Want to break into iPad 2? Get a Smart Cover
iPad 2 owners need to reconsider just how secure their tablets are following the discovery of a flaw that allows attackers with Apple Smart Covers to unlock iPads, even if they are password protected. The issue was first disclosed in the forums of German Apple enthusiast site apfeltalk.de, and has since been replicated numerous times including in tests by BetaNews.
As opposed to an issue where Siri allowed access to phone features from the lock screen -- that actually can be disabled with Siri's settings -- the locking issue actually appears to be a legitimate flaw. The issue was verified by Betanews in iOS 5, however, Internet reports seem to suggest that it can also be recreated in iOS 4.3.
Four gadgets more important than iPhone 4S
Anyone with even a mild interest in technology knows that the iPhone 4S launched one week ago today. In what has now become a ritualistic media event, the new iPhone launch was covered in scrupulous detail, from pre-launch sales predictions, to pundit reviews, to interviews with Apple fans waiting in line to get their hands on the newest iProduct. Someone even made a website devoted to funny things Apple’s new voice command application, Siri, says. The hype tumbled into this week when people awoke Monday morning to find their RSS feeds ablaze with news that Apple had already sold 4 million iPhone 4Ses. Yesterday, AT&T said it had activated 1M iPhone 4Ses so far. iPhone 4S distribution expanded to 22 more countries -- that's 29 in all -- today. Indeed, it feels like everyone in the world has iPhone on the mind.
Well, maybe not everyone. Actually, not even close to everyone. Most everyone, in fact, did not hear about the new iPhone launch or, if they did, they don’t care. Most of the world’s population has more pressing things to focus on than Siri's pithy answer to the meaning of life. Things like staying fed. Finding shelter. Mitigating the scourge of dire poverty and lack of opportunity for a better life. For many more billions, other recent technologies or innovations matter more than iPhone 4S.
CIOs must 're-imagine IT'
Businesses aren't exactly busting open their coffers, but IT spending will rise next year. Gartner predicts a 3.9 percent increase -- to $2.7 trillion, from $2.6 trillion this year. The analyst firm had expected 5.9 percent spending growth for 2011, and that's not happening.
What's important now isn't so much how much is spent but where. Social media, cloud computing and virtualization are disruptive technologies forcing IT departments and business leaders to re-evaluate technology adoption. Then there are the relentless, lingering effects of the global downturn. As such, Gartner claims that more enterprises are making IT a competitive, business priority -- and that affects who makes the decisions and how technology investments fit the top and bottom lines.
We want your iCloud and iOS 5 stories
Today, Apple releases iCloud and iOS 5, two days before iPhone 4S launches in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, United Kingdom and United States. The new operating system is a significant upgrade that can be installed on iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4. iOS 5 works in tandem with iCloud, which is Apple's Internet-enabled synchronization service; it replaces iTunes as the company's major sync hub.
We're crowdsoucing our initial reviews, and I ask for your first take ahead of anything that we might do. If you've got something to say about either iCloud or iOS 5 -- or both -- we'd like to get it right away. If you've tested either or both before their release, we request your full or mini-review even sooner.
You might be reading this story on your phone or tablet, says comScore
Smartphones and tablet devices are increasingly becoming a more common way to access the Internet, says a new study from analytics firm comScore. As of August, 6.8 percent of all Internet traffic came from those devices, with about two-thirds of it coming from mobile phones.
comScore found some interesting trends, such as the increased use of mobile phones over a WiFi connection. About 37.2 percent of all digital traffic came from phones using WiFi, up three percent over the past three months. On the flipside tablets using mobile broadband are also on the rise, with 10 percent of tablet traffic coming from that type of connection.
AT&T, Sprint and Verizon: Cloud-connected devices change everything
CTIA Enterprise & Applications kicked off today in San Diego with a brief tribute to Apple cofounder Steve Jobs, who died last week. CTIA President Steve Largent praised Apple's move into the smartphone market, also calling it "disruptive".
Dan Hesse, Sprint CEO, then took the stage -- the first of three chief executives. He checked off wireless industry accomplishments, such as the year's many natural disasters or the Arab Spring that toppled governments across Northern Africa and the Middle East. "We make a difference in the lives of nearly every person on earth", he asserted.
Is Facebook 4 for iOS a roach motel?
You'd think so after seeing all the bug reports. Ah, perhaps Facebook should have waited even longer to release the app supporting iPad. If not for how long people waited for this version, someone could accuse Facebook of rushing the new iOS app out the door. Scratch that, the app can't possibly be ready.
Less than 24 hours has passed since Facebook 4 for iOS appeared on Apple's App Store. The number of 1-star ratings and complaints about crashes and other problems is staggering. They go on and on and on. The majority are similar.
Finally, Facebook for iPad is here
The wait is over. You heard the rumors and saw the leaked screenshots. You believe in unicorns and UFOs. But it was growing hard to keep believing in Facebook for iPad. Today, the social network rewards your faith and anoints your pad with Facebook 4.0. Surely aliens will land tomorrow and unicorns will be found in some remote jungle. If so, you can more easily tell all your friends from iPad.
Facebook 4.0 is the long-anticipated remedy for what ills iPad: FB iPhone app. The social network released Facebook 3.5 for iOS in early September and to the disbelief of many unicorn and UFO hunters (and plenty other people) without the long-anticipated iPad support.
The ARM that supported Apple while Steve Jobs was away
Irony, it has many faces and comes as your best friend or worst enemy. Often, the only difference is timing. Take for, example, Apple and the Newton. The Newton was Apple’s first handheld device, and it was a colossal failure in the early 1990s. Much of Apple’s success now is because of the iPod and iPhone revolution. Timing, it’s all about timing.
Most kids these days don't know the full history of Apple, they just know Apple is cool and makes amazing mobile devices. They, may not know how political infighting within the company drove the genius behind Apple (Steve Jobs) out in 1985 or the back story they almost didn’t make it to be the world's most-valuable technology company today.
Adobe stiffs Apple
Android tablets got what can only be described as their greatest endorsement to date, with stunning support from one of the world's largest and most successful software developers. Today at its MAX 2011 conference, Adobe unveiled the suite of six Touch Apps, which will be available for Android tablets in November. There is no ETA for iPad, except announcement planned for 2012. Considering how much better iPad is selling than Android tablets, Adobe's choice can't be meaningfully described. The developer has chosen the lower-volume competitor instead of the overwhelming leader.
Adobe's decision says much about its increasing rivalry with Apple, the sometimes onerous App Store approval process (particularly for competitors) and relative openness of Android compared to iOS. It's perhaps a slap across Apple's face that the marketing photos on Adobe web pages for Touch Apps show Android tablets. There's nothing subtle about that.
Is $199 the right price for tablets?
Preliminary results are in from Betanews poll: "What price would be low enough for you to buy a media tablet?" For the majority of respondents (30 percent), $199 is the price. Only about 5 percent of you would spend more than $299.
Not that Apple seems all that perplexed about selling tablets ranging from $499 to $829. But perhaps it should be now that Amazon has lowered the price bar to $199 with Kindle Fire.
Let the tablet price wars begin
What better way for retailers to celebrate the low-cost Amazon Kindle Fire than to offer cut-rate prices on existing tablets. Woot has a one-day special on Motorola XOOM WiFi, refurbished, for $349.99 plus $5 shipping; the tablet typically retails for $499.99. Meanwhile, Best Buy has dropped the price on BlackBerry PlayBook again to $299.99 -- that's $200 off the list price -- for the 16GB model.
The deals come one day after Amazon announced its 7-inch tablet, for $199. The online retailer is taking preorders now, but Kindle Fire doesn't ship until November 15. Best Buy and Woot deals may or may not be coincidentally timed, but they foreshadow what likely will be a price war during the holidays. Tablet prices are going south for the holidays.
Intel kills MeeGo
Here's a quick mobile Linux primer: Intel had Moblin, Nokia had Maemo, they joined forces and formed MeeGo. After a year, Nokia dropped out because development was too slow and it allied with Microsoft.
Now, Intel is dropping MeeGo and allying with the Linux Foundation and LiMo Foundation in support of a newer mobile Linux OS called Tizen.
Share 1-minute clips with Klip Video
If you have an iOS device, be it an iPhone, iPod or iPad, you are equipped with everything you need to not only watch, but also record video footage. Just like photos, half of the fun of shooting videos is sharing the content with other people and for many people this will mean turning to YouTube. But having test driven Klip Video for iOS, this may soon change.
The app can be used to record with the front or rear camera of your device and the integrated video editor can be used to trim the footage down to a clip that is one minute in length. While there is no limit on the number of files you can upload, the length of one minute cannot be exceeded, and this helps to keep Klip Video fresh and lively.
HTC Rhyme makes a fashion statement
The true measure of any carry-around product category's mass-market success is when manufacturers put form before function -- when it becomes jewelry or other accoutrement. There's little other way to look at the new HTC Rhyme smartphone introduced today and going on sale September 29 from Verizon Wireless here in the United States.
From the Clearwater, Hourglass and Plum colors to the accessories -- my God, there's a light-emitting "Charm" to dangle from handbags -- Rhyme is as much about fashion as function. The fashion phone, with 3.7-inch display, 5-megapixel camera and running Android 2.3.4, will sell for $199. Form clearly exceeds function, as some specs are underwhelming for smartphones in the same price range -- for example, the 1GHz single-core Snapdragon processor, 4GB storage and 768 MB RAM.
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