iParadise Lost

I love the world of tech I really do. Get this for a little snippit of fun news. Armin Henrich a developer for the new iPhone app store made a little app called I Am Rich that had no features than to merely display an image of a glowing red ruby on your phone, he priced it at $999 and has believe it or not sold 8 copies before Apple pulled the app after a complaint.

But as Armin puts it he did not unknowingly sell something to anyone who did not read the profile - it's a work of art with no hidden features all.

One red faced purchaser has tried to blame the fact he bought it on his wife saying she had installed one click on their computer...

It appears the Market research firm Gartner is giving a final cautious green light for using the iPhone in big business as it meets it's "appliance-level support status" having rejected the 1.0 2G phone out of the box. The recommendation is a cautious one with a slow and mananged roll out in enterprises. Features in the 2.0 software such as remote wipe have helped this change of heart. But reservations remain such as the phone's reliance on itunes to sync.

(Here I must interject with a strange anomaly if you are looking in say the US iTunes store on your Mac with your iPhone docked and then you remove your iphone go out and decide to get some freebies from say the App store you can't as the iPhone still thinks you are in US mode and bars you from buying stuff as your iTunes account is elsewhere)

In response to Apple's iPhone configuration utility software for businesses the report says "we have discovered that the product works via an unencrypted, distributed XML file which could be changed by the end user, Apple indicates that the profiles can be signed, warning the user of their legitimacy, but the most trusted management tools don't empower the user to make these types of security decisions."

Other key criticisms of the new phone were security centered around firewalls and encryption, no file transfers, lack of cut and paste and issues with Active sync where no record of replied to/forwarded email is recorded (unlike in blackberry land) ann finally two common smart phone problems: the high cost of international data roaming and lack of battery life.

On the plus side the report notes the excellent Appstore, html email client and top notch browsing experience on the IPhone.

So there you have it Apple has joined RIM and Windows Mobile in the enterprise accepted club. More worryingly for Nokia their E class phone have still yet to join as the necessary security features are still not available on these phones.

"It was a mistake to launch MobileMe at the same time as iPhone 3G, iPhone 2.0 software and the App Store.We all had more than enough to do, and MobileMe could have been delayed without consequence...

This is part of an internal email from Steve Jobs as seen by Ars technica and goes onto say how they have a lot to learn about internet services - you don't say !

My woes as a user came to an end too suddenly yesterday and I can now sync my macs and phone but having used up my free extra month I am not sure if Apple are going to grant anything else to this major cloudburst of beta tech shenanigans. How about a free six months while you iron out the kinks Apple ?

Anyone else have any good ideas for a suitable rebate ?

I suppose the jury is still out on electronic note taking. Remember the good old PalmPilot days of execs scribbling away in the new Palm script in meetings - however hard you tried a Bic and a paper pad never seemed to go amiss. But recently in my App store wanderings for free stuff I came across a rather good note taker and general file/photo keeper called Evernote. The real beauty of it is when it sends your data to your account website so that copies are stored there and it has a bold and refreshing interface. If like me, you have too many business cards on your monthly trips, why not take a snap of one and save it for later to update. It works across platforms and has a nifty voice record feature for those spur of the moment blog opening lines. A Windows/Mac desktop programme is free to download for sifting through those longer trip notes - now if only it could do my expenses for me oh that would be so cool...

PS I have feeling this kind of syncing between phone, mac and web is kinda how Mobileme should have been note to Apple take a look at the great and simple Evernote interface and at least they have the guts to label it BETA.

Well when does the Apple rumour mill ever die down these days ?With the dust not even settled on the iphone and MobileMe launches and fans are alreading reading in Apple's CFO's sales projections and seeing new laptops flying out of the Steve's magic bag and perhaps a smaller form feature (9 inch screen anyone?) tablet PC.

Well given the Macbook Pro has not seen a significant change since really the 2001 Titanium beautie it is about time that got a new form factor and no doubt like the iMac you will see Aluminium clad Macbooks before year end.

But a Mactablet well I don't think so Apple in recent weeks has shown how it really is straining under those Apple store lines and another Mac OSX platform morph alongside Leopard and its iPhone versions would perhaps see its software support engineers implode I am more than two weeks into a cloud issue with them and still no end it sight.

And please tell me if I am wrong but wouldn't a larger tablet with touch screen features just get ever so smudgy and blurred unless Apple comes up with an auto-screen clean feature ?