iphone

Does a CIO need to be a technocrat?

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 06:59:58 -0400

The times, they are a changin'. CIOs once needed a high level of technical expertise to succeed. Today, CIOs certainly must still have a solid foundation of IT knowledge, including an understanding of the latest technologies to be credible. But other responsibilities have become just as important. InformationWeek reports that as IT becomes more integrated into the core of a business, the more a CIO must become a business leader and less of a technology manager.

To read more:
- see this InformationWeek.com article

For more stories from the FierceCIO network:
> Second outage for Amazon.com. Article
> Mac OS X 10.6 showcased. Article
> Apple unveils 3G iPhone. Article

MacBook Air 'PWNED' in 2 min flat

Mehan Jayasuriya — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 13:25:12 -0400

Those of you with an interest in hacking likely will remember last year's inaugural "PWN to OWN" competition, wherein a scrappy hacker gained control of a MacBook Pro from scratch in only nine hours flat. Well, that feat doesn't seem quite so impressive anymore, as noted iPhone hacker Charlie Miller managed to "PWN" a MacBook Air in a scant two minutes, by directing the computer's user to visit a website containing his exploit code. While the nature of the exploit won't be revealed until Apple gives the green light, we can only presume that Miller took advantage of a vulnerability in OS X's built-in browser, Safari. For his troubles, Miller will be leaving the CanSecWest security conference with a MacBook Air and $10,000 in tow, not to mention a whole lot of notoriety.

For more on the contest:
- see this Infoworld article

Time for IT to step up to the plate

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 08:00:00 -0400

It is a travesty that the latest government statistics show a drop in the number of African-American IT workers, a group that has long been underrepresented in the IT workforce. At a time when the industry is growing, the employment numbers should be increasing, not decreasing. In our ever-changing and diverse society, a declining number of African Americans in the field is unacceptable. It is time for IT leaders to step up to the plate, reach out, and engage in on the job training programs and better recruitment policies to reverse the current trend. Universities should also be encouraged by the IT sector to offer more scholarships to attract African-Americans interested in information technology. For a such an innovative industry, these statistics are certainly disturbing. -Judi

P.S. Don't miss our exclusive interview with Microsoft's Exchange Group on the topic of the iPhone in the enterprise!

iPhone in the enterprise: An interview with Microsoft's Exchange group

Mehan Jayasuriya — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 11:10:17 -0400

It certainly came as a bit of a surprise when Apple announced that it had licensed Activesync from Microsoft and was bringing full Exchange Server support to the iPhone. After all, Apple had marketed the device almost exclusively to consumers since its release and had ignored repeated requests from users for corporate email support. So why now? And does the iPhone really stand a chance against entrenched enterprise players like Microsoft, RIM and Palm?

To find out the answers to these questions, we went, not to the notoriously tight-lipped folks at Apple, but to Microsoft, Apple’s unlikely partner for the iPhone’s enterprise push. In an interview with Adam Glick, Technical Product Manager for Microsoft’s Exchange group, we found out why IT admins should be excited about the iPhone, how this move characterizes Microsoft’s approach to licensing its technology and why Microsoft is helping a competitor gain a foothold in its most cherished market...

Click here to read the full interview

Vista upgrade coming this week

Mon, 17 Mar 2008 07:59:58 -0400

At the back of your mind is a gnawing question: What do I do about Windows Vista? You may be able to rest more easily sooner than you think. This week, the first major upgrade of Vista arrives as a service pack. Microsoft says this one, known as Service Pack 1 (SP1), will tackle four core areas: Reliability, security, compatibility and performance. There are no new features, and many of the benefits will appeal to large corporate enterprises rather than folks at home, according to a blog on USA Today. Some of the same problems remain--painfully slow boot times and overly intrusive security pop-ups. This is not supposed to be a band-aid, and if it turns out to be, call Microsoft pronto!

For more on the Windows Vista upgrade:
- see this USA Today article

Related Articles:
What's next for Mifare? Article
Top challenges to compliance in virtualization. Article
DataVis wants to bring Office to the iPhone. Article

The iPhone is ready for business but are businesses ready for the iPhone?

Fri, 07 Mar 2008 07:00:00 -0500

Earlier this week, over at FierceMobileEnterprise, I wondered what enterprise announcements Apple had in store for its town hall iPhone event. While I felt like Lotus Notes support was a strong possibility given recent rumors, I characterized the announcement of the iPhone's most wanted business feature--Exchange Server support--"highly unlikely." Oh, how wrong I was. As you'll see in today's issue, there's no Lotus Notes support (yet) but the iPhone now supports Microsoft Exchange and Activesync, not to mention push email, certificates, identities, Cisco IPsec VPN, WPA2/802.1x, remote security administration and even remote wipe.

I don't think that anyone expected Apple to get so serious about enterprise users so quickly. However, the motivation is clear. The company aims to sell 10 million iPhones in 2008 and with consumer momentum slowing, they're going to have to court the biggest smartphone buyers: businesses. Now, this isn't going to be easy--vendors like Microsoft, RIM and Palm have been entrenched in the enterprise sector for years and unseating them will take more than just a touchscreen and some colorful icons.

That's not to say that Apple didn't do its homework. Skimming over the list of enterprise features set to arrive with version 2.0 of the iPhone firmware in June, it's hard to think of anything that Apple left out--it really does seem like the company listened to its business customers. And even though licensing Activesync certainly required that Mr. Jobs swallow his pride just a bit, it seems that he ultimately bowed to the pressure, knowing that Exchange support would make or break the device's enterprise potential.

No, the question isn't whether or not the iPhone is ready for the enterprise--I believe that it will be once the new firmware arrives--the question is whether or not the enterprise is ready for the iPhone. The iPhone is expensive, has the potential to be used for non-work-related tasks (YouTube! iPod!) and worst of all, has the attached stigma of being a consumer device. In an article for ZDnet, Larry Dignan summed up Apple's challenge quite simply: "Apple will need a compelling ROI case if it's going to upend Research in Motion."

He's absolutely right. No matter what features the iPhone brings to the table, CIOs aren't even going to consider the device unless they smell a potential ROI. And the fact of the matter is that, at least currently, the ROI case for the iPhone is a difficult case to make. No matter what sort of discounts Apple and AT&T offer to businesses, they're not going to be able to undercut Microsoft, RIM and the other carriers.

So what's there left to do? Apple's only option is to demonstrate to businesses that there will be some sort of return on the iPhone, even if it's not immediately apparent or monetary in nature. Maybe the device's Salesforce.com app will increase the sales team's productivity. Maybe a native AIM app will allow execs to stay in touch while traveling. Or maybe the device's support for Office file formats will mean that you're never stuck without a critical Powerpoint presentation again. Would you consider deploying iPhones in your organization? Why or why not? And what applications and features do you hope to see in June? Hit us up in the comments and let us know. -Mehan

iPhone takes on the enterprise

Fri, 07 Mar 2008 06:59:58 -0500

The naysayers said that it would never happen, yet, here we are: At a press conference in Cupertino, CA, Apple announced its enterprise strategy for the iPhone and the biggest surprise is that the company is licensing Activesync from Microsoft and bringing full Exchange Server support to the device. Exchange support will be baked into the iPhone's native Mail, Calendar and Contact applications and Exchange sync can be toggled on and off for each of them. But that's not all; the iPhone also is getting push email/calendar/contacts for the rest of us, support for certificates, identities, Cisco IPsec VPN and WPA2/802.1x and tools for remote security administration, device configuration and even remote wipe capabilities. All of these features will come with version 2.0 of the iPhone firmware, which is scheduled to arrive in June.

Then there's the matter of the iPhone SDK. The SDK, which is available now, allows developers to write native applications for the iPhone using the same APIs and tools that Apple does, as well as Cocoa Touch, a reworked version of OS X's Cocoa programming environment. As expected, applications will be distributed via iTunes and can be either sideloaded on to the device via a PC or downloaded over-the-air. Developers will be able to set their own prices for applications and will receive 70 percent of the revenue from sales; it will cost nothing to offer an application for free, if a developer chooses to do so.

Finally, a few demonstrations during the event gave us a taste of what's to come. AOL demoed a native AOL Instant Messenger client for the phone, something that both enterprise users and consumers have been clamoring for. Salesforce.com's Chuck Dietrich also demoed an iPhone version of his company's flagship app, which seemed surprisingly full-featured and integrated with the phone's native Map application.

All in all, it seems like Apple has a robust strategy in place for enterprise users and IT departments, which is quite surprising, given the indifference that the company has exhibited toward business users in the past. Regardless, just about everyone should be excited about the SDK and enterprise upgrades--except for Microsoft, RIM and Palm.

For more on the announcements:
- see this Ars Technica article on the SDK
- sign up for the iPhone Enterprise Beta Program at Apple's website
- and download the SDK from Apple

ALSO NOTED: Windows Server 2008 to present challenges; How to: Seamlessly run Linux apps in Windows;

Fri, 22 Feb 2008 06:59:50 -0500

> Windows Server 2008 to present challenges. Article
> Microsoft delays Mac Office file converter. Article
> How to: Seamlessly run Linux apps in Windows. Article
> Google releases search app for Symbian S60. Article
> PocketMac brings Lotus Notes to the iPhone, the hard way. Article
> AT&T's Palm Centro is reviewed. Article

And Finally... Tech workplaces unfavorable to women? Article

SPOTLIGHT: Windows Mobile 6.1

Tue, 05 Feb 2008 06:59:52 -0500

Windows Mobile version 6.1 is set to bring a whole lot more improvements than you might expect from a ".1" release. An iPhone-like browser with zooming, threaded SMS conversations and support for Office 2007 documents are a few of the features that are just around the bend. Check out the latest screenshots for a sneak peak at the coming update.

ALSO NOTED: Gartner: 80% of apps to use open-source by 2012; Flash drives get serious about security;

Tue, 05 Feb 2008 06:59:50 -0500

> Gartner: 80% of apps to use open-source by 2012. Article
> Motorola CEO takes helm of handset division. Article
> Lenovo ThinkPad power adaptor charges phones, PDAs too. Article
> Apple bumps iPhone to 16GB of storage. Article
> Linus Torvalds blasts Sun, Microsoft, virtualization. Article
> Flash drives get serious about security. Article
> Remembering failed Apple buyout amid Microsoft/Yahoo speculation. Article

And Finally... A brand-new computer from 1984 gets unboxed. Article