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Because of Apple policies, the VoIP software can use WiFi connections only and not 3G.
In other words you can not make skype calls on the road.
In order to do it, this is what you need:

1-Your iPhone must be jailbroken, if it’s not, read this.
2-Install your Skype or Fing app from the App Store.
3-Install 3G Unrestrictor from Cydia.
4-Open 3G unrestrictor and add the desired applications (skype, fringe, whatever you want)


Ready

By defult the Skype iPone App does not support Video.
But there is simple workaround: Use Fringe.

First you must have a
account

Then from your iPhone go the App Store, search fring and install it.
Open the fring app to open a fring account.

Ready now you have skype with video.

OK, now is beginig to be possible to sync your music from Ubuntu to your iPhone, thanks to the work of marcan and many others.

Disclaimer: This is very Alfa software, I didn’t invented any of the things I’m writing about, I just adpated the marcan instructions in the way they worked for me, to my personal systems, wich I’m sure many are using: Ubuntu Karmic Koala 9.10 and iPhone 3G with OS 3.1.2, by the way you need to have some music synced by iTunes before you can start.
Don’t cry if your iPhone melts:

1- update your system, either via synaptic or with

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get upgrade

2- Add the PPA repository with the needed packages :

deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/jonabeck/ppa/ubuntu karmic main

Either adding it as root to your /etc/apt/sources.list file

Or with the GUI “Software sources”

Then add the key for the repo with this command:
sudo apt-key adv --recv-keys --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com F0876AC9

And update again with:

sudo apt-get update

3- Install the packages required for compilation, and the already packaged libraries:

sudo apt-get install git-core cmake autoconf libtool libglib2.0-dev intltool gtk-doc-tools libsqlite3-dev libxml2-dev  libiphone-dev libplist1 libusb-1.0-0 libusb-1.0-0-dev libusbmux0 libusbmux-dev ifuse libiphone0 libplist0 libplist-dev

4-Get the libgpod code and compile it:

$ git clone git://gtkpod.git.sourceforge.net/gitroot/gtkpod/libgpod
$ cd libgpod
$ CFLAGS=”-g -O0″ sh autogen.sh –prefix=/usr
$ make
$ sudo make install

5-Create a folder to mount it, and mount it:

sudo mkdir /media/ipod

**connect your iPhone**

sudo ifuse /media/ipod

6-Create the needed directory and files:

cd /media/ipod/iTunes_Control
mkdir Device

Find your UUID with

lsusb -v | grep -i iSerial

grab your UUID wich is the 40 characters long text
and run the following command replaceing with yours:

ipod-read-sysinfo-extended /media/ipod

This has generated a needed file into the Device folder.

7-Thats it. Now you can open the gtkpod application and sync your iPhone.

Notes:
In order tu unmount your iphone first dissconect it via gtkpod and the you can use

sudo umount /media/ipod

And to mount it again just

sudo ifuse /media/ipod

I have a previouse post about how to jailbrake an iphone but now it may be diffrent, there are two publishers of jailbreaking applications: the Dev-Team and geohot (any other source you find is just selling what they give for free).

Well, geohot has published a new app called blackra1n, this is definitivelly the fastest jailbreak I have ever seen. Not even a how to is really needed, just go to his site, download, run, follow the onscreen instructions (basically, click, connect, and wait)

And have fun!

There are not technical reasons, only Apple marketing policies, but the iPhone is not allowed to run multiple applications simultaneously , by design only the phone, mail, ipod, and maybe some other Apple application can run in the backgroud.

This is of course not the desired behavior for many cases…

Multitasking you can, for example:

• Have a messaging service available at any time.
• Have an IP phone (e.g. skype, gizmo5) available all time.
• Pause a game,  go to write an email, read the news, and go back to the game…etc.
• etc

So this is what’s needed to enable Multitasking in your iPhone:

1. In order to enable it, the iPhone must be jailbroken, if  it’s not, there’s a jailbreak how to here.
2. From Cydia (or Icy), search and install the backgrounder app. This will provide the availability to run applications in the background.
3. From Cydia (or Icy), search and install the application kirikae. This will provide a task manager that will let you switch between open applications and close them. You can also add favorite apps to open faster.
4. Have Fun

For some unknown reason the images in the iphone, stored as png files do not have a standard format and are not viewable by the general image viewers.

In order to be viewable by linux or windows, they need to be normalized, Axel E. Brzostowski has written a python script that normalize the files, making the readable by any imaging program.

Here is a zip file with the script: iPIN – iPhone PNG Images Normalizer v1.0 it sholud work on any system with python installed (I have personaly only tested in linux)

First thing to understand, the jailbreaking process is something you do the software on your own device, and although it has been proven to be safe, you are the only person responsible of what you do, and you understand that you might loose your apples warranty. So you understand and accept your own risks.

Jailbreaking is fun

OK, first thing, don’t get spamed or confused the official page for the jailbraking is this the Dev-Team blog http://blog.iphone-dev.org/

The jeailbreaking process can be made from Mac, Linux or Windows.

0-Syncronize or back up your data!

1-Download the redsn0w application http://blog.iphone-dev.org/ for your corresponding operating system from the software section (left side) on the blog from the Dev-Team.

2-Find the firmware file of your current firmware that iTunes downloaded when upgrading.

in OS X look in

~username/Library/iTunes/iPod Software Updates/

in Windows in look in

C:\Users\Your Account Name\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\iTunes\iPod Software Updates

or

%UserProfile%\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\iTunes\iPod Software Updates

in Linux look in

~/there-is-no-iTunes-for-linux/come-on/go-to-next-step

2.1-If you don’t have the file, you can download it from this page:

http://www.poorlad.com/iCommunity/

3-Run the redn0w program. And simply follow the on screen instructions. You need to get the iphone in a special mode called DFU my pressing and holding the buttons as you will see, if you don’t get it on the first time, simple click back, and try again….

4-Once it ask for what programs to install select Cydia (it’s been reported that selecting icy might cause some problems)

5-Keep following on-screein instructions, wait, and your are all set. Welcome to the club!

If you have a blog and an iPhone, you can write your post on the road, this app is for you.

This app supports the blogging system WordPress, either hosted at wordpress.com or in your own domain, the only pre-requisite is to have wordpress 2.5.1 version or higher.

To get it from the AppStore, simply search for wordpress and download it, it’s a free App from Automattic, Inc.

In order for you to be able to post, in your blog site,   you have to go to your SiteAdmin>Settings>Writing ->Remote Publishing and toggle the XML-RPC on.

Enable xml-rpc

Back on your iPhone, start the app with the WordPress logo, and you will this screen:

First Screen

There you can add your blog, it will simply ask for your BlogURL, username and password.

Once your blog is added you can click on it, and from there you will be able to see,  edit, and write your Posts, Pages and Comments:

Post Pages Comments

Posts

There you can write your Posts, and provide the tags and categories:

Write

And you can even take photos to submit to your post:

Add photo

Very Easy, now you can comlepletly update your blog while on the road.

Jailbreak is the process by which a device is modified to allow unsigned code to be run.

In a more technical view, is a process where the firmware is patched to allow access to the device filesystem, then some applications are automatically installed (like Cydia or Icy), and that allow you to install new applications via an apt system ported to the iPhone.

The iPhone is running a modified version of the OS X which is already based on a BSD Operating System, therefore porting applications developed initially for Linux or BSD becomes easier.

On a jailbroken phone applications like a terminal, an SSH server, and even Java can be installed.

Also since there are no Apple restrictions developers can make better applications that can do things that otherwise it would not be possible.

So, Is it Safe?

I would say it’s completly safe, because you are modifying the software, not the hardware, of course that Apple will say it voids your warranty.

Since is software what we are talking about, you can always use iTunes to restore your factory settings.

And, is it legal?

I’m sure it is. Let’s compare it with a car:

If you bought a car, can you modify it’s engine to perform better? can you put a better sound system? can you paint it of a diffrent color?…. well it’s pretty much the same, of course if you modify your car you will for sure lose your warranty, well that’s the same for the iPhone.

And remember that anyway the only person responsible for your device, it’s yourself.

So what about that Jailbrake thing, why would we need it for?

One of the main disadvantages of the iPhone are the very restricted rules that Apple has applied onto it for monetary (they will say safety) porpuses:

-You can activate and synchronize your device with your computer only via iTunes.

-You can install software only via the apple store, whether directly from the iPhone or from iTunes.

-You can’t theme your iPhone.

-You can not access your device by any other means.

-etc…

There are also several restrictions applied to the app developers in order to get their programs approved to be inside the Apple Store, The rejection of Google Voice is the more sounded one, but there are also many limitation that won’t allow several programs to be ported to (or developed for) the iphone, issues like:

-Programs can’t run in the background.

-Programs can’t run when the phone is “sleeping”.

-Certain type of programs, like VoIP software, can’t run over 3G.

-etc…

There are even restrictions related what Carrier you can use: iPhones came locked to a specificy carrier and you can not change your mobile company.

But the iphone is not only a phone, is a computer more powerfull that the first i386 I had back in the 80’s, it can do much more. But it feels like it’s in Jail!

There is where the clever guys from the iphone dev-team came with a solution: Jailbrake