Getting ready for iOS 5.

Apple is set to release iOS 5 to the public on Wednesday October 12th, 2011. Here are the steps to prepare yourself before upgrading to iOS 5:

  1. Download iTunes 10.5 – Mac | Windows | Windows 64 bit
  2. Back up your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad using iTunes.Make sure you check “Encrypt iPhone/iPod touch/iPad backup”. That way all your password settings are also backed up.
  3. Import all your photos and videos from the iPhone, iPod touch or iPad. Mac users can use iPhoto, Aperture or Image Capture. Windows Users can directly access the Photos folder through Explorer and copy the files manually.
  4. Transfer all purchases from your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad to your computer using iTunes.
  5. Make sure the apps, songs, movies, ringtones in your iPhones, iPod touch or iPad are also in your iTunes Library.

Now you are ready for iOS 5.

Starting Wednesday October 12th, 2011 you can update your iPhone/iPod touch/iPad through iTunes.

If for some reasons you could not update to iOS 5, you might have to go the “Restore” route. After that you can “Restore from Backup”.

“Let’s talk iPhone.” Live Coverage Links.

Let’s talk iPhone.
Tuesday October 4th, 2011 at 10:00 a.m. Cupertino time
1 Infinite Loop
Cupertino, CA 95014

As usual, some invitees would be reporting live from the event. Live reports and coverage start by 10:00 a.m. Cupertino time. The followings are known sites that actually got the invite to the “Let’s talk iPhone.” event.

Meta-coverage:

More links will be added.

Do not take this iPhone to the Genius Bar!

Apple’s “Let’s talk iPhone.” event is just a few days away while rumors and speculations run rampants. Would it be iPhone 4S or iPhone 5? Could it be both? All will be revealed soon.

Please take this story with a grain of salt.

Back in December 2010, a source who claimed to be not Phil Schiller told me about the next iPhone that wouldn’t be released in June-July 2011. I did ask what the “iPone 5” would be like. The answer we get was “the next iPhone” wouldn’t be out as everyone expected. Came March 2011, shortly after I bought an iPad 2 the same source reaffirmed that there wouldn’t be iPhone announcement on WWDC 2011. I tweeted this:

There will be no #iPhone5 announcement at #Apple #WWDC 2011. It is all about Mac OS X Lion. September 2011 for iPhone 5 in time for Holiday.

One little mistake I made was mentioning “iPhone 5” even though the source only said “the next iPhone”.

In May 2011, I mentioned this about the next iPhone based on what the sources “not” telling me, wink wink:

  • No, it will not be a “teardrop” design.
  • No NFC
  • No LTE

John Gruber seems to think that teardrop design is not so Apple-like design. Gruber also mentioned:

Preface: I don’t know what the new iPhone looks like. I don’t even know whether there’s only one new iPhone. The only thing I know is that there existed, months ago, “N94” prototype iPhones that looked like the iPhone 4, but which contained the iPad 2’s next-gen A5 CPU. That proves nothing, however, as I believe Apple was just as likely to build iPhone 4-lookalike prototypes whether or not they ever intended to bring them to market. Testing new internal components in disguised exteriors is an obvious strategy for a secretive company.

I truly believe that the iPhone I saw was a test unit, which looks like an iPhone 4. I assume the bumper hides the changes in the steel band. One of the iPhones below is a test unit, I won’t tell you which one though. One seems to run faster than the other. Care to take a guess?

Jokingly I asked my source if I could use the test unit and got the following reply:

Sure, you must never reveal what this iPhone is in any way. Always keep the bumper on and do not take this iPhone to the Genius Bar! By the way, you need to sign the NDA.

I was not sure if my source was joking or serious. So I told my source that I would not take the offer but I might mentioned the existence of the test unit to some select people. My source then said:

Without physical evidence, no one would believe you anyway. They are only rumors.

I realized that my source is right. I do not want the responsibility.

Until October 4th, 2011 at 10:00 A.M. Cupertino time.

Microsoft Security Essentials flags Google Chrome as Malware

I spent the whole morning restoring Google Chrome on numbers of computers at the office after it was flagged as Password Stealer PWS:Win32/Zbot and forcibly removed by Microsoft Security Essentials. As I was working to get this problem straighten out, I discovered other people are having the same problem.

Interestingly, Microsoft Security Essentials did not flag Google Chrome Dev release as malware. It only affects the release version on the computers I have in the office.

I was unable to reinstall Google Chrome even after updating Microsoft Security Essentials. So I disabled Microsoft Security Essentials before started re-installing Google Chrome.

If you were still having problems re-installing Google Chrome with Microsoft Security Essentials disabled, try uninstalling Google Chrome from the Control Panel.

Gingerbread 2.3.6 update for Nexus One.

Gingerbread 2.3.6 update notification popped up on my Nexus One last night. Well to be honest, I am not sure when the notification arrived since I had not used the Nexus One for more than a week. According to the message on the Nexus One:

This OTA update will upgrade your device to Gingerbread 2.3.6. It contains important bug fixes and security updates.

Initially I was not able to update the phone because the internal storage was somewhat full. I had to move some applications to the SD card and uninstall some of them.

A quick query on Google, apparently some Nexus One owners are getting the update within the past week.

Repairing a MacBook Pro.

My original MacBook Pro Core Duo I bought back in January 2006 had a crack on the screen bezel.

I found a soon to be discarded MacBook Pro Core Duo with Screen assembly in a really good condition.

30 minutes later I have a seemingly new MacBook Pro.