so, again – it’s apple who seems to release the forth generation of the popular iphone. this year, they were not able to keep this a very big secret…

last week the internet was flooded with a ton of exclusive leaks about apple’s new iphone 4g handset expected this june. this was all thanks to gizmodo, a us based technology news site who purchased the prototype handset from somebody who found it in a bar in san francisco a few weeks ago. read the full story here: http://gizmodo.com/5520438/how-apple-lost-the-next-iphone

apple iphone 4g closeup

original article: http://gizmodo.com/5520164/this-is-apples-next-iphone

nowadays, apple tries to get them into a lot of trouble – they claim that selling a stolen device is not allowed and so forth…let’s see…

previous rumor mockups (very nice lookin’ though):

rumor mockup apple iphone 4g

tested with garmin 775T successfully!

if you want to embed gps data into wordpress, there is a beautiful easy way to do this! check out the wordpress plugin at xml google maps!

use this wordpress plugin to visualize gpx data from a gps tracker including speed data and altitude information! parse kml files automatically and display the track  / route data on a google map – it just looks brilliant!

find some examples on the author’s page: www.matusz.ch

so far, so good! but: there is more! geotagging devices became affordable these days – to hook up a gps tracker to a digital camera (there is even cameras with built in gps – nikon P6000 i guess), enriches the pictures with the location information! cool right? why not persist this info forever directly in the picture – after years, one might not be able to remember where a picture was taken!

btw: playing around with decoupled (from the cam) gps loggers or trackers is a mess! the synchronization of gps data and pictures requires a syncing software and works by matching timestamps – not exact, not real-time, not recommended!

now, photographer might want to display the photos (if geotagged) on a google map – why else geo tag it, right? and here it coems: there is an integration of xml google maps plugin with another wordpress plugin available: nextgen gallery! and this is really awesome – just upload pictures with gps info to wordpress nextgen gallery and find this on your blog:

wordpress xml google maps plugin nextgen integration

example of nextgen integration with geotagged pictures: kateus

wordpress xml google maps plugin home: wordpress.org

read on:
blog.econsultant.com
www.bestwpthemez.com

here is the case:

the iphone:
apple iphone 3g 16gb white (bought 2008) with sim-lock (to one provider) was never jailbreaked or unlocked and always updated. latest firmware: 3.1.2 and baseband 05.11.07.

the goal:
just unlock it! so it’s more worth when selling, jailbreak yes or no, does not matter actually!

i looked around and found blackra1n.com and so much informations about this (baseband downgrade to 04.26.08 necessary with fuzzyband and much more outdated nonesense…)

here is how it works:

1. plug in your iphone to your pc or mac (and close itunes and/or other popping applications)
2. download blackra1n from blackra1n.com
3. run blackra1n
4. click “make it ra1n”
5. after your iphone rebooted, open the blackra1n app on your iphone
6. click Cydia (it should become the green check) and click install
7. after your iphone rebooted, open the blackra1n app on your iphone
8. click sn0w (it should become the green check) and click install

this is it. period. insert any sim card and have fun using your iphone and feel free installing other cydia or rock applications!

bottom line:
blackra1n RC3 dows it all for you – no need for downgrades or other stuff!

a screenshot of blackra1n RC3:

blackra1n RC3 iphone screenshot

firmware download links for 3.1.2:

• iPhone 3.1.2 download (iPhone1,1_3.1.2_7D11_Restore.ipsw, 241 MB)
• iPhone 3G 3.1.2 download (iPhone1,2_3.1.2_7D11_Restore.ipsw, 242 MB)
• iPhone 3GS 3.1.2 download (iPhone2,1_3.1.2_7D11_Restore.ipsw, 306 MB)

read more:
iphonejtag.blogspot.com
www.technonix.com
www.ihackintosh.com
www.redmondpie.com
www.technobuzz.net

ok, to be honest, this is a not rocket science. it is just another overpriced thingy – for the geeks inside us a must have. but it is kewl. it’s nice looking and it is doing its job. got one from a japanese store (loft) in bangkok for about 20 euros. pretty expensive. but if you do not like this – just go ahead, build your own box! the idea is simple and old. there are even already a couple of solutions out there, a few of them only integrated in a workdesk which is not that flexible!

in fact – some people might need a little kick in the ass to re-assemble their cable hell. after dedicating 45 minutes (unplug all that crap, which has beeing extended over the last 2 years, clean that stuff, coil up the unneeded lengths of cables and even remove obsolete devices (3!!), apply the new cablebox) you end up with something definitely better looking than before!

check out the cablebox to get rid of your cable salad!

bangkok:

i found a site listing some malls here, and checked out almost all of them. turned out, that mbk center is great for mobile/cell phones (but be aware of fake models and second hand stuff advertised as new…) and pantip plaza for computer parts, products and accessories as well as gadgets. pantip plaza has some camera shops as well and centralworld has a few selling cameras, lenses and bags. there was one outstanding camera shop in mbk floor 5 on which all the other shops sell office funitures. this shop was selling pretty cool stuff which i couldn’t find somewhere else like high speed compact flash cards (400x), lenses and filters. i was looking for the crumpler sinking barge (laptop and camera backbag), which i found surprisingly at pantip plaza (wrong color though) – this was the only crumpler bag i found in bangkok…for camera equipment, i suggest to go to hongkong first, then kuala lumpur.
comparision price for a nikon d300s body in bangkok: ~65.000,00 thai baht / ~1.400,00 euro.

kuala lumpur:

plaza low yat kuala lumpur

this is a good overview page for shopping opportunities in kl. for any electronic equipment, you need to head directly to low yat plaza, as you will find the lowest prices there due to the competition of shops. berjaya times square shopping mall at the opposite of the street is more fashion than it or electronics but is still worth a visit, as it is more serious and does host a couple of shops especially when it comes to cameras! the shops have stuff on stock and do not need to grab it from another shop like at low yat plaza, where it happened to me that i had more than once the same item in my hands after i asked in a hop for a price and the guys ran around to find somewhere an item. at berjaya times square, which is also kuala lumpur’s biggest mall, you will find a nikon flagship store, where you can even try out all the camera models and get a chance to talk to nikon stuff about recommendations and ask them questions – though, they do not sell any stuff by themselves.

sungei wang plaza kuala lumpur

suria klcc hosts a crumpler store btw, but is obviously a bit overpriced!

funan digitalife mall singapore

beside the already mentioned once, there are to malls next to each other: sungei wang plaza and bukit bintang plaza aka bb plaza which are both best compared to bangkok’s mbk cecnter. an unoverseeable labyrinth of shops of all kinds lower class or budget range with bargaining possibilites!
comparision price for a nikon d300s body in kuala lumpur: ~5.000,00 malaysia ringgits / ~1.000,00 euro.

singapore:

funan digitalife mall singapore

a dedicated it and electronics shopping mall can be found on north bridge road: funan digitalife mall. this mall hosts a broad variety of shops including a dedicated floor for laptops, one for camera equipment, etc. it is very well organized and does not bother you with low quality laser pointers and other crap selling shops. the camera shops are well known on the net and i was able to fins some reviews on them in advance, so they already exist for a couple of years and do their job well. they do not sell at dumping prices but they have a lot of stuff on stock (i was looking for a tokina lens 11-16, nikon mount, which i was able to find at this mall). they also offer a vat refund for tourists, but you need to leave singapore by plane – no chance if you plan to head further by train like i did. there are a couple of other malls round the corner, but they are not worth to be mentioned compared to funan mall. you should find here what you are looking for at a reasonable price.
comparision price for a nikon d300s body in singapore: ~2.200,00 singapore dollars / ~1.100,00 euro.

i could not find a single gps unit for nikon cameras (beside the nikon gp-1 in kuala lumpur’s nikon flagship store) in any of the cities!

some other prices for comparisons:
nikon battery grip mb-d10 for d300s, times square, kuala lumpur: ~800,00 malaysia ringgits / ~165,00 euro
iphone 3gs 32gb white, singapore: ~1.240,00 singapore dollars / ~635,00 euro
nokia e71 white, mbk, bangkok: ~11.500,00 thailand baht / ~ 250,00 euro
tokina lens 11-16mm, funan, singapore: forgot, but will update soon…
samsung st550 digial pocket camera, low yat plaza, kuala lumpur: forgot, but will update soon…

wiscale

twitter your weight, like some people already do: i weigh in public or submit it to google health!

the web dashboard is the extension of your wifi scale. from any web browser, or from the free iphone application supplied by withings, you can log on and see a rich, relevant view of all of your weight data collected by your scale, with no time limitation and in total confidentiality.

the iphone app collects your data and graphs your results:

wiscale iphone app

found during browsing the apple appstore for apps which can graph my daily weight, now available for ~129 euros at: withings.com

read on:
coated.com
techfresh.net
wired.com
gadgetreview.com
ohgizmodo.com
chipchick.com