Bitpim has long been an open-source project built on the Python framework, providing cross-platform support for Windows, Linux, and Mac OS. However, the Bitpim dev. team never managed to release a Universal version of their Mac binary, but Intel Mac owners could use the PowerPC build in Rosetta (however suffering a major performance decrease).

On the Bitpim homepage, they explain that they can no longer serve any updates to the Mac binary until they get a new Mac.

Although we continue to support BitPim running on Mac OS X, we have recently lost the capability to build Mac binaries (we need a Mac computer to do the builds.) We’re working hard to resolve this issue, but until then, Mac binaries will longer be available for download starting with BitPim release 0.9.12.

The last “stable” Bitpim release, version .9.10, is available for download from their website. Parallels and Boot Camp users may want to think about using the latest Bitpim releases for Windows and Linux platforms to connect their Macs to their CMDA phones.

Appleology recently started serving a custom version of the Mac Bitpim binary with a few resources replacements to “aquify” the Bitpim user interface. The last build hosted on the Appleology server was version .9.11, which was later pulled from the official website as being claimed as “unstable”. However, some Mac users (including myself) disagree and believe .9.11 is in fact more stable than version .9.10. So, as an option for Mac users, .9.11 will continue to be available for download from the Appleology Downloads page, bundled with the custom set of icon, resources, and splash screen replacements to aquify the Bitpim user interface.

If you think version 0.9.11 is unusable for your Mac, I suggest you download the 0.9.10 binary from the official Bitpim website. Unfortunately, as newer phones are released, these phones will most likely not be compatible with the Bitpim Mac binary until the developer team decides to start updating the Binary again.

The floodgates of Apple’s R&D departments flew upon us today and shocked us all. The buzz and publicity the keynote has attracted has made both geeks and consumers froth with excitement and made the Intel transition sound unimportant.

Evolving into a consumer electronics company

Today Steve Jobs introduced the new corporate name for Apple Computer; “Apple”. Onstage Steve concluded that Apple is no longer just a computer company with the assortment of non-computer products that they sell.

Steve also made it clear once onstage that the keynote was not going to be centered around Macs and Mac OS X. That meant the rumors concerning iLife/iWork ‘07, additional Leopard previews, octo-core Mac Pros, Intel Core 2 Mac Minis, etc. did not come true. Alex Lindsay of MacBreak made an interesting point that

1. Apple did not have enough time to release all products expected to be released in an (already extended) two-hour keynote.
2. Apple wanted to make clear that the iPhone was the big announcement and not for it to be clouded by additional product announcements concerning Mac and Mac OS X. (Such as the ROKR and iPod Nano Keynote).

And as Apple is spreading its focus across the consumer electronics industry, it now has new competetives it never had before, such as Palm and RIM. Apple’s strong foundation with a large user-base and a strong will for innovation, they should have no problem.

More Mac-related product announcements soon?

Even though Steve said he wasn’t going to talk much about the Mac platform today, chances are the traditional announcements won’t go forgotten and they will introduced a few weeks from now after the buzz over the iPhone and AppleTV settle. However, it appeared as if the demo Mac was running a newer version of Keynote with new text effects, including spark and the ‘pass-through’ effects, and new graph gradient textures.

The iPhone is the iPod Killer

Whoever thought the iPod killer would be a product made by the company who made the iPod? Steve made it clear the Zune sure wasn’t going to be the iPod killer, as some thought when they heard of the Zune. But today’s iPhone announcement ended up embarrassing Microsoft and its Zune player and just shows how Microsoft is always a copier and never an innovator.

The Consumer Electronics Show and Macworld Conference & Expo coincided today. However, even with CES’ large popularity and publicity, most of the news from today’s CES news coverage was overshadowed with the revolutionary announcements in San Francisco today at Macworld.

I talked to people here who have seen the Apple phone and they were practically frothing with excitement. But even if it were more reasonably priced, it will be primarily attractive to early adopters and those who either have to replace their existing phone or whose cellular contract is up.

An iPhone without a phone?

The downside to the mobile phone market is becoming compliant with each independent wireless provider and saturating each wireless provider’s market share. While I wasn’t surprised at all, I was disappointed that Apple chose not to partner with Verizon and Sprint to captivate more potential buyers who are already in contracts with other wireless carriers. Even if Apple gains serious market share in Cingular’s product line, it will still not make a major impact in the overall market because of the large percentage of consumers in the United States who are customers of other wireless providers, such as Verizon and Sprint.

Besides, an iPhone without the phone would be successful by itself, with built-in Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Multi-Touch widescreen, and OS X-based. It would be very disappointing if Apple were not to eventually develop a similar product just as an iPod. People who are loyal customers to other wireless carriers and who don’t really need a phone won’t buy an iPhone, so a large market would be left untapped.

A stronger foothold in the movie industry

With addition to each of the exciting product releases, Apple has made partnership with Paramount pictures to provide over a hundred movies available on iTunes, growing the content available on the iTunes Movie store dramatically and becoming a leader in the downloadable movie industry. Paramount pictures is the second major studio to partner with Apple to sell downloadable versions of their movies. Paramount is a big studio to partner with, and it will sure trigger many more partnerships with other major movie studios.

The AppleTV will revolutionize the way many get their movie content, instead of paying subscription-based services or renting movies at their local Blockbuster, they instead just decide what they want on the couch and buy it through the iTunes store.

Partnership with Apple Corps.?

Steve seemed to really push the Beatles today, playing ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’ and a few other Beatles hits during the keynote. I doubt he would be promoting music that they do not currently sell on the iTunes store during the Macworld keynote, so chances of a new Apple Corps. partnership would be very likely considering the facts.

Also, the shedding of the term ‘Computer’ from Apple’s corporate name is symbolic not only of their new strides in consumer electronic innovations, but also the end to their disputes with Apple Corps. While we may not ever understand the complete details of what went on after their last settlement, but it looks as if their bruised relationship is beginning to heal.

Digg.com creator Kevin Rose apparently spilled some inside information on the latest Diggnation podcast about the upcoming iPhone. He wouldn’t give out too many details, but he did reveal a few specific specs, including: an official announcement at Macworld, a very small design, 4 GB and 8 GB flash memory models, a slide-out keyboard, a wide touch-screen, compatibility with all major carriers, and a revolutionary user interface. He wouldn’t discuss any more information about the iPhone on the show to protect his source, but he claims he has seen the phone (however not operating) and is positive the source is 100 percent reliable.

Other rumors include iChat video-conferencing on the phone, and tight integration with OS X 10.5 Leopard. The phone is also rumored to use an intuitive, mobile-version of Front Row for the phone’s interface interface. And according to Apple Insider, Apple has made deals with all major cellphone carriers in the United States, with the exception of T-Mobile.

Last week, Motorola released the linux-based ROKR E6 in China and is speculated to release the same phone in the United States soon and start ending their short relationship with Apple computer next month.

It was only a month ago when Motorola introduced the RAZR V3r, which dropped support for iTunes syncing and FairPlay-encoded music playing. The new ROKR E6 has replaced iTunes-only synchronizing with compatibility with basic MP3, WMA, RealPlayer audio, and etc. The release of the RAZR V3r was ultimately the beginning of the end for iTunes-integrated Motorola phones.

It wasn’t a secret that the Motorola/iTunes phones were horrible in their UI, price, and compatibility. The relationship between Apple and Motorola seems to be ending as more and more Motorola phones are dropping their support for iTunes integration and rumors of a 100 percent Apple phone are heating up. Even Apple’s investors are listening to the phone and iTV rumors as Apple’s stock has hit an all-time high.

You’d think setting up DUN with your Verizon LG phone with your Mac would be a piece of cake, right? No. You cannot just simply go through the setup assistant and start surfing the web via your phone. The problem lies with what’s called PAP authentication. Mac OS X does not provide a simple checkbox to turn PAP authentication on or off. To enable (or disable) PAP authentication, you must go through several steps in the Terminal. Even though these steps are very self-explanatory, those of you afraid of the command line might just want to stay away from this hint. If you just follow my steps, I’ll get your Mac connected to your vx8300 or your vx9800 with no problem.

Although the 1x speed is not quite as fast as a high-speed broadband connection, it is acceptable and comes in handy when traveling and without internet. It is also a very cheap way to get internet service considering Verizon only charges the connection for the minutes used, just like a regular call. Cell phone users who used to use QNC for their mobile internet access have reported that this connection is much faster and practical.

I do not know the whether this will work with all Verizon phones. So far, the vx8300 and the vx9800 are the only two phones that I know are working with Verizon’s DUN. If anyone else with another type of phone wishes to try this, let me know of the outcome.

Any more ideas or comments are welcome!

1. If you have not done so already, pair your Bluetooth-enabled LG phone with your Mac. You can pair your phone with the Bluetooth Setup Assistant, accessible via the Bluetooth preference pane in System Preferences.
2. Enable bluetooth on your phone and on your Mac, if you have not done so already.
3. In order for the modem to work, you have to force the phone into 1x-only mode. You can achieve this by going to the phone menu and pressing “0″. For the service code, enter “000000″. Go to “Network Select”, then “Mode Preference”. Choose “1x Only” for the mode preference and clear back to the phone’s main screen.
4. Go to the Network preference pane in System Preferences. Choose “Bluetooth” from the “Show:” drop-down menu. If Bluetooth is not available in the drop-down list, go to “Network Port Configurations” and check “Bluetooth” as an option. Select the “Bluetooth Modem” tab and select “Verizon Support (PC 5220)” as the modem script.
5. Launch the Terminal.
6. Copy and paste the following two lines of code into the Terminal:
   cd ../../etc/ppp
sudo pico
7. Authenticate with your system’s root password.
8. Copy and paste the following lines of code:
   refuse-chap
refuse-mschap
refuse-mschap-v2
9. Hit “Control+X” to exit the Pico application within the Terminal.
10. When asked to save, hit “Y” for yes.
11. Save the file as “options” (without quotes) and hit return.
12. Quit the Terminal and open up the Internet Connect application.
13. Select Bluetooth and enter “#777″ for the telephone number, “[yournumberhere]@vzw3g.com”, and “vzw” for your password.
14. Click “Connect”, and you will now be able to use your phone for internet access wherever you go.

Thanks Pengaroo for the link and bombboyer for the fix!

BitPim saved my LG VX8300 and me from Verizon’s crippled OBEX. BitPim doesn’t exactly have an iApp interface, but it does have potential. Setting up my phone on BitPim wasn’t necessarily “simple”, but it was possible. Here are the steps I took to pair the phone and my Mac with BitPim via Bluetooth:

1. Check to see if your phone is compatible with BitPim.
2. Open the Bluetooth preference pane in System Preferences.
3. Turn on Bluetooh.
4. Click “Set up new device…” in the Devices tab.
5. Walk through the Bluetooth Setup Assistant and pair the phone with your Bluetooth-capable Mac.
6. Download the latest version of BitPim.
7. Open BitPim and access the BitPim settings.
8. Select “Phone Wizard” and select your cell phone carrier, manufacturer, and cell phone model.
9. Click next and choose either “auto” or one similar to “/dev/cu._________-BTDIAG-1″.
10. Click “Detect Phone” to test the connection. Passed means BitPim found and communicated to your phone. If BitPim does not detect the phone, click back and choose another Bluetooth port. *Make sure your phone has Bluetooth powered on.
11. OK it.
12. Be amazed.

Uploading ringtones was really easy with BitPim, because all of the editing capabilities needed to make the MP3 file compatible with your phone is all in BitPim. When uploading MP3 files as ringtones, I suggest using only a 30 second clip of the song with a 7-9 db volume. Uploading wallpapers and pictures are also easy, with editing capabilities within BitPim to upload your wallpaper at the correct resolution for your phone.

BitPim also lets you download your pictures from your camera phone with ease. After downloading to BitPim, you can export your pictures to the Finder or iPhoto. But make sure when you upload your files to be careful not to select “Replace All” or all of the files could be erased either on your phone or BitPim.

BitPim also includes functionality with other important features, such as calendars, digital phonebooks (vCard), memos, SMS, to-dos, call history, etc. Some phones do not work with some of these features, visit the BitPim website to check if your phone is compatible.