In case you haven’t noticed, Apple did release a small update recently that fixed a few bugs within the OS, and rendered some of the jailbreak software solutions out there ineffective. At least temporarily. But it didn’t take long for the underground Apple community to come up with a jailbreak release for iPhone OS 3.1.2. Blackra1n is a simple solution that lets you jailbreak your iPhone and iPod Touch in minutes. Here is what the developers had to say about this release:

So, what is blackra1n? blackra1n is a 30 second ALL device 3.1.2 jailbreak. Even the ipt3, but the ipt3 is tethered. In order to boot it, just rerun blackra1n.

As most of you know, jailbreak solutions are not exactly perfect. Some do let you to free yourself from Apple restrictions, but none of them are exactly 100% bulletproof software. So there is always a chance that you will have issues with your jailbreak device. There is a group of iPhone users who have no trouble upgrading their iPhone jailbreak software on a regular basis. While the process is not as risky as some think, you are still going to have to know how to downgrade or get things back to normal if you mess up during the jailbreak process.

Blackra1n is currently available for Windows machines and does not free your iPhone from your carrier. But if you are ready to take the risk and try your hand with this brand new solution, here is where you can download your copy.

WWDC is finally upon us. Expect the unexpected. We are going to see iTablet, iPhone 3GS, and a whole lot of other goodies by the time it’s all done and dusted. Stay tuned as our coverage starts on 1 PM EST. In the meantime, feel free to discuss your predictions here.

1:03 PM ladies and gentleman. We are live! It’s starting. Are you getting goosebumps already?

1:07 PM brand new Macbook Pro! 7 hours of battery life.

1:o9 PM a brand new SD card slot! Finally!

1:11 PM better screen, faster processor. I am liking it.

1:25 PM new Safari for Mac and Windows!

1:34 PM lots of stuff about Safari that I am not interested about. Show me the iPhone already!

3:02 PM wow. What a day. So iPhone 3GS will be shipping on June 19th. Super fast iPhone 3GS with video capability. And $99 iPhones are available too!

Wrap up: a wonderful day of action as far as Apple fans were concerned. Great new Macbooks with SD card slot (finally!). Aggressive pricing by Apple. Safari 4! But iPhone 3GS certainly took the cake. It’s nice that you can buy an iPhone for $99 but iPhone 3GS is much faster and comes with video recording capability. You also get a compass as it was rumored a while ago. Here are a few things that were worth waiting for:

• 3.0 MP Camera with auto focus not only makes it easy to take better pictures but you can now record videos with your phone as well.
• Expect more sophisticated GPS applications for iPhone with the addition of compass and improved iPhone OS 3.0.
• The more powerful battery is a nice addition to iPhone 3G S.
• The addition of Voice commands is a nice addition to iPhone 3G S as well.

Overall, I was more impressed with the new Mac than the new iPhone. iPhone 3G S has some great new features but it’s not necessarily worth an update. If you are eligible for a cheap upgrade, then go for it. But if not, you should probably wait. iPhone 3G S feel more like iPhone 2.5 than iPhone 3.0. Maybe Apple is planning another upgrade in the near future. Who knows. I hate to be picky but as an iPhone 3G owner, this new phone is a bit underwhelming. And whatever happened to iTablet?

One the most underrated iPhone features is the availability of the real web on the device. Thanks to iPhone’s real web, you can visit most websites without breaking them. But in some cases, some websites are just not fully compatible with mobile phones. Not only that, what if you wanted to created your own mini-blog around things that you read everyday? Zcapes is a cool new mobile blogging platform that allows you to create your own mobile blog fast. Not only you can add events, comment box, and other popular widgets to your mobile blog, you can also import your external RSS feeds into your mobile pages. So if you have a website that is not compatible with the iPhone platform, you can use zcapes to create a mobile blog based on your site.

Here is how Zcapes works. First you have to name your mobile blog and pick a decent URL for it. Make sure you don’t make it too difficult. Then, you’ve got to define your privacy settings and the nature of your page. You can even define a location for your mobile blog.

Once you have done that, you get to add widgets to your page. You can add Flickr images, RSS feeds, polls, and even map view to Zscapes. The more interactive your pages, the better your visitors are going to like it.

Once you are done with your page, you can publish it for everyone to view. The process is very simple and your mobile page is viewable on most mobile phones. What I like about Zcapes is that it tracks your followers and allows you to leave messages for your mobile fans. The site is very simple to use and comes with a lot of promise. Now if I could add my own logo… Check Zcapes and feel free to share your mobile blog here.

If you are an iPhone owner, and you won’t through all the trouble to deal with AT&T and tie yourself up for a couple of years with their service contract, you probably know how to get the best out of your iPhone. Whether it’s watching YouTube videos, surfing the net, or texting, you can do it all with the Phone.

But many newbies still have trouble getting the true value from what they paid a fortune for. If you buy the iPhone and just use it to answer your phone calls, then you are seriously mistreating your phone. So I have decided to provide 5 sources that can potentially provide you with more ways to get the best out off your iPhone.

• Wallpapers for your iPhone: We all have come to love how the iPhone looks and feels but you don’t have to be stuck with the same look and fee. Try playing with iPhone wallpapers to give some variety to your iPhone life. Zedge is a good resource to look at. You can also try out the Wallpapers offered by Jamster.
• Ring tones for your iPhone: Nothing can spice of your life like getting a new ring-tone for your iPhone. You can try places such as Jamster to get the tone that you feel is right for your phone. Don’t forget to try MacMost. They have some good tones as well.
• Videos for your iPhone: Watching videos on your iPhone is a must really. Why have a super media device such as iPhone and not use it for these that it does best. Sure. iPhone has a fairly tiny screen, but it’s still good enough to see videos from MetaCafe or YouTube. Not only that, you can download movies and videos for your iPhone from various sources. You can try Videos4iPhone, PhoneHub, PDC. Of course, you can catch more videos on AOL Video, MetaCafe, and YouTube.
• Web Apps for your iPhone: the most fun that you can have with your iPhone is by taking advantage of the web apps that are available for the iPhone. I feel strongly about Web Apps being the best way to get the best out of your iPhone. Here are the top few in my book:
  • ESPN Mobile: Life without ESPN is life without joy!
  • Emergency Car Care Guide: I don’t know about you, but if my car goes down without me having a guide, I rather leave the car and walk home on foot as I am hopeless with cars.
  • Blind Chess Trainer: I don’t know about you, but I love the blind chess better than I do the normal chess. It’s very exhaustive for mind, but it’s a lot of fun. It also prevents alzheimers disease. It’s a fact.
  • Price.Is: Are you a bargain junkie? I am. I check techdeals, techbargains, slickdeals, dailyfind, deals of america for the latest deals everyday. Price.Is brings that your iPhone. Lovely!
  • Backgammon: crazy about Backgammon? Playing it on the iPhone is even more fun.
  • Call Checker: I don’t know about you, but I get extremely annoyed when people call 3 AM in the morning and the first thing they ask is, “what time is it over there?” If you don’t know what time it is, then why are they calling? If you know it’s too late, why are they calling? Don’t do that to others! Use Call Checker.

Finally, don’t forget to keep up with the blogs. I would start with Bloglines top 1000. I am sure you will have enough time to keep up with all of them! Whatever you do, don’t let your iPhone to waste. Suggestions for content? Please share!

The launch of the new iPhone is upon us. It is rumored that the iPhone 3G will start selling July 11th, 6:00 a.m sharp. We all remember last year’s deal when people had to wait for hours in line to get their hands on the iPhone. Here are a couple of pointers if you are going to go for the 3G this year:

1. There is no I in team: Team work is extremely important if you want to minimize your time staying in line and get your hands on the new iPhone as soon as possible. Last year I only tried the Apple store, and found out that the AT&T stores in my area where bascially deserted. Now depending on where you live, you may have to switch back and forth between these two stores. Why not go after the iPhone in team. Grab a friend, a relative, anyone you can find in the streets, and go as a team. Team work always pays off.
2. Aim for a few hours: there is a good chance that you will have to wait more than a couple of hours to get your hands on the phone. You could also get lucky and get your phone in only 10 minutes, but it doesn’t hurt to set your expectations low. Make sure you have water, beverage, and whatever else you may need after a couple hours of wait.
3. Don’t forget your old iPhone: Not a lot of people forget their cell phones when they go out. But come July 11th, you need to have your phone ready in case your store runs out of iPhones. It shouldn’t happen but it could, so plan for it.

I would get early (like 4:00 a.m) to get in line. Going earlier than that is just not worth it in my opinion. At the same time, don’t expect to get there 5:30 am and be the first in line. Everybody can do 30 minutes early. But 2 hours early? Now that would be a challenge to at least 70% of iPhone shoppers. But don’t be surprised if you see people in line that early. I was surprised the first time but it happens all the time.