iTunes can sometimes get on your nerves displaying confusing error messages without providing proper explanation even when help button is clicked, something similar occurred when my iPod firmware got corrupted and I used the Restore function in iTunes but to my surprise iTunes displayed error - "The iPod BNB could not be restored because the firmware file could not be found." , I allowed iTunes to check internet for firmware download but the error persisted.

This issue is caused when you have firmware files already downloaded in iTunes cache location but it gets corrupted, instead of allowing you to download a fresh copy of the firmware our not so smart iTunes keeps showing this error, to fix the error simply follow the solution next.

Many iTunes alternatives have been shared on this blog but what else can be better then managing and syncing music on your portable devices from popular multimedia player Winamp, the good news is that the latest version of Winamp comes with built-in support for importing iTunes database and playlists with full featured portable device management and synchronization functionality offering seamless integration with iPod (Shuffle, Video, Nano & Classic), Creative Nomad/Zen/MuVo, PlaysForSure (P4S), USB Thumbdrive and ActiveSync devices, for enabling iTunes support simply check the Import iTunes Tool option while installing Winamp and follow the guide ahead to work with iTunes and iPod from within Winamp.

Using Winamp to sync your iPod devices ensures that you don't need to worry about losing songs when syncing on different computers.

Microsoft is hitting hard on Apple product prices with its series of tv commercial targeting the high cost to own Apple products describing it as Apple Tax, the latest in series compares the cost to fill an 120 GB iPod from iTunes store to that of Zune portable media player via Zune Pass costing just $15 a month.

Until now iPhone lacked an proper office application suite, but now leading mobile office suite QuickOffice is available on iPhone platform, the high-performance iPhone Office productivity tool allows users to open and work with Microsoft WORD and EXCEL files on their device.

Few days ago a new exploit allowed developers to downgrade iPhone 3G baseband from 02.30.03 to 02.28.00 running Bootloader v 5.8, the hack allowed users with iPhone Firmware 2.2.1 to get their phones unlocked via Yellowsn0w after successfully downgrading the baseband, earlier the downgrading process required users to upload files via SSH and executing it via shell, the developers have now created an easy-to-use automated GUI for downgrading the iPhone 3G Baseband automatically with minimal user interaction.

You may soon need an anti-virus solution for your Apple iPhone and iPod Touch devices as there seem to be an increasing number of reports claiming virus and trojan outbreaks on jail-broken iPhones, almost an year ago iPhone Trojan named '113 prep' created quite a buzz being the first virus/Trojan for iPhone appearing onto the radar, now iPhone users are reporting strange message popups on there devices.

Despite this being suggested as an iPhone Virus or Trojan by some forum members I am very much sure that it is nothing more then a prank, but considering the current scenario of increasing number of jail-broken iPhones having ability to install unverified cracked applications this can soon lead to make malware creators target these devices.

Much awaited iPhone client of popular P2P VOIP service Skype is expected to soon hit the Apple iTunes store in coming week for public download, once available the client application will let Apple iPhone and iPod touch users use cost-effective Skype VOIP telephony service over Wi-Fi and 3G networks, the Skype client application is expected to be made available for free but as usual will need paid account upgrade for full feat

Apple iTunes provides iPhone and iPod Touch backup and restore facility, but if you have jailbroken your device you must be having lots of stuff that iTunes won't backup, in such a situation restoring your device will result in loss of such data, thanks to brand new software iSafeCopy you can now backup and restore that data savings lots of time re-installing everything from scratch.

iSafeCopy is currently in beta and allows iPhone and iPod Touch users to backup and restore Cydia sources, installed applications, Winterboard Themes, Cycorder Videos, Camera Roll Images, Wallpapers, MxTube saves, Ringtones, Address book, SMS, Notes, iBlacklist Database, Full Call History and Calender data with ease.

Unlike iPod Touch First Generation jailbreaking the newer iPod Touch Second Generation requires a different approach as QuickPWN currently does not support iPod Touch 2G, luckily iPod 2G is now jailbreakable and QuickFreedom is a new utility which can get the job done pretty easily via a simple to use wizard styled user interface, QuickFreedom works on Windows XP and Vista allowing users to jailbreak and install Cydia and Installer with options to change the boot logo.

QuickFreedom supports jailbreaking the latest iPod Touch 2G with 2.2.1 firmware, the 5-step jailbreaking process is quite simple and can be done easily as described next.

Despite all the warnings if you upgraded your iPhone to the latest iPhone OS 3.0 Beta without a developer account you must be locked-out from normal phone functionality, downgrading your iPhone to an earlier version is pretty straight-forward but downgrading your baseband (which is responsible for the unlock being not functional anymore) is not possible with newer versions, You can downgrade iPhone OS 3.0 To earlier 2.2.1 version using the following guide.