The Sys-Security Group

So today is the big day where Apple is lunching the iPhone. Good luck for those in line to get the device.

I have compiled a list of things that the iPhone is missing or that it support but may create a problem. I do believe the iPhone will be a huge success, but this would be an Apple marketing success rather then a “revolutionary phone” success. This is not to dismiss the good job Apple did on a v1.0 of a mobile phone, but just as a reminder that there are more things other then a nifty GUI (Leopard anyone?).

So what are we missing?

No cut-and-paste
No memory card slot
No voice dialing
No search when looking up contacts
No software from 3rd parties
The phone’s version of Safari can’t handle Java or Flash
No picture messaging (MMS)
No external battery (300 recharges and it will start loosing its charging capabilities)
Entering text is not as easy and intuitive as advertised
No 3G support (slowwwww Internet surfing)
Other carries other then AT&T
Can’t use the phone as a modem
Synching with external email on a PC (open question)

A lot of material has been published since the WWDC 07 conference about Apple’s upcoming Leopard OS. One thing, which is consistently highlighted is the various enhancements that are expected with Leopard.

At first glance (like I did) these look promising, and helpful. But are there more changes other then GUI enhancements and new GUI features?

Don’t get me wrong, I love stacks, putting cover flow in Finder, and having a quick view are all good productive ideas and functions. But other then a new Kernel and the GUI stuff what can we look for with the new OS release?

Boot camp? I use Paralles. And as far as I know most people prefer that instead of using Boot camp. Spaces? This is old news although the way Apple integrated this into the OS is cool. Mail? I still think Apple is behind the rest of the world with its email application. If Apple highlights having the ability to have notes inside the mail application they are in trouble.

This leads me to another question. Will Leopard be a success? Absolutely! People like shiny new things, and Leopard (and the iPhone) is not exception.

Very early in my professional career I have learned the rule and the importance of best of breed. The rule is simple, if there is one vendor better then the other, technology wise, for a particular product you go with the best of breed solution (there are other parameters to the equation like price, deployment, etc.).

This rule also nicely combines with another. The defense-in-depth rule which mandates the use of multiple solutions from multiple vendors for the same problem. It is to prevent a situation in which a flaw or a technological limitation would prevent a solution from defending the organization against a certain attack.

For example, the use of firewalls from multiple vendors, the use of different A/V product on the GW, on the mail server and on the desktop, etc.

Today, the best of breed approach is sometimes shadowed by the all-in-one approach.
Putting everything, or a lot of things, inside a single box, sometimes look as an advantage for many. Firewalls with embedded IPS, A/V, and anti-spam are a good example. Are all of those features can be considered best of breed?

In most cases they are not.

For the majority of vendors the protection level these all-in-one products provide is not more then the average. The false sense of security is the one winning the battle for many here.

Like many others I have browsed to www.apple.com this morning looking for the new Safari beta for Windows.

Instead I have found the new advertisement for Leopard.

I was skeptic regarding Leopard. I mean, what else can you do for an operating system. But when looking at the different feature demonstration Apple had put on their web site… I want it NOW!

The new GUI (the reflective dock is cool (but not that useful, functional wise), and the file stacks is a great idea), the new Finder (preview for the contents, cover flow for skimming through document like in iTunes for Albums and even opening one without lunching an application), the new backup system (time machine, extreamly useful for the untechnical), and even spaces (i.e. using multiple screens at the same time) seems amazing (GUI wise).

I am still not impressed with Mail (how long would Entourage be better then Mail?), and that is the only complaint I currently have still not having the ability to play with the whole thing.

I think that overall Apple had used a lot of forward thinking when designing Leopard. I will be surely upgrading when possible, and I do expect it (at least from the preview side of things) to be a very successful release.

HTC announced on June 5th the HTC Touch (579 USD for a SIM free phone). HTC Touch features the TouchFlo technology, which allows you to operate the smart phone just by swiping your finger on the device’s 2.8-inch, 65,536-color touch screen. The direction of movement your finger is taking over the touch screen is mapped into actions the phone executes.

HTC Touch is based on Windows Mobile 6 Professional Edition; support any feature you would like from a smart phone but lack support for 3G.

Does this make a proper rival against the upcoming Apple iPhone? It is currently hard to tell. In my opinion both mobile phones lack some features, which I deem mandatory form a smart phone.