Find My iPhone – Will Someone Remotely Wipe Yours?

The Find My iPhone feature of MobileMe is cool, but how easy is it for someone to use it in a malicious way to remotely wipe your iPhone? As easy as getting your MobileMe password.

Fortunately if you are within reach of the computer you synced it with, you can restore your personal information and settings, as well as your content, by connecting the iPhone to your computer and restoring it from a previous backup using iTunes. Such an attack on your iPhone would therefore merely be a nuisance. But if you’re traveling without your computer, it could be a damn nuisance. You might want to disable the feature if you have enemies… but then, you won’t be able to find your iPhone if you lose it.

Find out more about what you can do with the Find My iPhone feature in “Find it and Wipe – But Can Find My iPhone be used Maliciously?” in my blog, Bove’s Blips.

In the Hour of Not Quite Rain-iPhone at the Brink

Or maybe you prefer that other Buffalo Springfield song, “Expecting to Fly”….

What certainly will fly — off the shelves — will be a lower-priced iPhone, rumored to be announced next week. What would truly stand the iPhone even more apart from the Palm Pre, Blackberry models, and Google Android smartphones would be video recording and videoconferencing.

As Microsoft grapples with search and Bing, the real battle over the platform that will capture the best developers have to give is between the Apple iPhone and Google Android. While RIM holds a higher share with its Blackberry models, the true momentum of innovation is occurring mostly on these two platforms. Palm has to spring up on its own, without the developer base it had a decade ago. Apple has all the momentum, most of the developers, and an extraordinary base of patented technology, while the rest of the industry is playing catch-up.

See my report, “Expecting to Fly – iPhone before the Start of the Apple WWDC” in my blog, Bove’s Blips.

The Musician’s iPhone and iPod touch

The iPhone or iPod touch is a potent platform for producing music that is capable of entertaining a stadium full of fans. There is no substitute for hands-on use, and musicians are especially adept at getting their hands onto something and using it.

See my roundup of iPhone/iPod touch apps for musicians in “In Search of the Lost Chord: The Musician’s iPhone and iPod touch” (in my blog, Bove’s Blips).

In Deadwood the Saloonkeepers Keep the Peace…

Apple has been criticized for kicking apps out of the App Store. Critics had pointed to Android as a free system, but just recently, Google also kicked apps out of its store. Expect the new Blackberry App World to be similarly policed. See my take on all this at “App Stores on the New Frontier” (in Bove’s Blips).

‘Tony’s Tips for iPhone’ Ships

I’ve been working steadily on an iPhone application called Tony’s Tips for iPhone Users Manual. It is available now, for $2.99, in the App Store (online or through iTunes).

I have tried to make something that is better than a manual in your iPhone — a reference that is always up-to-date, easy to search, and organized for quick reading. For a detailed critical overview, see “Does the iPhone Need Help?” by David Needle in InternetNews.

Developing an iPhone app is a painful process, but I applaud Apple’s strict adherence to guidelines to reinforce quality in the iPhone experience. For more about this topic, see my blog entry “Pocket Tips” in Bove’s Blips.

Beatles Mystery Track “Carnival of Light”

The Beatles’ mystery track “Carnival of Light” may finally see the light of distribution. The BBC reports that Sir Paul McCartney has confirmed that the 14-minute track exists and says he wants the public to hear it.

I have a pretty good collection of Beatles outtakes, though not extensive as those collected by music industry professionals and friends and associates of the Fab Four, and this track is not in the many hours of rare, unreleased gems. The discovery that this track exists leaves only one more mystery track that has appeared only on some bootlegs of outtakes, called “Peace of Mind (Candle Burns).”

For the complete story, see my entry And Tonight, “Carnival of Light” is Topping the Bill! on my blog Bove’s Blips.

Voice Search, Movie Ads and the Mystery Chord

New topics on my blog, Bove’s Blips:

“The Magical Mystery Chord” — You all know it when you hear it: the most famous chord in rock that reverberates on George Harrison’s 12-string Rickenbacker: the opening of “A Hard Day’s Night”. A mathematician has figured out the exact formula.

“All I Need is the Air that I Breathe” — Google has added sophisticated voice recognition technology to the company’s iPhone search software. You can speak into the iPhone rather than type with the iPhone’s keyboard, and Google will search for relevant info.

“iPhone Ad Apps — Shaken Not Stirred” — Hollywood studios are using free apps on the iPhone to promote movies. Bands are also getting in the act, though not in an innovative way (yet). All this stuff proves that the iPhone has shaken up, not just stirred up, the content industry.

Did Steve Jobs Have a Hangover?

Or was it just too much of a good thing? iPhone sales are approaching the 10 million mark. Or maybe he got sick trying to digest that $700 billion bailout, a.k.a. the Failure of Modern Capitalism (or How the Chickens have Come Home to Roost). I’m beginning to rethink the definition of “organized crime” as the American public is held hostage by wise guys who turned Wall Street into Heartattack and Vine.

See my full report: Steve Jobs Only Had a Hangover, in my blog, Bove’s Blips.

Google Chrome to Become Design Standard for Web Sites

Google’s Chrome browser not only has a chance in the mobile market, but it will also significantly influence the future of personal computing by challenging Internet Explorer. Google’s stated purpose is to drive innovation on the Web. Market share can be misleading when thinking about the impact of something that is truly innovative. I think that as the Web serves up more applications, Chrome will most likely become the design standard for mobile browsing and may have a serious enough impact on desktop/laptop browsing to free Web designers from the constraints of designing for Internet Explorer. See my take on Google Chrome: “Google has Mojo in Hand with the Chrome Browser” (on my blog, Bove’s Blips).

iPhone Kill Switch is an Innovation

We’ve all heard by now about the iPhone kill switch, a.k.a. the blacklist feature. Apple CEO Steve Jobs confirmed its existence. The intent behind the capability is high-minded, according to Jobs. Apple would need it in case a malicious program inadvertently were to be distributed to iPhones via the App Store. “Hopefully, we never have to pull that lever,” Jobs said, “but we would be irresponsible not to have a lever like that to pull.”

The iPhone app kill switch makes sense. It is an innovative approach to protecting a platform in this age of criminal conspiracies to steal your personal information. To read more about this, see the latest entry in my blog, Bove’s Blips.