L.A. Unified School District Suspends $1 Billion iPad Contract with Apple

Los Angeles school district superintendent John Deasy halted the district’s iPad contract with Apple in mid-rollout, reports the LA Times. The $1-billion multi-year contract would supply LAUSD students with iPads that were pre-loaded with curriculum from Pearson.

The contract was administered in phases with an initial $30-million investment to equip a pilot group of students with iPads. Additional payments totaling almost $1 billion would expand the project to additional students and build out the wireless infrastructure to support tablet usage at the district’s schools. Each phase was subject to approval with the option of canceling the project if it no longer met the district’s needs.

Deasy’s suspension follows criticism of the project rollout and its bidding process, which some claim was modified to favor Apple and Pearson. While issues with securing the iPads surfaced shortly after rollout, the contractual complaints were detailed in a district technology committee draft report that was obtained recently by the LA Times.

Among the findings was that the initial rules for winning the contract appeared to be tailored to the products of the eventual winners — Apple and Pearson — rather than to demonstrated district needs. The report found that key changes to the bidding rules were made after most of the competition had been eliminated under the original specifications.

In addition, the report said that past comments or associations with vendors, including Deasy, created an appearance of conflict even if no ethics rules were violated.

While Deasy responds to these criticisms, the technology program at LAUSD is moving forward with other devices and alternative curriculum being adopted by schools in the district. The district is expected to purchase up to 18,000 laptops with Apple and Pearson invited to bid on this new contract.

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Apple Launches Apple TV Channel for 2014 London iTunes Festival

Apple today launched its iTunes Festival channel on the Apple TV ahead of the festival’s start on September 1. Similar to previous years, the iTunes Festival channel contains information relevant to the upcoming London version of the popular music festival.

Ahead of the event, the channel allows you to browse information on the history of the festival, details on the Roadhouse, and the performance schedule for next month. When the festival begins, Apple TV owners can watch HD streams of both live and archived performances.

Apple recently filled its performance calendar adding well-known musicians such as Mary J. Blige and Tony Bennett to the festival lineup. These performers will join previously announced acts such as Maroon 5, Pharrell Williams and Lenny Kravitz. Tickets for the concert are available for free via a lottery system and through local radio station promotions.

Apple’s iTunes Festival iOS app is also showing as having an update available to support the upcoming concert series, but many users are reporting errors when trying to update their apps.

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Premium Channel ‘Showtime Anytime’ Comes to Apple TV

In addition to the return of the iTunes Festival channel for Apple TV today ahead of September’s concert series in London, Apple has also added a new Showtime Anytime channel to its set-top box.

The Apple TV channel is a companion to the Showtime premium cable network and offers limited free content to all users. Most content, which includes live and on-demand shows and events, is limited to customers who subscribe to the network through a participating cable provider.

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Apple Once Again Adds to Lineup for 2014 iTunes Festival in London

As first reported by The Loop, Apple has announced that it will again be expanding the lineup for this year’s iTunes Festival in London to include 19 more acts such as Tony Bennett, Mary J. Blige, Ed Sheeran, and more. The festival’s schedule has also been updated to show when artists will perform, as deadmau5 will kick off the show on September 1, which will be followed by Beck and Jenny Lewis the next day. Apple has not yet revealed the lineup for the final day.

Apple announced earlier this month that it would be expanding its original lineup to include acts such as Lenny Kravitz and Foxes. The festival’s date was announced last month as Apple revealed that Maroon 5, Pharrell Williams, and Calvin Harris would be among the acts performing.

Tickets for the iTunes Festival will be given out through iTunes in a lottery system, and will also be broadcast via the Apple TV, an official iOS app, and through the iTunes desktop application on OS X and Windows.

Earlier this year, Apple held the first annual U.S. iTunes Festival at South by Southwest (SXSW), which featured artists such as Coldplay, Imagine Dragons, Keith Urban, and more. The 2013 iTunes Festival in London was held last September and saw shows from Jack Johnson, Justin Timberlake, and Jessie J, who will also be again be performing at this year’s iTunes Festival.

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California Law Now Requires All Smartphones to Have Built-In Kill Switches By July 2015

A California bill requiring all smartphones sold in the state to have antitheft technology installed was today signed into law by California governor Jerry Brown. Introduced in February, the SB-962 Smartphones bill, which mandates a “kill switch” for cellular devices, was initially approved by the California State Assembly in early August and passed a final vote in the California Senate shortly after.

The law requires smartphones to include software or hardware that will render the device inoperable to an unauthorized user in the event that the phone is misplaced or stolen. The anti-theft technology, which has to be able to withstand a hard reset or operating system downgrade, must prevent reactivation of the smartphone on a wireless network except by the authorized user. The anti-theft tools must be installed during the phone’s initial setup process, and it must be reversible so an authorized user can unlock the device if it is returned to their possession.

California’s new law is designed to curb smartphone thefts, which have long been a problem plaguing major metropolitan areas like San Francisco and New York City. Co-sponsored by San Francisco district attorney George Gascón and state Senator Mark Leno, the law will go into effect in July of 2015.

“California has just put smartphone thieves on notice,” said Senator Leno, D-San Francisco. “Starting next year, all smartphones sold in California, and most likely every other state in the union, will come equipped with theft deterrent technology when they purchase new phones. Our efforts will effectively wipe out the incentive to steal smartphones and curb this crime of convenience, which is fueling street crime and violence within our communities.”

“This epidemic has impacted millions across the nation and millions more around the globe, but today we turn the page,” said District Attorney George Gascón. “Seldom can a public safety crisis be addressed by a technological solution, but today wireless consumers everywhere can breathe a sigh of relief. Soon, stealing a smartphone won’t be worth the trouble, and these violent street crimes will be a thing of the past. The devices we use every day will no longer make us targets for violent criminals.”

While the bill will likely affect smartphone manufacturers like Samsung and Microsoft, Apple already ships its iPhones with Activation Lock, a feature first introduced with iOS 7. Activation Lock locks the device to a user’s iCloud account and is turned on when Find My iPhone is enabled. A stolen iPhone is essentially bricked with Activation Lock, as thieves cannot sign out of Find My iPhone, deactivate iCloud, or wipe the device without the original user’s Apple ID.

A similar federal law might be passed, if The Smartphone Theft Prevention Act is approved. This act would mandate the inclusion of a “kill switch” in all smartphones sold across the country, which would be used to make a lost or stolen device inoperable and allow consumers to remotely wipe all of their personal data.

Currently, only Minnesota and California have legislation mandating anti-theft technology for smartphones, but back in April, major smartphone manufacturers like Apple, Google, Samsung, Nokia, and all major carriers agreed to add anti-theft tools to all smartphones manufactured after July 2015.

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Likely Fake iPhone 6 Box Insert Surfaces [iOS Blog]

While we’ve seen dozens of images depicting iPhone 6 elements that are likely to be real versions of parts that will make their way into the finished device, we’ve also been seeing quite a few iPhone 6 mockups, iPhone 6 clones, and other fake iPhone 6 parts as we creep closer to the device’s launch date.

French site Nowhereelse.fr [Google Translate] has today shared what it believes may be a genuine iPhone 6 box insert (or quick start guide) that “confirms” the launch date of the iPhone 6 as Tuesday, September 9, but MacRumors believes the insert to be fake based on several different design elements.

(Click for Full Size)
Nowhereelse.Fr compares the September 9 date listed on the fake insert to the “10″ date on the calendar icon of the original iPhone 5s card as proof the iPhone 6 insert is real, but the site erroneously assumes that the date on the iPhone 5s insert referred to the Tuesday, September 10 unveiling of the iPhone 5s.

The “10″ date actually corresponds to the date when iOS 7 debuted, Monday, June 10. Therefore, the iPhone 5s card did not depict the phone’s debut date, which means an actual Apple quick start card for the iPhone 6 would be unlikely to display “September 9″ over the iOS default date.

Additionally, the design of the card also lacks slashes between the Ring/Silent switch and Home Button/Touch ID sensor, and the font of the time is not quite in line with Apple’s style. Nowhereelse.Fr claims that Apple has opted for a more simple insert design that does not show the actual device to explain its difference from the iPhone 5s insert, but it is unclear whether that is factual. Even when poised as a possible rough draft for a finished quick start guide, the glaring errors on the card continue suggest that it is indeed a fake and not representative of the actual insert card that will be included with the finished iPhone 6.

Apple is expected to introduce its iPhone 6 on Tuesday, September 9 at a media event. The device is rumored to come in two variations, 4.7 inches and 5.5-inches, but it is unclear if both models will ship at the same time as production issues are said to be plaguing the larger iPhone 6.

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Google Launches New ‘Slides’ iOS App, Updates Docs and Sheets With Microsoft Support [iOS Blog]

Google today launched a new Google Slides app for the iPhone to complement both Google Docs and Google Sheets, putting it in a position to better compete with business-oriented iOS software suites from both Apple and Microsoft. With Slides, Google now offers apps for creating word-based documents, spreadsheets, and presentations directly on the iPhone.

Slides is designed to allow users to create, edit, and collaborate with other users on presentations from the iPhone, iPad, or desktop. The app allows users to create new presentations or edit existing presentations, and it’s possible to share presentations with others as well as work on a single presentation with multiple people at the same time. Like other Google apps, Slides saves automatically and works offline.

Along with launching Slides, Google has also updated both Docs and Sheets with support for Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel, respectively, allowing users to open and edit Microsoft documents with Google apps. Slides is also able to open Microsoft PowerPoint files.

Here’s the lowdown on what you can now do with Docs, Sheets, and Slides:

You can truly get stuff done from any device–your iPhone, iPad, Android phone, Android tablet, laptop or desktop computer. Any change you make on any of these devices is saved automatically, so you can pick up right where you left off any time, anywhere that you can sign in.

The Docs, Sheets and Slides apps come with offline editing built right in. Just make the files you want to edit available offline. Any changes you make offline get automatically synced when you reconnect, just like when you make offline edits from your computer.

And while converting Office files to Docs, Sheets and Slides is a cinch, the new iPhone/iPad apps also let you edit Office files directly — just like on the Android apps and the web.

All three of Google’s productivity apps can be downloaded from the App Store at no cost.

– Google Slides [Direct Link]
– Google Docs [Direct Link]
– Google Sheets [Direct Link]

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iPhone 6 ‘Phosphorus’ Component Likely a Barometric Pressure Sensor, Not Next-Generation M7

Earlier today, Weibo user GeekBar continued his leaks of claimed wiring schematics of iPhone 6 components with a new “Phosphorus” component he had interpreted as the next-generation version of Apple’s M7 co-processor. The M7 collects and tracks motion data from various sensors in the iPhone 5s, iPad Air, and Retina iPad mini, and with the iPhone 6 rumored to be including a number of new health- and fitness-related sensors, a more powerful version of the M7 seems possible for the new device.

But according to MacRumors forum poster leecbaker, who is clearly familiar with these types of components, the item depicted in the schematic is not a next-generation M7 and actually appears to be a barometric pressure sensor. The iPhone 6 has been rumored to include a number of new environmental sensors such as an atmospheric press sensor.

The chip pictured has the part number BMP282. I’m 99.99% sure this is a Bosch barometric pressure sensor, similar to this part BMP280. Variants of one part often have slightly different part numbers- if Apple got Bosch to customize the chip for them with different packaging, or a slightly different measurement range, that would explain the difference in part number.

Bosch’s MBP280 barometric pressure sensor
leecbaker goes on to highlight a number of applications for that Bosch pressure sensor, including GPS and indoor/outdoor navigation enhancement, weather forecasting, altimetry, and spirometry, the lung function measurements that were added to Apple’s Health app in a recent iOS 8 beta.

Another MacRumors poster, kdarling, corroborates leecbaker‘s conclusions, noting that the pins on the Bosch sensor match those outlined in the schematic. He also notes that the BMP series is limited to pressure sensing and does not include the humidity and temperature sensing capabilities found in Bosch’s BME series of sensors.

Assuming this new information is correct, and it certainly appears to make sense, this marks the second time GeekBar has incorrectly identified a component shown in the leaked schematics. The poster had previously claimed a schematic showed the iPhone 6 carrying the same 1 GB RAM found in previous A-series chips, but that was quickly revealed to be a reference to an aspect of flash storage rather than RAM.

(Thanks, @anexanhume!)

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