Despite Apple, cool new iPhone hacks are coming
Jailbreakers are cranking out cool new hacks that will make the iPhone even better, despite Apple’s foolishly stubborn stand -- some are even making money
Follow @BSnyderSFWhat exec wouldn't love to have an army of unpaid workers cranking out improvements to their product on the off chance that they may make some money -- or get a little glory? Steve Jobs, of course. But despite Apple's stand, independent developers are poring over the beta of iPhone 3.0, speculating about the new hardware and getting ready to add useful (and sometimes just playful) hacks.
[ While you're waiting for those new hacks, read InfoWorld's selection of the best productivity apps you won't find at the App Store. ]
"AT&T invented Unix in 1969; now 40 years later, you can hold a Unix workstation in your hand," says Damien Stolarz, co-author of "iPhone Hacks." Overstatement? Maybe a bit, but the processing power in an iPhone isn't much less than most of us had on or our desktops in 1996, he says.
Talking this week to Stolarz and Mario Ciabarra, who runs a small app store called Rock Your Phone, I was reminded of how refreshing the energy and enthusiasm of committed developers can be. These guys, and no doubt their colleagues and competitors, fairly bubble over with ideas, and words just tumble out of their mouths.
"It's like 1996 and the first commercial Web site has just gone up. But now, there are 2 billion cell phones on the planet. The iPhone is the future of the Internet, Web 3.0," says Stolarz.
Bluetooth, tethering, and more
In recent weeks, there have been rumors that the next-generation hardware will include twice the RAM and processing power of the iPhone 3G. One site even speculates that overclocking will account for some of the added horsepower. If true, what might a developer do with it?
“If rumors are true regarding increased RAM in the new hardware, the capability to multitask applications will lead to a true advanced mobile computing platform,” says Ciabarra. One example: listening to Internet radio while using a turn-by-turn GPS navigation system with traffic updates and still being connected to your favorite IM network.
[ Depending on how Apple orchestrates its update, hackers might have some work to do before an official suite of utilities is released to the general community. ]
