Thursday 21 June 2012

SIM Unlock Galaxy S III In Seconds By Simply Installing This APK


Although, when initially manufactured, smartphones are designed to work with a particular type of SIM, the carriers narrow things down by locking devices down to their particular network. The process of trying to unlock can be difficult indeed, and as such, consumers look to the expert developers and modders to offer a solution.

Picture the scene. You upgrade your device on one carrier, let’s call them, for argument’s sake, AB&B, but your daughter – who is far more technologically-orientated than yourself, wants your shiny new device, to which you begrudgingly oblige. Unfortunately, your daughter is contracted with another carrier – Dash – and of course, you both want the new device to work with her carrier. Herein lies the problem.

android sim unlock


You call up AB&B, requesting they unlock your device. You’re contracted to make the payments anyhow, so you would think, perhaps, AB&B would happily unlock your device – even if a small fee is incurred. Unfortunately, that’s not how things play out, and although some carriers and circumstances allow a carrier unlock to be achieved, chances are, you’re going to be stuck with a locked device, which then becomes the clichéd expensive doorstop.

The developers, without whom, I don’t know how we’d cope, come up with varied unlock solutions, and although a wait is often involved, there’s invariably light at the end of the tunnel. For those rocking an i9300 strain of the Samsung Galaxy S III, you’re among the luckier folk who can now unlock their device, and the clincher is, it gets as complicated as installing an .apk file from the Google Play Store.



As you may expect, you will need to have a rooted device, and although precious date is backed up prior to the unlocking procedure, the auto-restore feature is not yet fully operational, thus the unlock solution is labeled as a beta at present.
Still, it works just nicely, and if you’re rooted and raring to go, hit up the link below and you’ll have your i9300 Galaxy III unlocked in a matter of moments.



Note: Do not install on variations of the S III other than the I9300 model. It will not work.


Download Voodoo Galaxy S III SIM Unlock [Google Play link]



Wednesday 20 June 2012

Install CyanogenMod 9 Android 4.0.4 ICS On Galaxy S III GT-i9300 [How-To Tutorial]


The latest version of popular custom ROM CyanogenMod now supports Samsung’s recently released Galaxy S III (GT-i9300). Those of you interested in checking it out can follow our detailed, step-by-step guide right after the jump!

The news comes straight from XDA-Developers – a popular forum for Android enthusiasts, developers and modders – in the form of a thread posted by Team Hacksung developer XpLoDWilDin which they discuss the state of CM9 for the Galaxy S III, what’s working and what’s not and, of course, how to get it working.

DISCLAIMER: I will not be held responsible for any damage incurred to your device as a result of following this guide. Follow at your own risk.

Before you dive in, please keep in mind a couple of things. Firstly, this will void your warranty. Secondly, there are a few minor bugs that you should know of: FM radio does not work, using the flash in Camera app may cause it to crash and trying to wake up the device using volume keys “may” not work, so there you have it.

Step 1: Root your Galaxy S III and flash ClockworkMod Recovery to it.

Step 2: Download the latest nightly build of CM9 [CM Downloads] and Google Apps for CM9 [Goo.im]. Transfer both to directly under /sdcard on your Galaxy S III.

Step 3: Shut down your device. Boot into ClockworkMod Recovery by holding the Volume Up + Home + Power buttons.

Step 4: Take a nandroid backup. This will come handy later on if you wish to revert back to previous setup.

Step 5: Navigate to install zip from sdcard > choose zip from sdcard > [CM9 .zip file you downloaded in Step 2].

Step 6: Similarly, you must flash Google Apps.

Step 7: From ClockworkMod’s main menu, perform wipe data / factory reset.

Step 8: Choose reboot system now from the main menu.

If you followed the steps correctly, your device will now boot into CyanogenMod 9 based on Android 4.0.4 ICS. The developer advises not to reinstall apps using Titanium Backup. Also, if your Wi-Fi doesn’t work, remove .cid.info from /data using a root-ready file explorer (e.g. ES File Explorer).

For queries or if you’re stuck at any point, please visit the official thread over on [XDA-Developers].

Sunday 17 June 2012

How To Recover Deleted Photos And Images From Memory Card On Your Android Phone


We can all empathize with the sinking feeling felt when something important is erroneously deleted from our smartphones, but instead of becoming lost for good, the DiskDigger team has created aAndroid app to help you recover those precious files you thought had disappeared into the Recycle Bin of no return.


DiskDigger is a household name already, and if you’re a Windows user, you may already have been acquainted with the tool that spares your files from the hangman’s noose at the eleventh hour. The tool carries all of its strengths through to Android, and if you’ve recently deleted a file and are having second thoughts, DiskDigger is arguably your best hope of a reprieve.

diskdigger

Like the Windows iteration, it’s absolutely free of charge, although does understandably require root access in order to work its magic. Currently in beta stage, it will recover recently deleted images with aplomb, and like any respectable app, it keeps its user interface as minimalistic as possible, as not to bamboozle those downloading it.



Far from one-dimensional, it uses a variety of different techniques in order to achieve its goal. Of course, there are no guarantees, but having tested it ourselves, it performed flawlessly, and having encountered many similar apps in the past, DiskDigger has to be among the best. When you launch it, you’ve the option of sifting through each partition of your device’s storage. All you need to do is select the one which contained those images before you opted to remove them, and tap Scan device. From then, you can also refine your search down to the specific file type, and those found will appear in the corresponding window on the left hand side of the UI.


You can preview each file discovered, and simply hit Save, which will in turn present you the opportunity to restore the files to the location of your choosing. A Mail button is also included which lets you e-mail the images to an address of your choice, and although this no-frills app doesn’t necessarily boast the various features offered by similar apps, it does a stellar job of what it proclaims to do.

Download DiskDigger for Android [Google Play link]





How To Get The Best iOS 6 Features On iOS 5 Right Now


After including major missing features in iOS 3, 4 and 5, iOS 6 has turned out to be more of an incremental update than anything else. Other than Maps, there are no downright mind-blowing features. Everything iOS 6-related announced by Forstall at WWDC 2012, we’ve seen in one form or another whether as a Cydia tweak or a minor feature on other platforms.
Yes, I am tad disappointed at how things turned out at the event. I went through the iOS 6 keynote, wrote down every new feature mentioned in it and found that most of these features are available in iOS 5. They are definitely more scattered and less polished, but the functionality is there and that’s what we will be discussing in this post: how to get iOS 6’s best features on iOS 5 right now.

iOS 6

New Siri Features
Believe it or not, Siri’s new features – including the ability to take sports-related queries and local searching in newer countries – have already been implemented in one way or the other with tweaks from Cydia.
Let’s start with sports: SiriSports tweak, free from Cydia under ModMyi, lets you make queries related to NBA, MLB and NHL from Siri. You can look up match timings, statistics and scores with phrases like Did The Giants win last night?, just like it was shown in the WWDC keynote.

siri iOS 6

Sireet, free from Cydia under ModMyi, lets you use Siri to tweet. Just saying Tweet [your actual tweet] and Siri will do the rest.
Last but not least, those of you in unsupported countries can install International Locations for Siri($0.99, BigBoss repo) to get local search.
There are many other Siri tweaks available with go well beyond its limited built-in feature-set. You can search for them on our site using the search function in the right column.

Siri for iPad
Siri on the iPad is something which we’ve been looking forward to for ages! Well, not exactly ages, but since the launch of the iPhone 4S and iOS 5. We knew Apple would eventually bring Siri on other devices, but didn’t know it would happen this quickly.
And now, Siri has finally made its way onto the iPad with iOS 6. But there’s one problem, iOS 6’s launch is a bit far away, and only the 3rd-gen iPad is supported to work with Siri.
Fear not, the jailbreak community has us covered with a tweak called Spire, which brings Siri to the iPad. But there’s one small catch, it doesn’t support iOS 5.1.x and will work on devices running iOS 5.0.1 or earlier, which also means that it won’t support the new 3rd-gen iPad right out of the box even if it’s jailbroken.
The devices supported by Spire are; iPhone 4, 3GS, iPod touch and the first and second generation iPads.

Do Not Disturb
We discussed a Cydia tweak called BannerDisable (free, BigBoss repo) just a few days ago here. Just like the iOS 6 feature, it lets you turn off all push notifications with a flip of a toggle from the native Settings app.



It doesn’t come with the “fine-grain control” that is offered in iOS 6’s Do Not Disturb feature. We suspect the developer will update their app to make use of user-interest in Do Not Disturb until Apple’s version of it releases under iOS 6 this fall.

FaceTime over Cellular
FaceBreak ($1.99, BigBoss repo) has been in Cydia for almost two years now. As the name implies, it lets you make FaceTime calls over 3G.

facetime
This results in reduced picture quality but, let’s be honest, it’s better than not being able to make a call at all, right?

Full-screen Mode in Safari
FullScreen For Safari ($1.99, BigBoss Repo) is another one of Cydia’s famous old tweaks. To make better use of the 3.5” Retina display, it lets you view webpages without the intrusive bar at the bottom.
The tweak is actually better than the official iOS 6 feature as it lets you view full screen in not just landscape orientation but also portrait! Also, let’s not forget that you can enable OS X-like multitouch gestures for Safari with the same tweak.



Pull To Refresh in Mail app
Because of it’s intuitive-ness, Tweetie’s Pull to Refresh feature has made its way through hundreds of other apps such as Facebook, Tweetbot, Sparrow etc. Now Apple has taken notice of it and included it in their Mail app.



The vibrant jailbreak community understood this before Apple and as such, a tweak named Pull to Refresh Mail (free, BigBoss repo) was introduced many, many months ago.



Turn by Turn Navigation
One of iOS’ biggest shortcomings, especially when compared to Android, was its lack of turn-by-turn navigation feature. Until its introduction in iOS 6, however, users had plenty of options in the form of third-party apps.

The most well-regarded in this case is TomTom’s official app which costs a whopping $59.99, but the free, crowd-sourced Waze also does a pretty splendid job.

Upload Photos from Safari

It’s not as elegantly designed as Apple’s feature in iOS 6, but it gets the job done. On sites that give you the option, Safari Upload Enabler ($1.99, BigBoss repo) will let you choose a photo/video using a file browser like on a desktop PC.

3D Maps
The most anticipated and one of the hottest features in iOS 6 has to be 3D Maps. Giving Google Maps the thumbs down in iOS 6, Apple has stepped up to the roster and implemented their very-own in-house implementation of the Maps app which sports mind-blowing 3D renders of numerous cities around the globe.

up maps hd screen

Quite unfortunately, there aren’t many apps in the App Store which provide the same results as Apple’s own implementation, but if you’re rocking an iPad then the UpNext HD Maps app is your best bet to get the same Apple-esque results. The only downside of the app is; no support for the iPhone nor the iPod touch.
Google announced at the start of this month that they will be bringing a dedicated Maps app to iOS which will bring 3D maps to the masses, which is a clear sign that Google is also stepping up its game to compete with Apple’s invention. Let’s keep our fingers crossed for this one.

Facebook Integration
Facebook Integration in iOS 6? Hah! The jailbreak community released a tweak called Fusion ($2, BigBoss repo) two months ago that not only integrates Facebook in iOS, but also MySpace and Foursquare so you can share photos, links and more just like you would with Twitter.


You can even update your status on these networks with the Siri integration that comes with Fusion.

Upload Photo to Facebook using native Photos app
This is a feature we’ve all been yearning for a long time now, and it’s there in iOS 6 by default, and thankfully the jailbreak community has us covered in this department as well. With a tweak called FacebookThis – free from the BigBoss repo – it allows you to upload photos and images directly from the native Photos app.
Do you have any other tweaks/apps in mind which let you enjoy iOS 6’s features right now? If so, name them in the comments section.












Saturday 16 June 2012

Jailbreak iOS 6 Beta On iPhone And iPod touch (A4 Devices) Using Redsn0w 0.9.13dev1


The jailbreak community and the technology loving world have been talking about it for quite a while now, discussing what they believed would and wouldn’t be included in Apple’s overhaul of iOS. The Worldwide Developers Conference pretty much confirmed or dismissed all of the speculation, leaving us with the first beta of Apple’s iOS 6 software to get our teeth into.
As is the case with nearly all new iOS updates these days, all limera1nable A4 based devices and below like the iPhone 4, iPod touch 4G, iPhone 3GS can now be jailbroken (tethered-only) using the just released Redsn0w 0.9.13dev1.
Before you go ahead with this tethered jailbreak guide below, it must be noted that:
  • Jailbreak is meant for developers who are looking to fix bugs in their broken tweaks/apps.
  • iOS 6 beta is currently available to registered developers of iOS Dev Center only.
  • Cydia wont be installed.
  • Jailbreak is compatible with A4 devices only.
  • Hacktivation is not supported.

Step 1: Download the latest version of the iPhone Dev Team’s Redsn0w tool, make sure to get the right compatible version for your operating system. [Windows | Mac]

Step 2: Locate the downloaded Redsn0w zip file and uncompress the contents to a familiar location.

Step 3: Download iOS 6 beta IPSW firmware file legally from iOS Dev Center only. Make sure that the downloaded firmware file is specific to the device you are attempting to jailbreak. Once you have downloaded the firmware file, restore it on your device using either Xcode or iTunes.

Note: Before going through anjailbreak process it is always good practice to make a full backup of the device contents. Connect the iDevice to iTunes via a USB cable and make a complete backup through the normal process. If preferred, an iCloud backup can be made.

Step 4: Run the Redsn0w executable file and select ‘Extras‘ from the main interface before clicking the ‘Select IPSW‘ option.


Step 5: Locate and select the iOS 6 beta firmware file.

Step 6: On the main interface of Redsn0w, select the ‘Jailbreak‘ option.

Step 7: The rest of the process is pretty self explanatory, with Redsn0w providing on-screen prompts relating to the jailbreak procedure. The only user interaction required is to put the connected device into DFU mode so make sure to follow the steps on screen exactly.

Step 8: When DFU mode is detected by Redsn0w, the rest of the process will be automatically completed by the software. As you’d expect, the jailbreak is tethered-boot, which means; if you come across an instance that your device loses power or restarts, then you would have to boot it into the jailbroken state again. The process of booting it back into the jailbroken state is quite simple actually, simply plug in your device to your PC or Mac, fire up Redsn0w, click on the "Extras" button on screen and then simply click on "Just Boot" and follow the on-screen instructions.

Again, Cydia wont be installed. This is because it is currently not ready for iOS 6 yet. The only way to access the device is through SSH or afc2. As MuscleNerd has said in the official blog post, “ If you don’t know what either of those are, you shouldn’t be using this developer version of redsn0w!”



Tuesday 12 June 2012

iOS 6 Beta Has Been Jailbroken On A4 Devices, But Don’t Expect A Public Beta Jailbreak Release Anytime Soon


The world wide web has been rife with speculation over the last few weeks as Apple’s annual Worldwide Developer Conference drew closer, leaving us all wondering just what Tim Cook and his team would introduce to the world. While the opening keynote presentation has been and gone, we are still left in a state of awe as we try and digest the marvels that were announced on stage at the Moscone.


From what I can gather, even the most seasoned WWDC visitors believe this year’s opening presentation was the best yet, with a lot of that being put down to the fact that Apple announced updates to their entire range of notebooks along with a new version of OS X and the breathtaking new version of their mobile operating system, iOS 6.

ios6 pwned


For the many thousands of Apple fans who also happen to be hardcore jailbreakers, it would have been interesting for them to watch as Apple introduced a number of features that negate the need for a few Cydia tweaks going forward. As Apple seeded first beta of download iOS 6 to developers, many wondered if it was possible to tether-jailbreak A4-devices using the latest Redsn0w tool, especially Cydia developers who may want to update their jailbreak tweaks for iOS 6 compatibility.

We would love to sit here and break the wonderful news that iOS 6 beta is jailbreakable using the latest version of Redsn0w, but, unfortunately it just isn’t the case this time around. We have tested jailbreaking both our iPhone 4, as well as our 4th-gen iPod touch on iOS 6 beta using Redsn0w. Unfortunately, when pointing the Redsn0w jailbreak tool to an older firmware like iOS 5.1.1, the jailbreak is just not successful. This will certainly prove to be a negative in a day that has brought a lot of positives for Apple fans, but this to be honest was expected with so many API changes introduced with iOS 6.


While MuscleNerd of iPhone Dev Team has managed to get his A4 based iPod touch jailbroken, he has confirmed that many things including Cydia is currently not compatible on iOS 6 yet:


ios 6 jailbreak





jailbreak ios6



So yes, don’t expect a beta jailbreak for iOS 6 for a while. Quite a few casual jailbreakers may not actually feel the need to jailbreak soon, as Apple have added a number of feature improvements to iOS 6 that have been found to be extremely successful downloads from Cydia.


This certainly shouldn’t dampen the spirits of jailbreak fans. I would imagine that the Jailbreak Dream Team are already hard at work researching the internals of the current beta release to see exactly what they can do with it.