Quick App: SpashID for iPhone - Save that Important Data Securely

SplashID [$4.99 - iTunes link] is an app for the iPhone and iPod touch that provides a great  place to store your data securely with a password. Just how secure is it? Super secure. 256bit Blowfish secure.

I have used SplashID for years on the Palm OS. I was so excited to see that SplashData brought SplashID to the iPhone last year as I was easily able to port my old files over to the iPhone using their desktop companion app.

So what does SplashID do for you? A lot, let’s take a look after the break!

First, you can choose what type of password you would like to use; a simple 4 digit pin or  a longer password; it’s your choice. Of course, there is nothing more irritating as you go back and forth between SplashID and another app for you to keep entering your password into SplashID. There is a feature that allows you to suspend the locking feature for a period from 1 minute to 30 minutes.

You can organize your data in SplashID into several categories from software serial numbers to airline frequent flyer miles to your families social security numbers for quick reference. When you are dealing with sensitive data, you can also choose to mask certain fields to hide the data from the roaming eyes of casual observers.

Not only do you have the ability to customize your categories, but you can choose a theme and view for your data as well. You can pick row colors and choose between a list or panel view. I am personally partial to the panel view as it groups your items by category type instead of a list. Depending on the volume of entries you have, the list get get a little unyieldy. In an effort to help manage those that store a lot of information in SplashID, there is a very convenient “Most Viewed” button to access the info you view most frequently. If you have a hard time viewing the information in portrait mode, you can rotate to landscape too!

If you need to share any information, you can quick do so my using the email feature. With the tap of a button on screen, you can send information via email. One way I use this feature is to email my SSID information and password to friends that are visiting my house so they can get on the network (no I don’t have the new Airport Extreme with guest access :-(). You can also send the information as a secure file to another SplashID account!

I could really go on and on about SplashID since I have been using it for years. The added value of the companion desktop app ($19.99) is of additional benefit as your data is always safe, backed-up and accessible from your Mac/PC and your iPhone.

If you need something more than a simple password manager and need a tool to manage all of your sensitive information, look no further than SplashID for iPhone!

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Quick App: SpashID for iPhone - Save that Important Data Securely

Foxconn Employee Reportedly Commits Suicide Over Lost iPhone Prototype [Updated]

VentureBeat pieces together reports coming out of China regarding the recent apparent suicide of a Foxconn employee after he lost track of an iPhone prototype in his possession. The suicide of 25 year-old Sun Danyong, who was responsible for shippin...

Foxconn Employee Reportedly Commits Suicide Over Lost iPhone Prototype

VentureBeat pieces together reports coming out of China regarding the recent apparent suicide of a Foxconn employee after he lost track of an iPhone prototype in his possession. The suicide of 25 year-old Sun Danyong, who was responsible for shippin...

AIM Push Problems - Hacktivated iPhones to Blame?

Crunchgear is reporting that Till Schadde of Equinux has been noticing some weirdness with his AIM app and push notifications. Namely, Schadde has been seeing his AIM messages go to random recipients. He discovered this by being notified that a message he had sent to his iPhone version of AIM was redirected to a random stranger. That stranger then contacted Schaddle to let him know and to supply him with a screen shot of his message.

In the past, TiPb has speculated that there are indeed some issues with hacktivated iPhones. And for those of you who are unfamiliar with “hackivation”, it’s simply a process that tricks an iPhone into believing it has authorized itself with Apple via iTunes and is ready to be used, but is actually activated by other, non-Apple software.

These hacktivated iPhones are not being assigned a unique push ID by Apple the way iTunes activiated iPhones with legit SIMs are. One of our readers, Greg, summed it up best in the comments from our last push notification issue post:

The difference is hacktivation, not jailbreaking. There’s a fair bit of crypto involved in the activation process and the “fixes” so far involve taking certs from other phones. This will only work for so long; eventually people are going to have to be on official carriers and paying official plan rates for Push and YouTube and who knows what they’ll cert off in 3.1 or 4.0?

The Dev Team seem to be working on a fix but it does not appear it will come anytime soon as they’ve avoided even posting a fix on their blog. Instead, they quietly posted a link on their Twitter page to a very beta fix.

All of this is yet another part of the cat and mouse game, but it’s important to try and understand what’s going on: normal iPhone users have nothing to worry about at this time.

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

AIM Push Problems - Hacktivated iPhones to Blame?

Review: Song Idea Generator for iPhone

This $1 won't turn a hack songwriter into a pro. But the random phrase generator can get the creative juices flowing.

iPhone push exploit sends AIM message to unintended recipients

Filed under: Bugs/Recalls, iPhone, Jailbreak/pwnage

If you want to have a hot and steamy exchange with your sweetheart via AIM on the iPhone, you might want to think again -- if you have an unlocked or jailbroken phone.

CrunchGear reports that Till Schadde with Equinux has discovered an iPhone exploit where AIM messages could be sent to random people without you even knowing it. Schadde discovered this when he was notified that a message he had sent to his iPhone version of AIM got intercepted by someone else. That person proceeded to contact Schaddle, sharing the screenshot shown at right with him. Schadde posted the screenshot and detailed the bug on Twitter after testing it once more from his computer.

The exploit is being blamed on iPhone 3.0's push notification and seems to be limited to unlocked/jailbroken iPhones at the moment.

[Via CrunchGear]

iPhone push exploit sends AIM message to unintended recipients originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 21 Jul 2009 10:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

iPhone push exploit sends AIM message to unintended recipients originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 21 Jul 2009 10:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft Store to Compete With Apple Store — By Not Selling Anything

Microsoft has not only hired former Apple Store VP of real-estate, George Blankenship to help launch their own Microsoft Store initiative, but according to Apple Insider, their key competitive strategy has been leaked:

Although the stores may sit near Apple’s in the future, they’re poised to largely be showcases meant to advertise the Windows, Xbox and Zune brands and less to actually sell products. As such, Microsoft will be paying for expensive leases but won’t necessarily recoup its investment through actual sales.

Okay then…

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Microsoft Store to Compete With Apple Store — By Not Selling Anything

The Wonders of Blu-Ray coming to the App Store/iPhone soon

The last to embrace the Blu-ray high definition video format, Universal is poised to become the first to tie home theater with Apple’s App Store, bringing companion features to the iPhone and iPod touch. Home Media Magazine reported Monday that Universal Studios Home Entertainment was prepared to announce the App Store-Blu-ray tie-in, with the first release, [...]

Apple and RIM profits outpace market share; Nokia’s profits…don’t

With just 3 percent of the global cell phone market, smartphone makers Apple and Research in Motion command an estimated 35 percent of total worldwide operating revenue – and their share is expected to grow even more. Deutsche Bank analyst Brian Modoff, as cited Monday by The Wall Street Journal, predicts that this year the two [...]

iDisk App for iPhone Release Imminent?

According to a tech note, which recently appeared then disappeared from Apple’s website (but can be seen at TUAW), our wait for the iDisk iPhone app may soon be over.

Surely you remember a little iDisk app that Apple promised to all of it’s MobileMe customers back around WWDC 2009? The biggest feature, at least to us here at TiPb, being file sharing. Need to email a large file that is stored on your iDisk but you are away from your computer? No problem, just send it to whomever you’d like via iDisk for iPhone. Not too shabby.

Granted the above linked note does not mention anything in the way of functionality or release date, it is a sign that this app should appear in the very near future. Or we all can at least hope that is the case.

How many of you MobileMe customers out there have been craving to get your hands on this one?

[Via TUAW]

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

iDisk App for iPhone Release Imminent?

Apple, BlackBerry grab 35 percent of global profits

Apple's iPhone and RIM's BlackBerry smartphones may be tiny players in terms of market share but they command a giant slice of mobile profits -- 35 percent worldwide, according to an analyst from Deutsche Bank.

Microsoft Recruits Former Apple Retail Store Exec for Retail Initiative

TechFlash reports that Microsoft has recruited former Apple real estate chief George Blankenship as a consultant for its new retail initiative. Blankenship, who previously worked at Gap, is said to be an expert at securing prime retail locations. <...

Third Generation iPod touch to get Camera… and Microphone?

Rumors of the third generation iPod touch getting a camera — even video camera — is nothing new, however Wired.com now claims they may be getting a built-in microphone as well:

A well-connected source tells us those rumors are on the money, and that Apple’s factories in China are already manufacturing iPod Touch models with integrated cameras and microphones. An Apple spokesman declined to comment when reached by phone.

With the addition of video to Camera, and the Voice Memo app, combined with a built-in mic making VoIP even easier, we’ll come out and say it — ultimate non-phone handset is nigh.

Apple typically unveils new iPod touch models once a year at their special music event, alongside other iPods and related announcements — which last time, at Let’s Rock included the iPhone 2.1 firmware and iTunes 8.

[via MacRumors]

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Third Generation iPod touch to get Camera… and Microphone?

Quick App: PCalc 1.7

James Thomson wrote in to tell us about PCalc 1.7 [$9.99 - iTunes link], and as usual, the prose is almost as good as the app. Almost.

One year ago, as the doors of the iPhone App Store first opened to the public, PCalc was there. One of only four hundred applications available, and a mere handful of calculators. Now, there are more than sixty-five thousand applications in the store, and calculators are second only to Twitter clients in terms of near-pestilential ubiquitousness.

Metaphorgeddon aside, while we mentioned the new version already, after using to for the day, it was obvious it deserved a closer look. Here are the updates again:

• Faster startup!
• Three and four-line display modes, including complete control over what appears on each line.
• Multiple-memory support.
• Optional HP48-style RPN behaviour.
• Much nicer number display with the “Easier To Read” digits option. It’s now actually easier to read!

It is indeed. I’m not a mathmagician like Leanna, but this really is the built-in calculator on Hulk-serum. Check out the screenshots after the break, and if you give PCalc 1.7 a try, let us know what you think!

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Quick App: PCalc 1.7

Hardware Encryption and MobileMe Give iPhone Consumers Enterprise-level Security

TidBITS has an interesting write-up on the various security features of iPhone 3.0 in general, and the 256-bit AES hardware encryption of iPhone 3GS in particular, and how combined together:

consumers can now experience enterprise-class security.

They cover passcode lock, data erase, remote wipe, lack of insecure external data cards, frequent and easy to install software updates/security patches, and (encrypted) backups that can restore your data if your device is accidentally wiped. Definitely worth a read if you tend towards the security conscious.

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Hardware Encryption and MobileMe Give iPhone Consumers Enterprise-level Security

Review: Gun apps for iPhone

Every child knows that just about any inanimate object -- sticks, blocks, a finger -- can double as a gun. But how about an iPhone? Ben Boychuk tried several apps to see if there's an entertaining gun simulator in the App Store.