Mac Games and More The Blog

Check out the article at Macworld.

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.

Dinky Dungeon is a 50+ level Old-School 2D dungeon RPG (role playing adventure game) . Choose a character and adventure to recover the Pearls of Wisdom to save the Kingdom. To do so you will need to battle monsters and collect as many items as possible to improve your abilities. Interface uses mouse only. Over one hundred total different Monsters, Items, Weapons, etc.

download now

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

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.”

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.

Read more about it here.

[via]

4th Saturday of every odd month, except where holidays conflict.

Premier Event: Saturday, March 22, 2008.

Mac Day L.A.
CBS Studio Center — “Radford Studios”
4024 Radford Avenue, Studio City CA 91604
Website: Macdayla (for details and required RSVP)

The iPhone Dev Team has announced that it has fully unlocked the iPhone, patching its firmware to work with any carrier and allow the installation of any application, not just what Apple distributes through iTunes.

[From Wired]

Sort of like pointilism but instead of using dots to paint a picture, Steve is painted with Apple products.
Source

Still in beta, Apple released iPhone 2.0 software (official release is planned for June).

The iPhone 2.0 beta release includes both the iPhone Software Development Kit (SDK) as well as new enterprise features such as support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync to provide secure, over-the-air push email, contacts and calendars as well as remote wipe, and the addition of Cisco IPsec VPN for encrypted access to private corporate networks.

Read more about it at Apple

Try these:

Griffin Courier Case for iPhone (new!) – All praise the bicycle courier. Street warriors. Bi-pedal bicycle workaday daredevils. Taking their lives into their own hands when they hit the streets bearing your packages. Any time, any day, in any kind of weather. That’s the life they have chosen. And this is their iPhone case.

Griffin Leather Sleeve Case for iPhone – includes a removable two-way clip to attach the case to a bag, briefcase or backpack strap for multiple carrying options. To help you keep your iPhone as clean and fresh as theday you bought it, a static peel screen protector and premium cleaning cloth is included with every Elan Sleeve.

iPhone Ranger Case – This one is the best for carrying the iPhone externally, regardless of price. By externally, I mean clipped to your belt, bag, pack, etc. The clip is strong yet does not intrude or poke into your flesh like some do, especially the swivel clips. The horizontal orientation ensures one can sit comfortably while ‘wearing’ the phone. The magnetic closure is quick and secure. I don’t like push snaps because I don’t want to risk undue pressure on the phone. It holds the phone securely, yet with the strategically placed openings on the corners and bottom, it is easy to extract with one hand. The interior is soft against the phone and very stiff to protect it. Comes in different colors.

Black Leather Holster for iPhone – Featuring a horizontal belt-clip, the HipCase provides the utmost in comfort and accessibility. As with other smartphones before it, the iPhone’s dimensions virtually require a horizontal waist holster for optimal comfort–and the HipCase delivers.

Here’s the how to.

A quick note to let you know I’ve posted this week’s picks early (as usual). Here it is:

iPod and Accessories Week

Note: For those of you who only use RSS readers, the week’s picks have a different rss feed. Here it is: Mac Games and More Weekly Picks RSS FEED

Watch the slideshow at Geeksugar

From Apple:

Apple® today added new models of the iPhone™ and iPod® touch which have double the memory, doubling the amount of music, photos and videos that customers can carry with them wherever they go. The revolutionary iPhone now comes in a new 16GB model for $499, joining the 8GB model for $399. iPod touch now comes in a 32GB model for $499, joining the 16GB model for $399 and the 8GB model for $299.

“For some users, there’s never enough memory,” said Greg Joswiak, Apple’s vice president of Worldwide iPod and iPhone Product Marketing. “Now people can enjoy even more of their music, photos and videos on the most revolutionary mobile phone and best Wi-Fi mobile device in the world.”

Both iPhone and iPod touch feature Apple’s revolutionary Multi-Touch™ user interface and pioneering software that allows users to find and enjoy all their music, videos, photos and more with just a touch of their finger. All iPhone and iPod touch models include the latest software enhancements announced last month including the ability to automatically find your location using the new Maps application*; create Web Clips for your favorite websites; customize your home screen and watch movies from the new iTunes® Movie Rentals. Both iPhone and iPod touch feature the world’s most advanced mobile web browser in the world with Safari™ and great mobile applications including Mail, Maps, Stocks, Weather and Notes.

Pricing & Availability The new 16GB iPhone is available immediately for a suggested retail price of $499 (US) through the Apple Store® (www.apple.com), Apple’s retail stores and AT&T retail and online stores. The 32GB iPod touch is available worldwide…

Read the rest

iPhone 1.1.3 jailbreak now for Mac – You can download the Mac version of the software from the cre.ations.net website. Please note that this jailbreak might be hazardous to your iPhone’s health. Before you jailbreak your iPhone, be sure to backup in iTunes — and as always, hacking your iPhone is completely at your own risk. [from TUAW]

MacBook Air Dissected – As soon as we got our MacBook Air, we couldn’t help but want to tear it down to its innards. We wanted to see what made up this beautiful machine, so we grabbed our #00 phillips screwdriver and had at it. Want to know what we found? The sexiest and simplest notebook has the sexiest and simplest construction. [from Gizmodo] Update: They will post videos later.

MacBook Air: First Lab Tests - Macworld Lab releases its first tests of the MacBook Air, detailing just what level of performance you’ll have to sacrifice if you want to take advantage of its small size and light weight.

Americans Don’t Read – During Macworld, Steve Jobs told the New York Times that Apple will not make an e-book reader like Amazon’s Kindle because Americans don’t read any longer.He cited a specific number: 40 percent of Americans read a book or less a year, he said.Jobs may have been referring to a November report from the National Endowment of the Arts, To Read or Not To Read, which found that nearly 50 percent of 18-24 year-olds do not read at all for pleasure. Described as the most complete survey of reading trends, the report says Americans aged 15-24 spend two hours a day watching TV, but only 7-10 minutes reading. This includes reading for school or college.”The story the data tell is simple, consistent, and alarming,” wrote Dana Gioia, Chairman of the NEA.The decline of reading has considerable social, economic and civil consequences, says the NEA, and coincides with the rise of TV and the internet. [from Cult of Mac]