No Exclusivity is Possible in UAE

UAE is not the same as USA and Apple has quickly become convinced in this. The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority has said that it will not allow any company to establish an exclusive right to iPhone services with either of the two licensed telecoms operators in the UAE. Apple must say goodbye to its (well working so far) marketing strategy in UAE.

In plain English this means that UAE consumers may not be able to purchase the officially-released iPhone.

Unauthorised iPhones that have been unlocked by third party software have been on sale in the UAE, but Apple has said that it will not support these phones in any way. Software updates to the phone may even permanently disable the phone.

Open up, open up ... iPhone

Yes open up iPhone and not Nescafe. Finally, it is becoming reality. As Steve Jobs has announced, Apple will be providing SDK for iPhone in February. Why it takes so long is a valid question. However, better late than never.

It will be amazing to see third party applications pouring in for iPhone. Believe me, with all those wild developers out there, iPhone will do miracles shortly. However, this will heavily depend on Apple. I believe Apple has not finally decided which approach to take in creating a developer community. However, it is expected that Apple will enforce some sort of signature for developed applications. This is totally okay as long as it is not overcomplicated to acquire those digital signatures, thus scaring many developers. There should be a balance between easy of developing for iPhone and keeping iPhone protected from malware.

16GB iPhone to Debut on 16th of October?

An interesting post appeared on Macrumors forum yesterday. A user nicknamed Jimpo has posted photos of the new model.

The mysterious user, which is by the way newbie at the forum, claims that their store has already received the 16GB models.

The photos are of very low quality but they are the only available at the moment. However, it is visible that the info says available memory of 14.4 GB and the firmware version 1.1.2. Looks real :)

According to Jimpo, the model shall be officially announced on 16th of October.

iHazard: No Green Features in iPhone

A couple of months ago, Steve Jobs claimed that Apple would soon be ahead of most of its competitors on environmental issues.

Recently, Greenpeace has started examining iPhone in its Research Laboratories in the United Kingdom. Analysis reveal that the iPhone contains toxic brominated compounds and hazardous PVC.



The report, "Missed call: the iPhone's hazardous chemicals", which details the findings of the research, can be downloaded from the Greenpease website.

Not only has Apple forgotten people about disabilities when designing iPhone, but now it turns out that the device has environmental issues as well.

Apple is definitely behind the competition. For example, Nokia is totally PVC free, Motorola and Sony Ericsson have already products on the market with BFR free components.

Apple Launches iPhone Web Apps Directory

Yesterday Apple launched an online directory of more than 200 iPhone Web applications. The applications are organized in different categories (entertainment, games, productivity, etc). Also, it is possible to view popular applications, featured and staff picks.

It is a bit disappointing for developers not being able to develop native applications for iPhone, but Apple has its explanation for this. By not opening iPhone OS to the development world, Apple tries to keep iPhone more reliable and secure. This is a totally different approach that other Mobile Operating systems like Windows Mobile or Symbian have.

Jailbreack Your iPhone

The iPhoneSimFree team has finally managed to break through Apple's latest firmware in order to unlock the iPhone for use on other carriers.

The unlocking software, SimFree v1.6, is available through various resellers around the world. And there is good news for those who have already purchased the previous version of the hack. Previous iPhoneSimFree software owners won't have to pay for the upgrade.

Freeware unlocking software has quickly put commercial hacks almost out of the game. However, with the release of 1.1.1. iPhone firmware, the commercial hacks are still in the game and as expected iPhoneSIMFree was was the first team to release the hack.

I believe iPhone users are now more confident that one way or another, either commercial or freeware unlocking method will appear. So, no matter what Apple does, after a short delay, users can still enjoy using iPhone with a carrier of their choice.

Intel Moorestown for Mobile Internet Devices

Intel revealed a Moorestown-based Mobile Internet Device (MID) product at the recent Intel Developer Forum (IDF) San Francisco. In terms of functionality, Intel's MID platform is similar to Apple's iPhone. The Moorestown platform is expected to launch in 2009. According to rumours, Apple is considering developing an iPhone based on it.