Not very good news for Steve Jobs and his crew. A crew of researchers from the Independent Security Evaluators has revealed an alarming security flaw with Apple's iPhone. The said security vulnerability (completed by going through a WiFi connection or by tricking users into going to a website that contains malicious code) traces its roots from Apple's Safari web browser.

While demonstrating the exploit via malicious websites, the said hack-for-profit firm was able to infiltrate the iPhone's administrative access thereby allowing them to manipulate SMS logs, go over address book, check call history, listen in on room audio, and even see email passwords. And if the Independent Security Evaluators is to be believed, that's just the tip of the iceberg.

The only available measure against it right now is to closely monitor the sites users visit via their iPhone - something that's way easier said than done. Apple perhaps acknowledging that this security problem could have dire implications to the overall marketing of their product line, is already reviewing the report of the researchers along with their proposed fix.

Independent Security Evaluators is a company that tests its clients' computer security by hacking it themselves. They're planning to hold a a full disclosure of the hack at the upcoming (August 2) Black Hat conference. You can watch their video below:

The US patents office may not house the most exciting manuscripts in the world, but reading some of the applications filed does pay off. An example of that is the discovery of Apple's remote control plans with the iPod.

In a recent application made by Apple, they hinted of what seems to be a home entertainment center which can easily fit a room. All the music and video can then be streamed from a new type of iPod which will also be a remote control of sorts with a new interface for that purpose.

Of course, a lot is still under wraps as far as the specifics go. One thing is for sure, though: Steve Jobs and his boys are pushing the envelope as far as their little juggernaut of a product is concerned.

An iPhone without the Phone? Media Loper believes that this may be exactly what the new generation in iPods will be.

Here are some things they think would be included in the new generation of iPod:

• Big screen with auto adjustment - Here's the "true video iPod" for you. Big screen with automatic orientation adjustments. You can't expect the next video iPod to come out without this feature, it just wouldn't be right to call it a video iPod when you put it beside an iPhone.
• Touch screen interface - Well with a big screen where would the controls go? And if it has a touch screen, why not have all the things the iPhone has as well? It'd also be advantageous for Apple to have one common interface for their products. It'll make making decisions easier since you don't have to worry about familiarizing yourself with an unfamiliar interface.
• An iPDA? - Well why not? The iPhone is basically a tiny Mac. Why not integrate it into a new iPod / PDA hybrid.
• WiFi - If Microsoft comes out with a new gen Zune complete with WiFi, this would certainly be a kick in the balls profits for a new gen iPod. They can't afford not to put it in.

Theorists also believe that the next gen iPod might not be in the works, since it would compete with the iPhone. Apple would be stealing from its own cookie jar. But Steve Jobs answered this by saying that if there's going to be cannibalization of Apple, it might as well be by Apple. Imagine an apple biting itself and you'll see where that goes.

Watch out for official updates when we get them.

Word has been circulating around the Internet that Apple is finally preparing to launch a next gen video iPod that will feature a touch-screen panel similar to the one used in the iPhone within a year.

Longstanding rumors about a touch-screen iPod have been bolstered by a recent U.S. patent awarded to the Cupertino based company.

According to Apple Insider, DigiTimes has also added more fuel to the fire, citing "sources at upstream suppliers" that Taiwan-based Wintek will be supplying the touch panels. DigiTimes says that Wintek will "begin shipping capacitive touch screen panels in the second half of 2007".

Apple Insider also noted that during a private meeting last month at the Apple Town Hall, Apple CEO Steve Jobs mentioned that a division of the company was working hard on next gen iPods that would run an embedded version of Mac OS X.

This particular tidbit was picked up by Wall Street analysts, among them Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster. Munster wrote in a report to clients earlier this week that they "expect Apple to release high capacity iPods based on OS X sometime during or before Macworld '08 in January".

Anyone who has had to deal with snail-crawling 2G or 2.5G-limited Internet access would want 3G on their iPhone, too. "Where'd my SMS go?" wouldn't even begin to cover the network grief experienced with the multimedia-enriched mobile phone, but it appears that in order to have 3G, you'd have to get another iPhone.

 

Or so they say. While many rumors have flown around dubbing European phone buffs as the lucky ones to get the extra G, none have proven factual or true. And while Steve Jobs himself admits that iPhone 'surfing' on AT&T isn't as fast as preferred, Apple is going to be hard-pressed to come out with a simple 3G solution.

Another bit of interesting developments was a mention of AT&T, Apple, planning, iPhone and 3G in one sentence. PBS' Robert Cringely wrote in a column that he believes "Apple and AT&T are planning a fall rollout for full 3G iPhone service, with technical trials already underway in certain AT&T markets," although there were no factual statements to support his claim.

He goes on further that the iPhone has a 3G capability tucked within its innards, ready to burst open at Christmas when a new firmware rolls out and flicks the magic switch. Some folks have turned their iPhone inside out and have yet to spot a piece of hardware that rings 3G-capable, pointing against the speculations of Cringely.

3G needs a transceiver with 3G capability, blogs Philip Elmer-DeWitt, which means that another iPhone with the hardware would be needed before being able to even use 3G capabilities. In turn, that would also require more power for the additional hardware. 

But instead of scrambling over the comm for Scotty, Apple considered battery life was first and foremost in their list of priorities. Apple has assured customers that Wi-Fi Internet access can still be used as a faster alternative to AT&T's current EDGE network, but while hotspots are few and far between, there's nothing more you can do to speed up your iPhone 'surfing' experience.

 

Top in the hour of the Apple-inclined geek is the Cupertino-based company's bid to expand their music user base: Apple's Next Big Thing. iTunes albums in certain selections go for as low as US$ 5.99 a pop to US$ 6.99 per, featuring artists like the LCD Soundsystem and Peter, Bjorn and John, while also offering DRM-free tracks.

A little bit goes a long, long way, even for tech-giant Apple. With Apple's choice for marketing strategies, they can also reel in independent artists offering cheaper music on the Web, while attracting new customers tight on the music budget. Doesn't sound so big? Well, we'll let you give you a short lowdown of what could be bigger.

Even when record companies breathed hot and heavy on Steve Jobs' neck regarding the hiking up of individual track prices, he took it upon himself to not only stay the 99-cent price line but go even lower. Apple did this despite reports coming in about Universal Music refusing to extend their licensing with iTunes and the record industry's temper against Apple's anti-DRM movement. Now if only one other company took similar risks so blatantly charged here...

We couldn't leave you guys hanging after reporting about the company-wide meeting that Steve Jobs called right before the release of the iPhone. While we couldn't send someone there to check it out, ars technica was cool enough to compile what happened from their various sources.

The entire speech was regarding the iPhone's introduction into the market and Steve Jobs handled it with his usual panache, saying the iPhone will revolutionize the mobile phone industry.

He went on, comparing the iPhone with the original Mac when it came out. He noted that when the latter came out, a lot of people said that it was going to be the industry standard. The iPhone follows the same vein in that sense. Strong words from a man who really believes in his products.

He then continued into the integration of the product in the entire Apple business. Steve said introducing it is the same as putting a third leg on a two legged chair. The first leg is the Mac business, which Steve noted as having the "best Macs" ever in the history of the company.

The second right now is the iPod and iTunes which as everyone knows really took off and dominated the music industry and mobile music market. The third would be the aforementioned iPhone. He also briefly touched on what he was hoping to be the fourth leg of the chair, the Apple TV.

Finally, he addressed a question that befuddled even the Apple fanatics here at QJ, "Why launch at Six PM"? Steve simply said that Apple didn't want people to have to take off from work, so they figured that was a good time to do it. Just when people thought it was over, he dropped the bomb on his employees. It was said that all full time Apple employees in the US and part-time employees with at least a year's tenure will be getting an iPhone at the end of July.

So now all we can really do is wait and see if Steve Jobs has once again struck gold with the iPhone. The next few months are going to really decide whether or not this product will be as successful as most have pegged it to be.

A rare event for Apple has been scheduled today. Accordingly, Steve Jobs has called a company wide meeting at his company's "Town Hall". What could he be announcing to his employees? (*cough iPhone cough*)

Better yet, Could this be another event such as the one that occurred during the iPod launch where Steve offered up $200 iPods to his employees? An iPhone for less sounds good to us.

The exact memorandum from Jobs is really interesting. He calls the iPhone the "most revolutionary and exciting product in Apple's history" which could actually be the case, when you really think about it.

We're launching the most revolutionary and exciting product in Apple's history this Friday. And given Apple's legacy of breakthrough products, that's saying a lot. I'd like to get together and share my thoughts about this amazing moment for our company.

So please join me for a company-wide communications meeting tomorrow, Thursday, at 11:00AM in Town Hall. This meeting will also be broadcast to other Apple campus locations. Please check [redacted] for details.

Steve Jobs also mentioned that the meeting will be broadcast to the other Apple campus locations. We'll probably be getting more information on this as it unfolds so keep checking back for more updates.

A lot have been said on Apple's Mac OS X Leopard, especially when the consumers finally got to see it running during the recently concluded WWDC. The new operating software wouldn't be arriving officially until October but those in the know are already saying that a number of useful small updates will come with the commercial version.

Apple is quite known for doing this to its products - never really telling the consumers everything that has changed. Just think of it as a finders-keepers game from Steve Jobs and the rest of the crew. And when you really think about it, it's not really harmful. If anything, it encourages users to play around with the software, learning it fully in the process.

Anyway, until the official release date comes, we're still tagging these under Rumors. But it would really be appreciated if these turn out to be true:

• A new version of Quicktime included with Leopard will reportedly allow full-screen mode without a QuickTime Pro key, echoing the feature added months before to iTunes.
• DVD Player will also see a major update with an HD options pane for Blu-Ray and HD DVD discs as well as the opportunity to add DVD cover art and change movie region support on the fly.
• Sun's unique file system will appear as a non-default, read-only format out of the box with write support possibly arriving as a separate update in the future.
• ZFS in Leopard will support some of the trademark features, such as instant and low-storage "snapshots" of a disk volume, and cloned copies that can be modified with only a small penalty in terms of disk space.
• iChat may also have received a substantial upgrade: Those contacts with mobile phone numbers can be sent an SMS text message.
• Google's influence is also allegedly present in the instant messaging app and will let Google Talk accounts mix with today's AIM, Jabber, and .Mac users.
• Users choose the default IM program, similar to the way Safari is used to choose the default browser, and will also be able to explicitly share more than the Public folder on a network.
• Even Dictionary will have the choice of switching from the Oxford dictionary to Wikipedia.

According to numbers released by the NPD Group, the worldwide market of laptop notebooks saw a 14% rise in Apple shipments since last month. And better yet for the Cupertino-based company, 14% of all notebook computers sold last month were also Apple-branded.

Analysts believe that this may be an indication that the laptop community is embracing more and more of Apple, despite being only fourth place in the current generation laptop race in the U.S. Hewlett-Packard, Gateway, and Toshiba sit at spots above Steve Jobs' company, as reported.

Further consideration of Apple's year-on-year growth, however, may drive the company to steal the third spot. The May figures actually represent a 65% jump from Apple's figure last year, and if Apple can keep that year-on-year rate up for the next month, the numbers would spring the modest 14% to a proud 20% in just thirty days.