VirtualDrums on App Store

Our app VirtualDrums is now available on App Store for iPhone and iPod Touch. You can look at the description and download the App by clicking the below link:

VirtualDrums

Its a free App so check it out. VirtualDrums app lets you play all the instruments of a basic drum kit by swinging the iPhone/iPod Touch like a drum stick. Select the instrument you would like to play from the list and swing the iPhone/iPod Touch to play the instrument. Once the instrument is selected its image is displayed below the list. Instructions of how to play along with an image of how to hold the iPhone/iPod Touch is given in the information page of the application. Video Demonstration will be posted soon. Screenshots of the App given below:

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For more information on a similar project on SunSPOTs please visit:

Virtual Drums Using SunSPOTs

Make Custom iPhone Ringtones for Free( any length)

Okay lets get down to business. Most of the steps you will read are what you see in most of the forums and blogs. But i was never able to get the ringtones on to my iPhone after i created the customized ringtone(due to Apple’s restriction on length of the ringtone to 40 seconds). Thats where netatalk came to my rescue.  This method lets you create ringtones of any length and is not restricted to 40 seconds. In case you want to convert the entire song to a ringtone and avoid the hassles start from step 9.

Step 1: Open iTunes and find the song that you want to make into a ringtone.

Step2: Listen to the song and find the part of it you want to use. The chorus may be a good place to start.
Step3: Write down the start and stop times of the clip.
Step4:Right-click the song and select “Get Info.”
Step5:Click the “Options” tab.
Step6:Type in the start time of your ringtone in the text box next to “Start Time” in the minutes:seconds (i.e. 2:01) format.
Step7: Type in the end time of your ringtone in the text box next to “Stop Time.”

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Step8: Click “OK”.
Step9: Right-click your song again and select “Create AAC version”. Wait for iTunes to convert your song. It will create a duplicate version.
Step10: Find the new file in itunes. Unless you are in a playlist the new song will show up next to the original song. Right-click on the new file and select “Show in Finder”. You can also search for the file directly. It will have the same name as the song but ‘.m4a’ extension.
Step11: Change the extension to ‘.m4r’. Copy the file.

Step 1-11 is same for every single method available online to create a free ringtone for iPhone. Now the way to upload the ringtone is a little different so read carefully. First of all you need netatalk or any application(ssh, iPhoneBrowser etc) which gives access to all the directories of iPhone.
Step12: Go to  ’/Library/Ringtones’ and paste your file. And you are done. Go to Settings>Sounds>Ringtone and select the ringtone file you just added.
Have Fun!!!!!

Top 12 iPhone Applications

Most of the applications need you to jailbreak your iPhone except the ones available on App Store.

1. SBSetting: Do you ever feel like changing something in your settings while you are working on another application? Dont you hate quitting the application just to make a small change like enabling the WiFi or change the auto lock ability. Then SBSetting is for you. Its the next level BossPref. It gives you the ability to access all the features of BossPref just by sliding your finger over the top status bar. So you can quickly change the setting and go back to your application. Available on Cydia/Installer.

2. IM+ Lite: After almost an year of searching i found a chat client while works with tzone. I haven’t tried the Pro version but if you want a basic client which does not drain too much of your battery like Safari you should download this. The app is available on the App Store. It supports Gmail, Yahoo etc.

3. MxTube: Lets you download YouTube video. Its very easy to use and the video quality is awesome. Available on Cydia and Installer.

4. Fring: You can chat and make VoIP calls to your Skype, MSN, ICQ, SIP and Google Talk friends. You can also chat with your Twitter, Yahoo and AIM friends. Now available on App Store. One of the few applications which went legal and is still free.

4. Nimbuzz: Chat, make VoIP calls to your Skype, Gtalk, Yahoo, MSN etc. friends. The voice quality on the calls is good and there is no lag. Install VoIPover3G to make calls over 3G. I am assuming with a AT&T 3G you would not have any lags. Much better than Fring in terms of lag and voice quality. Available on App Store.  VoIPover3G is available on Cydia.

5. Finder: Similar to Finder on Mac, it gives you a GUI to cut/copy/paste files, manipulate folders and even run a file with a given application.

6. Winterboard: When the developers Summerboard on iphone 1.x decided not to port it to 2.x, winterboard came to the rescue. Its Gui is not as impressive as Summerboard, but the features available are almost the same. You can change wallpapers, lock screen, battery, icons etc. You can have a video wallpaper, rotating wallpaper or you own picture as wallpaper. Be careful it makes iPhone slow. But a good theme changes the appearance of your iPhone. Available on Cydia and Installer.

7. Netatalk: This application helps you display the contents of your iPhone on Finder in Mac. You can use either the mobile user account or the root account on your iPhone(default password for both is alpine which you can change in terminal). You don’t need to install SSH on your iphone. Once you connect your iPhone to your Mac and connect your iPhone to a wireless network, the name of your iphone will appear on the sidebar of the Finder. Click on Connect As and provide the username and password. Once connected you can see the contents of your iPhone. I use Netatalk to copy new ringtones, MxTube downloaded videos and Videos taken using Cycorder. Its available on Cydia and Installer.

8. Cycorder: The best video recording application for iPhone. Video immediately available after recording. Available on Cydia.

9. GasBag: Okay i added this to my list coz i travel about 65 miles 2-3 days a week. This application gives the price of gas at close by gas stations on Google Map. You can also search for a given address and find cheap gas around that address. Available at App Store for FREE.

10. Google Earth: Yes its now available on iPhone and it more realistic. Available on App Store.

10. CToggle: Allows you to disable auto-correction. This is really helpful when you use lot of abbreviations. Its available on Cydia and Installer.

11. biteSMS: I think the best application for people who do lot of text messaging. Lets you type in the landscape mode and forward messages too. I haven’t tried their sms packages but you can always use the sms service provided by your carrier, Give it a shot. Available on Cydia and Installer. Don’t update to 3.0 which is a paid version with 30 days free trial. On Installer you can still get the 2.7 version.

12. Terminal: Similar to the Terminal on Mac, this gives a command prompt to work on iPhone. The number of commands availabe is not as extensive as what is avaiable on Mac but you can add extensions(ssh, gcc etc)  to this terminal for different command. Available on Cydia and Installer

List will be updated again if i find better applications….. A new post on how to upload ringtones to your iphone here…

Do you really own your iPhone?

Apple sold more than a million iPhone 3G on the first day of its release. Are you one of them? Are you one of the lucky people to own the new revolution(iPhone in general) in the mobile industry? If no i can’t put it in words what you are missing. Just get a hold of one by hook(Apple/AT&T) or by crook(eBay.com, cellhut.com, etc. ). So once you get hold of an iPhone i would like to ask you – “Do you really own an iPhone?”. Ya you paid so many bucks for it, you use it as you like it and you have a pretty good idea about the different features of iPhone but do you  have full control of your iPhone? When you buy a computer/laptop do you not like the fact that you can install whatever software you want and remove them when you want. Considering the fact that the iPhone’s Mach kernel uses the same I/O Kit architecture as Mac OS X,  shouldn’t you be able to install any software you like. But Apple allows you to install only the applications which are available on App Store. So how to install 3rd party applications?

To do this you have to open the phone up for installation of 3rd party apps. This process is interesting called jailbreak. Jail created by apple for the iPhone. Jailbreaking is not unlocking! It is risk free. Everything that works before jailbreaking continues to work after. Jailbreaking only adds features. Jailbreaking is risk free and cannot void your warranty. You can simply restore in iTunes at anytime to get back to a factory state.

You can have a look at the jailbreak and unlock history for different firmwares of iPhone at:

http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2007/10/a-brief-history.html


Does iPhone have Mac’s kernel?

The iPhone’s kernel and kexts are not identical to the Mac. For example, desktop Macs have kexts for the iSight camera, audio and video hardware, power and thermal management, and serial interfaces. The iPhone has no kext equivalents for any of these, despite having the hardware. The iPhone’s PPP.kext is also missing. For more go to:

http://www.roughlydrafted.com/2007/07/13/iphone-os-x-architecture-the-mach-kernel-and-ram

App Store: A Big Success

I am sure most of you must have seen the Ads of App store on television. App Store is a big success for Apple. You can get loads of free applications. Lot of applications which were available on Installer/Cydia earlier have decided to go legal. Most of them are not free anymore. The only application(that i know of) which is still free is Fring(application used to make VoIP calls to your Gmail,Skpe etc friends). But don’t worry there are are lot of free applications to try. If you haven’t installed any applications, give it a shot.

For more about App Store’s success:

http://www.crn.com/software/210002313