Given the hype surrounding Apple’s iPhone, we’re actually surprised that we haven’t seen more holes to plug over the years. In fact, the last major iPhone exploit to take the world by storm happened right around this time two years ago, and now — thanks to OS X security expert Charlie Miller — we’re seeing yet another come to light. Over at the SyScan conference in Singapore, Mr. Miller disclosed a hole that would let attackers “run software code on the phone that is sent by SMS over a mobile operator’s network in order to monitor the location of the phone using GPS, turn on the phone’s microphone to eavesdrop on conversations, or make the phone join a distributed denial of service attack or a botnet.” Charlie’s planning to detail the vulnerability in full at the upcoming BlackHat conference, but Apple’s hoping to have it all patched up by then…
Tracy Jones-Harris Uncategorized Apple, BlackHat, Charlie Miller, iphone, SyScan, Vulnerabilitiy
As expected, the update is out. For all you iPhone users you can click on the “Check for Update” button right now to get your iPhone updated.
Tracy Jones-Harris Mobiles Apple, iphone, OS 3.0, Software, update
As endlessly predicted, Apple’s unveiled a new iPhone today at WWDC, the iPhone 3G S — the “s” stands for speed.
Although it looks almost exactly like the 3G, it’s much, much faster — some tasks are almost four times faster. Data speeds are upped to 7.2Mbps HSDPA, and the camera is now a 3 megapixel unit with tap-to-autofocus and auto white balance — and just as expected, it now supports 30fps VGA video recording with editing features.
You’re also getting a built-in compass, Nike+ support, and a new battery that offers 5 hours of 3G talk time and 9 hours of WiFi internet use.
There are some surprises, too — holding down the home button now enables a new voice control interface that lets you do everything from make calls to control iTunes, and Apple’s touting a new “fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating.”
Complete Roll our of details here
Tracy Jones-Harris Mobiles Apple, iphone, iPhone 3G S, WWDC
That unassuming iPod dock that was launched at the new York Auto Show for Chrysler GEM’s Peapod prototype. Turns out it’s got a pretty interesting little trick, allowing your iPhone / iPod double as the ignition key. According to the EV’s brochure, the company’s got an app that makes all the magic work, and if you wish to start your car in an old-school manner, keys are still a viable option. Sure, it’s not the first example of car-phone integration we’ve come across, it’s a welcome addition to the oddly-shaped neighborhood whip that’s going beyond concept phase into production this October.
Tracy Jones-Harris Gadgets, Science & Design car-phone integration, Chrysler GEM, iphone, ipod, ipod dock, peapod
Sure seems like your handheld is a lot more secure than your computer, at least in some sense — although the desktop versions of IE 8, Safari, and Firefox were each almost instantly cracked on the first day of the Pwn2Own contest, no one claimed the $10,000 bounty placed on each of the major smartphone platforms. That’s certainly reassuring, but it may not ultimately mean much: according to contest organizers Tipping Point, the bugs in Android, Symbian, Windows Mobile, and the iPhone and BlackBerry OSes are still there, but they’re harder to exploit because of device, OS, and carrier variations. That makes any vulnerabilities even more valuable — one of the contestents apparently had an iPhone exploit ready to go, but wasn’t willing to part with it since he wanted more than $10K for it. Tipping Point says it’ll try and nail down specs of each platform earlier next year to make it easier on hackers, but let’s hope the results are similar.
Tracy Jones-Harris Mobiles Android, Blackberry, Hackers, iphone, Pwn2Own, Smartphones, Symbian, Windows Mobile
Apple today previewed its iPhone OS 3.0 software and announced the immediate availability of a beta software release to registered developers. iPhone customers will be able to download the new iPhone OS 3.0 software for free this summer and iPod touch customers will be able to purchase a software update for $9.95 ($USD)
For a complete list of all the new (and much antisipated upon) features check them out here
Tracy Jones-Harris Mobiles )S 3.0, Apple, iphone, ipod touch