Three Fields, Three Rings, Troika

Hurray!!! For those who do not know what GWT is or are curious, check it out at: http://code.google.com/webtoolkit/

As many of you have already heard, iPhone was hacked by a 17 yr old wunderkind and a few companies in Europe (Engadget article #1, Engadget article #2). Despite the all too expected legal risks faced by these folks, including iPhoneSimFree, today we have a new report by Engagdet of a new hack, this time it’s the tilt sensor that is claimed to have been hacked.

It’ll be interesting to see where it all leads to. I’ll bet that Apple’s lawyers will vigorously purse the malfeasants, just as it has been in past in case of www.thinksecret.com, for example.

My thoughts on this? Steve Jobs should actually take advantage of this enthusiasm and think about creating a community of iPhone fans - give them the freedom to write and deploy plugins (beyond the restrictions currently in place), give them the freedom to choose any carrier. This will allow Apple to focus on improving the actual hardware itself - i.e. upgrade the cellular network from the currently offered EDGE to a 3G one, e.g. ATT’s HSDPA. And let’s not forget improving the battery situation - as you may recall, you currently must send the iPhone to replace the battery, thus relinquishing your phone for as long as 1-2 weeks!

Bottom line - it will be interesting to see how Apple reacts to the fans’ attempts to actually broaden the iPhone’s capabilities, and whether it acts towards them or against them.

But then we have another question - is it legal? Let me think about it during the week and I’ll post about it after this w-end.