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To Upgrade or Not to Upgrade
Taking a moment away from the more typical “tutorial” type articles, we’re going to spend a minute and address a common question most people ask…”should I upgrade my devices’ operating system?” With iOS 5 hitting Apple devices recently and Android 4.0 (i.e. Ice Cream Sandwich) coming soon, this question is more relevant than ever.
The question always comes up…should I get the lastest version of my phones operating system (iOS, Android, Windows Phone 7, Blackberry OS, etc). There is no simple answer but let’s look at a few questions to ask yourself before you make this decision. First off, take a look at what the features are that you’re getting in the upgrade. Often times the upgrades are marginal or impact aspects of the device that are irrelevant to you based on your usage. In those cases, no big worries in not getting the upgrade.
The next question is…at what cost will I get the upgrade. By this we mean what negative aspects are there in upgrading. Again, this depends on the type of user you are. If you’re someone that likes to tweak and mess with your phone (jailbreaking your iOS device or rooting your Droid) then you probably don’t want the latest version. Typically, new versions are released to block users from doing things that the mother ship frowns upon. For example, when the jailbreak method for the iPad 2 was finally released by hacker Comex, Apple immediately released an update to the operating system to block the jailbreak. They added virutally nothing else other than the block and because it came out so quickly following the release of the jailbreak, the majority of iPad 2 users were left with an (as of yet) un-jailbreakable device.
The same holds true for Android. While Google says it doesn’t take as active a role in trying to block rooting as Apple does against jailbreakers, new versions of Android are typically not compatible with current root method. This means you have to wait until an enterprising hacker or software developer comes up with a new method and sometimes those new methods aren’t quite as simple as the older ways. This also holds true for certain apps that, for example, allow you to turn a rooted device into a wifi hotspot. These features may be disabled on a newer version.
It’s always nice to have the latest and greatest and sometimes the upgrades genuinely do warrant the drawbacks or sacrifices one must make. All we suggest is to not take the idea of an upgrade as always being just that. Quite often an upgrade is nothing but a downgrade.
Free iOS Apps With Installous
One of the first questions anyone asks after jailbreaking is “Where da free apps at?!” Granted, some people may ask the same question in a more grammatically correct manner.
Once you are jailbroken, the process of being able to install free apps is fairly painless. First off, we have to address the issue of why someone would do this. The purpose of this hack is to be able to download apps for free to try out before you buy (emphasis being on “BEFORE YOU BUY”). If you find an app that you like, you should always, always, ALWAYS download the paid app from the App Store to support the app makers.
Step 1: Begin by going into Cydia (which you should have once you jailbreak your iOS device).
Click on Cydia
Step 2: Once inside Cydia, click on Sources on the bottom row of buttons
Click on Sources
Step 3: This screen shows the app repositories you currently have. (A repository is basically a big bank full of apps.) We want to add a new repository so click on the Edit button on the top right corner. On the next screen click on the Add button on the top right corner.
Step 4: Now we are going to tell the program where to find the new repository. Type the following into the search box, exactly as it appears so that your search box has only this text: http://cydia.hackulo.us
Once you have done that click on Add Source.
You’ll see this next screen as everything is installed.
The install screen
Step 5: Now your list of app repositories will have a new option…Hackulous. Click on it.
Step 6: Once inside the Hackullous app, click on the Install button on the top right corner.
Click Install
Step 7: Click Confirm on the next screen to finalize the installation
Click Confirm
Step 8: Once the installation is complete, you will see the Installous icon on your screen. Just tap this to launch your new Installous app store.
Tap on Installous App
Once you’re inside Installous, you can see the categories of apps listed on the left. There is also a Search button on the top bar to search for specific apps.
The Installous App
Installous is run and maintained by regular people that are working hard to bring you a great and easy way to try apps before you buy. As a result of the grass roots basis of the program, it can be frequently out of service due to high traffic. Always be patient when using things like this and understand that people are working hard to bring you this. If you want to help out, you can always make a donation to those dedicated few bringing you these great services. Just go to http://hackulo.us/ for more details on the app and to donate.
If you get this to work drop a comment below and let us know what device and version you ran it on. And remember… if you find an app you like, spend a few bucks to buy the real version from the App Store. Keep app makers cranking out quality apps.
JailBreakMe.com
The worlds easiest and most elegant jail break tool is back. Comex has released the much anticipated JailBreakMe.com update recently and so far there are a lot of happy Apple fanboys around the world. The biggest feature of this update was the inclusion of the iPad 2, which up until this point was un-jailbreakable (yup, that’s totally a word). Now even the owners of Apple’s latest and greatest tablet can partake in the Cydia goodness.
So how does it work? On your iOS device’s browser, just go to JailBreakMe.com. From there you will see a screen that has a single button. Click it and you are jail broken. It literally could not be any simpler or cleaner than that. So far reports are that this will work on all current iOS devices but that probably won’t be the case for long as Apple usually makes it a point to crash the Jail Break party whenever it can.
And remember, jailbreaking will void your warranty but it is NOT ILLEGAL! And if you ever want to go back, you can just undo the whole processs by using iTunes to revert back and fully wiping your device. Just remember to back everything up before you do.
If the jailbreak worked for you, drop a comment below and tell us what device you did it on.
More DVD Ripping Goodness
Ok, let’s say you weren’t a big fan of the VLC approach. Now we’re going to talk about another free program for your computer that can convert DVD’s into formats that can be transferred to your mobile device.
Handbrake is an open source, free program that is downloadable for your Mac or PC. It’s a very powerful program that can rip DVD’s as well as convert video files from one format to another. For example, let’s say you already have a video file that is an AVI file but you want to put that into your mobile device. You’d have to convert that to an MP4 video file, which is what most portable devices like. When it comes to ripping DVD’s, Handbrake can rip a lot of formats, but not all of them. DVD’s are all encoded a little differently in their copy protection style, so you’re going to have more success with some programs versus others.
Now we’ll get started and first download Handbrake. Follow the link below to go to Handbrakes site and download the version for your computer…
Click Here to Download Handbrake
Once you’ve gone through the installation process, go ahead and pop a DVD into your computer and then open Handbrake (actually, you can do that in either order). The program is virtually identical for Mac or PC, but for the sake of this demonstration we’re looking at the Mac version.
The main interface with the Presets menu open on the right side
Sometimes when you first open the program, it will prompt you for the Source (where is the video or DVD you want to convert). If it doesn’t, you will get a the main window of the program. Click on the Source icon on the upper left corner. If you’re ripping a DVD, select the DVD drive and hit open. If you’re converting a video file into a different format, find that video file on your computer and click open.
The program will say “Scanning Source” for a few moments and then a screen like this will pop up. Now we’re going to adjust the settings depending on the device you’re going to be watching the movie on in the end. On the right side of the program is a slide out menu that shows some device presets. If you don’t see that, click on the Toggle Presets Icon on the top right of the program. If you’re converting to an Apple device, just pick that device from the menu and you’re basically set. For Android, you want to select the Normal profile under the Regular group.
Next, back on the program’s main interface, go to the box labeled File and enter where you want the finished video to appear. You can even have it just save to the desktop so you can find it easier.
Beyond that, I recommend leaving most of the settings alone. If you want the video file to be a certain size (maybe a little smaller to conserve space) you can click on the Video tab near the center of the program, then check the Target Size box under Quality. Now enter the size you want the finished video to be and Handbrake will adjust the video settings to get as close as possible to that size. Naturally, the smaller the file size, the lower the quality of the audio and video.
Once you’re happy with the settings, go to the top of the screen and click on the Start icon and let it do it’s thing. Handbrake is much faster than VLC, so depending on your computers speed you could have a DVD ripped in as little as 15 minutes or less.
If you are planning on converting multiple files that you have saved on your computer, you can click on the Add to Queue button at the top of the program. This adds your video to a list that will do all at once. Then just keep adding sources like you did before and hit Add to Queue for each one. Once you’re ready, press Start and it will do them all, one at a time.
Drop a comment below if this worked for you and how the video quality was once you were done. We’ll have another post coming up soon on how to get those video files onto your mobile device.
Welcome
To put it very simply, this site is designed for people with little to no tech savvy who want to get a little more out of their shiny electronic toys. We’re going to go over terms like hacking, rooting, and jailbreaking and what they all mean and if they are right for you. Or maybe you’ve already rooted your android phone and now you want to know what to do with. We’ll post articles about the best apps for rooted, jail broken and even unmodified phones and tech.
Primarily this site will run off of user requests for information. If you have a question just post a comment and we’ll do our best to answer.
As a disclaimer, virtually all of the information found here is from articles around the web and whenever possible I will put links to those sites and to the original authors. The main goal of HackMondo is to take all that information and convert it to non-techno babble for everyone to understand. Please check with your own wireless carrier or device manufacturer to find out if any of the things we talk about here will void your warranty or violate your terms of service. Proceed at your own risk.
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