Unfortunately very little exists to stream via Linux to iOS, so instead I thought I would try Air Playit for Windows and Mac OS X. Developed by Digiarty Software, Air Playit is both a server (to be installed on your PC) and a mobile application (to be used on your iPhone or similar). The set-up process is a breeze, and the software supports both local and remote sharing to boot.

Download & Configure Your Server

Without further ado, download the server for your operating system from the appropriate link below:

• Air Playit Server: Windows (32 & 64bit) / Mac OS X

Once your download has completed, run the file, complete the installer and launch the server. Windows users may be prompted to create an exception for Windows Firewall, so make sure you grant access should you use it.

The first screen you will see is a registration form, which you can fill in or opt to ignore by clicking Do not show again. Once you have dismissed the dialogue, take a good look at the server which should already be running under the name of your computer.

There are 6 different tabs in total, and these are:

• Information – This screen provides server information, including IP address and server name.
• Permission – Here is where you can grant access to different user groups, including admin, kids and public. By default, public users are allowed on your server without entering a PIN.
• Shared Folders – This is where your media is located.
• Conversion – An offline video converter for converting to mobile-friendly formats for downloading videos in your collection.
• Web – A fully-fledged web UI for your server (requires activation).
• Setting – A few options to tweak and change should you wish.

The next step is configuring your server. Add shares on the Shares tab by clicking Add Folder, locating and naming your share. Supported audio formats are MP3, AAC, AIFF and WAV and video support is extensive, check out supported codecs here.

On the Permission tab leaving everything as it is will grant you read-access to your shares without the need to input a PIN. If you would like to change this, configure your PINs accordingly and dish them out. For this guide, I’ve left public user access as open – as all I want to do is watch and listen, locally.

Connect Your Device

Now that your server is installed and running, grab your iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad and download the client from the link below:

• Air Playit Client @ AppStore (all iOS devices)

Once downloaded, launch the client and take a look at your options. If you want to stream music locally from a PC on your current network, in your current vicinity then tap Local Server. If all went well the server you configured a few minutes ago will show up, and tapping it should reveal your shares (or prompt you for a PIN first).

If this does not happen, choose Specify Address Manualy (sic) and input the information found on your server’s Information tab (server name, IP address, port and PIN). Adding a remote server is an identical task, if the server is on the network you are currently using then it too will be automatically detected (which is handy for future, remote use).

A word of warning – if you are going to be streaming via 3G/4G, don’t forget about data costs on both ends; after all your PC has to upload before your mobile can download. You will need a static IP or service like DynDNS in order to be reachable, and if you are having issues then there’s a few potential solutions on the Air Playit forum.

With your server connected, tap it and peruse the shares you have available. I tested out a few high-quality MP3 files, a music video and a 480p (standard definition) episode of South Park via my home wireless network without any hiccups whatsoever. Unfortunately it is not possible to play music in the background whilst doing other things with your iPhone.

Finally if you are interested in downloading files to your device over the air, then the video converter is exactly what you are looking for. On the Conversion tab click Add Video Conversion Task, select your source file and a profile and begin converting. Then you can download the video from a share location by selecting it on your device and hitting Download to iPhone. Nifty.

Conclusion

The Air Playit server and client combination provide an easy way to stream and download your media either locally or remotely. The fact that both ends of the deal are free, easy to use and reliable gives me little reason to find fault with the Air Playit package. This might be the streaming service you’ve been looking for, and it’s free!

Android and Windows Phone 7 users don’t despair, the developers claim there’s a version of Air Playit coming for your device, sometime in the future.

Have you use Air Playit? Have you used it remotely? Any alternative free streamers that do a better job? Let us know in the comments.

One of the most requested improvements is to the notification system for iOS. The current notification system is designed to make sure that users get all the incoming messages – at all costs. But this arrangement is annoying because it interrupts any activity that is currently in progress. To be cut off in the middle of a game is not something that any gamer would tolerate. On the other hand, if users choose to ignore the notification, it will just disappear. Users then have to go through piles of apps to find out which ones sent the notifications. It’s very easy to accidentally leave some notifications unnoticed.

Right Here, Right Now, For Free

Getting a better notification system is something that iOS users will look forward to, and Apple has made the right step by trying to improve the current system. The bad news is, it’s still unclear when exactly the next iOS will be released. But the good news is, there’s already a better notification system available for iOS. If you have a jailbroken iOS device running iOS 4, you can install the system right now, for free.

The system is called Mobile Notifier by Peter Hajas, and it’s available from Cydia. But before you can install it in your iOS device, you have to add Peter Hajas’ repo first.

• To do that, open Cydia and go straight to “Manage” and choose “Sources“.

• Within the “Sources” area, tap “Edit” on the top left of the screen, and then tap “Add” at the next screen to be able to enter Peter Hajas’ repository address.

• The “Enter Cydia/APT URL” window will pop up. You should fill in the field with this address:

http://phajas.xen.prgmr.com/repo

• Then click “Add Source“. Cydia will download some packages and update its repository with the new source.

• Now that you’ve added the repository, you should go to the “Search” area and search for “MobileNotifier“. Tap on it to see more details and tap the “Install” button. The app will be downloaded and installed into your iOS devices. After that your device will be restarted automatically.

The New Notification In Action

If you want to do some adjustments, you can find some options within the “Settings” area. You can enable or disable the features here. Since I wanted to know what Mobile Notifier does (and how it’s different from the default notification system), I turned all the features on.

Here are some of my findings.

First, if you have some incoming notifications while you’re not using your device, they will appear at the lock screen. Mobile Notifier will tell you how many notifications you’ve missed, and if you touch the notification bar, you can view them there on the lock screen. Unfortunately, the version of Mobile Notifier that I’m trying out (version beta4r1) doesn’t allow users to act on the notifications right away. I hope future versions will do.

To act on the notifications, you have to unlock your device. You can see the list on the unused area above the multitasking bar. By default, you can open the multitasking bar by clicking the home button twice.

Tap on one of the notifications to open it in its default application. You can dismiss all the notifications by tapping on the “Clear pending” link and confirm by tapping the red “Clear pending” button.

But if you are in the middle of something, the notification will appear as a single small bar above the screen. You can ignore it if you want. Or you can tap the small arrow button on the right to save the notification for “Later” or “Open” it right away.

After trying out the app for a while, I also found that the current version is not really suitable for the iPad yet as the notification window got messed up when you change the device’s orientation.

The developer’s blog revealed that the new version (beta5) is already out with some new features like the ability to reply a message directly from Mobile Notifier’s window. But at the time of writing I couldn’t update my Mobile Notifier to the latest version.

I don’t know what kind of renewed notification system Apple will come up with inside iOS 5, but at the moment, I think Mobile Notifier is so much better than iOS 4′s notification system.

Have you tried Mobile Notifier? Do you use another iOS notification system? Please share your thoughts and opinions using the comments below.

Image credit: Apple

Unless you’re using the 4th generation device (or iPad) you shouldn’t have any issues transferring media, provided you’ve got the right software on your side. Unfortunately iPod Touch 4, iPad and iPhone 4 users running iOS 4.1+ won’t be able to use this method until the vital libgpod library used by gtkpod is updated to support these devices. Until then, they will mount (using the first method below) as read-only. As soon as libgpod gets an update we’ll pencil in the details here. For the rest of you it’s easy, and you’ll be loading music onto your Apple device in no time.

Getting Penguins To Talk To Fruits

Note: If you’re using a non-iOS device, e.g. iPod or iPod nano, you do not need this – skip to the next section below. If you are using an old iPod Touch (1G, 2G, 3G) or iPhone (1G, 2G, 3G) then you do need this.

In order to get Linux and your iPhone or iPod Touch (old ones, remember) on speaking terms you’re going to need to download libimobiledevice. Once you have installed this package, your Apple device and Linux operating system will play along nicely.

Visit libimobiledevice.org to either download a package suitable for your particular distribution, or compile from source if you’re that way inclined. Ubuntu users who would like a quick install can open a Terminal window and paste:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:pmcenery/ppa

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install libimobiledevice1

Note the 1 at the end of the command! There are other packages available for OpenSUSE, Fedora, Mandriva and Debian, all located at the above URL. Once you’ve set that up, you’re good to go – time to plug in that iPhone!

On most distributions the device will mount itself automatically. If it doesn’t you’ve either not installed the above package or will need to mount the device according to your distribution’s guidelines.

You now have filetree access to your device. Prod around if you want, you’ll find your camera images in the DCIM folder if you want to quickly copy and paste them to a local folder for backup.

Note: don’t delete anything from the DCIM folder (or any location, really) as this does not update your iTunes database. Your iPhone will think the files are still there and you’ll have to manually delete a bunch of fuzzy thumbnails later.

Transferring Music & Video

From experience, there’s only one program I would recommend for this task – Banshee, a clever little all in one solution. The app supports music, video, podcasts and audiobooks. In fact, you can use anything listed at the bottom of this gtkpod webpage and this includes a few familiars like Rhythmbox, Amarok and podtool.

Here I’ll be sticking to Banshee as it is the standard music player for Ubuntu 11.04, but if you’re using an older version or different distribution you’ll need to grab the appropriate one at the Banshee download page.

With your iPhone (or iPod Touch) connected and mounted, start up Banshee. Click on your device in the left hand sidebar and Banshee will display a page which allows you to determine whether you want manual or automatic music sync – manual is always best.

Next you’ll need to add music to the Banshee database. Simply choose Media then Import Media then decide on whether to import your entire library or simply the selection you want on your device. There’s no support for .FLAC, .OGG, .APE or similar so make sure you’ve transcoded any of these to something like .MP3, .AAC, .ALAC, .AIFF or .WAV.

With your music imported, choose your default Music playlist. Next simply select the artists, albums or single tracks you would like on the device (Ctrl+Click for multiple choices). The next step is simple – drag your chosen artists, albums and so on to your device listed under Devices in the side menu (e.g. iPhone). Banshee will immediately begin transferring files, and your device should notify you that a sync is in progress.

Note: This probably sounds obvious, but please don’t unmount or disconnect your device whilst sync is in process. You will probably corrupt your device’s database file and cause all manner of headaches.

That’s pretty much it, and it works just the same with video only you’ll need to make sure your device supports the video format you are trying to sync (supported filetypes include: .MP4, .M4V & .MOV).

Conclusion

It’s a shame that gtkpod hasn’t updated for the latest Apple firmware, but it’s hopefully only a matter of time. With a powerful program like Banshee at the helm, controlling your media is a pretty straightforward task. You don’t quite get the same functionality as you’d get from iTunes (firmware updates are the big one there, I think) but it works. At least for some. Banshee also works on Windows and OS X, for those of you who are desperate to leave iTunes behind.

Have you got an iPhone but also run Linux? Are there better tools out there than Banshee? Maybe you’re an iTunes refugee? Have your say in the comments below!

The most frustrating thing is to wade through idea after idea, gradually considering the XYZ things you might need to do just to get your iPod to sync. You think there has to be an easier way. Surely someone at iTunes had this version of iPod and used XP too? Surely they didn’t have to resort to registry hacking to fix this? Well, we can hope. In the meantime, here’s a compiled list of the most common iPod sync problems and the easiest steps you can take to work out how to fix them. Hopefully it will have you sorted out in no time.

1. Back Up Before You Try Anything

It’s advised that you do an iTunes backup and an iPod/iPhone backup before you try any fixes.

2. Are You New To iPods?

If you’ve never had an iPod before, quickly check this basic user guide to make sure you know how it’s supposed to be syncing.

3. Restore & Update

iTunes encourage users to restore and update their iPods if there are any sync problems. Often your problem can be resolved easily this way, so give it a go. Connect your iPod, open iTunes, then choose “Check for update” to ensure you have the latest version of the software.

To back up your iPod, Right-Click (or CTRL-Click) your device in iTunes when connected and choose “Back Up“.

4. Beware Of Applications Which Change Computer Appearance

Skins and other appearance-changing software can have undesired consequences with iTunes, so try uninstalling them. You might find a quick fix to your problems!

5. Enable Disc Use

This might help if you’ve seen any of the following errors:

• Unknown iPod Error (-50).
• An unknown error occurred (-50)
• The iPod cannot be synced. The required disk cannot be found.

These errors occur a lot under Windows XP and are often fixed by enabling disk use on your iPod.

You need to click “enable disc use” then “apply” really quickly. Then you need to do something to make XP recognise the drive ASAP. The easiest way is to have Device Manager open and ready, then click “Scan For Hardware Changes” or “Add New Hardware“.

6. Deselect Music Sync / Deselect Voice Memo Sync

You may be able to pinpoint the problem by deselecting various sync checkboxes (eg. Voice Memo or Music Sync) before attempting a sync.

7. Try Syncing With A New Admin Account

Create a new admin account on your machine, open iTunes (which will be a new library), then attempt to sync your iPod with this new library. If it works, you can at least eliminate hardware conflicts and iPod failure. It is likely to be a problem with the library, a corrupt file you’re trying to transfer or a program automatically running in your normal profile.

8. Run Disc Utility / Repair Disc / Error Checking

It might be the case that your iPod needs to have the disc repaired. Make sure the iPod is set to “enable disc use” but not to start iTunes when plugged in, then shut iTunes and eject the iPod. When you re-connect, run Disc Utility / Repair Disc on the iPod. Then try syncing in iTunes – you might have to run Repair Disc again.

Also try going to the iPod in My Computer. Right click and choose Properties > Tools > Error Checking.

9. Fix Digital Signing Of Windows Drivers

This might be required if you’ve seen one of the following errors:

• The iPod could not be restored. An unknown error occurred (-124 , 1418, 1429, 1430, 1436 or 1439).

It’s possible that your registry files have been corrupted in some way. So, iTunes have written out the content of a batch file for you to create and run. Don’t forget to back up first! They also suggest doing a virus check afterwards just in case that was what caused your problem in the first place.

10. Verify MobileMe Settings

To verify your MobileMe settings are correct, ensure your Internet connection is working then connect for a sync. If it’s not syncing (or has finished) check that the MobileMe contacts and calendar data is correct. Also check your MobileMe email as that will let you know if your password is correctly entered. Then click on “fetch new data” and ensure push is turned “ON”.

11. Corrupt Files and Hardware Conflicts

Have you seen “sync error -69″?

Every now and then, you might find a corrupt MP3 file or photo in your collection. If that happens, iTunes will throw an error message at you, but not necessarily explain why. Check to see if you can pinpoint a particular song it’s trying to transfer. Or, try deleting your photo cache. Note, this could also be caused by a hardware conflict.

12. It Might Just Be iTunes

Don’t forget that it might just be a problem with iTunes itself. Try going through these iTunes fixes to see if you can get your iTunes working properly.

More on iTunes

If you love iTunes, here’s some more articles for you to read:

• The BIG Book of iTunes [Free PDF Download]
• 5 iTunes Tips For Your iPad [Mac]
• 6 Ways To Sync Music To Your iPhone Without iTunes
• Use iTunes Genius Mixes As Your Personal Music DJ
• The Basics Of Syncing Your iPad with iTunes
• How to Easily Remove Duplicate Tracks on iTunes [Windows]
• How To Automatically Import Downloaded Music To iTunes [Mac]

Image Credit: Shutterstock

The initial version, which originally had a few bugs, seems to be more stable with the BETA4 update and I have personally tested it myself and it seems to work without any problems at all on my iPhone 4. However, do not use limera1n if you need or use a carrier unlock!

There was some drama in the last few days because the limera1n jailbreak uses a different exploit than the one that was planned for the upcoming Shatte- based jailbreak GreenPois0n which was due out today. The chronicdev team is working to re-do their jailbreak with the same one Geohot used to ‘save’ it for the next iOS version. What does that mean to you? When the next iOS version is released, we should see a jailbreak released much sooner.

How To Jailbreak Your iPhone

First of all, as with most jailbreaks, you should be careful to follow instructions. iClarified is a great resource for jailbreak instructions and we would recommend you go there if you need further clarification as to any of the jailbreak procedures or if it will work on your particular device. The most important thing if you are upgrading from an older version of iOS is to have Cydia save your SHSH keys since they are unrecoverable in certain situations after you upgrade.

Once that is done and your device is backed up use iTunes to upgrade your device to iOS 4.1. This will undo any prior jailbreak you have applied to your phone. After your phone is running 4.1 and your phone plugged into your Windows computer via USB, run the latest Limera1in program here. Limera1n only works on Windows computers at the moment.

Follow the instructions which will include rebooting your phone into DFU mode to run the jailbreak.

After the jailbreak has been completed, you will see the limera1n application installed (icon seen above). Launch it and you will have 2 options: install Cydia (the jailbreak app store) or remove limera1n. Install Cydia and you are good to go.

The jailbreak process itself is very easy – and I say that from someone who started jailbreaking back with my iPhone 3G. If you want to get more out of your iPhone, jailbreaking is simply the only way to do that.

Let us know if you have had success with the limera1n jailbreak. We hope that chronicdev and geohot can work things out and continue to put out great jailbreaking software to the community.

As Nancy pointed out in her article The 7 Coolest Wikipedia Plugins for Your Browser, Firefox, Chrome, Safari, and Internet Explorer users can benefit from the handiness of Wikipedia’s portability. You can also find Wikipedia on newer phones and the iPod Touch, but what about older generations of the iPod? Well, there’s an easy solution for that as well.

In this article, I am going to show you how to install Wikipedia on your iPod using an open source program called Encyclopodia. While I am only going to cover the Windows installation, you can do this on Mac and Linux as well.

Encyclopodia – The Encyclopedia On Your iPod

Encyclopodia is a free software project that brings Wikipedia to the Apple iPod. Encyclopodia can be installed on iPod genarations one to four, as well as on iPod Minis and Photo iPods.

Taking Wikipedia offline is nothing new here. We covered 4 Free Tools to Download and Take Wikipedia Offline back in 2008. Encyclopedia was made possible by the developers of the iPodLinux Project, which Mark originally covered way back in December of 2007.

Now that you know what we’re dealing with, let’s get to the fun part.

Installation [Windows]

For Windows users, the first step is to download the installation wizard. Once downloaded, connect your iPod to your PC via USB cable and start iTunes. At the bottom of your iTunes window, you will want to click on the player options button, as seen here:

In the options panel, you want to make sure Enable disk use is checked. Once you’ve done that, close iTunes.

Then, unpack the Encyclopodia installation wizard you downloaded and run the “encyclopodia-setup.exe” file.

[Note]: If you get an error saying that a device is not ready, click on “Retry”. The wizard tries to access some ports while searching for the iPod.

Follow the instructions on the installation wizard until it says that the installation is complete. Eject and disconnect your iPod.

Did it work?

You can test the Encyclopodia system by following these steps:

If you have a 1st, 2nd or 3rd generation iPod:

• Switch on your iPod
• Hold down the menu and the play button for 5 seconds

If you have a 4th generation iPod or an iPod mini:

• Switch on your iPod
• Hold down the menu and the select button for 5 seconds

In either case, holding down the buttons will cause the iPod to reboot. While the iPod boots, hold down the rewind button (unless you have told the installation wizard to make Encyclopodia the default system).

If everything appears to be working, go to the ebook library, download some .epodia-Files, and copy the files into the following directory on the harddrive of your iPod: “G:\data\encyclopodia\library\” (where “G:” is the harddrive of your iPod; it might have a different letter on your computer).

[Note]: Installing Encyclopodia on Mac or Linux is a little more difficult, but it is doable. The problem is the absence of a setup wizard, but you can find installation instructions here.

Conclusion

In conclusion, you don’t need to feel left out if you don’t have a fancy new-gen iPod because you can still access Wikipedia from it. Will you be installing Wikipedia on your old iPod? Are there any other cool iPod tricks or hacks you would like to share?

Please leave your thoughts, ideas, and comments below.