We’ve been trying to grasp why Apple keeps blacklisting useful apps. For example, the latest app blacklisted that we find extremely useful is Podcaster.

Now, Podcaster was built exactly to the SDK specifications and actually allows you to download and manage any podcast you would like on the fly. Sounds really useful, doesn’t it?

Well Apple decided that it shouldn’t be on the App Store for the following reason: “Since Podcaster assists in the distribution of podcasts, it duplicates the functionality of the Podcast section of iTunes.”

Think about it for a second. As David Chartier from ArsTechnica made clear, there are a clear abundance of calculator and stopwatch apps for the iPhone. Doesn’t the iPhone do that on it’s own already?

The developers are doing their best to keep this app alive by providing it Ad Hoc for a donation of $9.99. While Apple can shut that down at any point, the developers claim to be trying their hardest to keep everything together for at least one year. Check out their website for more info.

Tags: ad hoc, app store, arstechnica, iphone, ipod touch, itunes, podcaster

While there was clearly a bit of a head start to be had by the fact that the iPod Touch 2.1 firmware had already been jailbroken, it only took ONE DAY for the DevTeam to officially jailbreak the iPhone 2.1 firmware. This firmware update will allow you to run third party/non-app store apps as well as 2.5G/EDGE unlock your iPhone. There still isn’t an unlock for the 3G band as of yet, but you’ll be happy to know that this process has become a lot easier.

PwnageTool and QuickPwn have both been updated to handle all 2.1 devices EXCEPT the new 2G iPod Touch, so hold off on that for a bit.

Tags: 2.1 firmware, 3g, apple, devteam, Edge, iphone, ipod touch, pwnagetool, quickpwn

Last week was a week of new firmware and new cracks apparently.

The iPod Touch firmware 2.1 launched just last Tuesday and by Friday it was already QuickPwn’d. The process isn’t exactly the one click solution that we’ve all grown accustom to, but if you’re the type that just can’t wait for the DevTeam to make things a little bit more noob friendly, you can go ahead and give it a shot. the whole process isn’t that difficult to handle.

While this method does work, the DevTeam has made it clear that this isn’t one of their official releases, so keep that in mind!

Tags: apple, devteam, firmware 2.1, genuis playlist, iphone, ipod touch, itunes, quickpwn

On Friday, Apple released firmware update 2.1 for the iPhone officially. It had previously been released to the iPod Touch community earlier during the week. While the results have yet to come in clearly, the promises made for this patch were fairly significant. Steve Jobs himself promised a laundry list of fixes, including fewer dropped calls, improved battery life, less app related crashes, and a much faster back up time to iTunes.

The update process took a significant amount of time as they always do and overall the iPhone is performing a lot smoother. But that’s just what this writer has experienced. Many other users have found themselves having to completely restore their phone due to this update. Hopefully we’ll be hearing more in later this week.

Tags: 2.1 firmware, apple, dropped calls, iphone, ipod touch, steve jobs

iPhone and iPod Touch users are going to have quite the bit of extras on their hands in the coming months. The first of many interactive album applications has officially been dated for release! What this means for you is that future albums that you download to your iPhone or iPod Touch will come packed with a digital booklet, extra videos, lyrics, images, behind the scenes footage, and artwork. You’ll essentially have the limited edition junk you always wanted right on your iPhone.

The first band to go through with this is Snow Patrol. So check out their latest album release due out next month if this is your kinda thing.

Tags: app store, interactive album applications, iphone, ipod touch, itunes, itunes 8

Apparently, the iPhone and iPod Touch just don’t have enough of a gaming feel to it at least in Belkins eyes. Their newest peripheral, the iControlPad or the JoyPod is meant to make your device of choice into the perfect gaming controller. It would appear from these screenshots that this device actually slips over your iPhone or iPod Touch making it all fit together for a nice controller feeling. Not to sure on the specific of this as the image unfortunately is in Spanish and there is much speculation that this may in fact be a fake, but either way we’ve got a while before we can actually figure out whether it’s legit or not.

Oh Belkin…

Tags: belkin, icontrolpad, iphone, ipod touch, joypod

While the iPhone and iPod Touch are the current glory hogs of the portably media player market as of late, Zune is still kicking around out there. We’ve got unconfirmed reports that there have actually been two new Zunes being released in the near future, the Zune 120 and the Zune 16GB model. Both offer an increased storage and slightly different look, but is that enough to keep Zune fans with Microsoft?

These are leaked screenshots compliments of Gizmodo. Check back for more details as we find out when and where we’ll be able to see these PMP’s live and with our own two hands.

Tags: iphone, ipod touch, microsoft, zune, zune 120, zune 16gb

While those willing to jailbreak their iPhone’s and iPod Touch’s haven’t complained as to how long it actually takes them to accomplish their task, there are always those looking to accomplish the task faster than those before them. After the PwnageTool set had been released, a group over at iPhone-Devs.org started working on Quickpwn which would actually allow you to jailbreak your devices from 2.0.1 firmware without requiring a full restore or rebuild of your device.

While the software is still in beta, you can get your copy of it right here, but keep in mind that as development software, there is still a chance that downloading and using this program can permanently damage your iPhone or iPod Touch. Quickpwn beta is also only available for the PC at the current time.

Tags: 2.0.1. firmware, apple, iphone, iphone-devs.org, ipod touch, Mac, pwnagetool, quickpwn

Are you’re one of the few who have taken the great power of the iPhone into your hands and have for some reason decided that it’s just to right for you? Or perhaps you realized just how poor AT&T’s service and coverage area is? Well you’re in luck. Today is exactly 30 days since the launch of the iPhone 3G.

So while Steve is up counting his millions thanks to the App Store success, you can head on over to AT&T to inform them that you’d rather have a cell phone that works instead of just a contractual iPod Touch. Depending on if you bought the iPhone through them or the Apple store will determine whether you can actually return the phone or not, but this entire process will at least let you circumvent your early termination fee.

Anyone unsatisfied enough to do this?

Tags: apple, AT&T, etf, iphone, iphone 3g, ipod touch, steve jobs

It’s only been one short month since the launch of the iTunes App Store adn we’re already seeing that the projected number of downloades (including free and paid apps) have reached over 60 million. That figure also comes with an estimation that Apple has earned over $30 million from the sale of iPhone and iPod Touch apps in this short period of time. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Steve Jobs felt encouraged enough by these figures to say that “[the app store] will be a $1 billion marketplace at some point in time.”.

Jobs has high hopes of future apps being the customization that people need to make their phone unique enough to be their own in the same fashion that newer models and different physical styles had done for past phones. Only time will tell if this theory will catch on.

Tags: app store, apple, iphone, ipod touch, itunes, steve jobs