. No copy/paste functionality
   What was apple thinking !?
10. Safari browser doesn’t support Flash,it also doesn’t have a download manager

Pricing of IPhone 3G – The Biggest Flaw in India

• Frankly speaking, the price of Iphone 3G is not justified. In the U.S the phone is heavily subsidized by the carrier giant AT&T. The 8GB model was being offered at $199. But most people don`t realize that the customer will be bound to a contract for 2 years with the minimum monthly bill ranging anywhere between $50-$75+ depending on the usage. BTW initially while buying, you also have to pay $36 as activation fee + $30 for any data plan + some minimum tariff plan.

  If your maths is good you can do the calculations for yourself. Initally itself, for a 8GB model you have to shell out minimum of $325. Then add your monthly bills to it.
  You`ll find they end up paying more than us here in INDIA.

  However, AT&T allows the subscriber to cancel his/her subscription with AT&T and retain the phone on a condition of using their services for a month(30 days) and paying an ETF(Early Termination Fee). $175 is the EFT.
  So lets do some calculations.
  Minimum amount you`ll be paying to get your IPhone3G with AT&T is $325
  + EFT i.e $175.
  + 1 month usage
  = approx $560

  So in the end you`ll be getting your unlocked IPhone3g for about $560 = Rs.23000 approx @ Rs.41/$.

• While in India you pay $740 for the IPhone3g and upon that the phone will be locked to a carrier for a 12 Months !!. I guess the high rice may also be due to the high service taxes,duties imposed by our government.

Verdict

Personally, I feel the IPhone3G is not worth the amount it is being sold here in INDIA. Its a great device and I wanted to buy one when it was released, but the price has been the main factor which made me change my decision of buying the phone.

You can ask someone abroad to get you an iPhone3G because it`ll be any day cheaper. Currently the response towards buying an iPhone 3G has not been that great with both the operators. Hopefully we can expect a price dip in about a month or so.

By the way, I saw an Ad in the newspaper where RelianceDigital claims they have iPhone 3G’s for sale. I am a bit curious. I don`t know whether that is true, but I`ll surely check it out an let you all know.

Right now, I am considering to buy a HTC Diamond, which has better specs than the iPhone 3G and retails for about Rs.27000 locked to Airtel (Rs.26000 unlocked grey version). But before buying, I`ll do some more research on the iPhone 3G’s prices and let you guys know as well.

Regards.