George Hotz, an American hacker has released a new jailbreak program. According to Hotz, it can jailbreak iPhone 3GS’s in 30 seconds!

The site, Blackra1n essentially rewires the iPhone as the jailbreaking uses non-Apple coding to jailbreak it.

12 hours after Hotz put the link on Twitter, over 260,000 downloads had already used the application.

Note: Jailbreaking iPhone’s will void your warrenty, and installing updates of the iPhone OS may “Brick” your device and render your iPhone useless……BE WARNED!!!

While nothing has been officially confirmed, word has it that Meteor will soon be ranging an Android phone, believed to be the HTC Hero. On Meteor’s forum, an administrator, while discussing Android phones stated that they will soon be ranging one.

“I have just been speaking to our product guys and I can confirm that we will definitely be launching an Android handset on our network in November!!!,” according to Glynn, an administrator on the site.

The message which now seems to have been removed stated an Android phone was coming but no idea of which.

However, a tip from Gadgetrepublic.com has since said that the Android phone on Meteor will indeed be the HTC Hero!

Via : Gagdetrepublic.com

At long last, O2 are due to lose their exclusivity on the selling of iPhone’s. After Christmas, Vodafone will be allowed sell the ever-popular iPhone.

At the moment, there is no word on prices or tariffs, but watch this space and Eircell will keep you posted.

You can however register your interest with Vodafone by clicking here

With all this talk of doom and gloom, the re-intorduction of college fees and general disaster all over the country, O2 have come up with a new deal to help the hard pressed students.

From today, Telefónica O2 and HEAnet have introduced an deal for students, that by signing into 12 month contract, they get a much reduced rate for their mobile broadband. The normal price for O2 mobile broadband is €19.99, but with this offer, students can avail of their broadband at the special price of €9.99. There is a limit of 10GB data allowance, which is more than enough for day long Facebooking activities!

There is also another deal which is a rolling contract, giving students more options if they wish to cancel the contract and not encour any termination fees. This offers costs a little more, at €12.99 and download limit of up to 5GB data allowance.

For both offers, the actual modem will cost €19.99.

This is a clever move by O2. Mobile broadband is ideal for students living away from home. By giving them this rate, O2 are obviously hoping to try and get these as potential longterm customers.

But for students, are they would are about is updating their Facebook accounts and saving that €10 for other expenses!

“We understand the financial pressures students are under and this is especially relevant in the current economic climate,

“Education and better broadband services are both vital for Ireland’s economic growth and we are delighted to be working with HEAnet to make this offer available. We are confident it will prove extremely popular with students.” David Hodgers, Head of Products & Services, Telefónica O2 Ireland.

O2 appear to be going around college to offer this deal to student directly, with a list of colleges and dates available on campus.ie.

You will need to bring

• Photo ID in the form of a valid 09/10 student card from one of the participating institutions
• Proof of address in the form of a utility bill or letter from the CAO or institution
• Bank details or credit laser card for direct debit payment
• Proof of date of birth

Via : SiliconRepublic

Nokia are due to add another handset to their ever-growing range of touchscreen handsets. This time around, the Nokia 5230 has been chosen to be added. Although Nokia may have been late to the touchscreen party, they have really embraced the technology, seeing the growth and popularity probably helped get their back-sides in gear!

The Nokia 5230 appears to be a more affordable version of its bigger brother the 5800. As for looks, they are the image of each other. Size, weight and design the are identical. The only differences become apparent when you look at the features inside the phone.

Nokia have slashed some of the features in the 5800 which make it a Smartphone. Wi-Fi is gone, no longer available in the 5230. Camera quality has been reduced, from 3.2MP in the 5800 to 2MP in the 5230. There are some up’s though, A-GPS functionality and HSPDA connectivity have been added.

Specs:

• GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
• HSDPA 900 / 2100
• 111 x 51.7 x 15.5 mm, 83 cc
• 115g
• TFT resistive touchscreen, 16M colors
• 3.5 mm audio jack
• HSDPA, 3.6 Mbps
• 2 MP, 1600×1200 pixels
• WAP 2.0/xHTML, HTML, RSS feeds
• WMV/RV/MP4/3GP video player
• MP3/WMA/WAV/RA/AAC/M4A music player

Specs

• 2 MP Camera
• GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
• 109 x 60 x 13.9 mm
• 320 x 240 pixels, 2.64 inches
• Wi-Fi 802.11b/g
• Bluetooth
• BlackBerry OS
• MP3/AAC/AAC+/WMA/ASF player

Via : Vodafone

The LG KS360, which is commonly know as the LG Etna has been on the market for a few months now and is proving to be a big success for O2. When it was first launched, stock of this affordable touchscreen phone sold out within days, leaving many O2 and Carphone Warehouses stores without any to sell to the mases.

While stock levels have improved and sales for O2 continue to be good for O2, Meteor has gotten in on the act. O2 even found that large numbers of their handsets were getting unlocked to be used on other networks; such as Meteor. This will obviously be a good sign for Meteor.

But what does this phone do? Well, the actual price has a large part. Meteor have matched the price O2 are selling this for at €99.99 in stores, while you can save €10 online on meteor.ie.

The phone measures 101.5 x 51 x 16.8 mm but is surprising compact. Slide the screen (from left to right as you hold the phone) to reveal a full QWERTY keypad. This makes writing a txt and email much easier. The touchscreen 240 x 320 pixels, 2.4 inches, but we found it a bit slow at times. The touchscreen overall is not bad considering its price!

The camera is 2MP, which will not win you any photography prizes anytime soon! But, its is in line with the rest of the phone, it is designed for the masses and fits the bill. The person using this won’t be looking for a high class camera so might be ideal!

Overall, we were pretty impressed with the phone. While it will not set the world on fire for its specs or features. While it has been launched on Meteor and O2, it will sell and will be within the budget of its real target market.

O2 have launched a TV service for their customers. While this will only work for a small number of the handsets they range, it is a very attractive feature. It allows you to keep in the know with RTE or Sky News but also entertained with The Cartoon Network or Sky Sports!

It is broken down into two options, each option has different channels for you to chose from. It is an excellent way to keep yourself busy during lunch, on the train or even if you are hiding from the boss in work!

O2 Lifestyle Pack

RTE News Now - Live RTE bulletins which include the the news at 1pm, 6pm and 9pm and also Primetime.

Cartoon Network - Updated daily but on a 2 hour loop

CNN - Live

Blueroom - Meet the stars backstage from The O2 (not really though!)

Travel Channel - Updated monthly and on a loop

BBC World News - Live

Boomerang - 2 hour loop updated daily

Sky Sports & News Pack

Sky Sports 1, 2 & 3 - Live

Sky Sports Xtra - Live

Sky Sports News - Live

At The Races - Live

How it works

A €1 charge lets you watch all the channels for a 24hour period. While you can get a 30 days pass, with a €5 per month for the O2 Lifestyle pack, OR €6 per month the Sky Sports & News pack.

Txt TV to 50202 and away you go…after they send you links!

Click here for a list of compatible handsets

The Carphone Warehouse are ranging a new colour varient of the hugely popular Samsung Tocco F480. This basically is the very same phone as the pink and black version, however it is red in colour.

It is carried by O2, and priced reasonably at €199. While it is red in colour, there is a flowery design around the phone. It really adds to the overall aesthetic of the phone and compliments the red colouring.

Specs

• Tri Band GSM 900 / 1800 / 1900
• 98.4 x 55 x 11.6 mm
• TFT touchscreen, 256K colors
• 240 x 320 pixels, 2.8 inches
• microSD (TransFlash), up to 8GB - 232 MB of internal memory
• EDGE - Class 12
• 5MP Camera
• WAP 2.0/xHTML, HTML

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