L.A. School District Cancels iPad Pearson Curriculum, Asks Apple for Refund
Following the end of the $1.3 billion education initiative that would have seen all students in the Los Angeles school district outfitted with an iPad, the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) has notified Apple that it will no longer be using or paying for the Pearson Education curriculum that was meant to accompany the iPads.
In a letter sent to Apple and shared in part by the Los Angeles Times, the LAUSD asked for a refund and said it has no plans to “accept or compensate Apple for new deliveries of [Pearson Education] curriculum.”
When the school district entered into a contract with Apple, it paid approximately $768 per iPad, which included approximately $200 towards a three-year license for math and English curriculum from Pearson that was meant to replace many textbooks and other learning tools. The materials went largely unused by the district due to technical problems and the quality of the software.
“As you are aware, LAUSD is extremely dissatisfied with the work of Pearson,” according to an April 13 letter signed by general counsel David Holmquist. “While Apple and Pearson promised a state-of-the-art technological solution … they have yet to deliver it.”
Despite demands to fix the problem, the letter said that “the vast majority of our students are still unable to access the Pearson curriculum on iPads.”
The letter asks for a meeting with Apple to discuss the dissolution of the district’s deal with Pearson and a refund for the licenses that it was not able to use, letting it recoup some of the cost that it paid for the failed iPad initiative.
Apple and the Los Angeles Unified School District first entered into a $30 million agreement in 2013, which saw 35,000 iPads being distributed to 47 schools as part of a pilot program. The deal was meant to expand to a $1.3 billion initiative to provide all 640,000 students in the district with iPads, but it began falling apart soon after iPads were distributed to students.
Apple’s contract with the LAUSD has since been under scrutiny from the FBI, under accusations that former L.A. superintendent John Deasy may have modified the bidding process for the initiative to favor Apple and Pearson due to ties with executives at Pearson.
Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides for Android updated with improved editing features
Google has pushed out updates to Docs that brings the ability to accept or reject formatting changes that other users make from your Android device.
Google Docs users aren’t having all the fun, however, as Sheets and Slides have also picked up some options that let users tweak the layout of charts and objects.
Ming-Chi Kuo: Global Apple Watch Pre-Orders Exceed 2.3 Million Units
KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who has a respectable track record at reporting on Apple, has issued a new note to investors estimating that global pre-orders for Apple Watch has exceeded 2.3 million units. Previously, a study from Slice Intelligence estimated that there were 1 million Apple Watch pre-orders in the United States.
We estimate production of Apple Watch around 2.3mn units in March-May. Mass production of Apple Watch began in March and will likely reach 2.3mn by end of May. Considering that most consumers who preordered will not get the device until June, we estimate global preorders of over 2.3mn units, with Apple Watch Sport, Apple Watch and Apple Watch Edition representing a respective order allocation of 85%, 15% and less than 1%.
Kuo notes that Apple plans to expand the supply chains for Apple Watch, with the Cupertino company targeting production of 2 – 3 million units per month. However, they estimate that the potential bottlenecks in production could be the vibrators that power haptic feedback from AAC and AMOLED displays supplied by LGD.
The Apple Watch’s vibrator technical problems come from being stuffed in a smaller form factor than an iPhone while needing a more accurate vibration frequency than the vibrator in an iPhone. Additionally, the AMOLED display needs both good color performance and a long life span.
Kuo predicts that Apple could reach 2.5 million units produced in June if production bottlenecks are absent. He also isn’t sure whether the Apple Watch will be a hit, estimating that less than one-tenth of iPhone owners have pre-ordered the Apple Watch, suggesting that hardcore Apple fans have made up the bulk of Watch pre-orders thus far.
Apple has not yet provided official sales figures for the Apple Watch, so the exact number of pre-orders the Watch has received remains to be seen. The Apple Watch sold out online 6 hours after pre-orders were available, with many shipping dates slipping to June. When responding to a MacRumors reader who was concerned about the Apple Watch launch, Apple noted that deliveries could arrive sooner than expected.
LG’s latest G4 teaser focuses on the upcoming flagship’s improved QHD display
LG really wants you to “see the great” in its latest teaser video for the LG G4, which focuses on the device’s QHD display.
In typical teaser fashion, LG doesn’t reveal a whole lot about the G4 here. In the rather short video, LG teases a QHD display that’s 25 percent brighter and has a 20 percent wider color range when compared to previous QHD displays from the manufacturer — noting that “the difference is obvious.”
TSMC May Supply 30% of A9 Chip Orders for Next-Generation iPhone [iOS Blog]
Earlier this month, a report indicated that Samsung would produce the A9 chip for the next-generation iPhone. Now, KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, a reliable source on Apple’s future plans, says that he expects Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) to supply 30% of the chip orders for the next-generation iPhone. This is the latest turn in what has become a back-and-forth affair in determining the companies that will supply A9 chips for next-generation iPhones.
We believe key reasons in Apple’s (US) last minute decision to recruit TSMC are: (1) unstable yield rate at GlobalFoundries (US); (2) TSMC’s 16nm FinFET Turbo has exceeded Apple’s expectations in yield rate and performance; and (3) concerns of insufficient 14nm supply from Samsung LSI (KR) due to better-than-expected market feedback of Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge, which uses the in-house 14nm FinFET-manufactured application processor Exynos 7420.
Kuo notes that GlobalFoundries, Samsung’s manufacturing partner, has thus far had an unstable yield rate of 30% for the A9 chip, which is below the 50% yield rate that is required for mass production. Bringing TSMC into the chip-supplying fold calms some of the uncertainties of Apple. Additionally, TSMC’s 16-nanometer process has exceeded Apple’s expectations.
Alternatively, the Cupertino company is worried that the success of the the Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge, which use Samsung’s advanced 14-nanometer process for their chips, will mean that Apple won’t be able to book enough chips from Samsung for the next-generation iPhone. Thus, Apple is turning toward TSMC to complement the supplies from both Samsung and GlobalFoundries.
However, over the past couple of months there has been confusion and conflicting reports over the production of the A9 chip in Apple’s next-generation devices. In December, a report indicated that Samsung had begun producing A9 chips. In the same month, another report indicated TSMC would be the main supplier for A9 chips in the next iPhone. Then, in January, Kuo expected TSMC to only provide A9X chips for the next-generation iPad. Finally, earlier this month, another report indicated that Samsung and partner GlobalFoundries would become the supplier for the A9 chip.
Google Docs for iOS now lets you approve or reject document changes, edit tables
Google Docs for iOS received a small, but pretty nifty update today that finally brings table editing and the ability to accept and reject suggested edits from other users.
Here’s the full breakdown of what’s new in today’s Google Docs update:
- Table editing
- Accept and reject suggested edits from the comment stream
- Bug fixes and enhancements
If you’re a heavy user of Google Docs on iOS, these no doubt come as welcome changes to the app. Table editing has been sorely absent from the app for some time, and the ability to accept and reject changes that other users make to a document from your iPhone or iPad is a pretty nice quality-of-life improvement. If you’d like to snag the update now, you can do so from the store link below.
- Free – Download
Google search ‘Find My Phone’ to locate your missing Android
Google’s making it even easier to track down your misplaced mobile device. While Android Device Manager already exists to help find lost phones and tablets, just getting to your account’s ADM menu often requires a search of its own. But Find My Phone is as simple as a web query. In fact, that’s literally what you’re doing. Simply open a Google omnibox and type “find my phone” to display a map that reveals the phone’s current resting place. If the device is nearby, you can also opt to ring your cell. Unfortunately, Find My Phone does not allow you to lock or erase your device should it be stolen or, say, left at the local pub — you will still need Android Device Manager to do that.
Filed under: Tablets, Internet, Mobile, Google
Source: Google+
The ‘Google Workshop’ could be a tool used to create custom cases
In August of last year, word broke that Google was flirting with the idea of allowing users to add a bit of customization to their Nexus smartphones in the terms of cases built on moments or photos. After that though, nary a word was mentioned and some had thought that Google had abandoned the idea. However, new information surfaced in the past few days that suggests the search giant may actually still be working on the project.
According to new information gathered, it appears Google is working on Workshop still but it only caters to the Nexus 5. Though, a new image has serviced suggesting the Nexus 6 could see the same treatment (see below). From what’s seen, Google has already build the interface and user experience with two tools to create custom cases. Not only that, but it appears custom live wallpapers are now in the mix.
The two tools, MapMe and Moments. While we’ve seen moments before, it appears MapMe will allow users to base their custom cases and live wallpapers on a location of choice. Users can then customize the look of the map in different colors and text for the case where as the live wallpaper would show location-specific information like weather or tweets.
As for moments is concerned, the tool takes a photo uploaded to a Google+ album and allows the user to customize text on it for a case or live wallpaper. From there though, we’re not sure of what else or when this will debut. It’s possibly we could see it at I/O next month or it may come later.
source: Android Police
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Google could be working on yet another new dialer
Last year, Google introduced a new dialer with Android 4.4.3. The dialer, limited to Nexus devices and GPE devices, added the ability to find people and businesses and call them directly from the app. With Facebook and Yahoo working on their own dialer apps, it appears that Google is taking the fight to them with an updated dialer.
Unlike the current dialer, the dialer app wouldn’t be limited to a small range of devices, and would be readily available to more people. This version is rumored to be more tightly integrated with messaging. Other than that there isn’t much to go off of. Yahoo’s app is said to blend text and video as well as feature a combination of live and recorded messages.
With Google I/O scheduled for the end of next month, we could very well see the new dialer soon rather than later, but then again, we could not.
source: The Information
via: TechnoBuffalo
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Verizon security report reveals great deal about flaws
Verizon has released its 2015 data breach investigation report today, and not surprisingly they cited that while cyber attacks are becoming increasingly sophisticated, the main methods of attack by criminals are still through decades-old techniques such as phishing and hacking.
Approximately 70 percent of the attacks involved a combination of the three, and most times also a secondary victim, adding to a particular breaches complexity.
The report also cited that many security patches for vulnerabilities have never been utilized, so those same vulnerabilities remain. Some of the vulnerabilities were discovered in 2007, some eight years ago. Quite a shocking statistic.
This year’s findings, as in past years, pointed out what Verizon researchers call the “detection deficit”, the time that elapses between an occurring breach, lasting until it’s discovered. Unfortunately, in 60 percent of the breaches, attackers are able to compromise an entire organization within minutes, crippling the organization. Also, that an attack could be avoided by paying more attention to obtaining and maintaining a vigilant approach to better cyber security.
As quoted in the report, “We continue to see sizable gaps in how organizations defend themselves,” said Mike Denning, vice president of global security for Verizon Enterprise Solutions.
Mr. Denning went on to say, “While there is no guarantee against being breached, organizations can greatly manage their risk by becoming more vigilant in covering their bases”.
The report continues on to state that mobile threats are overblown, agreeing with many industry analysts and that any security threats to the mobile platforms are negligible.
While, in the 2014 report, Verizon didn’t get into the machine to machine security breaches, they sure did this year. Verizon examined breaches involving connected machines, including breaches involving “bot-nets” co-opting IoT (Internet of Things) devices. The term “bot-net” refers to a network of devices having malicious software without a user’s knowledge. Finally, the report cites the need for security being a high priority when it comes to deployment of next generation intelligent devices. For more information on the subject, and the rest of the report, we’ll have a link at the bottom.
Source: Verizon
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