Online Masai :: The Digital Nomad » iPhone

Apple Sues Google-Phone Maker HTC for Stealing iPhone Technology

OnlineMasai — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 14:05:45 +0000

Apple today filed a lawsuit against mobile devices maker HTC. The suit claims infringement of 20 patents related to the iPhone’s user interface, underlying architecture, and hardware.

In the release, Steve Jobs says, “We can sit by and watch competitors steal our patented inventions, or we can do something about it. We’ve decided to do something about it…We think competition is healthy, but competitors should create their own original technology, not steal ours.”

Taiwan-based HTC was the first company to manufacture a cell phone based on Google’s Android operating system, which has emerged as a significant competitor to the iPhone, AP reports. It’s also making the Nexus One phone that Google is selling directly to consumers.

It looks like the Nexus One, and other HTC phones, may have hit too close to home for Steve Jobs.

Earlier, we supposed that Apple’s multi-touch user interface could be the basis for the lawsuit. But after examining the complaint, it appears that Apple is NOT suing over multitouch, but rather a bunch of other software. (When Steve Jobs unveiled the iPhone, he touted its multitouch screen, then said, “And boy, have we patented it.”)

Meanwhile, Apple is already tied up in a patent lawsuit with Nokia, claiming Nokia is stealing Apple technology. Nokia says Apple is stealing its technology. Kodak is also suing Apple claiming technology theft.

Basically, Apple’s patent lawyers are going to be busy for the next year or so.

App Store Coming to Kenya

OnlineMasai — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 14:04:44 +0000

Finally the app store is finding its way to Kenya. You can now distribute your apps to more customers with the addition of App Store support in Armenia, Botswana, Bulgaria, Jordan, Kenya, Macedonia, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritius, Niger, Senegal, Tunisia, and Uganda. Log in to iTunes Connect to view and update the countries where your applications are available.

This is sure to come in handy should you ever get the urge to grab that brand new app while you’re climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro, or while making your way across the beautiful Sahara desert.

Because of the way the iPhone SDK agreement works, inclusion in the new App Stores is not automatic—instead, developers need to log in to Apple’s iTunes Connect portal and request that their apps be added to the new distribution channels.

New iPhone worm can act like botnet say experts

OnlineMasai — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 13:42:14 +0000

A second worm to hit the iPhone has been unearthed by security company F-Secure.
It is specifically targeting people in the Netherlands who are using their iPhones for internet banking with Dutch online bank ING Direct.
It redirects the bank’s customers to a look-a-like site with a log-in screen.
The worm attacks “jail-broken” phones – a modification which enables the user to run non-Apple approved software on their handset.
The handsets at risk also have SSH (secure shell)installed.
SSH is a file-transfer program that enables users to remotely connect to their phones. It comes with a default password, “alpine” which should be changed.
Users who have installed SSH and not changed the password are especially at risk.
The new worm is more serious than the first because it can behave like a botnet, warns F-Secure.
This enables the phone to be accessed or controlled remotely without the permission of its owner.
‘clearly malicious’
“It’s the second iPhone worm ever and the first that’s clearly malicious – there’s a clear financial motive behind it,” F-Secure research director Mikko Hypponen told the BBC.
“It’s fairly isolated and specific to Netherlands but it is capable of spreading.”
He added although the number of infected phones was thought to be in the hundreds rather than thousands, the worm could jump from phone to phone among owners using the same wi-fi hotspot.
A spokesperson for ING Direct said that a warning was going to be put on the bank’s official website.
“We are also briefing call centre personnel,” she added. “It’s important to remember that the worm only affects jail-broken phones and it is only aimed at customers in the Netherlands.”
The first iPhone worm, called ikee, was harmless. Users with infected phones found their wallpaper replaced with a picture of 1980s popstar Rick Astley.
It also targeted jail-broken phones which were SSH enabled.
Its creator Ashley Towns said he wrote the ikee program in order to raise the issue of iPhone security.