Apple distances itself from Google, Facebook in new transparency report

Apple distances itself from Google, Facebook in new transparency report

A leaf for every government request

Following months of revelations that the government has likely collected information from and about you (yes, you), Apple has issued its first-ever transparency report.

Google, Yahoo, Facebook and others have circulated these for some time now, but Apple, perhaps struck by a pang of duty, is out with its own data on government information requests. The data covers the period between January 1, 2013 and June 30, 2013.

Apple pointedly noted that "[u]nlike many other companies dealing with requests for customer data from government agencies, Apple's main business is not about collecting information."

In an earlier part of the report, the company stated: "[O]ur business does not depend on collecting personal data. We have no interest in amassing personal information about our customers. We protect personal conversations by providing end-to-end encryption over iMessage and FaceTime. We do not store location data, Maps searches, or Siri requests in any identifiable form."

Types of data

Because of this, Apple said the "vast majority" of requests it receives are for information about lost or stolen devices. Apple logs these as device requests.

"Only a small fraction of the requests" governments send Apple's way are for personal information related to an iTunes, iCloud or Game Center accounts.

These requests typically involve the account holder's personal data and "their use of an online service in which they have an expectation of privacy." Apple categorizes orders for identifying information, email, stored photographs and other user content stored online as account requests.

Account requests most commonly involve robberies and other crime or requests involving law enforcement searching for a missing person or child, finding a kidnap victim or hoping to prevent a suicide, Apple explained.

These requests typically see Apple turning over information in someone's iTunes or iCloud account, like a name or address.

"In very rare cases, we are asked to provide stored photos or email. We consider these requests very carefully and only provide account content in extremely limited circumstances," Apple assured.

The company noted that in order to get user info, government agencies need a court order. The Apple legal team pours over these orders, and only after determining them "valid and appropriate" does it hand over "the narrowest possible set of information responsive to the request."

The requests

While the account request orders for most regions are down to the number, there's one glaring exception.

The United States has imposed a set of stipulations that limit the amount and type of information Apple can reveal about these requests. The company, for example, is required to combine national security orders with account-based law enforcement requests, and only a range in increments of 1,000 are allowed to enumerate the orders.

For account requests, the US leads the pack in all categories, though again, no specifics are allowed.

Australia sent 74 requests for 75 accounts, and data was disclosed for 41 of those. The UK issued 127 requests, and in one instance some content was disclosed.

Apple transparency

Apple also recorded the number of requests it objected to, however it's unclear whether this means Apple was successful in fighting the request or not.

As Apple stated, device information requests far exceed account requests in most regions. Apple receive 1,178 device requests from Australia, and for 59% of those Apple provided some data. The UK issued 1,028 requests and received some info for 67% of them.

The US filed 3,542 requests with Apple to receive some information on 88% of them.

Interestingly, the numbers tend to differ between requests and devices specified in the request. The US, for example, wanted info on 8,605 devices within its 3,542 requests. Apple explained this occurs in circumstances where a shipment with hundreds of serial numbers is compromised.


Source : techradar[dot]com

HTC Comes Crawling Back to Budget Phones for the Rest of the Year

HTC Comes Crawling Back to Budget Phones for the Rest of the Year

Could the HTC One Two be doomed already?

You better start savoring that HTC One family now because it might be the last set of premium handset HTC ever makes.

Reuters reports that the Taiwanese smartphone maker is planning to sell cheaper devices in an attempt to cut its costs by nearly a quarter and hopefully bounce back onto stable, and profitable, feet for the last financial quarter of the year.

During the an investor briefing today, HTC said its outlooks were looking grim with stock prices hitting their lowest level since 2005 and its revenue was 13 percent lower than last year.

A new deal

In a bid to recover from all this bad news, HTC Financial Chief Chialin Chang said they would look "at boarder products this quarter." The company told Reuters that it would aim to produce a higher volume of affordable smartphones.

It's a major reversal since the company decided last summer that it was going after the premium market occupied by iPhones and Samsung Galaxy phones, followed by the announcement of the HTC One this February.

Much of this move is in reaction to its second-quarter results, which revealed 60 percent of phones shipped to China costed $150 or less. While this might sound like news that's only important to China, a shift in manufacturing could affect the global supply of HTC Phones.

As the Taiwanese company focuses on making budget handsets, we could see shortages of HTC One Mini and HTC One and HTC One Maxx phones during the holiday season. Even without the shadow of Black November looming over technophile heads, the HTC One has seen its own string of supply issues already.

As for the future, this could also lead to familiar lack of the HTC One Two smartphones. Of course nothing is certain yet, but we'll post any new developments as they happen.

Via Reuters


Source : techradar[dot]com

'We want KitKat!' say thousands of Galaxy Nexus owners in petition

'We want KitKat!' say thousands of Galaxy Nexus owners in petition

Nexus owners for change (credit: Change.org)

Galaxy Nexus owners miffed their devices won't receive the latest Android 4.4 KitKat update can now take action!

Sorry, we got a little caught up in the spirit of the 15,378 (at last check) people who've signed a Change.org petition asking Google to send the new OS down to their handsets.

"We, the Galaxy Nexus owners and anticipators ask you, Google, to update the Galaxy Nexus for one last time and give us KitKat! Don't be an apple ;)," the petition cheekily read in part.

Google revealed after its October 31 KitKat announcement that the Samsung phone falls outside the 18-month release window of devices it will update, clearly causing waves of disgruntledness to flow amongst Nexus owners.

Organizer Max Duckwitz wrote November 4 that he'd printed the signatures and comments, plus a letter and the petition text, and sent them to Android head Sundar Pichai. The ball is in your court, Mr. Pichai.

More blips!

The spirit of the people compels you to read more blips.


Source : techradar[dot]com

Nokia Lumia 525 leaked as budget blower follow up

Nokia Lumia 525 leaked as budget blower follow up

The name's had a slight tweak, but that's about it (credit: Baidu)

We're big fans of the Nokia Lumia 520 and we're not alone as it's proved to be the most popular Lumia yet. So the thought of a follow up is no bad thing.

That follow up is the Nokia Lumia 525 and Chinese site Baidu recently got a hold of its specs. The phone apparently has a 1GHz dual-core Snapdragon 400 processor, 1GB of RAM, a 4-inch 800 x 480 IPS display, 5MP camera, 8GB of built in storage, microSD card slot and a 1430mAh battery.

All of which is identical to the Nokia Lumia 520, other than the RAM, which is up to 1GB from 512MB. Even the dimensions and weight are the same.

Headset heaven

The only other difference we can see so far is the suggestion that the Nokia Lumia 525 comes with the Nokia Guru Bluetooth Headset, which suggests it's aimed at music fans.

So it's not the most exciting successor to the Lumia 520, but if the price is right then the jump to 1GB of RAM could still make it a great prospect.

While its most immediate point of reference is the Nokia Lumia 520, the numbering of the Lumia 525 also brings to mind the big-screened Nokia Lumia 625, though it seems to have little else in common with that over sized handset.


Source : techradar[dot]com

Sure enough, the LG G Flex can actually flex

Sure enough, the LG G Flex can actually flex

Well we'll be damned

Well whaddyaknow - the LG G Flex actually lives up to its name. The phone has been caught bending out of its unusual shape in a demo video.

You can see the action taking place over on Engadget, although it's added that a "reasonable amount of force" is needed to contort the phone. Maybe not all that advisable then...

While we've been briefed on the specs - 6-inch 720p OLED screen, Qualcomm 800 Snapdragon, 2GB of RAM, 13-megapixel camera - the flexy stuff has been a little unclear. We do know, however, that the G Flex will be able to heal itself.

So that's pretty cool too.

More blips!

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Source : techradar[dot]com

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