Category: Apple Insider

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Google parent company Alphabet hits $1 trillion market cap

 

By AppleInsider Staff
Thursday, January 16, 2020, 03:48 pm PT (06:48 pm ET)

Alphabet, parent company of Google, Verily, Waymo and other firms, became the fourth U.S. company to reach a $1 trillion market capitalization on Thursday, just over a month after former Google CEO Sundar Pichai took the reins.

Sundar Pichai

Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai.

Shares of Alphabet hit $1,450.16 at the bell, with intra-day trading up as much as 0.8%, granting the tech giant a market cap of almost exactly $1 trillion.

Alphabet is the fourth U.S. company — and fourth tech sector stock — to hit the milestone after Apple first breached the $1 trillion threshold in August 2018. Amazon followed suit a month later, while Microsoft achieved the lofty valuation in April 2019.

Currently, Apple and Microsoft sit above the $1 trillion mark, while Amazon has since fallen below that line.

Alphabet derives most of its revenue from Google, which acts as an umbrella company for the firm’s bread-and-butter advertising and search income, as well as gains from Android and YouTube. It is fitting, then, that the conglomerate reached today’s high-water mark with former Google CEO Pichai at the helm.

According to CNBC, market analysts are bullish on Pichai, who was minted Alphabet CEO in December after co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin formally announced to step down from their respective corporate positions. Page was serving as Alphabet’s CEO at the time.

Alphabet’s efforts in the cloud are also beginning to pay off, with the company doubling its revenue run rate from $1 billion to $2 billion per quarter between February 2018 and July 2019, the report said. While not a segment leader, the firm is investing heavily in the space and expects similar revenue growth in 2020.

The company is due to report fourth quarter 2019 earnings on Feb. 3.

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FBI reportedly accessed locked iPhone 11 Pro Max with GrayKey third party tool

The FBI recently cracked the encryption of Apple’s latest and greatest iPhone 11 Pro Max, a report said Wednesday, prompting questions as to why the agency is demanding the company assist in accessing two older iPhone models as part of a high-profile case.

GrayKey

GrayKey device. | Source: MalwareBytes

In 2019, FBI investigators working on a case in Ohio were tasked with executing a search warrant on property owned by Baris Ali Koch, reports Forbes. Among the items seized was a locked iPhone 11 Pro Max that, according to the report, investigators subsequently accessed without Apple’s help.

Koch stands accused of misprision of a felony for helping his convicted brother flee the U.S. by providing a duplicate driver’s license and lying to federal agents. He is currently awaiting sentencing.

As part of the investigation into Koch, FBI personnel on Oct. 11, 2019, acquired the suspect’s iPhone 11 Pro Max which, according to Koch’s lawyer, Ameer Mabjish, was locked and protected by a passcode. Mabjish confirmed to Forbes that no passcode was furnished to authorities, nor was Koch forced to unlock the iPhone via Face ID authentication.

Interestingly, a search warrant filed on Oct. 30 reveals the FBI has in its possession a USB drive containing “GrayKey derived forensic analysis” of the iPhone in question. Produced by startup Grayshift, GrayKey is a data forensics tool that enables law enforcement agencies to thwart iPhone security protocols for purposes of data extraction.

While not specified in the Oct. 30 search warrant, the report suggests the FBI successfully deployed GrayKey to gain access to Koch’s iPhone 11 Pro Max.

If officials were indeed able to crack Apple’s latest iPhone security safeguards, it is possible that the FBI and other agencies have a means to access the much older iPhone 5 and iPhone 7 Plus handsets involved in more recent case.

Last week, the FBI asked Apple for assistance in “unlocking” two iPhones owned by Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani, a Saudi Air Force cadet accused of killing three sailors and injuring eight others in an attack at the Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Fla., in December. The situation escalated quickly, with Attorney General Bill Barr putting out a public plea for Apple’s compliance on Monday, while President Donald Trump slammed the company for its stance on strong device encryption a day later.

The Department of Justice claims it has exhausted all internal and external options, meaning Apple’s expertise is the only path forward. Officials refuse to enumerate exactly what methods were attempted.

While Apple has cooperated with FBI requests by handing over user data like iCloud backups and account information, it has declined to extract data from Alshamrani’s iPhone as doing so would necessitate the creation of a backdoor. The tech giant is staunchly opposed to such action as it would purportedly threaten the security of all iPhone users.

Pundits speculate Trump, Barr and the DOJ are using the Pensacola case to rope Apple into a precedent-setting legal fight over encryption. Apple faced a similar court battle in 2016 when it refused to unlock an iPhone 5c used by the San Bernardino shooter. In that case the DOJ threatened a showdown but pulled out at the eleventh hour after finding a third party contractor capable of extracting data from the device.

That said, the DOJ might be telling the truth. Apple could have identified and patched the vulnerabilities GrayKey leveraged to break iPhone 11 Pro Max encryption in the intervening months since Koch’s iPhone was seized. Alternatively, GrayKey could be in possession of an exploit that applies only to newer model handsets, though such a scenario is unlikely given Apple’s encryption architecture.

In any case, Apple is reportedly preparing for a legal scrum as it simultaneously works to keep the issue out of court.

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Trump tells Apple to ‘step up to the plate’ and unlock Pensacola shooter’s iPhones

 

By Mikey Campbell
Tuesday, January 14, 2020, 04:12 pm PT (07:12 pm ET)

President Donald Trump waded into the encryption battle on Tuesday with a tweet calling on Apple to “unlock” iPhones at the request of law enforcement agencies, suggesting the company should do so because of help it receives on trade and “other issues.”

Trump

“We are helping Apple all of the time on TRADE and so many other issues, and yet they refuse to unlock phones used by killers, drug dealers and other violent criminal elements. They will have to step up to the plate and help our great Country, NOW! MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN,” Trump said in a tweet.

The missive arrives as Apple and the FBI are at loggerheads over a data extraction operation related to a recent terror attack in Pensacola, Fla. Last week, investigators sent a letter to the tech giant asking for assistance in unlocking two iPhones owned by Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani, a Saudi Air Force cadet accused of killing three sailors and injuring eight others in an attack at the Naval Air Station in December.

U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr echoed FBI demands in a public plea on Monday, adding that Apple has yet to provide “substantive assistance” to the investigation. Apple denied Barr’s request in a lengthy statement that rebuts the AG’s claims by offering a detailed account of assistance it has provided and continues to provide to law enforcement officials.

“We reject the characterization that Apple has not provided substantive assistance in the Pensacola investigation. Our responses to their many requests since the attack have been timely, thorough and are ongoing,” Apple’s said in a statement Monday night. “We have always maintained there is no such thing as a backdoor just for the good guys. Backdoors can also be exploited by those who threaten our national security and the data security of our customers.”

Trump in his tweet today implies Apple is in a tit-for-tat relationship with his administration and the U.S. government at large. His mention of help “on TRADE and so many other issues” suggests the company should respond in kind for favorable consideration in the ongoing China trade war. in December, Apple escaped hefty tariffs on iPhone, iPad and Mac when Trump inked a “phase-one” deal that roughly halved duty rates and scrapped a threatened $160 billion worth of new levies on Chinese-made goods.

With pressure applied by the FBI, Barr and now Trump, Apple appears set to face another high-profile battle over device encryption. The company first tangled with the FBI and Justice Department in 2016 when it refused to comply with demands to unlock an iPhone used by San Bernardino shooter Syed Rizwan Farook. At the time, Apple CEO Tim Cook vowed to fight a court order that compelled the company to create a special version of iOS with weakened encryption — or a backdoor — saying that doing so would be a threat to all iPhone users.

The DOJ withdrew its demands just prior to a court showdown that would likely have set legal precedent over proper handling of encrypted devices. Instead of going through Apple, the FBI turned to an unnamed third party to penetrate the San Bernardino gunman’s iPhone 5c, a method security experts believe is viable in the current Pensacola case.

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Apple’s ‘Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet’ to make appearance at PAX South this week

 

By AppleInsider Staff
Monday, January 13, 2020, 05:52 pm PT (08:52 pm ET)

Apple will promote its upcoming Apple TV+ comedy series “Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet” at the PAX South gaming expo in Texas on Friday, potentially signaling an early screening of the show ahead of an official debut slated for early February.

Mythic Quest

Though details are scarce, Apple, specifically “Apple TV+ Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet,” is now registered as an exhibitor on a rolling list of PAX South participants maintained on the PAX event website. The expo begins on Friday, Jan. 17 and runs through Jan. 19.

The company has yet to confirm an official presence at the popular annual event, but an appearance would not be too far fetched as “Mythic Quest’s” plot orbits the gaming world.

Starring Rob McElhenney, who created and wrote the series with former “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” collaborator Charlie Day, “Mythic Quest” follows a small gaming studio as it navigates the trials and tribulations of developing a new title. Gaming giant Ubisoft, which pitched the idea to McElhenney, is listed as a producer alongside Lionsgate, 3 Arts Entertainment and McElhenney and Day’s RCG.

Oscar Award winner F. Murray Abraham, Danny Pudi, Imani Hakim, Charlotte Nicdao, David Hornsby, Ashly Burch and Jessie Ennis costar.

How Apple plans to publicize the show at PAX South remains unclear, but gatherings like PAX typically feature panels with content creators and, in the case of Hollywood projects, cast and crew.

All nine half-hour episodes of “Mythic Quest” are slated to launch on Feb. 7 as an Apple TV+ exclusive.

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Apple trims estimated payments for iPhone trade-ins

 

By Malcolm Owen
Sunday, January 12, 2020, 10:02 am PT (01:02 pm ET)

Apple has updated its trade-in program webpage with new estimated payment values for a customer’s iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and other products, a change indicating consumers will receive less for their trade-ins now than one week ago.

The Apple Trade-In program encourages customers to hand in their older iPhones, iPads, and other Apple products, in exchange for credit towards the cost of a new device. The program gives customers a way to gain value from their old models, by using them to reduce what needs to be paid for newer models.

Spotted by BGR, Apple has recently updated the trade-in site to alter the “estimated trade-in value” for a number of products. Research by AppleInsider indicates the change took place overnight on January 9, with the updated values offered from January 10.

Estimated trade-in values for iPhones from January 9 (left), January 10 (right)

Estimated trade-in values for iPhones from January 9 (left), January 10 (right)

The main changes relate to iPhone values, with the biggest drop occurring for the iPhone XS Max, which went from $600 to $500. The iPhone XS moved from an estimate of up to $500 to one of up to $420, and the iPhone XR from $370 to $300. On the other end of the scale, the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus both were cut by $20, dropping to $80 and $100 respectively.

Changes were also made to the iPad listings, with iPad Pro owners now receiving “up to $220” for their device, down from $290. The iPad, iPad Air, and iPad mini also see reductions to their estimates, bringing them to $100, $70, and $80 respectively.

Few changes were made to Macs, with the MacBook Air seeing a drop of just $10, the MacBook by $20, the iMac by $60, and the iMac Pro by $90 to a new estimated trade-in value of $4,150. The Mac Pro and Mac mini remain at $1,700 and $230 each.

In the Apple Watch list, the Apple Watch Series 4 was the only model to be reduced, down $10 to $100, with all other models maintaining their values.

Apple’s Trade-In program is one of a number of different avenues for consumers to gain value from their old devices. Depending on the outlet, it is possible to secure higher values via a third-party than from Apple directly.

AppleInsider’s Price Guide lists expected values for device trade-ins from services including BuyBackWorld, Gazelle, Decluttr, and MyPhones Unlimited, as well as a collection of bonuses to enhance the value of the offers.

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Apple marks Chinese New Year with ‘Shot on iPhone’ film ‘Daughter’

 

By Malcolm Owen
Saturday, January 11, 2020, 03:48 pm PT (06:48 pm ET)

Apple has marked the Chinese New Year with its latest “Shot on iPhone” video, a short film recorded on the iPhone 11 Pro featuring three generations of Chinese women gathering together for the annual event.

The eight-minute video titled “Chinese New Year – Daughter” start off with a mother being troubled by criticism that she took her daughter to work as a taxi driver. Throughout the film, scenes switch between older conversations and the present day, showing other conversations in the mother’s life.

Towards the end of the film, a family reunion of the three generations takes place in the back of the taxi. It is then revealed to the child the older lady is her grandmother, who made dumplings each year while searching for her lost family.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvtwWhKdxhM&w=560&h=315]

The film is directed by Theodore Melfi, who directed the Best Picture Oscar-nominated “Hidden Figures.” Cinematography is by Lawrence Sher, who filled the role for “Joker,” identified as a “2020 Golden Globe Awards nominated film.” Star Zhou Xun is also given a promotional introduction in the opening credits, described as “China’s leading actress.”

A companion making-of video shows how the film was captured on an iPhone 11 Pro. While sometimes extra equipment is used to mount the iPhone and to move it around, as with other Shot on iPhone video productions, some scenes are filmed using just the iPhone without any additional hardware.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dj6Lw7jnqBI&w=560&h=315]

Praise is given to the iPhone by Sher for its ability to handle low light, its stabilization capabilities, and the triple camera setup on the back of the device.

The impressive production for the film is similar to that of the Shot on iPhone video for the 2019 Chinese New Year, which was created on the iPhone XS by director and screenwriter Jia Zhangke.

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Oprah backs out of sexual assault documentary bound for Apple TV+, film will not air on Apple service

 

By Mikey Campbell
Friday, January 10, 2020, 04:50 pm PT (07:50 pm ET)

Oprah Winfrey on Friday said she is no longer attached to a high-profile documentary that explores sexual misconduct in the music industry, adding that the film will not debut on Apple TV+ as planned.

Tim Cook and Oprah

Apple CEO Tim Cook and Oprah Winfrey debut Apple TV+.

Winfrey in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter said she is stepping away from the as-yet-untitled documentary citing creative differences with filmmakers Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering. The film, which was set to debut at the Sundance Film Festival in January, follows a former music executive who accused industry titan Russell Simmons of rape.

“I have decided that I will no longer be executive producer on The Untitled Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering documentary and it will not air on Apple TV+,” Winfrey said. “First and foremost, I want it to be known that I unequivocally believe and support the women. Their stories deserve to be told and heard. In my opinion, there is more work to be done on the film to illuminate the full scope of what the victims endured, and it has become clear that the filmmakers and I are not aligned in that creative vision.”

She goes on to suggest that Dick and Ziering are rushing the film’s completion to make a premiere at Sundance.

“Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering are talented filmmakers. I have great respect for their mission but given the filmmakers’ desire to premiere the film at the Sundance Film Festival before I believe it is complete, I feel it’s best to step aside,” Winfrey said. “I will be working with Time’s Up to support the victims and those impacted by abuse and sexual harassment.”

Dick was previously nominated for an Academy Award for “Twist of Faith,” which sought to expose sexual abuse in the Catholic Church. The filmmaker has worked with producer Ziering on multiple films surrounding sexual assault and rape, including the Oscar-nominated “The Invisible War” (2012) and Emmy-nominated “The Hunting Ground” (2015).

Apple secured rights to the Simmons documentary in December as part of a wider deal with Winfrey.

The tech giant failed to provide a detailed overview of the upcoming film, but a description published by Sundance goes deeper and confirms Simmons accuser Drew Dixon is indeed the documentary’s subject. As noted by The Hollywood Reporter, Simmons was accused of raping Dixon, who served as an executive under the Def Jam Recordings co-founder, in 1995.

Winfrey is still on tap to provide content for Apple TV+ with a pair of documentaries, one covering workplace harassment and another on mental health, and the revival of her famous book club.

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Masimo sues Apple over Apple Watch patents, alleged theft of trade secrets

Medical technology company Masimo on Thursday filed a legal complaint claiming Apple infringes on 10 owned patents with its Apple Watch device, and stole vital trade secrets through the hiring of key personnel.

Apple Watch Series 4

Lodged with the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, the suit alleges Apple Watch, including the latest Apple Watch Series 4 and Series 5 models, leverages technology covered by ten Masimo patents. Specifically noted in the case is intellectual property detailing Apple Watch health features like heart rate monitoring.

According to the filing, Masimo is a pioneer of non-invasive physiological monitoring techniques having developed a wide range of technologies to track patients’ pulse rate, arterial oxygen saturation and other parameters using nothing more than transmitted light.

In particular, Masimo invested heavily in the evolution of photoplethysmograph, or PPG, technology. While exact methodologies differ, PPGs at their most basic level sample readings from light transmitted into, and subsequently reflective off of, body tissue. Results can then be obtained by calculating attenuation of light from constituents in the human body, specifically blood.

The company’s Signal Extraction Technology (Masimo SET) solved a variety of problems that plagued traditional PPG hardware, improving reliability and accuracy of reporting of physiological signals derived from the PPG, the suit reads. Masimo went on to develop other non-invasive technologies measuring total hemoglobin, carboxyhemoglobin, and methemoglobin.

In 2013, prior to the launch of the original Apple Watch, Apple approached Masimo with a potential deal that would integrate the medical firm’s technology into an as-yet-unreleased product. Following what appeared to be fruitful initial talks, Apple stepped back and in 2014 began to hire key Masimo personnel including former Chief Medical Officer and Executive Vice President for Medical Affairs Michael O’Reilly and Cercacor CTO Marcelo Malini Lamego. The tech giant has adopted identical strategies in the past.

Cercacor is an offshoot of Masimo, having been spun out from the main company in 1998 as “Masimo Labs” and later renamed. While the two companies share a cross-licensing agreement, Masimo does not own Cercacor.

Masimo and Cercacor warned Apple about potential legal violations, but the iPhone maker went on to pursue patent applications covering topics similar to those already patented by the medical technology firms. Lamego, named as an inventor on many of these patents, was “intimately involved” in the development of corresponding technologies at Cercacor and Masimo, suggesting the executive aped the sensitive IP on behalf of Apple.

In addition to infringement and trade secrets claims, plaintiffs seek correction of inventorship on five patents, the subject matter of which Lamego allegedly obtained from discussions with Masimo or Cercacor employees Ammar Al-Ali, Mohamed Diab and Walter Weber. The suit claims Al-Ali, Diab and Weber are inventors of the IP “regardless of patentability.”

Masimo seeks an injunction against Apple Watch Series 4 and Series 5, damages for patent infringement and theft of trade secrets, and court fees, among other relief.

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TiVo app for Apple TV ‘in limbo’ due to technical issues, strategy shift

 

By Mikey Campbell
Wednesday, January 08, 2020, 04:19 pm PT (07:19 pm ET)

TiVo owners looking to stream live and recorded video to Apple TV through an official app could be in for a long wait, as the company on Wednesday said a tvOS version of the promised release is “in limbo.”

TiVo App

TiVo app for Roku seen at CES 2019. | Source: Zats Not Funny

Speaking with TechHive at CES, TiVo VP of consumer products and services Ted Malone said the company’s plans to launch streaming apps on Apple TV and Roku have changed.

Announced during CES 2019, the project was originally designed to answer longstanding customer requests for a native app capable of feeding TiVo content to third-party streaming devices. For example, a tvOS iteration would enable Apple TV owners to access live and recorded content from a TiVo set-top box without investing in multiple devices.

Beyond a brief mention of potential specifications last January, TiVo has remained mum on the initiative over the past 12 months.

According to Malone, the delays for Apple TV and Roku boil down to limited resources, technical challenges and strategy changes, the report said. The company has yet to work out quality and performance issues stemming from the video transcoding process, which is required to stream TiVo content to non-TiVo hardware.

“My bet is we’ll get Android, and because of that we’ll get the Fire TV, because it’s the same app, just different qualifications,” he said. “I think Roku and Apple are in limbo.”

An Android variant of the app is likely in the offing because TiVo’s new TiVo Stream 4K device runs on the operating system. For now, however, the company is concentrating on more lucrative undertakings like the buildout of its streaming platform.

“If we really believe the streaming market is where it’s at, we need to double down on that and not get distracted by a bunch of things that other people want, but aren’t really going to move the needle,” Malone said.

TiVo initially planned to make its app lineup free to use as an add-on to typical monthly rates, with an estimated launch in the second and third quarters of 2019.

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Apple privacy exec lauds company initiatives, defends stance on encryption

 

By Mikey Campbell
Tuesday, January 07, 2020, 04:54 pm PT (07:54 pm ET)

Jane Horvath, Apple’s senior director of global privacy, took part in a privacy-centric panel at CES in Las Vegas on Tuesday, where she lauded the company’s initiatives to protect customer data and defended its stance on hardware encryption.

Jane Horvath CES

Jane Horvath participates in privacy roundtable at CES 2020. | Source: Parker Ortolani via Twitter

Apple’s staunch belief that customer data should remain obfuscated — even from Apple itself — was questioned during the roundtable, as Horvath was asked about recent revelations regarding a Federal Bureau of Investigation request for assistance in an ongoing investigation.

On Monday, the FBI sent a letter to Apple asking for help in the extraction of data from two iPhones believed to have been used by Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani. Alshamrani is suspected of killing three people in a shooting at the Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Fla, in December.

Horvath toed the company line, defending Apple’s implementation of strong hardware encryption, reports CNBC.

As she explained, iPhone’s encryption mechanism is designed to keep personal information safe from prying eyes.

Once a device is locked, data stored within cannot be accessed without successful entry of a predetermined passcode or password. While Apple can with a proper warrant delve into data stored offsite, such as its iCloud cloud storage service, the company is unable to break into an iPhone without writing custom software, also known as a backdoor.

Apple vehemently argued against the creation of backdoors when the FBI requested assistance in accessing an iPhone tied to the San Bernardino terror attack in 2016. Horvath repeated those vows on Tuesday, saying strong encryption is an effective method of ensuring sensitive information stays private.

“Our phones are relatively small and they get lost and stolen,” Horvath said. “If we’re going to be able to rely on our health data and finance data on our devices, we need to make sure that if you misplace that device, you’re not losing your sensitive data.”

While Apple offers assistance to law enforcement agencies, and fields a team to specifically handle such requests, Horvath does not support the creation of backdoors.

“Building back doors into encryption is not the way we are going to solve those issues,” she said.

Horvath went on to tout Apple technologies like differential privacy, user randomization for first-party services like Maps, and minimal data retrieval for Siri.

Facebook VP of Public Policy and Chief Privacy Offer for Policy Erin Egan, Procter & Gamble Company Global Privacy Officer Susan Shook and Federal Trade Commission Commissioner Rebecca Slaughter were also on stage during the discussion moderated by Rajeev Chand, Partner and Head of Research at Wing Venture Capital.

Horvath began work as Apple’s privacy czar in September 2011 and entered the public eye when she attended a so-called “spy summit” to discuss data privacy and mass surveillance issues in 2015. It was around that time that Apple began to ratchet up its rhetoric on privacy in consumer tech. Prior to Apple, Horvath acted as Google’s Global Privacy Counsel.