SAN FRANCISCO -(Dow Jones)- The iPhone Dev Team, a group of independent software developers, say they are close to unleashing a new product that undoes the tight control Apple Inc. (AAPL) plans to have over the flow of the software to its iPhone.

The developer team is working on a feature it’s calling Pwnage, which lets iPhones download and run other software programs that haven’t gone through any official, Apple-controlled software distribution channels.

“You can do things like installing custom-made files, straight from (Apple’s) iTunes,” according to comments attributed to one of the iPhone Dev Team’s developers, who goes by the name MuscleNerd, posted on the team’s Web site, iphone-dev.org. “The tools are undergoing intensive developing and soon will be ready for public consumption.”

Pwnage is the latest example of how disruptive software developers have been to Apple’s best-laid plans for its iPhone, a key product for Apple. Once distributed, the Pwnage feature means Apple may no longer be able to count on taking a 30% share of every iPhone software program sold, as it said it would.

Meanwhile, the Pwnage software also weakens the steps Apple is taking to rein in a developer community regarding iPhone software sales, which are expected to blossom into hundreds of millions of dollars, if not $1 billion a year, in annual sales.

As outlined by Apple about 10 days ago, starting sometime in June Apple plans to begin distributing iPhone software made by outside developers. But it first will inspect iPhone software programs from third parties, then distribute them either through Apple’s iTunes Web store, or directly to the phone via an Apple- controlled “Apps Store.”

Meanwhile, Pwnage may also weigh on Apple’s plans to sell more iPhones to businesses, steps it announced two weeks ago when it said every iPhone will soon be able to access Microsoft Corp.’s (MSFT) Outlook email. But Apple also plans to make business software providers like SAP AG (SAP) or Oracle Corp. (ORCL) distribute their iPhone software through official Apple channels, a move that rankled an industry not used to having to deal with an intermediary. It remains to be seen, though, if enterprises would see the new Pwnage software as a decent workaround to the issue.

An Apple spokeswoman did not comment for this story, citing company policy not to talk about products in development at other companies. A representative for iPhone Dev Team, which rarely grants interviews, did not return several emails seeking comment.

The iPhone, a combination phone and digital media player with a touch-screen interface, was introduced last June, and has since become Apple’s fastest selling device. As of two weeks ago, Apple was the No. 2 seller of smart phones, with a 28% share, behind No. 1-ranked Research In Motion Ltd. (RIM), the maker of the BlackBerry wireless email device and cell phone.

Shortly after the iPhone was released, Apple promised to open the iPhone so developers could create and distribute software programs for the device. From the start, Apple has allowed developers to create Web-based features for the iPhone to use.

But lots of developers didn’t wait for official channels. Within a few days of the iPhone’s release, they came up with their first substantial, market-changing development: software to unlock the iPhone so it will work on any GSM-based cellphone network, rather than just AT&T Inc.’s (T), which at the time was the only iPhone service provider.

Even though Apple wiped out those programs with an iPhone software update of its own, unlocking software still exists and its sales have thrived. Nearly 25% of all the iPhones sold, according to various estimates, are now unlocked, thus depriving Apple and its carrier partners the fees they would normally have collected from phone service revenue.

The popularity of the unlocking software is also putting more pressure on Apple to do away with its strategy of picking a single carrier per country to exclusively sell the device.

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By David Chartier

Thanks to Parallels and VMware, Mac users have powerful virtualization tools for running operating systems in addition to the one Apple installs on the factory floor. Since Windows is one of the most popular virtualized OSes on Apple’s computers, security giant Norton felt it was time to try a new two-punch strategy on the Mac security market with Norton AntiVirus Dual Protection. Featuring both Norton AntiVirus 2008 for Windows and Norton AntiVirus 11 for Mac OS X, as well as the typical one-year subscription for virus updates, the company believes it’s the right time for some users to take another look at security on the Mac.

There are some decent reasons behind Norton’s targeting of the Mac virtualization crowd. For example, both Parallels’ and VMware’s virtualization products can enable Windows VMs to access a Home folder in Mac OS X, a directory that stores much of a user’s data like contacts, personal data, passwords (encrypted, of course), and more. While we haven’t heard any reports of a virus striking a Windows VM and taking advantage of this Mac OS X directory access, it certainly is theoretically possible. There are also products like MacDrive which can grant read/write access of an entire Mac-formatted volume to versions of Windows from 98 on. Both of these situations could bring a Mac’s OS X boot volume into the sights of a malicious application.

Beyond users of virtualization apps, however, there is a case to be made for Mac users to at least consider looking at security products. There haven’t been any wide-spread, run-for-the-hills cases of viruses or self-perpetuating trojans for Mac OS X yet, but Mac users should think about discarding the “What, me worry?” attitude towards security they have cultivated. Past events like the 9805 AutoStart worm that overwrote system data, the Word 2004 demo trojan that wiped out a user’s entire Home folder with (ironically) a legitimate Terminal command, last year’s Month of Apple Bugs, and the recent trojan disguised as a QuickTime codec download are arguably neglected reminders of the less-than-bulletproof reputation of Mac OS X.

Is this a sight Mac users need to grow accustomed to?

Of course, Mac OS X is still a fairly secure OS on the whole. While Apple has occasionally lagged when it comes to fixing vulnerabilities, it generally moves fairly swiftly with releasing small, but frequent security updates to hammer out the dings in Mac OS X’s armor. Some may continue to cling to the “security through obscurity” argument, and users who aren’t virtualizing Windows will remain immune to Windows-specific exploit. Still, times always change (as do market shares), and Norton’s new dual-platform virus protection is a sign that at least a portion of the market should think a bit more closely about security when playing on both sides of the fence.

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Posted by Will
We already know that Apple will be keeping a tight leash on third-party applications developed using its official iPhone SDK - Apple is the gatekeeper, inspector, judge, jury, and middle-man in this whole iPhone SDK distribution deal. That’s right, Apple will be taking cut of all commercial iPhone application revenue.

But, now we’re hearing that Apple will be taking a hands-off approach to free iPhone applications. Electronista’s sources are indicating that commercial (premium) iPhone applications and free iPhone apps will be held to different approval processes. Well, more specifically, Apple will subject premium iPhone applications to an as yet unknown approval process, while free software will be subjected to less (if any at all) scrutiny.

All iPhone applications, even free software, will still be distributed through iTunes - strengthening the Apple iTunes’ role as an all-in-one services portal for all Apple devices. And, requiring less regulatory red-tape for free iPhone applications should (if it turns out to be true) bolster iPhone development.

The question remains, how will Apple handle liability for these free applications? Without much oversight on Apple’s part, we imagine that Apple would want to distance itself from these free applications. It’s not too far-fetched to think that free iPhone apps will come with a disclaimer that absolves Apple of any liability or support should a free iPhone application crash, brick, or otherwise harm your iPhone.

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Apple has called a special event at its Cupertino headquarters next Thursday, 6th March, to discuss the current state of the iPhone and its future.

It’s widely believed that Apple will use this time to launch — or at least provide a decent information update — on the Software Development Kit (SDK). Steve Jobs had originally said that this software, which will allow third-party applications to natively (and officially) run on the iPhone, would be available this month. However, that date slipped.

Many believe that the iPhone should have been an open system from the start. It’s one of the main reasons (along with trying to break away from the exclusive network carriers) why so many iPhones have been hacked.

Whether that practice will stop when the SDK is released will probably depend upon how restrictive it is. If it’s only made available to selective developers, or it closes away too much of the internal workings of the iPhone, then the hacking may well continue.

Next week’s event may also be used to introduce more business-oriented applications for the iPhone, which could make it more attractive to business users, particularly with new tariffs introduced in the US, and similar ones expected in the UK this year.

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The company is marketing to IT-challenged small businesses that want computers capable of terabyte storage and improved graphics capabilities.

By Antone Gonsalves January 8, 2008 02:40 PM

Apple on Tuesday introduced a more powerful Xserve aimed at organizations with limited IT support, such as small businesses or departments in larger companies.

In addition, the company launched a Mac Pro with twice the performance of the previous version of the workstation for creative professionals and research organizations. Apple unveiled the new products a week before the Macworld conference opens in San Francisco.

Both new products are under $3,000 and come standard with two Intel (NSDQ: INTC) Xeon quad-core chips, codenamed Harpertown, which were released only last month. Last year, the same custom design would have cost $4,000.

“One of the advantages in using Harpertown is that it packs a lot more performance per watt in the same thermal envelope,” Tom Boger, senior director of desktop, servers and storage product marketing at Apple, told InformationWeek. “Just by itself, the Harpertown processor raw is a 60% improvement over the previous configuration [Cloverton].”

Apple designed the hardware and software in the new products to take advantage of Harpertown’s low-power capabilities, Boger said. The new machines can show as much as a 2x performance boost with some third-party applications. In addition, Apple is offering in both machines terabyte hard-drive capabilities for the first time.

With the new Xserve, Apple is also drawing attention to the Mac OS X Leopard Server operating system as a strong competitor to other products aimed at organizations without large IT staffs. The 1U rack server can operate in a mixed environment of Macs and Windows clients, and is powered by two Xeon 5400 series processors running up to 3.0GHz. The chips are Intel’s latest 45 nanometer manufactured processors, which top previous products in power and energy consumption.

The new Xserve includes up to 3 Tbytes of internal storage and two PCI Express 2.0 expansion slots that provide up to four times the input/output bandwidth of the previous model to support 4 Gbit Fibre channel and 10 Gbit Ethernet cards.

Apple has added accelerated graphics to the new Xserve to support several Apple Cinema Displays at once. The new product also includes two FireWire 800 and three USB 2.0 ports, and comes with a license for unlimited client seats. The starting price is $2,999.

The latest server draws attention to Leopard’s capabilities as an OS for small businesses and other organizations that can’t afford large IT staffs, industry analysts with Technology Business Research said in an e-mailed commentary.

“TBR believes this package is a strong offering wherever IT services are limited,” the market research firm said. “Apple will use the value proposition of easy-to-use comprehensive services to broaden its market to small businesses and departments, where Xserve is an ideal first server.”

Included with Leopard Server are mail hosting, Web hosting, file sharing, client management, network management and security, VPN, chat, search, and directory services, TBR said.

With the new Mac Pro workstation, Apple is offering its fastest Mac through the use of two Xeon 5400 series processors running up to 3.2GHz. The machine comes standard with an ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT graphics card with 256 Mbytes of video memory.

The machine includes a PCI Express 2.0 graphics slot that delivers twice the bandwidth as previous generations, and can be upgraded with Nvidia graphics cards, such as the GeForce 8800 GT with 512MB of video memory, and the Quadro FX 5600 with 1.5GB of memory.

The system can carry up to four 1Tbyte Serial ATA hard drives, and includes nine ports for external devices, including five USB 2.0s, two FireWire 400s and two FireWire 800s. The Mac Pro also supports SAS drives, which run at a higher rate than SATA drives and provide RAID 0, 1 and 5 storage protection.

Pricing for the new desktop machine starts at $2,799.

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