Apple’s teaser for tomorrow morning’s event was pretty explicit about the impending launch of the iPhone SDK, but some skeptics still remain. The ability to legitimately install additional software on the iPhone and iPod touch is the #1 request for Apple’s mobile platform, and we’ve been wrong before, but things look more and more like it will really happen.

Besides Apple releasing an image with the word “SDK” on it last week, GyPSii, a Dutch company that makes geo-location and real-world friend-finder software for cell phones, has announced that it will develop a version of its program for the iPhone. The more interesting part is this comment from the CEO:

Apple’s Software Developer Kit (SDK) which is scheduled to be launched later this week, providing seamless access for all Apple users, from the desktop, to the iPhone.

I think this is pretty much a done deal. I don’t think Apple will announce and then not ship the SDK. I think it will be available tomorrow, and there will be a bunch of high-profile apps waiting in the wings, including Lotus, and, the good lord willing, MS Exchange support. Those are the two ingredients holding iPhone back from mass corporate adoption. Fix that, and this will really explode.  

iPhone SDK This Week? So Says GyPSii – GigaOM

Tags: iphone, sdk, gps

At this point, I think there are really only three legitimate complaints about the iPhone:

1. It only runs at EDGE speeds. Sure, it loads pages fast once it connects, but 3G would make it sing.
2. The chrome bezel around the screen – iPod touch is way classier.
3. It’s tied to a single network in each country where it’s available.

Well, according to Apple COO Tim Cook, maybe we won’t have to live with the last one for very long (and we all pray that 3G is coming any day now…). According to MarketWatch, Cook said that Apple wasn’t wedded to the exclusive, single-carrier business model.

While that sounds like great news for anyone that wants an iPhone on T-Mobile, his meaning is actually unclear. While I’d love to say that this is a clear rift with AT&T and iPhones will start popping up unlocked for everyone direct from Apple, that would be a lie.

Absent other information, it sounds more to me like Cook is saying that Apple is open to bringing the iPhone to new markets without tying up with a specific carrier. In other words, South Africa, you may have your pick of iPhone carriers. Let’s hope it eventually makes it back to the U.S.

Apple ‘not wedded’ to iPhone sales model – MarketWatch

Via Digg.

Tags: iphone, apple, tim cook, announcement

Apple has sent invites to the press for an “iPhone Software roadmap” event on March 6 at Apple’s Cupertino Campus, according to Engadget.

“Please join us to learn about the iPhone software roadmap, including the iPhone SDK and some exciting new enterprise features,” the invite says.

Let’s hope one of those “exciting new enterprise features” is corporate email. For me, that’s the biggest hole.

Conspicuous by its absence is any mention of the SDK’s introduction date.

The news we’ve been waiting on for more than a year has finally arrived. According to Gizmodo, Apple this morning sent out invitations to an event at Apple Town Hall in Cupertino on March 6th to launch the software developer kit for the iPhone. Of particular note on the “roadmap” image included with the invitation is the prominent sign reading “Enterprise.” This certainly connects with the rumblings of Lotus support that have emerged in the last few weeks, and I hope it means Exchange Active Sync support. If the iPhone has integrated push e-mail support for Exchange, Apple will really start to breathe down the necks of RIM, the top-selling North American smartphone maker. It would put Apple in line to really put iPhones in the pockets of a lot more executives immediately.

Very exciting. Stay tuned, folks. I really hope that Apple allows every application developer who’s interested to make their software available for the iPhone. That’s what’s made the underground iPhone app community so exciting – the sheer creativity of the freeware community.

Apple Event for the iPhone SDK: March 6th

Tags: apple, iphone, sdk, iphone sdk, iphonesdk, exchange, enterprise, software

Picture: Kitra Cahana/The New York Times

I’ve confirmed that the iPhone no longer runs software applications as “root” — but the iPhone is still insecure, a security expert says.

As reported on Wired.com, the iPhone used to run all software applications as “root” until recently, a flawed architecture that could give hackers complete control of the device. If hackers found a hole in any application, they could take over other functions, using the iPhone to make calls, take pictures or read and send email.

But last month Apple released a firmware update, version 1.1.3, that put most of the major applications in a new account called “mobile.”

While this is better than running all applications in root, it still lumps the applications together, which doesn’t much improve things: The same vulnerability still exits. If any one application is compromised, they are all vulnerable — and the iPhone can still be taken over, says Charlie Miller, principal analyst of software security at Independent Security Evaluators.

Dr. Miller was one of the first security experts to document the iPhone’s flawed architecture.

In a response to an email query sent yesterday, Dr. Miller writes:

Actually, the important apps have not been running as root at least since 1.1.3. See below. This is obviously better than running everything as root.

However, now they seem to run everything unimportant as the user “mobile”.

This doesn’t really solve their security problems because, for example, someone gaining access through a web server attack will still be able to access emails, dial the phone, etc. (At least it appears this way, I haven’t verified this).

A better approach would have been one like the folks at Google took with their Android SDK.

There, every application runs as a separate user in their own directory.

Therefore, each application cannot access the data of another application without the system having explicitly been told to allow it.

In the above example, an attacker who gains access to an Android phone through the web browser could only access things the web browser deals with, such as bookmarks.

They would not have access to mail contacts, saved messages, SMS messages, etc. (at least without doing a second type of attack).

Hope that helps.

Charlie

# uname -a
Darwin Charlie Miller’s iPhone 9.0.0d1 Darwin Kernel Version 9.0.0d1: Wed Dec 12 00:16:00 PST 2007; root:xnu-933.0.0.211.obj~2/RELEASE_ARM_S5L8900XRB iPhone1,1 unknown # ps aux
USER PID %CPU %MEM VSZ RSS TT STAT STARTED TIME COMMAND
mobile 62 2.8 20.3 325440 24080 ?? Ss 9:36AM 1:15.31 /System/Library/CoreServices/SpringBoard.app/SpringBoard
root 1 0.0 0.4 272956 444 ?? Ss 8:56AM 0:01.06 /sbin/launchd
mobile 12 0.0 1.4 286128 1604 ?? Ss 8:56AM 0:00.37 /usr/sbin/BTServer
root 13 0.0 1.3 282168 1556 ?? Ss 8:56AM 0:03.43 /System/Library/Frameworks/CoreTelephony.framework/Support/CommCenter
root 16 0.0 1.3 275864 1516 ?? Ss 8:56AM 0:15.53 /usr/sbin/configd
root 17 0.0 0.5 273404 592 ?? Ss 8:56AM 0:00.09 /usr/libexec/crashreporterd
mobile 18 0.0 1.4 284764 1632 ?? Ss 8:56AM 0:00.86 /System/Library/Frameworks/IAP.framework/Support/iapd
root 19 0.0 0.7 273732 880 ?? Ss 8:56AM 0:01.69 /usr/sbin/mDNSResponder -launchd
root 20 0.0 1.1 284208 1296 ?? Ss 8:56AM 0:01.25 /usr/libexec/lockdownd
root 21 0.0 0.4 274000 432 ?? Ss 8:56AM 0:07.57 /usr/sbin/syslogd
root 22 0.0 0.2 264644 276 ?? Ss 8:56AM 0:00.66 /usr/sbin/update
mobile 23 0.0 0.7 273576 792 ?? Ss 8:56AM 0:00.12 /usr/libexec/ptpd -t usb
mobile 24 0.0 1.7 290148 2072 ?? Ss 8:56AM 0:03.31 /usr/sbin/mediaserverd
root 26 0.0 0.4 273456 428 ?? Ss 8:56AM 0:01.14 /usr/sbin/notifyd
mobile 64 0.0 2.0 309600 2340 ?? S 9:36AM 0:00.93 /Applications/MobilePhone.app/MobilePhone –launchedFromSB –firstLaunch —
mobile 65 0.0 2.5 309112 2940 ?? S 9:36AM 0:02.78 /Applications/MobileMail.app/MobileMail –launchedFromSB –firstLaunch –su
root 81 0.0 7.8 315532 9324 ?? S 9:43AM 0:37.71 /Applications/Installer.app/Installer –launchedFromSB
mobile 82 0.0 12.7 321948 15036 ?? S 9:45AM 0:21.86 /Applications/MobileSafari.app/MobileSafari –launchedFromSB
root 97 0.0 0.6 273276 764 ?? S 9:54AM 0:00.81 /usr/sbin/sshd -i
root 98 0.0 1.0 274168 1164 p0 Ss 9:54AM 0:00.14 -sh
root 100 0.0 0.3 272876 332 p0 R+ 9:54AM 0:00.01 ps aux

Why was the iPhone architected like this, I asked Dr. Miller? His reply: “I think they did it that way because it was the easiest and quickest way to do it. They had a deadline, they had a great product and they wanted to get it out the door and start making money. Clearly, by not running things as root, they are going back and trying to make the things more secure now that the phones are out and in use. However, adding security after the fact if much more difficult (and expensive) then designing it in from the start.”

From user ndhmashfan: I thought this would be a good use for Legos.

Picture by axb500

Update: As reader Mike kindly points out in the comments, apps running in root was fixed in the 1.1.3 update. According to Cre.ations.net:
– All applications now run as the user ‘mobile’ instead of as root.
– Preferences are now stored in /var/mobile rather than in /var/root.
Update 2: As Wired.com reporter Kim Zetter points out, this hasn’t been confirmed by anyone except the Cre.ations.net blogger. All other mentions cite Cre.ations.net as the source.
If today’s iPhone’s firmware update is in preparation for an iPhone SDK, the big question is whether Apple fixed the iPhone’s flawed security model.
Do apps still run in root?

Apple on Tuesday released a 1.1.4 firmware update for the iPhone and iPod touch.

Available through iTunes, the update is a beefy 165-MByte download, but incredibly, adds no significant new features.

According to iLounge, which examined the update closely and quizzed Apple about it, it’s nothing but bug fixes.

The update is probably laying the groundwork for the iPhone SDK, which Apple promised to release this month.

The 1.1.4 update presents no problem to jailbroken iPhones, TUAW reports — which will be a moot point if sanctioned applications will be released shortly. Who wants to hack their iPhone to load applications if there’s a nice SDK a way to load them through iTunes?

Apple’s iTunes music store has overtaken Best Buy to become the number-two music retailer in the U.S. behind Wal-Mart, according to market researcher NPD Group.

Apple’s growth is likely to continue. Sales of CDs are plummeting while digital downloads grew about 50 percent last year, NPD said.

Most tellingly, nearly 50 percent of U.S. teens didn’t buy any CDs during the year, NPD says.

“Teens are continuing to check out on the CD,” NPD analyst Russ Crupnick told the Associated Press .

As anticipated, Apple took the wraps off of new hardware early this morning. In a twist on the rumors floating through the Internet, however, the Cupertino Kids updated two product lines – we get new MacBooks, but the Pro line gets a bump, too. Both lines get Penryn hardware, with the consumer line clocking in at 2.1 and 2.4 Ghz, and the pros running from 2.4 to 2.6 Ghz iron. As usual, a major difference between the lines is in graphic acceleration – the pros get some serious NVIDIA hardware, and the consumer line is still bopping around with Intel integrated graphics, in this case the X3100 system. Though history suggests the X3100 will be pretty sad for gaming, I’m excited to see benchmarks.

But there is a new pair of distinctions to the product line – environmental impact. While Apple has extended the availability of mercury-free LED backlit screens to the whole Pro line, the consumer line has the same glossy screen it did yesterday. Additionally, the MacBook Pro has a multi-touch trackpad, while the consumer line trackpad doesn’t do anything new and nifty. Gizmodo already got ahold of an Apple spokesperson about the latter, and received this spectacular explanation:

The multitouch technology is a feature of the Macbook Pro and Air, but not the Macbook. Apple has already committed to transitioning all machines to LED backlights, and will do so when economically and technically feasible.

That pretty much sums up Apple’s product strategy, doesn’t it?

Hipster thieves in Williamsburg are interested mostly in Macs, according to a couple of reports in Gawker. Burglars are lifting Macs, but leaving roommates’ Dells and other PCs behind (mostly). One commenter notes: “I’m hoping the roomate with the Dell arranged for the stealing of his asshole roomates Apple equipment.”Hipster Thief Of Williamsburg Wants Only Apple Products
Williamsburg Residents Getting Their iMacs Stolen Left and Right

You’ll notice soon that we’re adding a number of new contributors to our humble abode. We start this week with DJ Rizzo, a frequent commenter and Windows to Mac convert, a story he tells in his first post. Owing to WordPress weirdness, some of you already got to read it via RSS, but it just won’t appear on the main page, so I’m providing a link. Enjoy.

Read David’s story.

You’ll notice soon that we’re adding a number of new contributors to our humble abode. We start this week with DJ Rizzo, a frequent commenter and Windows to Mac convert, a story he tells in his first post. Owing to WordPress weirdness, some of you already got to read it via RSS, but it just won’t appear on the main page, so I’m providing a link. Enjoy.

Read David’s story.

DVDJon has broken Apple’s FairPlay DRM scheme, but the current implementation leaves a little bit to be desired, as new contributor fitterhappier notes in his comprehensive survey of the project.

Read fitterhappier’s story.

It’s the night before the last Tuesday of February, and you know what that means: Rumors! It’s been widely speculated that Apple is holding a secret event tomorrow, likely for the roll-out of the iPhone SDK or new hardware. And now…proof. Or something very like it. Photos of an inventory sheet from a store with new hardware SKUs that suggest new MacBooks, MB403LL/A and MB402LL/A. Initially, some speculated that these must be new MacBook Pros (because they desperately need updating), but these numbers suggest an update from the low end.

BusinessWeek claims they have it confirmed that the iPhone SDK will be late. What do you think will happen tomorrow?

Via Gizmodo.

Mythical beast, adrenaline junkie and sometime digital revolutionary Jon Lech Johansen has fired the latest volley in the DRM wars, launching doubleTwist, software promising to make restrictions on purchased digital media a thing of the past. A grizzled veteran of the campaign against DRM, “DVD Jon” has been handing media companies defeat after defeat, nonchalantly toppling flimsy restriction schemes from DVD copy-protection to Windows Media to FairPlay, the encryption scheme “protecting” most purchases from Apple’s iTunes.

It’s not a great stretch to suggest that Johansen’s work has proved to the corporate world that DRM doesn’t work. Tech news outlets received the news of Jon’s calmly, reporting on the announcement with typical restraint and critical analysis. Oh my dear lord, no, they certainly did no such thing. DVD JON CREATES DRM KILLER, Slashdot reported. (“What, again?” responded thousands of readers the world over.) The truth is that doubleTwist is less a direct assault on DRM, like the Pickett’s Charge of Johansen’s PlayFair endeavor, than a preview of a DRM-free world. Bought your favorite album from iTunes and can’t wait to play it on your flavor of the month mobile phone? doubleTwist, it seems, can make it happen. Make the jump to read how.

Or, “How I Learned to Stop Stressing and Love Mac OS X”
In an effort to help bruised and battered Windows users into the kinder world of Macs, I’ll be posting tips and stories garnered from my own switching experience. This first post is my own switcher’s story. And it all begins with I, your humble narrator, with my ears utterly closed to the Apple praise of a friend…

Image via Paul Stamatiou
It’s an open secret that there are legions of iPhone owners who operate their phones outside of Apple’s officially sanctioned networks AT&T, O2, Orange, and T-Mobile Germany, either because they live outside of the countries where the iPhone is on sale or because they’re aware that AT&T has terrible coverage.

What is less well-known is just how big the problem has gotten. BusinessWeek reported last week that 800,000 to 1 million iPhones have gone AWOL after legitimate purchase. And now this weekend, analyst In-Stat claims that 400,000 of those iPhone are all in operation on China Mobile, the largest carrier in Mainland China.

This makes a few things clear:

1. Apple should get a distribution deal in China as fast as they can. They’re just leaving money on the table right now.
2. Apple would be making more money if they hadn’t gone with an exclusive network for each market. If the iPhone ran GSM and CDMA and was available far and wide, they would be making more money and they wouldn’t need to concern themselves with unlocking. By getting into bed with AT&T and making a part of its revenue dependent on “legitimate use,” Apple has taken an anti-consumer stance that will hurt it in the long run. Unlocked iPhones are only a problem because they depend on an outdated business model. Apple should be embarrassed for taking part in it.

Via iLounge

Nineteen-year-old Mac enthusiast Cameron Kerr has made a spot-on parody of the HP Hands ad campaign to detail his own life. Though he doesn’t mention it in the actual spot, he did put together a clever how-to which reveals that a Mac can make it so easy to create a visually stimulating ode to HP computers.

A shame. Of course, the only thing wrong with today’s HP laptops is that they ship with Windows, so maybe the celebrity endorsers of the famous campaign just aren’t telling us something.

Via Winandmac.

Philip Barnes has uploaded a handful of vintage Apple print ads from the late 1970s and early ’80s. He’s got the “Welcome, IBM. Seriously.” spot, as well as the amazing commercial above, which makes the argument that A is for Apple, and therefore, you should use one. Sink your teeth into finances! Do you see that 16-color bar chart on that TV! It’s dope!

My colleague Chris Kohler at Wired News has a thought-provoking piece on the iPhone’s potential as a games platform. Since the day Apple introduced it, I’ve been waiting for Apple to unleash multi-touch games, and many of Chris’ sources think that the impending release of Apple’s iPhone and iPod touch SDK might let that happen at long last:

Whether or not iPhone gets a gaming-centric redesign, the release of the SDK makes it all but certain that we’ll see some touchscreen games from the development community.

Ehrenberg sees iPhone games as a sort of warm-up for a dedicated gaming system to come later: “This could be a launching point to get people thinking: Apple, games, Apple, games. A device may well follow from that that’s more tailored to the gaming experience.”

What’s really interesting is that 2008 promises to be a huge battle in mobile gaming. Nokia has relaunched N-Gage as an Xbox Live-like social gaming service for its highest-end phones like the N82 and the impending N96. Samsung could easily go this direction in a heartbeat, and if Microsoft ever does make a ZunePhone (as Zune fans believe), you can bet that gaming would be a major component of it to leverage the Xbox brand. Can Apple get there first and best? Only time will tell.

One thing is certain, however. Analyst Roger Ehrenberg of Information Arbitrage could stand to do some more research on the screen resolution of most handheld game systems:

But if the iPhone and iPod Touch are going to be serious contenders for gamers’ attention, they’ll need a screen upgrade, in more ways than one. Ehrenberg says gamers will want a higher-res display: “Right now, the screens generally don’t have the clarity to get the most out of the videogame programming that exists today.”

Um…yeah. Here’s the thing. The Nintendo DS? Uses two screens, each at 256×192, which is a total of 98,304 pixels. The Sony PlayStation Portable? One screen at 480*272, which is 130,560 pixels. The iPhone? One screen at 480×320, or 153,600 pixels. It would be the highest-res gaming platform on the market, not the lowest. That said, maybe there’s a screen-refresh issue that I don’t know about that could make the iPhone weak for action games. It would surprise me, given how nice “Pirates of the Caribbean” looks on it, but one never knows.

Gamers Eye the iPhone, As SDK Approaches

Tags: iphone, games, uninformed analysts

Greatest of all time.
I just got back from visiting a friend in San Luis Obispo, California, and he pointed me towards the Mac Superstore. I’d never heard of the place, and Apple has so thoroughly eradicated all unofficial Mac retailers that I didn’t think there were many left (sadly). But I decided to give the place a close look from the inside. What follows, here and on the jump, is a photo-tour to the coolest Apple store that the company doesn’t own – and maybe ever.

Best Doorstops Ever.
The experience at the MacSuperstore, founded in 1998 by Shane Williams, a graduate of Cal-Poly San Luis Obispo, begins before you even walk in the door. Since the weather is almost always sunny and calm in SLO, Williams and staff use vintage all-in-one Macs to hold the doors open to the faithful. I checked closely, and one door is propped by a Mac Plus while the others are SE/30s. The effect is inviting – and a bit disturbing. I last used an SE/30 in mid-1999, and it seemed pretty far from a doorstop then.

All the most interesting stuff is inside, however, so please read on.

MacWorld was oddly devoid of non-MacBook Air, AppleTV software and Time Capsule product announcements this year. No new MacBooks, iMacs, or MacBook Pros, and no new iPods or iPhones. Apple remedied the latter this Tuesday with double-capacity iPod touch and iPhones, but other new hardware or the iPhone and touch SDK were nowhere to be seen.

TUAW claims to have a tip that the company that typically broadcasts Apple events, MIRA Mobile, is looking to hire people for an unannounced Apple event at the end of the month. My top priority is a new MacBook Pro, but my old iPod just conked out, so the SDK for the touch would be pretty compelling, too…

Via TUAW

As part of the launch of new how-to video site Neulio, Steve Wozniak, the Woz himself, has created a brief course on the basics of his favorite sport, Segway Polo. Having been nearly run down by Woz and his Segway, I can confirm that he knows what he’s doing.

Thanks, Christina!

Though many, including me, had looked to this morning as an opportunity for Apple to release upgrade MacBook Pros, Apple pulled a switcheroo and rolled out upgraded iPhones and iPod touches. They’re tricksome, they are!

Unfortunately, the new models – a 16 gig iPhone for and a 32 gig iPod touch – offer nothing more than additional storage and a higher price tag. Each will go for $499. Other than the capacity, they’re identical under the hood. Anyone waiting for 3G data or a GPS chip? You’ll just have to wait. My guess is we’ll see a true second-generation iPhone in June, for the one-year anniversary of the original’s release date.