Microsoft has Apple’s back in FBI iPhone dispute

The tech industry support is beginning to coalesse around Apple in its fight with the FBI. Microsoft’s President and Chief Legal Officer, Brad Smith, announced on Thursday that his company would file an amicus brief to support its longtime rival. Smith also renewed calls for congressional hearings to form new legislation that would better balance user privacy concerns with law enforcement and national security needs.

The FBI is currently relying on the All Writs Act of 1789 to compel Apple into action, though the tech giant has refused (or at least is unable) to build a backdoor into its operating system for the federal law enforcement agency. Apple CEO Tim Cook has vowed to fight the order all the way to the Supreme Court and has classified the directive as “chilling” and “dangerous”. The FBI, for its part, claims that it is “not trying to set a precedent” — even though that is precisely what it will do.

Microsoft is also battling the US government over a similar situation. The government has ordered Microsoft to hand over a suspected drug trafficker’s emails, which reside on one of the company’s servers. Apple has thrown its support behind Microsoft in that case, which is awaiting a ruling by an appellate court judge.

Source: Bloomberg

On the Brink of Greatness, episode two: Uber

Love it or hate it, Uber has become an integral part of the daily commute and nowhere is that more true than on the streets of San Francisco. Sometimes we forget that the people charged with shuttling riders about town are people themselves — people with hopes and dreams, fears and foibles. This week, Steve Goldbloom examines the trials and tribulations that these unsung urban drivers experience every day.

Apple tells court FBI’s request is ‘unconstitutional’

The legal and PR battle between Apple and the FBI carries on with the company filing a motion to stop it from being forced to help unlock an encrypted iPhone. In the motion it states that complying with the FBI and DOJ will “undermine the basic security and privacy interests of hundreds of millions of individuals around the globe,” and that “the Constitution forbids it.”

During a conference call, an Apple executive said that that what the government is asking violates the company’s constitutional rights. In the brief Apple argues that DOJ’s demand violates the company’s first amendment right against compelled speech and view point discrimination.

The company is also noted that in order to comply it would have to build what it calls a “GovtOS” and an FBI forensics lab at the Apple campus to handle the potentially hundreds of devices that are currently held by law enforcement. It states that this would violate its first and fifth amendment rights.

The motion also takes the government to task for its use of the All Writs Act stating: “no court has ever authorized what the government now seeks, no law supports such unlimited and sweeping use of the judicial process, and the Constitution forbids it.”

The motion to vacate also notes that earlier proposals by the Department of Justice to expand the reach of the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) were shot down. This included mandating that companies install backdoors to devices. Both the White House and Congress left the current act untouched.

With that in mind, Apple argues that the the government is asking it do is something that Congress has not authorized.

If compelled to comply, Apple states that it would take two to four weeks for six to ten engineers to create the GovtOS. That doesn’t include the extensive testing on multiple devices and within the iOS ecosystem needed to make sure the operating system works with the phone and doesn’t destroy the data it holds. A burden it doesn’t want.

A House Judiciary Committee meeting has been set for March 1 to discuss encryption and the current legal fight between Apple the FBI. It will include testimony by FBI Director James Comey and Apple general counsel Bruce Sewel.

During an interview with ABC World News Tonight, Apple CEO Tim Cook was optimistic that all those involved in the situation would be able to come together to figure out a way to move forward on the issue of encryption. But he also said that the FBI’s request is “what we view as sort of the software equivalent of cancer.”

In testimony to Congress this morning, director Comey said that what happens in this case would set a precedent on how law enforcement handles locked and encrypted devices. This is a departure from earlier statements that the order was narrowly focused on a single phone.

Mercedes replaces robots with people on its assembly line

We’ve all heard stories about how the robots are taking our jobs. While that may be true, Mercedes-Benz is replacing some of its high-tech workers with real live humans. As it turns out, robots can’t keep up with the degree of customization that the automaker offers on its S-Class sedans. To be fair, there are four different types of caps for the tires alone, not to mention options for carbon fiber trim and temperature-controlled cup holders.

“Robots can’t deal with the degree of individualization and the many variants that we have today,” said the company’s head of production Markus Schaefer. “We’re saving money and safeguarding our future by employing more people.”

The change comes at a time when a number of companies are replacing people with robotic devices. International Federation of Robotics (IFR) released a survey today stating that 1.3 million of the industrial robots will be in use by 2018. In fact, the number of those machines rose 43 percent in a year between 2013 and 2014. However, as Mercedes continues to expand the options available on its vehicles, the robots aren’t able to adapt to new tasks. They’re better suited for doing the same jobs repeatedly.

“The variety is too much to take on for the machines,” Schaefer explained. “They can’t work with all the different options and keep pace with changes.”

Robots aren’t getting the boot from Mercedes-Benz Sindelfingen factory entirely, though. The machines will work alongside humans instead of being confined behind glass. Mercedes, BMW and Audi are all working on sensor-packed robots that can operate safely alongside their living breathing colleagues.

Source: Bloomberg

Facebook, Google and Amazon will back Apple in court (updated)

As Apple continues to fight back on the FBI’s request, calling it “unconstitutional” in court, support from the tech world is starting to pour in. Soon after Microsoft announced it’s decision to back Apple’s legal battle with an amicus brief, the Wall Street Journal reports that Facebook, Google and possibly Twitter are among companies working with Microsoft on a joint motion. An Amazon spokesman told Reuters the company is working on its “amicus options,” as it becomes clear Apple will have support from many of its competitors in this particular battle.

Why did ‘Layers of Fear’ launch in the month of love?

The universe of human emotion is complex and dense, filled with wildly firing synapses and warring wavelengths. Some people embrace all-consuming feelings like love but shy away from adrenaline-pumping activities like skydiving or visiting a haunted house. Others love to be scared yet are terrified of love.

Few understand these emotional inconsistencies better than Bloober Team. The studio released the heart-pounding horror game Layers of Fear on Feb. 16th, just two days after Valentine’s Day — and about three months after Halloween.

“Paradoxically, we like to be scared,” says Rafal Basaj, a spokesperson for the company. “Although we cannot say that we live in times devoid of problems and fears, but most of us rarely feel terrified and our bodies just need to remember how to react to fear. The horror genre gives us a way of filling that gap in a safe environment.”

Layers of Fear may not scream “romance,” but it has plenty of elements that should excite horror fans. It’s an exploration-based horror game set in a grand Victorian mansion, starring an obsessive painter in the throes of a mental breakdown. Bloober Team describes it as “psychedelic horror,” and the game is packed with mysterious sounds, jump scares and a tragic backstory that unravels alongside the protagonist’s mind.

Releasing Layers of Fear in the month of love was no accident. Bloober Team conducted a small survey a few months ago asking people which holiday they thought was the creepiest, and (unsurprisingly) Halloween won. But Valentine’s Day was the clear runner-up.

The connection between fear and love — and the love of fear — is backed up by scientific theory. Generally, as adrenaline begins coursing through our bodies, we’re more likely to find other people attractive.

A famous study conducted in 1974 had one group of (assumed heterosexual) men walk across a long but seemingly safe bridge while another group of men walked across a rickety “scary” bridge. A woman at the end asked them to fill out a survey and to call her directly if they had any questions. The men who walked across the scary, adrenaline-inducing bridge were more likely to call the woman, a phenomenon that researchers attributed to their heightened levels of arousal. These men were more pumped up from their terrifying walk, and they confused that feeling with attraction for the woman, the experimenters concluded.

This is known as ” misattribution of arousal” in scholarly circles, and it’s one reason horror movies and roller coasters can make for such great first dates. It’s also why Layers of Fear is a perfect fit for a February release.

“Love and fear often go toe-to-toe,” Basaj says. “It’s because when you get scared, your [body] produces elevated amounts of hormones responsible for keeping you happy. It’s a defense mechanism that keeps you going in times of extreme fear.”

And extreme attraction, apparently. Besides, Basaj argues, horror fans want terrifying experiences at all times of the year, not just around Halloween. Fans of romantic comedies don’t only watch those types of movies around Valentine’s Day — and it’s the same for horror buffs.

“Halloween doesn’t have exclusive rights in terms of us enjoying a good scare,” Basaj says. “It’s a genre like [any other] -– it has its fans who enjoy watching, reading and playing horror throughout the year, and it’s not a small group either.”

Basaj sees the epitome of excitement and creativity in the horror genre. Fear is a universal language, a lot like love: It’s something we all relate to on an intrinsic, human level, but it’s different for every individual. Each person approaches horror from a skewed perspective, with disparate triggers, nightmares and fantasies.

“Arguably it’s the genre with which you can be most creative,” Basaj says. “You can literally let yourself loose and create absolutely unique, stunning settings and worlds while working on a horror game. Horror also helps us cope with our own fears and makes us react faster to unseen tragedies.”

Love may be good for the heart, but horror is good for the soul.

Imogen Heap is using digital currency tech to change music

Imogen Heap is no stranger to using bleeding-edge technology to perform music, but she’s now using it to change how you buy music. Her Mycelia project not only lets artists sell music directly to fans, but uses blockchains (the same technology behind digital currencies like Bitcoin) to get the kind of data that would normally require the help of a label. It’d include credits and usage rights, and could track things such as where and when people play a given tune — if a song is really popular with Australians, you’ll know it without asking anyone else.

Heap doesn’t see Mycelia as a complete replacement for existing music streams and sales (she’s talking to Spotify about it), but she does believe it could upturn the industry. Artists would handle the sales and data themselves, limiting the labels to marketing. In effect, you’d have more control over your music career.

The technology is a ways off (there’s a hackathon in early April to help get it going), and how well it works is up in the air. Just how much data will musicians get, for example? How easy will it be to implement? We’ve reached out to Heap for more details. If it does work as promised, though, it could help indie artists make a living while resisting the temptation to make a deal with a major publisher.

Via: Quartz

Source: Mycelia

Apple is reportedly launching a 9.7-inch iPad Pro in March

9to5Mac is reporting that Apple plans to unveil a new 9.7-inch iPad Pro at an event on March 15th, rather than the rumored Air 3. The new iPP would join its larger, 12.9-inch predecessor and incorporate support for both the Smart Keyboard & Apple Pencil. Of course, with a smaller screen, Apple will have to resize the Smart Keyboard cover accessory to make it fit. 9to5Mac also reports that the smaller iPad Pro will come with the same color and storage options as the 12.9-incher.

There’s no word yet on a projected price, however, Apple sources did relay to 9to5Mac that it will be slowing production on the iPad mini 2 and first iPad Air (and likely eventually killing them off) to keep its tablet lineup from becoming overcrowded.

Source: 9to5Mac

Doctors implant 3D-printed vertebrae in ‘world’s first’ surgery

Ralph Mobbs, a neurosurgeon at the Prince of Wales Hospital in Sydney, made medical history in late 2015 when he successfully replaced two vertebrae with custom made prosthesis. The patient, in his 60s, suffered from Chordoma, a particularly nasty form of cancer that had formed on his top two vertebrae and threatened to cinch off his spinal cord as it grew. That would have left him a quadriplegic. Complicating matters, those top two vertebrae are what allow you to turn and tilt your head, so it’s not like doctors can easily fashion a replacement out of bone grafted from another part of the patient’s body. They have to fit perfectly and that’s where the 3D printers come in.

Mobbs worked with Anatomics, an Australian medical device manufacturer, to craft perfect replicas of the patient’s top two vertebrae out of titanium. This is the first time that these two particular neck bones have been printed and installed. “To be able to get the printed implant that you know will fit perfectly because you’ve already done the operation on a model … It was just a pure delight,” Mobbs told Mashable Australia. “It was as if someone had switched on a light and said ‘crikey, if this isn’t the future, well then I don’t know what is’.”

The surgery itself was no small feat. The 15-hour procedure is fraught with peril as the medical team operates within inches of the top of the spinal cord as well as the brainstem and numerous major arteries. “The surgery that we’re doing today is a particularly complicated and long and difficult surgery. It involves exposure at the top of the neck where the neck and the head meets,” Mobbs told ABC 7.30. “It’s essentially disattaching the patient’s head from his neck and taking the tumour out and reattaching his head back onto his neck.” Thankfully, the surgery was a success. Mobbs was able to remove the tumor and implant the prosthetic.

Via: Mashable

Source: ABC 7.30

The Wirecutter’s best deals: Dell’s XPS 13 and more!

This post was done in partnership with The Wirecutter, a buyer’s guide to the best technology. Read their continuously updated list of deals at TheWirecutter.com.

You may have already seen Engadget posting reviews from our friends at The Wirecutter. Now, from time to time, we’ll also be publishing their recommended deals on some of their top picks. Read on, and strike while the iron is hot — some of these sales could expire mighty soon.

Dell XPS 13 Touch 256GB Laptop

Street price: $1,400; MSRP: $1,400; deal price: $1,000

This huge sale drops our upgrade laptop pick to $200 less than the last time we posted a deal on it, and even better, drops it $100 below our main pick. You’ll take a hit on the battery life due to the touchscreen, but since you’re saving $100 and getting a higher resolution screen, we think it’s worth it.

The Dell XPS 13 Touch 256GB Laptop is our upgrade pick for the best Windows ultrabook. Kimber Streams wrote, “If you need an ultra-high-resolution touchscreen, don’t mind the extra cost, and can live with a few hours less battery life, you should get the touchscreen configuration of the Dell XPS 13.”

She talked in more detail about the resolution, “Our upgrade pick has a 32001800-resolution touchscreen, in contrast to our pick’s 1080p non-touch panel. The extra resolution isn’t a huge benefit on a 13-inch screen, since you have to scale up the Windows interface anyway to make things large enough to read or click on.”

Samsung 850 EVO 500GB Internal SSD

Street price: $155; MSRP: $270; deal price: $140 with code ESCEGGJ62

Use the code ESCEGGJ62 during checkout to get this price. This matches the best price we’ve seen on this drive even though previous deals have included a free game. You can also get the 1TB model for $271 with the same code.

The Samsung 850 EVO is the top pick in our guide on the best SSDs. Nathan Edwards said, “It’s fast, cheap, and consistent, and it comes from a company that makes its own SSD controllers, firmware and NAND, which means it gets first dibs on the good stuff. (The company is able to design the entire SSD to work together from the start.) Samsung has made some of the best SSDs on the market for the past four hardware generations; this is no exception.”

Logitech Type+ iPad Air 2 case

Street price: $60; MSRP: $100; deal price: $38

A quality $10 drop under the previous low we’ve seen on this case. This deal is only available on the electric blue color, which was also the only color available during the previous sale.

The Logitech Type+ iPad Air 2 case is our budget pick for the best iPad Air 2 case. Dan Frakes and Ray Aguilera wrote, “You lose the Qode’s backlit keyboard, multiple prop-up angles, portrait-orientation option, and detachable case, but the Type+ is nevertheless a solid keyboard case. Its folio-style design provides a good amount of protection, yet it’s thinner than most all-over-protection competitors. It has good keys in a standard layout—they’re a bit more cramped than on the Qode Ultimate Pro, but still easily usable—and it provides a nice array of dedicated iOS-special-function keys.”

JayBird BlueBuds X Sport Bluetooth Headphones

Street price: $100; MSRP: $130; deal price: $87

This is the second best price we’ve ever seen on these headphones. The best was a brief Walmart deal at $58, but that expired within minutes of posting it. We used to post deals on them around $110, but $100 seems more like their street price now. So $87 for a pair of wireless headphones with a lifetime warranty is an excellent value, since we still think these headphones sound great. This deal is only available on the camo color.

The JayBird BlueBuds X Sport Bluetooth Headphones were our runner-up pick for the best wireless exercise headphones. Lauren Dragan said, “Here’s something worth noting, though. The Bluebuds X are still available out there, and are on average $40 less than the X2. So if you can get the Bluebuds X for less while they’re still on the market, we say to go for it. While the new changes are (mostly) nice, we still think you’d be just as happy with the Bluebuds X at a lower price.”

Deals change all the time, and some of these may have expired. To see an updated list of current deals, please go to The Wirecutter.com.