MacRumors

The iPhone Dev Team published a a screenshot of what is reported to be a jailbroken iPhone 2.0 installation. According to ModMyiFone's sources, the Dev team has already jailbroken the beta 2.0 iPhone firmware that Apple has only released to a limited number of testers. The jailbroken iPhone freely allows installation of iPhone applications, bypassing Apple's $99/year developer program which includes an official developer certificate.

"Jailbreaking" is the method by which iPhone owners have been able to install unofficial 3rd party applications on the iPhone. A thriving development community has emerged producing a number of free and useful applications.

While Apple's iPhone Software Development Kit (SDK) announcement will likely diminish interest in the unofficial iPhone developer community, the process of jailbreaking will likely continue. By choosing to be the sole distributor of iPhone applications, Apple has set some editorial guidelines on what it deems appropriate iTunes Store applications. The jailbreaking process will allow users to install those applications which fall outside of Apple's guidelines. The list of unallowed applications currently include emulators, scripted languages, background applications, VOIP over cellular, and unlocking applications.

Apple will be releasing the final iPhone 2.0 firmware in June alongside the launch of the iTunes App Store. The iPhone SDK is currently available for free download.

Microsoft has released an update to their Office 2008 suite for the Mac. The update is listed as "critical":

This update fixes critical issues in Office 2008, including issues that might cause Office 2008 applications to stop responding or quit unexpectedly.

Microsoft Office 2008 was released at this year's Macworld San Franciso in January, and provided native support for Intel Macs for the first time.

A knowledgebase article provides a detailed list of fixes. Many of the fixes appear to address reliability and stability concerns.

With on-stage demos of EA's Spore and Sega's Super Monkey Ball (demo video) at their iPhone Software Development Kit event, Apple seems to be serious about mobile gaming on the iPhone. Earlier reports also hinted at this commitment with Apple previously extending their trademark to include handheld gaming devices.

Now, a look back at an Apple patent application entitled "Media management system for management of games acquired from a media server" reveals an interesting possibility for iPhone gaming.

While the bulk of the patent details the downloading and syncing of games between iTunes and iPhones/iPods, Apple proposes extending this functionality even further. Apple describes a method for transmitting iPhone/iPod high scores and other achievements to a central community game server:

"The media purchase system can also be utilized to facilitate a community of game players. These game players acquire games via a client device and media management application, and then play the games on portable electronic devices. The game play data, including game performance data for specific games, can be transfered from the portable electronic devices to the client devices. The client devices can then transfer such game play data over the data network to a game community server. For example, the game performance data can pertain to a high score that a user achieved while playing the game on the portable electronic device."

By compiling high score data, players can compete amongst each other for prizes. All data can be digitally signed so that scores are authenticated.

Besides EA and Sega, Gameloft has committed to 15 game titles for release on the iPhone in 2008. Meanwhile, iPodHacks reveals the iPhone's hardware compares favorably to the Sony PSP and Nintendo DS gaming devices.

CNet reports that Intel is entering the Solid State Drive (SSD) market later this year to compete against existing suppliers such as Samsung, Toshiba, and SanDisk. Up to this point Intel has only offered small-capacity products up to 16GB in size. In Q2, Intel will be introducing 80GB and 160GB 1.8 and 2.5-inch SSDs aimed at the laptop market. Intel also promises significant performance gains over existing SSD products:

"When Intel launches its...products, you'll see that not all SSDs are created equal," Winslow said. "The way the SSDs are architected, the way the controller and firmware operates makes a huge difference"

The drives are expected to come with an SATA interface, making them not directly compatible with the MacBook Air -- the only Apple laptop that offers an SSD option. As SSD drives drop in price, however, we can expect them to be offered with other Apple laptops. Intel believes prices will drop 40-50% per year.

Solid State Drives offer advantages of faster performance, lower power requirements and durability over traditional hard drives.

We previously reported on Page 2 about reports that Paul McCartney has reached a $400 million agreement with iTunes for the distribution of the Beatles' back catalog.

Word spread quickly about the imminent deal, but today, Apple actually denied the claim according to Billboard:

"This is not news nor is it a scoop," says an Apple Inc. spokesman, declining further comment.

Rumors of the Beatles appearing on iTunes have persisted for years with Steve Jobs specifically targeting "the first half" of 2008 in an interview with USA Today. Paul McCartney had also felt "pretty sure it'll be happening [in 2008]".

When Apple announced that the iPhone would incorporate Exchange support through ActiveSync, they specifically pointed out some shortcomings of RIM's server-based system. In the following Question and Answer session, Jobs even pointed to potential security issues with RIM's model:

"Every e-mail message sent to or from a RIM device, goes through a NOC up in Canada. Now, that provides a single point of failure, but it also provides a very interesting security situation. Where someone working up at that NOC could potentially be having a look at your e-mail. Nobody seems to be focused on that. We certainly are."

These concerns, however, may have been overstated. American Technology Research issued a report (via Appleinsider) comparing the two approaches to providing Exchange support for the Apple's iPhone vs the RIM's BlackBerry.

RIM's setup for Exchange support requires the use of BlackBerry Enterprise Server which connects to RIM's network operations center (NOC) in Canada. Even though messages travel through a number of servers, the contents are encrypted at the origin before being passed through RIM's NOC and finally to the BlackBerry device which alone can decrypt it. According to the research company, this gives BlackBerry the "highest level of security in the industry".

In contrast, the iPhone will interface directly with the Exchange server. The analysts, however, go on to speculate that Apple's ActiveSync implementation could have its own issues with security, and have an impact on battery life and scalability. Regardless, they feel that the iPhone's unique advantages could provide a better ActiveSync experience over existing implementations.

Apple is set to release their new enterprise features for the iPhone in June 2008.

Lionsgate announced that they are working with Apple to provide iTunes Digital Copies on select DVD and Blu-ray releases.

Just like movies purchased from the iTunes Store, an iTunes Digital Copy can effortlessly be transferred to iTunes and then viewed on a PC or Mac, iPod with video, iPhone or on widescreen television with Apple TV.

The first Liongate DVD/Blu-ray disc to include an iTunes Digital Copy will be Rambo due for release on May 27th. Fox was the first to start including iTunes digital copies on their DVDs.

The process of copying the movie to iTunes involves entering a unique code into iTunes. The movie is then transferred to iTunes, allowing you to sync the movie with your iPod, iPhone or Apple TV. Each DVD (unique code) will allow digital transfer to only one iTunes library.

Financial Times reported that in the wake of Sony's Blu-ray win over HD-DVD, that Sony is in talks with both Microsoft and Apple about inclusion of Blu-ray with future machines. Microsoft had previously been shipping an HD-DVD accessory for their Xbox 360, so their adoption of Blu-ray would represent a significant turnaround.

Apple, however, has not yet shipped any high definition drives with any of their computers. They've instead focused on distributing digital content through their iTunes Store.

With the demise of the HD-DVD format, it seems only a matter of time before Apple adopts Blu-ray drives in their machines.

As people delve into the details of Apple's iPhone SDK, a few interesting issues are emerging. One developer guideline that is generating some concern is from Apple's Human Interface Guidelines for iPhone:

Only one iPhone application can run at a time, and third-party applications never run in the background. This means that when users switch to another application, answer the phone, or check their email, the application they were using quits. Its important to make sure that users do not experience any negative effects because of this reality. In other words, users should not feel that leaving your iPhone application and returning to it later is any more difficult than switching among applications on a computer.

To be fair, for most applications, this would be preferred behavior. There is no reason for Super Monkey Ball (for example) to continue running in the background, using up CPU cycles and Memory. Instead, as Apple suggests, the current state should be saved and returned when the application is relaunched.

However, this has raised concerns about the feasibility of an application such as AOL's AIM client, which typically does run in the background to alert the user of incoming messages. Based on one comment, however, this only appears to be a design guideline and not an absolute technical limitation:

I'm a programmer and I just tried it [using the iPhone SDK] and you can keep your app running in the background in the normal way ApolloIM and iFob do it. I.e. overriding applicationSuspend.

Another possibility could involve individual applications launching smaller background-tasks (daemons) short of full applications, but the feasibility of this is unknown at this time.

What this brings us back to is Apple's SDK license limitations and their editorial discretion with the iTunes App Store. From Apple's license agreement, this multitasking workaround is forbidden:

Applications must comply with the Human Interface Guidelines and other Documentation provided by Apple.

Even Sun's plan to bring Java to the iPhone is not technically allowed, despite their claims:

An Application may not itself install or launch other executable code by any means, including without limitation through the use of a plug-in architecture, calling other frameworks, other APIs or otherwise.

This could also restrict announced plans for a PC emulator for the iPhone.

It's still too early to say how strictly Apple will enforce these restrictions when approving applications for the iTunes App Store. By serving as the sole distributor for iPhone applications, Apple understandably wants to restrict malicious applications, but whether these limitations begin to encroach upon genuinely useful applications remains a concern. Apple's iTunes App Store launches in June 2008 alongside the new iPhone 2.0 firmware.