Otaku Gadgets

Apple has been in the news all this week as the ripples from the iPhone 3GS launch continues. Other than the latest security scare on the iPhone 3GS, there is also the little matter of new device from AppleInsider about the Apple tablet device that everyone’s been talking about. The much hoped device is apparently near completion and will arrive soon. Also noteworthy is an iPhone App that has surprised everyone by accumulating a total sales figure of over One Million US Dollars. Now there’s a figure to beat.

Starting with more pressing matters – it has been brought to the attention of the public that the encryption on the iPhone 3GS is apparently easily cracked. Forensic expert and famous iPhone developer Zdziarski confirmed that the iPhone 3GS’ encryption system cannot and does not stop a data thief from siphoning data off an iPhone. He talked and gave a demonstration to Wired, showing that live data on the iPhone can be stolen in two minutes and an entire RAW image (that is to say the image of the entire disk) can be obtained within 45 minutes. All with some free tools that are widely available.

This comes in the wake of Apple’s touting of the new and advanced security features on the new iPhone 3GS to attract more enterprise-level users. Zdziarski warns corporations not to put any faith in the iPhone but if the sales figures are any indicators – the companies either do not know or do not care. The iPhone is very enticing to them because of the bevy of apps that have been developed for the device. There are apps that let you edit Microsoft office documents and apps that let you swipe credit cards wherever there is WiFi. Applications like these are powerful applications that together have the potential to completely change the way people do business.

Wired even reports of a company where the owners and employees are aware of the situation and are ready to take on the risk for the potential benefits. Their logic is that they have to take some risk to reap the benefits and they have measures in place to take counter information theft when if it happens.

It is to be noted here that long time enterprise-class player – BlackBerry makers RIM (Research In Motion) – have included much better encryption in to their devices which can self delete precisely because they have not been active on a network. All it takes to stop the remote-wipe on the iPhone 3GS is removal of the SIM card. Thus, it is up to the app developers to come up with their own encryption.

Talking about apps, Apple’s App Store has made the headlines again this week. The App Store has recently crossed the 1.5 billion downloads mark. Keeping in mind that it was only last month or so when they crossed the 1 billionth download mark, this is remarkable at the very least. The App Store now has over 65,000 apps and 100,000 developers. An estimate puts the total money invested in the iPhone app startups at $100 million. That is not all really. An iPhone app has recently made its own headline for generating revenues of 1 million dollars within the first 6 weeks.

This app is the Fleet Air Superiority Training or F.A.S.T. – a dog fight gamer developed by Social gaming Network or SGN. The catch is that is made this in the first six weeks and that the game sells for $1.99 on the app store.

This piece of news has the iPhone and the gaming worlds abuzz with talks of the future of such virtual products. There is of course a constant debate between how paid apps measure up against the free to play social apps but there is a difference between giving something for free and taking a nominal charge for it in the virtual world.

In the virtual world your costs are limited to the costs of development and then the bandwidth for distribution. Hence, high amount of sales with a very low price tag can actually be profited from.

Even then, companies are looking into alternative modes of revenue because the nature of a virtual product makes it somewhat resistant to being sold as a commodity. Also, it has been proven time and again that a social application can easily generate revenue through other ways. Projects like Second Life and Project Entropia have repeatedly shown that free to play models with optional upgrades is a really profitable business. Agreed that you cannot do much in Second Life without spending real money but the application is enticing enough to draw so many people into it.

The tech world and the world in general is expecting another revolution from Apple as the rumors of a tablet device start flying thicker than ever. AppleInsider has claimed in a post that Apple is currently racing towards an early Q1 release in 2010. The site claims to have had the news from a trustworthy source whose accuracy has dependable so far.

The word first came out from Chine where orders of touchscreens larger than the iPhone but smaller than the 13″ MacBook had been placed. Since then, it has been speculation after speculation about the device and how it would look and what it would do.

From the general tech common sense, it can be said that Steve Jobs Apple is aiming at the same kind of impact as the one generate by the iPhone. I mean let’s face it here – no one has been able to review any touchscreen phone without referring to the iPhone. The two main reasons being – a)The iPhone started it all and b) The iPhone effortlessly leads the pack in every possible way, from hardware to software.

So what this device, dubbed the iTablet, will do to the market is up to the speculators. One this is for sure though, if what AppleInsider has reported is correct, Steve jobs is going to make sure that this is absolutely the embodiment perfection before it reaches public eyes. If there’s one thing Apple is known for, it is for their dedication to launching a finished product every time.

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