There are a lot of iPhone users, which hearing all the fuss around jailbreaking and unlocking the device, want the same thing, but most of the time they don't actually know what it exactly means.

Briefly, jailbreaking the iPhone means that you are allowed to install on it more than Apple applications, and these would be third party apps. This applies to all firmware versions, and it is different of unlocking the phone, which means to accept all carriers. An unlocked iPhone will accept all SIM cards from all carriers. You won't be anymore tied to one carrier, which must be approved by Apple. With the introduction of Apple store, a question appears:"Why do we still need to jailbreak the iPhone?". There are som reasons for which users want to jailbreak the smartphone, and I tried to summarize them here in this article.

Even if Apple introduced the App Store in iPhone 2.0, and even if this is the best feature for that firmware update, there are some applications developed by other companies which would be great for iPhone too. Some interesting utilities, like Netshare, NemusSync ( sync the iPhone calendar with your Google Calendar), iAccess(allows you to use all the Chinese Input Methods), or Mame4iPhone which allows you to play arcade games on iPhone, are developed by other companies and they have been banned to hit the AppStore for some reasons. The applications mentioned here were released by Cydia, and they seem quite useful, but they are not available in the Apple App Store.

There is one aspect in which iPhone has only to loose, and this is video recording. This feature is not available on iPhone, unless you jailbreak it and install proper software. For this you can use utilities like Cycorder or iPhone Video Recorder. Another interesting aspect which can be achieved by jailbreaking the iPhone is that you can change the look, the theme, and you can feel more comfortable with your iPhone's new face. Winterboard is one application which can help you improve your smartphone's look, and here are some images with pimped iPhones.



This may not be the real reason for non-tech-geeks users of iPhone, but for the really interested persons in tweaking and improving iPhone might me interesting.

The inner part of the iPhone is a trim version of the well known Mac OS X, which is basically an Unix core. Are there available Unix applications which can be installed on the iPhone? The answer is yes, but only after jailbreaking it. After this, you can easily install applications such as Apache Web Server or any other Unix utilities. One server that most jail-broken iPhone users use is a SSH daemon. This SSH helps you to connect remotely to the iPhone and then transfer any files from/to it.

The last and the most common reason for  jailbreaking the iPhone is unlocking it. To be able to unlock it, you have to pass through this stage of jailbreaking, so you can go further with the installations.

Maybe there a lot of you among the iPhone users, which would like to create customized applications; maybe you have a great idea and it might be useful to a lot of people, but you don't know how to transform it from idea into a real application? Here is a short guide for creating iPhone utilities. This will take you for a walk through the steps of making your great ideas reality. Here you can find some ideas, techniques , resources and tips which may come handy if you are planning to transform your ideas into reality.

Even if the idea might seem revolutionary for you, it might be useless for others. You must filter your ideas, and put in practice the best of them, and for this, you must give yourself answers to some questions, which will tell you if this will be successful or not.

Will this application solve a problem?
Do I have a target group?
Is it funny?
Is this application bringing improvements to others, similar?
Will the application be interactive?

These are some simple marketing rules, but take them into consideration when you start planning taking your ideas in the real life.

A new application should solve some problems, or make them easier to handle,and has to have a target public. You must create this application for yourself at first, but think who are the people who could find it useful too. Chop the public into segments and choose one to be the target group for your product. It will be much more successful this way, because it is better to satisfy a small number of people, than having all the world against you because the application is incomplete or it doesn't satisfy some needs. Specific audience is the key word, and you should pay a lot of attention to it. Another important aspect in application planning is to point out some funny aspects. People love to be entertained, they love colorful and simple things. If you manage to make them laugh, then they are your public. Create the things from the users' point of view, and adapt the application to their needs. If there are more applications similar to the one you want to create, but they lack specific feature, be the one who brings change in the market. Being involved in action is very important for users, so give them the possibility to customize as much as possible the utility, let them choose what they like when they use it.

When you have setup an action plan in your mind, and when you have an idea about all this will be about, start gathering the tools you need, and off to work! You should first join the Apple iPhone Developer Program, of course, get an iPod Touch or an iPhone, you will also need an Intel-based Mac with OS X 10.5.5. and a Non-Disclosure Agreement. The newest version of iPhone SDK is required too, and a notebook.

All successful entrepreneurs said that "it takes a team to make a product successful", and this is very very true. Check your skills and see where you could hire professionals, if you feel you can't handle one or more aspects of the application creation process.To sell an application in the App store, you will need to have an idea about what works, and which are low quality product in the existing range of iPhone Apps, you will have to make research on the market, outline application's functionality and also to sketch it. After this, you will have to take care of the GUI Design, program it, and when it is done, you should promote it and apply some marketing strategies.

It is important to know iPhone capabilities before you start working on applications for it. You should analyze the possibilities you have, and you can do this by studying the Apple User Interface Guideline, a small encyclopaedia about iPhone. Try to link your application to the special features offered by Apple through iPhone, like the accelerometer, pinch, expand and rotate functions, and also the swiping features. Intersection between real life and design should be visible, and you should do this link in a pleasant manner. It doesn't matter if your application can find all the coffeeshops in a huge area, if this requires a lot of taps and typing, and we all know that people look for this information when they are hurrying, driving, and they don't have time to spend with complex procedures.

Next step would be to sketch your idea, and see how it would look on an iPhone screen, and you should draw several images of what your application consists of. This will help you a lot in defining the product, and then you can go to the next step: designing the application. If you are a designer you can use iPhone GUI Photoshop templates or iPhone PSD Vector Kit.If you aren't a designer, you should do what I said few paragraphs up, hire one. Professionals know what's best in creating applications, and they might come with important suggestions and feed-back. Programming is the core step in this process. It is very important, and you should pay attention to what coding skills sets will you use, according to the application's type (game, utility). It is recommended to work in XCode, and maybe you should keep an eye on what professionals say, so follow some forums and read some specialized resources before starting the work, and even while the programming is on the way.

You can simply use a timeline map for this application developing process. It simplifies the whole activity and it optimizes time management.When the application is finished, the last steps are: creating Certificates, defining the Application ID and the Distribution Provisioning Profile and compiling the application. The final step is uploading it to iTunes Connect, and then you can start the post-release activity, promotion.

It is very important that during this application development process to stay focused, and see all of it as a whole, but pay attention to details too!

Have you ever found yourself in the situation of being at someone else's place, and wanting to use their phone just to make a call? It's easy now! There are some applications which help you make calls using DTMF on the iPhone.

First app, DTMF Dialer allows you to dial phone number without physically dialing them on the phone you are dialing from. This might seem a little weird, but it can be classified more as a party trick than a really useful application. When your phone makes tones when you press buttons, this application will emulate the dialing sounds. The "phreakers" would do back in the day to pay phones when these people wanted to make free phone calls. This method was fixed, and nowadays, modern phones don't support DTMF tones no more.

Using DMTF Dialer,you just have to put the iPhone's speaker to the mouth piece of a normal phone and choose the number for dialing from your contact list. DMTF Dialer will play those tones, the sounds that the phone picks up and calls.

The newer version, 1.2. brings new features like prefixes. Sometimes you will want to use this application when you are at office, and you have to dial 9 to get a dial tone, and this application supports setting up three custom prefixes, and you can also set one to be the default for your calls. In order for DTMF player to work properly, you should set up the iPhone's speakers volume to 75%.

Another application you can use for DMTF tone dialing on your iPhone is DTMF Pad, which has a very simple functioning sequence. You should put the speakers of the iPhone close to the mouthpiece of the phone, and the DMTF-tone sound will dial. This works on iPods too, and iPod users might find it useful too. This application can also be used for testing another application "Flick'n'call". You can check the DMTF function for working with your environment and then you can purchase "Flick'n'call". When you use this application with iPhone, pay attention to the volume. Too small or too loud might not work, but you can set a smaller volume, and then gradually increase it to the perfect level. On iPods, the Speaker of the iPod is required for a proper functioning of this application.

In the smartphone market, two stars have a lot of fans and get constant publicity: iPhone and Blackberry. Of course there are on market also HTC and Palm, but Apple and RIM have quite large market shares, and the big battle on this market is for sure between these two companies, and especially between these two products. Q3 2008 was the historical moment when iPhone went ahead of BlackBerry, and this was because Apple sold 6.9 million phones, and RIM only 6.1. iPhone or BlackBerry is a pretty tough question for geeks, and it would be interesting to compare these two products and see what are differences, and find out which are the aspects that make one phone or another better.

I think it's fair to compare the higher end BlackBerry phones (Bold, Curve, Storm) with the 3G iPhone. It would be silly to compare iPhone 3G with BlackBerry Pearl, which doesn't cost more than $50. Basically this is just an overall comparison, between more aspects of these smartphones.

A very important thing is that iPhone and BlackBerry markets are starting to overlap. If the iPhone is the media consumer's dream, with a lot of possibilities to play movies and music easily, it might not be the perfect product for a corporate user. A lot of companies have resisted the temptation of allowing the employees to use iPhone in the corporate network. Analysts speculate that currently, Apple is working on a corporate friendly product which will integrate a third party to handle the e-mail issue.

BlackBerry has been for a long time, the staple of corporate users who needed e-mail and calendar features, but RIM, recently has changed a little bit this strategy and added to the newer versions of BlackBerry some cool entertainment features. Now, RIM products have cameras which shoot both still and video images, they play music, and some voices say that RIM is working on BlackBerry 9000, which should have touchscreen and it might be very similar to Apple's iPhone.

In the matter of applications, I saw a very interesting utility created for BlackBerry. A smart guy wrote an application for his BlackBerry which would allow him to ignore some calls automatically, if they were from a particular number. The application allowed a good command on the smartphone, and even if the call still rang, it was immediatly ignored. Actually, BlackBerry doesn't have very interesting applications. There are some free applications, but they seem to be second rate at best, and the prices are quite strange for the paid apps. On the other hand, iPhone is an application heaven. Developers are encouraged to create, design and sell their applications, and iPhone App Store has a lot of interesting apps; you can find a quite wide range of utilities for iPhone there. Many of them make life easier, and they allow you to do this in the palm of your hand. There is Urbanspoon, which randomly selects the nearest restaurants for you with the shake of the iPhone. I heard voices saying that iPhone applications can be easily compared to wives, because they tell you everything, from where to eat, to what to wear and how should you combine your blue T-shirt with that brand new pair of jeans. Due to the overhelming availability of applications and all the encouragement by Apple for developers to design their own applications, iPhone is pretty cool on this aspect.

In the physical attributes arena, I would say that iPhone has a minus, because it might seem quite fragile. Many tests proved that the iPhone is actually durable, and there are also a lot of protection products specially designed for iPhone, from cases to rubber sleeves. The touchscreen and the motion sensibility are pretty cool, and you can play games by tilting the phone or zoom with a finger slide. BlackBerry Storm doesn't even come close to this, but the durability is the strongest factor of this smartphone. The worst problem with a BlackBerry I've heard until now was it got scratches on the back after it was turned on the table too many times. Maybe it was just a boring meeting, right? Even if it is run over by a truck, this little miracle smartphone holds its form, and avoids cracks. More than this, it doesn't lose a key. This smartphone was designed for business and travel, and I tend to believe that the key factor is its durability. For sure, this section is won by BlackBerry.

I don't think I have to explain more about gaming, because we all know the huge variety of games created for iPhone, and all the opportunities and manners we could play them, and we all know that BlackBerry has Brickbreaker. Well I think it's clear. In this section, the prize goes to iPhone and its thousands of games in the App Store.

BlackBerry is far superior to iPhone, concerning the ease of mobile e-mail and the connectivity to Microsoft Exchange SErver. BlackBerry may have a slower CPU, but it is ok for the office applications installed on it. If this smartphone it's secure enough for President Obama to use, I think it's clear that in this aspect BlackBerry has a plus point. iPhone has larger storage capacity, a faster CPU and much more RAM. iPhone is the best anti-productivity phone. Lately, iPhone became compatible too with Exchange Server, and this is a huge step in integrating this product with the business. Each of these phones has its advantages and disadvantages on these sectors,so BlackBerry wins for security and business use, and iPhone is the best for personal use.

The bottom line is 3-3, and this means that they are both great products, but he we have seen a lot of people who own a BlackBerry for business stuff, and in the other pocket they carry an iPod Touch, for all the entertainment offered and for portable gaming needs. From its gaming to its thousands of unique applications, iPhone is the device everybody wants to carry even if they have a Blackberry.

One of the greatest features of the new 3.0 on iPhone is its ability to work with a lot of accessories. Here's a bunch of accessories I liked very much, I find them interesting and I think you would like too. They are pretty useful and of course, accessories market for iPhone is enlarged daily and the variety of products is wider and wider. In here you will find accessories which have already been created, but also some ideas for gadgets producers, and we hope to see soon these accessories on the market.

There are already plenty of batteries, headsets, books, car kits, cases, chargers, cables, cradles and screen protectors available, but there are some nice gadgets users would love to have and it's interesting that they haven't been created until now, and that they are just in the concept stage.

A lot of people adore iPhone's virtual keyboard, which is pretty fine for typing Web addresses or short messages, but there are users who still want a physical keyboard. It would be a nice accessory, for writing long e-mails or even for blogging from iPhone. So, gadget producers, we would love a snap-on keyboard for iPhone. A nice removable keyboard, which would be perfect to use when we have to write a lot.

Another cool improvement could be done on the communication between our digital camera (iPhone has a camera, but I think it doesn't compare to a good professional camera, with much more specific capabilities) and the smartphone, and this would be a card reader, perfect for uploading the images on the digital camera's card on the iPhone, and then sending them directly to our online Flickr or Facebook account, or even e-mail them. There are some docking solutions available, but it would be nice to see an iPhone which integrates a card reader. It would be more comfortable, and I think that an incorporated card reader would be a cool accessory for photography fans.

It's true that iPhone has 3G features, but we all know that this connection, from AT&T brings along with it a lot of frustrations. Either the connections has a low signal, or there are no hotspots around you, you might want to purchase a "MiFi" device, which acts like a bridge between Verizon's 3G network and up to five devices, like smartphones, which we are interested in, or laptops.

Sometimes it is frustrating to see that you don't have time to charge the iPhone. A very good accessory for people who need a protection case for their devices and in the same time a charger, can choose this Solar charging case. This case charges your mobile phone using solar energy, and protects it in the same time. It rakes about 3 hours to charge the battery and it costs $32.

For iPhone users who rely on the iPhone more than they do on a digital camera, for photographs, it might be important for them to get the best quality out of the iPhone's camera. For those who are addicted to iPhone's camera, they can use this wide angle lens, which is just a simple cap that can be slipped over the top of the iPhone. The case must be took off to use this lens, and it costs $11.99 on USB Fever.

Mirror screens seemed a vanity sign when they appeared on the first mobile phones. They have some degree of merit because there are a lot of female and male checking the mascara or their teeth in these mirrored screens. The idea might seem silly, but if you don't have such a screen you can try the MirrorFilm screen protector from ArtWizz, which is basically a reflective, self-adhesive sheet in with the shape of an iPhone screen, and which also has a cutout for the iPhone's Home button, for the earpiece and for the proximity sensor. It might be tricky to stick it without air bubbles, but if you have patience and a steady hand, this mirror film might look very good on your smartphone, and it is quite useful.

Next iPhone might seem kinda weird for most of the people, and I also think that these phone fingers are somehow strange. They look like some Halloween hand accessories or gloves, but they are only covering the fingers, and they were designed to avoid scratches and fingerprints on your iPhone's screen by avoiding the direct contact between your fingers and screen. They can be successfully included in the "handy peripherals" category, and some people might find them useful. As for me, it is somehow weird to wear those mini gloves while I handle my iPhone.

For this summer, you can pimp your iPhone and transform it into a sexy device. You can buy from Incipio Technologies, this Bikini case, which covers the bare essentials, like the top and the bottom of the device. You can find this product in 14 colors, including orange, chocolate and army ranger shade. This case costs $19.99.

Trying to loose weight or just want to keep yourself in shape and use iPhone is the same time? Now you can use the iPhone when you are jogging or when you work out at the gym too, with this new Sport Armband from Belskin, specially created for iPhone, which allows hands-free entertainment and offers full protection for iPhone's screen and access to the volume control button. It also has an internal pocket for the keys or for the earbuds. This armband is water-resistant and has a reflective material too, so you can see it in the dark. This product comes in black and gray and it costs $29.99.

These travel speakers, specially designed for iPhone, are quite interesting and useful for watching a movie when you travel by train or when you just want to watch something on the iPhone and you don't want to use the headphones.This set retracts to just 17cm wide and runs on 4 AAA batteries. i-Station Traveller can be connected to the smartphone through the 3.5 mm jack.