iPhone Alley finally released the v3.0.3 of iFuntastic!! This version includes PowerPC support for G4 and G5 users like me.

” The moment you’ve all been waiting for has finally arrived. iFuntastic version 3 is here, and chock full of new features.

One of the most important new features in v3 is “Unshackling”. No longer will you have to un-jail and re-jail your iPhone for every modification. Once you unshackle, you’re free to make any modifications you please while simultaneously maintaining iTunes’ ability to access the phone. Very sweet.”

The new File Manager is awfully cool. It can be used to install new applications, save and delete files, and everything in between.

iFuntastic also allows you to fiddle with system images and change the carrier logo, as you could in the past.

When camera manufacturers decided to go digital, designing and building a full frame sensor was out of question.

At the time, the quality and price were the concerns (bigger also meant more expensive). First generation camera couldn’t meet those concerns.

Hence the 1.6x multiplier format used by many manufacturers (tho Nikon is 1.5x).

The cost of digital sensors resulted in all of the early DSLRs and most of the current DSLRs using sensors that are smaller than a traditional frame of 35mm film (36mm x 24mm).

Nowadays, larger sensors are improving and the result is better availability and lower prices. So it’s has become a strategic choice.

The Nikon D2X has a DX sensor of 23.7×15.7mm delivering 12.3 megapixel (5.5µm pixel pitch) with a 1:1.5 crop ratio.

The Nikon D3 has a FX sensor of 36×23.9mm delivering 12.2 megapixels full-frame sensor (8.45µm pixel pitch) with a 1:1 ratio (no crop).

Now, the real question here is whether the image quality of a Full Frame sensor will be higher than that of an APS-C sensor, given real lenses which have imperfections.

Clearly the physical size of the sensor is a factor in image quality, but equally clearly it’s not the only factor.

Example, a FF sensor with 1 million pixels isn’t going to better the image quality of an APS-C sensor with 10 million pixels.

So pixels’ size count too. Exactly how much they count is another complex subject, but let’s just say that if you have the same number of pixels, then the larger sensor can give higher quality images, and if you have more pixels, then you’re in even better shape.

Sensor makers have come a long way to improve both the size and quality of their sensors, especially when talking about DSLRs, giving birth to the megapixel myth.

Read more… »

Engadget is reporting to have tested a software solution to unlock the iPhone… iPhoneSIMfree.com is giving us the worlds first (and only) software driven SIM unlocking service for the iPhone.

No need to open your phone. No need to solder…

“Major benefits include:

• Chose the provider you want, use any SIM card from any network provider in any country
• No more outrageous roaming charges. When traveling simply pick the local provider of your choice and change your sim card.
• Poor network coverage no longer an issue, use the network provider best suited to your region
• Save money! A favorable exchange rate makes for excellent value for money when importing”

We’ll have to hold our breath a bit longer as they will offer individual per unit licenses starting next week.

So far, they are only offering bulk purchase of 500 licenses and above.

Now I wonder how long it will take Apple to come up with a Software Update to fix and scratch this.

First, an interesting slideshow of Nikon’s presentation of the D3 & D300 from our buddies at e-PhotoGraphia. These slides will help you understand all the goodies packed into those two new cameras.

And it’s a revolution… ISO 6400 in normal mode, self-cleaning sensor unit incorporated (D300), high density 51 focus points for both cameras, 1,005 pixel RGB sensor, active D-lightning, and much more!

Check out the full report here.

And now, the video… It’s in Japanese but I’m sure you’ll get it

Quite nice!

DPReview has some additional high resolution photos of the beast. So… who wants one?!

Big news, the new Nikon D3 is here! When I saw this morning in my mail box the D3 spec sheet I said… WOW, Well Done (again) Guys ! And just to kill the suspense… the D3 goes Full Frame!!

The D3 is one of the greatest DSLR that you can get nowadays, with a 12.1Mpix Full Frame (FX Format) CMOS sensor, a 3 inch LCD, a 51 point autofocus system and 15 cross-type AF, a 200 to 6400 ISO range which can be change to an AMAZING 25,600 ISO in HI2 mode, a 9fps shooting mode, a dual CF slot (YES!!), HDMI OUT !

All of this for just $4999.99. Gotta love those “psychological” dumb prices. I know some of you are going to bitch about the sensor being “only” 12.1MP, but remember, it’s quality, not quantity that matters.

But we also have a D300 just in case the D3 is too much for you to handle

Read more… »

Sony is pushing a new limit with this 12.5 MP CMOS sensor burring at the same time Canon on the very same day they announced a new 10 megapixel CMOS to power their EOS 40D…

This baby can take 10.39 frames per second with 12-bit output (full details on DPReview) and it seems all the major player in the industry are betting on the CMOS technology… Does that mean that CCD is dead?

Well, I wouldn’t bet my Grand Ma’s wheel chair on it but after Nikon, Canon and Panasonic (Live Mos for Olympus), Sony is definitely leaving the CCD technology behind.

Nikon tried a CMOS “like” sensor with the LBCAST in the D2H, but came back to a (Sony) CMOS sensor for the D2X and the rest of its camera. This new sensor could find a home in Nikon’s mid range cameras very soon.

This makes me wonder what will be inside the D3X even more ah! Another Sony monster??

The next few weeks should be quite interesting if you ask me!!

Word is circulating around the web in whispers and blog posts about a rumored launch of the Nikon D3 DSLR in the coming week.

Apparently invitations from Nikon have been going out to a “very special launch” in the next week and a teaser ad has surfaced out of Japan (see below) which talks of :

• 51-point autofocus system,
• 3-inch viewfinder, nine frames-per-second continuous shooting
• Live view viewfinder (showing you what the lens is seeing just like a point-and-shoot camera does).

As far as megapixels and such, the latest guess says it’ll be packing more than 12.4 megapixels…

Wait and see!

[Via Electronista]