Hack a Day

iPhone dev team releases jailbreak video

Caleb Kraft — 2008-07-11T17:30:00+00:00

Filed under: cellphones hacks, ipod hacks, news

The iPhone dev team, notorious for jailbreaking the iPhone has just released a video of the iPhone 3G hacked. Keep up to date with it and watch for a release on their blog. This is a major update to the PwnageTool which is already available for previous versions of the iPhone.

They have added a lot of new features such as: canned web searches, custom installer configuration, and custom root partitions. They promise to release it soon, but state that it will not be this weekend. You can get a the high resolution version of the video from our mirror.

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iPod laser pointer

Will O'Brien — 2008-03-09T22:42:00+00:00

Filed under: ipod hacks, misc hacks

If you thought there wasn't anything else to shove on the end of your iPod, [Alex] is here to set you straight. He used the DC power that's available on the iPod's dock to drive a cheap laser pointer. It's pretty easy to do - just get a dock connector (sparkfun has em) and add a laser pointer module. If you'd rather access everything else, check out the super dock I put together a while back. Hit the read link if you'd rather see the picture in color.

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Internal bluetooth for 5th gen iPods

Will O'Brien — 2008-02-21T16:04:00+00:00

Filed under: ipod hacks

[Ed] sent in his latest iPod modding effort. Previously he did this on a 4th gen, and now he's following that up with a 5th gen version. He found an even smaller bluetooth module for the mod, but it requires replacing the hard drive with a compact flash card to make room inside the case if you want to keep the original back cover.

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DIY iPod DAC modding

Will O'Brien — 2007-12-24T22:53:00+00:00

Filed under: ipod hacks

Red Wine audio offers the iMod - a service that modifies the DAC in 4th, 5th and 5.5th generation iPods. Despite requiring some fine work, the mod isn't that difficult. [joneeboi] sent in his DIY DAC mod how-to, and even better, it's suitable for 3rd gen and 1st gen Nanos. The audio signal is tapped directly after the DAC, and the SMD capacitors in the iPod are replaced with high end Black Gate capacitors. This is just the mod feed the best possible signal to your headphone amp

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iPhone GPS module

Will O'Brien — 2007-12-14T22:47:00+00:00

Filed under: cellphones hacks, ipod hacks

The boys over at engadget put this up while I was working it over, but I'm still gonna hit it. [Curt] sent in the iPhone GPS he put together. He's using a micro-controller to send the ground toggle handshake we mentioned in the iPhone serial tutorial, along with a small NMEA serial GPS module. After the handshake is completed, the controller hands over the serial port to the GPS output. (Since the handshake only needs the ground toggle, I'd guess that the module is connected to the TX/RX lines all the time.) By the way, the GPS looks like this SiRF II board sold by spark fun electronics.

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Mic preamp in an iPod touch dock connector

Will O'Brien — 2007-11-28T21:53:00+00:00

Filed under: ipod hacks

[Marian] sent in his sweet little Mic preamp that he built for his iPod touch. He built the circuit on the legs of a TLC272 OP-Amp with SMD components. The whole thing actually fits inside the cover of a standard iPod dock connector.
Bonus: [tnkgrl] added a USB bluetooth adapter to her eeePC after her circuit tracing efforts.

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Upgrade your in-ear headphones

Will O'Brien — 2007-11-11T20:43:00+00:00

Filed under: ipod hacks, portable audio hacks

I'm a fan of my Etymotic er6i (which have mysteriously vanished...) headphones, so this simple hack caught my eye. [James C] sent in this simple method of upgrading the more affordable apple in ear headphones. The idea is simple, use a small hole punch to cut out the center of some cheap foam earplugs. Then replace the soft surrounds on the headphones with them. I'm guessing that this trick would work for quite a few in ear headphones that I've seen lately.

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Simple iPhone headphone mod

Will O'Brien — 2007-09-19T23:19:00+00:00

Filed under: ipod hacks, misc hacks

Apparently the iPhone jack isn't quite standard - it's a bit recessed to the point that third parties are offering adapters for it. [John] offers this simple method for modding Etymotic's fine ER6i headphones. (If only I could find mine. I haven't seen them for 8 months.) I suggest using a utility knife over a pocket knife. It's simple, easy, and will probably work on most headphones.

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Free your iPhone

Will O'Brien — 2007-08-26T23:40:00+00:00

Filed under: handhelds hacks, ipod hacks, misc hacks

I wasn't going to post this - it's a freakin phone after all. But I've gotten quite a few tips on it, and I'd like them to end. [George] made a concerted effort to hack the iPhone - and it paid off. After his crazy ebay auction that topped out at 99,999,999.99 last time I checked, he ended up trading his first phone for a Nissan 350z and a few more iPhones.
He documented his process, step by step - if you've got the skills, you can probably do it yourself. The soldering work is damn fine work - probably the hardest thing there is. The write up is a little hard to follow, so plan on taking some time to comprehend everything. (Blogging software isn't the best way to organize how-tos, trust me on this.) My hats off to [George], he did some great work. - So, why didn't I want to post it? All this work yielded one thing: carrier choice for the iPhone.

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Solderless aux in for Bose sound dock, etc

Will O'Brien — 2007-07-06T05:29:00+00:00

Filed under: home entertainment hacks, ipod hacks

This little how-to was sent in by [Ed]. The sound dock posts get quite a few hits, so I figured I'd share.

There is a solderless way to hack an aux input for the Sounddock.
(1)Go to Wal-mart (or elsewhere) and buy the Griffin Dock Adapter for iPod Shuffle (~$20) and a Belkin Speaker and Headphone splitter (~$4). (The Belkin splitter is needed in order to fit properly over the Shuffle plug on the device, but other cables/adapters might work.)
(2)Remove the existing adapter plate and replace it with the Dock adapter.
(3) Set the switch to speaker. (Very Important!) (4)Plug in one end of the Belkin adapter and you are ready to go! Any input signal automatically activates the Sounddock. Now you have a fully functional female and male stereo headphone input for your Sounddock.

-->Total cost ~$25 and no soldering required.

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Make custom dash mods (ipod dock)

Will O'Brien — 2007-07-03T10:37:00+00:00

Filed under: ipod hacks, misc hacks

[Daniel ] sent in this one, from an O'Reilly book, it's older but the results are just stunning. The iPod dock has been done countless times, but the really interesting part is the custom dash molding technique. The cradle was mocked up with clay on the original piece, then a silicon mold was cast from the mock up. After that, the entire piece was re-created inside the mold. After some dremel work and a bit of sanding, it came out beautifully. It looks like a great way to make custom LCD/GPS dash inserts.

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iPod dock extension cable

Will O'Brien — 2007-02-07T11:47:00+00:00

Filed under: ipod hacks

I've lost count of the number of emails from people looking for these things, so here it is. The hardest part of [Mike's] little hack is the soldering. The pins on those iPod connectors are just evil to solder. You'll need the patience of a saint.

I've worked with these same connectors and I came up with an easier, if bulkier method of soldering those things in my iPod super dock How-To.

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DIY Shuffle charger

Will O'Brien — 2007-01-25T08:01:00+00:00

Filed under: ipod hacks

[Blake] sent me this one when my house was covered in ice. He put together a charger for his new iPod ~~nano~~ er, shuffle. It's sort of in two parts: a USB to mini-jack and a 5v wall adapter to USB port.

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Nike iPod hacking

Will O'Brien — 2007-01-23T06:57:00+00:00

Filed under: ipod hacks

Someone else's apathy often becomes someones motivation. The guys at Gordian Labs got sick of trying to use Nike's website so they dug into their iPods to find the data generated by the iPod+Nike running shoe add on. Then they put together a handy site for processing the data from the iPod. The site also accepts GPX data, so you can combine it with GPS data to track your runs and your routes. After they showed it to me, I prodded them and they put together a short How-To on getting the data under Mac, Windows and Linux.

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iPod NES controller

Will O'Brien — 2007-01-12T09:10:00+00:00

Filed under: ipod hacks

[F00 f00] sent in his excellent piece of iPod artistry. It's one of the most original iPod hacks I've seen yet. (Aside from his funky dock) I haven't checked up on the latest iPod dock specification, but I'd guess he's sending the command signals via the serial (TTL) interface with a microcontroller(pic/atmel etc) to encode the button presses.

Happy Halloween Extra

Will O'Brien — 2006-10-31T03:03:00+00:00

Filed under: home entertainment hacks, ipod hacks, misc hacks, pcs hacks, peripherals hacks, playstation hacks

[Update: pumpkin carved by Team Hack-A-Day member mastershake916]

We've got plenty of tricks around here, and I've got a treat coming up - you'll hear about it in the next podcast.

[Ronald Schaten] sent me his USB LED fader. ATMega, PWM lit LEDs, he uses it to indicate status on his pvr.

[computerguru365] sent in his cell phone car charger turned USB cable

[steve] sent in this over the top C64DTV mod.

[Everett] sent along his button activated PSP shoulder lighting.Nice tiny soldering work for that on.

[Jorge] sent in his friends latest junk art metal lathe. Not an easy thing to build - Nice!

[gijs] sent me this crazy bent Casio SK-1. We've had a few of these on Hackaday before.

[seniorcheez] sent in his iPod shuffle dock with integrated power and tunecast.

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Solar backpack ipod/usb charger

Will O'Brien — 2006-10-28T04:31:00+00:00

Filed under: ipod hacks, portable audio hacks

Jason sent me his solar ipod charger how-to. The regulator may not be neccesary - but there are so many models, I don't know if the new Nano's hold up to the old power input standard. He put a 7805 regulator on a 6v 100ma flexible panel that he mounted on his backpack. I've seen this sort of thing on a shuffle before, but this one should work for most iPods. USB power management sometimes shoots itself in the foot, but iPods are willing to pull power if it's not present. It's nice, clean and simple. I'd consider adding some high temp hot glue (or epoxy)to keep the soldered connections from breaking.

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Thursday mini-extra

Will O'Brien — 2006-10-26T11:30:00+00:00

Filed under: ipod hacks, misc hacks, pcs hacks

[Russ] sent in his Great Pumpkin computer case mod. (Non-biodegradable)

[Nuke] sent in his $10 ipod dock. It makes me think of doom for some reason.

[phnx] sent in this amusing case mod.

These have been around, but they're excellent, so deal. Evilmadscientist.com has a couple of great pumpkins.
Check out the Cylon Jackolantern and the R/C Dalek Pumpkin

[Daedalus] sent in this one - adsl via sound card. 96kbs. The sound card is interfaced
with an audio transformer to the line at each end.

And this one just came in from [Eric]. Make a magsafe connector for thinkpads! Awesome.

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ipod tube dock

Will O'Brien — 2006-10-16T09:21:00+00:00

Filed under: home entertainment hacks, ipod hacks

Kurtis Berry sent in his response to all the ipod speaker docks out there. Instead of buying one, he built one. It's really a combination of several projects, and it looks great. He used a monoblock tube amp kit to provide 8 watts of excitement to a well known diy speaker design, all encased in oak. He's hit that wall we all know - that point where we quit because it's working so nicely as it is. Still, I'm not sure that adding a second channel would add too much to the sound experience with his speaker unless he wants to build a matched set. (I can't give him too much grief, I'm jealous.)

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Saturday morning extra

Will O'Brien — 2006-10-07T06:16:00+00:00

Filed under: home entertainment hacks, ipod hacks, misc hacks

Storage element keychain. Allright, it's cool, but almost criminal.

Hack a wireless doorbell into a remote relay. It's allright, but I like the Mr. House + APRS tracking better.

[Josh and PsychoRNGD] both sent in the mindstorm NXT laser hack (Replace the LED in a light unit with a laser pointer diode)

Matt sent along his XBox 180. I dig it just because it gets rid of all those friggin wires.

[XanTium] points out that MS's latest drive in the 360 takes things to a few extremes to block firmware hacking.

[Mike] let us know that after all the grief he got here, he built an aux to female ipod cable for his sound-dock. (He got his femal ipod connector from Ridax, but Sparkfun now carries a surface mount version)

You guys sent in some great tips this week. Keep em comin. I've been busy, but I'm going to hunt down the floating ads and get them taken care of.

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