the tablet war is heating up

[falcarrion]

My mother has a 3rd gen iPod Touch.....is it likely it can be safely upgraded to iOS 4? The use of 3 is limiting her from using several apps, but I've been hesitant to upgrade her.

Banshee

About iOS 4.3.3 Software Update
This update contains changes to the iOS crowd-sourced location database cache including:




Reduces the size of the cache
No longer backs the cache up to iTunes
Deletes the cache entirely when Location Services is turned off




Products compatible with this software update:

• iPhone 4 (GSM model)

• iPhone 3GS

• iPad 2

• iPad

• iPod touch (4th generation)

• iPod touch (3rd generation)


This update is available via iTunes.

If it is a itouch 8g 3rd gen you will need to check in Itunes.

 

[Banshee16]

So, does most of the stuff tech folks harp about on these platforms really matter? Does the average user (your mom?) run into these things as problems or even considerations?

Make no mistake, Apple has plenty of security vulnerabilities. Don't assume that just because they vet apps, that the device is necessarily more safe.

From PDF malware to apps improperly approved, there are issues. Every computer device has them in one format or other.

Largely, it's a matter of choice, Every device will have an appeal to *someone*. And every device has things it does well and things it does not so well.

Overall, I would say *some* of the stuff tech people harp on matters. You're right, if you don't use Twitter, why does it matter if your phone handles Twitter less well than another phone? Where I get more concerns is regarding security issues. Particularly if a manufacturer tries to encourage a climate of not worrying about that kind of thing. One thing that concerns me with iPhone is the lack of a built in Firewall. I don't even know if there's "an app for that" in the App Store. My Blackberry had one, however, and it was one of the first things I activated upon initiating the device.

Of course, it's surprising the number of users who don't even have antivirus or firewall software on their computers.....so maybe average users don't care.

Banshee

 

[Fast Learner]

One thing that concerns me with iPhone is the lack of a built in Firewall. I don't even know if there's "an app for that" in the App Store. My Blackberry had one, however, and it was one of the first things I activated upon initiating the device.

The app sandbox serves, largely, as a firewall, at least to the system. An outside connection could damage an app, but not get to the system or the other apps.

To the same extent as a firewall, anyway, in that anything can have a vulnerability.

 

[falcarrion]

Make no mistake, Apple has plenty of security vulnerabilities. Don't assume that just because they vet apps, that the device is necessarily more safe.

From PDF malware to apps improperly approved, there are issues. Every computer device has them in one format or other.

Largely, it's a matter of choice, Every device will have an appeal to *someone*. And every device has things it does well and things it does not so well.

Overall, I would say *some* of the stuff tech people harp on matters. You're right, if you don't use Twitter, why does it matter if your phone handles Twitter less well than another phone? Where I get more concerns is regarding security issues. Particularly if a manufacturer tries to encourage a climate of not worrying about that kind of thing. One thing that concerns me with iPhone is the lack of a built in Firewall. I don't even know if there's "an app for that" in the App Store. My Blackberry had one, however, and it was one of the first things I activated upon initiating the device.

Of course, it's surprising the number of users who don't even have antivirus or firewall software on their computers.....so maybe average users don't care.

Banshee

It just comes down to how the customer plans to use it. If I buy an Iphone it is because it is a phone first, and because of the apps second. I see no need for a firewall at all. I wouldn't have anything on it that I would need a firewall for.

 

[Janx]

The app sandbox serves, largely, as a firewall, at least to the system. An outside connection could damage an app, but not get to the system or the other apps.

To the same extent as a firewall, anyway, in that anything can have a vulnerability.

The same concept applies to the paradigm used on the game consoles now, the hypervisor isolates the app from anything else. Of course that's the same feature that makes it hard to shard data between apps.

A firewall itself would add network latency, consume already precious memory and technically add its own risk of vulnerability.

I'm not familiar with iOS's network stack, but it might even be possible the nature of how it consumes network resources makes extraneous traffic meaningless (other than DOS effects).

The more conventional reason a firewall exists is to block external access to all the various ports that 100s of processes are listening on on a Windows box. If nothing is listening (and thereby reacting to a port) there's no risk on that front. A mobile device has significantly fewer processes (and thereby open ports that need explicit blocking because they are just sittin around, waiting to give root access to the first connection that asks).

A firewall may do more that just negate access to ports, but thats one of its primary functions and as such, it may not be as applicable to a mobile device.

as to the sacred security of the App Store? Once again Netflix documentaries comes to the rescue. The film Freakonomics has a section on sumo wrestling. It speaks of honne, the truth of things, and tatemae, the surface of things. Just like the Japanese's 96% arrest rate on murders, the safety of the App Store is the tatemae. What matters from a marketing perspective is that people feel that it is safer than the competitors.

But like the fact that most people don't deploy a firewall between their cable modem and their house, they're lucky if MS turns on the firewall in windows for them, and its amazing if they actually have a valid anti-virus running. Let alone, with all that crap, I've still seen my rigs get infected.

 

[Janx]

I read an article today claiming that the new MacOS is not nearly as usable as snow leopard, and may be Apple's "Vista". Of course, it's early, and possibly not too late for that situation to be reversed.

Banshee

Who knows. I last really used a mac nearly 20 years ago. So all the changes they made since then, it looks worlds different, and wasn't inherently obvious as to what was going on.

that effect is probably what normal people feel when they look at a windows screen (or a mac user looking at it). Whats inherently obvious by one paradigm your used to, biases looking at another.

Still the scroll-o-dex is a bit better than having to click the menu button, then start typing to get to the T's.

 

[Fast Learner]

I read an article today claiming that the new MacOS is not nearly as usable as snow leopard, and may be Apple's "Vista". Of course, it's early, and possibly not too late for that situation to be reversed.

Yeah, that was Gizmodo, who ever since they stole a prototype iPhone 4 and got into hot water over it -- and are no longer invited to Apple press events nor receive review copies of hardware or software from Apple -- have been on an anti-Apple tear.

Not saying Lion is or is not great, that would be outside of my NDA. I've certainly heard many people who love it, though.

 

[Banshee16]

It just comes down to how the customer plans to use it. If I buy an Iphone it is because it is a phone first, and because of the apps second. I see no need for a firewall at all. I wouldn't have anything on it that I would need a firewall for.

But this kind of stuff *should* matter. Analysts generally say that the upcoming generations of viruses (virii?) will be depending on that kind of thinking. Smartphones in the next generation, will be getting the computing power of current PS3 and XBox 360 consoles. Even now, they're perfectly capable of being attacked. And some of the issues analysts talk about now, with smart phones being infected by malware, then in turn infecting WiFi hotspots that they connect to, other other phones connected to those hotspots etc. it *is* an issue.

These aren't just dumb phones. They've got an OS. They've got computing power. They can be hacked, and important information can be stolen. This whole PDF vulnerability is rather scary. The idea that someone remotely could have infected by phone via a file I accessed through the browser, and get control over my camera and mic, all files on the phone, and even listen in on my phone conversations is rather disturbing.

I'm not a network admin....but I see the importance behind security. I regularly install patches and keep my software up to date (on my PCs). I employ and use antivirus software regularly. I back up my hard drive to external drives, so in the event of a failure, I don't lose everything. I employ both firewall software and routers. By no means do I think I'm invulnerable. But, for a regular user, I like to think I'm a bit more aware than your average bear.

By comparison, certain phones don't seem nearly as well protected. That is disturbing to me....particularly with the amount of activities the manufacturers encourage us to partake of with our phones.

Banshee

 

[Banshee16]

Who knows. I last really used a mac nearly 20 years ago. So all the changes they made since then, it looks worlds different, and wasn't inherently obvious as to what was going on.

that effect is probably what normal people feel when they look at a windows screen (or a mac user looking at it). Whats inherently obvious by one paradigm your used to, biases looking at another.

Still the scroll-o-dex is a bit better than having to click the menu button, then start typing to get to the T's.

I think this is referred to by a statement you made in an earlier post. It depends on what you're used to.

Personally, I prefer to start typing the T's, to have the auto complete show me the options that start with a T. Personally, I find it easier and faster than the scroll-o-dex. Again, that's personal opinion.

Different people have different preferences for how interfaces work. Apple *is* a master at making things simple....particularly for non-techies. Of course, if I want to refer to the older generation, many of the older generation *still* find something like iTunes difficult to use. It's taken multiple tries to get my mother to figure out how to use iTunes to populate her iPod Touch, and to download apps etc. And she's not nontechnical. She can program in Basic, COBOL, Turbo Pascal, and several other languages.....and she's what....61?

Personally, I think with Windows 7, Microsoft largely "got it right". There are a few annoying flaws.....I've had a few things go wrong, resulting in neeting to restore the system from backup, and an upgrade of iTunes corrupted my Windows Installer Utility, necessitating that Windows be reinstalled from scratch, and I don't think any program should be able to mess up such a central part of the OS so severely. But from security to interface, to help tools, I find this the best version of Windows I've seen. I never thought I'd move off Windows XP, and avoided Vista like the plague, but this version really doesn't bother me.

On the tablet front, I'm thinking of taking a closer look at the EEE Pad Transformer from ASUS. Seems like a pretty good value for the money. It has pretty much everything the Toshiba Thrive has, but a better screen, but lacking a replaceable battery. The one thing I hate about the prevalence of non-user replaceable batteries in the majority of these tablets is that the manufacturers are effectively building an enforced retirement schedule into these devices. I tend to keep my iPhone plugged in 100% of the time, to maximize the amount of time it's kept charged, and lengthen the amount of time I have to worry about battery life reduction.......but the EEE Pad Transformer has a 3' long power cable. I'd say that's the main flaw I can see.

It now being July, I'm not sure whether it's better to just go ahead and get the device now, or wait until these Kal-El Tegra 3 chips, that are supposed to be 5x as powerful come out.......but their availability is entirely conjecture at this point. Devices are "rumored" to be coming out in October/November....but it could be March 2012 before they do, for all we know.

Of course, there's this rumoured iPad 2 HD they're talking about possibly coming out in September with the equivalent of a retina display.

Banshee

 

[IronWolf]

But this kind of stuff *should* matter. Analysts generally say that the upcoming generations of viruses (virii?) will be depending on that kind of thinking. Smartphones in the next generation, will be getting the computing power of current PS3 and XBox 360 consoles. Even now, they're perfectly capable of being attacked. And some of the issues analysts talk about now, with smart phones being infected by malware, then in turn infecting WiFi hotspots that they connect to, other other phones connected to those hotspots etc. it *is* an issue.

Do you have a link on these WiFi hotspots being infected? I am curious to read a little more about these scenarios.

Firewalls are needed if there are open ports on the phone. If the phone OS doesn't expose network ports during normal operation then the overhead of a firewall is not really needed as there are no listening services to exploit. Now with that said I have not port scanned an iPad yet to see what might be open.

Now in the future if more network services are used that rely on open, listening ports on the device then a firewall might kick up on the priority scale of need. Unless of course the port in question is one you would leave open even with a firewall in place.

These aren't just dumb phones. They've got an OS. They've got computing power. They can be hacked, and important information can be stolen. This whole PDF vulnerability is rather scary. The idea that someone remotely could have infected by phone via a file I accessed through the browser, and get control over my camera and mic, all files on the phone, and even listen in on my phone conversations is rather disturbing.

Yeah - the PDF vulns are lame and certainly something to be concerned about. And you are right that security does need to be considered as these phones continue to get more powerful and even more feature filled.