Qualcomm rejects Broadcom’s revised takeover bid

Broadcom will have to try again in its bid to take over Qualcomm. The Snapdragon chip-maker has rejected a revised proposal to buy all of its outstanding shares, stating that it “materially undervalues Qualcomm and falls well short of the firm regulatory commitment the Board would demand given the significant downside risk of a failed transaction.” As a refresher, Broadcom had originally offered to pay $130 billion to acquire all of Qualcomm back in November. That sum was rejected, so Broadcom followed up this month with a revised proposal that valued Qualcomm’s shares at $82 each.

Clearly, Qualcomm’s board of directors don’t think this is enough. In its statement confirming the second rejection, Qualcomm “offered to meet with Broadcom to see if it can address the serious deficiencies in value and certainty in its proposal.”

In a letter published with the statement, Qualcomm wants Broadcom to answer a few pertinent questions, including the following:

• What is the true highest price at which you would be prepared to acquire Qualcomm? Is it $82 per share or is it higher?
• Is Broadcom willing to commit to take whatever actions are necessary to ensure the proposed transaction closes?

It appears from the first question that Qualcomm thinks Broadcom is lowballing. As for what “actions are necessary to ensure the proposed transaction closes,” which appear to be related to “significant regulatory hurdles”. In the letter, Qualcomm said it’s “indisputable that if Qualcomm entered into a merger agreement and, after an extended regulatory review period the transaction did not close, Qualcomm would be enormously and irreparably damaged.” Because of that, Qualcomm wants Broadcom to be extremely clear and specific about how far it would go, so that it can “properly evaluate the risk to Qualcomm’s shareholders.”

It’s obvious that these two have a lot to discuss before any progress can be made. If this meeting does happen and the two parties can agree on a price, then perhaps third time may be the charm.

Source: Qualcomm

32 senators want to know if US regulators halted Equifax probe

Earlier this week, a Reuters report suggested that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) had halted its investigation into last year’s massive Equifax data breach. Reuters sources said that even basic steps expected in such a probe hadn’t been taken and efforts had stalled since Mick Mulvaney (pictured above) took over as head of the CFPB late last year. Now, 31 Democratic senators and one Independent have written a letter to Mulvaney asking if that is indeed the case and if so, why.

Reuters sources said that Mulvaney has neither ordered subpoenas against Equifax nor collected any sworn testimony from company executives. Additionally, reviews of how Equifax protects its data and on-site cybersecurity exams of other credit bureaus — which the Federal Reserve, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency all offered to assist with — have been put on hold. The bank regulators who had offered to help were reportedly told that there were no exams planned and their assistance wouldn’t be needed.

In their letter, the senators expressed their concern over these reports and reiterated the duty the CFPB has to not only investigate the breach but to bring action against Equifax if deemed necessary. “Consumer reporting agencies and the data they collect play a central role in consumers’ access to credit and the fair and competitive pricing of that credit,” they wrote. “Therefore, the CFPB has a duty to supervise consumer reporting agencies, investigate how this breach has or will harm consumers and bring enforcement actions as necessary.” They specifically ask Mulvaney and Deputy Director Leandra English whether the probe has been halted and if so, why and under whose direction. They also ask about any plans for on-site exams of Equifax and other bureaus, what steps they’ve taken in the investigation so far and whether they’re coordinating with the FTC and its Equifax probe.

The senators have requested a response by February 19th.

Source: Senator Brian Schatz

Apple Confirms iPhone Source Code Leak is Real, But Says its Security Doesn’t Depend on Secrecy

Source code for iBoot, a core component of the iPhone’s operating system leaked on GitHub yesterday, raising concerns that the hackers and security researchers could dig into the code to find iOS vulnerabilities.

In a statement issued to MacRumors this morning, Apple confirmed the authenticity of the code but emphasized that it’s for iOS 9, a three-year-old operating system that’s been replaced with iOS 11 and is in use on only a small number of devices.

“Old source code from three years ago appears to have been leaked, but by design the security of our products doesn’t depend on the secrecy of our source code. There are many layers of hardware and software protections built into our products, and we always encourage customers to update to the newest software releases to benefit from the latest protections.”

Based on data from Apple’s App Store support page for developers, iOS 11 is installed on 65 percent of devices, iOS 10 is installed on 28 percent of devices, and earlier versions of iOS, such as iOS 9, are installed on just seven percent of devices.

In addition to acknowledging that the leak contained real source code, Apple this morning also sent a DMCA takedown notice to GitHub this morning, successfully getting the code removed from the site.

The data that was shared on GitHub was incomplete so the iBoot code was not able to be compiled, but it did include a documents directory that offered up additional information relevant to iBoot, and combined, the data leak could make it easier to locate vulnerabilities to create new jailbreaks.

Average users should not need to be concerned about the leak, however, as Apple has many layers of protection in place, like the Secure Enclave, and does not rely on source code secrecy alone as a way to keep its users safe.

Security researcher Will Strafach, who spoke to TechCrunch, echoed what Apple had to say. He believes the source code is compelling because it provides an inside look into the inner workings of the bootloader, but ultimately, “Apple does not use security through obscurity,” so there is nothing risky in the code.
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Review: Plugable’s New 480GB Thunderbolt 3 SSD Offers Super Fast Transfer Speeds

Plugable, a company that offers a range of hubs, docking stations, storage solutions, and other accessories for Mac and Windows machines this week launched a new external NVME SSD that offers 480GB and Thunderbolt 3 connectivity for incredibly fast transfer speeds.

The Plugable TBT3-NVME480 SSD is designed for Thunderbolt machines like Apple’s latest line of MacBook Pro models, and it offers transfer speeds of up to 2400MB/s read and 1200MB/s write.

Design

Design wise, the palm-sized Plugable Thunderbolt 3 SSD is unremarkable. It’s made from a solid black brushed aluminum with a ridged design at the sides, and a single LED light on the front that lets you know when it’s connected and receiving power.

There’s an integrated Thunderbolt 3 cable at the top, and a rather large and highly visible printed Pluable logo, which cheapens the look of the device just a bit. It’s smaller than an iPhone X and similar in size to a deck of cards, so it’s portable enough to stick in a bag or even a pocket if so desired.

As with most SSDs, your MacBook provides power to the SSD, so there’s no extra power cable to deal with.

With continual usage, I’ve noticed that Plugable’s SSD can get fairly warm, but that’s not unusual and it does not appear to impact performance.

It’s worth noting that the TBT3-NVME480 SSD comes with an 18-month warranty that can be extended to 36 months through registration, so if it fails during that time period, Plugable will replace it for you.

Transfer Speeds

As mentioned above, Plugable says the TBT3-NVME480 SSD is able to reach maximum read speeds of 2400MB/s and maximum write speeds of 1200MB/s thanks to Thunderbolt 3 connectivity and its use of NVMe technology.

In Blackmagic disk speed tests with a 2016 MacBook Pro, my actual results varied a bit. With the test that uses 5GB file sizes to test transfer speeds, read speeds topped out at about 2025MB/s, while write speeds were just about at Plugable’s promised 1200MB/s.

You should see faster transfer speeds near the maximum with smaller file sizes. In practice, it took just about three minutes to transfer a 57GB file from my MacBook Pro to the Plugable SSD. Comparatively, that same transfer with a standard hard drive took 17 minutes.

Transfer speeds will, in practice, differ based on the other peripherals you have plugged into your Mac and your Mac’s workload.

When using this drive with the 13-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar, make sure to plug it into the left side of the machine. The Thunderbolt 3 ports on the right side of the 13-inch MacBook Pro have reduced PCI Express bandwidth and Plugable says transfer speeds could be slower in this situation.

Compatibility

Plugable’s TBT3-NVME480 SSD is compatible only with Thunderbolt 3 machines, and it is not backwards compatible with Macs and Windows PCs that use USB-C or USB-A. That means you’re not going to be able to plug this into an older machine to facilitate file transfers – it’s exclusively for use with Thunderbolt 3.

For Apple’s Macs, that means it works with the 2016 and 2017 MacBook Pro models, 2017 iMac models, and all iMac Pro models. macOS Sierra and later is required.

The SSD also works with Windows machines that support Thunderbolt 3 and have Windows 10, 8.1, or 7 installed. It is not compatible with Boot Camp Windows installations, unfortunately.

On Macs, the TBT3-NVME480 SSD works as soon as it’s plugged into a free Thunderbolt 3 port (it’s exFAT formatted), while on Windows, you’ll need to go through an authentication process. Windows users will also need to make sure the latest TB3 and BIOS firmware updates are installed.

Bottom Line

At $400 for 480GB of storage, the Plugable BT3-NVME480 SSD isn’t cheap, but it’s also not wildly unaffordable if you’re aiming to find an SSD that’s going to offer the fastest speeds you can get for tasks like large file transfers, booting an OS, or running a gaming library or photo library from an external drive.

You can get a 480GB SSD from Amazon for somewhere around $150, so the Plugable TB3 SSD is more than twice as expensive as other options, but it also offers twice the transfer speed. With a standard SSD, you’re going to max out at about 450-500MB/s, so that extra $250 gets you more than twice the speed.

There are few Thunderbolt 3-compatible drives on the market right now, and most other options are 1TB+ and far more expensive, so it’s nice that Plugable is offering a smaller, less expensive drive that’s at least a little more accessible. On the downside, this storage solution is TB3 only and can’t be used with non-TB3 machines, which is something to be aware of.

The average person doesn’t need to shell out the extra money for the kind of transfer speeds offered by Plugable’s new SSD, but for those who do need the fastest possible speeds, this is a storage option that’s potentially worth checking out.

How to Buy

You can purchase Plugable’s Thunderbolt 3 480GB NVME Solid State Drive from the Plugable website or from Amazon.com for $399.

Note: Plugable provided MacRumors with a TBT3-NVME480 SSD for the purpose of this review. No other compensation was received.
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Google faces lawsuit accusing it of selling defective Pixel phones

Despite being a great phone that we loved, the Google Pixel hasn’t been without its issues, as evidenced by our article on common problems owners might face. The launch of the original Pixel phones mostly went off without a hitch, and the phone was a global hit, yet Google now faces legal troubles thanks to a class action lawsuit filed against the search giant, after claims that the original Pixel was shipped and sold despite a known flaw with the microphone.

According to Fast Company, the lawsuit is rooted in flaws with the microphone that the suit claims were present from the date of sale — and that Google knew the phones were defective before they were shipped. Google admitted that the fault existed in March 2017, but hasn’t mentioned anything about the issue being present at the date of sale, and has stuck to honoring standard warranty claims.

According to Fast Company’s article, which cites a Google employee on support forums, the fault can be traced back to a hairline crack on the solder connection on the audio codec. This sort of issue is especially frustrating to consumers, since different temperatures and the phone’s orientation make the problem intermittent: It works some times and shorts out at others. Fast Company considers this the reason many Pixel owners did not report the fault until after the phone fell out of warranty.

The company pursuing the lawsuit, Girard Gibbs LLC, is already involved in a similar lawsuit against Google involving the Pixel 2 range. The Pixel 2, despite being an otherwise fine phone, was beset by screen issues in its XL variant, with many users reporting significant screen burn-in. Google’s response to the issue was fast, with the giant attempting to downplay the impact of the burn and extending the warranty to two years, but it’s clear from the consumer response that users don’t feel that was enough.

Google may want to sort out this issue as fast as possible too, as Girard Gibbs LLC recently settled the long-running LG “bootloop” lawsuit, so it’s clear that mobile giant-slaying is a part of the law firm’s repertoire.

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U.K. smartphone manufacturer Wileyfox descends into bankruptcy

Wileyfox, the U.K.-based smartphone manufacturer specializing in budget phones, has gone into bankruptcy proceedings (or “administration” as it’s termed in the U.K.) with the administrative receiver Quantuma.

The news came via a post on the /r/Wileyfox subreddit, with Wileyfox-Jack breaking the news that his job had been lost as a result of restructuring, and lamenting that he would no longer be able to offer official support to the community.

“Wileyfox Europe Limited is in Administration. Andrew Andronikou and Andrew Hosking are appointed joint administrators and act jointly and severally without personal liability,” Jack said. With some emotion evident, he also added “Today is a sad day not just because I lost my job but because I believed in the Wileyfox brand :(“. It’s clear from Jack’s post that the thirty-strong Wileyfox team (as they were) had a strong bond. According to The Register, as many as twenty staff members have lost their jobs.

Wileyfox was one of the earliest startups to take advantage of the Android fork Cyanogen, after the rogue Android build split off from Google in 2015. After Cyanogen shut down in late 2016, Wileyfox switched over to Android, and began to offer significant price cuts in exchange for lock-screen ads on new phones.

But it seems that Wileyfox’s money troubles weren’t wholly based on a lack of sales. While Wileyfox never spoke officially about its funding, details from the administrative process have revealed that significant amounts of Wileyfox’s backing was tied into the Russian bank Promsvyazbank, which was bailed out by the Russian government in December to the tune of $3.4 billion. However, as pointed out by Techcrunch, it’s clear that Wileyfox was struggling prior to the Russian bank’s failure, with the company recording a 1.5 million British pound (roughly $2 million) loss in April 2017.

At this time it’s not clear what the plan regarding Wileyfox will be, but it’s fair to assume that extreme cost-cutting will be norm while a buyer or extra funding is sought. A source speaking to Techcrunch blamed a lack of penetration into the budget market as a large part of the reason for the company’s current failure, with strong competition from Huawei and other budget brands as the primary reason that Wileyfox phones failed to find mass appeal.

The future of overseeing Wileyfox Group and Wileyfox Mobile are currently unclear based on current events, and no one seems to yet know whether they too will be pulled into administration.

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Snapchat now lets you create custom, wacky AR Lenses with new fee-based tool

Tired of the puppy dog face and dancing hot dog? Snapchat is now allowing users to create their own augmented reality lenses. On Feb. 8, Snapchat launched Create Your Own Lens, a tool that lets users add their own Snapchat Lens to the app’s popular AR features. The tool is designed for tasks like creating a custom graphic for a wedding, party, or another event.

Unlike Snapchat’s Lens Studio that’s designed for businesses, Create Your Own Lens is off-limits to business. Snap Inc. says the tool is designed with the everyday user in mind, and that the custom lenses can be generated in as little as five minutes. Part of that simplicity is a template-based system with personalization options. At launch, the collection includes more than 150 templates.

Snap Inc. says the tool is designed for parties and events, or to use as a gift. The tool is rolling out on the web and iOS today, but the company says an Android option is in the works. Snapchat is rolling the option out to users in the U.S. first, with a global rollout planned. The custom filter’s aren’t free, however, with prices starting at $10.

The tool is also launching with additional type options, including brush, italics, glow, gradient, rainbow, and Old English font designs for Snap captions.

So, how do you create a custom Snapchat lens?

There are two options to access the tool. The first is by heading to snapchat.com/create. Mobile users can go to settings, then “filters and lenses” to access the same tool. (As mentioned, mobile option is currently only for iOS, but an Android version is coming soon.)

Once inside the lens creation tool, users start by choosing a template from the options. Then, those AR lenses can be customized with different text options. The option to add a photograph, which Snapchat had before the launch of the lens designer, is also available here.

After the lens design is complete, enter a time and location for when the lens will be live for that event. Snapchat allows you to choose between 20,000 to 5 million square feet, which means you can allow that filter to go out a few blocks if you’d like.

Once the design is finished and times and location established, users just need to check out. Snapchat says you need to check out at least three hours before the start time in order to ensure the lens is available for the entire event.

The Create Your Own Lens option expands on the Lens Studio that launched in December. The newest option is designed for any user, while the desktop-based Studio is geared toward businesses and users with a bit more computer savvy. Snapchat also allows users to create custom Geofilters, a tool that launched in 2016.

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Apple demands DMCA takedown of secret iBoot code leaked on Github

A portion of Apple’s proprietary source code for iOS devices has been leaked online. The code, labeled ‘iBoot’ is responsible for ensuring only trusted versions of iOS can boot on Apple devices.

Shortly after Apple learned of the leaked source code, the company issued a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) takdeown request to Github requesting its immediate removal. Apple’s DMCA request was published by Github and states the reason for the request is because “the ‘iBoot’ source code is proprietary and it includes Apple’s copyright notice. It is not open-source.” Github complied with the request and removed it from the repository of a user named ZioShiba.

Although the leaked code appears to be for an older version of the operating system, iOS 9, it may contain relevant code still used in iOS 11. While Apple does make some portions of its code open source, iBoot has never been included and is closely guarded by the company.

It’s unclear how the code was obtained and who published it on Github. ZioShiba, the user who posted the code, appears to be relatively inactive on the platform, having last posted seven months before the iBoot leak. However a user by the same name appears to be pretty active other places online, with a YouTube channel featuring iOS hacks as well as a Twitch account.

While ZioShiba was the first to post the iBoot source code on Github, this is not the first time the code has appeared online. Last year a Reddit user named apple_internals published the same code on Reddit, however it failed to gain the same amount of attention.

Apple issued a statement assuring users that the leaked code was outdated and there is no need for alarm. “Old source code from three years ago appears to have been leaked but, by design the security of our products doesn’t depend on the secrecy of our source code. There are many layers of hardware and software protections built in to our products, and we always encourage customers to update to the newest software releases to benefit from the latest protections.”

Although the leaked iBoot code should be cause for concern, newer Apple devices have additional layers of protection for users. Since 2013, Apple has included a Secure Enclave chip on iPhones. It effectively creates a separate computer within the iPhone to store both encryption and decryption keys, as well as other sensitive data.  Since Secure Enclave uses a physically embedded key to authenticate, it creates a scenario where it’s nearly impossible for hackers to access sensitive information by brute force.

Updated February 8: Update includes statement from Apple concerning age of source code and additional layers of protection for iOS devices.

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How are those 280-character tweets working? Twitter grows, but not in U.S.

Twitter’s global user count grew to 330 million monthly active users, but U.S.-based users are signing in to the platform less often. On Thursday, February 8, Twitter shared its fourth quarter and year-end financial results — including just how well those new 280 character Tweets are faring.

Twitter’s monthly active user count worldwide grew four percent both last year and last quarter, but the daily user growth on the platform saw a much higher margin of growth. Daily active users, in the last quarter, grew by 12 percent, maintaining a double-digit growth for the last five quarters.

The numbers in the U.S., however, aren’t so good; in the last quarter, monthly active users in the U.S. dropped by two percent, from 69 million to 68 million. Twitter said the drop was in part because of changes in Safari’s third-party app integration because users aren’t included in the numbers. The network was also plagued by the #WomenBoycottTwitter last year and users vowing to leave because of the abuse on the platform. The company has since made multiple revisions to the community rules and how those rules are implemented, which continues to be a focus as the company moves into 2018.

While growth wasn’t high for the company, users that are using the platform appear to be spending more time on it, or at least, engaging more. Twitter said that, after upping the character limit to 280, users find it easier and faster to tweet. Users that use that full limit receive more likes, retweets, mentions, and tend to have more followers. That same group of users tends to log in more often and spend more time on Twitter once there.

Interaction with ads also saw a big increase, with engagement up 75 percent in 2017 compared to 2016. Twitter says that improving the ad options and delivering more relevant ads led to the change. Facebook saw a similar trend in 2017, with growth slowing and the time spent on the platform decreasing but ad spending actually increasing.

If the 2017 results are any indication, Twitter will also continue to focus on video growth. In just the last quarter, the company finalized 22 new partnerships for live-streaming and other video formats, with nine of those international. The platform streamed 1,140 live events and 28 million user-generated live-streams.

Financially, the report is a bright spot for Twitter with the company’s first GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles) profit in the green since going public four years ago.

Editors’ Recommendations

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Instead of getting stranded, get this discounted Aukey jump starter

It’ll save you a time or two.

Right now you can pick up this 12000mAh 400A jump start kit for just $34.79 when you use the coupon code AUKEYBC1. This is the lowest price this has ever hit.

Aukey’s jump starter can be used for cars, boats, motorcycles, and lawnmowers. It’ll even charge your phone. It also has a flashlight to help light your path. For these reasons, an item like this is essential in your car. Keep it in your glovebox or trunk next to your first aid kid and you’ll always be prepared. Hopefully, you’ll never have to use it, but you’ll be glad to have it on hand.

This features 2 USB ports, 400 peak amps, and 12000mAh of backup charging power. Your purchase is backed by a 2-year guarantee.

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