The iPhone Dev-Team has announced the UltraSn0w unlock for iPhones running the 3.0 firmware.

The UltraSn0w unlock will be released on Friday and will be applied in the same manner as the previous yellowsn0w unlock. The procedure will work on the 4.26.08 baseband version so all those who accidentally updated to the latest baseband will be able to regain their unlock.

Once the iPhone Dev-Team has made the tools available we will be posting a detailed tutorial with clear instructions on how to apply it

You can watch the demonstration below…

Customers have been informed that their pre-ordered iPhone 3G S devices from Apple have begun shipping.

According to AppleInsider forum member DiscoNomad, “My 32GB black iPhone that I ordered the second I could on the Apple iPhone store has officially shipped. I found out this morning via an email which included a tracking number.”

The new iPhones are being shipped out of Shenzhen, China. Apple has promised delivery by June 19th.

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Apple has already placed the 3.0 firmware online for the new iPhone 3G S device.

You can download the new firmware from here. However, please note that this will not work with your 2G or 3G handset. This firmware is for the unreleased iPhone 3G S.

The 3.0 firmware is expected to go live for all other devices starting on June 17th.

Unboxing images of the new iPhone 3G S show the new Voice Control and Compass App. The images are featured in an Engadget gallery.

Poor lighting likely makes the trim look gold trim; however, this is usually caused by incorrectly set white balance on the photographers camera or a reflection. (as suggested by commenter Rob).

Take a look at the pics below or hit the link for the full gallery.

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via. iClarified

Users may be “shocked” to see how powerful the iPhone 3G S is for 3D graphics, according to an UberGizmo report.

When released the iPhone 3G S will feature a faster CPU, more RAM, and a Power-VR SGX GPU which supports OpenGL ES 2.0. According to UberGizmo this GPU is faster than the old one in two fundamental graphics metrics:

- Triangle setup: This defines how many triangles can be processed per second
- Fillrate: a measure of how many pixels can be modified per second.

Both metrics are key to increase graphics realism. But that’s not it: the iPhone 3GS does not just use sheer brute force to make games look better. Thanks to the more programmable architecture of the Power-VR SGX, developers can now use techniques found on PS3 and Xbox 360 games.

The article likens the difference in graphics to the improvements made from Half Life to Half Life 2. Look at the screenshots below to get a visual idea of the enhancements.

Its been suggested that the difference in graphics between iPhone models will cause a split in the App Store.

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[Half Life = iPhone 3G]

[Half Life 2 = iPhone 3G S]

via. iClarified

Apple today introduced the new iPhone 3G S, the fastest, most powerful iPhone yet, packed with incredible new features including improved speed and performance—up to twice as fast as iPhone 3G—with longer battery life, a high-quality 3 megapixel autofocus camera, easy to use video recording and hands free voice control. iPhone 3G S includes the new iPhone OS 3.0, the world’s most advanced mobile operating system with over 100 new features such as Cut, Copy and Paste, MMS*, Spotlight Search, landscape keyboard and more. iPhone 3G S customers get access to more than 50,000 applications from Apple’s revolutionary App Store, the largest application store in the world where customers have already downloaded over one billion apps. iPhone 3G S offers twice the capacity for the same price with a 16GB model for just $199 and a new 32GB model for just $299. And beginning today, iPhone 3G is available at the breakthrough price of just $99 for the 8GB model—a huge milestone for the high end smartphone market.

“iPhone 3G S is the fastest, most powerful iPhone yet and we think people will love the incredible new features including autofocus camera, video recording and the freedom of voice control,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of WorldWide Product Marketing. “And with a breakthrough price of $99, we are thrilled to get iPhone 3G into the hands of even more users who want them.”

iPhone 3G S offers incredible speed and performance, on average up to twice as fast as iPhone 3G, so you can render web pages quicker and launch applications faster. iPhone 3G S takes advantage of the OpenGL ES 2.0 standard for stunning high-quality 3D graphics, making mobile gaming and other graphic intense applications better than ever. iPhone 3G S is not only faster, but with longer battery life you can watch more videos, listen to more music, browse the Internet or keep using your favorite apps even longer. The new iPhone 3G S also supports 7.2 Mbps HSDPA for faster networking speeds.***

iPhone 3G S features a new 3 megapixel autofocus camera that takes amazing pictures and video, making it easier than ever to capture, edit and share those moments instantly with family and friends. The new autofocus camera adjusts focus, exposure, color and contrast for the best possible image and includes an automatic macro focus for extra close up shots. With the new “tap to focus” feature, you simply touch the display to select an object or area of interest and the camera automatically re-adjusts focus and exposure. You can record incredible high-quality video clips and edit them right on your iPhone 3G S by simply trimming the start and stop points. With iPhone 3G S you can send photos and video by email or MMS and post them to MobileMe™ or YouTube with just one tap.

The voice control feature in iPhone 3G S offers hands free operation for both iPhone and iPod® functions. Simply speak the appropriate commands into the built-in microphone or headset microphone to dial by name or number. With voice control you can play your favorite music by artist, album or playlist and activate the Genius feature by saying “play more songs like this.” You can also tell iPhone to pause the music, play the next track, turn on shuffle or ask, “What’s playing right now?”

iPhone 3G S features a new built-in digital compass for instant navigation.**** The Compass app shows you which way you are headed and rotates as you change direction. You can orient yourself to true north or magnetic north, and iPhone’s built-in GPS automatically displays the coordinates of your current location. The new built-in digital compass is also integrated within Maps, so it automatically orients any map to the direction you are facing.

iPhone 3G S provides new accessibility features including VoiceOver, a screen reader that speaks what appears on the iPhone 3G S display, enabling visually impaired users to make calls, read email, browse web pages, play music and run applications. The new universal Zoom function magnifies the entire screen, and the White on Black feature reverses the colors on screen to provide higher contrast for people with low vision. iPhone 3G S also supports Mono Audio which combines left and right audio channels so that they can be heard in both earbuds for those with hearing loss in one ear.

iPhone 3G S includes the new iPhone OS 3.0 software with more than 100 new features including: Cut, Copy and Paste; MMS; Spotlight Search to search across iPhone or within Mail, Contacts, Calendar and iPod; landscape keyboard for Mail, Messages, Notes and Safari®; expanded parental controls for TV shows, movies and apps from the App Store; and the ability to capture and send audio recordings on the go with the new Voice Memo app. iPhone 3.0 software also includes a new Find My iPhone feature that works together with MobileMe so you can locate your lost iPhone on a map, send a message that will appear on the screen or play a sound to help you find it even if your phone is set to silent. If you cannot find your iPhone, you can erase all data and content on your iPhone with the new Remote Wipe feature. New iTunes® features available with iPhone 3.0 software include wirelessly downloading movies, TV and audio programs as well as iTunes U so students can download learning materials on the go.

iPhone 3G S gives users access to the revolutionary App Store, the largest application store in the world with more than 50,000 applications. The App Store allows developers to reach tens of millions of iPhone and iPod touch® users around the world. To date, customers have downloaded more than one billion apps from the App Store. And with more than 1,000 new APIs available with the iPhone SDK, developers can create even more innovative applications using In-App Purchases, a new Maps API and Push Notifications.

iPhone 3G S also features built-in Nike + iPod support making it an incredible workout companion. Users simply place the optional Nike + iPod sensor ($19) in their Nike + shoe to seamlessly connect with iPhone 3G S to track miles run or sync with the latest generation gym equipment.

Pricing & Availability
iPhone 3G S will be available in the US on June 19 for a suggested retail price of $199 (US) for the 16GB model and just $299 (US) for the new 32GB model in both Apple and AT&T’s retail and online stores, Best Buy and Wal-Mart stores. iPhone 3G S requires a new two year contract with AT&T for qualifying customers. iPhone OS 3.0 software will be available on June 17 as a free software update via iTunes 8.2 or later for all iPhone customers. iPod touch customers will be able to purchase a software update for $9.95 (US). Beginning June 8, iPhone 3G will be available for just $99 (US) for the 8GB model. New MobileMe features for iPhone require iPhone OS 3.0. MobileMe is available for an annual subscription price of $99 (US).

iPhone 3G S will also be available in more than 80 countries in the coming weeks. For further information about US and international pricing and availability visit www.apple.com/iphone.

*MMS messaging is available only on iPhone 3G or iPhone 3G S; fees may apply. MMS may not be available in all areas. MMS support from AT&T will be available in late summer.

via. iClarified

It has been a while since I have done any major Apple news and while I was feeling the beginnings of withdrawals I found a blurb on Apple’s plans to build a new data center in North Carolina.

It seems that North Carolina passed a bill to give Apple a nice $46 million state tax credit. The new site will only have around 50 full time employees but for some reason NC is claiming it will create 250-300 jobs in the region. I am not sure what math they are using but that sounds a little off to me.

No matter the data center will be good for the local economy, I just wonder if it will actually help the consumer, after all it won’t be in place to prevent another iPhone upgrade fiasco that is sure to happen when iPhone 3.0 hits. But maybe just maybe it will impact iPhone 4.5…

Read more here.

IChanges in the tax laws were not without opponents. Last week when the House voted in favor of the tax credit by a vote of 80-34, House Minority Leader Rep. Paul Stam was clearly upset with the incentives.

“They’re playing us,” Stam said. “And they’re going to keep playing us as long as you agree to be played. They’ll either come or they won’t come, but whether they come I can virtually assure you it will not depend upon whether you pass this bill.”

North Carolina said the Apple server farm will have about 50 full-time employees. One of the regulations that Apple has to follow is that the average wage in the facility exceed the wage standard in the county where it’s located.

via. TweakTown.com

Steve Jobs appears to be on track to return from medical later leave this month, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal.

Yukari Iwatani Kane and Joann S. Lublin report that while Jobs has been on sick leave some Apple directors have been getting weekly updates about his medical condition. Their source, who has seen Jobs recently, informs them that Jobs ‘is coming along’ and will return late this month.

He also added that Steve Jobs ‘was one real sick guy,’ and that ‘fundamentally he was starving to death over a nine-month period. He couldn’t digest protein. [But] he took corrective action.’

According to the report Steve Jobs has occasionally visited Apple headquarters since his leave began. Many hope that he will make an appearance at WWDC 09 to launch a new iPhone; however, the company has maintained that his return will be at the end of the month.

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via. iClarified

Apple Insider has scrounged up an Apple patent, filed in late 2007, that just, you know, immediately clicks. It’s for instant media sharing during iPhone calls, and it makes plain old video calling look downright boring.

The application explains it thusly:

An individual may call his friend to discuss music, but in order for the friend to listen to the music, the individual either may have to send the music to the friend using a device other than his telephone, or he may have to end the phone call and use the telephone to send the friend an email with the music attached.

This capability extends to pretty much anything, from photos and videos to voicemail and “others”, and implies that the data could be streamed in real time, not just transferred and downloaded.

Carrier reluctance and technical network limitations are the most obvious obstacles to something like this actually coming to pass in the near future, though the patent has a clever solution for the latter problem:

There may also be two audio data streams to transmit. In order to transmit all of the streams over the same communication path, the control circuitry may employ a multiplexer to combine together any video streams, and to combine together any audio streams, the multiplexer may then combine into one fixed stream the two combined streams.

In other words, this is more than an airy-fairy “wouldn’t it be cool” concept—Apple seems to have given it some serious thought, and a bit of real engineering attention. And the more the better: this is one of those concepts that, once you see it, just seems like it needs to happen. [AppleInsider]

via. Gizmodo