Apple Releases iPhone Configuration Utility 1.1

[MacRumors]

Apple today released iPhone Configuration Utility 1.1 for Mac and Windows. The software allows corporate systems administrators to deploy configuration files that allow their users' iPhones to communicate with enterprise systems.

The Mac version weighs in at 8.87 MB and requires OS X 10.5.3 or later, while the Windows version weighs in at 26 MB and requires XP Service Pack 3 or Vista Service Pack 1, as well as .NET 3.5 Service Pack 1.

Article Link: Apple Releases iPhone Configuration Utility 1.1

[bizzaregood]

hmmm well thats interesting for some people i guess...

Now if only i had a enterprise system to communicate with

[meagain]

LOL I wish I knew what this means exactly. I'll read it again.

[Luke1robb]

When was 1.0 released? with 2.0 firmware? Will this help entreprise marketshare?

[broncopde]

Does anyone have any experience using this type of thing? I'm just wondering how it works but looking for a more practical description.

[tizy]

Just implemented it across our company's iPhone's!!! Stability improved as well as small added features!

[PoitNarf]

Originally Posted by broncopde

Does anyone have any experience using this type of thing? I'm just wondering how it works but looking for a more practical description.

The utility enables you to create profiles with various settings in them such as wireless networks, email and exchange settings, VPN settings, security certificates, passcode requirements, etc. The exported profile files can then be sent to all the iPhones in your company so that they all have the same settings.

[adamberti]

Or for someone like myself with an original iPhone in Canada (sim unlocked), it allows me to make incorrect settings to the phone to stop it from using Data. With the release of 2.0, you could no longer set your own APN settings, and therefore the only way to turn off data for your phone was to call your provider and have them block data. For a while I had a 5MB plan that I only turned on when needed. This tool was necessary.

[odedia]

Apple is developing on Microsoft Visual Studio .Net.

Never thought I'd see the day.

[johny5]

Originally Posted by tizy

Just implemented it across our company's iPhone's!!! Stability improved as well as small added features!

Care to elaborate on the "added features"?

[overcast]

Excellent, we'll be deploying this

[MightyTrini]

hello all, i had blogged about this when it was first released, here is what I really think it's useful for (beyond advanced enterprise configuration for multiple devices)

...It also allows easy access to the iPhone’s console log showing application and general system errors, successful or failed attempts to connect to networks and much more. These logs can prove invaluable for pinpointing otherwise elusive issues. The iPhone Configuration Utility is currently available only for Mac OS X as a 9.1MB download. Below are some screen shots...

lot's of screenshots of the 1.0 iPhone Config Utility can be found here. I'll be posting the update soon.

for jailbroken and even normal iPhones this can be a great tool for trouble shooting errors and crashes. Pin pointing and fixing one miss behaving app vs restoring and reconfiguring your iPhone.

cheers

[sneakyob]

Is this something that would be installed on the server that is running exchange? As the owner of the company, could I install it on my desktop and then control my exchange server for the employees that I have running the iphone? Today they just configure the phones themselves.

[djdole]

Originally Posted by odedia

Apple is developing on Microsoft Visual Studio .Net.
Never thought I'd see the day.

Apple devs, unlike their company's fanbois, are not MS haters.
Similarily... MS devs, unlike their company's fanboys, are not Apple haters.
Most companies understand the benefits of interoperability (although some more than others).
Case in point... iTunes for Windows & MS Office for OSX.

[Penguinmasta]

Does anyone have a good site for modifying the exported files? I've seen that people can add their WEP/WAP keys to the iphone profile that was created. So i'm wondering is there more than one can do with the iphone profile that the configuration utility can't do?

[tsice19]

So is this utility available to all iPhone owners or just IT managers?

Not that it matters, seems like this would be pointless for personal use anyway.

[Maxington]

Originally Posted by odedia

Apple is developing on Microsoft Visual Studio .Net.

Never thought I'd see the day.

A necessary evil I suppose.

[MightyTrini]

Originally Posted by Penguinmasta

Does anyone have a good site for modifying the exported files? I've seen that people can add their WEP/WAP keys to the iphone profile that was created. So i'm wondering is there more than one can do with the iphone profile that the configuration utility can't do?

http://manuals.info.apple.com/en_US/...ment_Guide.pdf

Apple's User Guide

[ghall]

Sweetness. I use iPhone Configuration Utility to manage the apps and ad hoc provisioning on my iPod Touch for reviewing. Handy little tool.

[skemmuni]

hmm... i think Safari i snappier after installing the 1.1 ver.

[Jeezeypeeps]

Leaving aside the fact that anyone deploying iPhones in an enterprise today is clearly a lunatic, this is another small step forward for Apple.

Can we have device encryption next please? Its going nowhere near my infrastructure without it.

[whitehexagon]

Originally Posted by adamberti

Or for someone like myself with an original iPhone in Canada (sim unlocked), it allows me to make incorrect settings to the phone to stop it from using Data. With the release of 2.0, you could no longer set your own APN settings, and therefore the only way to turn off data for your phone was to call your provider and have them block data. For a while I had a 5MB plan that I only turned on when needed. This tool was necessary.

Indeed, I wish I'd discovered it earlier. Here in Switzerland the 'pay-as-you-go' phones don't have any option to disable Cellular Network Data, so finally having a tool to tweak the APN is going save me some cash! I just emailed myself the exported false APN profile, so now I can install when I want, and I found an option on the phone to disable the profile when I want. So now I'm in control of my data spending again

[drdrei]

Originally Posted by whitehexagon

Indeed, I wish I'd discovered it earlier. Here in Switzerland the 'pay-as-you-go' phones don't have any option to disable Cellular Network Data, so finally having a tool to tweak the APN is going save me some cash! I just emailed myself the exported false APN profile, so now I can install when I want, and I found an option on the phone to disable the profile when I want. So now I'm in control of my data spending again

Hexagon, could you please share the step-by-step instructions to turn off/on data ? It'd be extremely useful to a lot of us. Thanks!

[adamberti]

Originally Posted by drdrei

Hexagon, could you please share the step-by-step instructions to turn off/on data ? It'd be extremely useful to a lot of us. Thanks!

If you download the application, open it up and you'll see a normal looking app, kind of like mail. On the side bar select configuration profiles, and then click New. A new entry will pop up on the right hand side. The first tab that is open, is General. You can fill in some info there if you like, but only a unique identifier is required. What you want, is APN. Click APN (Access Point Name). You can see a screenshot here (thanks for the link MightyTrini). Your network provider tells the phone what the correct settings are when you connect to the network. So all you need to do is change the APN to anything. This way the network wont put it's own information in. So I just put a space. And to be safe I put a character in the name and password fields as well.

Then you need to share it with the share button. It will open an email up with the file attached. Email it to an account that you have on your phone. In the email touch the attachment. It will install. Then, if you want to uninstall it, goto the General Settings tab, there you can delete it. I used to keep the email with the configuration profile in an easy to access place, because when you disable the profile, it deletes it, and you have to install it from an email again.

I've attached a profile to this post. You can try it out if you like. I use it for some clients. All it does is change the APN name to '.' and the both the login and password to '.' It does not change any other settings.

Cheers!

[kingtj]

Oh please.... can we stop hearing this B.S. at SOME point before the end of 2008?

Our company has deployed several iPhones (upper management), and they've worked out perfectly for us. Before the iPhone, we always had a policy of issuing cheap Nextel phones to the majority of our employees, just so they could use them as 2-way radios. Management, who actually had a need for things like ability to check email on their phones, had plans with Cingular/AT&T, and used phones such as the Palm Treo.

The iPhone has drastically reduced the need for support on the "smartphones", since unlike the Treos, they haven't ever just spontaneously refused to send/receive email, popping up cryptic numerical error messages, until they were "hard reset" by removing their batteries. They have a web browser people can actually see web pages on in a usable format, too.

Oh, and another point in their favor? Their bluetooth support actually behaves well with the majority in car-kits out there. The CEO couldn't believe he could simply "pick out a hands-free kit of his choice" and expect it to work.

Originally Posted by Jeezeypeeps

Leaving aside the fact that anyone deploying iPhones in an enterprise today is clearly a lunatic, this is another small step forward for Apple.

Can we have device encryption next please? Its going nowhere near my infrastructure without it.