Don’t know what to get the iPhone addict in your life this holiday season?  We have some gift ideas that will impress and delight even the most finicky loved ones (or challenging ones) on your list.  They are listed below in no logical or particular order:

1. Apple World Traveler Kit ($39) – The kit is made for the astute traveler in  your life.  It is designed to work with the iPod,  iPhone, Apple Mag Safe, Power Adapters, Portable Power Adapters and Airport Express.  This clever little kit also includes a USB power adapter,  a USB cable and a set of 6 universal AC plugs that work worldwide.  Available at the Apple Store.

2. Xstand for iPhone (approx. $31-40) – This rates high on the asthetic scale and not so much on the functionality scale.  Something of a display case, the Xstand holds the 3G/3GS iPhone vertically or horizontally and rotates 360 degrees.  It includes  cable management and non slip feet.  To get everyone’s tongue wagging around the office, this is a sure bet.  Available at Xstand.net

3. Dots glove (approx $15-25)- Do you want to use your iPhone without having to take your gloves off?  Not a problem with the Dots glove.  It lets you activate your touch screen with your gloved finger.  Amazing!  The Dots glove is available in 3 varieties.  This gift is ideal for your cold climate friends or your wimpy Houstonian friends Available at dotsglove.com

4. Bose Mobile in-ear Headset ($129.95)- If you have the extra money to spend this year (listen up all 3 of you!) these are well worth the price tag.  Nothing but the best from Bose, the quality from this headset is top notch.  Your music lover will enjoy the rich sound and the ability to switch from music and other media to incoming calls.  Available at bose.com

5. Mophie Juice Pack ($99.95)- Like RedBull for your iPhone, this juice pack delivers.  It is designed to more than double the charge of your 3G/3GS.  Although it is bit thicker to hold, your iPhone addict will love the double charge it dispenses.  It can be used as a case all the time or just when the phone needs a boost.  It also has an integrated LED indicator that tells you exactly how much juice is left in your pack.  Available at mophie.com

6. iTunes Gift Cards (from $15)-  Although not the most glitzy gift on the list,  it is a great, safe bet for your iPhone owner.  The options are endless with this baby…games, apps, music, TV shows and movies are all possibilities with an iTunes gift card.  Available at apple.com/itunes

7. Mogo Talk- Bluetooth head set ($129.95)- Mogo has introduced the first integrated wireless headset for iPhone 3G/3GS.  The headset folds flat and snaps efficiently into a protective case.  It also fits perfectly on the back of the iPhone.  This feature comes in handy for those prone to losing small items easily.   Using the Sound Shape comfort, it also blocks out surronding noises.  Available exclusively through  Apple Stores or online.

8. PowerJolt Car Charger ($19.95 )- Touted as the number one selling car charger for iPhone and iPod, this is THE charger for your iPhone user.  It features a detachable USB to 30 pin cable for iPods as well as iPhones.  For those with 1st generations of both iPod and iPhone, it can be used with those as well.  There is an amber to green charging light to let you know when it’s charged successfully.  For the price, the Powerjolt is really a great buy.  Available at griffintechnology.com/product/powerjoltiphone

9. Appstand Picture Frame ($17- 20)- This picture frame turns your iPhone into a virtual piece of art.  (As if the iPhone needed to do more…) Once you pop it into the alloted place, your phone starts a series of 2 options,  Art or Ambient Channel.  As if that wasn’t enough, it comes with a dock connector cord to charge your iPhone as its calming your nerves.  Genius.  Did I mention it can be used a desk clock? This product, manufactured by 2 companies, Thunk and Kyono is available online.

10. 3GS Supreme (just under $3million)- The world’s most expensive iPhone has been finally completed and ready to be nabbed.  Goldstriker International founder Stuart Hughes spent 10 months designing and creating this gem.  Speaking of gems, it’s chocked full of them.  136 flawless diamonds on the front bezel, amounting to 68 carats and 53 flawless diamonds on the back. The home button is a single rare cut diamond weighing in at 7.1 carats.  It’s outer shell is 22ct solid gold and the insides include solid granite, Kashmir gold and Nubuck top grain leather. Don’t be too disappointed though, an anonymous buyer in Australia has already purchased it.  Shucks, maybe next year.

Much speculation and buzz has been made on which carrier iPhone will be partnering up with next.

Verizon has been the front runner for some time, but with the release of the Droid, those rumors have ceased, at least for now. Verizon is teaming up with Google and marketing its new Android powered phones. The Droid by Motorola, which is on the Android system, is selling itself as a more powerful alternative to Apple’s iPhone. Needless to say, because of this iPhone bashing campaign, Verizon is not on the same page with Apples’ interests. Now it seems T-Mobile is looking like a better match.

Another major strike for Verizon is that its network, CDMA, is not compatible with AT&T’s GSM based network. That, in result, would necessitate Apple to make a customized iPhone exclusively for Verizon customers. T-Mobile has a compatible network with AT&T (less the screwy 1700Mhz, 3G network.)

Analysts are looking to T-Mobile in 2010, who’s been quietly waiting in the wings, when AT&T is expected to release its exclusive rights to Apple. Thomas Weisel analyst Doug Reid believes T-Mobile is ready to step up to the iPhone plate, leaving Verizon in the dust.

On the downside of this T-Mobile/iPhone marriage, T-Mobile’s subscriber base is only half that of Verizon, making this matrimony less lucrative. Reid expects Apple to cash in on a larger Verizon wireless network with a non iPhone device. The device, not specified, would be used on the 4G LTE network, launching in the not so near future. 2011, possibly?

With Apple’s next announcement, predicted for 2010 mid-year, customers may or may not see the iPhone in the Verizon store but may see an Apple device used with Verizon as a definite possiblity. T-mobile customers, keep your fingers crossed!

iPhone Dev Team Logo

Here are some details on our latest version of PwnageTool 3.1.4 for Mac OS X which supports the 3.1.2 release of the iPhone software for iPhone 2G/3G/3GS and iPod Touch 1G/2G.

If you’re already jailbroken (by whatever means), you don’t need to mess around with DFU mode at all.  Just create (or get from a friend) your custom IPSW and Option-Restore (Shift-Restore on Windows) to it via iTunes.  Don’t enter DFU mode at all.  Please make sure you are restoring to the custom IPSW, not the stock one from Apple!  For best results, use the latest iTunes (9.0.1) — which includes a nice new application organizer.

This release allows your baseband to remain unlocked at 3.1.2, but it does not unlock a new baseband put there by restoring to official 3.1.x.  It is super important that people who need the unlock to understand they can keep it only by starting at 3.0 (or earlier) and updating solely to custom IPSWs that don’t update the baseband.  For those who have been onboard the “unlock train”, simply install ultrasn0w via Cydia once you’ve restored to your custom IPSW.  Don’t forget to turn off the “3G” setting in Settings->General->Network if you use T-Mobile in the U.S.A.

Note for 3GS users not already jailbroken and stuck at 3.1.x: this version of PwnageTool has a side feature to jailbreak your 3GS.  It uses a simple implementation of the usb control msg hole found by chronicdev, geohot, and our very own gray.  (Update: please make sure iTunes and iTunesHelper are not running when PwnageTool asks you if your 3GS is already jailbroken/pwned).  Now that the hole is public and in use, we expect Apple to close it by the next major firmware update. That’s why 3GS users need to get their ECID hashes for 3.1.x now, and need to stay onboard the “jailbreak train” in all future updates.  For more details on what this means, please see our earlier posts or ask in our comments section (moderated by the always helpful @angie and @confucious!).

For the early adopters who ran blackra1n and are having problems with mobilesubstrate, winterboard, diskaid, or ifunbox, you can install a custom .ipsw from PwnageTool to fix these issues.  That’s because all jailbroken devices accept a custom .ipsw created by PwnageTool.  (However, if you ran blackra1n on a 3G or 3GS that means you updated to stock 3.1.x, and the carrier unlock is now out of reach.  We’ll continue to work on a carrier unlock for the latest basebands, but the timeframe for such an unlock is unknowable.)

Note: If you use internet tethering on a carrier that doesn’t officially support it, you’ll lose it by going to 3.1.x.  Stay back at 3.0 until a hack for that is developed.

SUMMARY:

• The iPhone 3GS is now supported out of the box in PwnageTool 3.1.4 (or if you have upgraded to 3.1.x in iTunes)
• The iPod 2G is still supported in PwnageTool 3.1.4 but you must already be jailbroken (we’ll update this if there’s a big demand from non-jailbroken ipt2G owners)
• The iPod touch 3G is NOT supported

DETAILS:

1. GOLDEN RULE: If you are using a iPhone 3G or iPhone 3G(S) with ultrasn0w and rely on ultrasn0w to obtain cellular service then you should only update your device with an .ipsw that is made with the new PwnageTool. There are no second chances with this. You need to remember that PwnageTool will provide an upgrade path to newer versions of the iPhone software in the future.
2. Please read all parts of this post before downloading and using these tools.
3. Read items 1, 2 and 3 again and again.
4. At the bottom of this post are the bittorrent files for the 3.1.4 capable version of PwnageTool.
5. PwnageTool will work for the iPhone 3GS
6. PwnageTool will work for the iPod touch 2G
7. PwnageTool WILL work for Original iPhone (1st Generation), the iPhone 3G and iPhone 3G(S) and the iPod touch (1st Generation and 2nd Generation) but NOT the iPod touch 3rd generation.
8. For 3G and 3G(S) users who are Pwned, PwnageTool is your key to updating in the future, just remember to never install an update directly from Apple, always use an .ipsw that has been created with PwnageTool.
9. There is no Windows version of PwnageTool yet.  It is currently a Mac OS X tool only.  Custom IPSWs created on a Mac can be used on a Windows machine too.

What’s a Baseband?

The ‘baseband’ is the generic nickname given to the internal components of the iPhone that handle the phone calls and Internet access. This ‘baseband’ is a tiny and unique independent computer system that runs inside your iPhone, it is separate to the main system that handles the applications (such as email and google maps) and it talks to the main part of the phone over an internal communications network.

Think of it like a cable modem or other peripheral that is attached to your home PC that needs occasional updates. When a software update is released and presented to you within iTunes the baseband is sometimes updated (to fix bugs or add new features).

The 3.1.2 update for the iPhone 3G and 3GS contains such an update, so running the vanilla updater straight away with iTunes will reprogram and update the baseband.

WHICH DEVICE DO I HAVE?

Read the description to identify your device, once you have correctly identified your device follow the specific instructions for that device as listed below.

SIM Free/SP Unlocked/Factory Unlocked iPhone 3G(S)

This applies if you bought your iPhone 3G(S) for $$$$$$$. This model of iPhone 3G(S) doesn’t have an Service Provider lock (aka factory unlocked) and you are able to put any SIM card into the phone and get service. Your phone is already unlocked so you do not need to worry about baseband updates, you can use PwnageTool to create an ipsw and then use this to update and jailbreak your phone.

SIM Free/SP Unlocked/Factory Unlocked iPhone 3G

This applies if you bought your iPhone 3G for $$$$$$$. This model of iPhone 3G doesn’t have an Service Provider lock (aka factory unlocked) and you are able to put any SIM card into the phone and get service. Your phone is already unlocked so you do not need to worry about baseband updates,  you can use PwnageTool to create a 3.1.ipsw and then use this to with iTunes to upgrade and jailbreak your phone.

iPhone 3G

Use PwnageTool to do the magic and then restore with iTunes using your newly created .ipsw

iPhone 3G(S)

Use PwnageTool to do the magic and then restore with iTunes using your newly created .ipsw

iPhone 2G (1st Generation)

Use PwnageTool to do the magic and then restore with iTunes using your newly created .ipsw ‘nuff said, you don’t need to worry about anything, the baseband will be unlocked, the phone jailbroken.

iPod Touch 1G (Original iPod Touch)

Use PwnageTool to create a firmware image and restore with that .ipsw using iTunes.

iPod Touch 2G

Use PwnageTool to create a firmware image and restore with that .ipsw to your already jailbroken device using iTunes.

iPod Touch 3G

At this time PwnageTool does not support this device.

iPhone on Verizon?

There has been a lot of rumors, speculation, and requests for the iPhone to  be offered to other wireless cell phone carriers other than AT&T who currently have a contract with Apple to carry the beloved device exclusively on there network. Well we have some interesting news that may indicate that this is the direction that Apple is heading.

Apple is currently working on a new hybrid iPhone, combining UMTS 3G and CDMA2000(Verizons System). It will be manufactured by Pegatron, a subsidiary of Asustek, and is expected to hit the market in the 3rd Quarter 2010. This new “world” iPhone hybrid sure makes it seem like Apple is gearing up to loosen the shackles that have been AT&T for the last 2 plus years. This will be good news for Verizon customers if the rumors hold any weight.

Please remeber these are only tidbits and nothing is set in stone until we actually see how the corporate giants choose to handle the end of the AT&T/Apple contract. Either way it is great for iPhone lovers because it gives us more options to have not just a great mobile device, but it will also allow us to have the best service available for the phone. Either way it goes, it spells good things for the consumer.