Apple’s revised iOS 5.0.1 update seems to have come with decrypted ramdisks, something which could make the port of Siri to other iOS devices legally possible. Before today’s firmware update, important files to get Siri working on other devices were encrypted in Apple’s file system. Decrypting them would be illegal and infringe on copyright and that is the main reason for it not being made available.

According to MuscleNerd, a prominent figure in the jailbreaking community, the release of the revised iOS 5.0.1 update means that it is now possible to extract the relevant Siri files without infringing on Apple’s copyright. It will now be interesting to see if those involved in porting Siri to other iOS devices see this as the green light and release it. We will let you know as soon as we hear anymore information.

Source: MuscleNerd

A new jailbreak mod by the name of H1Siri claims to allow a fully working port of Siri on the iPhone 4, but this one comes with a number of questionable aspects.

First of all, the package is available via a custom Cydia repo from a relatively unknown group of hackers that also houses pirated materials, so there’s a major warning sign right off the bat. The biggest drawback, however, is that the port uses a custom server to process requests on the back end instead of Apple’s own servers. In other words, you’ll be sending your personal information to who knows where without any assurance that you’re information will be kept safe.

Additionally, since this mod uses said custom servers that have apparently been hit pretty hard, there’s no telling when it will actually work for you. iDB tried to get it working without success shortly after it became available, and other users have reported issues with the Settings app not functioning properly along with sporadic reboots.

Previous attempts by prominent developers have proven successful, but those required access to a jailbroken iPhone 4S for Siri-specific files. According to developer chpwn, H1Siri also uses these copyrighted binaries from the iPhone 4S, so we’re guessing the legal implications surrounding this aren’t good.

Given the number of issues laden with this release, we’d caution you stay away until something more solid and sourced is available.

Source: iDB

According to an Engadget exclusive, Apple brought a new specification for optical port connection to Intel who, after some heated back and forth, has produced Light Peak:

Based on what we’ve learned, Apple will introduce the new standard for its systems around Fall 2010 in a line of Macs destined for back-to-school shoppers — a follow-up to the “Spotlight turns to notebooks” event, perhaps. Following the initial launch, there are plans to roll out a low-power variation in 2011, which could lead to more widespread adoption in handhelds and cellphones. The plans from October 2007 show a roadmap that includes Light Peak being introduced to the iPhone / iPod platform to serve as a gateway for multimedia and networking outputs. While the timing doesn’t line up, a low-powered Light Peak sounds like the kind of technology that would be perfect for a device with a need for broad connectivity but limited real estate for ports… like a tablet.

Can one port rule — and replace — them all? Do we want to kiss our USB/FireWire, VGA/DVI/DisplayPort, Ethernet, and all other connectors goodbye and replace them with a single, standardized optical cable? Check out Engadget’s full post for more, then let us know what you think.

John Carmack has written an update on his Doom port for the iPhone, and he’s continuing the same candor he began with his Wolfenstein 3D post. What are we getting? A classic in almost every sense of the word:

Before I actually started coding on the project, I had visions of adding a lot of modern tuned effects to the core gameplay experience. It would certainly stay a sprite-and-sector based game, but there are many things that would be done differently with the benefit of a GPU and the wisdom of hindsight. Once I began actually working on it, it started to look like a bad idea for a number of reasons. I am trying to not be very disruptive in the main codebase, because I want it to stay a part of prBoom instead of being another codebase fork. While I can certainly add a bunch of new features fairly quickly, iterating through a lot of user testing and checking for problems across the >100 commercial Doom levels would take a lot longer. There really is value in ” classic” in this case, and there would be some degree of negative backlash to almost any “improvements” I made. There will still be a couple tiny tweaks, but nothing radical is changing in the basic play. It would be fun to take a small team, permanently fork it, and make a “Doom++” just for the iPhone, but that wouldn’t be the best first move. Maybe later.

Check out the full post for more on his experiences with iPhone game development.

[Thanks to Icebike for the tip!]