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So a new employment opportunity popped up at Apple's job listings the other day and Apple is looking for an experienced iPhone Security Engineer to create "proof of concept" attacks on current security mechanisms and provide risk analysis of potential security threats. Basically, Apple needs an iPhone Hacker to prevent future jailbreaks, unlocks, and security breaches.

So if any of you are good at what you do and want to work for the "good guys", go give it a try. Apple is trying to ramp up security to protect enterprises who are adopting iPhone 2.0 and more selfishly, protect their own App Store from competition ahem Cydia & Installer. Either way, Apple is getting serious about security and the iPhone.

Have you checked out our forums lately? The community is growing and the commentary is getting better and better each day. Unconvinced? I'll bring out a thread, a post, a topic, or a comment directly from the forums and post it on TiPb's front page every week to prove it to you. We here at TiPb love the interplay, quid pro quo, repartee with our readers, so step up your creativity and tighten up your diction, you could be next!

It's been two weeks since the July 11th, 22 nation launch. Do you know where your iPhone 3G is? Sadly, for many, the answer is still "backordered" if not "out-of-stock". But don't worry, your always customer conscious and perennially consumer focused mobile cell provider wants to make sure you know that they know that you're feeling some pain. And they want to assure you they're doing everything they can to get your money you your shiny new iPhone 3G.

Today's Lightning Review comes from FoilTape, a review of Midomi, free on iTunes. Most people have been raving about Shazam for identifying music, but Midomi seems to work better with humming and the like. Let's see what FoilTape thinks!

Midomi calls itself "the ultimate search and discovery." It's a FREE, cool and engaging app that definitely has scored 'wow' points with me. Midomi is a song recognition program that you can sing to, hum to, talk to, or type to. You can even hold your iPhone up to your car stereo to capture the sound. Midomi then searches its database and tries to decipher your best karaoke attempt and gives back likely matches.

Last night Apple began seeding iPhone firmware 2.1 and SDK Beta 1 to registered developer program members (those who paid the $99 fee and were accepted, and have App Store uploading privileged's). Word came in early about new features in CoreLocation and Notification Server APIs. Now Engadget is adding the nigh-mythical holy grail of basic smartphone functionality to the list of maybes: Cut, Copy, and Paste!

No, not the 2.1 firmware beta, that one's for realz. We're talking here about the Washington Post, which ran a Techcrunch story breaking the news that:

Installer.app, the app store before that other app store, is coming back for firmware 2.0 and being re-fashioned as Installer 4. Currently, jailbroken 2.0 iPhones are using Cydia as their main app pipeline but when Installer 4 is released, well, they'll likely play nice with one another and especially nice with that other app store.

The RiP Dev Blog has a lot of complicated, programmer's type language describing the updates for Installer 4.0 so I'll try to translate to more understandable, layman's terms: It's going to be faster, safer, and more integrated. Bang.

Apple has reportedly seeded an early beta of firmware 2.1 (5f90) and a new and improved SDK to developers. Among the changes, CoreLocation (which covers GPS and other location-aware services) gains direction and speed tracking abilities (leading to a fresh round of turn-by-turn speculation, 'natch), and API's for the Notification Server that, come September, will be used in-lieu of background multitasking to push alert badges and sounds to Apps (like Instant Messages, Tweets, etc.). Given how MobileMe is doing with Push, that one may prove interesting...

Jonathan Ive, me thinks you're going to need a bigger mantle, what with all the awards Apple's VP of Design keeps taking home!

This time it's the IDEA (International Design Excellence Awards) handed out by BusinessWeek. In addition to the Gold prize for the original iPhone 2G, Apple also received Gold IDEA's for the MacBook Air and Bluetooth Keyboard, and a Silver for the redesigned iMac. These four -- the most of any company this year -- brings Apple's lifetime IDEA total to 13.

Congratulations!

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