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Fixing a major but unacknowledged bug in the operating system, last week’s iPhone OS 3.1 update has rendered most iPhones and all iPod touches incompatible with Exchange 2007 servers that require on-device data be encrypted, a standard safeguard used by businesses.

In other words, Apple has fundamentally betrayed its iPhone users and the businesses that have either explicitly or implicitly supported the device.

Find business-oriented iPhone apps the easy way with InfoWorld’s online app finder.

If you’re like me, you probably ran the iPhone OS 3.1 update late Friday along with all the other Mac OS X updates. And perhaps, like me, you found your device no longer syncing to your company’s Exchange 2007 Server. I, for one, assumed something had changed on the back end. After all, a dot-one update is a bug fix, so there shouldn’t have been anything major to watch out for. But I learned Monday it was the update itself that was to blame.

My first reaction was, “Damn. Now I can’t check e-mail or schedules when not at my desk. I wonder how long it will take for Apple to fix the issue.” Our IT department is not about to relax its encryption requirement to deal with a change in Apple’s OS. Why should it?

Then it sunk in. The iPhone has been falsely reporting to Exchange servers since July 2008 that it supports on-device encryption.

The lie the iPhone has been telling

That’s right. Thousands of users have been accessing e-mail, calendars, and contacts over Exchange connections through their iPhones or iPod touches, not knowing they were compromising their corporate security. During that entire time, Apple has extolled its support of Exchange and convinced many businesses that the iPhone was a corporate-class device they should embrace or, at least, tolerate.

How many businesses will revisit that support now that they know Apple shipped and promoted a product as fit for business only to later find that the device had a major security flaw? Apple clearly knew of the flaw at some point; otherwise, it would not have fixed it in the iPhone OS 3.1 update. Worse, how many users or businesses will trust Apple, now that they know it not only hid a major flaw from their attention but also slipstreamed a fix that broke compatibility with most of its devices?

Consider the implications on Mac OS X Snow Leopard, which now boasts the same Exchange support as the iPhone. As of the Mac OS X 10.6.1 update of last week, it still works with our encryption-requiring Exchange 2007 Server. But how does anyone know Snow Leopard won ‘t have a similar breakdown in the future, if not for encryption then for something else?

I suspect that Apple has set back its enterprise cause several years, if not permanently.

The fundamental damage that Apple has done to itself involves trust. IT may be glad that now unencrypted iPhones and iPod touches—meaning every model except the iPhone 3G S released earlier this year—aren’t violating their security policies. But IT won’t be happy about learning those devices were unsecurely accessing their Exchange servers or about dealing with all those users whose iPhones and iPod Touches suddenly have lost access to Exchange.

No good options to fix the problem

And IT won’t be happy to follow Apple’s official suggestions: Either replace the devices with 3G S models or change the security policies to allow at least iPhone users to access Exchange without requiring on-device encryption. Neither option is realistic, and both show an amazing navet, or perhaps arrogance, about Apple’s view of the business environment.

The third option—downgrading the iPhone OS to 3.0—is unrealistic for many users. If you’re lucky and the last backup of your iPhone has the previous OS, go to iTunes and click Restore. Otherwise, you need to have a copy of a 3.0-based backup (Mac OS X users who have Time Machine running likely will), or you need to download the 3.0 version from BitTorrent or other questionable sites, then restore your iPhone or iPod Touch using that older OS. Note that you have to Option-click in Mac OS X or Shift-click in Windows the Restore button in iTunes to be able to choose that backed-up or downloaded 3.0 OS. After the restore is complete, you’ll likely have to reinstall some apps, update your music files, and so forth to reflect changes made since the last backup; if you have no backup, you’re essentially starting over. Despite what I read on various blogs, I was able to restore an unsanctioned iPhone OS 3.0 onto my iPod Touch using the new iTunes 9.

I have my Exchange access back—but I had to become a hacker to do it. Few people will do that. And many organizations may decide to ban all iPhones and iPod Touches from Exchange rather than risk access by unencrypted devices that hack around their security policies by dowbngrading to the 3.0 OS or not upgrading to the 3.1 version.

There’s a fourth possible option, which is the only one that would satisfy legitimate IT security concerns: Apple revs iPhone OS to include software encryption, so the pre-3G S devices can honestly tell Exchange 2007 they support on-device encryption. But Apple has avoided implementing such encryption since Day 1, except for the 3G S released in July. I’m betting there’s a reason the on-device encryption is available only on the faster-chip model. Plus, Apple has been very clear in saying it won’t support simultaneous processes in the iPhone OS, which any software encryption would likely need to be.

Does Apple have a plan to reenable the pre-3G S models’ ability to work with Exchange when encryption is a requirement? I asked Apple that question yesterday, and a spokeswoman said she would let me know when she had an answer. So far, there is none.

The sick feeling of betrayal

I really like my iPod touch, but at this point, I won’t buy another one or an iPhone. Right now, I simply can’t count on Apple to do the right thing. If I did get a 3G S or some future encryption-enabled iPod Touch model, what other nasty surprise will I find a year on?

While the apps are fun and being able to go to the Web when on the road is useful, the major benefit that I — and most business users — get is access to e-mail and calendars. If the devices touted for more than a year as great at doing that really can’t do it in the real-world business context, they’re not worth the several hundred dollars they cost or the limited space in my pockets. I can get a Palm Pre instead; after all, it still works with Exchange, and for my on-the-road music, I can bring along a cheaper iPod.

I’ve been a champion of the iPhone as more than a fancy iPod for a couple years now, suggesting that businesses give it a serious look despite some of its more IT-desired omissions. Now, I feel embarrassed for having done so. I’ve tolerated Apple’s half-baked iPhone management tools, given that the company has been careful not to claim professional-level management support. But Apple’s made a lot of hay about its Exchange support. Yes, it technically supports Exchange, but not in the way that anyone would expect in the real world. Yet Apple let us all think it did. Then it revealed the truth in a damaging, surprising, inconsiderate way.

That’s a double betrayal. And a sad, sick feeling.

Apple has to move quickly to fix the immediate problem and start giving business users with the information they need and the respect they deserve.

Use Aardvark Mobile to send out questions. The app will send a push notification when someone in the Aardvark network has supplied an answer.

Aardvark Mobile actually arrived in the App Store nearly a week ago. But developer Vark.com waited until Tuesday to take the wraps off the mobile version of its social question-and-answer service.

Aardvark Mobile tackles the same problem as the Aardvark Web site—dealing with subjective searches where two people might type in the same keywords but be searching for two completely different things. “Search engines by design struggle with these types of queries,” Aardvark CEO Max Ventilla said.

What Aardvark does is tap into your social networks and contacts on Facebook, Twitter, Gmail, and elsewhere to track down answers to questions that might otherwise flummox a search engine—things like “Where’s a good place to eat in this neighborhood?” or “Where should I stay when I visit London?” With Aadvark’s Web service, you’d send a message through your IM client to Aardvark; the service then figures out who in your network (and in their extended network) might be able to answer the question and asks them on your behalf. Ventilla says that 90 percent of the questions asked via Aardvark get answered. The majority of questions are answered in less than five minutes.

The iPhone version of Aardvark works much the same way. Instead of an IM, you type a message directly into the app, tag it with the appropriate categories, and send it off to Aardvark. The service pings people for an answer, and sends you a push notification when there’s a reply. In previewing the app, I asked a question about affordable hotels in Central London—two responses came back within about three minutes from other Aardvark users.

In addition to push notifications, Aardvark Mobile also taps into the iPhone’s built-in location features to automatically detect your location—a feature that can help when you’re asking about local hotspots. If you shake your mobile device when you’re on the Answer tab, Aardvark Mobile looks up any unanswered questions that you may be able to provide a response for (while also producing a very alarming aardvark-like noise).

“We think Aardvark is particularly well-suited to mobile, and especially the iPhone given how rich that platform is to develop for,” Ventilla said.

You don’t have to already be using Aardvark’s online service to take advantage of the mobile app. The free Aardvark Mobile app lets you set up a profile on your iPhone or iPod touch; Facebook Connect integration helps you instantly build up a network of friends who are also using the service.

Aardvark Mobile requires the iPhone OS 3.0.

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After months of rumors, scattered details and a few brief appearances, the Zune HD is finally here. Microsoft is discontinuing the older Zune models to focus on the Zune HD and build an ecosystem of software and accessories around it. There’s a lot to like about the Zune HD—from its slim design to its unique music discovery features.

Physically, the Zune HD got a complete makeover. Measuring 4 by 2 by 0.3-inches thick, it falls somewhere between the last year’s hard- and flash-drive models in size. A 3.3-inch multi-touch OLED display dominates the device’s face with a single, slim hardware home button lying below it. Because the display doesn’t require a backlight, it uses less battery power. Microsoft says that the Zune HD can play music for up to 33 hours and video for up to 8.5 hours. For comparison, the iPod Touch has 30 hours of music playback and 6 hours of video.

Microsoft stepped up the Zune HD’s FM radio functionality by adding an HD radio receiver to the hardware. HD radio delivers a cleaner sound quality than analog FM and allows stations to broadcast additional channels with different programming. For example, local San Francisco alternative rock station Live 105 has an HD station playing only classic alternative. You can also tag and download the songs you like. Best of all, HD radio is 100-percent free.

Of course, Microsoft couldn’t justify tacking on “HD” onto the Zune name with only HD radio. The Zune HD also supports 720p HD video files so you can play videos via the HDMI docking station (separately sold; $80) to an HDTV. Microsoft improved the Zune HD’s menu for TV viewing so you can easily navigate the player on your TV. The older generation Zune menu looked fuzzy and disproportional when plugged into a TV.

The Zune HD’s UI has been freshened up with a new menu item called Quickplay. This handy feature displays your most recently added content, device history, and lets you to pin your favorites to the menu—whether it be video, music, photos, playlists, etc. Quickplay is also a menu option on the Zune PC software, but you can’t sync up the two menus. If you favorite something on your Zune, it won’t carry over to your PC.

Last but not least, the Zune HD’s browser has been optimized to fully take advantage of multitouch. Yes, that means you can pinch to zoom into a page. According to Microsoft, the browser is based on Internet Explorer. It also has a full-QWERTY touch keyboard.

Microsoft is definitely packing the punches in the battle for best touch portable media player and this is only the hardware. New apps, a variety of new music discovery features in the software and Zune’s expansion into Xbox Live territory. Check PC World soon for a full-rated review of the Zune HD’s hardware and software updates later today.

im planning on selling my iPod 30GB. its in good condition. how do u reset all the settings and erase my name and stuff? also wat price is reasonable and where should i sell it? along w/ the ipod im planning on giving headphones and 3 skins.

Image by Johannes Meyer via Flickr

From http://bloggerstools.com/a-quick-guide-to-ipod-battery-for-your-ipod-nano-8gb/

iPod battery life is an important consideration to most iPod users. The iPod battery degrades over a period of time and is not easily changed by the users. Although it can be recharged more than 300 times, the lithium based battery does eventually wear out.

When that happens, although it is possible for users to change the iPod battery themselves, many people do not want to risk damaging their iPod Nano 8GB. Does that mean that the iPod Nano 8GB was designed to be a disposable device? No. The iPod Nano 8GB was designed to last a good, long, while.

However, most lithium batteries, such as the iPod battery, last about two years. This nets the user hundreds of charges; however, at some point, the lithium battery will stop working. Users can’t replace the battery the way they can with other digital devices.

Two the most popular options of how to get free movies on iPod:

• Option 1: use lime wire or frost wire. Warning: using lime wire or frost wire can get you viruses so make sure you have a very good virus protection program installed on your computer
• Option 2: borrow a movie from a friend or rent it from the store and put it on iTunes.

You can download them from Limewire or another free downloading program, but they have to be able to play through Quicktime Player. To do this, preview the download before its finished (or else you’ll be wasting a lot of time) and if it doesn’t play in it or says that its a file Quicktime doesn’t understand, search for another download. It’s actually pretty hard to find the ones that are compatible with iTunes and Quicktime (same company).

You could also use a converter, but it’s complicated.

Graboid Video is a Windows download application that acts like a dedicated web browser for videos. You can find over 130.000 videos if you are going to use Graboid Video. All the videos are in full feature length, full screen and in some cases you will find even High Definition (HD) video files. This is how to get free movies on iPod.

You do have to realize that a lot of the content isn’t legally free for download anywhere.

But legally, you can rip the movies from DVD’s you already own and transfer them to iTunes.