Tag: Apple

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AllThingsD: Apple Extends iPhone Lines Additional 2 Hours

If you didn’t get one at launch, like waiting in lines and are an early bird by nature, John Paczkowski of AllThingsD reports that Apple is extending iPhone lines at their stores for an additional two hours, opening at 8:00AM…  

John holds up his iPhone 3G ticket at a local Apple Store

“Great news for the Mac faithful iPhone covetous: iPhone availability is improving. Responding to unprecedented demand for the new device, Apple (AAPL) is opening its retail stores two hours early. And it’s pre-qualifying customers as well. “To accommodate demand for iPhone 3G, all Apple Retail Stores will now open at 8 a.m. every day but Sunday,” the company says on its retail store page.

“We’re also adding staff to help you get up and running as quickly as possible. Customers will be prequalified to purchase while in line and will receive a claim ticket for an iPhone 3G. Your ticket can be redeemed on the spot or–if it would be more convenient to return later the same day–by 6 p.m. (4 p.m. on Sundays).”

Tags: Apple, iPhone, mobile phones.

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The Times’ Practical Mac guys and their cool iPhone apps

Echoing the Computerworld post of 11 cool new apps for the iPhone, and my stab at similar Windows Mobile apps, the venerable Seattle Times has an article by Jeff Carlson discussing iPhone applications in his practical Mac column. (As noted on the site, Carlson and Glenn Fleishman are responsible for the ‘Practical Mac’ column.)

“The [iPhone] applications run the spectrum from simple tip calculators to games of all stripes. Here are a few broad categories that I think are important, with selected application examples. All of the ones mentioned here are free unless otherwise noted.”

Although not completely original, Carlson notes FileMagnet ($4.99) which allows iPhone users to utilize their phone as a storage device, accessible over Wi-Fi.  From the looks of it, I’d like to see something this slick for Windows Mobile phones.

He also called out BattleAtSea ($4.99), then nice iPhone rendition of the classic Battleship game, playable over the network.  Of course, there are various versions of Battleship like this one ($14.99) and a version from astraware ($19.99) available for multiple portable form factors.  I’ve also seen free versions of Battleship available (and this one on download.com) but I haven’t seen a recent version posted.

And the article in The Times notes PhoneSaber which “the 7-year-old Star Wars fan in me says you need to check it out.”

Also of interest: Laptop Magazine’s affectionately named article ‘Windows Mobile Smart Phones That Don’t Suck and Some that Do‘

Tags: Microsoft, Windows Mobile, iPhone, mobile phones, smartphones.

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Safari: an update on managing Apple Software Update items

In an update to my post No Safari option for me on Apple Software Update, thanks (as always) to Microsoft MVP Blake Handler for this update.

Dan Cunningham documented how to disable this update….

Offered as an FYI, YMMV, as modifying the registry (if you don’t know what you’re doing) may not be wise.

“This is also going to be a problem in corporate environments, where end users have a bit of freedom. I know of numerous companies that don’t “allow” Quicktime or iTunes, but don’t have the ability to prohibit the installation (bet you’re wishing you didn’t give your user’s local Administrator privileges now huh?).

“So I decided to do a little research into ASU and see if it can be locked down in any way. Well there doesn’t seem to be any ability to lock down through Group Policy, but I did find that a specific REG_MULTI_SZ value in the registry can effectively disable the Safari update. I don’t know if this applies solely to Safari 3.1, or any future versions, but it’s worth implementing anyway. Save this text to a .REG file:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Apple Inc.\Apple Software Update]
“Update_Ignore_List”=hex(7):30,00,36,00,31,00,2d,00,34,00,35,00,31,00,36,00,00,\
00,00,00

This sets Update_Ignore_List as a REG_MULTI_SZ to “061-4516″. This is the update code for Safari. For companies that need Quicktime to be updated, but don’t want iTunes to be installed, you can also add “061-4270″ to the list:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Apple Inc.\Apple Software Update]
“Update_Ignore_List”=hex(7):30,00,36,00,31,00,2d,00,34,00,35,00,31,00,36,00,00,\
00,30,00,36,00,31,00,2d,00,34,00,32,00,37,00,30,00,00,00,00,00

Anyway, hope this helps someone!

Tags: Microsoft, Apple, Macintosh, Safari, customer satisfaction.

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No Safari option for me on Apple Software Update

It’s a busy season, and it’s taken a toll on my ability to post this week.  But a canceled meeting and I pop up my head for lunch as well as a look at the RSS feed for news…

So, it’s interesting to note the news today: looks like the mood changed at Apple related to Safari (pushed to customers without Safari initially installed) on Apple’s Software Update.  I found that in a ping from Apple Software Update today (in support of my QuickTime installation), I’m no longer offered Safari.  See Live Search News for more today…

After complaints, Apple tweaks Software Update for Safari

Following a storm of criticism, Apple has changed its Software Update software to mark a distinction between new programs, such as its Safari on Windows browser, and updates to existing ones.

Now, Apple’s Software Update has two separate boxes, one labeled “New Software” and the other labeled “Updates.” Before Safari 3.1 was under the “Updates” box and there was no “New Software” heading.

An Apple representative told Computerworld that the change was done to distinguish new software from updates but declined to say whether it was in response to criticisms or whether Apple may leave the “New Software” box unchecked, as Mozilla’s Dotzler suggested.

MacNN also noted the change, saying that this move of releasing a new version of Apple Software Update utility for Windows to v2.1 “addresses an earlier policy of Apple, under which Safari 3.1 would be pushed to Windows users whether they wanted it or not, as if they had already downloaded the application previously. Some have accused Apple of trying to artificially improve the distribution of the Safari web browser in the Windows sphere.”

Of course, I’m still offered to install “QuickTime+iTunes” even though I don’t have iTunes installed. 😉

Tags: Microsoft, Apple, Macintosh, Safari, customer satisfaction.

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Microsoft vs. Apple: Who patches zero-day vulnerabilities faster? The Swiss chime in with an answer

So, the controversy is nothing new, and nearly as old as the as Apple 1984 commercial.  I’ve posted previously at Mac and PC Security and noted that — no matter what connected platform you use — there’s no immunity from security vulnerabilities.  And there is certainly no shortage of news on Macintosh vs. Windows vulnerabilities.

This week it appears that the efforts to improve security over the last few years had paid a dividend: Computerworld notes the Swiss research that examines which company patches zero-day vulnerabilities faster.  And the answer isn’t likely to show up in an Apple ad any time soon…

Apple’s teasing commercials that imply its software is safer than Microsoft’s may not quite match the facts, according to new research revealed at the Black Hat conference on Thursday.

Researchers from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology looked at how many times over the past six years the two vendors were able to have a patch available on the day a vulnerability became publicly known, which they call the 0day (zero-day) patch rate.

They analyzed 658 vulnerabilities affecting Microsoft products and 738 affecting Apple. They looked at only high- and medium-risk bugs, according to the classification used by the National Vulnerability Database, said Stefan Frei, one of the researchers involved in the study. [Click here for the paper in PDF format.]

What they found is that, contrary to popular belief that Apple makes more secure products, Apple lags behind in patching.

Frei is with the Computer Engineering and Networks Laboratory (TIK) at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, ETH Zurich. The paper is “0-Day Patch – Exposing Vendors (In)security Performance, 2008” in which the researchers look at the “0-day patch rate as a new metric to measure and compare the performance of the vulnerability handling and patch development processes of major software vendors.”

I hear the Swiss are traditionally neutral. 😉

More at http://www.techzoom.net/risk/ and the Computerworld article at Microsoft vs. Apple: Who patches zero-days faster?

Tags: Microsoft, security, Macintosh, Stefan Frei, 0 Day, vulnerability.