Unofficial iPhone Blog

If you’re an iPhone or even an Android-phone owner hoping to get in on some of that Firefox Mobile Alpha lovin’, I’ve got some bad news: it’s unlikely to transition to those platforms any time soon.

In an interview with SiliconRepublic.com, Mozilla’s director of mobile engineering Christian Sejersen has stated that development for the iPhone is certainly not going to happen due to two restrictions Apple places on developers: firstly, that you can’t write an application which duplicates built-in functionality as Firefox Mobile would for Safari; and secondly that you cannot run background processes on an iPhone.

While the iPhone ban is fairly unsurprising, the news that Android isn’t on the to-do list is certainly unexpected: according to Sejersen, the company is doing nothing for Android “now or in the near future.” Without the restrictions Apple places on developers, it’s hard to see why Mozilla isn’t developing for the Android platform – although it’s likely that the company is simply waiting for more than one device running the platform to hit the market and sell successfully before committing itself to development work.

So, what are we going to see Firefox Mobile on? According to Sejersen, the plan is to produce a Linux native version for the Nokia Internet Tablet platform – much-loved by hackers for its openness – followed by a version for both touch- and non-touch-screen Windows Mobile devices. A Symbian port has yet to be officially announced, but Sejersen has said it is “most likely” to follow the Windows Mobile versions.

Disappointed that your HTC Dream or iPhone isn’t going to be getting any Firefox joy, or are you – like me – just salivating at the thought of a Symbian port eventually hitting the ‘net?

Amid a boom in social-network-friendly handsets, Motorola prepares a new entry, but its Android may not debut until 2009’s second quarter

As the wireless world awaits the Oct. 22 debut of the first phone based on the Google-backed Android software, engineers at Motorola (MOT) are hard at work on their own Android handset. Motorola’s version will boast an iPhone-like touch screen, a slide-out qwerty keyboard, and a host of social-network-friendly features, BusinessWeek.com has learned.

Motorola has been showing spec sheets and images of the phone to carriers around the world in the past two months and is likely to introduce the handset in the U.S. sometime in the second quarter of 2009, according to people familiar with Motorola’s plans. Building a phone based on the highly anticipated Android operating system is part of Motorola’s effort to revive a loss-making handset division that has forfeited market share amid a drought of bestselling phones. Motorola stock, which on Oct. 17 rose a penny to 5.62, is hovering near a 16-year low.

The phone will appear among a new class of social smartphones designed to make it easy for users to connect quickly and easily to mobile social networks such as Facebook and News Corp.’s (NWS) MySpace (BusinessWeek, 10/10/08). Such phones let users message in-network friends directly from phone contact lists, for example. A Facebook representative declined to comment on the company’s work with Motorola. MySpace.com didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Motorola declined to elaborate on its plans, but said in a statement: “We’re excited about the innovation possibilities on Android and look forward to delivering great products in partnership with Google (GOOG)” and the community of developers known as the Open Handset Alliance that are working on the Android operating system.

Mobile Networking Wave

In the next year, social networking phones are expected to be a hit with the 16- to 34-year-old crowd, analysts say. According to consultancy Informa (INF), the number of mobile social-networking users will rise from 2.3% of global cell-phone users at the end of 2007 to as many as 23% of all mobile users by the end of 2012.

The Android handset will feature a touch screen about the size of those on Apple’s (AAPL) iPhone, people familiar with the phone say. While it takes some of the design cues from Krave ZN4, the first touch-screen phone from Motorola launched with Verizon Wireless on Oct. 14, it’s not certain whether the Android phone screen will feature Krave’s distinctive and interactive clear flip screen.

Like the world’s first Android phone, from HTC, Motorola’s Android-based device will offer a slide-out Qwerty keyboard. People who’ve seen the pictures and spec sheets for the device say it looks like a higher-end version of the HTC phone, called the T-Mobile G1. But it’s expected to sell for less, at prices similar to the Krave, which is available for $150 with a two-year contract. After carrier subsidies, the G1 will retail for $180 with a two-year contract.

Slow Off the Mark

Motorola’s new phone likely won’t be ready to launch in the U.S. until the second quarter of next year, say people who are familiar with it. And it may not be available in Europe until the third quarter of 2009. Many analysts have been expecting Motorola to roll out an Android phone in December or January.

Any delay gives competing Android phones a chance to gain traction. London-based INQ will unveil its social-networking phone, INQ1, in Britain and Australia in about a month (BusinessWeek, 10/09/08). The slider phone, which integrates Facebook features into its address book and camera, is expected to enter the U.S. market next year. And Nokia (NOK), the world’s largest cell-phone maker, has already begun adding connectivity to its media-sharing site Ovi in some of its higher-end phones. “The sooner [Motorola] comes out with a social phone the better,” says John Jackson, an analyst with the Yankee Group. “The more you wait, the more distance gets put between you and the rest of the world.”

In the handset business, a best-selling product can reverse a company’s fortunes quickly, as Motorola has seen first with its popular StarTAC, and then with the Razr line of devices. “Motorola still has global carrier and distribution relationships” to rival those of most competing players, says Jackson. Motorola also has a relationship with industry innovator Apple, and may be able to offer iTunes downloads for upcoming phones, says Moe Tanabian, principal at researcher IBB Consulting. Music downloads may appeal to the same category of consumers that is expected to buy social phones.
Good People

The Android project is getting a lot of attention and support directly from Motorola’s new co-chief executive officer, Sanjay Jha. The Android phone—likely one of a series of Android handsets Motorola is cooking up—is the brainchild of people who joined Motorola via its 2006 acquisition of Good Technology. Good specialized in enterprise wireless messaging, data access, and security software used in such products as Motorola’s Q line of smartphones. The project is headed by Rick Osterloh, vice-president and general manager for Android products and formerly Good’s vice-president of marketing and product management.

Motorola is looking to add staff to its Android project in California, where the Good team is based. Applicants are invited to work on a “social smart phone.” One posting for a software engineer on job board Monster.com reads: “We are a new start-up division within Motorola with strong executive level sponsorship, a 50M+ budget for our Android platform. Our new CEO, Sanjay Jha, has been in the forefront of the formation of the Android Open Handset Alliance!”

Apple makes no secret that it has no particular interest in making Flash videos work on the iPhone. Apple execs say their objections are purely practical. The full-fledged version of Flash consumes too many resources to work on a portable device, while mobile versions have laughably poor capacity.

Perhaps, but perhaps it’s because Adobe has long treated Apple like in an irrelevant also-ran when designing Flash for desktop and notebook computers. Adobe has worked hard to make Flash run quickly and efficiently on Windows devices while putting out Mac versions that overburden processors and play slowly.

The newest version of Flash — Flash 10 — takes a big step toward correcting the discrepancy, but even now, when Mac sales are skyrocketing, Adobe hasn’t bothered to get the Mac version of its software up to snuff with PC.

According to a fascinating Flash 10 analysis by the folks at Ars Technica, it requires seven times as much processing power to play a flash video on a Mac as it does on a PC.

I’d always heard there was a discrepancy but I never had any idea how huge it was.

Given how much of modern computer usage revolves around watching videos, most of them Flash videos, that’s a serious disadvantage for Apple. No wonder the company isn’t eager to do Adobe any favors for the iPhone.

Now that Apple has relaxed some of the more noxious portions of the iPhone SDK non-disclosure agreement as we previously reported, developers, publishers, journalists, and websites are running to catch up and let information about released versions of the iPhone SDK. One website called Apps Amuck is ringing the bell hard with “31 Days of iPhone Apps. ”

Apps Amuck is distributing free iPhone SDK App source code. Each of the 31 days will showcase an executable and source code for each App. The Apps are not exactly best in class and ready for the App Store, but they offer a free resource that demonstrates various aspects of SDK coding that might otherwise be unheard of. Beginning iPhone SDK developers will find the site and its resources very valuable.

The curious out there can download these Apps, compile them and run them in the Simulator. Digging around the source code and examining it closely will reveal the classes used in the code and how to apply these classes in your own Apps.

With the hype surrounding Apple’s iPhone 3G launch in Canada, not to mention Research in Motion’s BlackBerry and Microsoft’s Windows Mobile, one might think there’s hardly room for yet another contender in the highly competitive smart-phone space.

Google would beg to differ.

The web-search giant’s much-hyped Android mobile phone platform is about to roll out in the U.S. on Oct. 22, beginning with the HTC T-Mobile G1 handset ($179 U.S., with two-year contract). Now before you ditch your existing phone, bear in mind the G1 will only launch in the U.S. initially (as was the case with the iPhone), but phone manufacturer HTC says Canadians can expect an Android-powered handset “sometime in ‘09.”

Here’s why it might be worth the wait.

The G1 has a large touch screen that resembles an iPhone, but it also sports a BlackBerry-like trackball and slide-out QWERTY keyboard. Unlike other platforms, though, Android has an open operating system: Google is giving away the software to developers.

Google wanted Android to be innovative. “There was no good reason why it shouldn’t do things your PC can do,” Erick Tseng, product manager for Android at Google Inc., told The Gazette. “This isn’t just about Google, but rather the amazing third-party applications created by developers with unfettered access to the phone’s hardware, software and network.

“By bringing many world-class applications to your handset, we’re empowering consumers with choice, and this is the kind of revolution we’re hoping for with Android,” Tseng says.

The G1 includes a built-in compass, an industry first, which will allow a savvy software company to create a “mash-up,” suggests Tseng, by fusing this technology with the integrated Google Maps program for better driving directions, satellite imagery and navigation to local businesses.

Other installed applications at launch include: ShopSavvy for comparison-shopping; Amazon MP3 Store for downloading music over Wi-Fi; Ecorio to track your daily travels and see your carbon footprint; and BreadCrumbz to create and share a step-by-step visual map using photos.

The more open playing field will encourage innovation and competition, says Carmi Levy of AR Communications, a Toronto technology marketing communications firm.

RIM’s BlackBerry, Apple’s iPhone and Microsoft’s Windows Mobile are mainly closed environments. “If you’ve wanted to introduce a new phone, new software or new services to the wireless market, it’s been an expensive, complex process,” says Levy, a senior vice-president of strategic consulting. “You either play by the rules imposed by the telecommunications carriers and handheld vendors, or you don’t play at all.”

Android drops a lot of that overhead and eliminates many of the costs of working with closed platforms. “It’s the same kind of thinking that’s driven development of the Linux operating system,” Levy says. “Only this time, it’s being backed by the world’s most successful technology company.”

The G1 is built to be intuitive and fast. “Without a really great user experience, you don’t have anything, so along with incredible speed, we also believe interacting with your device should be simple” Tseng says.

Most phones chirp or vibrate when a message comes in and then you need to look at your phone to figure out what happened: “Was it a voice mail? Email? Text message? Calendar reminder?

“With the G1,” Tseng says, “I can use my fingertip to pull down the status bar and immediately see and access a list of what happened.”

Finally, accessing Google’s dozens of applications that live in cyberspace - a.k.a. “cloud computing” - will also be part of Android. Cloud computing is appealing to anyone afraid of losing the handset (and potentially exposing sensitive info). An online-only model means you can log on from virtually any PC (or smart phone) to access your digital life.

“Along with the HTML browser that looks like a PC browser, and the fact users can quickly access an array of Google apps, such as Gmail, Google Docs & Spreadsheets and Google Maps, an advantage is the information is automatically synced with that cloud,” Tseng says.

You can meet a new person at a meeting, add him or her to your contacts on the Android phone, and it will wirelessly sync with your online accounts, showing up on your home or office PC, too. “If you lose a non-Android phone, the experience could be disastrous - now you simply get another device, log in and sync it and you’ll have everything back” says Tseng.

If you’re an Apple iPhone user and security’s not on your mind, you’re at risk; at risk of having a Web mail account hacked; at risk of having your online identity stolen; and at risk of losing valuable personal information, such as wireless service account data, that could result in financial losses, among other disasters.

When it comes to mobile devices, security tops the list of IT security managers’ concerns. And rightly so: According to a Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) survey of 2,024 information security professionals earlier this year, more than half of respondents say risks related to mobile devices and remote workers are up significantly compared to 2007.

Even if you use your Apple iPhone strictly for play, it pays to ensure that you’re checking your e-mail, surfing the Web via Wi-Fi and accessing various content and services in the safest possible ways. You can follow these six tips in a matter of minutes, and potentially save yourself weeks of damage control.

iPhone Security Tip 1: Enable Auto-Lock

One of the most basic iPhone security functions is the Auto-Lock feature, which locks the device’s touch screen after not being used for a preset time period. Users can choose to set their iPhones to lock after not being used for one, two, three, four or five minutes. Auto-Lock can also be disabled altogether.

Auto-Lock is turned on by default, but you can change the settings by first clicking the main iPhone Settings icon, tapping the General tab and then hitting Auto-Lock. Then select the desired time period by tapping the on-screen value. Finally, exit the Auto-Lock and Settings screens by tapping the box in the display’s top left corner.

Though Auto-Lock is not exactly a security function on its own, when combined with the Passcode safeguard described below, it’s an essential iPhone security feature.

iPhone Security Tip 2: Enable Passcode Lock

The iPhone Auto-Lock disables the device’s screen after a preset time period of non-use, but the Passcode Lock feature takes that a step further. Whenever the device’s display locks, whether due to Auto-Lock or because you’ve hit the iPhone Sleep button–found on the top right of the device–Passcode Lock requires a four-digit code to be entered before the device can be employed again.

To turn on Passcode Lock, simply click the main iPhone Settings icon again, hit General and then tap Passcode Lock. On the Passcode Lock menu screen, enable the function by tapping Turn Passcode On. You’ll then be prompted to enter in a new passcode. Good passwords are completely random and should not be chosen based on birthdays or other dates or numbers that could be uncovered by would-be hackers.

You can also specify when a passcode is required. To do so, tap Require Passcode and then choose whether or not you want to be prompted for a code immediately upon using the device, after one minute, five minutes, 15 minutes, one hour or four hours. Setting the passcode prompt to Immediately is the most secure, as users won’t be able to access the iPhone at all without entering the appropriate passcode.

The Passcode Lock screen also has options to Show SMS Preview and Erase Data. When enabled, the SMS preview function allows the first sentence of new text messages to appear on-screen even when a passcode has not been entered. If you’d like the highest level of iPhone security–or just some more privacy–you probably want to disable Show SMS Preview.

The Erase Data function lets you completely wipe your iPhone after 10 failed passcode attempts. After six failed attempts, the iPhone locks out users for a minute before another passcode can be entered. And the device increases the lock-out time following each additional failed attempt–one minute, five minutes, 15 minutes, etc.–so an attempted passcode bypass could take miscreants hours.

iPhone Security Tip 3: Use Wi-Fi Safely on the iPhone

One of the iPhone’s most valuable features is its Wi-Fi support, which lets you connect to high-speed wireless networks for faster Web browsing and better data coverage in spots where cellular coverage is less than stellar. However, employing Wi-Fi networks without taking the proper security precautions can leave your device–and everything on it–open to crafty hackers.

First things first, you want to make sure your own personal Wi-Fi networks is secured using Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) or another wireless security protocol. (Refer to the product literature that accompanied your wireless router for more on how to enable Wi-Fi security.) When you connect your iPhone to that network for the first time, you’ll be prompted for the network’s password–assuming you’re using some sort of Wi-Fi security. You should also modify the name of your personal Wi-Fi network to something custom, to help reduce the chance of coming across another network with the same name.

To ensure that you don’t unknowingly connect to Wi-Fi networks while on the go, you should enable the iPhone’s Ask to Join Networks function. You can turn this feature on by once again tapping the main iPhone Settings tab and then choosing Wi-Fi. On the main Wi-Fi settings screen, turn the Ask to Join Networks function on by simply tapping the on/off button next to the option. After the feature is enabled, you’ll never connect to an open Wi-Fi network without first being asked to confirm the connection. (The device will still automatically connect to recognized networks, or networks to which you’ve connected in the past.)

It’s also a good idea to disable Wi-Fi whenever it’s not in use. This reduces the chance of accidentally connecting to an unsecured or suspect network and saves iPhone battery life. To turn Wi-Fi off, just hit the iPhone Settings icon, tap Wi-Fi and then click the on/off button on the Wi-Fi screen.

iPhone Security Tip 4: Securely Access Corporate, Web Mail

If you’re a corporate iPhone user, the most secure way for you to access your e-mail, at least your business mail, is most likely through a Microsoft Exchange Server–assuming your organization uses Exchange. Lotus Notes users can also securely receive their corporate mail via iPhone thanks to the recent introduction of Lotus iNotes ultralite. (For more on how to receive Outlook and Notes mail on the iPhone, consult your IT administrator.)

For non-business iPhone users, receiving Web mail, like Gmail, AOL and Yahoo Mail, is a breeze; however, the process is not always secure–especially if you’re not aware of how to ensure that secure sockets layer (SSL) protection is enabled, where available. SSL encrypts mail that’s sent and received via iPhone. If you’re unable to connect to your Web mail using the iPhone and SSL, consider using another mail account that does support the safeguard–I’ve setup a number of Gmail accounts using SSL on the iPhone. Or, if you choose to access mail without SSL, be aware that your messages are not secured–think post card vs. sealed letter.

To ensure that you’re using SSL when retrieving Web mail, click the main iPhone Settings tab, choose Mail, Contacts and Calendar and then select one of your active mail accounts. While on the mail account screen, click Advanced, scroll down to the Use SSL option and ensure that it’s set to On.

iPhone users can also access Web mail via their mail provider’s portals, but it pays to be security smart when using this process as well. For instance, iPhone users should ensure that the URL for the mail provider’s site begins with HTTPS://WWW instead of just HTTP://WWW, which signifies that the connection is secured using SSL. A tiny lock also appears just to the right of URLs when iPhone users navigate to pages that use SSL for secure connections. In other words, be wary of logging into any Web site to check mail via iPhone that doesn’t have HTTPS in its URL and a lock to the right of the Web address in your Safari browser.

iPhone Security Tip 5: Browse the Web via Safari

Just like surfing the Web via laptop or desktop computers, navigating the Internet via iPhone is rife with security risks. Proactively optimizing your iPhone browser security settings could potentially mean the difference between a fully-functioning device and an infected gadget rendered useless by malware.

The iPhone Safari browser security settings are basic–and most are turned on by default–but it doesn’t hurt to ensure that your iPhone Safari security settings are in order.

First off, you’ll want to ensure that pop-ups are blocked. Clicking on a malicious pop-up could expose your device to malware and lead to an infection. As mentioned above, pop-ups are blocked by default, but you can check and modify your settings by first clicking the main iPhone Settings icon and then scrolling down and tapping Safari. On the Safari settings screen, ensure that the Block Pop-ups button is switched to On.

You’ll also want to check on your Safari cookies settings. Cookies are pieces of text that are distributed back and forth between Web servers and Internet clients, typically browsers, and they’re used mainly for authenticating users. However, cookies can be a security/privacy risk, as information about users’ devices, operating systems, browsers and, in some cases, browsing habits can be stored within cookies and could, therefore, be accessed by third-parties.

The iPhone Safari Accept Cookies function is set to From Visited by default–meaning the browser will accept cookies from sites that you navigate to–but the most security conscious iPhone owners may want to disable cookies completely. Cookies can be disabled by in the Safari settings menu by tapping the Accept Cookies tab and then selecting Never.

iPhone users can also clear their current crop of cookies by clicking the Clear Cookies button at the bottom of the Safari settings menu and then selecting Clear Cookies again on the following screen.

iPhone Security Tip 6: Set Device Usage Restrictions

Though the iPhone has made some significant gains in recent days toward become a suitable business smartphone, its target user is still the consumer. And consumers come in all shapes, sizes…and ages.

IT administrators and parents with little iPhone users have the ability to set iPhone restrictions to, say, block explicit content from being shown on the iPhone’s music or video player. And they can block access to YouTube and stop third-party applications from being installed.

Restrictions options can be located via the main iPhone Settings menu, within the General tab. Once you’ve clicked on Restrictions on that tab, you’ll see a set of potential options beneath the words Enable Restrictions . Tap Enable Restrictions , enter in a four-digit code and then select the specific constraints you wish to impose by hitting the On/Off button next to each option.

Selecting the iPod Explicit option, blocks the user’s ability to sync any iTunes content that’s branded “explicit” by Apple. If you disable Safari, block YouTube and iTunes, or say no to installing apps or using the gadget’s camera, the phone user will not be able to access any of these functions until a passcode is reentered and the restrictions lifted.

For all of the great features found on Apple’s iPhone and iPod Touch, one of the big annoyances is that when you are writing an e-mail you can’t turn the phone horizontally to make the keyboard bigger (landscape mode). Although Apple may fix this problem in a future software update, if you can’t wait, you can download TouchType, a 99-cent program that lets you write e-mails in landscape mode.

1. Access the App Store on your iPhone or iPod touch or through iTunes when your device is connected to your computer.

2. Search for “TouchType,” select it and purchase and install the app.

3. When you want to compose a new e-mail message in landscape mode, tap to launch the app and turn your phone sideways. Type your message in the blank space and when you are finished, tap the send button in the upper right hand corner of the screen.

4. A new e-mail message opens up in your default e-mail account (you can change which account is the default one in the Settings menu) with the text you just entered pasted in the body of the e-mail. Address the message, fill out the subject line and send it as you normally would.

5. To reply to a message using TouchType’s landscape keyboard, open the message in the Mail program, tap to reply to the message and then press the home button. Launch TouchType, type your reply in the blank message that appears and click to send it. The text you just typed is then pasted into your reply message and you can just tap “Send” to dispatch your response. If you have multiple e-mail accounts and you are not replying to a message sent to your default account, you’ll have to tap the “From” line and select the correct e-mail address to send the reply from.

Flickr has launched a new iPhone-optimized version of its site, and it looks fantastic. As you can see in the screenshots, the most used options run along the top of the page and, although there doesn’t appear to be any AJAX-y cacheing going on, the individual pages load at a fair clip.

You can do anything of the viewing you can do on the normal Flickr, although the bite-sized version doesn’t offer any editing of pictures — the Organizr, for instance, isn’t there.

But then, it shouldn’t be. It would have meant a complete rewrite of the Flash based interface for little gain — who wants to edit on the tiny iPhone screen anyway? What Flickr has done is take the essential search and viewing tools and made them small, slimline and fast. I’m testing the site out in an internet cafe (thanks for blowing up my home connection, Telefónica), and – apart from a problem loading photographs in my sets – the site has almost no delay.

Fans of slideshows will be disappointed, though. There aren’t any. For that you’ll need a standalone iPhone application Like Fraser Speirs’ Exposure. Sadly, Yahoo’s experimental AJAX-based Flickr site for the iPhone, which offered slideshows, seems to have been taken down.

In an interesting BusinessWeek story, Arik Hesseldahl asks: “Where does Apple go from here?”

For a company who has made a reputation of surprising consumers and (re)setting the bar, it’s a good question.

Of course, this question is asked on the heels of a mention of a “new product transition” made by Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer during a July conference call with analysts. What barnstorming surprise could Apple possibly have left under its sleeve to reveal in the next 6 to 24 months? “There are only so many world-changing moments that even Apple can create,” Hesseldahl writes.

So he takes a stab at guessing:

1. An Apple Netbook or tablet
   “The Web is rife with rumors that Apple will next introduce a device that bridges the gap between the iPod touch and the Mac—a machine that’s one part mini-mobile PC and one part media and entertainment device. The idea seems obvious to anyone who’s used the iPod touch for e-mail and Web-browsing but wants a larger screen. While other PC companies like Dell and Asustek build mini-notebooks, Apple could best them all, or so the argument goes.”
2. Apple iPhone family.
   “Much like the iPod now comes in four flavors—touch, nano, classic, and shuffle—it’s fair to expect that the iPhone will come in more than one model. The iPhone nano, for example, might appeal to those who think the current model is too big or too expensive.”
3. Nothing.
   “I have trouble imagining the next obvious path that Apple might follow in 2009 and 2010. In fact, the company may very well be nearing a product plateau. And here’s the real kicker: That may not be a bad thing.”

Hesseldahl’s reasoning is this: He sees potential for hardware and software enhancements on AppleTV, “including TiVo-like DVR features” and “a DVD player slot,” but on the whole he sees Apple relying on its “three-legged stool”: the Mac, the iPod (and iTunes) and the iPhone.

“I think Apple can and will do very well to enhance and grow these three legs without the need for building a fourth,” he writes.

I, for one, am not so sure. In the short-term, I can see Apple’s reliance on these product lines. But not over the long-term. iTunes and iPods are almost to the point of saturation in the U.S., in my opinion, so I can only see growth overseas. I like the idea of a diverse family of iPhones — I’m sure Nokia, Samsung, HTC and the rest sure don’t — so I buy that prospect. And, of course, there’s still a lot to be done on the computing front. A lot more market share to be had (sorry, Microsoft).

But, in terms of hardware, I don’t see much more than that. I suspect that Apple may get more into the software/licensing/services game, a la Google. A way to link its devices and create an interlinked, interdependent network of monetization.Yet I ask myself: On the other hand, can Apple fight a two front war?

Fact: The launch of the first iPod occurred seven years ago this month.
Another fact: Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer says Microsoft is “David” to Google’s “Goliath.”

Adobe has got a Flash player in the works for the iPhone 3G, but Apple is still lukewarm on the idea. Let’s find out why.

A Flash application can lead to performance issues on a computer, and even worse on a smartphone: Crash Boom Bang. Professional Flash developers, however, can do things with Flash that will make anyone enthusiastic about the technology.

Microsoft will make the jump with the Internet Explorer Mobile 6 - to be released soon – which will come with an Adobe Flash plug-in. The HTC Touch Pro (coming to Sprint soon) benefits from a nice hardware performance increase, and should be able to handle Adobe Flash fairly well. Additionally, the HTC Touch HD will be released later this year combining the same hardware capabilities with a massive high-resolution display.

The iPhone 3G and Safari Mobile could be stuck at status quo for a while though, despite the fact that Adobe is keen on seeing Flash support being rolled out. As long as one of Apple’s main-selling points is stability and the iPhone 3G didn’t come with the hardware capabilities most people believed it would offer, Flash may actually turn the whole Safari browsing experience into a state where “EDGE only” would be considered to be nitpicks. Of course, it would be easy to turn off Flash in a browser, but “Freedom to choose” wasn’t an Apple trademark last time we checked.