Hasta La Gadget!

There were other features taking higher billing in the iPhone 3GS’ announcement than its hardware-level encryption — hell, even the magnetic compass was getting more play — but it’s there, and Apple’s actively marketing the bit-scrambling capability to enterprise clients. Problem is, hackers are apparently having a field day with it, rendering it useless in all but name. One iPhone dev (who teaches courses on pulling data off iPhones, coincidentally) goes so far to say that he doesn’t “think any of us have ever seen encryption implemented so poorly before,” noting that it’s no more difficult for him to pull data off a 3GS than it is off an encryption-free 3G. He goes on to point out that RIM — which has far more experience dealing with enterprise-class mobile fleets than Apple does — offers a far more robust remote wipe solution that doesn’t necessarily need to rely on an active wireless connection to clear a phone. The lesson? As overwhelmingly popular as the iPhone may be across every market segment, these guys are still the new kids on the enterprise block — and RIM (and heck, Microsoft, too) would be wise to stand their ground here.

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Hackers scoffing at iPhone 3GS’ hardware encryption originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Jul 2009 00:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Seriously folks, what’s up with these prototype iPhones falling out of nondescript white vans and ending up on eBay in the shadiest of manners? Just months after we saw an original iPhone prototype (ancient OS included) pop up on The ‘Bay, now we’ve got one of the world’s first iPhone 3GSs on there as well. According to the highly ranked eBay seller, the “guy” he “got it from” actually stumbled upon it at an airport, and rather than doing the nonsensical thing of hitting up lost and found, he decided to make the most of the sudden opportunity. According to the new owner, an Apple Genius has confirmed that it is an iPhone 3GS, but due to its prototype nature, they can’t help him get past the “Connect to iTunes” screen. In other words, it’s an incredibly rare brick. If that sounds like just the thing to complete your collection, you can visit the road to overpaying through the read link below.

[Via ElectricPig]

Filed under: Cellphones

iPhone 3GS prototype scooped up at airport, now on eBay originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Your fancy new iPhone OS 3.0 starting to look a bit long in the tooth? Heads up, Apple’s now sending out the beta OS 3.1 and its SDK to the developer community to finagle with. We’re still looking to see what’s been changed here, so for now, if you’re someone who needs the Latest and Greatest and happens to have the right access, download away!

Update: Still tinkering, but we’ve seen a new “Save a Copy” option for 3G S video editing that lets you retain the original film while saving an edited clip (picture after the break, thanks Kevin), as well as some reports of MMS being activated, but it seems to stall before actually being sent out over AT&T’s network.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

Continue reading iPhone OS 3.1 beta now available for developer community

Filed under: Cellphones

iPhone OS 3.1 beta now available for developer community originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 30 Jun 2009 19:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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So you’re an iPhone owner with a massive case of Pre jealousy, but you’ve got another year left on your AT&T contract. We know you’re out there, and we know you’re struggling — you’re feeling totally alone and misunderstood, like a lone voice struggling to be heard amongst the din of a thousand push notifications. A gadget nerd without a clan.

You don’t have to live this way. You don’t have to be trapped into a single touch interface aesthetic by the fear of early-termination fees and loss of Tap Tap Revenge compatibility. You have a choice — you can jailbreak your phone and install the Palm Prefection theme. You can show the world you’re not afraid to mix it up. Sure, you won’t be able to multitask for real and no amount of fevered prayer will ever bring a gesture area to your iPhone, but that doesn’t mean you won’t be taking a stand. Fly high, butterfly. Video after the break.

[Thanks, Dave]

Continue reading Palm Prefection iPhone theme lets you have the best of both worlds, kinda

Filed under: Cellphones

Palm Prefection iPhone theme lets you have the best of both worlds, kinda originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Jun 2009 19:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This video of iPhone OS 2.x running on a 24-inch multitouch monitor from Swedish design firm Dreamfield is almost certainly fake, but hey — it’s Sunday night, nothing’s going on, and we were thinking about how well touch-specific systems would work on a larger screen after seeing those CrunchPad videos anyway, so we thought we’d get some conversation going. We’d be willing to bet that a future Apple tablet has more in common with the experience shown in this video than with what we currently think of as OS X, but we’re not so certain we’re seeing anything here that makes us want to throw our mouse or keyboard away — or spend the entire day with gorilla arm. So — artfully mocked-up glimpse of the future, or just a pipe dream?

Keeping with the likely-fake theme, there’s also a probably-fake video of SNES and PS1 emulators running on the Pre, controlled by a Bluetooth gamepad. Yes, it’s incredibly awesome — and undoubtedly possible — but until we see some evidence of how things are loaded up and connected with the gamepad we’re sticking it in the fake category as well.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading Probably-fake video roundup: 24-inch iPhone OS, PS1 emulation on the Pre

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Probably-fake video roundup: 24-inch iPhone OS, PS1 emulation on the Pre originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 15 Jun 2009 01:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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