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From yahoonews:

“Apple CEO Steve Jobs has confirmed that the iPhone 3G has a kill switch that can remotely remove software from the devices.

Jobs told The Wall Street Journal that Apple needs the capability in case it inadvertently allows a malicious program — such as an application that steals user’s personal data — to be distributed to iPhones through its App Store.

“Hopefully we never have to pull that lever, but we would be irresponsible not to have a lever like that to pull,” Jobs said.

Switch Not Used

Jobs’ statement reveals Apple hasn’t used the kill switch yet, but the company did remove an application from the App Store last week.

Apple removed the $999 “I Am Rich” application, which had the sole purpose of showing people the owner has money. The program creates a red icon that sits on the iPhone deck with a the words “I Am Rich” underneath. After the user activates the application, it glows on the handset like a ruby.

Apple initially approved the application, which bumps up against the pricing limit for applications sold on its App Store. The company was not immediately available for comment on why it decided to pull the plug.

Disappearing Acts

But the real controversy started when Jonathan Zdziarski, author of the books iPhone Open Application Development and iPhone Forensics Manual, discovered a URL buried in Apple’s firmware. That URL links to a file dubbed “unauthorizedApps” where malicious or simply bad apps might go once they disappear from the App Store.

According to Zdziarski, I Am Rich isn’t the only app to disappear. BoxOffice (renamed to Now Playing) and NullRiver’s NetShare were also removed. But removing the applications from the App Store and removing them from a consumer’s iPhone are two different issues.

“The kill switch is a very controlling gesture. I am not sure why Apple didn’t disclose it up front as simply a security measure,” said Avi Greengart, an analyst at Current Analysis. “Consumers will accept an awful lot if you let them know what they are accepting.”

What Else is Apple Hiding?

In the past, Jobs has said he wants to be careful not to allow applications to bring down the network. Greengart doesn’t see that as a major threat, especially since Apple is approving the applications.

However, Greengart said he’s less concerned with the “heavy-handed and Big Brotherish” kill switch than the fact that Apple didn’t disclose it in the first place. As far as he knows, no other mobile phone has a kill-switch capability.

“To my way of thinking, the issue is that you don’t really know what your phone might be doing or not be doing,” Greengart said. “I am not 100 percent sure what the capability is or is not. That is the problem. What is the capability? When might they use it? When wouldn’t they use it? Is there anything else Apple is not disclosing?”

New iPods: “More likely.” Apple refreshes its iPod line in the fall, and there’s no reason it won’t this year. To compete better with the cheaper iPhone, Apple could offer higher-capacity iPods at lower prices, one possible explanation for its warning about low gross margins.

Refreshed MacBooks: “More likely.” No major shape/size changes, but faster laptops at lower prices.

Apple Tablet: “More likely.” Shope wouldn’t be shocked if Apple released a tablet soon to take advantage of its exclusive, multi-touch technology on a product with a bigger screen.

iPhone nano: “Less likely.” It makes sense that Apple would extend the iPhone family the way it’s done with its computers, iPods, etc. And a cheaper, slimmed-down iPhone could reach a broader audience than today’s. Just not so soon after it launched the iPhone 3G, which has strong demand.

Super-cheap laptop: “Less likely.” Eventually, Apple will need to come out with a laptop under $800 to tap into new markets. But Shope’s conversations with Apple “suggest that the company may not be ready for such a drastic change in product strategy in the near-term.”

Super-cheap desktop: “Less likely.” An all-in-one, not the Mac mini, which would expose Apple to the “sweet spot of the desktop market fairly quickly.” Just not convinced Apple is ready to play in the “discount PC market” yet.

Mac TV: “Even less likely,” a “long shot.” Apple could skip the set-top box by building its Apple TV software into a flat-panel TV. While Shope (and we) would probably be buyers, he thinks “this seems a bit outside of Apple’s normal sphere of business for now.”

According to alleyinsider

Check them out here.
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More about it here.

The meat of the 107 minute keynote in just one minute. Here it is. That’s how all keynotes should be!

article in forbes

From forbes:

“Apple (nasdaq: AAPL – news – people ), Jobs’ secretive computer and gadget company, has been quietly positioning millions of units of a mysterious new product–almost certainly the new iPhone–in key markets since March. And yet, incredibly, not one credible image of Apple’s new product has yet been published.

If the new phone is a flop, it’s going to be a doozy. Apple is promising to sell 10 million of the gizmos this year; many investors are betting the Cupertino, Calif., company will sell many more than that. Yet Jobs has managed to keep the look, the feel and a complete list of the phone’s features under wraps.
t’s almost certain Jobs will unveil the latest version of the iPhone June 9, when he speaks at Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco. The gadget will go up for sale shortly thereafter. Ryan Peterson, co-founder at start-up ImportGenius.com, was the first to get the details of how Apple will make this happen. Peterson–an iPhone fan himself–sells shipping data culled from a clutch of government and private databases.

Meanwhile, analysts have a good idea who is making the parts inside the phone. Apple’s new model is likely built around new, burlier communications chips from Infineon, says Will Strauss, a veteran communications chip watcher at Forward Concepts. Global positioning systems will be another new capability, Strauss says.

The look and feel of the phone, however, remains a mystery. Security at Apple’s headquarters is tight. Rank-and-file staff say sensitive projects are draped with cloth before they’re even brought into work. Yet Jobs would have had to have let others in on the secret once they handed off the specs for the new phone to Quanta (and quite probably also to Hon Hai Precision Industry) for assembly in sprawling compounds in China’s Guangdong province.

One clue: Jobs began racking up serious mileage on his corporate jet during the company’s final quarter of 2007, as he likely finalized deals with distribution partners in Europe and Asia, and perhaps scrutinized the first 3G iPhone handsets to come from his partners’ factories. Morgan Stanley’s (nyse: MS – news – people ) Kathryn Huberty was the first to spot the enormous jump in Jobs’ airplane expenses–to $550,000 from $203,000 during the previous quarter.

During the first quarter of 2008, however, the focus shifted back to Cupertino. Apple’s engineers were scrambling to revise the phone’s software, and the company delayed by a week a software development kit that would open up the iPhone to outside developers. It was all backed by a $100 million “iFund,” launched by Kleiner Perkins to fuel developers crafting applications for the phone.

Less than two weeks later, in mid-March, the first shipments of the new devices began arriving. The first 20 containers arrived at the Port of Oakland, Calif., the third-largest port on the West Coast, March 19, according to ImportGenius.com. The containers were quickly trundled off the ships and trucked 27 miles south to a distribution center in Fremont, Calif. More shipments followed on March 27, April 28 and May 6.

On April 23, when Apple Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook told investors on Apple’s quarterly earnings call the company would sell 10 million iPhones before the year was out, he knew that millions of the new phones were already on their way to retailers.

By May 6, it became clear that AT&T (nyse: T – news – people ) was getting ready for something big, with a blogger publishing an all-hands memo to employees at AT&T stores telling them they couldn’t take vacation time between June 15 and July 12. That news hit amid widespread reports of iPhone shortages in Europe and across the U.S.

Meanwhile, the container ships just kept coming. May 17, the last known shipment arrived at the Port of New York aboard the NYK Delphinus, an enormous, squared-off slab of a vessel flagged to Panama, according to Peterson.

But it wasn’t until earlier this month, when a potential customer, impressed with what Peterson could dig up about ethanol imports, asked Peterson about the iPhone. “This is really detailed stuff,” the potential customer asked Peterson. “What can you tell me about the iPhone?”

That, of course, could be just the start of what Jobs announces June 9. Veteran Apple watchers are noting a redesign of Apple’s hot-selling notebook computers is long overdue. Some are even wondering if Apple will introduce a touch-sensitive table tablet that riffs off the iPod Touch’s touch-sensitive interface. Quite a mystery.

What we know for sure though is that sales of the iPhone are fading fast and Apple will have to do something very soon to get those phones moving. And it’s clear now that Apple has many million units of that “special something” already sitting in distribution centers around the country. We can hardly wait to find out what Jobs has in store.”

It slices! It dices! It slashes your arm in a single bound! Look! On your desk! It’s Macbook Air!

From engadget

Sorry I didn’t alert you last week. I was on vacation and didn’t have much time or internet access. Anyway, this week is ALL games of various sorts – so you’re sure to find something you like. Here are this week’s picks: mac games. Have fun!

For those of you celebrating Memorial Day, have a big, juicy cheese burger for me.

Lastly, here are some mac game and software items that didn’t fit on the list:

Aria 1.0 – use Aria for internal projects and customer relations (Ie. bug tracking, sales, and support)

Cast off calculator 1.0 – Calculates chapter layout for books and other publications, based on number of words and pictures per page together with fixed number pages.

Loan Calculator 1.0 – Allows you to determine monthly payment for loan and look at the loan schedule.

Fisheye-Hemi 1.0.1 – Plug-in filters which provide correction for hemispheric fisheye lens distortion. Fisheye-Hemi provides a more normal view of people by not distorting their faces and bodies, as it straightens vertical lines.

2008 Moon Void of Course Calendar 1.0 – During Moon void of course, contracts, promises or new laws bring on difficulties, and purchases prove to be unsatisfactory, among other negative things. Know when to make important decisions.

Changes I Ching Software 1.0 – Bring the wisdom and insight of this ancient oracle into focus in a way that’s entirely accessible and straightforward.

Espy 1.0 – Quickly access the information you need or browse through your contacts’ pictures in the unique SnapFind interface. Espy is intuitive and easy-to-use, featuring a clean, informative look and drag and drop photo assignment.

Got this week in a little bit early. I hope you enjoy them here: mac games. BTW, Happy Mother’s Day!!

The other new items that didn’t fit on the mac picks page are:

Times 1.0.2 – news reader for Leopard.

CopyPaste Pro 1.0 – Multiple clip utility.

Bezipped 1.0 – A file compression and archive utility freeware.

Moody 1.0.2 – Plays a mood instead of an album or a genre. Shuffles better in iTunes.

pngweasel 1.0 – Convertis an image to the PNG image format and makes parts of the image’s background transparent. Freeware. See also gifweasel.

m.o.t.e.s. 1.0 – a fun way to kill some time.

WeatherSnitch 1.2.2 – Displays weather information in your menubar. Freeware.

Macnification 1.0 – Enables scientists to organize, find, annotate, analyze, adjust, compare and publish microscopic images.

Viveza 1.0 – Control light and color in photographic images.

Lingo 1.0.1 – A word game where you have to use your vocabulary and deduction skills.

Leech 1.0 – Queue, pause and resume downloads, download from password-protected servers and store your passwords in your system-wide, secure keychain. And you won’t have to worry about downloads that were disrupted by a crashing browser ever again.

Saturn Fighter Wing – Red Zone 1.0 – “Red Zone” is the code name for the Saturn Test and Training Range (STTR). You are required to collect all green and red gems in the area avoiding missiles, bullets and mines.

Travel Tips for Globetrotting Geeks – Guide to mastering the art of high tech travel.

From mactipsandtricks:

“1) Only use the battery as needed. For example the less you use the battery the long it will last. Instead of using the battery only a little and then recharging keep it plugged in.

2) Drain the battery down. Although it is not as need as much, it has shown (on my battery) that by draining the battery down and then doing a recharge it seems to make the battery last as long as possible.

3) Keep your battery cool. Batteries are designed to run at around 15 degrees Celsius. So if you keep your battery really hot, for example using it outside all day, or two cold (inside a fridge). By keeping your battery at a good temperature you may keep the charge longer and more healthy.

4) Calibrate your battery. It keeps it up to date with the maximum and minimum battery capacity and helps you computer work out how to use its charge more effectively.

5) Keep firmware the latest. Download the latest firmwares and it will help. Although you may not see an immediate difference. It will help you keep it in tip top shape.

Finally buy a new battery. If you battery has really died, and has become a lump of metal it might be time to buy a new battery. Until we develop a battery that always keeps its charge you may have to keep replacing them every 18months.”

Read about it at Macworld here.

Read more about it here.

[via]

Very cute purse, isn’t it? Well. It only holds ONE apple. So, it’s not really a purse but an apple case with a knife. I like the design but it’s too small! Could Apple make a case as cute as Hermès’ apple purse?

Geeksugar was right about new iMacs. Get one! (Oh, and while you’re at it, can you please get me one, too? Thanks.)

Wonder what the Mac versus PC ads were like across the giant pond? (If you ARE across the pond, that is.) Well, wonder no more.

Watch the ads from the UK

Geeksugar‘s tipster has revealed that new (faster and pimped) iMacs are coming. Hope so. I really want one.

What more to say? Check it out at Computer Choppers.

[via]

Check them out here: mac games

Hope you like ‘em.

From consumerist:

“A tech support supervisor, from what we figure to be Apple, has stepped forward to break down some behind-the-scenes workings with his underlings who sometimes make both his and consumer’s lives difficult. For instance, one of the reasons you might be on hold so long is agents using fake work codes to avoid taking calls. Also, we know that metrics rule the call centers, but, in one of the confessions, he talks about how not only is it important to not go over your average handle time, you also can’t go too far under. Just strive to be perfectly average, and you’ll go far…

“I am a tech support supervisor for a very well known computer company. (If you must know, this company is notoriously secretive. I think that’s a big enough clue.) I felt the need to respond to the “7 Confessions Of A Verizon DSL Tech Support Rep” article you ran with some insights of my own.

I also started near the beginning of a new call center that was supporting three different product lines for said computer company. Customer service was stressed over and over and over again. I’ve been with the call center for about 5 months, but I’ve worked in other non-call center positions with the company since 2002. I thought someone needed to shed light on the fact that the seven confessions are not the exception to the rule — they ARE the rule in most cases when it comes to tech support call centers.

This particular call center is all “Tier” (or Level) one support. Within this center, we have Quality Assurance to monitor the agent calls in-house. If necessary, these Tier 1 agents escalate difficult calls to Tier 2 — which can be anywhere in the world. It will almost never be the same person twice.

You’re not going to speak to someone’s actual supervisor
There is a specific, direct queue line to “Supervisor Requests” for our agents. I don’t know why most people think they will actually speak to the support agent’s actual supervisor. We’re too…”

Full article