Mac OS X users - try out Avast Antivirus Mac Edition if you’re worried

We received a few messages from Mac users last week worried about the conflicker worm. While we are not aware that Mac OS X are susceptible to its infection nor are we aware about many viruses that can infect Macs, we believe some of you like some suggestions on choosing a reliable antivirus software / app for Mac OS X.

Avast Antivirus Mac Edition has the same ICSA Certified scan engine as all Avast antivirus products, offering protection against the latest and legacy virus, malware, Trojan horse, and spyware risks. Virus definitions and scanning capabilities are updated often (sometime several times per day, depending on current threats), so you can rest assured that your Mac is protected at all times. All you need to do is install, configure once (if you want to change the default settings) and forget about malware being a problem.

Some key features of Avast Antivirus Mac Edition includes:

Full on-access scanning - which scans files as you access them, to make sure they are safe from infection
On-demand scanning - for scheduled or ad-hoc scans of your system volumes
Mail protection-integrated mail protection can stop infection at one of the most vulnerable access vectors
Virus Chest - a safe storage place for infected or suspected files, where they cannot harm your system
Fully automatic updating of the program and virus definitions and full scanner preference control
Under-the-hood technology features include: native execution of virus database on Intel platform Macs, with fast emulation on PowerPC of assembler-level parts; multi-threaded scanning daemon; industry leading unpacker support (for archives); able to upgrade the definitions database, even while doing background scanning; application itself multi-threaded; fail-safe updating architecture (if the daemon fails to do an update, the main application will do it instead); kernel extension architecture for capturing after-close events on modified files; optimized software architecture, including non-blocking system calls; and the program is designed for speed and non-degraded system performance.

Unfortunately, unlike the PC version of Avast which does have a freeware version for home users, its Mac OS X edition isn’t absolutely and consists of a 60-day trial. If you think you’d like to try it out, click here for more info over at Avast.

How to downgrade iPhone 3G baseband 02.30.03 to 02.28.00 - ModMyi downgrader tool released!

Finally, at last! A baseband downgrade tool for iPhone 3G. Readers who are iPhone 3G users who unexpectedly and accidentally upgraded their iPhone 3G’s baseband during the iPhone firmware 2.2.1 update will be happy to know that ModMyi (not the iPhone Dev Team) have come up with a tool that claims to downgrade your iPhone’s baseband from 02.30.03 back to 02.28.00.

While back in February, the iPhone Dev Team did specifically release a Pwnage Tool for iPhone 3G users so


that they could update their iPhone 3Gs safely to firmware 2.2.1 while preserving baseband 02.28.00. It seemed this message didn’t get across to many in the right time and as a result a significant large number of iPhone 3G users who had their iPhones unlocked during the previous fimware version ended up just having a bricked “iPhone 3G Touch”.

Well the good news have finally come, after two months, ModMyi is now reporting that a tool called pHaseBanDowngrader has just been released that allows iPhone 3G users to downgrade baseband from 02.30.03 to 02.28.00.

Before you go ahead with the pHaseBanDowngrader baseband downgrade tool, everyone should know that from the release notes available for this new tool, its not the simpliest tool in the world to use and therefore use at your own risk (though this is so new that we don’t know yet what the risks could be)! We will keep everyone updated of any updates or new instructions regarding the pHaseBanDowngrader.


ModMyi says:

…this tool has been tested by multiple people and WILL NOT brick your device. if you have bootloader version 5.9 it will not work. you can try but it will not work (still no risk of brick)

Apparently most new iPhone 3G’s come with bootloader version 5.9. You can checkout this link for instructions to check your bootloader’s version. The below is a short quote from the tool’s read me file:

To run the pHaseBanDowngrader, connect via SSH to your iPhone and copy the downloaded folder (phasebandowngrader) into the folder “/Applications” on your iPhone.
Note: The folder MUST named phasebandowngrader with lowercase letters!

To run it, open MobileTerminal and type “login”. The user is “root” and password is “alpine” by default. Then type: “cd / Applications/phasebandowngrader/”, then, to run the downgrader, type “./phasebandowngrader

So if you’re interested in having a try at the new baseband downgrade tool for your bricked iPhone 3G, you can download pHaseBanDowngrader using the download links available over at ModMyi. I think its fair to say at this time the pHaseBanDowngrader isn’t definitely going to work but it seems to have great potential. We’ll keep everyone updated with any news!

Apple iPhone firmware OS 3.0 event announced - March 17

Some exciting news today folks, Apple have just announced that a special event will be held on March 17 (in just five days!) at 10am PST (1pm EST). Its expected that Apple will be showing off the latest version of the iPhone OS firmware version 3.0 along with a brand new updated SDK (software development kit).

So far, the news has been that MMS will finally be coming to the iPhone, in addition tethering via bluetooth and USB have also been suggested! I’m sure there will be many more to be revealed on that day, its now just a matter of how much info gets leaked. We expect to see something exciting with this new version of OS, wonder what Apple has in store for everyone!?