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Turn Your iPhone Into a Web Server

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the because-you-can dept.

miller60 writes "A Japanese company called Freebit has released ServersMan, an app that turns the iPhone into a web server. It debuted in Japan in February, has now been launched in the US, and is being touted as a 'Personal Data Center.' Freebit also has a video with additional information on server-enabling your iPhone. 'Once the app is installed, PCs on the internet can access the iPhone to upload or download files through a browser or they can use the webDAV protocol. If the PC and the iPhone are on the same network, the PC can connect directly. If they are on separate networks, then FreeBit's VPN software will engage the connection.'"

21 of 158 comments (clear)

  1. Hah, you wish by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Banned from the app store in 3, 2, 1...

    1. Re:Hah, you wish by MBGMorden · · Score: 4, Insightful

      if it does contain some limits, like they say unlimited* phone calls and sms (* max 3000 mins per month).

      That just seems so deceptive it's terrible that it's allowed to go on. Basically: "Unlimited* internet and phone service! (*Not really, we lied.)"

      I can understand that they don't REALLY want to sell unlimited, but in that case it should instead be listed as:

      3000 Minutes per month and 10,000 SMS messages per month - $45

      Or whatever, rather than stating it as unlimited and then "defining" unlimited as something clearly NOT unlimited. It's like telling your buddy that you just "hung out" with his girlfriend last weekend and nothing more, but then trying to hide somewhere you're redefining "hung out" to really mean "banged like bunnies". In all other walks of life that's just called a lie.

      --
      "People who think they know everything are very annoying to those of us who do."-Mark Twain
  2. apache? by pak9rabid · · Score: 3, Interesting

    So...how is this any different than installing Apache through Cydia (aside from the fact that it requires being jailbroken).

    1. Re:apache? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Well...

      Once the app is installed, PCs on the internet can access the iPhone to upload or download files through a browser or they can use the webDAV protocol. If the PC and the iPhone are on the same network, the PC can connect directly. If they are on separate networks, then FreeBit's VPN software will engage the connection

      From the summary... That is something apache does not do out of the box.

    2. Re:apache? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Great! We get another random company's software and security vulnerabilities in the way. What, pray tell, is insufficient about https? Apache has vulnerabilities, but they are found and patched. Who is Freebit, and why should they be trusted over Apache?

      I apologies. I see the point you are trying to make: homogeneous computing environments are better than heterogeneous ones because we all have the same vulnerabilities. The world would be a more secure place if we all ran one set of software, one operating system, and one computing architecture.

      Right...

    3. Re:apache? by 2names · · Score: 4, Funny

      You misspelled "Douche" :)

      --
      "I'm just here to regulate funkiness."
  3. How long until... by orkybash · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ...apple/AT&T decides that running web servers from iPhones is taking up too much of the network's bandwidth and they flip the kill switch on this app though? I guess as long as people are just using it for personal file storage...

    1. Re:How long until... by rm999 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Yeah, I don't see why they are referring to this as a "server", it's bad PR. No ISP technically lets you run a server, so why would a provider let you run one through their cell towers?

      Instead, they should call it a personal data syncing app or something.

  4. Vulnerable. by Ouchie · · Score: 5, Funny

    I love to hear things like this. The more of these apps out there the better. Gives me more credability when my wife looks at my Iphone and asks who's Cherry and why is she sending you neked pics. I can just blame it on the script kiddies.

    --
    "Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most." ~Ozzy Osborne
  5. Slashdotting Your iPhone? by saudadelinux · · Score: 5, Funny

    So what happens when you've got several thousand people trying to get on your phone's server?

    --
    I didn't think the house band in Hell would play this badly.
    1. Re:Slashdotting Your iPhone? by geekmux · · Score: 4, Funny

      So what happens when you've got several thousand people trying to get on your phone's server?

      Hrm, lets take a guess...

      A) You find out rather quickly at the end of the month when reviewing page 32,725 if your hardcopy AT&T itemized bill that arrived on a pallet that you went over your "unlimited" data plan.

      B) You find out rather quickly that more than ten TCP streams to your phone prohibits voice sending and receiving.

      C) AT&T takes about 37 more seconds to realize that they need to block port 80 after this story was slashdotted.

      D) All the above.

    2. Re:Slashdotting Your iPhone? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      So what happens when you've got several thousand people trying to get on your phone's server?

      Load balancing ... that is if you have a family plan.

  6. These have been around for a while by jtdennis · · Score: 5, Informative

    I've used an app that does this for a while now. It's called Data Case and provides WebDAV and FTP access. There's a bunch of other ones on the app store as well. I fail to see how this is news.

    --
    -- "Freedom is the right of all sentient beings" -Optimus Prime
  7. my iphone into a webserver? by nimbius · · Score: 4, Funny

    who cares. show me a web server that doubles as a IPhone however and you've got my attention!

    --
    Good people go to bed earlier.
  8. Re:just because you can by EkriirkE · · Score: 3, Funny

    Geek card. Now.

    --
    from 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
    to 45 2F 6E 40 3C DF 10 71 4E 41 DF AA 25 7D 31 3F
  9. iPhone App Saturation... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I have friends who been encouraging me to get into iPhone apps to make a million dollars. That would've make sense if I was into developing for the iPhone before there was an apps store. Now, a gazillion apps later, the market is getting saturated with useless apps. I got better things to do than put a web server on an iPhone.

  10. This already exists, and it's called Air Sharing by alexburke · · Score: 4, Informative

    It's called "Air Sharing", and its new big brother, "Air Sharing Pro".

    http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=312686749&mt=8

    Highly recommended; well worth the $5.

    Been there, done that, didn't get a T-shirt.

  11. Re:.....why? by argent · · Score: 5, Funny

    It's ZuneLink for geeks. Your eyes meet over a darkened server room, you whip out your iPhone, she pulls out her G1, you whisper seductively "http://192.168.0.1/somewhere_in_time.mp3"...

    And suddenly you hear "Never gonna give you up!" You totally rickrolled her!

  12. Stupid iPhone Apps from the Future by Un+pobre+guey · · Score: 4, Informative
    24/7 colonoscopy webcam (includes supply of flexible, waterproof enclosures plus lubricant).

    Automobile Oil Temperature Monitor (includes supply of flexible, heat-resistant oil-tight enclosures)

    App for monitoring money under matress (includes jumbo external battery pack)

    Tire pressure monitoring and reporting app (you'll need at least 4 iPhones + contracts; includes generous supply of foam rubber padding; includes plug-in pressure transducer)

  13. Re:.....why? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    you had me at colon slash slash

  14. Re:yawnnnn by mdwh2 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Apple today announced a revolutionary new upgrade for the IpHoNe. For years, people have only used phones for accessing the Internet, listening to music, taking photographs and playing games. Now Apple bring a new development to the market: the ability to communicate via voice with someone who is not even in the same room, as if by magic.

    The initial version will only allow communication with other Iphone users, though rumours suggest users can get around this limitation by jail-breaking the phone, in line with Apple's "Works, Just" tradition.

    Some have pointed out that a few phones have already allowed such a feature, but Apple fans have dismissed this. "Other phones may have done this before, but how many people used it?" commented such fan. "Apple were the first to integrate it properly. Thanks to this innovation, I no longer have to lug my landline around with me as well as my Iphone."