Blizzard’s popular science fiction RTS game StarCraft, which was released in 1998 and since then was able to sell more than 11 million copies worldwide, is “currently scheduled for a release at the end of this year, Blizzard president Mike Morhaime announced today in an Activision Blizzard pre-E3 conference call.

“We’re targeting an end of year release–this year–for StarCraft 2,” said Morhaime of the PC strategy title. “But as always, we won’t release it until it meets our standards and the expectations of our players.”

This confirms earlier rumors that the first installment of the new StarCraft trilogy, Terrans: Wings of Liberty, will be out in time for this year’s holiday season.

via. Guru3D.com

We have released the 0.9.1 beta yellowsn0w 3G unlock application.  Please note the following:

BASICS

• The unlock works exclusively with baseband 02.28.00. This baseband is provided by the latest firmware update (2.2) from Apple.  You’ll need to upgrade to this release using iTunes and then use QuickPwn to activate etc. There are plenty of tutorials about this on iclarified, bigboss, and other established tutorial sites.  Because it works on 02.28.00, it is available to everyone on the planet.  This means we don’t need to unnecessarily expose holes in earlier basebands, which is an important concern.
• The application is a small daemon that is launched on boot.  It injects the payload at boot and also whenever there is a baseband reset.  You won’t notice anything about it other than that your third-party sim now works.  It’s a small program and unobtrusive.  There is no GUI (this is by design).
• You can add the application using the sources outlined below (coming soon). There are Cydia and Installer sources available, so use whichever you are comfortable using.
• yellowsn0w is completely removable through Cydia, the command line, and iTunes.

DETAILS

• There is a known issue with SIM cards that have STK (SIM Toolkit) application menus.  These menus are usually items such as “top up” “get credit” “lotto numbers” etc. These menu items confuse the application sometimes.  Removing and reinserting the SIM once after reboot (give it about 10 secs 60 seconds (with v0.9.1) after you see the slide to unlock widget) fixes this issue.  We’re working on a better fix.
• For those of you using SIM cards without STK menus, the application has some optional arguments that will make the unlock much faster for you.  So either experiment on your own (use “yellowsn0w -h” for usage) or wait for a customization writeup.
• After you install yellowsn0w via Cydia, you should return to the Cydia main menu then reboot your iPhone with the 3rd party SIM installed.  Wait for the slide to unlock screen, then wait 10 or 15 secs more.   If you don’t see your carrier name pop up, then remove your SIM, reinsert it, and wait 10 secs more.  This is the step we’ll be working on eliminating next.

RANDOM

• The application is version 0.9 0.9.1.  This is considered beta software, you use it at your own risk. You know the score.
• The application is released on a non-commerical basis.  Please do not accept pirates and scummy ripoffs of this software. We license this software for single use and in a non-commerical environment (meaning you can’t charge for it). The techniques and methods used are not to be used by third party companies. We are watching you Jody…we won’t be so forgiving this time.
• Direct linking to the repository URLs is prohibited, please only link to this post. We will be checking referers.
• Happy 2009 and enjoy!

The iPhone 3G is used all over the world with all sorts of SIM cards, and we almost certainly will see untested and unexpected situations.  If the soft unlock doesn’t work for you on day 1 (literally day 1, of 2009!) then please don’t panic or be impatient.  This is new territory for everyone, so enjoy the ride as much as you can

RELEASE INFO

• Cydia source: http://apt9.yellowsn0w.com/
• Installer repo: http://i.yellowsn0w.com/

UPDATES

1. Soon you’ll see yellowsn0w 0.9.1 in the repos.  It uses a much longer delay to let your SIM card initialize.  If you have problems with 0.9.0, try this one and wait a full minute after you see homescreen, then reinsert sim card.  We need both success and failure reports to tune this across the world, so please be patient (but please also report result!)
2. If you are in the U.S. and are trying this with T-Mobile, you must turn off the 3G switch in Settings.  Also if you are good with the command line, you can make it much easier by adding the line <string>-q</string> right after the /usr/bin/yellowsn0w line in /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/org.iphone-dev.yellowsn0w.plist  (that’s and advanced tip, hopefully someone will make a boosprefs type of tool for it)

–

Here is the

iPhone 3G

firmware 2.2 download link:
http://appldnld.apple.com.edgesuite.net/content.info.apple.com/iPhone/061-5778.20081120.Aqw4R/iPhone1,2_2.2_5G77_Restore.ipsw

Note: The DevTeam also says that once you are done installing yellowsn0w through Cydia go back to the main menu on Cydia and restart your iPhone with the 3rd party SIM installed. Wait for the slide to

unlock screen, and then wait 10-15 seconds. If you don’t see your carrier name pop up you must remove your SIM, insert it again, and wait 10 seconds. (The DevTeam plans on elimintating this step)

In their earnings call this morning, AT&T confirmed that the BlackBerry Bold will be available in stores on Tuesday, November 4. Whatever delays were holding things up have apparently been resolved, as was hinted last week by some AT&T network-specific detailsbeginning to pop up on unlocked phones. Price is $299, which includes a mail-in rebate and a two-year contract. Full release details after the jump.

AT&T CUSTOMERS TO ENTER A ?BOLD? NEW WIRELESS WORLD

Breakthrough BlackBerry Smartphone Is Coming to Nation?s Fastest
3G Network; Arrives in Stores Nov. 4

DALLAS, Texas, and WATERLOO, Ontario, Oct. 22, 2008 ? AT&T customers will be entering a bold new wireless world with the launch of the BlackBerry? BoldTM, a breakthrough 3G BlackBerry? smartphone that operates on the nation?s fastest 3G network and is the first to support HSDPA networks around the world, including in Japan and Korea. AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) and Research In Motion (Nasdaq:RIMM; TSX:RIM) announced today that the highly anticipated BlackBerry Bold smartphone will be available in the United States for as low as $299.991 on Tuesday, Nov. 4, in AT&T retail stores nationwide, through www.att.com and select national retailers, as well as through AT&T?s business-to-business sales teams.

The BlackBerry Bold smartphone, which is being introduced in the United States only for AT&T customers, can be used in the most countries abroad, including more than 60 with 3G networks. AT&T is the world?s leading provider of BlackBerry services.

Bold Design

The BlackBerry Bold smartphone?s design and performance live up to its name. The elegant smartphone features a lustrous black exterior, satin chrome-finished frame and stylish, leatherette backplate with a stunning half-VGA (480 x 320 at 217 ppi) color display for eye-popping visuals and a newly designed full QWERTY keyboard for exceptionally fast and easy typing. On the inside, the BlackBerry Bold features built-in GPS and Wi-Fi?, a powerful new
624 MHz mobile processor that provides impressive performance, more storage memory than

ever before ? 1 GB on board and up to 16 GB via its microSD/SDHC expansion slot ? and a rich set of multimedia capabilities, including an advanced media player for music, videos and photos and a 2 megapixel camera with built-in flash, zoom and video recording, as well as an optimized Web-browsing experience with desktop-style depiction.

?The BlackBerry Bold is the best BlackBerry smartphone ever, backed by the nation?s fastest 3G network and the hands-down best international coverage of any carrier,? said Ralph de la Vega, president and chief executive officer of AT&T Mobility. ?The BlackBerry Bold is the complete package, providing customers with an absolutely outstanding mobile experience whether doing e-mail, browsing the Web, viewing streaming video or simply making a phone call. And it is being introduced in the U.S. only from AT&T.?

Mike Lazaridis, president and co-CEO at Research In Motion, said: ?The development of the BlackBerry Bold smartphone was an ambitious undertaking, and we focused intensely on the things that are most important to mobile customers when developing this best-in-class smartphone for HSDPA networks around the world. The BlackBerry Bold exudes quality in everything from its stunning display sharpness and incredible keyboard to its premium phone performance and sophisticated software applications. It provides an extraordinary mobile communications and multimedia experience, and we are very proud to introduce this breakthrough smartphone in the United States together with AT&T.?

AT&T Services

In addition to the renowned BlackBerry productivity applications ? including phone, e-mail, messaging, organizer and browser ? the BlackBerry Bold from AT&T will boast such AT&T services as:

? Simultaneous Voice and Data Capabilities ? When connected to AT&T’s 3G network, customers can conduct a phone conversation and at the same time check e-mail, browse the Web or use another data application, including when tethered to a notebook computer.

? AT&T Navigator Global Edition ? Powered by TeleNav, the only GPS-based service available from a U.S. wireless carrier to provide international navigation capabilities. AT&T customers can get spoken or text-based turn-by-turn directions with automatic missed turn rerouting and a local business finder service in 20 countries.

? Seamless Wi-Fi ? Allows AT&T customers who turn on the BlackBerry Bold smartphone?s Wi-Fi feature ? 802.11 a/b/g ? to connect automatically to home or campus networks. AT&T customers also will be able to access more than 17,000 AT&T hot spots nationwide, including nearly 7,000 participating Starbucks locations plus thousands more restaurants, airports, hotels and other convenient locations across the U.S.

? CV ? CV (Cellular Video) from AT&T gives viewers access to thousands of video clips ? news, sports, weather, entertainment and more ? directly on a BlackBerry Bold smartphone via streaming video.

? AT&T Mobile Music Services ? An industry leader in mobile music, AT&T boasts the largest catalog of offerings available today, giving customers mobile access to enjoy XM Radio Mobile?, song identification through MusicID, music videos through MobiTV and over-the-air access to the extensive music databases of Napster Mobile? and eMusic? ? just to name a few.

AT&T Navigator, CV, AT&T Mobile Music services and more than 90,000 additional choices are available through AT&T MEdia Mall directly from the BlackBerry Bold or online.

E-mail and More

Like all BlackBerry smartphones, the BlackBerry Bold gives users the industry?s leading mobile messaging solution. It works with BlackBerry? Enterprise Server, which enables advanced security and IT administration within IBM? Lotus? Domino?, Microsoft? Exchange and Novel? GroupWise? environments, as well as BlackBerry? Professional Software for small businesses. It also works with BlackBerry? Internet Service, which gives users push-based access to as many as 10 supported work or personal e-mail accounts. Customers can also download and edit Microsoft? Word, Excel and PowerPoint files using the preloaded DataViz? Documents to Go? software suite. Beyond e-mail, the BlackBerry Bold will support a wide range of business and lifestyle applications.

The BlackBerry Bold smartphone includes Bluetooth? 2.0, which provides support for hands-free headsets, stereo headsets, car kits and other Bluetooth peripherals. The included BlackBerry? Desktop Manager software comes with Roxio? Media Manager for BlackBerry, which includes new features that make it easier to organize multimedia content as well as manage music, videos and recorded Voice Notes between a computer and the smartphone. It also optimizes video files for smooth full-screen playback on the BlackBerry Bold smartphone’s large display with support for full-screen and widescreen formats.

Roxio Photosuite 9 LE is included, allowing customers to easily enhance pictures and create photo albums on their computer. In addition, the new BlackBerry? Media Sync application allows customers to sync their iTunes? digital musical collections2 with the handset. The BlackBerry Bold also boasts a new acoustic design for enhanced phone listening quality and clarity and numerous premium phone features, including Speaker Independent Voice Recognition (SIVR) for Voice Activated Dialing (VAD).

AT&T Backed

Backing the BlackBerry Bold smartphone will be AT&T?s 3G BroadbandConnect network, which currently is available in more than 320 major metropolitan areas in the U.S. and, by year-end, AT&T expects to offer the service in nearly 350 leading U.S. markets. In addition to 3G connectivity, the BlackBerry Bold is also designed to connect seamlessly with AT&T?s nationwide3 EDGE network, which is available in more than 13,000 cities and towns and along some 40,000 miles of major highways.

via. Gizmodo