Apple Preparing for Mega Launches, Mac Store Nightmare Looms

Prior to CES 2011, a few experts argued for Verizon and Apple announcing Verizon iPhone during the event. While that has not happened, Verizon iPhone and iPad 2 are not too far away.Verizon CEO certainly went out of his way to avoid giving even an ounce of a hint about his company’s upcoming partnership with Apple:

Young people are telling us around the planet that is like another skin, a way to extend themselves around the virtual space…People want access to everything at their fingertips, no matter where they are or what they see. The opportunity for our industry is to deliver relevance, and no one can do that alone.

Apple is being more open about its plans for the next few months. According to Apple Insider, the company is already restricting employee vacations. Allegedly, Apple employees won’t be able to take their off time for a 3 week period (late January to Early February). Such a long period of vacation blackout only means one thing: major project launches are in the works.

Apple is planning to launch two iPhones, an iPad, and new Macbooks in the very near future. No wonder the company is keeping its holiday personnel for the time being. Apple may want to hold on to its software security team too. It took hackers only a few hours to break Mac Apps and get them to run illegally on unauthorized machines. Software developers have been fighting against piracy for years. Apple will have to as well.

The Next Web has already posted about what it takes to crack Mac Apps:

So what does it take in order to pirate an app from the Mac App Store? All you have to do is find the .dmg file hosted online somewhere. Sure, you can’t readily download premium apps without paying for them, from the App Store, but that’s never stopped files from ending up on pirate websites before. Once you’ve found the app, all you have to do is install it as you would any other application and then copy over 3 files (and/or folders) from any legitimate download that you’ve made in the App Store — even if it’s a free download (Twitter, for instance).

It seems not all apps are affected by this issue. Apparently, some developers have not implemented the payment verification process the right way. Considering that Mac App Store can be used to put malware on Mac computers, no side seems to be happy with the store early on. It is early in the game though. Let’s hope Apple addresses some of these security short-comings soon.