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Okay, what’s up with Apple creating its own traffic database?
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Smartphones, Editorial, GPS,
Buried in Apple's statement on how the iPhone tracks a user's location data, the company admitted it was collecting anonymous location information to create a "crowd-sourced traffic database" that will be part of a future "improved traffic service."
The thing is, there's already a traffic service on the iPhone, provided by Google. If a user launches the Maps app and selects "Show Traffic," the map overlays colors on roads that show traffic congestion. Google gets the traffic data by—surprise!—crowd-sourcing it, aggregating information from Google Maps users who have approved the app for location services on their mobile devices.
Apple's statement reveals that the company is working on its own version of such a service. Whether that service will be something that Apple will use to improve traffic in Google Maps, or if Apple will launch a competing maps app, or something else entirely isn't known. Apple didn't respond to multiple requests for comment on the topic.
Click to continue reading Okay, what’s up with Apple creating its own traffic database?
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The Definitive Guide to Watching the Royal Wedding Online
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Editorial, Features, Internet, Software,
If you're just planning to turn on the telly and tune in the Royal Wedding, you'll be missing out. It's 2011, folks! There are a host of online destinations, social media tools and mobile apps that can truly help you experience the full scope of this 21st century event.
All of the major broadcasters will be airing the Royal Wedding on live TV Friday morning, but so will several online venues. YouTube will be streaming the entire event live at The Royal Channel, built specifically for Prince William and Kate Middleton's wedding. Livestream is also streaming the AP Live feed of the day's events, plus more coverage from CBS News, ET and the UK Press Association. And you can watch full streaming BBC coverage at BBC News' dedicated wedding site.
You can also watch the event live on a smartphone or other Internet device on the Sprint TV ABC News Channel, which is part of the carrier's basic Sprint TV channel package. T-Mobile TV will only carry pre- and post-wedding coverage but start-to-finish coverage is available through Xfinity.tv, which has apps available on the Android Market and on iTunes.
In most cases, live-anchored coverage begins at 5 a.m. Eastern Time(2 a.m. Pacific) and live coverage of the ceremony starts at around 6 a.m. ET (3 a.m. PT). That's pretty early for most people, so what to do if you don't want to wake up hours before dawn?
Click to continue reading The Definitive Guide to Watching the Royal Wedding Online
Apple finally addresses iPhone location tracking, promises to encrypt data
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Smartphones, Corporate News, GPS,
Today Apple released a Q&A about the location data that's stored on the iPhone. In the statement, the company says broadly that it does not track the iPhone's location, and that the data, which is currently stored in an unprotected file, will be encrypted in the next major update of iOS.
In the statement, Apple admits that iPhones send location data to Apple to maintain a crowd-sourced database of Wi-Fi hotspots and cell phone towers, as many have suspected. However, the company says the locations recorded can be up to 100 miles away from the where the phone actually is, and that the data is sent anonymously.
Apple further explains that it's creating the database to provide better location services on the phone. By using the crowd-sourced locations of cell towers and hotspots, the phone can more quickly locate the user than if it were using GPS satellite data alone. Putting the entire database on every user's phone would be untenable, though, so an iPhone requesting location services accesses a subset, or cache, of the database. It's this data, not necessarily data specifically generated by the user, that's stored in the unencrypted file, "consolidated.db."
At the same time, though, the company effectively admits that retaining such a lengthy and comprehensive location record on the phone—ever since the user upgraded to iOS 4, or about a year for most users—is unnecessary to maintain such a database. Also, backing the file up to a user's computer is clearly not needed either. Apple says it plans to do four things in the next major update of iOS:
Click to continue reading Apple finally addresses iPhone location tracking, promises to encrypt data
White iPhone 4 goes on sale tomorrow
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Smartphones, Handhelds,
Okay, so it turns out we were a day off when we reported that the white iPhone 4 should be going on sale today, as Apple just confirmed that tomorrow is the day. So if you've been holding out for the past 10 months (and have been ignoring eBay,) now's your chance. However, we're guessing that anyone who's wanted an iPhone 4 has already purchased one. Still, even those people can sell their units to buy a white one, if they really want them that badly, right? As a refresher, the white iPhone 4 is exactly the same as the black model in terms of pricing and features. It's just white.
Prototype white iPhone 4 now on eBay
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Smartphones, Hot Deals,
While the white iPhone 4 has continued to elude the public thus far, eBay has been full of them for some time now. However, a one-of-a-kind model showed up today. This prototype white iPhone 4 started bidding at $2,000. It's got a model number of 995-6364LL, and also has the indentifer DF3039 engraved on the front panel. You definitely won't find that anywhere else.
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| Prototype white iPhone 4 auction
Microsoft says Windows Phones don’t store location history
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Smartphones, GPS, Microsoft,
Microsoft has confirmed that Windows Phones don't store location history in a manner similar to the iPhone, which records the location data in an unencrypted file. The news that some iOS devices keep location data came to light last week, although
Microsoft told us unequivocally that phones running Windows Phone 7 do not store location history. Like most other phones, the platform offers plenty of location-based apps, and those apps require user consent before they begin tracking. Windows Phones also offer the common feature of a "global switch" that lets the user disable all location services, and Microsoft says its "Find My Phone" service keeps only the phone's most recent location.
We also contacted Nokia, RIM, Google, and HP about how the companies' mobile platforms store location data, and none, save Microsoft, have responded. It's been confirmed independently that Google Android also tracks and stores location data.
Click to continue reading Microsoft says Windows Phones don’t store location history
Will the iPhone 5 look like this?
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Smartphones, Rumors,
You've seen rumors about when the fifth-generation iPhone is coming out, now check out a visualization (pictured) of what it will look like, based on the imagination and alleged sources of former Engadget editor-in-chief Joshua Topolsky.
In his interim blog This Is My Next, Topolsky says the next iPhone will look "radically" different from the iPhone 4. For one, it'll be even thinner than the iPhone 4, which isn't unfathomable thanks to a recent patent Apple obtained, and boast a "teardrop" shaped profile similar to the Macbook Air.
The home button area will expand to act as a gesture area to support gesturing features in a future iOS update, Topolsky writes. The display could go up to 3.7 inches (thus making the bezel almost disappear) without decreasing much in resolution, so Apple can still claim it uses Retina Display technology.
Topolsky also says he saw in a drawing that the iPhone will come with cable-free, touch charging, though his sources wouldn't confirm that.
Click to continue reading Will the iPhone 5 look like this?
White iPhone 4 launching on Wednesday?
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Smartphones, Rumors,
Apple fans with an Ahab-esque obsession with the Great White iPhone may finally have reason to shout, "Thar she blows!" Images of a purported white iPhone 4 wrapped in retail packaging were posted by Engadget Friday and later in the day 9 to 5 Mac quoted sources who said the product would begin selling in The Netherlands next Wednesday.
Rumors of a white version of the Apple iPhone have become something of a cottage industry for tech publications. Apple originally planned to make both a black and white iPhone 4 available when it launched the fourth-generation smartphone last year.
But the company wound up delaying the white version of the iPhone 4, saying in a June statement that it had "proven more challenging to manufacture than expected." Apple promised to release a white iPhone 4 by the end of July, but on July 23, Apple conceded that the white iPhone would not be available until the end of the year. Meanwhile, those not wanting to wait flocked to eBay to get their white iPhone 4 units.
Now, ten months after the black iPhone 4 was released, Apple may finally be ready to start selling the white version.
Click to continue reading White iPhone 4 launching on Wednesday?
Read More | White iPhone 4 on eBay
How to view the tracking data in your iPhone
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Smartphones, Editorial, Features,
Coverage of the iPhone tracking "feature" has ranged from concern to outrage. "I don't know about you, but the fact that this feature exists on an iPhone is a deal-killer," wrote PCMag Columnist John Dvorak, shortly after news broke. Editor Dan Costa drew a softer line, writing, "Apple may not be actively tracking you, but it did turn your phone into a tracking device without telling you."
As frustrating as it is to learn that your iPhone has been spying on you, collecting an unencrypted treasure trove of your travels, the truth is we knew this was happening. Last June we reported that Apple updated its privacy policy, stating that it could, "collect, use, and share precise location data, including real-time geographic location of your Apple computer or device." How precise that location data is remains in question. What is clear, however, is that the update arrived alongside the release of iOS 4—the OS affected by the tracking feature—and identified the four devices (iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, and iPad with 3G) affected by the tracking feature.
I'm not about to give Apple a pass on disclosure or execution. Who combs through an Apple privacy statement when the latest iOS software awaits? And, to "collect" and "share" user data is one thing; to retain it in an unprotected file is quite another.
However, I think it's important that, with a few days' hindsight, we move beyond the bombast, pin down the facts, and see what's actually there. To do this, I've taken a close look at what's at risk and, in empirical spirit, borrowed fellow PCMag software analyst Jeff Wilson's iPhone 3GS to see what I could learn of the man and the travels using Pete Warden's iPhoneTracker app.
Click to continue reading How to view the tracking data in your iPhone
Researchers say police already use iPhone tracking data
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Smartphones, Corporate News,
A pair of mobile forensic researchers who independently identified a location tracking system on the iPhone 4 several months before it was publicized earlier this week say that law enforcement agencies are currently using data from a hidden iOS file called "consolidated.db" in criminal investigations.
Evidence from the location tracking database stored on iPhones "has been used in actual criminal investigations and yes, it's led to convictions," said Alex Levinson, a Rochester Institute of Technology researcher and technical lead for iOS forensics consultant Katana Forensics.
But Levinson and Christopher Vance, a Marshall University digital forensics specialist, also contend that Apple probably included the technology in its iOS operating system to deliver location-based services like iAds rather than to create dossiers on the whereabouts of iPhone users.
A great deal of buzz has surrounded a Wednesday O'Reilly Radar blog post by researchers Pete Warden and Alasdair Allan that highlighted a hidden file on iOS devices like the iPhone and iPad which includes latitude-longitude coordinates and a timestamp to track where such devices have been geographically and when.
But Warden and Allan apparently weren't the first to discover the file.
Click to continue reading Researchers say police already use iPhone tracking data
