At this time of year many of us are trying admirably to stick to those new year’s resolutions about shedding a few pounds. If however you have a hectic schedule what with work or other pursuits, finding the time to squeeze in some exercise can be tricky but help is at hand! iSometrics is one of the latest apps to be released from the Medl stable and the idea of the app is to provide users with ‘an entire gym, fitness plan and personal trainer in the palm of your hand’. The definition of isometric exercise is that in which muscles are contracted without joint movement, meaning that the excercises can be performed without the need for specialist equipment and so the app is great for suggesting exercises that make use of the everyday environments we find ourselves in and the furniture that surrounds us. Paul Martin, who submitted the app idea, answers a few of our questions…
Mall Maps is one of the latest excellent and incredibly practical iPhone apps to be released from the MEDL Mobile stable. You may already be aware of their app incubator which brought us such previous apps as Rob Shoesmith’s Problem Halved which has been very succesful indeed.
The man behind Mall Maps, Shayne Faerber, kindly offered to fill us in on what exactly we can expect from his offering.
Concerns are growing over what is being called the world’s first iPhone virus which has apparently been designed to attack cracked or jailbroken devices. At present the only confirmed cases or reports have originated from Australia.
Similar to the Rickrolling phenomenon of recent times, the virus, named “Ikee”, changes the users wallpaper or background to that of 80s pop singer Rick Astley with a caption that reads “Ikee is never gonna give you up”. This is possible because many people who have unlocked, cracked or jailbroken their devices and neglected to change the password from the default “alpine”.
Experts at security software manufacturer Sophos are saying that once the virus is effective it then proceeds in trying to identify other iPhones on the network that can be manipulated and then attacks them.
“This is a wake-up call to iPhone users around the world to take greater care about their security – especially if they jailbreak their phones,” said Sophos senior technology consultant, Graham Cluley.
“Businesses also need to ensure that they don’t have staff who are endangering corporate data by running insecure smartphones. Other inquisitive hackers may also be tempted to experiment, and could take the code of ikee and adapt it to have a more sinister payload.”
Sophos managed to establish that the source of the virus is a 21 year old Australian student from New South Wales. The student is said to have admitted starting the virus ina Twitter post and said the reason for doing so is because he discovered that 26 in 27 iPhones he examined were potentially susceptible because users had not changed their passwords.
F-Secure, a security firm based in Finland said
“The creator of the worm has released full source code of the four existing variants of this worm. This means that there will quickly be more variants, and they might have nastier payload than just changing your wallpaper or might try password cracking to gain access to devices where the default password has been changed”
To change your passwords use the below link provided by F-Secure.
Earlier this year Orange announced to great relief that it would be offering iPhones to its customers.
The released statement read;
“Orange, which has the largest 3G network covering more people in the UK than any other operator, will sell iPhone in all Orange direct channels including Orange shops, the Orange webshop and Orange telesales channels, as well as selected high street partners.”
This announcement came toward the end of the two year exclusivity deal that bound O2 and Apple and will no doubt make the iPhone more accessible, potentially increasing iPhone sales exponentially. Having spoken to several of our readers we can tell you that there were a surprising number of mobile phone users who were not prepared to change network providers in order to get an iPhone, so now that there is a choice of two network providers sales will surely increase.
Tom Alexander, head of Orange UK said;
“Since we announced the iPhone on Orange we have already seen more than a quarter of a million customers register their interest on our website,”
Both the iPhone 3G and the iPhone 3GS will be available to Orange customers on pay monthly, pay as you go and business tariffs from the 10th November. Read on for a summary of pay monthly options for both models.
If you haven’t heard the name Rob Shoesmith by now you must have been sleeping for the last six months. Rob is the man behind the hugely succesful app Problem Halved, a social utility tool that enables users to share problems and questions with other users throughout the world.
The app has been featured in many publications including MacWorld and large broadcasters including BBC news and even CNN. Evidently it has been quite a ride for everybody’s favourite bin man. Rob kindly offered to fill us in on his journey up to now. Read on!
After a long wait the Apple iPhone 3GS finally arrived on the 19th of June to far less acclaim than anticipated as these pictures from Engadget Mobile show…
The reasons for the poor queues could be attributed to several factors including the current state of the economy, the high cost of an upgrade and the fact the market might just be saturated. If you did go out and brave the baying mobs to get your hands on a 3GS, we’d love to know what you think of it.
Just a quick post to say that we are just putting the finishing touches to our free “How To Get A Free iPhone” ebook. The short information guide has been compiled by a good friend of Touchscreen Fones and details how you can get your hands on an iPhone and other fantastic electrical goods using a simple, perfectly legitimate and FREE method. As a teaser, we have decided to release the cover of the ebook below. Be sure to check back and download the ebook very soon!
Ladies and gentlemen! Keep an ”i” on Touchscreen Fones over the next week or so for the chance to get a free copy of our “How To Get A Free iPhone” ebook. This free guide will tell you all you need to know and do to get your hands on an iPod entirely for free! Details of how you can get your free ebook will be posted very soon indeed so make sure you check back here at Touchscreen Fones!
The website of Rob Shoesmith is now live and accessible for all those who wish to follow Rob’s amazing story. If you are unaware, Rob is the binman from the midlands who won a competition to have his iPhone app idea developed by a US firm of software developers. Rob’s idea was picked out of around 12000 entries and should be in the iTunes store by August.
If the app is successful Rob could make a tidy fortune as he will get to keep 25% of all the profits made. You can follow Rob’s great story on Twitter where his username is shoesmith81, at his new blog, on YouTube and of course here at Touchscreen Fones.
We featured a guest post from the one and only Rob Shoesmith very recently (click here to read it) and it would seem that since then plenty of other people have caught wind of his imminent success including more of the national media. A crew from BBC Midlands joined Rob on his morning rounds to ask him about his plans and journey so far.
We’re told by Rob that everyday brings increased attention and there are more media features on the way. You can follow Rob’s progress by checking back here at Touchscreen Fones and by following him on Twitter where his username is shoesmith81.
