Tag Archives | Apple

Just How (In)secure are Smartphones?

Posted by Harry McCracken on July 28, 2010 at 8:24 am

Last week a clever, duplicitous fifteen-year-old got Apple to approve an iPhone flashlight app which contained a secret tethering utility. A few days later, Citi told users of its iPhone mobile banking app that it was storing personal information in a manner which might have left it vulnerable to misuse by other apps or hackers.

Neither incident represented a security disaster, but both provided sobering evidence that the iPhone’s level of security is less than airtight. The tethering app’s acceptance showed that it’s possible to sneak hidden code past Apple’s approval process, and the Citibank storage glitch was a useful reminder that iPhone apps aren’t completely isolated from each other.

Continue Reading →

6 comments

Why didn't Apple Use Rechargeable Batteries in the First Place?

Posted by David Worthington on July 27, 2010 at 5:57 pm

Kudos to Apple for developing a more energy efficient charger for reusable AA batteries, and introducing it today along with the new Magic Trackpad. I’d glad that the company is advancing its environmental record by making less toxic products, but at the risk of sounding overzealous– it’s about time. Apple’s stylish wireless keyboard and mice are needlessly sending heaps of batteries to the landfill.

I bought my iMac early this year, and felt awful at the idea of having to burn through disposable alkaline batteries. A plurality of fanboy friends told me that my Magic Mouse was “pretty awesome,” but “ate up” its batteries. My solution was to purchase some Sanyo Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) batteries and the accompanying charger.

I’ve gone through at least four charge cycle for my Magic Mouse; the keyboard batteries only had to be recharged once. Had I not taken it upon myself to be more environmentally responsible, they would be at least as many batteries sent to wherever Manhattan’s trash goes. My question is: Why didn’t Apple use rechargeable batteries in the first place?

Most of Apple’s customers wouldn’t have minded paying a few more dollars in their Mac’s sticker price. Apple sold 3.472 million Macs last quarter. Not all of those Macs shipped with wireless peripherals–for one thing, the majority were notebooks, not desktops–but many did. While Apple could have been more forward thinking then, it has the technology now. I’d like to see it begin to bundle greener batteries with its products.

6 comments

Apple's Magic TrackPad: Niche Product or the Next Big Thing?

Posted by Harry McCracken on July 27, 2010 at 10:08 am

Apple announced a bunch of products this morning, including more potent Mac Pros, iMacs with new processors, an a 27-inch Cinema Display. But the most intriguing new item is the smallest and cheapest one: the $69 Magic Trackpad. Rumored for months, it brings the multi-touch design and integrated button to an oversized, standalone wireless Bluetooth model designed to look good sitting next to Apple’s wireless keyboard.

(Apple says that the Magic Trackpad is for Macs only; I wonder if anyone will figure out how to make it work with Windows, or if the company would consider a PC-friendly model?)

Continue Reading →

22 comments

Has Apple Leveled the iPhone App Playing Field? Maybe

Posted by Harry McCracken on July 26, 2010 at 4:07 pm

Of all the controversies over Apple’s iPhone App Store acceptance policies, the one that’s bothered me most doesn’t involve smut, flatulence, tethering, bizarrely expensive knickknacks, or  even the work of Pulitzer Prize winners. No, what’s really bugged me has been the periodic evidence that Apple has a problem with iPhone software that aims to compete with its own apps. The examples started soon after the App Store opened (Apple told the developer of a podcasting app it nixed that it wasn’t allowed to duplicate iTunes functionality) and most famously include the company’s refusal to approve the Google Voice app on the grounds that it “interferes with the iPhone’s distinctive user experience.”

Continue Reading →

4 comments

Still Waiting for the White iPhone

Posted by Harry McCracken on July 23, 2010 at 1:42 pm

First the white iPhone was supposed to ship on June 24th, just like the black one. Then it was delayed until late July now. And now Apple says they’ll be available at some unspecified date later this year–they’ve “continued to be more challenging to manufacture than we originally expected.”

I don’t explain Apple to explain exactly why white iPhones are harder to make than black ones, but it presumably has something to do with the fact that the phones have unique glass cases. And I’m wondering: How many people who want an iPhone 4 have delayed their purchases until the white version shows up?

3 comments

Apple Leads in Software (In)security

Posted by David Worthington on July 22, 2010 at 4:57 pm

Secunia, a security service provider well known for tracking software defects, has ranked Apple as having the most reported vulnerabilities for its platforms during the first half of 2010. The majority of the flaws reside in OS X applications.

I’m not surprised. As malicious operating systems have become more hardened, exploiting vulnerabilities has required increasingly sophisticated attacks. End users are updating their systems, using antivirus programs–at least Windows users do–and have deployed firewalls. Hackers have to look for holes in applications.

Secunia reports that vulnerabilities were found in Apple applications such as iTunes, QuickTime, and Safari, and in the apps of third parties including Adobe and Oracle. Today, we reported that Safari has a vulnerability that could allow someone to delete your address book.

Continue Reading →

13 comments

Report: 80% Chance of iPhone Coming to T-Mobile

Posted by Ed Oswald on July 21, 2010 at 1:53 pm

Here we go again! This time it’s Cult of Mac, with a “highly placed source” saying T-Mobile is going to start selling the iPhone in the third quarter of this year. In English, that means the device would appear in the next two months or so. Talks are apparently in an “advanced stage,” and the source puts the odds at about 80 percent that it’s going to happen.

This would be a huge victory for the nation’s fourth largest carrier. Verizon has been long rumored to be the next US carrier to get the iPhone once the AT&T exclusivity ends (whenever that is). But certainly, Verizon’s marketing has turned markedly more anti-Apple in recent weeks. That’s certainly NOT the way to court the company that you are apparently trying to court.

Continue Reading →

18 comments