Windows Phone 7.5 (Mango) Update Coming in a Week or Two

Well, not much of a surprise ‘coz we already knew it’s coming this month; but yeah, Microsoft makes it even clearer this time the Mango update to Windows Phone will start rolling in a week or two.

With the anticipated release of Windows Phone 7.5 (Mango) update, Microsoft reminds every Windows Phone user to refrain from installing unofficial or leaked copies of the software. This is to make sure you get the best of Mango and experience the features as designed.



If you got a Windows Phone handset and eager to install Mango, you will need to download the latest version of the Zune software or the Windows Phone 7 Connector for Mac. You can grab it from here and here.



And while Windows Phone 7.5 (Mango) is already on its way to existing Windows Phone devices as scheduled, am still more excited really with the fresh devices we’re about to see from phone makers like Samsung, LG, and Nokia – which I’m pretty sure will ship with Mango already on it. Of course CTB will let you know, so just stay tuned for updates!

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PlayStation Network is Down, Again! (September 21, 2011)

Well, if you attempt to connect to the PlayStation Network right now, chance is you probably would face trouble with Sony’s online service.

Yes, Sony PlayStation Network is down once again and if you think this is another part of that hacking episode that broke down the network in July – only Sony can tell. There’s no update on Sony’s official PS blog regarding this outage, however, they acknowledged the issue through its US and Europe Twitter channels.



From PS Europe Twitter account:

We’re aware that PSN is currently unavailable and working with the technicians to find out when it will be restored. Apologies.

PlayStation Network engineers are working hard on restoring the service. However, we have no news on when it will be back online.

And here’s an update from the US PS Twitter account:

We’re aware that some of you are having issues trying to log into PSN. We’re working to resolve the issue, and we’ll update you here.

We can recall that Sony did a maintenance of the PS Network last year (also on September 21st), but I don’t think it’s an annual schedule that today’s outage fall on the same date.



Sony just posted an update that it will restore the PS Network service in the next two hours, so let just see if indeed they can restore the service as scheduled.



Update: Sony PSN is now back online.

The PSN restoration is now complete and you should all be able to sign in. Again, sincere apologies for the inconvenience.

So, are you still unable to connect to the PSN? Do let us know in the comment section below.



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Install Windows 8 Metro UI in Windows 7

Microsoft’s Windows 8 developer preview is just around the corner, but for those who don’t want to download those bulky files for some reasons yet a bit curious about the real experience of the Metro UI built to the latest OS – this post is for you.

Metro Style UI in Windows 7

There’s this open source project called Newgen that brings the Metro UI similar to Windows 8 right on your Windows 7 machine. Technically, you won’t have to download the Windows 8 developer preview but rather just install the Newgen application like the usual way you install Windows programs. I’ve already installed it on my computer and the Metro UI launcher works seamlessly, although some widgets are still buggy.



Newgen Features:



•Support for HTML widgets

•Launch your favourite apps and webs in one click

•Customize as you want

•Switch to your opened apps, in just few clicks

•Get Windows 8 Metro UI to your desk

•Play your videos and music, view your pictures without opening them

•Get your tweets, mails and weather reports in front of your eye, just sitting

•Provides easy-to-use API for Widget developers

•Get updates from us without navigating our site



If you want to give it a try, you can download Newgen from here.

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How to Jailbreak iOS 5 and iOS 4.3.5 on iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad Using Redsn0w 0.9.9b1

For those who are using IPSW firmware versions beyond iOS 4.3.3, you probably would like to jailbreak your device using the latest version of Redsn0w.



As I’ve said earlier, Redsn0w 0.9.9b1 brings several enhancements and new features including the ability to jailbreak iDevices (iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPod Touch 3G, iPod Touch 4G, iPad 1) tethered or untethered, without bothering users to download manually the firmware files needed in the process. Thus, jailbreaking devices using Redsn0w 0.9.9b1 is now very much easier than previous versions. The only drawback for the time being though, this version of Redsn0w still can’t jailbreak iDevices untethered specifically those running IPSW firmwares beyond iOS 4.3.3. It can't jailbreak iPad 2 either.



In any case you still want to jailbreak your device using Redsn0w 0.9.9b1, here’s how to do it.



1. Download Redsn0w 0.9.9b1 from here.



2. Turn off your device and plug in to the computer.



3. Run Redsn0w 0.9.9b1 and select Jailbreak.

You’ll be prompted to prepare your device to enter into DFU mode, then click Next.

Just follow the steps as seen in the screenshots below:

If you failed to properly enter into DFU mode; Redsn0w will prompt a notification as seen below. Just click OK to enter into DFU mode for the second time.

If you successfully entered into DFU mode, Redsn0w will then automatically fetch all important files from the required firmware. Note that Redsn0w will only do this if you’re using final build of the firmware (mine is iOS 4.3.5). If you’re using a beta version of any firmware, you’ll have to provide the firmware manually.

When prompted, you may tick the option to Install Cydia.

And that's it. You’re done with Redsn0w! The rest of the process takes place in your device.



Please note that since Redsn0w 0.9.9b1 can’t jailbreak iOS 5 and iOS 4.3.5 untethered just yet, you will always need to use Redsn0w everytime you reboot your device before you can use any jailbreak programs.

To do that, just select the “Extras” option in Redsn0w 0.9.9b1 and click “Just boot”. There are also other options available which you can use like entering into DFU mode, kicking your device out of recovery, verifying SHSH blobs, and personal preferences like changing the boot logo.

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Redsn0w 0.9.9b1 Released! Jailbreak iOS 5, iOS 4.3.5, iOS 4.3.3, and More Without Downloading IPSW Firmware

The iPhone Dev Team has updated the very prominent Redsn0w jailbreaking tool, this time with bunch of new features which include the ability to jailbreak iDevices (except iPad 2) without having to ask users to manually download IPSW firmware files.

The latest version, Redsn0w 0.9.9b1, automatically fetches “pieces” of public IPSWs from Apple servers and then caches those “pieces” for future use. What this means for jailbreakers, particularly those who are using the Redsn0w tool, you won’t have to download anymore those bulky firmware files before you can jailbreak iDevices. You should note however, that the latest version of Redsn0w can only fetch those public firmware files or those which are already out from Beta, else you have to provide it manually. As a jailbreaker, this is certainly the most essential update to Redsn0w as far as time and bandwidth is concerned. I guess we should have to thank the Dev Team, right? And as I’ve said earlier, it comes with new features and in any case you’re interested to learn more, see quoted list below:

• uses DFU mode to try to automatically determine which device and FW you have

• fetches pieces of public IPSWs from Apple (once). Non-public IPSWs must be provided manually (once). It then caches those pieces for future use.

• “Just boot” is a tethered boot. Uses whatever “Preferences” you’ve set for boot logo and kernel boot-args

• “Pwned DFU” puts your device in a pwned DFU state for some of the iTunes stuff detailed below

• “Recovery fix” gets past 1015 types of errors (when baseband portion of restore fails). Should work on iOS5 beta too

• “Select IPSW” is for picking non-public IPSWs, or overriding auto-detection

• “SHSH blobs” has a bunch of options…

• “Fetch” - fetch current PARTIAL blobs on device. Should complete in under 10 or 15 seconds. Puts the set of PARTIAL of blobs on your computer as a plist. Checks if Cydia already has a full set for this device and build. If not, it submits this PARTIAL set and returns Cydia’s acknowledgement or rejection

• “Verify” - cryptographically verifies existing blob files from either redsn0w, TinyUmbrella, or Cydia server. You can select a whole bunch of blobs to verify at once if you want (like the TinyUmbrella directory)

• “Submit” - both verifies and submits one or more blob files to Cydia. This lets you copy your entire TinyUmbrella cache of blobs up to the Cydia server

• “Query” - queries the Cydia server for all available FULL or PARTIAL blobs for a given set of ECIDs

• “Stitch” - stitches either FULL or PARTIAL blobs to a STOCK or CUSTOM IPSW



1. Stitching is NOT yet supported on iPhones! Need to work out the baseband part of the restore process.

2. FULL blobs stitched to a STOCK IPSW gives you a completely self-contained signed IPSW that iTunes will accept without any tricks (no need to go into pwned DFU mode, no need to start TinyUmbrella TSS server, no need to redirect to Cydia server for blobs)

3. PARTIAL blobs stitched to any IPSW requires you to go into pwned DFU mode before running iTunes. No need to start TU or use Cydia though.

4. Stitching either FULL or PARTIAL blobs to a CUSTOM IPSW also requires a pwned DFU start before iTunes restores. No need to start TU or use Cydia though.

5. Will eventually support fetching the blobs directly from Cydia instead of a file on your computer

You can download Redsn0w 0.9.9b1 for Mac and Windows by following the links below (copy and paste in your web browser):



Redsn0w 0.9.9b1 for Mac download link: http://bit.ly/o2xHJG

Redsn0w 0.9.9b1 for Windows download link: http://bit.ly/o2xHJG



Update: How to Jailbreak iOS 4.3.5 and iOS 5 using Redsn0w 0.9.9b1



[via]

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Globe Telecom to Offer iPad 2 Plans

It seems like Globe Telecom won’t just offer exclusive plans for the iPhone handsets as I just got a word the telco will also offer dedicated data plans for iPad 2 (Wi-Fi + 3G version) in the coming weeks.

Last year, Globe Telecom offered prepaid and postpaid plans through its Globe Tattoo Micro-SIM only for those who got the first generation iPad from other stores. This time however, it seems these data plans will be bundled with the iPad 2 tablet.



It hasn’t yet been revealed what data plans are available for the iPad 2, but I guess that would be competitive with the local iPad 2 prices here in the Philippines. Will keep you posted for updates…



Update: Globe iPad 2 Plans, Now Official!

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Windows 8 Metro Style Apps Video Walkthrough

One of the many features brought to Windows 8 is the new Metro style UI inspired through Microsoft’s latest mobile OS, the Windows Phone 7.

The Metro style UI brings among the important information right on the Start screen in Windows with the help of live tiles. Basically, it’s just an addition on top of the improved and more popular Windows desktop in Windows 8, but could be a great option for users who prefer Touch functions; although the Metro still works fine using keyboard, mouse, or other input devices. And to put it into perspective giving you how Metro style apps look like in the new UI and how it exactly works, Microsoft posted a demo video showing off several communication connected apps in Windows 8 which include Photos with integration to Facebook and Flickr, Mail, People, Calendar, and Messaging. Go check it out after the break.

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