The following 5 Cydia Apps can be used on either an iPhone or an iPod Touch (I am currently running the 3.1.2 OS on my iPhone). Luckily, I happen to have an iPhone 3G and Eric just happens to have an iPod Touch 2G. After careful consideration and a few debates, we narrowed down the Cydia apps on both devices to the 5 we just couldn’t live without.

Please note that you must first jailbreak your iPhone or iPod Touch to gain access to Cydia apps.

1. iBlacklist (iPhone only) – is actually the main reason I ended up jailbreaking my iPhone. Some spammer had gotten a hold of my phone number and was sending me chain mail text messages and picture messages. After searching and searching for a simple solution I ended up deciding that iBlacklist was the best option (apparently AT&T will block numbers for $5 a month). iBlacklist allows you to block numbers from calling, texting, or picture messaging you. The app you download from Cydia allows you to block 5 different numbers before asking for a small contribution (so 5 numbers for free as opposed to AT&T’s $5 a month). This app has done exactly what I needed it to do and not one piece of spam has gotten through.

2. Lock Calendar – displays your calendar events for a set time period on your lock screen. I still don’t understand why Apple doesn’t do this by default. Having to open up the calendar app just to view the days events is just annoying. Having them displayed on the lock screen utilizes the free space that’s already there and I don’t even have to unlock my phone to know that I’m already late for class. To access the options for this app, simply go to your Settings app and scroll down to the Lock Calendar section. You can completely customize the number of events shown, number of weeks ahead it will look at, as well as the font style and color for the events.

The picture on the left shows you how Lock Calendar looks on the lock screen.

The picture in the middle shows you where the settings are located for Lock Calendar (simply click the ’settings’ app and you should see Lock Calendar down there.

The picture on the right shows Lock Calendars settings. I would definitely recommend making the ‘Max Interval’ two weeks.

3. Categories – allows you to categorize all your apps using folders. Want to keep all your games in one place? and all your Cydia apps in one place? Categories  allows you to create a folder  on one of your 9 available home screens and then allows you to put apps within that folder.  When you add an app to a category, it will no longer show up on the home screen, but instead in the category of your choosing.  Eric was able to reduce his number of home screens from 6 to 3.  The ‘Search’ feature (left most home screen) will find apps placed in categories, not just those on your home screens.  Of course the category name and icon is completely customizable.  In fact there are hundreds of icons you can use to ensure it fits with your theme.

The picture on the left shows the settings page for the Categories app.

The picture in the middle shows a few of the possible folder icons you can set for each of your Categories.

The picture on the right shows the apps placed in a ‘Social’ category. Basically there is a folder on one of the home screens named ‘Social’ and when clicked this is what opens.

4. WinterBoard -  allows you to personalize your iPhone in more ways than Steve Jobs wants you to. Do you like that black background screen? What about those app icons? WinterBoard lets you change the home screen background and designate a theme (of your choosing). Luckily Cydia keeps quite a number of themes you can try out.

The picture on the left is one of my home screens. I have used the WinterBoard app to change my background to show wood shelves.

The picture on the right is one of Eric’s home screens. He has installed a theme and changed his background.

5. AptBackup – allows you to easily backup all the Cydia apps in your collection. You no longer have to worry about losing all your Cydia apps when updating your iPhone or iPod Touch. This app is quite simple: just open the app and press ‘Backup’. The app creates a list of your Cydia apps and stores it with other settings and files that iTunes backs up when you do a backup within iTunes. If you were to need to restore for some reason, just restore from your iTunes backup file and then install AptBackup again through Cydia and click ‘Restore’. Note – you should only click ‘Restore’ after performing a restore in iTunes.  Clicking ‘Restore’ when not needed can cause unexpected results (as Eric learned when showing me this app).

This picture shows you the extent of AptBackup. However simple this app is, the time you save by not having to download each individual app again is the reason I have it on my iPhone.

So, what Cydia apps can’t you live without?

As many already know, Apple CEO Steve Jobs introduced the new iPhone 3G to replace the currently out of stock iPhone that was first introduced nearly a year ago. Pictured here, the basic design of the new device is remarkably similar to its predecessor but features a new glossy back in black for both the 8GB and 16GB versions, but also is offered with a glossy white back for the 16GB version. The keynote presentation, which can be viewed here, kicked off the 2008 WWDC was heavily centered around the iPhone 2.0 firmware.

Amongst the new features included in the new 2.0 firmware was the third party application distribution center known as the App Store. This feature is a remarkable way for third party developers to distribute their applications to all iPhone and iPod Touch users worldwide through the use of Apple’s extensive iPhone SDK. A few other firmware features that will make this a hit is the Enterprise features highlighted in a previous post here and in the March 6th Keynote. Apple has also upgraded the built in calculator by introducing a scientific version when the device is rotated into a landscape orientation. Apple has also taken the liberty to make the new firmware completely iWork and MS Office friendly, so that in all applications attachments can be viewed via the iPhone’s rich display.

Aside from updates with the firmware, the two biggest improvements to the new iPhone are of course 3G capabilities and A-GPS technology. Filmed demos shown during the WWDC Keynote presentation show the iPhone to perform up to 2 times faster downloading data than an iPhone on Edge and 3 times faster downloading email attachments. The new A-GPS technology is capable of tracking a user through the city and is used for various locational services such as the native Maps application and the new “Geotagging” feature.

All in all the new iPhone 3G is an amazing device when taken into account the browsing speeds and ease of use, not to mention the price has been drastically reduced. The 8GB model comes in at just $199 and the 16GB models are only $100 more. The new iPhone 3G is set to hit Apple Stores in 22 countries on July 11th, and with lowered prices there is no foreseen obstacles in the way to hinder the 10 million unit goal set by Apple.

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For more information on the iPhone 3G, please visit Apple’s website here.
All images taken from www.apple.com

Online poker is a safe, enjoyable and educational activity that people of all ages can enjoy. For those who are of age, you can play poker on a mac for real money. Full Tilt Poker’s mac poker client is one of the oldest and best pieces of poker software for you to enjoy.

Less than 24 hours stand between now and the highly anticipated Keynote presentation from Apple CEO Steve Jobs at the annual Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco, California.

Apple’s WWDC kicks off with this presentation at 10:00 A.M. PT June 9th and runs through the 13th in which development for OS X Leopard and OS X iPhone are expected to be the main focus.

Additionally, many believe the introduction of the new 3G iPhone will occur during Jobs’ Keynote presentation while the possible introduction of a new product may occur.

Check back later today and throughout the rest of the coming week for coverage of Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference. As new developments occur WLM Tips will provide coverage of news and/or new product descriptions.

Image taken from www.macrumors.com

Playing poker online used to be limited to those with PCs or some sort of virtual machine, but now mac users everywhere can play poker on their Mac on many different online poker sites.”

Windows Linux Mac Tips now has a mobile version powered by MoFuse. To view our site on your mobile device, simply direct the device’s web browser to http://wlmtips.mofuse.mobi/. You can also click the ‘mobile’ icon, located in the sidebar above the RSS icon, to see what the site will look like on your mobile device.

The mobile site is formatted for all kinds of mobile devices including cell phones, smart phones, and PDAs. Our mobile site is also specially formatted for iPhone users. To view our mobile site optimized for the iPhone go to http://wlmtips.mofuse.mobi/iphone. Here is a picture of the mobile version on an iPhone:

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I thought I’d change Mac Monday a bit this week and talk about one of Apple’s great products: the iPhone. What could possibly come next? How could they make the iPhone any better? I for one, do not own an iPhone and it’s not because I don’t want one. Unfortunately the price and the small disk size has postponed my purchase for a little while. I have, however, come across some interesting news and rumors that I’d thought I’d share:

• We might be seeing a 3g iPhone pretty soon. While the WiFi on the iPhone works extremely well, when you aren’t near a WiFi connection things are just too slow. The 3g network will bring ‘broadband’ speed to the iPhone.

• The Nike+ running system that has worked so well with the nano will soon be released for the iPhone as well as the iPhone touch. The internet capabilities of both these machines may bring an interesting twist by removing the need for a computer to update your training log.

If you could change one thing about the iPhone what would it be? Post in the comments…