I was scanning the headlines at MacWorld and I found this article. It references a report made by Arbor Networks ASERT team, who seem to have it bad for Apple for some reason, which states that the iPhone will be a major security target in ‘08. Its odd that I couldn’t find the report MacWorld was referring to, but hey. Those guys are on the ball. Right? I’m reading a short blog entry at ASERT’s own site and they reference a report from Symantec [!] which discusses security trends for 2008 (talk about the pot calling the kettle black, then slapping the stove). Here’s a snippet from the report where they discuss Google’s Android project:

“In contrast, Apple’s iPhone has currently taken a reverse model approach where third-party on-device applications are not allowed, preventing the vast majority of malicious code for the average user—those that haven’t unlocked their phone.”

Wow! That makes sense. Of course, I generally don’t go to the company whose entire business is invested in selling security products to get my security news. Apparently Arbor Networks does, though. I can’t help but think that someone, somewhere read something the wrong way. Personally, I tend to take things as they come and not freak out because someone told me to… or in this case, someone told someone else something, reversed it, mixed up the attribution, and then didn’t give proper attribution.

Hmmm…

written by Tyler Regas \\ tags: iphone, mobile, news, security

Okay, so its not going to ship until May 2008, but its cool now because of what it portends. Not long ago we were oogling at 32GB SSDs with envy. Now Toshiba will soon be shipping SSDs which are pretty close in capacity to the standard platters which laptops use now. My guess (don’t bet on it, though) is that we’ll be seeing 500GB SSDs by 2009. They will also ship 32GB and 64GB versions at the same time. No word on pricing just yet.

written by Tyler Regas \\ tags: mobile, technology

Okay, kids, it just a rumor, as everything else that Apple hasn’t officially announced is, but there’s word on the street that Apple will be rolling out a new ultraportable MacBook at MacWorld in January. Jim Goldman over at CNBC says so, claiming that his contact has passed on info that very strongly suggests that the unit will be a MacBook Pro, be a mere 0.5″ thick, and (according to conflicting reports) a 12″ or 13.3″ display. The big news here is that the unit is suspected to be SSD HDD based. All this, if true, will run you around US$1,500 (if the pricing is accurate, of course).

written by Tyler Regas \\ tags: macworld, mobile, news, rumor

Ok. Western Digital rocks, and hard. Not only do I believe they make the most reliable drives overall, they also offer the best value. Take WD’s new 320GB Passport USB drive for example. Clearly based on their recently introduced 320GB 2.5″ laptop drive, the new Passport is sleek and comes in several colors. But hey, it could come in Zune brown for all I care! Its a 320GB drive! Oh, and its only US$230. Yup.

written by Tyler Regas \\ tags: drive, media, mobile, storage

Nicholas’ Negroponte’s pet project, the One Laptop Per Child model XO-1, has been given the green light, and Peru is apparently jumping on board right away with a 260,000 system order. Good for them (if they can clean up the rest of their human rights violations). Right now, however, you can make a difference in the life of at least one child, if not more. Head here and donate US$399 to OLPC and they will send one laptop to a child who needs one and one to you. The more you donate, the more laptops. I’m fully behind this one, so get going. Hurry, though. It ends December 31st.
You may question why a child living in a village which has no power or running water might need a laptop. You can sure bet they aren’t going to be checking in on their stock portfolio (hell, I don’t do that!) but they will be learning. In studies performed by MIT Media Lab they determined that children 6-12 who had never seen a computer before were able to start effectively using the XO-1 within three minutes! Not only that, but they move on to teach other kids. They then take the laptop home and teach their family.

This simple, clear, uncluttered, and audacious approach to improving the level of education in the world is a powerful concept, indeed. Sure, it won’t make Harvard graduates out of Nigerian children overnight, but it makes the US$2,000 status symbol laptop look more like a common phone and levels the playing field in a number of ways. Check out this great review over at the Fox News site. Make sure to read it all.

written by Tyler Regas \\ tags: awareness, education, green, mobile, social

Verizon last week announced that it would be opening up its network to all phones compatible with its wireless technologies, a move which goes completely contrary to the entire market model here in the U.S. of A. Therese Poletti of CBS’ MarketWatch talks about the significant move and what it might mean for the wireless industry in America. While she indicates that it would be a good move, and references the Apple iPhone as a major contributor to the pressure, she only brushes up against what it might mean. Continue reading »

written by Tyler Regas \\ tags: business, mobile, wireless

As you may have noted, we’ve been in a news blackhole since Thanksgiving. This isn’t all that surprising, but its kind of annoying nonetheless. Most energy seems to be focused on Black Friday and spinning up the X-mas Machine. Sure, there were some items in the last two weeks, but nothing of any real import. I’ve received a Palm Centro and a Duracell PowerSource Mobile 100 for review and the Apple Rumors machine is about to kick in prior to 2008 so there’s sure to be more soon. I will, however, start working on the other elements of the site when times are slow.

In actual mobile gear news, Engadget seems to be all freaked out about how odd the Wibrain UMPC is, and I agree. Its very odd looking and, despite its smallish 4.8″ display, that thing has to be really, really wide. I’m more into the OQO model of design with the sliding keyboard. I can even handle raon’s Everun arrangement. Oh well, I guess everyone has to have their “thing”.

written by Tyler Regas \\ tags: mobile, mobodojo, news, umpc