Apple locks out RealNetworks with iPod update
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Apple Computer Inc. has updated the software for some of its iPod digital media players so that songs bought from RealNetworks Inc.
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Ostensibly acknowledging that focusing on its own audio and video formats has become a losing proposition with the near-ubiquity of Flash video, RealNetworks is preparing a new version of its oft-maligned RealPlayer software that support Windows Media, Apple's QuickTime and even Adobe's Flash.
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Apple has been very quiet on the topic of unlocking the iPhone, which allows it to work with other wireless carriers. However, the company, on Monday, issued a stern warning to users that their iPhone may be permanently inoperable if they use the various unlocking software available on the Internet.
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(InfoWorld) - Users are reporting that a new update to Apple's iPhone is making previously unlocked iPhones unusable. The iPhone 1.1.1 update , released Thursday, breaks phones that have been hacked so that they work with providers other than AT&T, the only U.S. provider Apple has allowed to carry its mobile phones. In recent months, a number of software tools have been developed whichÂ allow iPhone users to break free of Apple's AT&T-only restriction, but Apple has said that it would fight any attempts to unlock the iPhone. Earlier this week the company released a warning that unlocked iPhones "will likely result in the modified iPhone becoming permanently inoperable when a future Apple-supplied iPhone software update is installed." Shortly after the Thursday update was released, users of unlocked iPhones began reporting problems. Security researcher Tom Ferris said the new software disabled a phone that had been unlocked using the open-source anySIM software in order to work on T-Mobile's wireless network. After the update, the iPhone was stuck with an error message and apparently unusable. "It kept saying 'unsupported SIM card,' even with the AT&T SIM card in it," he said. "You can turn the phone off or on, but we just can't figure out how to get past this 'SIM card not supported'," he said. SIM cards contain account information and are used to authenticate devices on certain types of mobile networks. Unlocked iPhones can use SIM cards from non-AT&T networks. Others were reporting similar problems on Thursday. The update also appears to disable the 'Jailbreak' hack which allows users to install unsupported software on the iPhone, Ferris said. After the 1.1.1 patch was installed, it wiped out all of the third-party applications he had installed on a second iPhone, he said. The new software is Apple's biggest iPhone update to date, andÂ it fixes a number of security flaws in the iPhone's browser, mail client, and Bluetooth networking server. The majority of the flaws do not appear to be critical, but the update fixes a larger number of bugs than the first iPhone update, released July 31. Hackers have said that the iPhone's browser and mail clients are the most likely sources of software flaws and this release bears that out. Apple fixed seven flaws in the Safari browser, two in the iPhone's mail client, and one Bluetooth bug with the release. The Bluetooth flaw could be the most serious -- Apple said that it could allow an attacker to run unauthorized code on the iPhone -- but because Bluetooth works over a range of just a few feet, the attacker would have to be standing near the victim for any exploit to work, said Andrew Storms, director of security operations with nCircle Network Security. Noted hacker HD Moore agreed that the Bluetooth flaw was serious. "The only bad issue here is the Bluetooth [flaw]," he said. "I will start working on this tonight." Though there may be some technical limitations to what an attacker could do by exploiting this bug, it "could be a nasty remote exploit," he added. Earlier this week,Â Moore added iPhone hacking capabilities to the Metasploit hacking toolÂ that he develops. The patch also fixes some cross-site scripting and JavaScript flaws in the browser that could also be serious, Storms said. These flaws could be exploited to make the browser run unauthorized JavaScript code, he said. Mobile phone users typically cannot update their own software, but Apple introduced this capability in the iPhone, which uses the update mechanism in the phone's iTunes music player. iTunes checks for these updates once per week, so it may take up to seven days for all iPhone users to see these updates. Apple advises users to install the update immediately.
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Hostilities started in late July, when Real cracked Apple&#39;s FairPlay code, meaning songs bought from the RealPlayer Music Store could be played on the iPod - a move that went down very badly over at Apple. Real then decided to ratchet up the pressure by ...
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Apple updated iTunes to keep users from creating free iPhone ringtones--a workaround has already been posted.
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Apple Computer is warning users of older versions of iTunes that it plans to stop allowing those versions to connect to the music store.
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Apple Computer has quietly started to block technology created by RealNetworks to get around the iPod music playerâs copy-protection armor.
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Apple has released an update to iTunes that blocks users from creating free custom ringtones and then syncing them to an iPhone. Despite Apple&#8217;s best efforts to thwart users, a workaround has already been found and posted to the Internet.
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RealNetworks Inc., which sells songs over the Web, said Apple Computer Inc. has altered the software for some of its market-leading iPod digital music players so that songs purchased from RealNetworks won&#39;t play.
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Apple has tweaked the firmware for its AirPort Extreme Base Station, though it's not saying why.
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Blog: This security update for Windows users piggybacks patches for Apple users.
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Apple Computer has updated the software for some of its iPod digital media players so that songs bought from RealNetworks won&#39;t play.
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No longer only a war of words, Apple Computer Inc. has quietly started to block the technology that RealNetworks Inc. created to get around the iPod music player&#39;s copy-protection armor.
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A consumer advocacy group is blasting RealNetworks for installing adware and other software without properly notifying its users.In a report published Thursday, StopBadware.org faults the latest version of RealPlayer for secretly installing its Rhapsody Player Engine during the RealPlayer installation.&quot;RealPlayer 11 does not disclose that it installs Rhapsody Player Engine, and does not remove the software when RealPlayer is uninstalled,&quot; Stopbadware says in the report.Rhapsody Player Engine is required to access RealNetwork&#39;s online music service. But because users are not told that they have installed the product it could become a liability, using up the computer&#39;s hard-drive space or processing power, or even creating a security risk for consumers if bugs are discovered in Rhapsody, said Maxim Weinstein, StopBadware&#39;s manager.Both RealPlayer 11 and the older RealPlayer 10.5 software are both considered &quot;badware,&quot; the report states.Real Player 10.5 suffers from a different issue, however. Users who download the software without filling out the RealNetworks product registration page end up with a piece of software called Message Center, which then proceeds to deliver ads to the user&#39;s computer. &quot;It&#39;s installing, essentially, a piece of adware without giving users information about that up front,&quot; Weinstein said.RealNetworks spokesman Ryan Luckin said a check-box on the registration page is used to notify users that Message Center would be installed. Users who clicked through the registration page without filling out any information would have the software installed.Although the issue was fixed in version 11 of the player, RealPlayer 10.5 is automatically downloaded via the Firefox browser&#39;s &quot;Missing Plug-in&quot; feature and is still widely used, Weinstein said.Until RealNetworks is up-front with users about what software they&#39;re actually downloading, StopBadware recommends that consumers avoid its media player.Luckin called the Rhapsody issue an oversight. &quot;The fact that when you uninstall RealPlayer we don&#39;t go back and uninstall Rhapsody is an oversight and is something we should address in the future,&quot; he said.A widely used alternative to Apple&#39;s QuickTime and Microsoft&#39;s Windows Media Player, RealPlayer has a history of making invasive changes to users&#39; computers. The Message Center software has come under fire in the past, and in 1999 computer security consultant Richard Smith discovered that the software was quietly sending information to RealNetworks servers.StopBadware&#39;s findings apply only to the Windows versions of RealPlayer&#39;s software, Weinstein said. RealPlayer also runs on other operating systems, including Mac OS X and Linux.Supported with funding from Google, Lenovo and Sun Microsystems, StopBadware evaluates software and warns consumers of products that engage in deceptive behavior, such as tracking user behavior or installing programs without telling consumers.Although RealPlayer 10.5&#39;s Message Center feature may be more noticeable and annoying, Weinstein said Real Networks should fix both problems as soon as possible. &quot;It&#39;s hard to say that one is worse,&quot; he said. &quot;They&#39;re really two sides of the same concept of just not telling users what&#39;s going on.&quot;
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RealNetworks Inc. on Tuesday halved prices for songs downloaded from its online music store to win customers for new technology that has rankled rival Apple Computer Inc.
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Apple on Friday issued a security update for Mac OS X that plugs a trio of holes in its wireless network subsystem, which could potentially allow an attacker to take control of an affected system. All three of the patches involve Mac OS X version 10.4, while one is also for version 10.3.