DigitalOutbox Episode 106
In this episode the team discuss Apple legal woes, Path choose the wrong way and rumours.
Playback
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Shownotes
1:05 – Apple lose lawsuit in Germany
– Lose lawsuit against Motorola
– Motorola won a court ruling in December relating to an alleged infringement of wireless patents for 3G connections by Apple handsets including the iPhone 4 and the 3G version of the iPad 2.
– MMI won a separate court injunction against Apple on Friday that could force the US electronics giant to block a key function of its iCloud email system for users in Germany. That would require MMI first to post a €100m (£83m) bond to cover potential outcomes.
– Forced to pull iPhone and iPad from sale online in Germany – still on sale in stores
– They appeal and the products are back for sale by the end of the day
– We said it months ago when this kicked off – it’s going to get ugly and it’s the customer that will lose
– Pretty funny though that Apple lost
6:46 – Apple faces $38m fine in China trademark case
– The future of Apple’s iPad is under threat in China after local firm Proview Technology Shenzhen claimed ownership of the trademark and demanded sales of the device be halted, reports the China Daily.
– Apple could also be slapped with a $38 million fine as authorities in Beijing weigh up the case.
– The lawsuit is the latest twist in a saga that began in October 2010, when Proview Technology’s parent company Proview International sued Apple for 10 billion yuan ($1.6 billion), claiming it had rights over the iPad trademark.
– The controversy stems from the fact that two of its subsidiaries, Proview Taipei and the aforementioned Proview Technology Shenzhen, both registered the iPad trademark in different territories and at different times more than 10 years ago. Proview Taipei later sold its rights to the trademark to U.K.-based IP Application Development Ltd, which in turn sold it to Apple for a mere £10.
9:57 – FBI releases Steve Jobs file
– Some of the titbits revealed in the 191 pages of documents include that that he was a negligent father who would “twist the truth and distort reality in order to achieve his goals,” according to documents released by the FBI.
– The FBI interviewed Jobs and at least 29 people who knew him as part of a background check. Their investigations took place in the 1990s, after Jobs had been fired from Apple and before his triumphant return to the company.
– “Several individuals questioned Mr Jobs’ honesty stating that Mr Jobs will twist the truth and distort reality in order to achieve his goals. They also commented that, in the past, Mr Jobs was not supportive of [redacted] and their daughter; however, recently has become supportive,” according to the documents.
– Another source characterised Jobs as “a deceptive individual who who is not completely forthright and honest”. The files paint a picture of a complicated man, full of contradictions.
11:30 – Path choose the wrong way
– http://mclov.in/2012/02/08/path-uploads-your-entire-address-book-to-their-servers.html
– Arun Thampi found that Path uploads your entire iOS address book to their servers without asking or telling you that it’s done so
– used http://mitmproxy.org/ – provides a console interface that allows traffic flows to be inspected and edited on the fly.
– Issue for me is the downloading and retaining on server rather than accessing the address book – if I leave service is my address book deleted?
– path apologises – deletes all data from servers and releases new app askin gyou to opt in – good blog post from Dave Morin
– http://blog.path.com/post/17274932484/we-are-sorry?c8f39750
– but problem is much more widespread says ins tapper dev
– iOS Address Book access should prompt the user for permission
– http://www.marco.org/2012/02/09/ios-address-book-should-prompt-users
17:36 – Googles Bouncer for Android
– Bouncer scanning software, developed by Google, is designed to search the Android market for software that could be malicious
– Bouncer will scan current and new applications, plus developer accounts. The blog post explained how the service will function.
– “Here’s how it works: once an application is uploaded, the service immediately starts analyzing it for known malware, spyware and trojans. It also looks for behaviors that indicate an application might be misbehaving, and compares it against previously analyzed apps to detect possible red flags. We actually run every application on Google’s cloud infrastructure and simulate how it will run on an Android device to look for hidden, malicious behavior. We also analyze new developer accounts to help prevent malicious and repeat-offending developers from coming back.”
– Bouncer was tested in 2011 and comparing the first half of the year to the second, Google Mobile reported a 40% decrease in malicious downloads.
19:32 – Chrome beta for Android
– Only for Ice Cream Sandwich
– No flash support
– Fast, but Android browser is faster
– Big draw though, is how it ties into your desktop experience. When you first launch Chrome it’ll ask you to sign into your Google account. After doing that, all of your bookmarks, Omnibar results and open tabs are automatically synced. Opening a new tab not only offers you quick access to your most frequently visited sites, recently closed tabs and bookmarks (just like the desktop version), but also any tabs you might still have open on another machine.
– Will we see Chrome browser for Windows mobile and iOS?
23:58 – Rumours
– iPad 3 to be unveiled first week of March
– What do you expect?
– What do you want?
– http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB10001424052970204369404577211961645711988-lMyQjAxMTAyMDAwODEwNDgyWj.html
– Google cloud drive service to launch soon called Drive
– Rival to Dropbox
– The Google service, which is expected to launch in the coming weeks or months, will be free for most consumers and businesses. Google will charge a fee to those who want to store a large amount of files, the people familiar with the matter said.
Picks
Ian
Tweetbot for iPad
– £1.99
– Fast, clear, great UI, mute options, tweetmarker support
– So much better than Twitter official client on iPad and iPhone
– Hope twitter don’t buy these guys…
Chris
FontSquirrel
– As free web fonts ramp up – this site offers another selection of free (including commercial use) font packages that allow you to give your sites a little something different.
– Another great feature of the site is the ability to upload a font you already own (and have the web licence for!) and use their online tool to deliver back down a full browser pack that will mean your fonts display cross browser/operating system.
– TrueType Fonts for Firefox 3.5+ , Opera 10+, Safari 3.1+, Chrome 4.0.249.4+
– EOT fonts for Internet Explorer 4+
– WOFF fonts for Firefox 3.6+, Internet Explorer 9+, Chrome 5+
– SVG fonts for iPad and iPhone
– Cufón fonts in case you want them
– http://hellohappy.org/beautiful-web-type/ – great examples from the free Google fonts collection