It seems to be an agreed-upon point of view within the Digirati crowd that AT&T is killing the iPhone. If “killing” is not your bowl of soup, then we can substitute “is highly detrimental,” “the Achilles heel,” or “the main reason I switched to another smartphone.” But aside from the few high-profile and outspoken members of the Digirati community, what real reasons exist to prove that AT&T is really the “dark side” in the relationship? In this article, I dissect the great plethora of FUD, bogus, and unfounded claims about AT&T wireless as it relates to the Apple iPhone. Read more »
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This is a perfect example of what not to do during a time of confusion: stay silent. After news broke yesterday evening that iPhone users are at risk of having their device taken control of by a hacker, the web, radio, newspapers, TV, and the rest of the mainstream media have picked up on the story. iPhone users that aren’t privy to the details of the situation are scared. Being the go-to tech guy for friends, relatives, and clients, I’ve been receiving questions all day asking for advice. I don’t mind answering questions or helping people out; quite the opposite in fact. But what I do find deplorable is that Apple and AT&T are staying completely mum on the situation: there are no official blog posts, email updates, or – ironically – text messages to iPhone owners regarding the current status of the affairs. And that is poor communication, plain and simple.
Let’s get the basics out of the way: two security researchers – Collin Mulliner and Charlie Miller – have found a serious exploit in the way the iPhone handles SMS messages. If a hacker plays his cards right, he would be able to take complete control of an iPhone by means of sending a text message to the device. Complete control means making phone calls, stealing data, sending text messages without the owner’s consent… you get the idea.
But it gets worse: Apple was notified about the exploit six weeks ago. And in that time, the company has not issued an update to the iPhone OS. By comparison, the Android OS was also vulnerable to a similar attack. Google fixed the problem within a day or two of being notified of the problem. And all that brings us to the present: this evening, the two researchers who found this bug are presenting their exploit at the Black Hat security conference in Las Vegas. Yet the most interesting part of all this is that neither Apple nor AT&T have made any official statements regarding the situation: Read more »
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As many have noticed, AT&T isn’t exactly providing iPhone users with a quality of service they could brag about. During WWDC, the groans in the audience came in loud and clear: MMS and tethering were announced as available features on the device, but weren’t supported by AT&T at the time of release of OS 3.0. In the San Francisco Bay area, making a call on the iPhone could turn into a constant game of “how fast can you hit the redial button?” Many have hoped that the end of the exclusivity contract with AT&T would put pressure on the company to not suck and become more competitive. Yet as much as we would all like to see AT&T lose the exclusive rights to the device in 2010 (when the contract is up for renegotiation), I don’t think the iPhone will be available on any other US carrier. Let’s explore.
To start off, let’s take a look at Apple’s options when it comes to carriers:
Sprint
Why will Sprint never carry the iPhone? That’s easy: not only does Sprint’s wireless network use CDMA (a completely different set of wireless technology than what AT&T uses), but the company’s future network plans include rolling out WiMax. It would not be wise for Apple to design a completely different phone for just one carrier. It would complicate logistics, support, and manufacturing. Apple would rather make one phone that can be sold (and used) worldwide, than to manufacture different models that cater to different wireless networks. Apple can also achieve a greater degree of economies of scale by manufacturing, distributing, and providing support for one worldwide model based on the GSM wireless standard. Yet even if Apple were to make a phone compatible with Sprint’s CDMA network, the wireless company has being on shaky ground lately: it has weathered two consecutive years of a negative operating income, is losing subscribers by the boatload, and has sold its physical towers to Ericsson, which essentially makes the third largest carrier in the U.S. an MVNO. All in all, a collaboration with Sprint would yield more risk than possible return for Apple. Read more »
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