FBI bought ‘a tool’ to crack the San Bernardino iPhone

Last week, the US Justice Department dropped its encryption case against Apple thanks to a helping hand from a “third party.” With some help, the government said it was able to access the contents of San Bernardino shooter Syed Rizwan Farook’s iPhone 5C, and this week FBI director James Comey provided a few more details. It turns out the US government bought what Comey refers to as “a tool” from that unnamed third party to do the hacking. Comey didn’t give any indication as to whether or not the method existed already or if it was constructed after the legal battle began.

“Litigation between the government and Apple over the San Bernardino phone has ended, because the government has purchased, from a private party, a way to get into that phone, 5C, running iOS 9,” Comey explained. He went on to say that the tool only works on a “narrow slice of phones,” which we know includes the iPhone 5C. However, CNN reports that the method doesn’t allow access to models like the iPhone 5S and newer handsets.

As you might expect, the FBI remains tight-lipped in regards to the identity of the third party who provided the help, offering only vague statements. “The people we bought this from, I know a fair amount about them, and I have a high degree of confidence that they are very good at protecting it,” Comey said. “Their motivations align with ours.”

The government is also considering whether or not to tell Apple how it access the information, but from the FBI director’s statements, cooperation doesn’t seem likely. “We tell Apple, then they’re going to fix it, then we’re back where we started from,” Comey said. The FBI has, however, starting telling members of Congress how it hacked the phone, briefing high-ranking officials over the last week. We reached out to the FBI for more information on the matter and we’ll update this post when/if we hear back.

Source: CNN Money

Panasonic’s airline seat puts you in a high-tech cocoon

Panasonic has launched the most techie airplane seat we’ve ever seen, complete with its own app, user programmable mood lighting and a 4K TV. It revealed the product, called “Waterfront,” at Hamburg’s Aircraft Interiors Expo (yes, there’s a show for everything), where it was spotted by The Points Guy. Since this is Panasonic’s first foray into high-end airliner seats, it teamed up with B/E Aerospace, Formation Design Group and Denny e-bike designer Teague.

The most you might expect from an airline seat is WiFi and a private screen, but Panasonic’s Waterfront goes way beyond that. To start with, it has an app that pairs with your seat via pulsing lights from the in-flight screen. Once it’s set up, you can use it to tweak seat lighting down to individual zones like the water bottle and front pocket. It also controls the entertainment system, which features a 24-inch 4K TV, the first Ultra HD in-flight system so far. To take full advantage of that, it’ll presumably need some kind of 4K airliner streaming player, which doesn’t exist right now as far as we know.

Zach Honig/The Points Guy

The app lets you program a video and music playlist and remembers your settings for the next flight. It also adjusts your seat, puts up a “do not disturb” sign (complete with a wake-up call time for the crew) and tells you where to claim your bags on arrival. Other high-tech features include wireless phone charging, universal power, an HDMI input to let you watch your own movies, and even a built-in camera (for video chats, presumably). The seat is apparently as comfy as you’d expect, considering the price you’ll have to likely pay to claim it. However, it won’t arrive until 2019, so there’s plenty of time to save up.

Zach Honig/The Points Guy

Source: The Points Guy

Watch the BAFTA Games Awards live right here!

For over a decade the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) has held an awards ceremony to highlight the best video games. These mirror its prestigious movie and TV awards, recognising developers, composers and writers that have impacted the industry. You can watch this year’s ceremony live on Twitch from 5:45pm BST (12:45pm ET/9:45am PT), which is being hosted by comedian and video game fan Dara O’Briain.

There are 16 categories, including best game, British game and debut game. There are technical awards too for artistic and audio achievement, as well as story, music and game design. Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture leads the field with 10 nominations, followed by The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and Her Story with seven nominations apiece. Rocket League, Life is Strange and Batman: Arkham Knight all have five, while Metal Gear Solid V, Ori and the Blind Forest and Until Dawn enjoy four. A deluge of games fill up the remaining slots, including Splatoon, Fallout 4 and Bloodborne.

Source: BAFTA (Twitch)

Major League Baseball team uses VR for batting practice

Virtual reality made its way into the NFL last year, when the Dallas Cowboys became the first team in the league to use the technology for training. Now, on the Major League Baseball side, a similar path is being followed by the Tampa Bay Rays. The team has started utilizing a simulator from EON Sports VR known as iCube, which lets players step inside a virtual batting cage and practice their swing. Coaches are fans of this method because it takes less physical wear on an individual, plus it allows batters to experience throws that mimic those of pitchers across MLB — like Giants’ own Madison Bumgarner.

“Nothing can replace the at-bat experience,” Brendan Reilly, CEO of EON Sports VR, said in a press release. “But our technology enables players to maximize repetitions and their performance in the batters’ box. This is invaluable technology for teams looking to gain a competitive edge against their opponents.” And it’s only the beginning: Reilly told Engadget recently that the goal is to bring the virtual simulator to as many teams as possible.

SYNEK’s wine system ensures a perfect pour across styles

Nearly two years ago, SYNEK launched a Kickstarter campaign to crowdfund its countertop beer system to keep fresh suds available on tap at home. After raising $650,000, it launched successfully and received a warm reception for that product. Now the company is tackling another vice: wine. As you probably guessed, the Somm by SYNEK is also a countertop system that holds 2.25-liter canisters of vino — that’s about three standard-size 750ml bottles worth. Somm, which we’d guess is short for sommelier, adjusts temperature and aeration to fit the wine being poured in an effort to give your a perfect pour every time.

There’s a companion app that allows you to keep tabs on supply levels and get more info on the wine you have resting inside. The software also allows you to browse Somm’s selection of wine and offers suggestions based on your drinking preferences. Currently, there are 10 styles and over 30 varieties available to choose from, and that’s just the beginning. SYNEK has an in-house sommelier team that handles the curation, tasting wines before they’re made available and selecting new options based on user ratings.

When it comes to the canisters, or Sylos, over two liters is a lot of wine to get through before drinking something else. Don’t worry, though, you can easily swap out the container for another one and SYNEK says it’ll retain its shelf life. In terms of price, each Sylo will set you back $30 and when it comes time to re-order, you can do so through the mobile app. If the canister system sounds somewhat familiar, Kuvee’s smart wine bottle that we recently put through its paces handles the wine supply in a similar fashion, albeit in smaller quantities.

While SYNEK’s beer setup has a stainless steel exterior, Somm offers designs that borrow aesthetics from the barrel room of a vineyard. You can choose from beachwood and dark oak outer shells that give the dispenser a more natural look. There’s also a stainless steel option if you don’t care for the wood-grain material. If all of that sounds too good to pass up, Kickstarter backers are privy to a $100 discount on the Somm, cutting the price to $200. Backers will also get the chance to order exclusive wines that won’t be available to everyone. What’s more, SYNEK says unlike the beer gadget, it’s ready to go into production with this wine version and plans to ship in November of this year.

Source: Kickstarter, SYNEK

Reddit’s official mobile app launches on iOS and Android

Reddit has launched its official iOS and Android apps, three months after revealing that it was working on the latter. The company has historically neglected its mobile users, and bought the unofficial iOS client Alien Blue at the back end of 2014. This new app lets users browse, update and view the site through customized themes as well as a day / night mode for reading. If you’re looking for an excuse to get the app tout suite, the site is offering three months of Reddit gold to those who sign up during the launch week.

If you’re an Alien Blue loyalist, there’s a mixture of good and bad news if remarks made by product manager Ashley Higgins are anything to go by. In a posting to the relevant subreddit last month, she revealed that Alien Blue would linger around for existing users who wanted to stick with it. Then again, the team behind the app will move over to “focus our energy on the new flagship app.” She added that “Alien Blue will be unavailable for download by new users once the new app is released.”

Via: Android Police

Source: App Store, Google Play

Apple’s Mac Lineups to See Significant Graphics Upgrades as New GPU Launches Loom

Major graphics processing providers AMD and Nvidia are set to unveil new GPU products this year featuring Global Foundries’ 14 nm FinFET and TSMC’s 16 nm FinFET Plus processor nodes, respectively, allowing for significant improvements in graphics performance.

AMD’s “Polaris” and Nvidia’s “Pascal” architectures both utilize the latest FinFET silicon processes and will represent the first GPU process node change since 28 nm GPUs debuted in 2011. Both AMD and Nvidia skipped the intermediate 20 nm node, elongating the typical release cycle of consumer graphics processors.

While TSMC had traditionally provided multiple process offerings within a node, including one specifically tailored to higher power applications such as GPUs, the company found that the traditional planar geometries of its 20 nm node gave the firm less differentiation with its normal set of tweaks, rendering it a poor candidate for power hungry GPUs.

In a statement released earlier this year, AMD claimed that the new 14 nm Polaris GPUs will offer over double the performance per watt of their 28 nm predecessors. This news also confirmed AMD’s use of Global Foundries’ 14 nm FinFET process, rather than TSMC’s 16 nm process, which Nvidia will use. While AMD confirmed the use of TSMC for its higher power product offerings, any products developed from that process node would be destined for the Mac Pro only, as Apple has traditionally used mobile GPUs for its notebook and iMac product lines.

The new FinFET process nodes promise a big performance jump for AMD’s Polaris architecture
Product launches for these new GPUs are expected to occur around the summer timeframe. While Nvidia introduced its massive new Tesla P100 graphics card just this week, one rumor pegs the broader launch of the company’s GeForce Pascal line around the time of Computex, which takes place from May 31 to June 4.

In addition to the new process nodes, both new architectures are expected to utilize a variety of new high-speed memories such as GDDR5x and HBM2, which promise improved memory bandwidth and memory size, in HBM2’s case. AMD has already previously successfully launched a product utilizing a new 3DIC memory technology with their debut of the “Fury” line in 2015.

Though GPU rumor cycles tend to focus on desktop products, AMD’s CEO stated that both desktops and laptops featuring the new Polaris GPUs are expected to launch before the back to school season. Apple has traditionally alternated between GPU offerings from both AMD and Nvidia when it comes to its product lines, with AMD owning the wins for the latest iterations of both the 27-inch iMac and MacBook Pro lines.

The MacBook Pro in particular is due for an update, and rumors have suggested new models could arrive at WWDC in June, but it is unclear whether Apple would be able to feature the upcoming GPUs within that timeframe. Apple has sometimes been very quick to incorporate the latest technology from its partners, but other times as waited quite some time before upgrading. Updates for the 27-inch iMac are less imminent, as the line was just upgraded to Intel’s latest Skylake processors in October.

Related Roundups: iMac, Mac Pro, MacBook Pro
Tags: Nvidia, AMD
Buyer’s Guide: iMac (Neutral), Mac Pro (Don’t Buy), Retina MacBook Pro (Don’t Buy)
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Twelve South Announces ‘TimePorter’ Travel Case and Charger for Apple Watch

Twelve South today announced the launch of a new product designed for the Apple Watch, the TimePorter. Described as a travel tote and portable charging stand, the TimePorter is shaped like an eyeglasses case with room inside a hinged compartment for an Apple Watch charging puck, a power adapter, and extra Apple Watch bands.

The Apple Watch charging puck fits into a slot at the top of the TimePorter, with the lid serving as a dock for the Apple Watch. Apple Watches can fit around the TimePorter vertically or rest on top horizontally. When opened up, the TimePorter turns into a multi-angle viewing stand. A cutout for the Apple Watch charger’s cord allows it to be routed out of the side of the TimePorter for charging purposes.

This gorgeous capsule is both a case and a stand. TimePorter holds your charging cable, an extra Watch band, your USB charger and more in a neatly designed, silicone-lined case. Pop your charging disc into the integrated opening in TimePorter and drape Apple Watch across the top to charge. With Apple Watch resting on TimePorter, open the case to the preferred angle and TimePorter transforms into a viewing stand, perfect for viewing notifications and the time.

Black or white leather covers the exterior of the TimePorter, while inside, silicone covered cord wraps keep cords neatly coiled — even the 2m Apple Watch charging cable. Twelve South says there’s enough space inside the TimePorter to accommodate multiple USB chargers, extra watch bands, and a portable battery.

Twelve South plans to begin shipping the TimePorter in May for $49.99. Customers can sign up to be notified of its launch by clicking this link.

Tag: Twelve South
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Revisiting cashback services: Do they really work? – CNET

CNET’s Cheapskate scours the Web for great deals on PCs, phones, gadgets and much more. Questions about the Cheapskate blog? Find the answers on our FAQ page. And find more great buys on the CNET Deals page.

Quick housekeeping note: Tomorrow is your last chance to enter the Cheapskate’s Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge giveaway! This is one of my best contests ever, if I do so say myself.

What follows is an update of a post I wrote back in 2014. The subject: one of my all-time favorite money-saving methods. Read on to learn how to use it and, more importantly, whether it’s worth the trouble.

Screenshot by Rick Broida/CNET

You’re familiar with cashback credit cards, right? The most famous one, Discover, pays you back 1 percent of everything you buy. That’s a pretty tiny percentage, but it adds up.

Web-based cashback services operate much the same way, offering you a percentage (sometimes 1 percent, sometimes more) of your purchase in the form of a cash rebate.

For example, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 9.7-inch tablet is currently on sale for $399.99. But if you visit Ebates.com on your way to Samsung’s online store, you can get a 4 percent rebate — which works out to $16. Meanwhile, over at Groupon, the refurbished Pebble Time Round smartwatch is already a deal at $129.99. Start at Fatwallet.com, however, and you’ll get 6 percent back, or $7.80.

Eyeballing the Asus ZenBook UX305 at the Microsoft Store? It’s $599, but TopCashback will give you back 1 percent of that, or $5.99.

This is not big money, obviously, but like I said before: it adds up. You save 1 percent here, 3 percent there and so on, and by the time your rebate check arrives, you could be looking at a decent chunk of change. This isn’t just for tech stuff, either — many of the largest cashback percentages can be found at stores like Kohl’s, Macy’s and Magazines.com.

And here’s the real beauty of it: Cashback services are a piece of cake to use. They’re literally a couple extra clicks on your way to shopping wherever you’re already shopping.

Which invariably leads to some skepticism. Really? A rebate just for visiting Ebates? What’s the catch? What’s the downside?

I’ve been using various cashback services for the past couple years. My take: no catch, no downside. Just easy savings. Allow me to share a few things I’ve learned along the way:

Turn off your ad-blocker

Because cashback services rely on browser cookies for tracking, and because ad-blockers block those cookies, using an ad-blocker will very likely interfere with your rebate. In other words, it might make your purchase “invisible” to the cashback service, thus preventing you from getting credit (i.e. cash) for that purchase.

The solution: Pause your ad-blocker when you go shopping. I don’t mean white-listing the cashback service’s domain; I mean pausing it globally so there’s no risk of interference. All the tracking happens behind the scenes, and you don’t want anything to get in the way.

Be patient

Although you should receive a cashback confirmation within a few days of your purchase, don’t expect your actual cash until much later. Indeed, most services work on a 90-day payout structure. This is in part to prevent people from abusing the system (buying something, getting a rebate, and then returning it for a full refund, for example). But there’s an added benefit: Your rebates will add up to a bigger payout.

Always try to double-dip

Some of the best cashback savings can be found at department stores. Who wouldn’t take an 8-percent cash rebate from Macy’s?

Screenshot by Rick Broida/CNET

Suppose you’re able to save 5 percent on a big purchase using a cashback service. Score! But you can get an even better deal if you work a little harder.

For starters, you may be able to apply other discounts, such as coupon codes you’ve received via email or found online. Once you get to the checkout page, just insert the code like you normally would. Obviously your rebate will reflect that discounted price, but ultimately you want the lowest total price you can get. (Just be sure to read the cashback service’s terms before you click through to the store, as there may be exclusions when other discounts are applied. Even so, it’s always better to get, say, 10 percent off up front than 2 percent later on.)

Even better, pay for your online purchases with a cashback credit card. That’s a guaranteed additional rebate. And if you can somehow leverage all three? Triple-dip savings for the win!

Shop around

Ebates, FatWallet and TopCashback are probably the best-known cashback services, but there are dozens of others. And within all of them, cashback rates can vary.

For big purchases in particular, it pays to shop around. If you’re spending, say, $500, and Ebates offers 5 percent to FatWallet’s 3 percent, you’re looking at a $25 rebate instead of $15.

Yes, there’s a bit more hassle involved this way, as you have to sign up for and keep tabs on more services — but that extra effort can yield bigger returns.

They work

Still skeptical? That’s OK — cashback services really do seem too good to be true. But as long as you pay close attention to the specifics of the offer (not all rebates apply to all products) and make sure to keep tabs on your purchases and payouts, you’ll get your money. I’ve used Ebates and TopCashback extensively, and I can report they’ve always delivered as advertised (even on the rare occasions I had to contact customer service for a purchase that didn’t get tracked).

Your mileage may vary, of course. But I’m a huge believer in the cashback option, and a big fan. With very little personal information up front and just a few extra clicks in your shopping process, you stand to get extra money back. It’s kind of a no-brainer.

Bonus deal: As I predicted a few weeks back, Pebble Time smartwatches are continuing to make their way to deal sites. To wit: Groupon has the refurbished Pebble Time for $99.99 shipped, with your choice of a black, white or red band. (If it’s your first time using Groupon, use coupon code WELCOME at checkout for an extra $10 off.) Click the Option pull-down and you’ll also find a refurbished Pebble Time Round for $129.99. The latter is definitely the snazzier of the two, though unfortunately it has much shorter battery life and lacks the square Time’s water-resistance. Check out CNET’s review if you want to know more.

Bonus deal No. 2: Not very long ago (I’m talking November, 2014), the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 would have cost you $600 off-contract. Today, and while supplies last, Mywit (via eBay) has the refurbished Galaxy Note 4 for $229.99 shipped, in your choice of black or white. This fab phablet (which scored top marks from CNET) comes with 32GB of storage and is locked for use on Verizon — though you should be able to get it unlocked without much trouble. Then you can take it to Sprint or a Sprint-based MVNO if you wish.

Synek Somm Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET

Drinking wine is really fun. In fact, going to Napa Valley to visit wineries and taste expensive wines is one of my favorite trips. But the drinking-to-learning ratio’s got to be right. That’s why you don’t see many people sitting on couches, reading a book on varietals without a glass of pinot in hand to help the information go down more easily.

Here’s where smart home tech comes in: Ideally, a smart wine device lets you drink wine, learn about that wine and feel cool all at the same time. I’ve tested one wine device before and had mixed feelings about it, but the potential is definitely there. And now Synek, the company behind the Counter Top Beer Dispenser, is taking on the project.

With its newly launched Kickstarter campaign, Synek hopes to fund a device called Somm (short for sommelier, a professional wine expert). Essentially Somm will house wine, keep it at ideal temperatures, limit aeration to prevent degradation and, finally, educate users through the companion app. It’s a cool concept, and it could be worth the $199 (about £140 or AU$260) pre-order price or $299 (£210 or AU$395) final price — if it works.

Synek

How it works

Synek’s Somm is a large, freestanding, counter top device. The cartridges that fit into it are much larger than typical bottles of wine. Instead, each cartridge — called a Sylo — holds about three bottles’ worth. A small chip on the Sylo tells Somm what temperature to keep the wine at and how aerated the wine should be before drinking. When the wine is ready to be poured, a diastolic pump pulls the wine out of a collapsible membrane, aerates it appropriately, and pours the glass.

The mechanism should stop air from contacting the wine in the Sylo, meaning it won’t degrade even after you pour a glass. Of course, the Kuvée Bottle was supposed to do that too, but was unsuccessful. Wine is delicate, and oxygen is its enemy. So for now, I’m skeptical of Synek’s approach, though hopeful in what its execution could mean for the lifespan of wine.

The educational side of Somm comes through the app. Using Synek’s app, Somm will tell you about the wine you’re drinking, and it will help you order more. I like the idea, but I wonder if it will be significantly more informative than a quick Google search. And ordering Sylos through Synek will only really seem appealing if it entails discounts.

Synek

Wine from what?

The mechanics of Sylos could work well. I hope they do! But part of me — maybe the purist I try to resist — feels the experience of wine might be diminished if it comes from a dispenser. You won’t get Sylos from Synek to display next to bottles. You won’t get it for a date night. Somm feels more like a cool party device. And that’s where I think its value will be. Getting larger amounts of wine for discounted prices would work well when you’re entertaining. And Synek says both old and new world wines will be represented — a good sign for serving varied tastes.

Synek’s Somm looks like an interesting concept with typical pros and cons. But if it gets funded, if development goes well (which is not always guaranteed in crowd-funded endeavors) and, ultimately, if it works, then it could be a solid purchase.