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After having my iPhone for over a month now I started to miss a few things my old Nokia N82 could do. Although the iPhone is revolutionary and I would never go back, there are some things Apple don’t provide. But, there is a solution…

I knew that what I needed could be done in software alone, for example, the ability to record video from the built in camera. I had heard about jailbreaking but thought it would be a messy hack that would just give me headaches. After looking into it further and hearing others people’s experiences, it seemed quiet straight forward with minimal side effects. I liked the fact that the process is completely reversible too.

Jailbreaking is a way to allow the iPhone to run much more software than Apple normally allow through the Appstore.

So, some of the programs I wanted to run are:

• Cycorder – allows you to use your iPhone as a video camera.
• Backgrounder – allows your iPhone to mutitask, for example you could have an instant messaging client run in the background while viewing your calender, then switch back again without having to interrupt your conversation.
• iPhonemodem – allows you to share your Iphone’s internet connection with your laptop.

These programs and many more are available under the ‘Cydia’ app once you have jailbroken your iPhone. Installing them is very similar to installing from the standard Appstore.

This post at ReadWriteWeb gives some other good reasons to Jailbreak your iPhone.

Jailbreaking is not the same as Unlocking. Unlocking removes the limitation some iPhones have of been ‘locked’ to one carrier.

If your iPhone is carrier locked, it is a better idea to use a program called PwnageTool intead of QuickPwn. The reason for this is because, if you wanted to ‘unlock’ you iPhone at a later time, you need to install a program called Yellowsn0w which relies on PwnageTool preserving the Baseband (the part of the phone that controls the radio). Yellowsn0w unlocks your iPhone and allows you to use it on different networks.

Here is the link to download PwnageTool 2.2.5 for Mac.

At the time of writing, Yellowsn0w will not work on Apple’s firmware 2.2.1 so do not upgrade to this version if you want the option to unlock at a later stage.

Visit the developer’s website for a lot more detail on jailbreaking your iPhone.

If during the process you get an error telling you that you can’t go into DFU mode, use a USB hub between your iPhone and computer or see this information on Fixing DFU mode on 10.5.6.

My iPhone is already unlocked by the carrier so I upgraded the firmware from 2.2 to 2.2.1 via iTunes, then ran QuickPwn.

Here are the download links for QuickPwn 2.2.5 for Windows and QuickPwn 2.2.5 for Mac.

You also need to donwload this iPhone 3G 2.2.1 firmware and put it in the same folder as QuickPwn.

The update is pretty straightforward and leads you step by step through the process.

Here is a very good and detailed tutorial on How to Jailbreak Your iPhone With QuickPwn (Mac).

Good luck with the upgrade and I hope you get much more out of this brilliant little device.

I had been holding off getting an iPhone because I liked having a half decent camera phone. I thought changing from the well regarded Nokia N82 to an iPhone 3G would leave me bitterly disappointed with the image quality. Although I would never consider a camera phone as a replacement for a dedicated camera, there are plenty of times it’s all I have and given the right conditions, the results can be more than satisfactory.

So after a long hesitation, I finally succumbed to peer group pressure and grabbed the latest iPhone 3G.

I have to admit I was instantly surprised when I took my first photo and found there was very little shutter lag and the image looked awesome on the large iPhone screen. I’m used to being very frustrated as a lot of the pictures I take with my phones are opportunistic shots of my kids and usually the shutter lag prevents me from getting the shot I was after. Not so with the iPhone camera. Obviously this has to do with the fact there is no auto focus system but instead the lens is a fixed focus type.

At the end of the day, I don’t care what technology is used if the phone delivers reasonable pics of the shots I want.

After using the iPhone camera for a few days I decided to compare the image quality with my previous 2 camera phones, a Nokia N82 and a Sony Ericsson KE800i. These 2 phones are highly respected in the area of imaging. The Nokia N82 is probably still about as good a camera phone as you can get. It has a 5mp sensor and carl zeiss auto focus lens. Both the Nokia N82 and the SE K800i have xenon flashes which allow them to take pictures in total darkness, the iPhone 3G simply can’t compete there.