Enterprise Mac | Tom Yager | July 2007

MORE ENTRIES

July 2007

July 30, 2007 | Comments: (0)

OS X's commercial credentials recently got a major boost from the Open Group. Thanks to the efforts of Apple's OS boss Kevin Van Vechten and his team, Leopard has cleared all of the hurdles required to attain UNIX 03 certification. That places Apple in elite company. Only Sun, IBM and HP are certified, so OS X turns the Big Three into the Big Four.

Here's Apple's Open Group brand certificate, which entitles Apple to use the UNIX brand. I suggest printing this on high rag content paper, framing it and hanging it in your server room or your Mac-graced cubicle. There are UNIX pretenders, and there is the real thing. Mac users, realize that qualifying for UNIX is no small feat, especially for an open source, BSD-based OS. The Open Group standards, the PDFs for which are idiotically marked as free but blocked from PDF download unless you buy your way into a membership, are rooted in System V. Apple is to be commended.

The UNIX 03 specifications cover libraries, system calls, terminal interfaces, commands and utilities, internationalization and the C language. That's the whole enchilada for ISVs (independent software vendors) porting their server and non-GUI applications to OS X. UNIX ISVs ought to climb on board, because once Leopard ships in October I expect Xserve sales to take a leap. Software developers should also keep in mind that the Leopard client OS is the same as Apple's server, minus the quite exceptional administrative tools, and the installed base of four and eight-core Mac Pro desktop/workstations is even larger. MacBook Pro users are carrying 4 GB notebooks. If you're put off by Objective-C and Apple's proprietary UI frameworks--you needn't be, although I do wish that someone would give Apple's frameworks the Mono treatment--you've got OpenGL, SDL, X Window, Wine, Java SWT, Flash, DHTML with Apple's Canvas extension, and my old flame, curses. Microsoft's Silverlight is sweet as well, and it's picking up steam.

Wondering if you want in? You do. Imagine coding on Mac and porting by recompile to RISC big iron.

Posted by Tom Yager on July 30, 2007 08:57 PM

July 17, 2007 | Comments: (0)

BlackBerry tether (mobile Internet gateway) for Macs isn't coming in August, it's already here

While I was Googling to track down one of my own stories, I came across this BlackBerryCool.com entry promising that Mac users will soon be able to use their BlackBerry handsets for tethered Internet access.

I've been tethering a MacBook Pro through my T-Mobile BlackBerry 8800 since May; I point to the very well-documented procedure in a prior entry to Enterprise Mac. Follow the instructions, and your Mac will dial your Bluetooth-equipped BlackBerry like a modem and link it to your wireless operator's data network--in T-Mobile's case, that's 128 Kbps EDGE--whenever it needs access to the Internet. Tethering isn't unique to BlackBerry. I've done the same with Symbian (e.g. Nokia, Samsung) handsets, and tethering is baked into Windows Mobile. Whether you can use it, and how much it'll cost you, is really up to your wireless operator. Free tethering is permitted under T-Mobile's BlackBerry Unlimited plan, while AT&T requires the use of a special data plan. I'm not familiar with other carriers' policies.

iPhone does not yet support tethering.

Posted by Tom Yager on July 17, 2007 01:23 PM

July 13, 2007 | Comments: (0)

Canceling AT&T service does not lock your iPhone

At the time I wrote the iPhone review, it was not clear to me (or anyone) how iPhone would behave if the device were activated, a process that requires a two-year commitment to AT&T Wireless, and the AT&T Wireless service were subsequently cancelled. I called AT&T yesterday to cancel my service, something that you can do without penalty within 14 days. My iPhone's only been one day without AT&T, but so far, all of the device features that don't rely on the cellular network--pretty much everything but Visual Voice Mail--work without issue. And if I had to call 9-1-1, I could.

The only sign that anything's amiss is "NO COVERAGE" where the carrier name, mobile net signal bars and EDGE data indicator appear.

The first and final AT&T bill for iPhone service comes to about $69. That covers activation and 12 days' worth of prorated service.

Is activate-and-cancel smarter than using the unbricking crack? Users who have applied a "crack-tivation" technique to unbrick (i.e. get past the "Activate with iTunes" lock screen) their iPhones have found that YouTube does not function, and that other applications that use the network complain about not being able to find an EDGE connection before they connect with Wi-Fi. I haven't had any of those problems, but I can't say what would happen if I did a hard reset on iPhone or wiped out the MacBook Pro that I used to activate it. I also don't know whether Apple's first iPhone software update will re-brick my iPhone.

It shouldn't. The SIM is valid. It's in the same state it would be in if I had missed a payment, or if I were out of wireless range and couldn't register with the network. Even so, I'll turn off the GSM/GPRS/EDGE radio to save a bit of battery.

AT&T was very quick and courteous. I was impressed with the professionalism of the AT&T reps that handled my cancellation. I only had to talk with two people, neither of whom gave me a hassle. My contribution to the "how can we keep your business?" exchange was an offer to stay on if AT&T would let me add data service for another device onto my account so that I could move iPhone's SIM between two handsets (one device on the mobile network at a time). The rep understood what I wanted: "You want to keep your existing phone but carry iPhone once in a while?" Exactly. "I can't do that." she said. "You can't use an iPhone rate plan with another phone, and you can't use another phone's rate plan on iPhone." I offered to pay them more money per month, but they turned me down. iPhone really is a game-changer.

As soon as you add iPhone data service to an existing rate plan, it wipes out any other data service you have on the account. I learned that on my own. An iPhone SIM only works for voice in another phone.

Posted by Tom Yager on July 13, 2007 11:59 AM

July 10, 2007 | Comments: (0)

The unofficial Apple TV SDK is a model for white hat iPhone hackers

iPhone crackers have their priorities mixed up. They're laboring to unlock iPhone to work on multiple wireless operators' networks. That's effort that AT&T and Apple will actively block because it interferes with revenue. Remember that Apple's exclusive deal with AT&T puts money in Apple's pocket every month for every iPhone subscriber that signs up. If you go taking money out of Apple's pocket, you should expect to have your effort rendered wasted by a future firmware update.

Crackers have discovered that iPhone's firmware bootloader is locked up tight and will only boot code that's encrypted against Apple's private key, and now they're picking away at an interface to iPhone's radio chip to work an unlock. I respect the desire for freedom, but I think that some of the guys who are pushing their way into iPhone should be focusing on work that's of more immediate benefit to iPhone owners and to potential developers. Access to iPhone's sandboxed file system and adding plug-ins to Safari are more productive goals. That effort would help sell iPhones, and I doubt that it would draw much fire from Apple.

There is a precedent for that belief. Apple rolled out Apple TV as a non-user-extensible platform. Apple released no SDK, no technical documentation and no development tools, and informed me in a briefing that Apple would not be supporting custom development on Apple TV. Bummer. Why, I wondered, weren't developers protesting about being shut out of Apple TV?

Mac developers spend no time complaining. When Apple says "no," they find a way to do it anyway. Apple expects that, and I believe it counts on it. Many outside Apple are as smart and resourceful as the engineers inside Apple, especially when they can work without answering to management and marketing.

I wasn't surprised when early Apple TV users uncovered traces of a mechanism used for enhancing Apple TV through downloadable plug-ins. I wasn't surprised by hacks, albeit ugly ones, that get Apple TV to boot full OS X (possible, but awfully silly since you end up with a Mac that has 256 MB of RAM). But I underestimated how seriously the Mac developer community would take the mission of opening Apple TV to developers, a goal that I consider worthwhile, and in a way that doesn't deny Apple any income.

There is an independently-authored Apple TV "Back Row" SDK, developed by Alan Quartermain, which comes complete with Xcode templates, sample code, an emulator and tutorials. And in the best Mac tradition, it's all free and open source. Some of the really useful plug-ins that were built against this SDK are listed on the Awkward TV site, and developers took the time to make them mesh with Apple TV's UI and its clean, commercial look and feel. I'm not interested in making my Apple TV a Mac, but extending it with additional video codecs and access to content beyond iTunes and YouTube make an investment in Apple TV more worthwhile. There aren't many who will be willing to go through the process required to get Back Row apps and plug-ins running--you still have to crack Apple TV's case--but it's turned out to be a fun device for harmless hacking, and non-hackers who can stomach the risks benefit from the effort.

"Harmless" is the operative word.

Posted by Tom Yager on July 10, 2007 11:41 AM

July 10, 2007 | Comments: (0)

How to store files in iPhone for off-line viewing: E-mail them to yourself

iPhone Web apps can't use iPhone's internal file system. Storage has to be handled on the server end, which makes off-line viewing of documents and Web pages challenging.

However, there is a solution to this that I haven't seen discussed elsewhere. Web sites that want to persist data should e-mail it to the user. Word, Excel, PDF and HTML attachments are directly viewable from inside iPhone's mail app while iPhone is not on the network. The mail app warns you that you can't access data while off the air, but you can ignore it. Attachments are downloaded. Hyperlinks with long parameter lists can stand in for off-line storage. I created a special e-mail alias that I set aside solely for that purpose.

You can't insert pointers to other e-mail messages, and there is still no way to access iPhone files directly.

You can also use e-mail to create a desktop of sorts containing icons for sites and Web apps you use often. Bookmarks in Safari are text-only, but an HTML page in Mail can use IMG hyperlinks just fine.

Posted by Tom Yager on July 10, 2007 10:38 AM

July 10, 2007 | Comments: (0)

iPhone Web app development speeds ahead

If you want to create perfect iPhone Web apps, or see examples of sites that make the grade, you only need to study this magnificent page at iPhoneWebDev.com.

The iPhoneWebDev site, like most good things related to Web development for iPhone, is a by-product of iPhoneDevCamp, a flash-mob gathering of iPhone coders that convened right after the device's launch.

There are already some marvelous iPhone app/sites out there--check out appleopolis.com. Many of these app/sites are listed in multiple Appleopolis' directory categories, so the count looks higher than it really is. I've got a column to file, so I'll check back in with the gems from this collection. You don't need iPhone to see them. Grab the Safari 3 beta and use iPhoney. iPhoney isn't a simulator--Apple really needs to do one--but it does create a properly-sized window for accurate display of sites that want to look like native iPhone apps.

Posted by Tom Yager on July 10, 2007 10:01 AM

July 10, 2007 | Comments: (0)

iMacFixit warns: Don't install SuperDrive firmware update 2.1

This note from macfixit.com warns users against installing SuperDrive firmware update 2.1. The site says that "Dozens if not hundreds of users are now reporting that SuperDrive Firmware Update 2.1 killed their optical drives, with the devices no longer reading media, nor accepting or ejecting." It's reporting that drive replacement is the only option. Read the full warning here.

Posted by Tom Yager on July 10, 2007 09:02 AM

July 06, 2007 | Comments: (0)

iPhone unbrick (activate w/o AT&T service) hack works; single-step tool for Mac

Update: This page has a one-step downloadable tool for Mac users, and it includes the keys that make the directions in the following link easier for PC users to follow. The whole business in the PC technique about decompiling the .net assembly is to dig out encryption keys embedded in that code. The author of the original crack, Jon Johansen of DeCSS (the DVD copy protect crack) fame, didn't want to make it too easy.

You can now buy an iPhone and "unbrick" it (meaning, get past the globe and the activation nag) using a hack that's not a simple process, and a PC is required, but it is laid out step by step.

It comes down to this. You patch itunes.exe, set Apple's authorization host to 127.0.0.1, and run a mini-server that acts like Apple's activation server.

There are many reports of success and lots of confusion. Once you're unbricked, apparently you stay that way until the next major release. In other words, every time Apple issues a patch, it's very likely that it will undo prior cracks. iPhone may become a brick again if it's activated improperly.

Ideally, Apple would let the unbricking crack stick. It gives users the freedom to use iPhone as an iPod/PDA/WLAN browser without paying $60+/month to AT&T, and Apple maintains deniability because the crack wasn't its idea.

In the ideal ideal, Apple will just ship iPhone unbricked, which would have been the right thing all along. Paying $499 or $599 for a perfect media player, and then having to pay $36, plus committing to $60 x 24 months before you can play a song, is ludicrous.

Posted by Tom Yager on July 6, 2007 07:25 AM

July 04, 2007 | Comments: (0)

iPhone SIM works in any non-iPhone handset for calls, but not for data

As I expected, you can pull the SIM card from an activated iPhone and place it in any phone you wish. However, all you'll be able to do is make phone calls. Any Web or e-mail access you attempt with the other phone will be billed to you at $.01/kilobyte, or $10.24 per megabyte. Information Superhighway robbery.

I tried attaching a generic AT&T data plan ("MEdia Net") to the SIM. It seemed to work at first, but then AT&T's automated daily sweep of subscriber records removed it. The company's policy stipulates that if an iPhone Data Plan is active on an account, no other data plan is allowed.

This is probably no big deal for anyone else, but it's a show-stopper for me. I need to be able to swap that SIM between phones in order to do reviews. If I want to pay the extra $19.95/month for a non-iPhone data plan, AT&T ought to take my money, don't you think?

Posted by Tom Yager on July 4, 2007 08:37 PM

July 04, 2007 | Comments: (0)

The unofficial Apple TV SDK is a model for white hat iPhone hackers

"Harmless" is the operative word.

Posted by Tom Yager on July 4, 2007 08:08 AM

July 02, 2007 | Comments: (0)

Commentary on Jefferson Graham (USA Today) iPhone interview w/CEOs Jobs and Stephenson

Jefferson Graham's interview of Steve Jobs and AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson (USA Today, 6/30/07) is the only non-technical piece written on iPhone that's worth reading. So go read it. I intentionally pulled as little text as possible from the piece, so this is not a summary or "best of" cut of Graham's work. My thanks and kudos go out to USA Today and Jefferson Graham for an excellent interview.

Graham: The critics were effusive in praise for the iPhone, but had issues with the iPhone and the EDGE network, which they say is slower than others. How do you respond?

Stephenson: With a device like this, you need a broad based network that covers every nook and cranny of the country. That's EDGE. It does a nice job.

The AT&T 3G device I have here falls back to EDGE, so at least one 3G device qualifies for "...every nook and cranny."

Stephenson: (cont'd) It [iPhone] also has Wi-Fi, which is better than anything you'll find in any handset.

This is incorrect and unfair to other handset manufacturers. There are many handsets in iPhone's price range, some in AT&T's own catalog, that are equipped with Wi-Fi.

Jobs: [...] What we've found is that Edge is terrific for e-mail and basic Internet usage. When people need more speed, there's Wi-Fi. The nice thing about Wi-Fi is it's way faster than 3G. People are in areas with Wi-Fi much more than they think. I walk into work with the iPhone, and it instantly switches to a Wi-Fi network. If I'm walking down the street in downtown Palo Alto, the iPhone will switch from EDGE to Wi-Fi. It's very fluid.

I apologize to USA Today for pulling this long passage intact, but Graham's question drew Jobs into an answer that's his most relevant and telling statement on iPhone to date. Jobs' pitch that Wi-Fi is commonplace supports the use of iPhone as a handheld PC (like MS Windows Mobile Pocket PC Edition). A consumer who already has a phone would find iPhone well worth its cost in this capacity, but Apple has explicitly blocked that option. I believe that's bad business. I understand that its contract with AT&T makes it dicey to open iPhone to other carriers, but Apple can remove immediate AT&T activation as a requirement for making iPhone function as a handheld PC, and it must be pressured to do so.

Jobs also describes a usage scenario that positions iPhone as a mobile professional's handset, so it deserves to be judged against other devices in that category.

Graham: What about corporate e-mail? I understand that's an issue for many consumers, who may not be able to hook up to their company networks?

Great question!

Jobs: You'll be hearing more about this in the coming weeks. We have some pilots going with companies with names you'll recognize. This won't be a big issue.

Might this be the first of the third-party software developed with an unreleased software development kit? Perhaps that which will hit the fan is already in mid-flight.

Graham: When will the iPhone go on sale overseas?

Jobs: We have no announcement to make now.

I'm guessing that the deal with AT&T makes this dicey. For iPhone to be sold overseas, it has to be opened to multiple operators, including AT&T competitors that operate in the US and international operators that have roaming agreements with AT&T competitors. This would also create a gray market for re-imported iPhones.

Graham: So many analysts have suggested that with the expected success of the iPhone, Apple is about to be transformed into a different kind of company. What's your take?

Jobs: Working together with a partner like AT&T is a change for us. [...] By working together, we can come up with innovations that are exciting.

Stephenson: Voicemail is one of the least favorite products I sell. Now, with visual voice mail, it's a product I like.

Visual Voicemail is iPhone's killer professional feature. It's a significant step toward unified messaging, where all inbound communication is accessible through your inbox. I'd like to see all handset manufacturers and wireless operators jump on this. It requires a team effort, and AT&T and Apple deserve credit for bringing it together.

Graham: Do you still think you'll sell 10 million iPhones in the first calendar year — or will it be more?

Jobs: We think 10 million is a realistic goal.

If iPhone goes global, it'll hit that goal. Apple will have to open iPhone to developers to see those numbers in the US. Games alone would push iPhone over the top; VOIP over Wi-Fi, which could be done in open source, would be huge. If iPhone could be used as a handheld PC without AT&T activation and $60/month service, and if it was sold through Apple's broader iPod channel, its US sales would triple.

Graham: Except for operating system upgrades and Apple TV, the company historically announces a product and then has it for sale immediately. The build-up and hype for the iPhone has been unprecedented — will this change the way you market products?

Great question!

Jobs' response sums up to "no," and that's a good thing.

iPhone could have been done as a traditional quiet launch. It would have sold just as well, and the craze that Apple attempted to provoke wouldn't be the running joke that it is.

Posted by Tom Yager on July 2, 2007 09:08 AM

July 01, 2007 | Comments: (0)

iPhone purchase day findings: Good, bad, silly, sleazy

I'm not sure which stories belong where, so here's the iPhone story I wrote the first day with the device.

Posted by Tom Yager on July 1, 2007 09:04 PM

Technology White Papers

InfoWorld Technology Marketplace

» Technology White Papers Library

Technology White Papers by Topic

Technology White Papers E-mail Alert