5Words: Want iPhone Flash? Blame Apple!

Adobe: Apple’s denying you Flash.

Satellite radio iPhone dock shipping.

Paramount movies on thumb drives.

Twitter lists in a widget.

Multitouch Droid? Not in America.

How DVRs could save TV.

Verizon to subsidize tiny Sony?

Nintendo: The Wii has “stalled.”

________________________

Like 5Words? Subscribe via RSS.

 

 

 

 

Here’s the iTunes TV Subscription I’d Pay For

Over at All Things Digital, Peter Kafka is reporting that he’s hearing that Apple wants to offer a $30 TV subscription service through iTunes, and is trying to stir up interest among content providers. He has very few details, but the basic idea of a technology company taking on cable with an Internet-based service appeals to me. (I’ve written in the past of my flirtations with ditching Comcast, although I remain a subscriber as I write this.)

Sooner or later, we’re all going to get all of our entertainment and information over the Internet, whether it’s from Apple or Comcast or someone else or a combination of multiple options. I’m not sure how it’ll all pan out, or how long it’ll take. But I do know what I’d like to see in such a service. Stuff like this:

A la carte options. I don’t watch 98 percent of the channels included in my cable package, and never will–and the only reason I’m paying for the tier of service I’m getting is to get one or two stations that interest me. I’d much rather be able to select from a handful of stations I know I’ll watch. Better yet, why can’t I pay for individual programs?

Diversity even cable can’t offer. I want niche programming on topics I’m interested in. I want every movie that’s extant, and every episode of every TV show–including ones that never came out on DVD.

One subscription I can watch anywhere and everywhere. I’d like to pay one flat fee for programming I can watch on my TV, my PC, and my phone. (That’s one reason why the idea of an iTunes-based subscription service is intriguing–I’ve already got iTunes on my computers, on my iPhone, and–courtesy of Apple TV–on my TV.)

Both live streams and a great DVR in the cloud. One of the reasons I still pay Comcast each month is because it’s still the best way to get news and other real-time programming. I wouldn’t pay an additional $30 a month for Subscription iTunes unless it brought me MSNBC and CNN and FOX and CSPAN. (Or, alternatively, unless they all become available online for free through some other means.) But I also want to be able to get anything my subscription qualifies me to watch at any time.

Is any of this too much to ask for? I’d cheerfully pay a lot more than $30 a month to the first company who offers it.  And until it comes along, I’ll muddle along with a combination of Comcast, iTunes, Roku, Amazon on Demand, Slingbox, Netflix Watch Instantly, podcasts, various network-specific sites, and old VHS tapes. Between them, I figure they get me about two-thirds of the way to where I’d like to go…

Malware Inc.: The Criminals Behind the Attacks

Malware makers–the criminals responsible for viruses and worms –have become increasingly organized and sophisticated, according to a Microsoft security report that was released today. Gamers, the gullible, USB drive users, and people who don’t patch their PCs are their biggest targets.

Cybercriminals are organized like corporations, and follow regular software release cycles, said Jeff Williams, principal group program manager for the Microsoft Malware Protection Center: “They are working for monetary gain.”

The report, entitled, Microsoft Security Intelligence Report Volume 7, is based upon data collected worldwide from January through June 2009. The data was obtained through Microsoft’s security products, Hotmail, and Windows Update, Williams said. “It shows differences from region to region, and provides a comprehensive view of the threat landscape.”

Globally, Microsoft found that the number of trojan downloaders has fallen markedly over the past year; although, they did remain the most common threat. That gain was offset by a rise in instances of worms, password stealers and monitoring tools, according to the report.

Malware has been increasingly targeting online gamers, and there has been a major uptake in fraudulent security software, Williams said. Criminals create trojan software that purports to protect users from malware, but does nothing more than steal personal information and obtain credit card information through false premise.

Criminals have also begun the practice of bundling malware, and making “pay for play” arrangements with one another, Williams said. Another trend Williams noted is the misuse of autoplay in Windows, and using removable media like USB jump drives as an attack vector to get inside of protected enterprise environments.

Microsoft recommends that customers should use trusted anti virus software, a Web browser with anti-phishing technology, and keep their operating systems up-to-date. Security software, combined with increased industry and government cooperation, has helped Microsoft better protect customers over the past year, Williams said.

However, Microsoft is playing a game of multidimensional chess against an opponent that is profit-driven. Improvements in security have induced cyber criminals to exploit more complex software vulnerabilities, and those vulnerabilities have become the new chosen mechanisms for propagating worms of worms, Williams acknowledged.

“They left a note in a worm telling us that they would take more direct action in the future. Criminals are becoming more aggressive,” Williams said. Simply put, when one door closes, they find another.

With Windows becoming more secure, third party applications are being targeted with rising frequency, Williams noted. To combat that threat, Microsoft has delivered free security tools to developers, along with documentation on the steps that it takes internally to create secure software.

Thankfully, other major software companies including HP and IBM have bought security firms, and are making efforts to secure their software. A lot of the industry still lags, but steady progress is being made.

A security expert once told me that hackers were the highwaymen of our century. Highwaymen were thieves that preyed upon travelers during the Elizabethan era. They became obsolete when society created toll roads–closing off their route of escape–and increased police patrols. The crime was not worth the time.

Software is exceedingly more complex than road building, and modern operating systems are some of the most advanced things man has ever created. It’s not really possible to make software that is entirely secure. Even still, I have confidence that enough progress will be made to raise the risks and reduce the gains of cybercrime.

Hackintosh Trouble?

Apple may be suing Mac clone merchant Psystar, but its policy towards individuals who install OS X on non-Apple hardware to create “Hackintoshes” seems to have been to ignore them rather than to frustrate them. That may be about to change.

According to OS X Daily, Apple’s upcoming OS X 10.6.2 update prevents Snow Leopard from running on computers that use Intel’s Atom CPU. If true, that would make it incompatible with the vast majority of netbooks in one fell swoop.

I don’t want to assume that the OS X Daily story is the real deal until it’s received independent confirmation, and even if it is true, it’s possible that there’s an explanation that has nothing to do with Apple’s attitude towards Hackintoshes. But if Apple does want to foil Hackintoshes, this would be a good way to go about it. (Of course, it’s entirely possible that Hackintosh makers will simply hack OS X 10.6.2 further to reintroduce Atom support.)

OS X Daily wonders whether Apple might move against Hackintosh netbooks because it’s getting ready to introduce a tablet. Maybe so, but the number of folks in the world who are willing to go through the effort of putting OS X on a PC must be one-tenth of one-percent of the market that Apple would like to capture with a tablet. It would be nice to think that the two platforms–if you can call Hackintoshes a platform–could quietly, unofficially coexist.

Anyhow, here’s a T-Poll:

Project Switchback: Moving from a Mac to Windows 7

Back in 2004, I was shopping for a new laptop at CompUSA. I took a wrong turn into the store’s tiny Apple section and had an epiphany: Why not buy a Mac? (I’d been a Mac user in the 1980s, and still used them on the job to do page layouts, but every computer I’d bought since 1992 had run Windows.) If nothing else, I figured it would make me a smarter computer journalist, and I couldn’t think of any showstopping arguments against owning a Mac…even though I was the editor of PC World.

I ended up buying a 12-inch PowerBook. I’ve purchased and used both Macs and Windows machines in the years since, but have unquestionably logged more hours on Macs than on Windows PCs over the past two or three years.

That’s about to change, at least for a little while. Now that Windows 7 is the current version of the operating system, I’m not only going to use it–which I’ve been doing with various versions for a year–but to run it as my primary OS. What better way to come to some real-world, up-to-the-moment conclusions  about how Windows and Apple’s OS compare?

Continue reading this story…

iDon’t Think the Droid’s iPhone Attack Will Work

Verizon is spending a lot of money advertising its upcoming Droid smartphone. It’s everywhere–from commercials on TV to bills posted on construction sites. But I question whether the iPhone-mocking focus of the ad campaign can generate broad appeal.

The ads target the iPhone’s shortcomings, such as its lack of a camera flash and the rigid application development limitations imposed by Apple. They include statements about the iPhone such as “‘iDon’t have a real keyboard,” “iDon’t allow open development,” and “iDon’t run simultaneous apps.’” Those points resonate with me, because I’m a member of the tech punditocracy.

The question is, does the average user care about things such as open development? I’m an iPhone owner, and Apple’s draconian policies don’t really affect my overall experience. There are still plenty of apps to choose from. I haven’t met too many disaffected iPhone users, probably because the user experience–while imperfect–is pretty great.

Beyond the jailbreaking crowd and some grumblings about Google Voice, I have never heard anyone complain that he or she didn’t have all of the applications that he or she wanted on the iPhone. Verizon’s clumsy wording doesn’t help either. The message would be more effective as something like “iDon’t permit all the apps you want.”

Verizon’s playful advertising campaign keeps the Droid fresh in my mind, and initial buzz on the device is favorable. I might consider buying it when I need a new device. However, that would involve switching carriers, and would leave much of my iTunes music library orphaned. My music, video and phone are all-in-one now, and I do not want to have to carry around a separate iPod.

I chose to buy Apple’s DRM music format, as well as to be locked into AT&T’s network. Aside from some intermittent dropped calls, and poor reception in areas that Verizon fully covers, I’m happy with my decision. If I’m a hard sell, I’d venture that people who don’t care about things like running simultaneous apps aren’t really getting what’s so special about the Droid.