Tag: Apple

Posted on

Comey’s FBI makes waves

FBI Director James Comey

By Cory Bennett and Julian Hattem – 03/09/16 06:00 AM EST

The aggressive posture of the FBI under Director James Comey is becoming a political problem for the White House.

The FBI’s demand that Apple help unlock an iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino killers has outraged Silicon Valley, a significant source of political support for President Obama and Democrats.

Comey, meanwhile, has stirred tensions by linking rising violent crime rates to the Black Lives Matter movement’s focus on police violence and by warning about “gaps” in the screening process for Syrian refugees.

Then there’s the biggest issue of all: the FBI’s investigation into the private email server used byHillary Clinton, Obama’s former secretary of State and the leading contender to win the Democratic presidential nomination.

A decision by the FBI to charge Clinton or her top aides for mishandling classified information would be a shock to the political system.

In these cases and more, Comey — a Republican who donated in 2012 to Mitt Romney — has proved he is “not attached to the strings of the White House,” said Ron Hosko, the former head of the FBI’s criminal investigative division and a critic of Obama’s law enforcement strategies.

Publicly, administration officials have not betrayed any worry about the Clinton probe. They have also downplayed any differences of opinion on Apple.

But former officials say the FBI’s moves are clearly ruffling feathers within the administration.

https://thehill.com/policy/cybersecurity/272290-comeys-fbi-makes-waves

Posted on

Showdown over iPhone reignites the debate around privacy

iphone_2018021b

By Todd C. Frankel and Ellen Nakashima February 19 at 11:32 PM

The Justice Department calculated that it held a winning hand — the passcode-locked Apple iPhone of a terrorist — when it went to a federal court in Riverside, Calif.

Not only did the agency want Apple to build special software to help the FBI crack open the phone, but the government also knew the order would be made public.

After a mass killing that provoked national outrage, the government hoped to win support far outside the courtroom in its bid to gain access to encrypted phones in criminal and terrorism cases.

“They picked this case to increase the chances of getting public opinion on their side,” said a former federal prosecutor.

Now, a single iPhone has reignited a broad debate about government surveillance and the needs of law enforcement vs. the need for privacy. The showdown escalated Friday with the Justice Department accusing Apple of putting its “brand marketing” ahead of the law. The stakes have soared, well beyond the fate of any particular iPhone.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/2016/02/19/cd99473e-d740-11e5-9823-02b905009f99_story.html

Posted on

Apple Fights Order to Unlock San Bernardino Shooter’s iPhone

apple

By KATIE BENNER and ERIC LICHTBLAUFEB. 17, 2016

SAN FRANCISCO — Apple said on Wednesday that it would oppose and challenge a federal court order to help the F.B.I. unlock an iPhone used by one of the two attackers who killed 14 people in San Bernardino, Calif., in December.

On Tuesday, in a significant victory for the government, Magistrate JudgeSheri Pym of the Federal District Court for the District of Central Californiaordered Apple to bypass security functions on an iPhone 5c used by Syed Rizwan Farook, who was killed by the police along with his wife, Tashfeen Malik, after they attacked Mr. Farook’s co-workers at a holiday gathering.

Judge Pym ordered Apple to build special software that would essentially act as a skeleton key capable of unlocking the phone.

But hours later, in a statement by its chief executive, Timothy D. Cook, Apple announced its refusal to comply. The move sets up a legal showdown between the company, which says it is eager to protect the privacy of its customers, and the law enforcement authorities, who say that new encryption technologies hamper their ability to prevent and solve crime.

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/18/technology/apple-timothy-cook-fbi-san-bernardino.html?_r=0

Posted on

Fewer orders at Apple suppliers could signal first iPhone sales decline

iphone_2018021b

TAIPEI | BY J.R. WU

Some of Apple Inc’s main Asian suppliers expect revenues and orders to drop this quarter, indicating iPhone sales are almost certain to post their first annual decline since the flagship product was launched almost a decade ago.

The forecasts of lackluster sales by companies including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, and smartphone camera lens producer Largan Precision Co Ltd add to concerns about Apple’s outlook amid slowing global demand for smartphones.

Industry executives say the latest iPhone did not have enough new features from the previous model to tempt users, raising fears that Apple’s innovative streak – and the profits it has generated – may be running its course.

Apple, which reports December-quarter results on Tuesday, declined to comment on its sales outlook.

“Visibility is only a month at a time and demand is quite weak,” Largan Precision Chief Executive Adam Lin told an earnings briefing, referring to his company’s overall business.

Other suppliers said Apple now only gave them orders one month in advance, instead of the usual three months.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-apple-suppliers-idUSKCN0V00V5

Posted on

DATA SHOCK: New iPhone Feature Can Drive Bill Up in the Thousands !

getsmart2

January 5, 2016 6:20 PM

MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Data overages can lead to big phone bills.

One family, however, was shocked when they got a bill for more than two thousand dollars. The big bill was because of a new feature on Apple iPhones that you may not be aware of.

Like many teens Ashton Feingold didn’t think much about the text message from AT&T which warned that he was nearing his date limit.

“It just said maybe 65 percent of your data has been used,” said Feingold.

Then the bill came.

“I thought my dad was going to kill me,” he said.

“It’s usually $250 a month and this was $2,000!” said Ashton’s father Jeff.

The difference? A new feature on Ashton’s iPhone called “WiFi Assist” which is standard with the new iOS 9.1 operating system.

“I had no idea what that was,” said Jeff Feingold.

It’s intended to make sure the user always has a good signal by automatically switching to cellular data when a WiFi signal is weak.

Like in Ashton’s bedroom. He thought he was still connected to WiFi while streamed and surfed the web. Instead, his phone was gobbling up date – more than 144-thousand megabytes.

https://miami.cbslocal.com/2016/01/05/new-iphone-feature-can-drive-bill-up/

Posted on

How a deeper dive by Apple could crush this market

apple

Published: Aug 4, 2015 10:38 a.m. ET

Crumbles by commodities and the Colossus of Cupertino have been getting much of the blame for the stock market slumping in seven of the past 10 sessions.

“If AAPL doesn’t find its footing soon, it may risk a deeper drop,” writes Andrew Nyquist, over at See It Market.

And as goes the largest company by market value, so goes the whole U.S. stock market. Or at least a further slide by Apple would act as a mighty powerful brake on the S&P 500 SPX, -0.05% SPY, -0.06%  , where it’s about 4% of the benchmark, and on the growthier Nasdaq 100 NDX, -0.44% QQQ, -0.43%  where it’s a 14% chunk.

So, what’s the matter with Apple AAPL, -3.06% ? For the first time since September 2013, the tech giant’s stock has knifed under the closely watched 200-day moving average. Many chart lovers use that as a guide to a stock’s long-term trend.

Also, Apple has entered into what’s often called “correction territory,” by dropping more than 10% from its peak. Go here for more on the iPhone maker’s technicals, from one of MarketWatch’s resident chart nerds, Tomi Kilgore.

Nyquist suggests Apple, which closed at $118.44 on Monday, could tumble into the $109-to-$115 range — an area the tech giant jumped out of in January, after quarterly results crushed forecasts.

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/how-a-deeper-dive-by-apple-could-crush-this-market-2015-08-04

Posted on

LA Schools’ $1 Billion iPad Fiasco Ends After Corruption Revelations

imgres-2

 

LA Schools’ $1 Billion iPad Fiasco Ends After Corruption Revelations

Hummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm……………………..

Robby Soave|Aug. 27, 2014 1:55 pm

Los Angeles Unified School District is ending its billion-dollar iPad program, which has drawn widespread criticism for distributing expensive devices to teachers who didn’t know what to do with them and students who kept losing or breaking them.

The costly program was considered a total failure, and it’s little surprise that district officials have finally relented and scaled back. More surprising, however, are revelations that District Superintendent John Deasy may have engaged in some crooked bargaining to arrange the deal in the first place.

According to The Los Angeles Times, Deasy’s previous connections to Apple and Pearson—the companies contracted to supply the iPads and instructional materials for them, respectively—amount to a conflict of interest. In hindsight, the bidding process that Apple and Pearson won to score the contracts seems biased in those companies’ favor,The LA Times notes:

Last week, a draft report of a district technology committee, obtained by The Times, was strongly critical of the bidding process.

Among the findings was that the initial rules for winning the contract appeared to be tailored to the products of the eventual winners — Apple and Pearson — rather than to demonstrated district needs. The report found that key changes to the bidding rules were made after most of the competition had been eliminated under the original specifications.

In addition, the report said that past comments or associations with vendors, including Deasy, created an appearance of conflict even if no ethics rules were violated.

Emails obtained by The LA Times show Jaime Aquino, Deasy’s deputy superintendent, advising Pearson officials on how to win the bid.

https://reason.com/blog/2014/08/27/la-schools-1-billion-ipad-fiasco-ends-af

Posted on

Apple Wants To Be ‘A Hub Of Health Data’ And Is In Talks With Top Hospitals

apple

Apple Wants To Be ‘A Hub Of Health Data’ And Is In Talks With Top Hospitals

CHRISTINA FARR, REUTERS

AUG. 12, 2014, 5:53 AM

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Apple Inc has been discussing how its “HealthKit” service will work with health providers at Mount Sinai, the Cleveland Clinic and Johns Hopkins as well as with Allscripts, a competitor to electronic health records provider Epic Systems, people familiar with the discussions said.

While the talks may not amount to anything concrete, they underscore how Apple is intent on making health data, such as blood pressure, pulse and weight, available for consumers and health providers to view in one place.

Currently, this data is being collected by thousands of third-party health care software applications and medical devices, but it isn’t centrally stored. Apple also hopes physicians will use this data to better monitor patients between visits – with the patient’s consent — so the doctors can make better diagnostic and treatment decisions.

Read more: https://www.businessinsider.com/r-exclusive-apple-prepares-healthkit-rollout-amid-tangled-regulatory-web-2014-12#ixzz3AGJaI2Bt