Applidium
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Siri protocol cracked to run on any device, still requires iPhone 4S UDID
The Next Web reports that app developer Applidium, who you may remember from the VLC iOS app fracas earlier this year, has cracked the security protocols associated with Siri. Using Applidium's methods allows Siri to recognize voice commands from any device -- not just another iPhone, but also an iPad, or even potentially a Mac or Android device. As of now the only thing keeping this from reaching a widespread audience is the fact that an iPhone 4S UDID is still required to get Siri to recognize inputs. Technically an enterprising developer with the proper know-how could tweak things to associate the iPhone 4S UDID with another device (as Applidium has done), but as The Next Web points out it would be very easy for Apple to track down such activity and shut it down. Applidium has a post describing its methods as well as some of its other findings. Among the interesting things they learned: Siri sends compressed audio in Speex format (an audio codec associated with VoIP) of your every command to Apple's servers. Other data includes timestamps and confidence scores for each word spoken, all of which presumably helps out a great deal in deciphering the actual content of your commands. In other words, our assessment from a few weeks back appears to be correct: the device itself determines what you said, while Apple's servers take that data and extrapolate it into what you meant. Applidium's work is just the latest bit of evidence that there shouldn't be any technical hurdles holding Siri back from more widespread deployment than just Apple's newest iPhone. Despite Apple engineers' comments that they "currently" have no plans to spread Siri beyond the iPhone 4S, it seems inevitable that the service will eventually expand to other devices in Apple's ecosystem.
The GPL, the App Store, and you
My colleague Chris wrote a post about the popular video playback client VLC being pulled from the App Store following objections from a developer who worked on the project that it was in breach of the GNU Public License. [The app has now been released on Cydia for jailbroken devices.] This unpopular move had provoked strong reactions throughout the Mac blogging world, and Chris made a strong case for the prosecution in his post. However, every story always has two sides (and somewhere between them lies the truth). I'm here today to present the case for the defense: why Rémi Denis-Courmont was absolutely in the right to do what he did. However, to do so, I'm going to have to lay out some open source history to give structure to my arguments. Please follow me on.
VLC for iPhone and iPad may disappear thanks to GPL complaints -- go get it now
There's always been tension between Apple's tight control of the iOS App Store and the DRM-free license requirements of the GPL, and it seems like things are coming to a head over VLC, the open-source video player. As you'll recall, VLC was just released for the iPad and iPhone in the past few months, but the port was done by a company called Applidium -- not VLC developer VideoLAN, which holds the copyright and licenses the code under the GPL. VideoLAN now says that since VLC for iOS includes Apple's FairPlay DRM, it's in violation of the GPL and must be pulled -- and that "concerned users are advised to look for applications on more open mobile platforms for the time being." That's certainly fair enough, although we do find it a bit sensationalist that the takedown notice was sent to Apple and not Applidium, since it's technically Applidium that violated the GPL. Then again, the statement was written by VideoLAN developer Rémi Deni-Courmont, who is also senior MeeGo software engineer, so we can see why he'd be interested in promoting a "more open" project. Whatever the case, it doesn't seem like VLC for iOS is long for this world -- you'd best go grab it as quickly as possible. Like, now. Update: It seems like there's significant dissension in the VideoLAN ranks, as the project's official Twitter page now says there are no problems and is linking to another forum post with some armchair legal analysis of Apple's App Store Terms and Conditions. That sounds like we're in for months of arguing, since huge GPL projects like VLC have layers upon layers of nested copyrights, and no one person can really pursue action without the consent of everyone else, but we'll keep an eye on things. In the meantime, we'd suggest VideoLAN find a lawyer or two to give them a definitive answer on the GPL / App Store question -- it'll save everyone a lot of time and frustration.
VLC coming to the iPad
VLC, the play-anything video player for the Mac, may soon be available as an iPad app. App maker Applidium has spent months porting the open source player into an iPad app and has submitted it to the App Store. Now they're just waiting for Apple to approve it; if approved, the app will be available next week, and like its big brother on the Mac, the app will be free. Having VLC available on the iPad would be hugely beneficial. VLC plays far more video formats than QuickTime or the iPad's built-in video support; on the Mac, I've often said that if VLC can't play it, it can't be played. We don't know yet if VLC on the iPad will allow you to move (for instance) AVI files straight into the VLC program via iTunes or if you'll be required to stream files from a Mac to view them on the iPad. In either case, VLC's ability to play almost any video codec out there would vastly expand the iPad's capabilities. That said, there are multiple reasons why Apple might reject this app. "Duplicating functionality" is one possible reason; the iPad already has a built-in video player, though one that's far more restrictive in the formats that it supports. There may be severe battery life issues to contend with as well. The iPad has the ability to decode H.264 video via its built-in hardware, but most other formats would have to be decoded via software, and depending on the format, it could tax the iPad's A4 processor pretty heavily. Finally, it's possible that media providers might squawk in protest at the iPad being able to easily and freely play video from any source -- let's just say that a lot of the AVI files and almost all of the VIDEO_TS folders out there aren't exactly condoned by the media conglomerates and leave it at that. I hope this app does get approved. I don't own an iPad, but being able to play back virtually any type of video file on the device via VLC would be a huge selling point for me, and probably for many others, too.
