Occasionally there’s an article that’s just… weird. You know, the kind of stuff that’s instantly able to turn a sour day into something incredibly awesome. Leave it to the Japanese to provide me with the one iPad article that beats them all. In fact, I don’t think anything will be able to top this for a long time. If you’ve read the headline, I think you know where this is going.
If the iPad is So Good, Can You Eat Off of It?
Apple New World Leader in Software Insecurity?
We’ve read about various vulnerabilities and security issues related to Apple and the software they push out before, and yesterday Ars Technica reported that Apple has become the new world leader in software insecurity. While it’s mentioned that OS X itself isn’t the most insecure in practice, the various pieces of software you use like iTunes, Quicktime, and Safari, all display gaping security flaws that aren’t being addressed.
To illustrate this point, the report includes cumulative figures for the number of vulnerabilities found on a Windows PC with the 50 most widely-used programs. Five years ago, there were more first-party flaws (in Windows and Microsoft’s other software) than third-party. Since about 2007, the balance shifted towards third-party programs. This year, third-party flaws are predicted to outnumber first-party flaws by two-to-one.
There is a valid point to be made: yes, third party software can introduce vulnerabilities to the OS. But what bothers me about the article is two things. The first is that while Apple is known to have plentiful vulnerabilities in their software that should be fixed (quicktime vulnerabilities have been complained about for years now), it’s never addressed how these vulnerabilities affect OS X – Windows is mentioned as the only OS affected by Apple’s software. The second issue I have: it’s not mentioned specifically what vulnerabilities are being exposed and what ill-effects are had on the user. It seems unlike Ars Technica to throw out an article like this without further explaining potential risks for users. Instead, it’s mentioned that third party software is harder to update and Microsoft does a better job of applying patches.
[via Ars Technica]
Apple Appoints Senior VP of Operations Jeff Williams to Address Product Quality
Now joining Tim Cook (Chief Operating Officer), Jeff Williams has been promoted to join Apple’s executive team in order to oversee and ensure product quality. According to AppleInsider, Jeff Williams has previously been responsible managing the company’s supply chain and securing components for the production of the iPod. He also a big player in the success of the iPhone, and will continue to oversea world-wide operations and supply management.
AppleInsider writes,
It’s believed Apple is grooming Williams to take on Cook’s role as chief operation officer in the event that Cook takes over Steve Jobs’ role as the company’s chief executive. Cook has been profiled as the most likely successor to Jobs when Apple’s iconic chief chooses to step down.
[via AppleInsider]
Duke University, Other Colleges & Universities to Deploy iPad for Education
The 2010 Fall semester is going to be huge if you’re a college or university student. Whether it’s for distribution in classrooms and dorms, research, e-reading, or as a collaboration tool, the iPad is going to be an interesting experiment among participating schools as they determine whether or not the iPad can be appropriately used for academic use.
Twelvesouth Launches Compass Mobile Stand for iPad
The Twelvesouth guys are well-known for making awesome Apple-dedicated accessories.We reviewed the Bookarc for iPad months ago, and it’s still one of the best products available. A few days ago they launched a new stand for iPad, called “Compass Mobile Stand.” You can find all the details here.
“Compass is a stylish compact folding stand that lets you use your iPad in two different modes. First, as an easel, Compass displays iPad in both portrait and landscape modes. Second, flip open the secondary leg and Compass now holds your iPad at the perfect angle to let your fingers fly across iPad’s onscreen keyboard.
Forged from heavy gauge steel, this slim, travel friendly stand lets you enjoy both hands-free and hands-on use of your iPad anywhere your iPad goes. iPhoto slideshows to Keynote presentations, Compass lets you see and do more with iPad. Compass folds up to the size of candy bar, requiring very little space in your backpack, computer bag or purse. Store it in it soft travel sleeve, which matches the Apple iPad case, and you’re ready to go.”
In my opinion, it’s great, and looks very useful. Check out the images below.
The Welikesmall iPod Touch Wall [Video]
We often come across cool implementations of Apple’s technology, great looking hacks and awesome mods - this one is no exception. A wall made of 20 iPod Touches running a custom app based on the GameKit framework, all hooked up to a Django / Python web app server.
“Our current iPhone Application allows for 4 different modes, a screen saver mode, a full image split mode (the controlling iPod looks for an image and then the server executes a script to split that image among all 20 iPods), a single image grid mode (the controlling iPod tells the server to give a random image to each iPhone), and a hybrid mode which displays all three. In addition, the server is always checking to ensure that each iPod is synched.”
[via FunkySpaceMonkey]
Impact of Apple’s iPad Graphed
The iPad has had a significant impact on Apple’s product matrix, and we have a fancy chart to prove it.
AirSketch Showcases Wireless Doodles. Review and Giveaway!
So you’re giving a presentation on stage. iPad in hand, you swipe through your presentation images, conveying different ideas. At the end, a quick Q&A question presents you with a scenario you couldn’t predict. “How would your website do this?” Quickly, you bring up AirSketch, and in front of an audience of dozens, begin sketching your plans. But whether it’s for presentations or fun, AirSketch is a seriously cool sketchpad for the iPad that allows you to wirelessly share your masterpieces via your local network.
Camera+ 1.2 Available: Brings Touch Exposure, “Drag to Focus” and Flashlight
When we say “one hell of an update”, this is what we mean: we reviewed Camera+ for iPhone a few days ago, and now it feels like a brand new app. The new 1.2 update, which has just been released in the App Store, brings support for touch exposure, touch focus and Photo Flashlight.
It’s available here.