Comments on: Apple news and rumors

By: Kooorrg

Kooorrg — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:32:21 +0000

@Eric: well, I’m not thinking of a 100% proprietary solution. I’m thinking “standard reader (ISO14443 A/B)” but with a proprietary encoding for the data inside the tags. You know, standard stuff is never good enough for Apple, it must make the owner feel “special.” So I’m sure that Apple would add something somewhere.

By: Eric VÃ©tillard

Eric VÃ©tillard — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 18:48:58 +0000

Well, look at the next post (just published), and you will see that we are on the same line. I am not sure that I agree about the proprietary stuff; the iPhone platform is proprietary, but RFID is standardized. Of course, Apple will not use JSR-257, but Android won’t either.

Now, will Apple use “real” NFC or not? For me, that is the question, and I don’t have the answer.

By: Kooorrg

Kooorrg — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 07:36:28 +0000

Regarding the job posting for the iPhone OS security manager, you should know that this is not the first time that this position is advertised. And it is still possible to jailbreak iPhones.

Since I’m pretty sure that last time Apple managed to hire at least one qualified applicant, I’m thinking that the shear enormity of the task at hand still escape them. The most essential task at hand (security and risk analysis) is mentioned only once and is not part of the list of required skills.

If security was really important to them, they would create a position at a much higher level in the hierarchy: right now I think that they are still at the “security is a product” level.

Now don’t get me wrong: from a business point of view, I’m not sure that they really have to move beyond this level right now. After all we’re not talking about voting machines, border-control terminals or EMV payment terminals.

Finally, I totally agree with you on the RFID issue. I think that lots of interesting applications could be really “bloom” with a simple sprinkling of RFID readers and simple, dumb RFID tags. Just take a look at Bluetooth pairing. I mean, I have an iMac and an Apple Wireless Keyboard and every time I have to change the batteries (not often), Bluetooth pairing is a huge pain. It is supposed to work seamlessly but in my experience it often takes at least 20 minutes of fiddling. And I’m talking about 3 products (iMac, Wireless Keyboard and Mac OS X) that were produced by a single company, in a single timeframe.

If Apple integrates a reader in the next iPhone generation AND allow applications to access the reader, it could actually kickstart a real consumer industry around this technology, just like it did with mobile browsing and mobile phone applications. The funny thing is that if that happens, a proprietary solution from a single company will again win against standard-based solutions (JSR-257 and the like).

Now I just need to find a proprietary solution to a problem that’s been hotly debated for years in a standard group, sell the solution to a company with a market clout large enough to turn into a “fait accompli” standard, and I will be rich.

By: lexdabear

lexdabear — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 18:41:18 +0000

I always wondered why Apple didn’t jump on the NFC train. The technology is hip, touch&go experience and if opened for the App developer, it would add more $ to the (sickening) successful App store. If this rumors are true, they’re setting now the directions for the next iPhone with NFC.. and we know that lately if Apple started something, it was a great success. It could be also a clever move to counter Nokia’s future NFC strategy.