Apple leases former Pepsi plant for unnamed projects The lease started in November, 2015, and was discovered by Silicon Valley Business Journal only a few days ago. The facility, located at 960 Kifer Road, covers 96,000 square feet and has been vacant since 2013. Apple is also leasing 80,257 square feet at 1150 through 1170…

FBI Director Comey testifying at House Judiciary Committee hearing on encryption Today's hearing was spurred by the debate over the legality of an FBI obtained court order requiring Apple to create a password hackable version of the iPhone's operating system. The FBI wants the tool so it can find the passcode on an iPhone related…

There were some individual shareholders who certainly think Apple is wrong, including one unnamed attendee who told The LA Times, “I do think they should unlock it. For something as serious as this, there should be a way to do it.” Security and encryption experts, however, have long understood that this is a situation where…

FBI Director James Comey The FBI asked a federal court to compel Apple to create a new version of iOS that could be sideloaded onto an iPhone used by Sayed Farook, one of two terrorists who murdered 14 people in an attack in San Bernardino, CA, in December of 2015. The court agreed, but Apple…

Silicon Valley companies to file amicus brief supporting Apple in privacy fight According to sources speaking with the Wall Street Journal, the companies will file a joint brief with the court next week. Microsoft's Chief Legal Officer Brad Smith confirmed today his company would be supporting Apple in its brief. Twitter is planning on submitting…

Gizmodo reported that CIA Director John Brenner and NSA Deputy Director Rick Ledgett blamed the media for terrorists turning to encryption in a hearing by the House Intelligence Committee. This is not only a dangerous idea for a free society, it shows that some of our top intelligence folks are drawing precisely the wrong lessons…

App: Constitution for iPhone and iPod Touch If you love the constitution, the right to privacy, and America, you should support Apple against the government's push to destroy your civil liberties. Although there are many technical nuances that can mire down the discussion around this issue, 3 tried and true constitutional arguments against eroding our…

Reuters/Ipsos Poll First off, let's look at the Reuters/Ipsos survey results, which shows that 46 percent of people agreed with Apple's decision to fight the court order. 35 percent disagreed. The poll broke down results by political affiliation, just 37 percent of Republicans agreeing with Apple, while 45 percent disagreed. For those identifying as Democrats,…

The just released Satechi Aluminum Wireless Presenter is a beautifully designed red LED laser pointer combined with slide navigation buttons, all wrapped in Bluetooth and a rechargeable Lithium-Ion battery. It's available in the matching Apple colors of Silver, Space Gray or Gold. Satechi  Aluminum Wireless Presenter The Laser This is red LED laser with a…

More iPhone unlocking cases are lining up Sources speaking with the Wall Street Journal said the DOJ is trying to get at potential evidence on iPhones with passcode locks in place, much as it is doing in the San Bernardino case. These 12 other cases, however, don't involve terrorist acts, and are essentially on hold…

Pew Survey Chart Pew surveyed 1,002 people, half on landlines and half on cellphones. 51 percent sided with the FBI, while 38 percent thought that Apple should not unlock the iPhone. In reality, Apple has not been ordered to unlock the iPhone, but instead was ordered to create a new operating system that could be…

DOJ to court: Make Apple comply with iPhone unlocking order DOJ prosecutors said Apple is resisting to help in a Federal investigation despite the fact that the company has until February 26 to respond to the court order. According to ABC News, the new filing stated, Rather than assist the effort to fully investigate a…

It's been a bit of a war of words so far. Chairman Wheeler has noted that while the cost of computers has gone down dramatically, the cost of these set-top boxes, typically DVRs, has not, and the customers are paying hefty annual rental fees of about $200. And if the customer wants to cancel service…

Episode #163   It’s been a couple of years since I talked about universal remote control devices and apps. For me, an awesome universal remote control is the holy grail of home automation; having a single device that can mimic every function of all five individual remote controls for my home theatre system is priceless.…