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Cellphones Businesses Apple

iPhone 1.1.3 Update Confirmed, Breaks Apps and Unlocks 412

An anonymous reader writes "Gizmodo has gathered conclusive evidence which confirms that the iPhone Firmware 1.1.3 update is 100% real. It installs only from iTunes using the obligatory Apple private encryption key, which nobody has. The list of new features, like GPS-like triangulation positioning in Google Maps, has been confirmed too. Apparently it will be coming out next week, but there's bad news as expected: it breaks the unlocks, patches the previous vulnerabilities used by hackers and takes away all your third-party applications."
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iPhone 1.1.3 Update Confirmed, Breaks Apps and Unlocks

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  • by Kagura ( 843695 ) on Sunday December 30, 2007 @01:43AM (#21854048)
    My phone is activated and I use AT&T. There is no way I am upgrading until I can use my apps with it, too. And it'll suck, period, if I have to reinstall all my apps. I would consider doing so for the GPS triangulation.
    • I would consider doing so for the GPS triangulation.

      The Google 'My Location' feature will now work [iphonealley.com] with the iPhone. Additionally, here's a new GPS add-on, shipping in February for 89$, for the iPhone and iPod Touch [partfoundry.com]. There's also TomTom who is rumored to develop a GPS add-on [engadget.com] for the iPhone. See my journal for the rejected story last Friday on this subject.

      (I don't have an iPhone and don't want one, aside from the fact that they're not available in Canada anyway ;-) (and oh, I think we're kind of losers of focusing on the bad sides of the new update instead o

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by tacocat ( 527354 )

      What did you expect? You purchased a product from a company. Said Company makes very clear that they do not authorize you to use third party applications and so when you do... they have an interest in tearing your mods out of the software. That's the nature of the product right now.

      I don't think Apple is evil but they are working on a very fine edge right now. They are taking on the entire cellular industry with a product that they have tried previously to launch (Anyone remember Newton?) with updates

  • And lo... (Score:5, Funny)

    by ravenspear ( 756059 ) * on Sunday December 30, 2007 @01:43AM (#21854050)
    I felt a great disturbance in the airwaves, as if millions of helpless iPhone apps cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced.

    They cried out, "don't raze me bro!!!"
    • by SeaFox ( 739806 )

      I felt a great disturbance in the airwaves, as if millions of helpless iPhone apps cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced.

      They were all using their iPhones on T-Mobile.
    • by Dr. Hellno ( 1159307 ) on Sunday December 30, 2007 @04:06AM (#21854660)
      when I get the update I'll tell it, "these are not the apps you are looking for."
    • by moro_666 ( 414422 ) <kulminaatorNO@SPAMgmail.com> on Sunday December 30, 2007 @06:04AM (#21855014) Homepage
      I can already imagine the scene.

      Poor iPhone shaking on the ground, a running helicopter in the distance.
      A fanatic iPhone hacker tries to twiddle with the touch-screen to get the damn big investment to work, next to him stands Jobs in a long latex costume, holding a firmware update next to the hacker's head. He says "Unlock this" and fires the update 1.1.3.

      But Neo isn't there, Neo is home, enjoying a simple unlocked phone that has 3G and tons on applications and just works (and it was cheaper) :-)

      When iphone came out, a lot of people made the noise "locked phone ? forget it mate, i will go and buy something else" ... some others fought back and said "oh come on, we will hack it, ha-ha-ha" ... who is laughing now with their several hundred $ investment ?
  • Walled Garden (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Divebus ( 860563 )
    I'm not a developer, but I'm really thinking this Walled Garden thing is for the birds - which makes me want one of these less and less.
    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      Well they're *supposedly* opening up 3rd party apps next year when they release a real SDK. I guess only time will tell.

      As for unlocking them, eh. The only thing I'd really want that for is for when I go to Switzerland each year. Instead of paying the higher AT&T fees I could go with a prepaid card over there.
    • Re:Walled Garden (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Mikey-San ( 582838 ) on Sunday December 30, 2007 @04:47AM (#21854798) Homepage Journal
      I'm not a developer, but I'm really thinking this Walled Garden thing is for the birds - which makes me want one of these less and less.

      Okay, don't buy one. Apple's responsibility is not to you, the hacker (I love when I get the chance to use that word in the traditional sense), but to the person who buys the device and will never do anything unsupported with it. Why? Because these people either don't want to deal with incompatibilities or problems resulting from an update, or because they can't deal with them.

      Normal users don't want to "update their phone" (which is a weird concept to many consumers in the first place) and have it break in some way. Because the official SDK isn't out yet, and there are no guidelines that third-party developers are following, Apple has no realistic way to support their software across updates. Attempting to do so at this point would be a massive, stupid waste of the available time of their engineers.

      "Well," you're thinking, "the users who install unsupported third-party apps would be able to deal with bugs, or understand." No, most of them are going to whine and bitch on the Internet like they do now when Apple reverts their phone to a standard, known-good state during an update. But even if I'm wrong about that, it doesn't matter. The responsibility Apple's engineers have to the customer base on the whole is to guarantee that this phone that people bought "just works".

      But this presents a problem, right? It makes this amazing portable device only what Apple wants. For some, this is a real issue. You can't disagree with that, really. To solve this problem, you need a supported SDK. And that's coming. Officially. That means developers like me can write software for the iPhone and it won't vanish after an update.

      Releasing an SDK means you have to support it. Putting together an SDK you can support, and that is easy for developers to use, takes time. It's not just documentation, which in of itself is a large task if you want it done right--it's API design, build toolchain design, getting the supporting websites together and ready, training your developer support people in the new stuff, etc. It's huge! But Apple is doing it.

      For now, third-party software developed through unsupported means is just that: unsupported. In the near future, according to Apple, we'll have a supported means of developing software for the iPhone. And it'll be better software, because we'll have the documentation we need.

      There's no "walled garden", just a device whose SDK is in beta somewhere inside Cupertino walls.
      • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

        by aaarrrgggh ( 9205 )
        I have an iPhone, jailbroken twice but currently locked down. I have seen about a dozen iPhones through my random holiday travels in airports and on planes where I could see the home screen. Nine of the 12 had third party apps installed.

        Given the demographic, I was amazed by that-- well over half the people with an iPhone love it, but identify the fact that there is something fundamental missing to the point tha they are willing to void the warrantee to fix it.

        The key is that people's needs are different,
        • Re:Walled Garden (Score:5, Insightful)

          by mhollis ( 727905 ) on Sunday December 30, 2007 @12:50PM (#21857180) Journal

          I received an iPhone this year as a holiday gift. It's very nice.

          The problem is that it's replacing something and I have expectations regarding the something replaced. I'm trying to replace my Palm TX, my cell phone (which was a really old phone) and my iPod (Photo). The only thing the iPhone completely replaces is my cell phone.

          Palm has a KISS attitude about their devices and every time they have not stuck to that ethos, they have lost user base. But Palm has always had a SDK released that is based on the assumption that the Palm company cannot possibly know all of the ways someone might want to use their device. I think it's particularly arrogant for Apple to assume that only Apple knows all of the uses someone will want to put their iPhone to. They certainly don't display that kind of arrogance with the Macintosh computer. So, duly chastened, Jobs decided to release the SDK for the iPhone. After this Febuary, I'd say the iPhone (and iPod Touch) will begin to actually become useful.

          For those of you who either have Smartphones or Palm devices or Windows Mobile devices, the one thing the iPhone really, really lacks is the ability to cut and paste! I've been using computers since the 1980s and I cannot recall ever not being able to copy material from one place to be used in another place. This ability to write once, use multiple is the hallmark of computing and this is involved in database, word processing, and user interactions both within applications as well as between applications. The iPhone OS must introduce this, and soon.

          Until I can cut and paste, my iPhone will not be able to replace my Palm T|X.

          Until I can buy, download and install third-party utilities, my iPhone will not be able to replace my Palm T|X.

          I don't think my iPhone will fully replace my iPod because my iPhone simply doesn't have enough space on it for my entire music library. But the iPhone is more like an iPod Nano in the sense that one loads a subset of one's library on the iPhone, not the whole magillah.

          I am hoping that the iPhone does have hidden capabilities to move beyond AT&Ts Edge network to 3G wireless data. Certainly the European units have this capability, else they won't sell well.

          Until then, I shall remain a slightly dissatisfied iPhone user.

    • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

      by stewbacca ( 1033764 )
      I'm still waiting for Hoover to allow third party vacuum apps, those bastards!
  • by Junta ( 36770 ) on Sunday December 30, 2007 @01:44AM (#21854060)
    It gives a vague couple-mile area that you should be in or around. Google has been working to give this to phones lacking aGPS, but it's not a good excuse for lacking the feature when my zero-charge (one-year contract zero money) phone does have it.
    • If the iPhone can automatically center you even around the right quadrant of a city, a simple search on your current street address will quickly pinpoint where you are. But you probably donb't even need that since you could simply see on the map where the cross-street you are near to is located.

    • by Nyeerrmm ( 940927 ) on Sunday December 30, 2007 @03:04AM (#21854444)
      It changes depending on your location. Down around my house, in a suburban area, the circle is about half a mile, but it tends to be accurate within a quarter mile. However, when I was downtown a few nights ago, I noticed that the circle was within about .2 miles i think, and the location within .1 mile.

      I'd imagine towers are denser in most dense walking areas, allowing more accurate positions (with more intersecting hyperbolae), and that's where I see the feature being most useful. T

      That is, the feature isn't a replacement for something like a Garmin or TomTom, but I can see it being very useful for when you're lost in a pedestrian area and have time to look at a street sign and get your precise position once it gets you very close.
    • It works pretty well and its free. What are you complaining about?

      A general idea of where you are is all you need.
      It takes what? 5 seconds to zoom in to your exact location.
    • by Dr. Hellno ( 1159307 ) on Sunday December 30, 2007 @04:13AM (#21854674)
      In defense of this clearly defective feature:

      This way big brother might know I'm in the red light district, but at least he won't know whether I'm in Marv's Muff Emporium or Kinky Kurt's Krotch Kingdom

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by p0tat03 ( 985078 )
      Depends on where you are. In downtown Toronto the whole cell-tower triangulation can pin me down to a radius of roughly 10 feet, that's pretty frickin' good if you ask me, especially since it's designed so that you can search in your vicinity (restaurants, stores, etc) - anything that gets you within a block would do.
  • 3rd party (Score:5, Interesting)

    by larry bagina ( 561269 ) on Sunday December 30, 2007 @01:46AM (#21854072) Journal
    The iPhone SDK will probably be released at Macworld (January 14-18).
    • by Divebus ( 860563 )
      OK, if the SDK is for real and apps come forth, I could be convinced.
    • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

      This isn't offtopic - if there's an Apple SDK, apps won't need to be installed by hack. They'll be Apple supported. Basically, wait and see and don't let Gizmodo jump the gun ;)
    • Re:3rd party (Score:4, Insightful)

      by nine-times ( 778537 ) <nine.times@gmail.com> on Sunday December 30, 2007 @12:31PM (#21857048) Homepage

      And has anyone considered that maybe Apple has been rewriting portions of the iPhone's software in conjunction with developing the SDK, and that might be part of the reason why Apple's updates break 3rd party apps?

      Not to be too defensive of Apple or anything, but many have guessed that part of Apple's aversion to 3rd party application up to this point has been because the OS is still in flux, and software developed for 1.1.2 won't work with 1.1.3. Each of the iPhone updates have forced the 3rd party developers to rewrite their apps, lending some credence to this idea.

      I think we should just wait until the SDK is out and see what the situation is. If the SDK is terrible, then by all means complain.

  • Apple giveth, and Apple taketh away. Why they keep fighting their users makes no real sense. How long before, no matter how neat the gadget, the masses decide that Apple simply isn't worth the trouble?
    • Re:Tis the Season (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Bryan Ischo ( 893 ) on Sunday December 30, 2007 @02:02AM (#21854150) Homepage
      To answer your question: a long time, since the vast majority of users, vocal Slashdot geeks aside, don't give a rats ass about hacking any piece of consumer electronics they own. Most people buy products based on the features that the product claim to have, not on features that they *want* the product to have and believe that they can get by hacking the device.

      A correlary of this statement is that Apple really isn't fighting its users, as a group. It's just fighting a small minority of users who hack their iPhones, so your statement about Apply "fighting their users makes no real sense", itself makes no real sense.

      Disclaimer: I don't own an iPhone, but I might if I was richer.
    • Because most users don't care if it's hackable or not. The masses you are talking about are a small percentage of their user base. Far more are interested in unbundling it but the device is sold bundled so there shouldn't be any shock when they rebundle it on you by disabling the hack. Look I want to buy a hybrid car but I can't expect them to make any model available today as a hybrid. If I want a hybrid I have to buy what is available. Similarly if I convert a car into some form of biodiesel or hybrid I h
    • How long before, no matter how neat the gadget, the masses decide that Apple simply isn't worth the trouble?

      If Sony's any indication, roughly never (or at least until the gadgets themselves stop impressing).
    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by bushelpeck ( 1090329 )

      Apple's not fighting their users, they're protecting them, from their perspective.

      The jailbreaks are dependent on vulnerabilities which really can't be allowed to remain, for the security of the entire userbase. When the SDK is released all the developers who've already made apps will have a big head start and the good ones will even have an opportunity to get paid for their hard work if they choose.

      Should be unnecessary to point this out on /. but a hack is, well, a hack. Isn't that the fun of it?

  • The cryPhone (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Z80xxc! ( 1111479 )
    Why is apple trying so darn hard to stifle every attempt to develop for their product? I can sort-of understand the other carriers thing, as they and AT&T want their money, but the 3rd part apps blocking is just ridiculous. 3rd party apps are part of what made me initially interested in them; today I'm glad iDidn't get one. Even microsoft understands the importance of Developers, developers, developers, developers, developers, developers, developers...

    P.S: article tagged cryphone.
    • Re:The cryPhone (Score:5, Insightful)

      by supersat ( 639745 ) on Sunday December 30, 2007 @02:11AM (#21854194)
      Would you rather them leave the vulnerabilities unpatched so that any web site could 0wn your iPhone if it wanted to? Granted, there should be a way to load third-party apps without resorting to these kinds of hacks, but we'll see what Apple does when they release the SDK.
    • The whyPhone (Score:3, Interesting)

      by SuperKendall ( 25149 )
      Why is apple trying so darn hard to stifle every attempt to develop for their product?

      Why is Apple fixing known and demonstrated security flaws in products? I can't imagine why!

      I would think the fact that they are soon releasing an API for the phone would be seen as an indication they in fact supporting development as best they can. But you simply cannot have Apple leave gaping security holes in a product open or someone WILL exploit them eventually. Would you rather Apple left open the hole that let any
    • Re:The cryPhone (Score:5, Interesting)

      by oman_ ( 147713 ) on Sunday December 30, 2007 @02:25AM (#21854264) Homepage
      Apple wants to SELL the applications. If any coder can spend a weekend working up a decent solitaire game then that means they won't be able to charge $5 (or whatever) for their solitaire game on iTunes. The cell phone market has ALWAYS been about nickel and diming the customer to death. Charging for text messages?

      The movement to provide on-demand services is NOT about improving life for the customer. It has ALWAYS been about improving revenue. Getting more for less.

      and anyway...

      I own a hacked iPhone with the 1.1.2 firmware with about 15 third-party applications on it. This thing is by far the most useful consumer electronics device I've ever owned (besides my pc of course). I don't have to upgrade to 1.1.3 and it is still useful to me. When it's cracked I'll upgrade.... but either way it's still a win/win for me.
      • Apple wants to SELL the applications. If any coder can spend a weekend working up a decent solitaire game then that means they won't be able to charge $5 (or whatever) for their solitaire game on iTunes.

        That makes no sense. Regardless of how many "MySuckySolitare" games people release, Apple is still free to sell whatever they like on iTunes and probably get uptake that is affected negligibly by unpolished experimenters - have you SEEN most Palm software?

        After all, Apple started the iTunes store selling so
      • by Maserati ( 8679 )
        Umm, the $5 solitaire game will (probably) have better graphics, more layouts, more options, better testing, etc. etc. etc. If it doesn't, then a weekend project deserves to kick its ass in the marketplace. If it does, then they'll sell some. The iPod games seem to be selling reasonably well (I have no actual idea), and commercial smartphone software sells so a developer willing to a bit of work will have a salable product; just like always.

        That said, playing solitaire on a touch screen is pretty sweet. Eve
    • by jonwil ( 467024 )
      The lockout of 3rd party apps is again the carriers.

      They want to block things that hurt their business including:
      VoIP & IM apps that take away their call and message revenue
      Apps that connect to the internet and use that nice "unlimited data" plan for things AT&T doesn't want it used for

      The official line from the carriers is "unauthorized 3rd party apps are a security risk to our network" (although if this is true, why hasn't a carrier or phone maker come up with a demonstration on a simulator or a t
    • I finally tried an iPhone and I have to say while I'm extremely impressed, at $599 I'd expect to be able to unlock it and use it with any provider (my provider is Cingular, but it's the principle of the thing), I'd expect to be able to install third-party apps, and I'd expect 3G. Also, I'd expect it to provide GPS functionality since new phones include GPS receivers.

      When I upgraded my phone, I went with the Samsung Sync. Although it lacks availability of 3rd party apps, I bought it for the short term - it h
    • change through absurdity, basically the idea is to herd companies favoring control to become so draconian in their attempts to control their products that even the most dim-witted consumer will wake up to the fact that it is utter lunacy to buy said company's products.
  • Mouse.... (Score:2, Insightful)

    by ff1324 ( 783953 )
    Mousetrap...Mouse...Mousetrap...

    I'm going to go out on a limb and say we'll see a fix for the fix by the end of January. So all the iPhone users can get their fix fix fix.
  • by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 30, 2007 @02:10AM (#21854186)
    How dare Apple fix security bugs that can lead to arbitrary code execution!

    They're violating hackers' right to run their code on whoever's hardware they like!
  • by bug_hunter ( 32923 ) on Sunday December 30, 2007 @02:10AM (#21854192)
    Okay, I hate the fact that the iPhone didn't come out with an SDK at launch, and the fact that there's an existing playform for building phone apps (Java ME) that they completely ignored, and Apple's "Buy a new one if you brick it" policy (Could they at least take your bricked iPhone for $100 or something so the hardware doesn't go to waste?)
    BUT
    most of the security circumnavigation is a result of buffer overflows and other stuff that could be used in theory by attackers as well so they are right to patch it.

    Personally I'm going to wait until after the SDK is released until I think about buying one, and anybody else who is currently trying to hack the iphone should do the same (even just to save their wallets from more brick costs).
    • Why no J2ME (Score:5, Interesting)

      by SuperKendall ( 25149 ) on Sunday December 30, 2007 @02:31AM (#21854292)
      Okay, I hate the fact that the iPhone didn't come out with an SDK at launch, and the fact that there's an existing playform for building phone apps (Java ME) that they completely ignored,

      I have been doing Java stuff for a long time. And I've even done a few small things in J2ME in the past.

      But if you think about it, there's a good reason the iPhone doesn't have J2ME - it's not M. That is, nothing about the iPhone is anything like the reference J2ME platform, and it's really not a "Micro" kind of platform in the traditional sense of the word. But there's also no good Java GUI API to an all touch input device either, so you combine that with Java processor and memory requirements and it's really not a good fit for the iPhone, at least right now.

      Now that XCode/ObjC has garbage collection, there's really no good reason a Java developer couldn't move over to Objective C if they really want to develop something for the platform.

      When the API is finally released, we probably will see someone release a J2ME emulator for the iPhone which would be kind of interesting. But I think it would be some work to put that together.

      • by Mr2001 ( 90979 )

        Now that XCode/ObjC has garbage collection, there's really no good reason a Java developer couldn't move over to Objective C if they really want to develop something for the platform.

        Er.. other than having to learn a new language with a new object model (ObjC's OOP doesn't exactly map to Java or C++) and a whole new set of libraries, you mean?

        After all that, frankly, garbage collection is only a minor concern. If you're learning a whole new development platform, you may as well learn how to free your own memory when you're done with it.

        Sure, they could go through all that, but a barber could learn to be a mechanic too. Even moving from Java to C# is no trivial task, and C#/.NET is fund

      • lolwut? How does one write an "emulator" for a suite of libraries and a virtual machine?

        The second paragraph makes me question whether you actually know what J2ME is, or have any understanding about the relative specs of feature phones, smartphones, the iPhone, and desktop computers. (And it's pretty moot, anyway, considering the fact that Apple has locked out third party development until february, and depending on the control they leverage with their signing process, could continue to lock out competing p
    • by pembo13 ( 770295 )
      Established or not, I am no fan of J3ME, having used it extensively for a recent project.
  • Bah (Score:5, Interesting)

    by MistaE ( 776169 ) on Sunday December 30, 2007 @02:21AM (#21854238) Homepage
    Why does every one insist on giving the same old tired arguments every time an update comes out? Doesn't anyone remember that an SDK is coming out in a month (or less?) Everyone will be able to get their crappy Notepad++++ programs that way as well, and with Apple's approval no less.

    The issue with the unlocking is a different however. But, until the US people stand up and actually say that they want universal unlocking for all phones e.t.c. exclusive deals like the iPhone will continue. (Speaking of which, there have been exclusive phones in the past, and there will be more in the future, why is the iPhone always singled out for this?
    • Re:Bah (Score:4, Insightful)

      by ScrewMaster ( 602015 ) on Sunday December 30, 2007 @02:40AM (#21854332)
      Speaking of which, there have been exclusive phones in the past, and there will be more in the future, why is the iPhone always singled out for this?

      Because Apple has worked extremely hard to put themselves in the limelight, to maintain as high a profile as possible ... the price you pay for that is that any perceived foibles are yours and yours alone.
      • Apple has? (Score:2, Insightful)

        by SuperKendall ( 25149 )
        Because Apple has worked extremely hard to put themselves in the limelight,

        Because Apple has? Or the media has? Because every single phone since the dawn of time has "worked extremely hard to put themselves in the limelight". Apple just managed to actually succeed - and is being punished for that. Success is why Apple is being singled out, not because they tried any harder or any differently than other phones which get ignored.
        • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

          by AlXtreme ( 223728 )
          Apple just managed to actually succeed - and is being punished for that. Success is why Apple is being singled out...

          Seriously, what success? Apple's Jesus-phone was probably the most hyped product of 2007. Months in advance you couldn't get around all the articles promising a revolution in mobile phones.

          The reality is that I've yet to see one on this side of the pond, while I have a lot of Apple-fans in my network. They couldn't care less about some overpriced locked-down gimmick. Apple has been pushing ou
    • Speaking of which, there have been exclusive phones in the past, and there will be more in the future, why is the iPhone always singled out for this?

      Because in general the only phones anyone on Slashdot cares about are smart phones. Most smart phones makers (Palm, RIM) sell those phones through multiple carriers, so while often locked, they're locked to the phone service you have, not a competitor. The iPhone is the first really nice smart phone that a lot of people here would need to switch carriers to use without a hack, which is why people keep complaining. The issue is finally affecting them.

  • Does anybody have any numbers that state what percentage of iPhones are hacked?
  • Are we safe in assuming that this patch does not render iphones unusable? Simply disabling third party apps and patching holes, NOT locking it up so that you have to go to apple and pray for forgiveness?
  • by jhylkema ( 545853 ) on Sunday December 30, 2007 @02:45AM (#21854350)
    If you're determined to pay too much for a calling plan and an overpriced phone, this is what's going to happen. Sure, it looks cool, but it's locked down enough to make Microsoft blush. I mean, come on.

    Mod me to hell, I don't care, I have karma to burn.
    • by reidconti ( 219106 ) on Sunday December 30, 2007 @06:47AM (#21855152)

      If you're determined to pay too much for a calling plan and an overpriced phone, this is what's going to happen. Sure, it looks cool, but it's locked down enough to make Microsoft blush. I mean, come on.
      Verizon 900 minutes + unlimited data = $105ish after taxes. I know, I had a Moto Q just before the iPhone price drop, when I bought mine.
      AT&T iPhone 900 minutes + unlimited data + rollover minutes = $85ish after taxes.

      As for the 3rd party apps, I'll reserve judgment until after the SDK comes out. Like any half intelligent consumer, I bought the iPhone because I was happy with what it did, out of the box, at the price they charged. I did install the jailbreak + some third party apps on the original OS, but none of them were that useful. When the software update came out I knew it would trash my 3rd party apps but didn't care, so I installed it.

      To be honest, I didn't need any of the apps and am not really missing any functionality. I didn't even know there were ways to install 3rd party apps on the newer firmwares, that's how little I care.

      Once the SDK comes out and apps are "officially" available I'll take another look and see if there's anything I can't live without.
  • by peas_n_carrots ( 1025360 ) on Sunday December 30, 2007 @02:53AM (#21854388)
    The iPhone is a slick product. Kudos to apple for pushing the edge of UI design. But, once again apple's closed-system philosophy is their undoing. Yes they're releasing an SDK as a business response to Android. They're *responding* in this department, not innovating. That's why Google's Android will overrun the market and apple will be stuck with their ~3% market share just like the Mac.
    Predictions are difficult, and I'm no seer. This one looks obvious to me though.
    • Customers. They're what makes a platform. Not openness, not features, customers. Thats what the iPhone has and attracts. And thats what the developers will ultimately follow. Android will have a good following no doubt, but the iPhone's will be larger. In just 6 months this incredibly CLOSED platform is already the #2 Smartphone in the US. In a few years it'll probably over take Blackberry for the #1. I don't see any one or collective Android product rivaling that.

      A regular person isn't going to buy an Andr
    • Yes they're releasing an SDK as a business response to Android.

      The iPhone SDK was announced before android.

      But even if it was not, apply Occam's Razor - what is the simplest explanation for the iPhone SDK? Simply put it's the entire internet whining to no end ever since the iPhone launch that they want an SDK for the iPhone - more importantly, among them many registered Apple developers. It could be that Apple actually listens to customers and developers, a plan so crazy it just might work!
    • But, once again apple's closed-system philosophy is their undoing.

      Yep, those Macbook, Ipod, and Iphone sales figures sure do suck.

      At $200+ per share I'll have some of that "undoing" myself thanks.
  • I keep heaing people complain about Apple refusing to unlock the iPhone. Here's an ugly fact, they can't. They have a contract with AT&T preventing them from opening up the iPhone to other carriers, right or wrong they can't open it up without getting sued. Also it may be a condition of the contract they they prevent people from hacking them so they can use other carriers. Nothing is going to change until the contract is up. Once that happens expect changes. iPhone is now a proven product so now everyon
  • I don't grok the amount of anger in this thread. It's a phone. It was sold to you as a phone, nothing more.

    If you bought a car and completely changed the engine you wouldn't complain if the manufacturer didn't service it or keep a stock of oil filters for it.

  • Just a thought... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by defi ( 990087 ) on Sunday December 30, 2007 @05:55AM (#21854992)

    I personally love my iPhone. It does everything I need and then some. For instance I NEVER used youtube, but now I find myself using it in the oddest situations (like when an guy at work was talking about conway twitty I searched and found some concert clips and showed him). I also dont mind the wait for third party apps, I would rather have a well thought out SDK than something hacked together. Heres something I dont understand regarding third party apps; why does everyone feel that Apple has to support them and be careful when updating. I find this analogous to a contractor building a house and having to redesign it every morning when someone cuts holes for windows or runs wires where they want to. If the "hacker" community involved wants to create a cell phone then do it. Don't complain that someone spent a long time to refine the hardware and software for a device and then claims ownership and is protective of it. If their so happy with their unlocked phones then don't update, if its so perfect leave it alone. Better yet why not treat it in the true spirit of open source and give Apple the respect for what they did and fork it. Make your own project, create the firmware, make a loader, refine its synching abilities, and so forth. I love the open source community and use a lot of their software daily, linux especially is a one of the best things ever to happen to computing. What I don't like is the direction its moving, and the attitude towards the iPhone makes this apparent. I attribute this to the RMS opensourcers' and their socialist, anti-capitalists ideologies (Honestly what is wrong with making a profit off of your creation, this isn't the 70's and these are not command line e-mail apps were talking about).

    I dont mind the way Apple does buisness and believe they listen to their consumers. I cant tell you how many posts I read complaining of a lack of gapless playback on the iPod, only to find out that these posts were dated and that the feature had been included. The thing with Apple is that they don't just "do" things to shut people up. I admire that. They have a direction their moving in and they keep the course. I cant stand these companys that try to make a swiss army knife style device that is just crap. Have some focus and get the core features working. I had a gps-enabled blackberry on nextel and I dont think I ever got it to find my location. Thats crap, if a feature is there it should work, with the least amount of flaws. My iPhone always works and the only two apps I ever have problems with (Mail when I check my IMAP account from to many locations simoultaneously i.e. on my laptop while connected on my phone, and safari has the occasional page crash) are corrected very quickly. If an app hangs hold the home button down and it will restart. I never have to reboot my iPhone and can honestly say that its been on for about 4-5 months straight. Thats stability.

    In time I agree that most of these arguments will be mute and have been a waste of time. The SDK will come, it probobly will be limited in the beginning but will eventually be full featured. It will become unlocked, I mean, Isn't it illegal to keep a phone locked after the contract is up anyway. If this isn't allowed then someone will take them to court and force them to obey the laws.

    Now for a request. Could everyone stop complaining and get innovating. Take all this negativity and focus it into the iPhone killer. I would love this and probably be one of the first buyers . Ohh yeah I own Apple stock (sort of a disclamer), but I would ditch it and my iPhone in a second if there was truly a better product. I'm only loyal to my family, my money goes to the winner.

  • by Zhe Mappel ( 607548 ) on Sunday December 30, 2007 @07:17AM (#21855242)
    What, you didn't think your iPhone was yours, did you?

Always leave room to add an explanation if it doesn't work out.

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