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Release Date: August 05, 2009
Genre: Games
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iTunes New Music Releases

Release Date: September 29, 2009
Genre: Rock
Release Date: September 20, 2009
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Release Date: August 25, 2009
Genre: Rock
Release Date: August 25, 2009

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Release Date: April 22, 2009
StickWars $0.99
Release Date: March 31, 2009
Genre: Games
Bloons $0.99
Release Date: April 05, 2009
Genre: Games

Discover New Music

  • Odyssey Number Five

    • 10 out of 10
    • Powderfinger
    • Guitar-driven rock out of Australia, Powderfinger has not seen much exposure in the States, but should get a nod for their toe-tapping songs. Building off their previous release, "Internationalist" (
  • Gimme Fiction

    • 10 out of 10
    • Spoon
    • Gimme Fiction by Spoon is a terrific album by an Austin band that I was lucky enough to catch on an Austin radio station during a Christmas visit.

  • Playing the Angel

    • 8 out of 10
    • Depeche Mode
    • Oddly enough, Playing The Angel is a return to form for Depeche Mode, even though it may well be argued that they never truly deviated from their roots in their more recent offerings. In the

  • The Stooges

    • 8 out of 10
    • The Stooges
    • Another pillar of my musical foundations, The Stooges' first album is one those records whose influence far outweighed its popularity. Like The Velvet Underground & Nico, hordes of people wh

  • Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not

    • 8 out of 10
    • Arctic Monkeys
    • Get on your dancing shoes
      You sexy little swine

      -Arctic

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News

Exploring Apple’s iPhone App Kill Mechanism

An iPhone forensics expert has discovered that Apple has apparently installed a mechanism to remotely kill an iPhone app if necessary. However, public knowledge of scope of the technology is scant, according to Tom Krazit at CNET on Thursday.

On Wednesday, iPhone Atlas pointed to Jonathan Zdziarski’s findings that the iPhone routinely checks a website to apparently check for a list of unauthorized applications.

The conclusion by Mr. Zdziarski, an iPhone forensics expert, was that Apple could remotely terminate an app, even if an Apple customer had paid for the app.

The problem, according to Mr. Krazit is that no one has any real insight into when or how this facility would be invoked. It could simply be away for Apple to revoke apps that are subsequently found to be malicious or have grave security weaknesses. It could also be a way for enterprise customers to control what applications are installed. [However, that would require multiple Websites on a per company basis, presumably, not just one.]

Apple’s tight-fisted policy, according to Mr. Krazit, is annoying some developers who are more accustomed to direct control of their apps, and some could certainly strike out on their own with apps for jailbroken phones. However, in the meantime, no one knows much about details of this mechanism or the circumstances under which Apple would use it.

In a related story, the infamous "I am Rich" iPhone app has apparently been removed from the App Store. It’s not clear whether the author or Apple withdrew the app. If it has been withdrawn for good, it may be the first time in the history of Apple software that a legitimate, harmless application has been withdrawn from the market due to a public embarrassment.

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