Safari Browser of the iPhone

New research has concluded that the Safari browser of the iPhone 1.1.4 is vulnerable to attacks, which may lead to service denial and in turn, result in a system crash. This design flaw was detected by the researchers at Radware, an application delivery solutions company, earlier this week. The researches say the flaw triggers a series of “memory allocation operations on its memory pool”, which then triggers another different bug within its garbage collector.

To exploit Safari’s vulnerability, an iPhone user would have to open any malicious HTML pages that contain Javascript, usually as a social engineering tactic like e-mail phishing. The Radware researchers say that in a worst-case scenario, the users would experience a denial of service attack, which could result in crash of the entire Safari browser. Once the browser crashes, its malfunction could escalate to a point of paralyzing the entire iPhone.

iPhone reaching Canada

Canada's only major GSM cell provider, Rogers, is hoping to introduce the iPhone at the right time, while promoting a campaign for touchscreen phones at the company.

Rogers' campaign will most likely start in late May or early June, before Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference in which it is widely expected that the company will introduce the 3G model of the iPhone.

Despite its reputation as having the highest-priced mobile data plans of any cellular provider in Canada, Rogers is also the most advanced. About two months ago, the carrier introduced an unlimited data bundle "that gives users both unfettered browsing on most of its devices as well as a set amount of MMS/SMS messages and voicemail." Rogers' also offers advanced 3G network features including "two-way video calling on supporting devices as well as 7.2-megabit HSDPA downloads on portions of its network. The 3G iPhone is understood to use a newer Infineon chipset that would support both normal HSDPA service as well as its faster variety on Rogers."

Beta iPhone Firmware to iTunes Control

Apple may be preparing to add iPhone (and iPod touch) functions to connect to and play media from nearby iTunes sources. Citing an "anonymous tipster," TUAW reports that code found in the latest firmware release points to a new iPhone application called iControl, which it says could be part of Apple's own plan to release new software applications based on forthcoming iPhone SDK. Based on strings found in the code of the latest private iPhone firmware beta, the application would allow users to connect to shared iTunes library running on a PC to playback songs or view videos. According to the report, the media navigator will allow users to view videos, play podcasts, listen to music and even support shuffle playback from the iTunes library. If true, iPhone and iPod touch users would not only be able to playback media from their device, but may also be able to actively control iTunes installed on a PC.

Users could potentially direct playback of iTunes to any of its sources, including local speakers or other wireless speakers (connected via AirPort Express).

iPhone in India

Good News !! for the gadet lovers. This September, Indian market will have the most sought-after gadget – the iPhone available. According to a leading financial daily, the iPhone is expected to be launched with telephone operator Vodafone in the first week of September.

Features - include quad-band world phone support, a 2-megapixel camera, Wi-Fi, stereo Bluetooth, a speakerphone, e-mail and a Safari Web browser. Memory caps out at 8MB and there's no 3G support or wireless downloads, but the iPhone will garner interest simply because it exists.

Price - report says that the California-based Apple would first launch its 8 GB version of the iPhone, a touch-screen device with WiFi capability, an e-mail client, online music store, TV feeds and map-based guides. The iPhone 8GB version is estimated to be sold for a price ranging from Rs 27,000 to Rs 28,000.

Memory - Althought it has 8 GB as if now, but report added that the 16GB version would probably be launched by mid-2009, depending on the sales and market response in India.

A spokesperson from Apple says the carrier deal for India is still being worked out with the UK-based Vodafone, which is also likely to be the carrier for the Australia’s iPhones.

Wii Gaming Console

Nintendo does not plan to cut prices of its popular Wii gaming console or DS handheld game system anytime soon, the company's president made this announcement last Friday. While prices for hardware is usually reduced over time, that could leave gamers who bought early feeling ripped off, After the company reported record annual profits.

The Wii retails for about $250, unchanged since its launch in November 2006. In contrast, Sony has slashed the price of its 20-gigabyte PlayStation 3 twice so far to boost demand.

Nintendo Co. expects to sell 28.0 million DS units this year through March 2009, down from 30.3 million last year. While sales in Japan have slowed, the DS maintains strong momentum in the United States and Europe, with considerable room for growth. The DS Lite sells for 16,800 yen in Japan and $129.99 in the U.S.

Nintendo's main focus is to keep gamers playing by continually offering new software, services and accessories. He hinted that there were new projects in the pipeline, but did not elaborate.

"Our biggest fear is for people who have bought the DS to shut it away in a closet," Iwata said. "We want people to use it in their everyday lives." Still, the falloff in DS sales is a main reason why the company tempered its growth expectations this year after a nearly 48 percent surge in net profit last fiscal year to $2.5 billion and a 73 percent gain in global revenue to $16.2 billion.
"The speed last year was beyond our expectations," Iwata said.

What a Hit !!

Like all Japanese exporters, Nintendo is wrestling with a stronger yen that threatens to erode the value of overseas sales, which accounted for 81 percent of total revenue last year.

Nintendo's main driver of growth this year, then, looks to be the Wii — a runaway hit that has outsold Sony Corp.'s PlayStation 3 and Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360 since its release in November 2006.

With easy-to-play games and motion-detecting controllers, the Wii has done well by attracting new and casual gamers, including women and senior citizens.

Despite Challenging Economy - consumers around the world have snapped up nearly 24.5 million of the consoles so far, and Nintendo says it expects to sell 25 million units this year, even with a gloomy outlook for the global economy.

New Arrivals - Nintendo will release several new games this spring, including a racing game called the Mario Kart Wii. The Wii Fit exercise game, which has sold well in Japan, will also make its debut soon in the U.S. and Europe.

GPS ONIX 400

The Global Positioning System (GPS) is the only fully functional Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). Utilizing a constellation of at least 24 Medium Earth Orbit satellites that transmit precise microwave signals, the system enables a GPS receiver to determine its location, speed, direction, and time. Other similar systems are the Russian GLONASS (incomplete as of 2008), the upcoming European Galileo positioning system, the proposed COMPASS navigation system of China, and IRNSS of India.

ONIX 400

Today, the autonomous recreational handheld navigator is often overshadowed by what we have in our cars: the sleek PNDs with the big screens, loads of maps, and streaming traffic updates — all of which are useless in the backcountry. God forbid if you drop one on a rock while you're hiking or taking a fast turn on your all-terrain vehicle. For these reasons alone the market for recreational GPS devices remains brisk, with unswerving devotion from millions of outdoor types. Along these lines, a plethora of popular products are available from Garmin, Magellan, Lowrance, Trimble, and many others. Their prices range anywhere from less than $100 to more than $400. All have good-quality features, but a few really stand out above the rest, such as the offering from Bushnell discussed below.

This is a product that really impressed me. The brainchild of Phil Gyori and Jason Luzar from Bushnell, the ONIX 400 is a second-generation Bushnell attempt at getting GPS right, and it succeeded. Based on the needs of a customer base that demands a hardy field solution, be it rifle scopes, binoculars, field optics, or GPS, Bushnell went beyond the typical mass-market features found in recreational GPS devices to create something new and extremely usable.

Out of the box, the ONIX 400 feels good in your hand and is obviously well thought out, with a load of features and accessories. What's unusual about this device is the planning that went on in the design stage. First of all, you can download maps and aerial photos of the areas you want to explore. This feature allowed us to spot hiking trails and other parts of the ranch, as well as determine our proximity to them and our ability to navigate to them.

Another great feature of the ONIX 400 not typically found in this class of device is XM satellite radio — very cool indeed. I initially thought this feature might be a bit too much, but when I discovered my GPS location could be tagged to the weather channel and that I would receive any corresponding weather alerts, it all made good sense. There is nothing like standing in the middle of nowhere and being able to watch Doppler radar (actually, I turned the game on instead). The ONIX 400's GPS acquisition times were fast, it exhibited good battery life, and it featured easy-to-understand instructions. The large color display also pops out at you, even in direct sunlight. Not bad, for a company that has created only two GPS devices so far, it's a good start..

Can iPhone cater to Enterprise Market ?

Since Apple's iPhone launched last June, one of its biggest weaknesses has been its lousy/non-existent support for corporate email. That should change soon: Apple is planning to lay out the iPhone "software roadmap," including "exciting new enterprise features."

Apple might do to make the iPhone a solid business-email gadget by improving its ability to work with Microsoft's (MSFT) Exchange email server and IBM's (IBM) Lotus Notes, the top enterprise email platforms.

How will Apple make it happen? Most likely, the company has developed its own hooks into those platforms. Or Apple could have licensed email software from a third party, like Microsoft's ActiveSync technology -- less likely. Possible but least likely: licensing Research In Motion's (RIMM) BlackBerry Connect software.

I don't think they are going to replicate the robustness of BlackBerry push e-mail, but nonetheless, it seems improvements as positive.

Not just positive, but mandatory: If Apple (AAPL) wants to sell 10 million iPhones this year, cracking the enterprise market is key.

First they would have to worry about security stuff, complying with the Federal Information Security Management Act. Some features they would be looking for:

Does the system encrypt the data coming in and out of the iPhone?

Does it support encrypted email?

Can you wipe the device remotely?

To satisfy the group's disaster recovery plan, is there a backup messaging feature in case the Exchange server goes down?

Assuming all of that passed, they will have to set up the Microsoft (MSFT) ActiveSync software that the iPhone uses to connect to Exchange for email, contacts, and calendars. Then they would have to figure out a deal with AT&T (T), Apple's exclusive U.S. carrier partner. (Their organization's BlackBerry account is currently with T-Mobile.) Then they would have to test iPhones on the system, buy a bunch, and set them up.

To be sure, this is a branch of the Federal govenment we're talking about, so we wouldn't expect them to turn on a dime. But we think many large companies won't be much nimbler. Which means the iPhone's first corporate customers are going to be small shops with dozens of people, not hundreds or more.

And given that a lot of the growth in the smartphone market -- even for RIM -- is coming from consumers who just want to connect to their corporate email as a convenience, Apple (AAPL) will focus on them first. They can tackle RIM's biggest business customers down the road.

There are applications you can think of–field technicians in areas with poor connectivity who need access to large amounts of data–but those are probably the exception, not the rule. Most road warriors could use Web-based tools with little loss in productivity. I have been amazed at the richness of some of the iPhone applications that I’ve seen and it’s only been a few months.

Creating Web-based applications and data might not work for every enterprise, but if it works for you, then the iPhone, and it’s future copycats, might prove to be a superior platform. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that just because the iPhone doesn’t work like the last generation of mobile devices that it’s not right for your organization. Regardless, the iPhone portends changes for the mobile market and it’s worth paying attention to what that means for your enterprise.