New RC33 G1 Firmware Update Begins Rollout

It appears that a new G1 firmware update is currently being rolled out to T-Mobile users. The new update is RC33 and sadly is not the Cupcake update we’ve all been waiting for.

With only a handful of users so far having received the update, it is still not certain what new functionality (if any) and fixes the new RC33 update brings.

“To ensure a great experience with the T-Mobile G1 with Google, customers with these devices will receive an Over the Air (OTA) update to their devices between February 5 and February 15. This OTA will include new system enhancements such as the ability to save pictures or files to file by long-pressing an item, check for system updates, and use the Google Voice Search feature. The OTA will also fix a number of known issues. New G1 activations will receive the OTA up to three days after service has been activated.”

If you’re one of the lucky few to have received the new firmware already, let us know in the comments.

T-Mobile G1 Updating firmware manually

Generally, T-Mobile provides OTA updates to the OS, but if you have unlocked G1 or not in US/UK, you can still perform firmware update. Here, we will update firmware from RC-19 to RC-29. The firmware version( or Build Number) can be seen at Settings > About phone > Build number

As required with any phone mods, make sure the battery is fully charged or atleast more than 50%.
IMPORTANT : This update is known to work only on US G1 (TC4), don’t try this on your UK G1 (TC5)

Steps ::
1. Download the update zip archive.

2. Rename the archive to update

3. Copy the file to the SD Card.

Note : Connect the phone to desktop and then transfer the file. Don’t take out the SD card and use the card reader.

4. Turn off the phone. Hold the HOME button while turning on the phone. The phone will start in bootloader mode. You should see an exclaimation sign when it starts.

5. Press Alt + L, it will take you to the boot menu,

6. Press Alt + S, to start the update process. It will take a while so be patient.

7. When the update completes, it will prompt you to press HOME + BACK to reboot.

8 . After you reboot, the update will finalize and automatically reboot.

Thats it !

Is Apple shipping out defective iPod iTouch 2G’s?

I have been noting that people have been blogging and writing about problems with iTouch wifi access for a few weeks now and now I have experienced it personally.   I just bought two new 2G iTouches for my 14 year old twins for their birthday.   Right out of the box the first one simply connected to my home wifi.  The second kept giving me a login error “”Unable to Join Network Failure (error -3)” connecting to Wi-Fi”.   I saw an article online that said that removing the password security from the wifi worked and sure enough, i could connect.   However, I couldn’t leave it at that, because I didn’t want to leave my network unsecured.

So I figured it had to be software.   I looked it up on apple support and noticed several articles and tried all their solutions.  I reset the phone, I reset the network settings, I reset all data and settings, I did a restore from iTunes, I did a restore to 2.1,  I did a bootstrap restore from iTunes, I rebooted my hub, I updated the firmware on my hub — all to no avail.   Finally I called Apple support.   For the first 10 minutes the agent tried to tell me that they had never heard of the problem before.

Before I continue, I have to admit that I am not very good with support agents.  I tend to lose my patience with them quite frequently.   I took a breath and I told them about the numerous web sites, forums, and blogs where people are complaining about this.

It is the questions like “are you sure that your wifi is running? and Are you sure you are entering the right password?  and Are you sure you are awake ?  that get me everytime.  This guy even suggested I go to the local starbucks and see if I could connect and when I explained to them that they didn’t use a password protected network, so it wouldn’t help, he got really confused.

He put me on hold and came back and admitted that after doing some research that it was a known problem caused by a defect in the iphone and that I would have to send it in for repair.   Another deep breath or two and at least one expletive, I had them switch me over to Sales Support instead and case number in hand, I asked for them to exchange it for me.   I got a shipping label today and they very nicely promised to ship the new one as soon as they saw that package was received by FedEx.

I’m worried that I’ll get another defective one, since the last one I just got two days ago so chances are the next one is defective too.   But if I do, I’ll guess i’ll just have to call support again.

iPhone StatusNotifier

Back in the good old days of iPhone firmware 1.1.4, one of my favorites jailbroken applications was Taskbar

Notifier, a simple yet efficient app that would display a little icon in the status bar whenever you had a new text message, email, or missed call.

Then came firmware 2.0 and this application was terminated as a stand alone app, but it was included as part of the Intelliscreen application. I gave a try to Intelliscreen and it was too much for me. I like my phone screen without too much stuff on it.

What a surprise I had today when refreshing my Cydia apps and realized that a new app called StatusNotifier was added. StatusNotifier does just what Taskbar Notifier used to do: it shows an icon whenever you miss a call, or have a new unread SMS or email.

Give it a try and let me know what you think if this app.