By Matt Hamblen
Computerworld (US)
September 1, 2010

FRAMINGHAM - Shipments of Samsung Mobile’s Galaxy S Android smartphone reached 1 million in the U.S. 45 days after it first became available, the company announced Monday.

While Apple sold some 1.7 million iPhone 4 smartphones during its first weekend, some analysts see the Galaxy S initial shipment totals as the beginnings of Android supremacy.

“No question there is an anti-Apple, pro-Android movement afoot,” said Jack Gold, an analyst at J. Gold Associates. “It’s not just about price. It’s also about having an open alternative with much less dictatorial control of what the user can do with the device.”

Gold said he expects that sales of Android devices from all manufacturers will surpass Apple iPhone sales by 2011. Gartner analysts have said the same thing.

A Samsung spokeswoman today said that today’s announcement referred to “shipments for Galaxy S, not sales.” Presumably that means shipments to all retail outlets (including Amazon.com) and the four major U.S. carriers that will sell the Galaxy S,

Most bloggers ignored the distinction Samsung noted between shipments and sales because shipments to a carrier or retailer usually result in quick final sales to end users for hot phones.

The Galaxy X models from each of the carriers include a 4-inch AMOLED display and 1 GHz Hummingbird processor that are clear draws for customers.

Two of them, AT&T and T-Mobile, are already selling the devices, which they call Captivate and Vibrant respectively. Sprint will start selling a Galaxy S it calls Epic tomorrow while Verizon’s Fascinate model is rumored to become available on Sept. 9.

Samsung’s Web site shows the four models side by side, with the Epic 4G the most notably different, with a slide-out physical keyboard in landscape mode and a front-facing camera. The Epic 4G might have gone on sale earlier, but Sprint decided to stockpile units to meet demand amid a global shortage of display screens.

All four Galaxy S phone models will initially run Android 2.1, and then move to Version 2.2, or Froyo, later this year.

Gold said sales of Android devices like the Galaxy S sales have been bolstered by a growing number of available apps. He noted that developers are finding it easier to get applications approved by Android Market than by the Apple App Store.

Another factor for its success, Gold said, is that hackers and other developers see the Android platform as one that can be used for experimentation, although Google and manufacturers are trying to stop that practice.

Various bloggers have attributed other reasons for Android’s success, including pricing.

Fortune’s Seth Weintraub noted that users who purchase a two-year agreement with AT&T can get a Captivate device for a penny .

Amazon advertises many phones and devices for nearly free or half the cost of what carriers advertise as their cost, a practice Apple has resisted, analyst noted. The purpose of the low-cost up-front pricing is obviously to lure buyers into two-year contracts.

What may intrigue some buyers of Android more than anything is that the Captivate is sold by AT&T, which is also the exclusive carrier behind the iPhone.

Samsung attributed its Galaxy S success to sales by multiple carriers, as well as a broad promotional campaign with print, online, cinema and TV ads, as well as promotions on social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

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By Matt Hamblen
Computerworld (US)
August 31, 2010

FRAMINGHAM - Apple’s iPad tablet is being used by doctors, lawyers and businesspeople to ease their workloads, but many believe the popular touchscreen device can’t yet replace a laptop for functions such as writing long documents.

The IT shop at Chicago-based law firm Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal allows the firm’s lawyers to use iPads , and up to 100 of the 800 attorneys around the globe are already doing so — at their own expense.

“The iPad has real value for attorneys servicing our clients, of being able to access corporate data and document libraries immediately and [doing so] a lot quicker than on a laptop,” said Michael Barnas, the firm’s director of application services. “They take iPads and iPhones everywhere.”

Traveling attorneys, especially, appreciate the fact that the iPad boots up faster than a laptop, he said.

But because many attorneys write long documents subject to many revisions, that work is still better suited for a workstation, he said.

A typical laptop at the firm can cost $1,500 to $2,000, while a low-end iPad goes for $499, so lawyers next year might be offered iPads instead of laptops, he said.

The firm currently gives lawyers a choice of a workstation or a laptop, but if they want an iPad, they have to purchase it themselves without reimbursement.

The firm’s IT professionals have OK’d the iPad’s security and manageability and can provide limited support to a road warrior having problems logging in, authenticating or using Citrix Receiver. But the IT department can’t fully provide remote support for the iPad itself, Barnas said.

Sonnenschein did not allow lawyers to use the first versions of the iPhone. But with the second version, it was possible for IT to design and install security certifications for a second layer of password authentication, and it was possible to do remote wipes of data on iPhones that were stolen or lost. The iPhone 3GS allowed the firm to add Citrix Receiver for another level of security, Barnas said. In all, about 300 lawyers use iPhones, while the firm still supports about 800 BlackBerry smartphones .

All of the security and administrative capabilities added to the iPhone made it easier for the firm to accept the iPad, which uses the same operating system as Apple’s smartphone, Barnas added.

Another professional who uses an iPad is Dr. Jon Wahrenberger. A cardiologist at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, N.H., Wahrenberger said he and four other cardiac surgeons use iPads. The iPad offers a “low profile” that doesn’t seem intimidating to patients during exams, he said.

But the bigger value comes from the fact that he’s able to use his iPad to interact with patients’ electronic health records — functionality made possible by an app from Epic called Haiku, Wahrenberger said. He said his medical center also recently completed installation of a Microsoft Exchange server with extensions to the iPad.

“There’s huge excitement for this stuff,” he said. “People are loving it.”

Still, experts such as Ted Schadler , an analyst at Forrester Research, have noted that several things must happen for the iPad to gain more acceptance as a business tool.

For one thing, Schadler said in a recent blog, Microsoft needs to build apps that create and edit common documents across platforms like the iPad. He noted that he has used Keynote to make a presentation, but he would rather use PowerPoint on his iPad. “Until we get that, the iPad will never replace a laptop,” Schadler wrote.

He also said that the iPad needs a Bluetooth-enabled mouse, in addition to the already-offered Bluetooth-enabled keyboard.

Generally, Schadler wants to see many more business apps for the iPad. About 500 of the more than 11,000 iPad apps are focused on business uses, including Citrix GoToMeeting and Cisco WebEx, he noted. “But until we get access to corporate applications, employees will still have to lug around their laptops,” he said.

Despite those reservations, Schadler said via e-mail that he personally knows of “dozens” of businesses that are testing the iPad, since their IT shops want to be ahead of the curve for their users, instead of behind the curve, as they were with the iPhone.

The iPad has the “same security model and administrative model as iPhone, so they’ve done due diligence on that already,” Schadler added.

Health care provider Kaiser Permanente has reportedly been testing two iPads for viewing X-rays. And Mercedes-Benz Financial has reportedly equipped some car dealerships with iPads so sales personnel can take customers’ information for credit applications without having to sit down at their desks. Officials at both companies did not respond to requests for further comment.

Schadler outlined three scenarios for business iPad uses. One is for salespeople in the field who want to scroll through slides or demonstrate a Web site. Another is for executives on short trips who don’t need full laptops but might use iPads to do things like access their e-mail, calendars or Keynote slides. The third scenario is for doctors, retail sales staff, warehouse workers and other people who need access to applications while on their feet.

“IPads are a tremendously empowering technology that any employee can buy,” Schadler added.

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By Agam Shah
IDG News Service (New York Bureau)
August 31, 2010

NEW YORK - Intel will acquire Infineon Technologies’ wireless division for US$1.4 billion, the company said Monday.

The acquisition of Infineon’s wireless division could help Intel grow faster in the high-volume smartphone market, where the company has minimal presence. Most smartphones today carry chips designed by rival Arm, and Intel has had its eye on the smartphone market as the volume of chips for mobile devices outpaces traditional CPUs that go into PCs.

Intel earlier this year released low-power Atom chips for high-end smartphones and tablets, and next year is expected to release new Atom chips for wireless handsets that are more power efficient. Most Atom chips today go into netbooks, and Intel until now has struggled to snag customers to use Atom chips in smartphones.

The acquisition will also net Intel some of the world’s top smartphone makers as customers. Infineon’s Wireless Solutions division makes 3G chips and baseband processors that are used in smartphones like Apple’s iPhone and Samsung’s Galaxy S, and tablets like the iPad.

Infineon was originally formed when Siemens spun off its semiconductor division in 1999.

Infineon earlier said it was in discussions with interested parties about a “transaction” concerning the company’s Wireless Solutions division. The division represents approximately 30 percent to Infineon’s total annual revenue of €917 million (US$1.17 billion) from the past financial year. For the current third fiscal quarter of 2010 ending June 30, revenue for the Wireless Solutions division grew 38 percent year-over-year to €346 million, representing 29 percent of the company’s total quarterly revenue.

Companies including Samsung and Broadcom were rumored to be in talks with Infineon to acquire the division.

The announcement that Intel will acquire Infineon’s wireless division nmarks the second major acquisition by the company in less than two weeks, following the chip maker’s $7.7 billion deal to acquire McAfee.

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By Mark Sullivan
PC World (US)
August 26, 2010

SAN FRANCISCO - If you have an iPhone, this experience may be familiar: Your phone shows only a bar or two, and either you can’t make a call or the call you do make is so scratchy and garbled that the person you’re calling can’t understand what you’re saying. Meanwhile, right next to you, someone on a different AT&T phone connects without a hitch and chats away happily. I decided to informally test whether there’s a solid basis for that common gripe. My findings: The two iPhones I tested had lower rates of connecting successfully and had poorer voice quality in AT&T low-signal areas than did two non-Apple AT&T phones that I tested under the same conditions.

I tested four phones on AT&T service in two cities over three days. I drove around San Francisco and Los Angeles comparing the performance of the iPhone 4 and the iPhone 3GS against the performance of the RIM BlackBerry Bold 9000 and the Pantech Impact in voice calls placed at roughly the same time from areas where coverage from the AT&T network is less than optimal.

What I found was surprising. Calls on the iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS failed to connect or dropped in midcall far more often than did calls on the other two phones, and the iPhone calls that connected successfully sounded marginally worse than calls placed with the BlackBerry and Pantech phones.

My testing is not meant to be scientific or definitive, but the results raise real questions about the world’s favorite smartphone: Is the iPhone a great personal computing device but a bad phone? Please click the chart below to see average call quality scores (on a 1-5 scale) for all test calls made in San Francisco and Los Angeles.

TESTING METHODOLOGY

I made test calls from seven medium- to low-signal locations in San Francisco; then I validated my results with a second round of testing at the same locations two days later. Finally, I performed similar tests from five locations in Los Angeles. I tested from various locations, including a parking garage, a forest, a train station, a library basement, and a moving bus. I noted each dropped or failed call, and scored each successful call that I made using the five-point Mean Opinion Score (MOS), a scale developed by Bell Labs to quantify call quality. (Please see the “Mean Opinion Scoring Guide”–the rightmost column in the accompanying chart–for definitions of the possible call quality scores, 1 through 5.)

At locations where my first call on a given phone dropped, I noted the drop and then placed an additional call, applying a MOS number to the second call if it completed successfully. Obviously, I couldn’t give a voice quality score to a phone if it failed in both attempts to complete a call at a certain location.

THE DROPPED-CALL CHAMPIONS

The data point that sticks out in my results is the number of dropped or failed calls placed by iPhones during my tests, especially in the San Francisco tests. In total, the iPhone 4 dumped or couldn’t connect in half of test calls — 14 out of 28 — in low-signal areas. The iPhone 3GS did even worse, connecting only 12 calls in 30 attempts, for a success rate of 40 percent.

Meanwhile the iPhones’ competition in our tests proved far more reliable in dealing with less-than-ideal signal strength. The least expensive phone in our tests–the Pantech Impact–had zero failed or dropped calls in the 19 test calls I placed on it, despite poor cell conditions. The BlackBerry Bold 9000 was also far more reliable than the iPhones, connecting on 18 out of 21 test calls in Los Angeles and San Francisco.

CALL QUALITY

I also evaluated the voice quality on calls that connected successfully. In my conversations with a colleague in the PC World office, I listened for things like drop-outs, static, thin or fading voice, delay, and garble, and I gave each call a MOS score based on the cumulative disruption caused by these imperfections over the course of the call.

Here, the results were more favorable to the iPhone, and much closer across the four phones I tested. All four phones earned average MOS score of between 3 and 4 (that is, between “annoying” and “fair”), a range that is said to be typical of calls placed on cell phones.

On average, the iPhone 3GS scored the worst of the four phones in call quality. The 12 calls (out of 30 total) that the 3GS managed to connect and hold received an average MOS score of 3.16 (out of a possible 5). The iPhone 4, with its improved antenna (provided you hold it just so), fared a little better than its predecessor did in my call quality tests. The 14 (out of 28) successful test calls placed on the iPhone 4 averaged a mark of 3.27, also between “annoying” and “fair” on the MOS scale, though again, like the iPhone 3GS’s score, closer to “annoying.”

The BlackBerry Bold 9000 produced the highest-quality voice calls overall in my tests. Calls made with the Bold 9000 had an average MOS score of 3.77 across 18 test calls, putting it near the upper end of the range between “annoying” and “fair.” The Pantech Impact also outperformed the iPhones in call quality, with an average MOS score of 3.61 for its 19 test calls.

CONCLUSIONS

The iPhone’s poor performance in my tests could have been caused by myriad things, from the tuning of the iPhone antenna to the amount of network resources AT&T allocates to voice calls placed by iPhones specifically.

Neither AT&T nor Apple offered any sort of explanation. In response to a request for comment, an AT&T spokesperson said merely: “We recommend you reach out to the device manufacturers.” Apple did not return our calls requesting comment.

The iPhone is undeniably a superb device for browsing the Web, playing games, and watching videos. Further, the iPhone 4 clearly improved on its predecessor in microphone quality, speaker quality, and noise cancellation effectiveness, all of which help make voice calls sound great–when cell service is strong.

But at least for now, weak cell-signal zones are a fact of life for just about everybody, whether you encounter them on the road, in your office, or in your living room. Cell signals also tend to degrade when making their way through the walls of our homes, necessitating an amplifier–or in AT&T’s case, a Microcell–that, more often than not, you have to pay for. And wireless operators usually invest in additional cell towers and in radio improvement only when increased traffic levels (which translate into average revenue) are likely to be high enough to justify the capital expense.

While we don’t have the resources to do our testing nationwide, the data I collected in San Francisco and Los Angeles, combined with the anecdotal evidence, is enough to indicate that iPhones may well have more difficulty than other phones placing calls in areas of less-than-optimal wireless service.

If you’re considering buying an iPhone, and phone calls are important to you, it’s wise to take the time to test the phone for as long as laws in your state allow to understand how well the device works in the low-signal areas you frequent.

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By Gregg Keizer
Computerworld (US)
August 26, 2010

FRAMINGHAM - Mozilla on Tuesday launched the fourth beta of Firefox 4, adding bookmark and password synchronization, and revamping how people wrestle tabs.

The latest build also sported the first attempt at accelerating Firefox 4’s page rendering by tapping the graphics processor. The hardware acceleration, available only in Windows Vista and Windows 7, is disabled by default.

Firefox 4 Beta 4’s most visible addition is “Panorama,” a new name for what Mozilla had been calling “Tab Candy.” Largely driven by the work of Aza Raskin, creative lead of Firefox, Panorama lets users collect tabs into sets, graphically displays those sets, and when users open a tab, shows only those tabs within the group.

Mozilla, which calls Panorama a tab manager, has argued that it’s the next step in the evolution of tabs.

Firefox’s rivals have nothing like Panorama. Apple, for example, introduced “Top Sites” to Safari last year, while Google’s Chrome has had a similar “Most Visited” feature since it launched in 2008. But both simply graphically represent frequently-visited sites using thumbnails.

Microsoft has not revealed the user interface or how it will use tabs in its next browser, Internet Explorer 9 (IE9), which is scheduled to ship as a beta on Sept 15.

Firefox Sync, the other major feature new to Beta 4, is not new to Mozilla: The service that keeps bookmarks, passwords, browser history, open tabs and other data consistent across multiple computers and devices traces its roots to 2007 and a project then dubbed Weave.

Sync has been available to users of earlier Firefox editions through an add-on and to iPhone owners via the free Firefow Home app , but this is the first time that the functionality has been baked into the browser.

Chrome and Opera have had integrated synchronization since 2008.

Mozilla also debuted hardware acceleration in Beta 4, but left the Windows-only feature turned off. To switch it on, users must edit the browser’s “about:config” file using instructions Mozilla has posted on its site.

Firefox 4, like IE9, relies on Windows’ Direct2D API (application programming interface) to boost rendering speeds by shifting some chores from the computer’s central processor to the graphics processor.

Microsoft’s made hardware acceleration a prominent part of its IE9 pitch , and rivals have started to react. Firefox, however, is the first browser to debut the technology in a beta-or-better build.

Hardware acceleration in Firefox 4 requires Windows Vista or Windows 7; the more popular Windows XP lacks the necessary graphics infrastructure, a fact that’s prompted Microsoft to drop XP from IE9’s supported operating systems.

Mozilla has set an aggressive schedule for Firefox 4, with a tentative release candidate slated for October and final ship date in November. According to meeting notes posted Tuesday, the current plan is to feature-freeze the browser Sept. 10, and issue a feature-complete Beta 6 later next month.

Firefox 4 Beta 4 can be downloaded for Windows, Mac and Linux from Mozilla’s site in 35 different languages.

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By Patrick Miller
PC World (US)
August 25, 2010

SAN FRANCISCO - Facebook’s new Places feature lets you share your current location by “checking in” from your smartphone. Whether you never really got into earlier location-based social networking services like Gowalla or Foursquare or just want to know what it is (and how to turn it off), read on for everything you need to know about Facebook Places.

Keep in mind that Places isn’t available everywhere just yet–early reports indicate that it’s United States-only, for now, but with significant gaps at the moment–so you may just have to wait.

CHECKING IN VIA SMARTPHONE OR PC

Before you can share your location with your Facebook friends, Facebook needs to know where you are. Just open touch.facebook.com in your Web browser (or use the Facebook for iPhone app on your iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad), and you’ll see a tab under “Inbox” called “Places.” For the iOS app, it’ll show a new icon in the middle of the home screen.

Tap Places, and you’ll see your recent check-ins as well as your friends’ check-ins. From here, you can find out more details about the places your friends are checking into (map location, description, directions, comments, and other check-ins), or you can check yourself into a nearby location by pressing the Check In button at the top-right corner of the page.

If you can’t find the right place to check in from, you can browse more nearby locations by pressing the right arrow button under the Places tab until you find it (if you’re using the iPhone app, just scroll all the way down and press Show More Nearby Locations).

The list of available locations comes from other people’s check-ins and listings from Bing’s mapping engine, so you might have to add your location yourself–just press Add, and it will take you to a page where you can fill out a name and description.

Once you tap Check In, you’ll be presented with a list of nearby locations where other people have checked in. Tap the one you want to check into, and you can choose to comment on what you’re doing there or add your Facebook friends to your check-in (Press the What are you doing? and Tag Friends With You buttons, respectively). Next, press the big Check In button, and it will show up on your News Feed.

While Places is mostly meant for smartphone users, it doesn’t depend on a GPS device to find your location–you can check in from a laptop or iPod Touch, too. Just go to touch.facebook.com in your browser (you’ll need Internet access, of course), and you can check in from your desk or café.
Checking In With Friends

Unless you’re on Facebook just to show everyone what a loner you are, you’ll eventually want to add the friends you’re hanging out with to your Facebook Places check-in. All you have to do is choose the Tag Friends With You option while checking in.

Once you’ve added your friends and checked in, it’ll show up on their News Feed as well. If they haven’t used Facebook Places yet, it won’t show up on their feed until they’ve approved the check-in; they’ll see a little alert the next time they log in, asking them to allow or deny the check-in.

You can add friends only when you’re checking in, so if you forget about adding someone and want to add them later, you’re out of luck.

This can be rather tricky for users concerned about privacy–while researching this piece, I checked several of my PCWorld colleagues into local bars at about 11am on a workday–so if you want to use Facebook Places without letting your friends check you in, you can disable it by turning off Friends Can Check Me Into Places in the privacy settings (click the link for detailed instructions). Once this is disabled, your friends can still try to add you at check-in time, but it won’t display on the actual check-in.

OWNING YOUR FACEBOOK PLACE

While anyone can add a Facebook Place, business owners can turn the listing in Places into a proper Facebook Page, with Likes and a Wall and all that other fun stuff. (Don’t forget to read “Three Ways Business Can Take Advantage of Facebook Places.”)
Start by checking in from your Place (or adding it, if it doesn’t show up in the list of nearby Places), and click the link on the bottom of the page that says Is this your business?

Facebook doesn’t want people cybersquatting on someone else’s business listing, so you’ll have to check a box certifying you’re an official representative of the business and click Proceed with Verification to continue.

Next, you’ll have to provide your business’s contact information, including your Federal Employee ID number (if applicable) and some kind of official documentation (Certificate of Formation, Articles of Certificate of Incorporation, a local business license, or a BBB accreditation).

Once you’ve submitted that information and received the okay from Facebook’s User Operations team, you’ll be in full control of your new Place. No word on what happens if you’re caught impersonating an employee, and we don’t recommend trying it.

HOW TO TURN OFF FACEBOOK PLACES

Dabbled with Facebook Places and decided it isn’t for you? There are a handful of settings you’ll have to change to fully deactivate it. Start by going to Account, Privacy Settings, and click Customize settings under Sharing on Facebook.

From here, you’ll need to change the settings for Places I Check In, People Here Now, and Friends Can Check Me into Places (under the Things Others Share heading).

You’ll need to change one more setting: Go back to Privacy Settings, choose the Edit your settings option under the Applications and Websites heading, and click Edit settings for Info accessible to your friends.

Uncheck the Places I’ve Visited box, and you’ll be good to go. For a more detailed explanation of what each option does and where to find it, check out, if you haven’t already, “Facebook Places: How To Adjust Your Privacy Settings.”

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By Preston Gralla
Computerworld (US)
August 24, 2010

FRAMINGHAM - By some very important measures, Microsoft’s best days are behind it. Once the dominant technology company in the world, it has fallen behind — even far behind — in the market’s biggest growth areas: the Internet and mobile devices. True, it remains dominant on the desktop and in office suites, but that’s not where the growth is these days.

When it comes to the Internet, it trails far behind Google. And when it comes to mobile devices, it has fallen far behind both Apple with the iPhone and iPod, and Google with Android-based phones.

In fact, a milestone was passed back in May, when Apple overtook Microsoft in total valuation. Soon, it is expected to pass Microsoft in revenue as well.

SHOULD MICROSOFT SIMPLY GIVE UP, AND ACCEPT THAT ITS GLORY DAYS ARE OVER?

Certainly not. The technology market changes quickly, and companies can leapfrog competitors, even seemingly entrenched ones, with the right mix of strategy and products. Here is my modest proposal for two steps Microsoft can take to try and regain its technology dominance.

Step #1: Tear down the walls

Microsoft has become large and unwieldy, bedeviled by red tape, bureaucracy and political infighting. In my last column, I showed how infighting and bureaucracy at Microsoft led to the Kin mobile phone disaster, while Google, using technology from the same engineer who had developed the guts of the Kin, rushed ahead and succeeded with Android.

That’s far from the only instance of these kinds of problems. The Web-based version of Microsoft Office, for example, was not able to make use of the superb Windows Live Sync technology at its launch, even though it would have given the product a feature that Google couldn’t match. Why wasn’t Windows Live Sync included? The development cycles of Office and Windows Live Sync didn’t match. Microsoft could easily have incorporated the then-existing version of Windows Live Sync into Office. Instead, it has to wait until the development cycle of Windows Live Sync proceeds.

Microsoft should turn its engineers, designers and product managers loose, and make them entrepreneurial. If they need to step on the toes of other Microsoft products and technologies, or even filch them for their own use, so be it. That’s the only way Microsoft will be able to develop technologies its competitors can’t match. The company has some of the best engineers in the world. Microsoft should use them to their fullest capabilities.

Step #2: Kill the Windows brand

Microsoft’s vast wealth and success is built on top of Windows. But Windows is also holding the company back when it comes to the future, both in the eyes of consumers, and in the company’s own product development. Microsoft should continue to develop Window as an operating system, and should still call it Windows. But it shouldn’t force its other important products to carry the Windows name or even necessarily use Windows technologies.

The Windows Live brand is a perfect example. It’s not at all clear what the “Windows Live” brand is supposed to mean. It’s an unrelated set of Web services and downloadable software, most of which have nothing to do with Windows. What does Windows Live Hotmail, for example, have to do with Windows? Not a thing, given that you can use it with other operating systems, such as Mac OS X. Giving it the Windows name only confuses consumers.

The same holds true for the Windows Phone. In the past, forcing its mobile operating system to be Windows-like has hurt Microsoft; it’s one of the reasons the iPhone and Android both leapfrogged Microsoft in smartphones.

Microsoft should reconsider forcing almost everything it does to use the Windows brand and fit into the Windows ecosystem. Dropping that framework would give it a fresh chance with consumers, and allow its designers and developers to take a fresh look at the products they create.

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By Elizabeth Heichler
IDG News Service (Boston Bureau)
August 17, 2010

BOSTON - An Apple manager with responsibilities for the company’s contract manufacturing in Asia was arrested Friday and charged with accepting kickbacks.

Global supply manager Paul Shin Devine was charged with accepting $1 million in kickbacks from half a dozen Asian suppliers of iPhone and iPod accessories in a federal indictment and a civil suit, the San Jose Mercury News reported. Devine allegedly was paid for sharing confidential Apple information with contractors that helped them win Apple business on favorable terms, the paper said.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Devine gave confidential information to companies like Cresyn Co. Ltd. in South Korea, Kaedar Electronics Co. Ltd. in China and Jin Li Mould Manufacturing Pte. Ltd. in Singapore. He allegedly shared the kickbacks with Andrew Ang, an employee of Jin Li who the indictment charges helped broker deals with his employer and others.

Meanwhile, Apple Friday sued Devine in a case in U.S. District Court in San Jose, and he is scheduled to appear on Monday, the Journal said.

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By Ryan Faas
Computerworld (US)
August 13, 2010

FRAMINGHAM - Apple Inc.’s iPhone has always had something of an image problem in the workplace, which isn’t surprising given that Apple has always marketed its smartphone more to consumers than to the business world.

In fact, when the iPhone debuted in 2007, there was no way to put third-party apps on one without jailbreaking the device, it didn’t support 3G data networks, it didn’t integrate with Microsoft’s Exchange, and you had to use iTunes to activate it initially and back up or sync data later on. Plus, there were security concerns, since there was no way to require a passcode, encrypt business data or remotely wipe an iPhone if it was lost or stolen.

A lot has changed for the iPhone, its operating system and the smartphone industry as a whole in three years. For people who want to use the iPhone at work and the IT departments that support them, the changes have been good. In fact, some of the major updates in each new iteration of the iPhone operating system (now called iOS) were the ones that made it easier to manage and secure Apple’s mobile platform.

With each passing summer, Apple has polished the business and enterprise features of iOS. It has added Exchange support, support for remote wipe, security and configuration policies (either through Exchange or with configuration profiles that can be loaded onto each device), VPN options and encryption — both whole-device encryption on the iPhone 3GS and targeted app data encryption in iOS 4.

While each of the changes was an improvement, it wasn’t until this year’s arrival of iOS 4 — and the iPhone 4 itself — in June that Apple included a new mobile device management (MDM) service that companies could use. As a result, businesses finally got something sorely needed for enterprise iPhone adoption to make sense: the ability to more easily deploy, manage and monitor iPhones used by employees — a capability that has long made Research In Motion’s BlackBerry one of the most trusted mobile platforms.

Note: Although iOS 4 has been rolled out for the iPhone, the iPad won’t get the operating system upgrade until this fall.

THIRD-PARTY VENDORS ARE PART OF THE EQUATION

One surprising thing about how Apple rolled out MDM is that the company largely left implementing it via a server up to other companies. Considering Apple’s penchant for secrecy about upcoming products and its tight control over the App Store, this move seemed out of character. Most people, myself included, figured Apple would offer a robust over-the-air device management solution. And we expected Apple to take a page from RIM’s BlackBerry Enterprise Server and ship something as part of its own Mac OS X Server platform. (That could still happen in the next major OS X Server release.)

Whether or not Apple comes out with its own management server, there are advantages for companies looking to support iOS devices in a secure and managed way. The most obvious one is competition. With seven different options either already on the market or slated to be available by year’s end, companies can choose the one that works best for them. Although many of the core management features of iOS 4 and the MDM service offered by each vendor are essentially the same, there’s still plenty of differentiation among them.

In some cases, the main difference may simply be the management interface. Or it can mean different levels of integration with other technologies such as Active Directory. Other variables run the gamut from the type and format of reports about mobile device use to system requirements (one option is completely Mac-based), cost, existing relationships with providers and the number of non-iOS platforms each can manage.

STANDARDIZING ON A MOBILE PLATFORM IS TOUGH

Having a standard computing platform is a relatively simple task for most businesses, partly because there’s a limited set of choices: some variation of Windows or Mac OS X. (Yes, Linux and Unix are options, but they typically aren’t chosen for people outside of IT.)

Getting hardware is also easy, since most purchases are made in bulk and typically from a single vendor. If you’re a Mac shop, you’re buying Apple hardware; if you opt for Windows, hardware choices are plentiful.

That kind of standardization doesn’t work as well for smartphones and tablets. Even if your company pays for a smartphone for each employee, IT shops are still apt to encounter problems. Being tied to a single carrier may not be a good choice for all workplaces; different phone models may sport different features (and potentially different management capabilities); phones might only run certain versions of operating systems or offer different sets of bundled or available apps; and there may be varying levels of integration with other systems like VPN, mail servers and intranets.

When workers bring their personal devices to work — as more of us are doing these days — there’s even more potential for problems. IT shops may not even know what devices employees are using, or for what purpose — to say nothing about how secure they are.

A few years ago, companies could afford to buy mobile hardware for their employees. That’s no longer true, and many organizations are embracing the concept of bring-your-own-hardware-to-work. That saves a lot of money, since there’s no hardware to buy and no monthly cell phone bill (for the company). But then you have to manage and secure those devices — or try to dictate what your workers use. (Good luck with that one.)

The most important advantage to Apple’s approach to MDM is that all but one of the third-party companies that have announced or released management servers offer support for platforms beyond iOS. Two of them, Absolute Manage and AirWatch, offer management capabilities for devices other than smartphones or tablets.

Apple would be hard-pressed to develop its own such multiplatform system, as would any smartphone manufacturer. Of course, the specific mix of supported platforms varies with each product, as does the extent of supported features. But that’s the advantage of competition: You should be able to get the one that best meets corporate needs.

UNDERSTANDING CONFIGURATION PROFILES IN IOS

A central component to managing mobile devices involves what Apple calls configuration profiles. These are XML lists of different configuration features and optional restrictions that automatically configure an iOS device.

A single configuration file can contain all of the available settings for an iPhone — complete with user credentials for various network resources — or it may contain just a single value that’s not user-specific, such as the details for accessing your mail server, VPN or wireless network. If you put in a server or network-related configuration without specific user credentials, the user will be asked to authenticate the first time they access the resource.

You can assign as many separate granular profiles as you like to any or all phones and they’ll all be enforced. This is helpful if you need to assign configuration data based on job function or department.

The most important features you can set using configuration profiles involve security: requiring a passcode, setting passcode restrictions and forcing employees to use long and complex passcodes. You can also specify how quickly a device locks when not in use and how many failed attempts to unlock it with a passcode are allowed before the device automatically wipes data.

Another security-related option allows you to disable an iPhone’s built-in camera(s). Since it is common for employers to ban camera-enabled devices to avoid sensitive information from leaking, this is an important option in many organizations.

Beyond the security options, there are a number of ways to customize an iOS device for use with your company’s network and resources. You can preconfigure access to Wi-Fi networks, VPN and e-mail servers. You can also pre-populate bookmarks for the mobile Safari browser to ensure that users can easily access internal (or external) Web-based resources. You can even specify Web pages or Web apps to appear as icons on a devices home screen for easier access.

In short, you can do a lot with configuration files to lock down an iPhone.

For more details about configuration profiles, check out Apple’s documentation of the iPhone Configuration Utility. This is the free tool (available for Mac and Windows) that Apple developed for creating and testing configuration profiles. Apple also offers information about various management and deployment scenarios as well as overviews for iOS 4 business integration.

In addition to setting configurations through profiles, the MDM service allows you to query any managed device for more than 20 different pieces of data (including device- and carrier-specific details, as well as usage and verification that security policies are being enforced).

Beyond setting configuration profiles and querying devices, the MDM service allows you to take certain actions on managed devices. You can, for instance, force the device to lock and/or wipe all data. And you can temporarily remove a passcode (in case a remote user has forgotten it). If a passcode is required, the user will be required to create a new one.

You can also install or update configuration profiles as well as installed apps and enterprise application provisioning profiles and in-house apps. All this can be done in the background without user intervention, allowing you to make sure that software, configuration and security policies are in place.

(See below for a full list of the available management and monitoring capabilities of iOS 4.)
Enrolling iOS devices for management

Apple made the process of setting up device management pretty simple using SCEP. A user is instructed to visit a secure Web site and authenticate with his or her user account (typically an Active Directory account or some other LDAP-based directory service). This allows the iPhone to generate a certificate enrollment request and then an identity certificate for the device.

Using that identity certificate and the user’s credentials to establish a secure connection, the device then processes the list of assigned configurations and presents them to the user. When the user agrees to the configurations, the device will download and install the related profiles and can be fully managed.
Management server options

Now that we’ve covered the what and the how of enterprise management, here’s the list of vendors and the expected ship dates for their products:

* Absolute Manage: Expected availability in the third quarter of this year.

* Afaria by Sybase: iOS 4 beta program now in progress, with availability also expected in the third quarter.

* AirWatch: Availability listed as summer 2010.

* Good for Enterprise: Now available.

* MobileIron: Now available, and offering discounts to existing Good customers.

* Tangoe Mobile Device Manager: Now available.

* Tarmac by Equinux: Now available.

Note: Equinux is known for media and networking tools for Mac OS X and iOS. Tarmac is its first step into the realm of device management and is an iOS-specific solution. It lists a Mac as part of its system requirements, and overall it might be better for small and midsize organizations — particularly those that have a strong Apple presence.
Management and monitoring options for iOS devices

When building configurations, you can specify details about the following: Exchange or POP/IMAP mail servers; VPN configurations; Wi-Fi networks (including hidden networks and networks requiring a passcode or radius authentication); LDAP directories for contacts, access to a CalDAV and/or CardDAV server, public or private calendars that support iCal (.ics) subscriptions; carrier (APN) settings; digital certificates; and Web clips.

You can also mandate a variety of security policies, such as requiring an unlock passcode; allowing a simple passcode or requiring an alphanumeric passcode with a special characters; setting how long a passcode can be used; specifying the length of time before automatic screen locking takes place; setting the number of failed passcode attempts allowed before the device is wiped automatically; requiring that the backup created when syncing to iTunes be encrypted; and indicating whether users can remove configuration profiles.

When it comes to locking down an iOS device, you can restrict access to the following: app installation, the camera, screen captures, automatic mail sync while roaming, voice dialing while the device is locked, in-app purchases, items tagged by iTunes as explicit and access to the security settings for the mobile Safari browser. You can also keep users from launching Safari, YouTube, the iTunes Store and the App Store.

The goal is simple: You want to set as many parameters as needed to ensure that the device is as locked down as your company needs.

In addition to device management, MDM is a service that relies on Apple’s push notification system to receive queries and instructions from a management server to interact with any iOS 4 device in the background. That it runs as an always-on background process is the reason third-party vendors couldn’t create such a solution on their own.

You can build queries for a single device or multiple devices that encompass the following areas: unique device identifier (a value unique to each iOS device); the device name; iOS version; model name and hardware version; serial number; total storage capacity and available free space; IMEI number; the modem firmware version; SIM card ICCID; MAC addresses for both the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth receivers; current carrier (home carrier or roaming); the carrier identified by the installed SIM card as the primary carrier; the version of the carrier settings (APN) data; phone number; whether data roaming is allowed; the installed profiles; installed security certificates and their expiration dates; enforced restrictions; hardware encryption capability; whether a passcode is set; installed applications (including app identifier, name, version, and size); and any application provisioning profiles and their expiration dates — something that’s required for internal corporate iPhone apps distributed outside of the App Store.

SOME FINAL THOUGHTS

It’s still unclear whether iOS 4 will truly end the belief that the iPhone (and iPad) platform is more about personal entertainment than workplace functionality. It’s also hard to know for now which smartphone and tablet platforms will have the staying power to dominate the market — though I wouldn’t bet against Apple. For now, it seems clear that workers and businesses will have a wide variety of choices over the next few years, with Apple being just one of many players trying to get their feet in the enterprise door.

Being able to effectively support and manage multiple platforms is crucial for any organization that wants an effective mobile strategy. For iOS 4 devices, and others, these tools offer ways to make the coming diversification easier to manage and secure. And while they certainly don’t ensure that Apple’s devices will be welcomed by IT shops, they do make them increasingly viable options for companies in the years ahead.

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By Gregg Keizer
Computerworld (US)
August, 11, 2010

FRAMINGHAM - Apple’s new iPad casts a “halo” over the older iPhone, with owners of the tablet about twice as likely to want the company’s smartphone as consumers who own neither, a Nielsen analyst said today.

“It’s the common operating system,” said Roger Entner, head of research for Nielsen’s telecommunications group. “That, and the ability to share apps between the two. Any investment you make in an app for the iPad, you can leverage on the iPhone, and vice versa.”

According to a Nielsen survey of more than 64,000 mobile subscribers conducted between April and June, 51% of those who own an iPad but not an iPhone said that their next smartphone would be Apple’s. That number was almost double the 26% who currently owned neither an iPad or iPhone , but who tagged the latter as their next smartphone.

Those numbers, however, were puny compared to the loyalty of consumers who already own an iPhone.

Of people who own both an iPhone and an iPad, 91% said that they would buy a new iPhone the next time they purchased a smartphone. And 85% of those who own an iPhone but not an iPad said the same.

“The big thing is that people with an iPhone really don’t look anywhere else,” said Entner, for their next smartphone. “It’s like having the most beautiful woman in the world on your arm. Why would you look anywhere else?”

In a blog post last week, Entner said that Apple has created a “mutually-reinforcing ecosphere” that attracts new customers and retains current customers. The common operating system — now dubbed iOS — on all its mobile devices, including the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch, is a primary factor in Apple’s ability to keep customers, and get buyers of one device to purchase another in the line-up.

But the App Store plays a big part, too.

“Being able to share the same applications they purchased on all their other devices free of charge leads consumers to add more devices from the same universe, and effectively retains them as upgrade customers,” said Entner.

Applications purchased for the iPhone can run on the iPad, although they take up only a portion of the tablet’s screen; if expanded, they can look pixilated.

Other findings from the Nielsen survey confirmed that consumers aged 25 to 36 who reported incomes over $100,000 are the most likely to buy Apple, a fact Entner called a “no brainer.” Almost 40% of iPad owners reported earning more than $100,000, for example, compared to about 20% of mobile subscribers overall.

But Apple has a solid shot at convincing older consumers to also tap the iPad, Entner maintained. Currently, just 15% of iPad owners are 56 years old or older, compared to the 33% who own a mobile phone.

“I see this as similar to text messaging, which started out with the under-18 age crowd,” Entner said. “The 25-to-36 group will show [the iPad] to their parents, tell them, ‘You’re always complaining how hard it is to use a PC, look how easy this is.’ If iPad owners go out and evangelize, parents is the first segment they’ll evangelize.”

Other research analysts have argued an iPad halo exists . In May, consumer spending research firm ChangeWave claimed that rather than cannibalize sales of Macs, especially Apple’s laptop line, the new tablet was actually contributing to Mac sales because of the publicity it attracted last spring and the traffic it routed into Apple’s retail stores.

According to Apple’s latest earnings statement, the company sold nearly 3.3 million iPads in the second quarter of 2010, along with 8.4 million iPhones and a record 3.5 million Macs.

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By Gregg Keizer
Computerworld (US)
August 9, 2010

FRAMINGHAM - Mark Papermaster, Apple’s senior vice president of engineering for the iPhone and iPod, is leaving the firm, according to reports by The New York Times.

Apple spokesman Steve Dowling confirmed to the publication that Papermaster is leaving the company. His responsibilities will be assumed by Bob Mansfield, vice president of Macintosh engineering.

Papermaster’s biography and photograph have already been yanked from Apple’s Web site. Google’s cache indicated that it had been pulled sometime after last Tuesday.

Dowling did not respond to e-mail from Computerworld seeking confirmation and asking whether Papermaster’s departure was connected to the complaints earlier this summer about the iPhone 4’s reception.

Papermaster, a 26-year-veteran of IBM , joined Apple in October 2008, but was barred from working at the Cupertino, Calif. company five days later when IBM filed a federal lawsuit that claimed he had signed a non-competition agreement. IBM also argued that working for Apple would “irreparably harm” his former employer.

The bulk of Papermaster’s time at IBM was in processor design, and he eventually became IBM’s vice president of microprocessor technology development.

Apple and IBM struck an agreement in January 2009 that allowed Papermaster to begin his stint with Apple in April of that year. In his position, Papermaster oversaw the engineering of two of Apple’s four revenue pillars: the iPhone and the iPod. In the second quarter of 2010, those two lines generated 44% of the company’s total income.

Papermaster’s departure immediately ignited speculation that it was connected to what Apple CEO Steve Jobs called “Antennagate” last month.

Shortly after the iPhone 4’s late-June launch, buyers griped that signal strength plummeted and calls were interrupted when they touched the external antenna, a new design feature of Apple’s popular smartphone . Days after Consumer Reports magazine said it would not recommend the iPhone 4 because of the antenna and reception problems, Jobs hosted a hastily-called press conference, where he said Apple would supply free Bumper cases to iPhone 4 owners through September.

Many felt Apple botched its initial response to the problem when it told users to buy a case or hold the iPhone 4 without touching a small gap on the lower left side of the phone.

Patrick Kerley, senior digital strategist with Levick Strategic Communications, a Washington, D.C.-based crisis management firm, said Apple had been caught “flat-footed” by the mess, and gave the company only a “C” grade for how its handling of the problem.

Although not especially noted at the time, Papermaster was not on stage at Apple’s July 16 press conference. Instead, Mansfield, the executive Apple said would assume Papermaster’s responsibilities, joined Jobs and Tim Cook, the company’s chief operating officer, to take questions from reporters.

Although many connected dots between Antennagate and Papermaster’s departure, one analyst rejected the idea.

“I don’t think that’s the case,” said Brian Marshall, an analyst with Gleacher & Company. “When you have a company the size of Apple, you’re going to have turnover at low levels and high levels. I don’t see this as that big of deal.”

Instead, Marshall put forward a different theory.

IBM and Apple have vastly different corporate cultures, with the former known for its button-down ways, while the latter is much more casual, he noted. And Papermaster had worked at the more-structured IBM for over two-and-a-half decades.

“At the end of the day, it might have been that he didn’t have enough t-shirts and blue jeans in his closet,” said Marshall.

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By Barbara Krasnoff
Computerworld (US)
August 25, 2010

FRAMINGHAM - When you have a product that has been successful for several years, but has fallen somewhat behind the times, it can be difficult to figure out what to change and what to leave alone. With its new BlackBerry Torch 9800 smartphone, RIM seems to have navigated this line successfully. While it’s unlikely that the Torch will draw consumers away from their iPhones and Android devices, at least BlackBerry users won’t be completely left in the dust.

RIM introduced its new BlackBerry today in a joint press event with AT&T in New York. Mike Lazaridis, president and co-chief executive officer for RIM, talked a bit about how the company came out with its first BlackBerry in 1999 — and then produced the new product.

SMALL AND SOLID

After the formal presentation, I got some actual hands-on time with the Torch.

The new BlackBerry smartphone offers a 3.2-in., 480 x 360 resolution touch display. While it’s clear and fairly sharp, the display isn’t really comparable to the leading consumer smartphones — for example, the iPhone 4’s 3.5-in. display boasts a 960 x 640 resolution, while the Droid X has an even larger 4.3-in. display with a resolution of 854 x 480.

On the other hand, the unit weighs 5.7 oz., about the same weight as the Droid X, and is, at 2.4 x .57 x 4.4 in., about the same size as the iPhone 4. I found it very comfortable to handle and use, and it is small enough to drop into a shirt pocket without a second thought.

The phone features a slide-out vertical keyboard — bringing it to a length of 5.8 in. when open — that still has the rounded look and small but well-engineered keys typical of BlackBerry devices. Personally, I found the keys a little too tiny for comfort, but as is typical of BlackBerrys, I was able to “thumb-type” short messages with relative ease. Current BlackBerry users should be pleased.

The phone also includes four hard keys, including one to begin and one to end a call — which, as a Droid user who only has access to virtual buttons, I’ve often wished for. Other features include a 5-megapixel camera, 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi along with 3G broadband, a 4GB microSD Flash card, 512MB RAM and 4GB built-in storage.

INTRODUCING BLACKBERRY 6

The new BlackBerry 6 OS is elegant and simple to use and understand. All your apps reside on a “tray” that can be raised or lowered over your home screen. Your main apps are represented by icons on the home screen (you can also have icons for individual contacts and bookmarks). You swipe left and right to see other screens, including Favorites and Recent (for recently used apps).

One of the new OS features that RIM emphasized at the launch event is the new universal search. Just start typing, and the Torch will look for apps and information both on and off your phone that might be a fit. For example, I tried typing “weather” and got icons for a weather application and links to several weather-related Web sites. I started typing the name “Michael” and by the third letter, I was seeing relevant news items and contact names.

Another feature that was pumped up by company executives, and really did work nicely when I tried it, is the universal inbox. All e-mail, social network messages, etc. are visible on one display — touch on a specific message, and it opens it in the application pertinent to that message. Hit the back key, and you’re back in the inbox. Swipe sideways, and you have access to your RSS feeds.

According to RIM, the phone has full multitasking so that, for example, music downloads can occur in the background while you’re in the browser or working in other parts of the OS.

ADDING APPS

No self-respecting smartphone today would dare to show its face without some kind of apps store. In this case, additional apps can be obtained using BlackBerry App World, which is accessible through an icon on your home screen. The phone comes preloaded with a number of apps, including the Weather Channel, CNN, Bloomberg, Web Video Search and Slacker Radio Plus.

At the introduction, David Yach, CTO, software at RIM, explained that currently, when users purchase new apps, the price will be reflected on their AT&T bill. For the future, though, third-party developers are being given APIs that will allow users try apps before they buy them, purchase subscriptions, buy different levels (for, say, games) or include ads within the application.

THE BOTTOM LINE

For business users who want something lightweight and practical, but with the multimedia and apps featured in the newest generation of mobile devices, the BlackBerry Torch 9800 could be their next smartphone. The emphasis here is on access to information; because the display is smaller and the resolution less powerful than most consumer devices out there, this can’t compete with the more multimedia-centric consumer smartphones. But it should offer enough flexibility and ease-of-use to keep most BlackBerry users from leaving the fold.

The BlackBerry Torch, which is currently only available through AT&T, goes on sale August 12, and will cost $199 when you buy it with a two-year contract and a data plan (200MB of data for $15/month or 2GB for $25/month).

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By Sharon Gaudin
Computerworld (US)
August 5, 2010

FRAMINGHAM - If you can’t beat them, buy them. At least that’s what executives at Intel Corp. seem to be thinking.

Reports are circulating around the Internet that the powerhouse chip maker is close to finalizing a deal with German semiconductor company Infineon Technologies AG to buy its wireless chip unit. If such a deal goes through, it would be a boon to Intel , which has struggled to get a footing in the lucrative smartphone market.

“Infineon chips are used in smartphones from the iPhone to other popular phones,” said Dan Olds, an analyst with The Gabriel Consulting Group. “The vast number of phones and now smartphones is driving a lot of chip sales, and Intel wants a piece of that pie . If Intel grabs Infineon, it will definitely have an impact on the market. With Intel’s size and reach, they can put the competitive screws to the other companies and drive margins down.”

On Monday, Infineon announced that executives have been in discussions with “interested parties” about its wireless chip unit. “A significant progress has been made within these discussions,” the company said on its Web site, although the names of the interested parties were not disclosed.

Talk in the blogosphere and in online media sites noted that Intel has not been the only company interested in Infineon’s wireless chip business. Reportedly Samsung Electronics Co. and Broadcom have also thrown their hats into the ring, though Intel is rumored to be the frontrunner.

Infineon is a hot commodity because of the widespread adoption of its chips in the smartphone market. The company’s wireless chip unit produces cellular baseband chips used by Apple for some of its iPhones and its new iPad . The chips are also used in some BlackBerries and Samsung and Nokia phones.

The hot smartphone market would be lucrative for any chip maker these days. Research company iSuppli Corp. estimates that next year Apple will be the second-largest semiconductor buyer in the world, so the company selling a big chunk of smartphone chips to Apple could expect to be in an enviable position.

“From what I’m seeing, Intel has the inside track, and it looks to me like they’re going to cut a deal,” Olds said. “I see this as a good move for Intel. It gives them a stronger mobile play and we know that this is a market that they’ve openly lusted after for years… Intel has had a hard time cracking the phone market because they couldn’t get their heads around it. Their chips were too big and power hungry and didn’t offer the same overall value as, say, ARM chips.”

However, Rob Enderle, an analyst with the Enderle Group, said buying a piece of Infineon might be going down a road that has a few bumps.

“Infineon has a presence that Intel could find valuable, but buying a European company, particularly one in Germany, comes with a lot of regulatory problems that will make the purchase more difficult to close than otherwise,” he noted.

Enderle also said the difference between Intel’s and Infineon’s chip-building platforms could pose a problem for the company down the road.

“I see mostly downsides because of the difference in the platforms,” he added. “However it would improve their chances [in the smartphone market]. The question is whether that improvement is worth the cost and an inability to easily exit from it should this strategy fail. At least from my angle, the risks exceed the benefits with this one significantly.”

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By Gregg Keizer
Computerworld (US)
July 28, 2010

FRAMINGHAM - Apple lost its bid today to criminalize “jailbreaking,” the practice of hacking an iPhone to install unauthorized apps on the smartphone, according to a decision by the U.S. Copyright Office and the Library of Congress.

The decision, which was announced Monday by Librarian of Congress James Billington, adds jailbreaking to the list of practices that do not violate the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).

“When one jailbreaks a smartphone in order to make the operating system on that phone interoperable with an independently created application that has not been approved by the maker of the smartphone or the maker of its operating system, the modifications that are made purely for the purpose of such interoperability are fair uses,” Marybeth Peters, Register of Copyrights, wrote in the ruling approved by Billington ( download PDF ).

Peters also blasted Apple’s 2009 contention that hacking the iPhone was a violation of U.S. copyright law because the practice relied on pirated copies of the smartphone’s bootloader and operating system.

“Apple’s objections to the installation and use of unapproved applications appears to have nothing to do with its interests as the owner of copyrights in the computer programs embodied in the iPhone, and running the unapproved applications has no adverse effect on those interests,” she wrote in her ruling. “Rather, Apple’s objections relate to its interests as a manufacturer and distributor of a device, the iPhone.”

She also called jailbreaking “innocuous at worst and beneficial at best.”

Apple submitted comments to the Copyright Office in February 2009 after the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) asked for a DCMA exemption in 2008 for cell phone jailbreaking. The EFF, and technology companies that supported it, including Firefox maker Mozilla , wanted the Copyright Office to allow users to install applications not available through Apple’s App Store without fear of copyright infringement penalties.

The DCMA and Apple ’s argument were among the reasons why Mozilla and Norway-based Opera Software declined to create iPhone versions of their Firefox and Opera browsers.

Opera later released Opera Mini , a proxy-based program, for the iPhone. Although Mozilla is actively working on mobile editions of Firefox, it said it would not develop a version for the iPhone. Instead, it recently shipped Firefox Home , a spin-off of the bookmark and tab synchronization technology it currently offers as an add-on to the desktop browser.

The EFF applauded the decision to de-criminalize iPhone jailbreaking.

“Copyright law has long held that making programs interoperable is fair use,” said Corynne McSherry, EFF’s senior staff attorney, in a statement Monday . “It’s gratifying that the Copyright Office acknowledges this right and agrees that the anticircumvention laws should not interfere with interoperability.”

Today’s ruling also gave a limited green light to security researchers investigating vulnerabilities in computer and videogame console software that are defended by technology copy-protection schemes.

“The socially productive purpose of investigating computer security and informing the public do not involve use of the creative aspects of the work and are unlikely to have an adverse effect on the market for or value of the copyrighted work itself,” Peters ruled.

Peters asked for and received confirmation from Billington that a special class be protected against DCMA prosecution. “The Register recommends that the Librarian designate a class of video games protected by access controls, when circumvention is done for the purpose of good faith testing for, investigating, or correcting security flaws or vulnerabilities,” Peters said.

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By Matt Hamblen
Computerworld (US)
July 27, 2010

FRAMINGHAM - The list of features missing in Windows Phone 7 — no multitasking of third-party applications, no copy-and-paste, no native Twitter client — has dominated forums and early reviews of reference hardware phones put in the hands of 1,000 developers last week.

Clearly, the pressure is on Microsoft to produce a stellar package for WP7, which will be on smartphones shipping this fall for the holiday shopping season. After what many in the industry saw as the collapse of Windows Mobile 6x — coupled with the death of Microsoft Kin phones — WP7 is seen as a do-over for Microsoft. And some believe WP7 should have more and better features than other smartphones, not fewer.
One exhaustive review of the Samsung Taylor by Engadget cited the lack of copy-and-paste or third-party multitasking as “two big omissions,” even though Engadget called WP7’s overall user interface “the most unique UI out there.” The site went on to praise the touch screen keyboard and the responsiveness and speed of the software’s touch capabilities.

The lack of multitasking means that the music player Pandora and similar applications will go into pause mode when in the background, meaning a user can’t browse the Web or type an e-mail with Pandora running. But music can be played in the background using Microsoft’s Zune music player.

Joe Belfiore, corporate vice president of Windows Phone, said in an Engadget video interview that multitasking for third-party apps will come from Microsoft “at some point.” He said that WP7 is “like a new Version 1″ for the company. New and different features in the UI include the concept of “tiles” and “hubs” for organizing data according to “people” or “music and video.”

Some developers on Windows Phone 7 Web forums who have bashed the lack of multitasking since March picked up last week on the lack of copy-and-paste. Not having that capability “is a pretty big deal,” wrote “joethecoder” on July 20 . “[I am] not a big iPhone fan, but its copy and paste is really good and my Palm Pre works for text in e-mails and documents.”

A comment by “Trees” noted that copy-and-paste is “quite handy and well done on iPhone. I use it plenty and it’s going to matter, particularly if using Office apps is relevant.” Adding the feature should be a “simple problem to solve,” and while not having it isn’t a “show stopper,” having it would “win hearts,” Trees wrote.

That one issue is seen by some reviewers and developers as ironic, given that Microsoft developed Word for text processing and has incorporated the Office suite in WP7 as one of the hubs, with the ability to edit PowerPoint slides, launch and use Word and add data to an Excel spreadsheet, according to some early previews posted on Youtube.

As for multitasking, forum visitor “Binks821″ in May called for services that would allow Pandora and other apps to play in the background: “In this market, it’s all about apps, and from the user’s perspective, [WP7] will be a no-go because the other two main competitors ( Android and iPhone) will have better multi-tasking.”
The absence of a native Twitter client ( Facebook is well-supported) earned the consternation of many early reviewers, as did the lack of a single in-box for various e-mail accounts. Other forum visitors asked for developer access to a gyroscope and direct access to the camera software so they could build more apps to sell in Microsoft’s marketplace.

Despite the tendency to focus on what is missing in WP7, one industry analyst urged patience. “I doubt that this will be the only version they release and they are committed for the long term,” Gartner analyst Ken Dulaney said of Microsoft. “They just have to convince everyone to stop bashing them and to give them a chance.”

Dulaney said the public should be rooting for Microsoft as well as Research In Motion, Android, Symbian and even Meego as competition against Apple “lest we evolve to a market like the PC, where there was one dominant player and everyone complained there wasn’t enough competition.”

Dulaney said WP7 is a “huge reset” and that Microsoft will “need time to get to a competitive position. They may fail, but they need to be given a few chances to swing the bat.”

Dulaney said the lack of multitasking “probably won’t hurt,” depending on how the final version of the operating system works when compared with the iPhone.

Jack Gold, an analyst at J.Gold Associates, warned against judging the final WP7 based only on what’s known about it now. However, he agreed that the lack of copy-and-paste “will be painful to many users” who want it for Office functions.

More important than the features ultimately supported in WP7 — or even which device makers build it — is which carriers sign on to sell the phones. “Verizon took on the Kin, [and] with the Kin disaster, Verizon my be a little leery,” Gold said.

A Verizon official refused to comment on its plans for WP7, and other major U.S. carriers could not be reached for comment.

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By Gregg Keizer
Computerworld (US)
July 22, 2010

FRAMINGHAM - For the third time in the last four quarters, Apple today reported it sold a record number of Macs, although sales of the iPhone slipped slightly.

The iPad , meanwhile, debuted on Apple’s balance sheet with 3.27 million units sold, generating $2.17 billion in revenues that represented nearly 14% of the Cupertino, Calif. company’s total income for the period.

“That was out of nowhere,” said Brian Marshall, an analyst with Gleacher & Company, about the iPad’s numbers. “Phenomenal.”

Overall, the company posted record revenues of $15.7 billion for the quarter, with a net profit of $3.25 billion. Revenues were up 61% year-over-year.

“Revenues were driven primarily by the iPad, with strong sales of iPhone and Mac,” said Peter Oppenheimer, Apple’s chief financial officer, during the earnings call with Wall Street analysts Tuesday afternoon.

Marshall agreed, saying that strong Mac and iPhone sales, when combined with a stellar debut by the iPad, produced the record quarter.

The iPad’s number should put to rest thoughts that the tablet would cannibalize sales of Apple’s other products. “The Mac upside and the iPhone upside, along with the iPad numbers, makes the idea that the iPad would take away from Apple’s internal dollars null and void,” said Marshall.

The iPad sales weren’t a surprise: In late June, Apple announced that it had sold 3 million tablets in the first 80 days of availability. Apple is selling approximately 1.1 million iPads per month, according to Apple’s figures, putting it on a pace to sell almost 10 million tablets by year’s end.

In the quarter that closed June 26, Apple sold 8.4 million iPhones, down 4% from the 8.75 million it sold the first quarter, but up 61% from the same period last year. Mac sales, however, set a record of 3.47 million, up 33% over the same quarter in 2009 and trumping the 3.36-million mark of the previous bestselling quarter, the final three months of last year.

Apple set Mac sales records in the third and fourth quarters of 2009, as well as in this quarter, turning a hat trick out of the last four periods.

“The Mac is very healthy,” said Ezra Gottheil, an analyst with Technology Business Research. “That was the one business they might have been concerned about, but it’s looking very good. It’s still far and away from where they once were on an APS [average selling price], but they don’t have to generate a lot of their profit on the Macs anymore.”

Desktop Mac sales were up 18% year-over-year to 1 million, a growth rate significantly less than the 40% increase the prior quarter and the 70% climb of 2009’s final quarter. Apple explained the slippage as part and parcel of its refresh cycle; the company’s primary desktop, the iMac, hasn’t been revamped since October 2009.

Notebook sales were up 41% for the quarter to 2.46 million, a growth spurt dramatically higher than the 28% increase of the prior quarter. “There’s clearly a move to mobility,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s chief operating officer, during the question-and-answer portion of the call.

Apple’s executives seemed genuinely surprised by the success of the iPad, which some analysts had once said would do fewer units for the entire year than Apple claimed it sold in just one quarter. “We’ve been pleasantly surprised how fast this product has gotten out of the chute,” said Cook, who added that Apple was “selling every [iPad] unit that we can make,” after an analyst asked when the company would balance supply and demand.

iPad orders are currently backlogged seven-to-10 business days on Apple’s online store, and the supply will likely get even tighter; Apple plans to launch the tablet in nine additional countries this Friday.

The success of the iPad has forced several research firms to revise their sales estimates for either Apple’s tablet or tablet-like devices in general. Before Apple’s earnings call, iSuppli upped its iPad projection from an April estimate of 7.1 million units to 12.9 million iPads for the year. Also on Tuesday, ABI Research almost tripled a sales forecast from six months ago to 11 million for 2010.

“Apple is now a four-product company, that’s pretty darn clear,” said Gottheil, referring to Apple’s iPhone, Mac, iPad and iPod lines.

Gottheil also saw confirmation in today’s numbers that the iPad hasn’t, at least yet, taken dollars from Apple’s own pocket. “Cannibalization isn’t a big issue for Apple, certainly, or for anyone else for that matter,” he said. “As prices for devices come down, it’s more a matter of people having more devices, not having to decide on just one.”

Cook dismissed talk of cannibalization as well, at one point saying it was “too early to tell” if the iPad was taking away sales of iPod Touches or Mac notebooks. Later, he said that if it does happens, it’s actually good news for Apple.

“This is where it’s great to have a lower share, because if it turns out the iPad cannibalizes PCs, I think it’s fantastic for us,” said Cook. “There’s a lot of PCs to cannibalize.”

The one question Gottheil and Marshall had about the iPad was how soon Apple could drive down its cost, and increase the margin it makes on the tablet, which Marshall estimated is currently in the low 30% range. The iPhone, on the other hand, now enjoys a margin of about 60%.

“Will those [margins] scale up over time?” Marshall asked.

Gottheil seemed confident they would. “I think they’re well prepared to ride down the price curve on these devices,” he said. “Ultimately, say in a couple of years from now, tablets should be south of $300. They should be less expensive to make than a netbook , with fewer moving parts and fewer licenses to pay.”

Apple also estimated that it will cost the company about $175 million to fulfill CEO Steve Jobs’ promise to give away a case to all customers who purchase an iPhone 4 through the end of September.

“Seems high to me,” said Marshall of the $175 million. “But that’s an inconsequential number for Apple.”

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By Adam Pash
PC World (US)
July 14, 2010

SAN FRANCISCO - Your life is busy, and you have got enough on your plate without needing to remember to move your car every week, pay oddly timed bills, or show up for one-time weekend appointments. Luckily, a finely tuned calendaring system can help.

Take a service like Google Calendar. With the right setup (which we’ll detail below), you can access it from any Web browser, plug it into your favorite desktop calendar, and manage it from your phone so you can quickly add any item to your schedule no matter where you are.

Of course, scheduling is just one half of the picture. Remembering your appointments is the other. And that’s the best part of this system: You’ll receive alerts reminding you of all your scheduled events, no matter where you are or what you’re doing.

THE SETUP

In this article, we detail a three-tiered approach to managing your schedule from the Web, from your desktop, and from your phone, so you’ll have a bulletproof system for keeping on top of your schedule. The glue that holds this system together is Google’s free calendaring application, Google Calendar. If you don’t already have a Google account, you’ll need to sign up for one before you can use Google Calendar.
First, let’s take a minute to get familiar with Google Calendar and some of its handier features.

USE QUICK ADD TO TRANSLATE YOUR TO-DO LIST

No matter how streamlined a calendar is, you won’t want to add events through the normal steps, which require you to give your event a title, hunt for the right date and time, and set up notifications to remind you of the event.

Rather than go through this time-consuming process every time, do yourself a favor and get comfortable using GCal’s Quick Add feature. Type any plain-language appointment-related text–such as “Pick up dry cleaning from A1 at 1pm next Tuesday”–into this box, and Google Calendar will translate that notation into an event on your calendar, with the proper date and time.

Next, to ensure that you don’t forget, you could manually edit the event and set a custom notification to remind you when the event is approaching. But suppose that you’re prone to forgetfulness–or just have too many things going on every day–and you want to have some type of default reminder set up for every event of your calendar.

Go to Google Calendar; click Settings, Calendar Settings, Calendars; find the calendar you want to adjust default notifications for; and click Notifications. Once there, you can set up one or more default reminders for any new event that you subsequently add to your calendar.

For most events on my calendar, I like to get a reminder a day ahead of time, just to make certain that an appointment is on my radar; then I like to receive another reminder an hour before the scheduled event time.

Likewise, you can set up your own defaults to suit your preferences. Bear in mind that you can override the defaults if you prefer a different sort of notification (you may want more advanced warning to make sure you move your car in time, for example) or if you decide that you don’t want any reminder at all.

USE CALENDAR IN YOUR OTHER GOOGLE APPS

If you’re an avid user of Gmail, Google’s e-mail program, Google Calendar can save you even more time. Gmail automatically recognizes when the text of an e-mail suggests an event or appointment and provides you with a Quick Add link that you can click to automatically populate a new Google Calendar event with may of the event’s details–the what, where, and when–already filled out.

Similarly, if you’re a fan of Google’s relatively new to-do list, Google Tasks, you’ll appreciateTasks recently added integration with Google Calendar. Now, when you set a due date on a to-do item in Tasks, it will automatically show up as an event in Google Calendar. (If you don’t see your Tasks in Gmail already, make sure that you’ve clicked the Tasks calendar under the My Calendars sidebar.)

REMEMBER RECURRING EVENTS

Whether it be a birthday, monthly rent payments, bimonthly bills, quarterly taxes, or even meet-ups on the third Tuesday of every month, Google Calendar can help you quickly and easily create recurring-event notifications so you’ll never forget another repeat appointment.

To set up a recurring event in GCal, either add a note

about the recurring activity to your quick-add text (e.g., “Move car every Tuesday at 8am”) or click the Create Event button in Google Calendar and set your recurring schedule in the Repeats section.

STAY SYNCED WITH OUTLOOK

Google Calendar by itself is fine and dandy if you’re comfortable living your life in your browser, but if you prefer to keep your data local and accessible when you’re offline, you can take advantage of most of the great things Google Calendar has to offer without giving up your desktop calendar.

If you use Microsoft Outlook, just download Google Calendar Sync. Enter your Google Calendar username and password, and it will take care of syncing your calendar data back and forth between Google Calendar and Outlook.

The nice thing about syncing your calendar between Google Calendar and Outlook is that you get the best of both worlds. If you’re away from your main PC, you can access your calendar from any Web browser, on any computer through Google Calendar; if you’re on your main computer, you can stick to scheduling with the Outlook you know and love, whether you have an active Internet connection or not.

CONNECT YOUR CALENDAR TO YOUR CELL PHONE

Since you’re not always sitting in front of a computer, being able to access your calendar only when you’re at a computer isn’t all that useful. Imagine that you parked your car in the morning, but you have to move it by 5 p.m. to make way for street cleaning or you’ll get a ticket. It’s easy to forget to add an item like “Move my car by 5pm” to your calendar if you have to wait until you get to a computer to add it. The solution to this problem: Hook your phone into your calendar.

There are several ways to do this, whether you own a cutting-edge smartphone or a bare-bones (but functional) “dumb” phone. Let’s start with the smartphones and work our way down.

SYNC WITH SMARTPHONES

If you use an Android phone, this is a no-brainer. Android works seamlessly with Google Calendar (both are Google products, after all); you merely log in to your Google account on your Android device, and it will automatically set up your phone’s calendar to sync with GCal. Any events you add from your phone will automatically sync with Google Calendar wirelessly.

If you have an iPhone, BlackBerry, Nokia S60, or Windows Mobile phone, syncing your phone’s calendar with GCal is similarly easy when you use the free Google Mobile Sync tool for your particular phone. Head over to the Google Sync page and follow the setup instructions for your device.

CHECK YOUR CALENDAR AND ADD EVENTS VIA SMS

Don’t have a fancy smartphone? No problem. You can still receive event notifications, check your calendar, and even add events to your calendar from any phone that supports SMS messages.

First, head into your Google Calendar settings and associate your cellphone with Google Calendar. (To do so, select Settings, Calendar Settings, Mobile Setup, and follow Google’s instructions for validating your phone.) Once you’ve validated your phone number, Google Calendar can send you event notifications via e-mail or SMS.

You can even add an SMS reminder as one of your default notification methods, in which case you’ll always receive notifications for upcoming events, regardless of where you are, as long as you have your phone on hand.

Now for the really cool part: After you’ve associated your cell phone’s number with your Google Calendar account, you can check your itinerary and create new events by sending text messages to Google Calendar’s GVENT (48368) number. Want today’s schedule? Just text “day” to GVENT.

Even better: You can create new events by texting GVENT, and it supports the same plain-language input that GCal’s Quick Add button does. So if you text GVENT “Move my car at 4:30pm,” GCal will translate that into a new event on your calendar. For complete details on GVENT commands, check out this Google Calendar help page.

CONCLUSION

The system described above isn’t the only calendaring method possible under the silicon sun, but Google Calendar is the best free way to create a fast-syncing schedule minder that you can access from virtually anywhere. And with all your reminders correctly set up, you’ll never forget to move your car or pay a bill again.

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By Gregg Keizer
Computerworld (US)
July 13, 2010

FRAMINGHAM - Consumer Reports magazine today said it won’t recommend Apple’s iPhone 4 because of major reception issues when users touch the external antenna. One analyst called the publication’s conclusion a “black eye” for Apple.

“When your finger or hand touches a spot on the phone’s lower left side — an easy thing, especially for lefties — the signal can significantly degrade enough to cause you to lose your connection altogether if you’re in an area with a weak signal,” said Mike Gikas, the publication’s senior electronics editor in a blog post Monday. Consumer Reports non-recommendation — “Due to this problem, we can’t recommend the iPhone 4,” Gikas said — is the latest in a series of knocks against the iPhone 4 over reception problems.

Complaints from consumers about the iPhone 4 dropping calls surfaced within hours of the smartphone ’s launch last month. Apple quickly acknowledged that holding the iPhone 4 can diminish the signal but offered only generic advice, telling users to “avoid gripping it in the lower left corner” or “use one of the many available cases.” A week later, Apple admitted that the iPhone 4’s signal strength formula was flawed and promised to update the software.

Consumer Reports’s Gikas dismissed that explanation as a red herring. “Our findings call into question the recent claim by Apple that the iPhone 4’s signal-strength issues were largely an optical illusion caused by faulty software,” he said.

The magazine tested three iPhone 4s in its radio frequency (RF) isolation chamber, where a cell tower emulator was used to simulate real-world signals. Gikas said that the publication’s engineers also tested several other AT&T phones in the chamber, including the iPhone 3GS and the Palm Pre. “None of those phones had the signal-loss problems of the iPhone 4,” he said.

Gikas said that the tests hinted that “AT&T’s network might not be the primary suspect” in the iPhone 4 woes, quashing talk by some that the U.S. carrier is largely at fault.

“Consumer Reports carries some weight,” said Jack Gold, an analyst at J. Gold Associates. “But I’m not sure how many people are actually reading it. Certainly, not many 20-somethings are.”

Still, the magazine’s testing and conclusion is bad for Apple on several levels. “This is a black eye for Apple,” Gold said. “Now people can say, ‘See, we told you it has reception problems.’”
Gold speculated that the antenna issue either escaped Apple’s notice, or that the company knew of it and still released the iPhone 4. “This is basic cell phone 101,” he said, referring to testing Apple should have done prior to launching the smartphone. “RF [radio frequency] is a sort of like black magic, so in order to make sure [handsets] work, cell phone makers have beta devices in the real world running around.” But Apple, with its fondness for security, may have skimped on that part of its pre-release testing.

Consumer Reports also concluded that covering the antenna gap — the small scores in the steel band near the bottom of each side of the iPhone 4 — with duct tape or another thick, non-conductive material helps reduce the reception problem. “It may not be pretty, but it works,” said Gikas.

That advice contradicts an antenna engineer’s take two weeks ago that suggestions to tape over the gaps were just “hokum.”
Consumer Reports continued to recommend 2009’s iPhone 3GS. Last year’s model is priced at $99 in an 8GB configuration, and is available at Apple’s and AT&T’s online stores.

“To me, [the reception issues] are fundamental problems that show Apple didn’t properly test the iPhone 4,” said Gold. “And I’m not so sure that the software update will fix it.”

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By Scot Finnie
Computerworld (US)
July 13, 2010

FRAMINGHAM - How is your company handling the rising tide of consumer smartphones, like the iPhone?

I’ve asked that question of a lot of IT professionals over the past couple of years. Here’s one response: “We’re fully behind the iPhone at my company. We’re replacing BlackBerries where and when we can. The iPhone user experience trumps [our IT] management concerns. We make it happen for the ones who want it.” But I’ve also heard the contrasting view, the one you might sum up as, “We have our users so locked down, we don’t worry about the iPhone or its ilk.”

IT pros who answer either way underestimate their users or the degree of trouble multiple types of half-secured consumer devices can get them into. You may be handling it now, but how about when your employees dump their desktops for their own iPads or similar devices? How about when the numbers really mount? Have you kept pace with the number of smartphones being released? And many users have two or three of these devices.

The consumerization of IT is becoming a landslide, big enough to have its own acronym — I nominate “CoIT.” But I’m not sure many enterprises are all that aware of it.

Computerworld recently ran a story about an Exchange ActiveSync issue that apparently causes Apple’s iPhone 4, or any device running Apple’s iOS 4 mobile operating system (the iPad will get it in September), to bang on the Exchange server if it can’t get synced right away. Server admins are not going to like that. And I don’t really need to lay out for you all of the more profound security and compliance issues.

So IT organizations need to think this through. Larger enterprises with thousands of employees are absolutely going to need help, whether it’s homegrown or an enterprise application such as Sybase’s iAnywhere or BoxTone’s Mobile Service Management. The time to think about this is now. Mobile devices have matured, and they offer significant advantages to their users. Have you even figured out what the potential dangers are for your company? Most IT organizations don’t have a lot of information about the usage of consumer devices in their midst.

CoIT is being driven by the arrival of increasingly useful mobile technologies and the persistence of the economic downturn, which has pushed people to work longer hours and merge their professional and personal lives. But CoIT isn’t just about mobile devices.

The rise of interest in Web 2.0-based social tools for business use (also known as Enterprise 2.0 ) is in many ways a sister trend. Business people are weary of complex, monolithic software. They want lightweight, Web-based tools that echo the feel, and even sometimes the purpose, of social media apps like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. They want to blend personal and professional communications because it’s all about multitasking. They want slick devices that unify all aspects of their lives. And they want to be able to use that software on their devices for business and personal needs wherever they go. No limits.

Think the iPad has no business use? I expected that to be so, but I was wrong. I’m hearing that many enterprises have hundreds of iPads that they know about being used for business purposes. For example, the iPad is an excellent presentation tool: Hand it off to your prospective customer, and he’s in control.

CoIT is an accidental revolution, a change in the way people work and the IT-related tools they use. After 20 or so years of iteration, smartphones have stopped being the product of too much compromise. At the same time, more and more business is conducted by simple apps running in the cloud or on your smartphone (or both). All this is potentially a lot less under your organization’s control than most business activities used to be.

Like many end users, I have an iPad and an iPhone 4, and I’m not giving them up. There’s a lot for IT to figure out.

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By Gregg Keizer
Computerworld (US)
July 8, 2010

FRAMINGHAM - Apple today pulled a large number of apps created by a Vietnamese iPhone developer after claims by competitors that he had pushed his software to the top of the best seller list by purchasing them with stolen credit cards.

All the apps previously sold by Thuat Nguyen have been yanked from the iTunes App Store, according to Apple , which confirmed the developers’ suspicions of fraud.

“The developer Thuat Nguyen and his apps were removed from the App Store for violating the developer Program License Agreement, including fraudulent purchase patterns,” the company said in a statement it sent to Engadget early Monday. Apple did not reply to a request by Computerworld for further comment.

More than 40 of Nguyen’s apps — described by one iPhone developer as “roughly coded, non-localized Vietnamese comic book apps” — suddenly shoved aside longstanding popular programs in the e-book category last week, and captured almost all of the top 50 spots in the bestseller list.

That set off alarms with several iPhone developers.

Alexandru Brie, a Romanian iPhone developer and the maker of the 99-cent Self Help Classics e-book app, was immediately suspicious of the quick rise in popularity of Nguyen’s software.

Brie’s conclusion: The Vietnamese apps had been purchased with credit cards hacked from Apple’s iTunes. “It seems people’s iTunes accounts have been hacked, with mass purchases of one developer’s apps being made using their accounts,” Brie wrote on his blog Sunday.

Brie based his speculation on the fact that Nguyen’s software, which had previously been invisible on the top download charts, had captured more than 40 of the top 50 spots in the e-book category’s bestseller list, that there was no company or support site for Nguyen listed in iTunes, and that there were very few customer reviews of the programs.

The reviews that did exist were from customers who claimed that their iTunes accounts had been hacked and the apps purchased without their authorization.

Another iPhone developer, who asked to remain anonymous, echoed Brie’s suspicions.

“This is the first time I’ve seen anything like this,” the developer said in an interview Tuesday. “The App Store is often volatile, but this was very unusual,” he added, noting that Nguyen’s foreign language apps were suddenly a big hit in the U.S. “There were no reviews of these apps, and the fact that 40 apps from a single developer occupied a block of rankings from 10 to 50 was very suspicious.”

In its statement, Apple denied that any hack had taken place. “Developers do not receive any iTunes confidential customer data when an app is downloaded,” the company said as it urged customers who suspected that their credit card had been used to buy Nguyen’s apps to contact their banks, and to immediately change their iTunes accounts’ passwords.

Brie said he had been contacted by Phillip Schiller, Apple’s head of product marketing, and told that Apple was investigating. He also estimated Nguyen’s take over the last month and a half at more than $1 million.

“A quick estimate — it takes at least 100 sales/day needed to secure #9 in the top paid books U.S. chart — multiplied by the $4.99 [that] one app costs and the 41 apps with this behavior, would give us around $20,000/day in ‘earnings,’” said Brie in a follow-up blog Monday. “That’s at least $1 million [from mid-May], although it might be double of that.”

The iPhone developer who asked for anonymity was not as convinced as Brie that iTunes had been hacked. “I think the primary purpose of this was credit card fraud,” he said, noting that although there was no hard evidence to pin on Nguyen, the circumstantial evidence was significant. “A by-product was that the [Nguyen] apps were pushed up in the rankings. They got greedy … this could have gone on much longer.”

Nguyen could not be reached for comment.

Brie said there were hints that other similar scams may be operating and questioned why Apple had not noticed the unusual behavior. “I wonder how is it that no one noticed that the top grossing paid books in the U.S. were owned by similar, weirdly named, expensive-yet-strangely-successful Vietnamese apps,” he said Sunday.

“This comes down to a simple case of credit card fraud,” the nameless developer added. “I don’t think it was specific to iTunes. It could have happened to any online system … iTunes is vulnerable because they have a lot of users.”

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By Nancy Weil
IDG News Service (Boston Bureau)
July 6, 2010

BOSTON - Google tops headlines with rumors about the company’s social-networking plans, more changes it made in China and an acquisition during what proved to be a slower-than-usual week for IT news as we ease into the summer here in Boston, where we’ve been treated to some gorgeous days of late. We’ve clustered Google’s news at the top for your reading pleasure and will end our list this week with some “how to” tips that may come in handy for the lazy days ahead (at least in the Northern Hemisphere), ending with some news from Australia where wintertime is buzzing, so to speak.

1. Web abuzz on talk of Google Facebook killer: Speaking of buzzing — the Internet was (and still is) full of chatter that Google is developing a social-networking service that will take on (and take out) Facebook. Given how much Google already knows about us, and its obvious path toward world Internet dominance, we can’t say this comes as a surprise.

2. In its battle with China, Google takes a step back: But it was a bit of a surprise to hear that Google had moved to placate Chinese officials a couple of days before the company’s license to operate there was up for renewal, announcing that it would no longer redirect search traffic from China to its Hong Kong search engine.

3. Google buys ITA for $700M to boost travel search: About that world dominance path …

4. Russian spy ring needed some serious IT help: Of course, there was a heavy IT angle to the news that a Russian spy ring was charged with snooping on the U.S.

5. Apple address iPhone 4 reception, promises software update: So much for the claims that users just don’t know how to hold their new iPhone 4s.

6. The ignominious fall of Dell: Recently unsealed court documents claim that Dell knowingly sold faulty computers, leading to a lot of wondering about both the company’s past and its future.

7. You are here: Scary new location privacy risks: We never have understood why it would seem to be a good idea to broadcast our location, even if we are where we’re supposed to be.

8. How to build a computer: Here’s a summertime (or wintertime below the Equator) project.

9. How to jailbreak your iPad (plus 8 things to do with it): Well, we know what we’ll be doing this holiday weekend.

10. Vuvuzela sales trump Aussie loss: We don’t need a location-based service to tell anyone where we are since it’s easy enough to find us these days by following the buzzing sound. (That said, we’ve come to a new appreciation for the mute button.)

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By Tony Bradley
PC World (US)
July 5, 2010

SAN FRANCISCO - HP has officially completed the acquisition of Palm, making it the proud owner of Palm’s coveted intellectual property including WebOS. It is hardly a surprise that before the ink was even dry on finalizing the purchase, HP announced its intent to build an array of mobile devices around the WebOS platform–including the predicted WebOS tablet.

Following a grandiose unveiling of the Windows 7-based Slate by Microsoft and HP at CES earlier this year, HP continued to hype the advantages of the tablet over the impending Apple iPad. However, some poor initial reviews of the Slate prototype, and the flawed logic of trying to compete with the iPad by cramming a desktop into a tablet form factor led HP to pull the plug.

HP instead acquired the flailing Palm, and with it the very capable WebOS mobile platform. Rumors immediately began to circulate that the Slate would be reborn as a WebOS tablet. Now, those predictions are coming true as HP plans to revive WebOS from the ashes and use it as the foundation for tablets, smartphones, and other mobile computing devices.

From an enterprise perspective, the HP tablet may make more sense than the Apple iPad. Like its Windows 7-based predecessor, the HP WebOS tablet is expected to have most of the features and functionality missing from the iPad. A tablet built on a mobile OS, but including USB or SD memory card ports, front and/or rear facing cameras, and compatibility with Adobe Flash content offers business professionals a number of compelling reasons to shun the iPad.

While it is not Windows, HP’s close relationship with Microsoft may lead it to integrate WebOS more tightly with Microsoft server and desktop applications and services. With HP’s backing, WebOS could emerge as the mobile OS that Windows Mobile–or now Windows Phone 7–should be.

Arguably, Microsoft missed a prime opportunity in not purchasing Palm itself. While Microsoft enjoys a comfortable dominance in many markets, its efforts to capture the mobile market have floundered. While its not a business device, the very quick and abrupt failure of the Kin, followed by Microsoft pulling the plug on the Sidekick, illustrate the steep hill Microsoft has yet to climb.

Windows Phone 7 seems to hold some promise, but the repeated delays and launching in the wake of iPhone 4 and a whole slew of exceptionally capable Android-based smartphones like the Droid X put Windows Phone 7 behind the proverbial 8-ball before it even hits the streets.

Although Palm was in free fall, its WebOS platform is very capable and has been praised by both industry experts and users. With Microsoft’s marketing muscle and distribution channels, it could have taken WebOS and built a mobile empire on it.

Instead, Microsoft continues to struggle to adapt to the evolving mobile computing market, and now it has a new competitor to deal with in HP and WebOS.

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By Tony Bradley
PC World (US)
July 5, 2010

SAN FRANCISCO - Officially, Apple seems to be in denial about the serious and mounting issues being reported by its customers. However, complaints of the antenna “death grip”, battery power vampire, proximity sensor, and other issues are flooding online forums. Thankfully, unofficially, the rumor is that Apple is hard at work resolving these “non-issues” with an update to the iOS software coming soon.
I have received comments, tweets and e-mails in support of Apple–chastising me for sensationalizing minor issues that aren’t really news. On the other hand, I receive e-mails and tweets every day directly from readers who are experiencing these “non-issues” and implore me to help champion the cause of getting them resolved.

At some point, overwhelming “anecdotal” evidence is enough to declare a real issue whether Apple wants to officially recognize it or not. Here are the top four reasons that Apple needs to crank out iOS 4.0.1 sooner rather than later.

1. Antenna “Death Grip”. It’s real. I can replicate it without fail on my iPhone 4. Yes–per Steve Jobs instructions–if I just hold the phone in a way that my skin does not come into contact with the black line at the bottom left corner of the antenna band I don’t experience the problem. However, I have owned smartphones for years–including the iPhone 3GS–and this is the first device that simply doesn’t work if you hold it a certain way.

Admittedly, the real issue is hard to pin down. It seems to be primarily an issue with the iPhone 4 and its revolutionary antenna array, but is it a hardware issue, or a software issue? I have heard reports from some that iPhone 3GS devices are also experiencing similar problems after updating to iOS 4.0. I hope–for Apple’s sake and mine–that the problem can be fixed with a software update.

2. Battery Power Vampire. I am not seeing this issue myself, but I spend the majority of my time at my desk working and I tend to leave the iPhone 4 connected and charging as long as I am at my desk, so I am not a valid test case.

I have received tons of e-mails from readers, though, describing the issues they are having with battery life after applying the iOS 4.0 update. Many of the e-mails also come with advice for resolving the issue. Some have suggested disabling Wi-Fi, or turning off e-mail or push notifications, or that it’s a problem only with specific rogue apps that aren’t playing nice with the new OS. The bottom line is that users who previously could go all day on a single charge are suddenly watching the power sap out of their device before their eyes.
3. Proximity Sensor. The iPhone 4 is supposed to recognize when it is in a call and near the user’s face to black out the display and disable the touchscreen functionality. The point is to prevent users from accidentally pressing buttons or hanging up the call with their cheek while talking. For many users it’s not working. Numbers are pressed. Facetime calls are initiated. Calls are ended. 4. Sound Quality. This issue seems much less reported, but my wife and I are both noticing poor sound quality on our iPhone 4s. I previously had an iPhone 3GS, and my wife previously had an iPhone 3G and we never had any problems. Now, our calls sound like we’re talking into a tin can while standing in a tunnel. The iPhone 4 has a second microphone for noise-canceling, so I expected better sound quality than the 3GS. So far, I am disappointed.
When you put it all together, the iPhone 4 may not be the best device for conducting business. Of course–as long as you hold the iPhone 4 the “correct” way, but not too close to your face, while leaving it connected to a charging source–it is an excellent smartphone. That is if you don’t mind sounding like you’re in a tin can.

Apple may or may not be feverishly working on a software update for the iPhone 4, and other devices that rely on iOS. But, with class action lawsuits, and page after page of comments and complaints reporting these problems throughout the Internet, I hope that behind the serene “it’s not an issue, just hold the phone different” façade, Apple is hard at work on iOS 4.0.1.

My iTunes tells me that my iOS 4.0 is the current version and that my iPhone software is up to date. Hopefully that will change soon, and hopefully iOS 4.0.1–if and when it becomes available–will actually resolve these issues and let us get back to just enjoying the “magic” of Apple devices.

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By Ian Paul
PC World (US)
July 2, 2010

SAN FRANCISCO - Just when you thought it was over, the iPhone on Verizon rumor is back…this time with a claim the iPhone is coming to Verizon in January 2011. The fresh report comes courtesy of Bloomberg news, which cites two sources “familiar with the plans.” This is odd timing for a new iPhone-Verizon rumor considering that Apple just announced the iPhone 4 had the most successful product launch in Apple’s history, and Verizon just made a big deal over the upcoming launch of the Android-based Droid X. Why dampen customer enthusiasm for either device with a tired, old rumor that just refuses to die?
That’s just one of the many reasons, I’m wondering, yet again, how much truth there is to this reason. Here’s another five things to consider before buying this rumor for the umpteenth time.

That Pesky Exclusivity Contract

Engadget recently dug up a court document where Apple appears to admit that it has a five-year exclusivity contract with AT&T for the iPhone expiring in 2012, not 2011. Yes, as has been noted before, AT&T’s exclusivity contract could have been amended to shorten the deal in the wake of AT&T’s well-publicized service issues. But outcry over AT&T is nothing new, and didn’t Apple further cement its relationship with AT&T earlier this year by partnering with the carrier for iPad data connectivity? If Apple is overly concerned about AT&T service, it has a funny way of showing it.
Rumor Recycle

Some believe this latest rumor has a little more believability to it since it’s coming from Bloomberg news, but let’s not forget that “iPhone on Verizon” is the rumor that just won’t die. My colleague JR Raphael took a look back at the history of this rumor and came up with eight significant milestones for claims about the iPhone coming to Verizon.

Yes, it’s true that many pieces of tech news have started out as never ending rumors only to become fact much later on, the iPhone and iPad being two of them. But every time the iPhone on Verizon rumor turns up, people just want to believe no matter what.

Sales Are Just Fine, Thank You Very Much

Earlier this week, Apple reported that it had sold over 1.7 million iPhone 4 devices in the first three days of the new iPhone’s launch. Apple also said it was the most successful product launch in the company’s history, making it bigger than the iPad, iPhone 3GS, and iPhone 3G. There is also some data to suggest that many of the millions of customers lining up to get the iPhone 4 on launch weekend were overwhelmingly AT&T iPhone customers looking to upgrade.

So if there’s truly customer dissatisfaction with AT&T,why are there so many repeat customers?

Technology

The other problem is that, despite earlier rumors of a September launch, an iPhone compatible with Verizon’s network has yet to appear. Unlike AT&T, which uses the global GSM standard, Verizon uses CDMA cellular technology requiring slightly different components than the GSM-based iPhone.

What’s more likely is that a Verizon iPhone would show up once Verizon has transitioned to its fourth generation LTE network, the same next-generation cellular technology AT&T is developing. In fact, Verizon’s CEO Ivan Seidenberg said as much in April 2009.

Verizon plans on having its LTE network up and running in 25 to 30 U.S. markets later this year covering about 100 million people. But if Verizon’s updated network requires an equally updated iPhone, we may be waiting until at least summer 2011 before we see the iPhone on Verizon.
Android

Verizon is spending a lot of time getting cozy with Google’s Android platform these days. The two companies, along with Adobe and Motorola, just launched the Droid X, the latest iteration of the most popular Android handset. There are also persistent rumors that a follow up to the original Droid–Droid 2–is coming in August.

Of course, Android handsets on Verizon don’t preclude the possibility of a Verizon iPhone, but Verizon has a great smartphone partner in Google. The search giant recently boasted it was seeing an average of 160,000 Android activations every day (the equivalent of almost three iPhone 4 launches a month), and a new and better Android device shows up every few weeks. Verizon may like to have the iPhone too, but right now it doesn’t appear to be in a rush to get it.

The iPhone probably can’t remain an AT&T exclusive forever, but neither Apple, AT&T, or Verizon look like they’re in a rush to change the current status quo.

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By Brad Reed
Network World (US)
June 29, 2010

FRAMINGHAM - It’s the end of June, which means that summer’s in full swing and the world’s top handset manufacturers are rolling out their hottest new smartphones.

IPHONE VS. DROID VS. BLACKBERRY

We’ve come to expect Apple to drop its annual iPhone bomb every June, but this month has also seen the sparkling debuts of both the HTC EVO 4G and the Motorola Droid X. And Research in Motion, which has long been the king of enterprise smartphones, will try to regain some of its market share by releasing a new model that’s rumored to be called the Torch 9800.

With so many choices for the savvy smartphone consumer out there, how are you to know which model is the best one for you? In this quick guide we’ll provide a brief profile of each hit summer device and examine their technical specifications, their enterprise features, the networks they connect to and more.

BLOCKBUSTER #1: THE IPHONE 4
MANUFACTURER: APPLE

CARRIER: AT&T

Although there’s no 4G in the iPhone 4, it still hits the market as the top mobile consumer device in the world. So what does Steve Jobs’ third iPhone sequel have to offer users that past models haven’t?

The big thing for many business users will be multitasking, as the iPhone OS 4 will for the first time allow iPhone users to run multiple applications at the same time. OS 4 also includes a bevy of new enterprise features such as capabilities that let IT departments host and distribute key applications, support for Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 and support for SSL VPN clients from both Cisco and Juniper. As Gartner analyst Ken Dulaney told Computer World earlier this month, the new iPhone has taken big steps toward being an enterprise-grade device, although it’s still not on par with Research in Motion’s BlackBerry devices.

Who should buy it: Apple fans of all stripes should be happy with this upgrade; anyone looking for a strong device that has good, although not ideal, enterprise capabilities; first-time smartphone buyers who want a device that’s easy to use.

BLOCKBUSTER #2: EVO 4G
MANUFACTURER: HTC

CARRIER: SPRINT

As we noted at the time of the EVO 4G’s release, this device is a hulking beast of a smartphone that includes a 4.3-inch display screen with a resolution of 800 x 400 pixels and a weight of 6 ounces. The EVO 4G also features the fastest network connectivity of any phone on the market, as it will be the first phone that’s able to access Sprint’s WiMAX network, which averages between 2Mbps to 4Mbps depending on how strong your signal happens to be. Sprint expects to have WiMAX services available to all major markets in the United States by the end of the year.

The EVO 4G runs on the Android operating system and features Qualcomm’s 1GHz Snapdragon processor.

Who should buy it: Anyone who wants access to the fastest wireless network in the United States; anyone who doesn’t mind carrying around big, heavy devices.

BLOCKBUSTER #3: THE DROID X
MANUFACTURER: MOTOROLA

CARRIER: VERIZON

Motorola’s original Droid, released last November, was the first phone based on Google’s Android mobile operating system to really get some attention in the market that comes anywhere close to match Apple’s iPhone juggernaut. For the sequel launched this week, Motorola decided to up its game by giving the new Droid X a screen and a processor that matched the EVO 4G. The new device features tethering for up to five different devices over Verizon’s EV-DO Rev. A 3G network, a multi-touch touchscreen display, and support for Adobe Flash. Unlike the original Droid, the Droid X does not feature a physical QWERTY keyboard and instead relies solely upon a touchscreen.

Who should buy it: Verizon users looking for a strong iPhone alternative; fans of the original Droid who want to upgrade to a larger screen and more processing power.

BLOCKBUSTER #4: THE BLACKBERRY TORCH
MANUFACTURER: RESEARCH IN MOTION

CARRIER: AT&T

This new BlackBerry device, rumored to be called the Torch, will have a slideout QWERTY keyboard and will apparently be the first device to run on RIM’s revamped BlackBerry 6 OS, as well as its revamped browser based on the open-source WebKit browser engine. Although we likely know more details on the Torch for the next few weeks, it will be a key release for RIM in its efforts to recapture some of the market share that it has lost to the Apple iPhone and popular Android-based devices.

Who should buy it: Anyone who still longs for a physical keyboard to use; anyone who wants the best and most complete set of enterprise features of all the major smartphones.

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By Matt Hamblen
Computerworld (US)
June 25, 2010

FRAMINGHAM - More than 55 million smartphones shipped globally in the first quarter, with iPhone shipments rising slightly from the previous quarter, from 8.7 million to 8.8 million, according to ABI Research.

Overall, the number of smartphones shipped actually declined by about 1 million from 56 million in the fourth quarter of 2009, following a natural tendency for first quarters to be lower than fourth quarters, ABI said. But the 55 million shipped in the first quarter was an indication of “dynamic growth” considering that a greater decline would normally be expected, said ABI analyst Michael Morgan.

Globally, smartphone shipments in the first quarter of 2009 were 38.9 million, ABI said.

Part of the strong growth was due to less expensive smartphones entering the market, including Nokia’s C and X series models. Nokia, like Apple with the iPhone, saw shipments rise in the first quarter to 21.5 million units, up from 20.8 million in the fourth quarter.

The success for the iPhone came from a strong performance in markets such as Japan and China, Morgan said. ABI didn’t release data for other manufacturers.

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By Gregg Keizer
Computerworld (US)
June 23, 2010

FRAMINGHAM - More than one in four Apple iPhones break or fail within two years, a company that provides after-sale warranties said today.

SquareTrade, which sells extended warranties for the iPhone, said that 26% of Apple’s smartphone suffer a breakdown — or simply breakage — within the first two years. But that’s an improvement over the iPhone’s past reliability rating.

“Twenty-six percent is actually pretty good,” said Vince Tseng, vice president of marketing at SquareTrade. “And it’s encouraging that the failure rates have decreased.”

According to SquareTrade, which examined more than 25,000 customer warranty claims, the iPhone 3GS is more reliable, and apparently sturdier too, than its predecessors, the iPhone 3G that first went on sale in July 2008 and the original model, which debuted in 2007.

Last year, a similar SquareTrade analysis found that 31% of all iPhones failed or were broken during the first 24 months of ownership, compared to today’s 25.6% of customers who have owned an iPhone during the last 22 months.

iPhone claims based on both hardware failures and accidents — SquareTrade’s warranties covers both — were lower this year compared to 2009. While 21% of iPhone-owning customers reported an accidental damage claim and 10% filed a hardware failure claim in the 24 months preceding last summer, only 18.1% and 7.5% filed an accident or hardware-related claim in the 22 months prior to June 2010.

Phones kept longer than standard two-year carrier contract, of course, fail at a higher rate. SquareTrade’s forecast: Three-year-old iPhones will sport a failure rate of 35%-40%.

Tseng credited improvements that Apple made to the iPhone 3GS’s touchscreen for most of the lower number of warranty claim rates in the last 22 months.

“The iPhone 3GS is sturdier and can withstand a higher degree of shock,” said Tseng, referring to the drop in accident claims, the bulk of which are due to dropping the smartphone. “But the overall reliability of the iPhone has improved, especially in the touchscreen.”

The iPhone 3GS has fewer than half the reported touchscreen problems as the iPhone 3G, SquareTrade’s data showed. Overall, Tseng estimated that the iPhone 3GS will have 20% fewer issues than the iPhone 3G.

On the downside, iPhone 3GS owners have reported almost 50% more power issues than those with the older iPhone 3G.

The past year’s improvement in iPhone reliability will likely continue, said Tseng, a good sign for the millions who have ordered the iPhone 4, which Apple will start selling Thursday.

“Over the last years, Apple has gotten its manufacturing lines in shape and failure rates have dropped year to year,” said Tseng. “The iPhone 4 should be a good, solid device.”

But Tseng has one major worry about the new iPhone: The all-glass back.

With the iPhone 4, Apple switched to a glass back, dropping the plastic cover of the iPhone 3G and 3GS. Industry watchers have speculated that Apple went for the glass to improve call and data reception, problems that have plagued the smartphone since its 2007’s launch, especially in high-density cities such as New York and San Francisco.

“It all depends on how consumers treat the device, of course,” said Tseng. “The front glass touchscreen has been fairly prone to cracking, but then people don’t put protective covers [that shield] the front of the device.”

The best way to protect any iPhone, said Tseng, is with a cover, case or silicon skin.

SquareTrade’s latest iPhone reliability report can be downloaded from the company’s site ( download PDF ).

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By Galen Gruman
InfoWorld (US)
June 22, 2010

SAN FRANCISCO - There’s one big new reason today for corporate IT to embrace the use of iPhones, iPod Touches, and iPads for business email and network access: Apple has released iOS 4.0 (the new name for the iPhone operating system). iOS 4 includes enterprise management capabilities for the iPhone 3G, 3G S, and 4; the second-generation and later models of the iPod Touch; and the iPad. And the major mobile management tool providers have simultaneously announced iOS 4-specific updates to their products.

iOS 4 allows IT to install security and policy profiles onto iOS devices without user intervention using the Apple Push Notification Service protocol, and to monitor and audit policy adherence. It also lets businesses provision their own iOS apps without going through the Apple App Store as long as these in-house apps have a valid signature from Apple (so they still have to go through Apple’s approval process). And it allows “sandboxes” such as for email clients, apps, policies, VPN data, and so on that encrypt these blocks of information separately from the devicewide encryption on newer iPhones, newer iPod Touches, and iPads.

[ Get the best iPhone and iPad apps for pros with our business iPhone apps finder. | Keep up on key mobile developments and insights with the Mobile Edge blog and Mobilize newsletter. ]

What the updated mobile management tools offer
Two major providers of mobile management tools — Good Technology and MobileIron — today announced new management tools to take advantage of iOS 4’s capabilities. (Two other providers, Sybase and Trust Digital, said they would announce its iOS 4 plans later. InfoWorld.com will update this story as they share the details.) The companies’ server-based tools integrate with Microsoft Exchange, LDAP, and Active Directory to enforce Exchange ActiveSync (EAS) policies, track access, and validate user permissions, and both install EAS policy profiles and certificates directly onto iPhones, iPod Touches, and iPads without user intervention. The tools also track which devices have which profiles and apps installed, so IT has an audit trail for compliance monitoring.

By contrast, Apple’s free iPhone Configuration Utility requires users to click a profile link from a Web site or email to install the profile, and it does not track whether profiles were actually installed on individual devices. The iOS’ supported EAS and iPhone Configuration policies include on-device encryption (not supported by pre-2009 iOS devices), forced camera turn-off, access restriction to specified Wi-Fi access points, various password rules such as complex passwords, forced turn-off of App Store access, use of digital certicates, use of VPNs, and remote wipe.

Both companies’ mobile management tools also can manage other types of mobile devices, including RIM BlackBerry (through BES integration), Microsoft Windows Mobile, and Google Android.

These iOS 4-oriented tools also provide additional capabilities using a combination of a local iOS client on the mobile device and capabilities on the back-end server. Here’s what MobileIron and Good are adding beyond the common capabilities.

MobileIron Server’s extra capabilities
MobileIron Server’s current capabilities will work with iOS 4 devices, such as the ability to selectively wipe information (for example, leaving users’ personal email while wiping corporate email) and to provision a catalog of recommended App Store apps. By October the server will support several new iOS 4-specific capabilities, the company says, in addition to the ability to install policy profiles without user intervention and deploy in-house apps without going through the Apple App Store:

o The ability to detect “jailbroken” iPhones, where the operating system has been modified to allow unauthorized apps to run, and block them from accessing coprorate resources. Such jailbroken iPhones have proven to be susceptible to malware exploits.
o The ability to inventory all the apps on each user’s iOS device — including those installed by users via the Apple App Store — and compare the inventory to a whitelist of approved apps or a blacklist of forbidden apps. If a user’s device has apps that violate the corporate approval policy, MobileIron prevents that device from accessing corporate resources — in essence, restricting the device to personal use.
o The ability to manage and enforce policies around access to in-house corporate iOS apps, so IT can manage app deployment as it does on the desktop.
o Automatic detection of when devices are roaming outside their home country. MobileIron is still working on the actions such detection might lead to, notes MobileIron’s product VP Ojas Rege. At the least, users will get a warning that they are roaming internationally and thus subject to very high data roaming fees. The company may provide an option in which data roaming is automatically turned off as well (voice services would remain on), forcing users to explicity turn it back on, Rege notes. The goal is to get IT out of the business of worrying about roaming costs and leave the decisions to the business units, he adds.
o The ability to selectively wipe calendar data, such as corporate items but not personal ones. This is an enhancement to its existing ability to selectively wipe email.

Good for Enterprise’s extra capabilities
Good Technology’s iPhone Management component of its Good for Enterprise management tool was updated today, with a new client app (Good for Enterprise-iPhone) available from the Apple App Store. A Good for Enterprise server is required to use the app. It too has the ability to install policy profiles without user intervention, remotely lock or wipe devices, and deploy in-house apps without going through the App Store. Other new capabilities include:

o The ability to selectively wipe information, so corporate data and apps can be deleted from an iOS 4 device without affecting users’ personal information and apps.
o The ability to detect an iOS device’s model and operating system version and disallow access by model/OS combinations. Such a capability could be used, for example, to disallow access by iPhones and iPod Touches whose hardware or operating system don’t support on-device encryption or to limit access to only iOS 4 devices or only to iPads.

The mobile management big picture
For more details on how to manage iPhones, iPod Touches, and iPads in business, see InfoWorld’s series of in-depth, hands-on articles:

o “Enterprise iPhone Deep Dive” PDF report
o “Apple stages corporate mobile takeover with iPhone OS 4.0″
o “What Exchange ActiveSync policies does your smartphone support?”
o “Can you manage your iPhone like a BlackBerry?” (review of the iPhone Configuration Utility’s capabilities)
o “How to say yes to (almost) any smartphone” (survey of smartphone management and security capabilities)
o “Who should own your smartphone?” (pros and cons of employee-provided versus company-provided devices)
o “Scare of iPhone 3G overages? Here’s what to do”
o “iPad goes to Europe, Japan — so do 3G roaming ripoffs”

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By Mitch Betts
Computerworld (US)
June 22, 2010

FRAMINGHAM - Mulittouch interfaces are gaining popularity, but little is known about whether the finger flicking done on devices like the iPad or iPhone put undue stress on our bodies.

A team of researchers led by Kanav Kahol of Arizona State University is beginning to study whether long-term use of multitouch devices could lead to musculoskeletal disorders. The team, supported by a $1.2 million National Science Foundation grant, includes computer interaction researchers, kinesiologists and ergonomics experts.

“Multitouch systems might be great for usability of a device, but we just don’t know what it does to our musculoskeletal system,” said Kahol, an assistant professor in the university’s Department of Biomedical Informatics, in a statement earlier this month.

Initially, users will be fitted with electromyography equipment to measure muscle forces and with cyber gloves to record their hand movements while they interact with multitouch systems. A second phase of the project will involve the development of biomechanical models that show how much stress is created by certain gestures.

“We would then take this data back to the Microsofts, the Apples and other manufacturers so they could use it when they are designing new devices ,” Kahol explained in the statement.

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