Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Not to say it’s actually easy to get your hands on the rumored 1.1.3 firmware at this point, but in the event that you do, proceed with caution. Nate True, the guy that brought us a video walkthrough of the supposedly leaked goods, is reporting that he can’t seem to downgrade to 1.1.1 or 1.1.2 after performing the install. Locked phones show an “Incorrect SIM” error — a problem unlockers of yore are all too familiar with — while previously unlocked phones can’t be upgraded to 1.1.3 at all. Let’s be honest, though: if you somehow managed to score a copy of 1.1.3, is that really going to stop you from going for it?

[Thanks, cingular#1]

Update: We’re hearing that the phenomenon observed by Mr. True has existed since the very first firmware release; it’s a state the phone enters whenever it finds a baseband version different than the one it’s expecting to find, and it’s apparently been bypassable via a modified “lockdownd” binary for some time. Thanks, Alex!

Update 2: To those asking why the network says “Nate,” Nate True told us that “The network name comes in through the com.apple.springboard preferences plist. That file is copied back to the phone after a restore (and is thus not affected by an update).” In other words, even after an update that file pushed through and apparently showed the network name. So there you have it.

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Filed under: Robots

A robot that crawls through your innards? Yeah, we’ve been there, done that on a number of occasions, but a new alternative being developed by a team at Imperial College London could reportedly “revolutionize keyhole surgery.” The aforementioned crew has been granted some £2.1 million ($4.19 million) in order to further develop the i-Snake, which is a “long tube housing special motors, sensors and imaging tools.” Apparently, the creation would be used in heart bypass surgeries, to “diagnose problems in the gut and bowel” and to generally act as a surgeon’s hands / eyes in hard to reach locales within the body. Per usual, we’ve no idea when it’ll be ready for mainstream use, but hopefully the i-Snake will be slithering through citizens sooner rather than later.

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Filed under: Gaming, Portable Audio, Portable Video

We’re nearly nauseous from all the spinning on the Xbox Live carousel. One minute we’re in, the next we’re out. Now, Microsoft is confirming that the issues are back via Xbox.com, and as if that weren’t enough in and of itself, the outfit is also informing Zune owners that they “may experience intermittent issues logging onto Zune Marketplace.” From what we can tell, there’s no definitive ETA on a resolution that will actually stick for more than ten minutes, but if we were you, we’d lock down that Hotmail account, pronto.

[Thanks, Robert S. and everyone who sent this in]
Read - Xbox.com Support
Read - Zune.net Support

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