Powerbeats 4: Leaked Images And Details Emerge

Some images and details of the expected Powerbeats 4 headphones have emerged. AppleInsider picked up on the reports from German publication Win Future (from where the images in this post come).

Following both January 2020’s discovery of a “Powerbeats 4” icon within iOS 13.3.1, and February’s FCC approval of the device, what appear to be final specifications and images have leaked. The latest sports wireless earbuds will add Apple’s H1 chip, and bring up to 3 extra hours battery life than the 12 hours in the previous Powerbeats 3. The addition of the H1 chip means, if correct, that Powerbeats 4 will feature “Hey, Siri,” plus the ability to announce messages with Siri. The H1 chip is already in Apple’s Powerbeats Pro, AirPods 2, and AirPods Pro. The leaked marketing images match previous reports, showing a new arrangement of cabling

Last Chance for iPhone 11 256GB + AirPods and Charging Pad Giveaway

Our iPhone 11 256GB + AirPods and Charging Pad Giveaway is coming to an end today. With this giveaway, you have a chance to win an iPhone 11 (256GB), a pair of AirPods, and a wireless charging pad. All you have to do is register on our deal site, if you aren’t already, and click the Enter to Win button. There’s a social media link you can use to try and get more entries, too. The giveaway ends at 11:59 PDT tonight (Monday night).

Cloudflare Offering 'Teams' Products For Free to Small Firms During Coronavirus Outbreak

‘Cloudflare for Teams’ products will be free for small businesses for at least the next six months. In a blog post, CEO Matthew Prince said he wanted to help such firms allow staff to work from home during the coronavirus outbreak.

Beginning today, we are making our Cloudflare for Teams products free to small businesses around the world. Teams enables remote workers to operate securely and easily. We will continue this policy for at least the next 6 months. We’re doing this to help ensure that small businesses that implement work from home policies in order to combat the spread of the virus can ensure business continuity. You can learn more and apply at: https://www.cloudflare.com/smallbusiness We’ve also helped launch an online hub where small businesses can see technology services available to them for free or a substantial discount from multiple companies, during the Coronavirus Emergency: https://openforbusiness.org

Patch Your Netgear Router Because it Could Get Hacked

Netgear is pushing out security patches for its networking products this week. They contain flaws that could open them up to hackers.

Modem/routers:

D6200, D6220, D6400, D7000, D7000v2, D7800, D8500

Range extenders:

PR2000

Routers:

JR6150, R6120, R6220, R6230, R6250, R6260, R6400, R6400v2, R6700, R6700v2, R6700v3, R6800, R6900,  R6900P, R6900v2, R7000, R7000P,  R7100LG, R7300DST, R7500v2, R7800, R7900, R7900P, R8000, R8000P, R8300, R8500, R8900, R9000, RAX120, RBR20 (Orbi), RBS20 (Orbi), RBK20 (Orbi), RBR40 (Orbi), RBS40 (Orbi), RBK40 (Orbi), RBR50 (Orbi), RBS50 (Orbi), RBK50 (Orbi), XR500, XR700

Resale Value of Android Devices Drops Twice as Fast as it Does For iPhones

When you get a new phone, there is always a balance to be struck between making the effort of reselling your old device and how much money you will actually get for it. Well, according to data reported on by Cult of Mac, it is worth making that effort for a lot longer if you have an iPhone to sell.

Apple devices do lose value over time. “In the first year, on average, iPhones lost -23.45%; by year two, the total loss is -45.46%,” notes BankMyCell. But Androids lose way more. After one year, they’ve dropped an average of 48.65% — more than twice as much as iPhone after the same amount of time. And after two years, Androids are down 79.66%.

How Coronavirus Misinformation is Spreading Across Facebook

Almost as soon as the seriousness of the coronavirus outbreak became clear, misinformation and conspiracy theories relating to it began spreading. Not surprisingly, Facebook is an absolute hub of inaccurate information. Wired took a look at what is being shared across various groups on the platform.

This fake news has spread through “cure” books on Amazon, WhatsApp viral texts, and even the mainstream media. Now, according to data taken from CrowdTangle, a Facebook-owned tool that tracks the diffusion of viral stories, a small army of Facebook fringe groups are following suit and pivoting to a new hot topic: coronavirus misinformation. The posts, which are filling innocuous Facebook groups normally dedicated to political discussions and flight deals, are a strange evolution of conspiracy theories that have been knocking around the internet for years. One much-mooted theory, for example, is that the coronavirus has been caused by radiation from 5G masts. One of these posts, on Smart Meter Health problems UK, garnered 191 reactions, 188 comments and 86 shares – eleven times the normal amount for the group.

How the EARN IT Act is an Attack on Encryption

Introduced by Senators Lindsey Graham and Richard Blumenthal, the EARN It act would force companies to “earn” protection from Section 230 to fight online child exploitation.

Though it seems wholly focused on reducing child exploitation, the EARN IT Act has definite implications for encryption. If it became law, companies might not be able to earn their liability exemption while offering end-to-end encrypted services. This would put them in the position of either having to accept liability or remove encryption protections altogether.

My linked teaser from yesterday was separate from the EARN It act, but now it shows that companies are being coerced on two fronts.

Utah is Now a Surveillance State Thanks to This Company

A surveillance company called Banjo has partnered with Utah state authorities to enable a dystopian panopticon.

The lofty goal of Banjo’s system is to alert law enforcement of crimes as they happen. It claims it does this while somehow stripping all personal data from the system, allowing it to help cops without putting anyone’s privacy at risk. As with other algorithmic crime systems, there is little public oversight or information about how, exactly, the system determines what is worth alerting cops to.

A.G. William Barr Wants Tech Companies to Fight Child Sexual Abuse

Attorney General William Barr wants tech companies like Apple to fight online child sexual abuse even more with “voluntary standards.”

These voluntary principles are built on existing industry efforts to combat these crimes.  Some leading companies have dedicated significant resources to develop and deploy tools in the fight to protect children online and to detect, disrupt and identify offenders.  Although significant progress has been made, there is much more to be done to strengthen existing efforts and enhance collective action.

First, as I discovered last year Apple started to scan online iCloud content for child sexual abuse material (CSAM). Many other companies do the same. Second, although encryption wasn’t explicitly mentioned, this is undoubtedly (in my opinion) a new development in the war on encryption. Child predators are one of the scary boogeymen used by the government to erode our privacy even further. I of course do support Apple scanning for this content, but it’s not a black and white issue.

More Details of How Uyghur Muslims Are Exploited in Tech Supply Chains Emerge

Earlier this week, I reported on research by an Australian think tank that highlighted how Uyghur Muslims in China were being exploited, maltreated, and used in the manufacturing of products. Apple is one of the companies whose supply chain was cited in the report. Now, the Associated Press has published further on-the-ground reporting about the exploitation of this minority during the making of tech products. Apple is again one of the firms mentioned, along with the likes of Lenovo and Huawei.

OFILM’s website indicates the Xinjiang workers make screens, camera cover lenses and fingerprint scanners. It touts customers including Apple, Samsung, Lenovo, Dell, HP, LG and Huawei, although there was no way for the AP to track specific products to specific companies. Apple’s most recent list of suppliers, published January last year, includes three OFILM factories in Nanchang. It’s unclear whether the specific OFILM factory the AP visited twice in Nanchang supplies Apple, but it has the same address as one listed. Another OFILM factory is located about half a mile away on a different street. Apple did not answer repeated requests for clarification on which factory it uses. In an email, Apple said its code of conduct requires suppliers to “provide channels that encourage employees to voice concerns.” It said it interviews the employees of suppliers during annual assessments in their local language without their managers present, and had done 44,000 interviews in 2018.

Twitter Tests Tweets That Disappear After 24 Hours

Twitter is testing a new feature called “fleets” which are tweets that disappear after 24 hours.

According to Twitter, an initial survey of users showed they would be more comfortable “sharing everyday thoughts” if they disappear after 24 hours.

Like tweets, Twitter fleets are based primarily on text, but you also can include videos, GIFs or photos in them. Users’ fleets will appear at the top of their home page and visible to their followers. Other users can reply to a fleet via private direct message or with an emoji.

It sounds like a good idea on the surface, but given that Twitter is a dumpster fire, you can imagine hateful tweets, political lies, etc. all disappearing from the public record. Of course, people can just screenshot them.

Someone Hacked J.Crew Last Spring and we Only Find Out Today

According to a notice [PDF] from J.Crew, someone hacked the company last year. For some reason we’re only finding out about it today, a year later.

“The information that would have been accessible in your jcrew.com account includes the last four digits of credit card numbers you have stored in your account, the expiration dates, card types, and billing addresses connected to those cards, and order numbers, shipping confirmation numbers, and shipment status of those orders,” J.Crew’s data breach notification explains.

You know, sometimes when I write about this stuff, like Facebook doing every bad thing under the sun with our data, I stop and think: “Am I just a cynical a**hole?” Then, when yet another idiot company has a data breach, I realize, no I’m just reporting reality. These companies deserve to be named and shamed.

U.S. Lawmakers Urge UK to Rethink Huawei 5G Involvement

Senior U.S Senators have once again urged the British government to not give Huawei any role in the development of the country’s 5G network, Sky News reported. In total, 20 lawmakers from both parties signed the open letter.

In a letter to MPs, the group of US politicians – including both Democrats and Republicans – expressed their “significant concern” with Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s decision to hand the Chinese company an infrastructure role. Critics allege Huawei has close links to the Chinese government and its equipment could be used for espionage purposes – something the company has always denied. US President Donald Trump has put trade restrictions on Huawei and previously suggested future intelligence-sharing cooperation with America’s “Five Eyes” allies – the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand – could be put at risk if the UK worked with the firm.

Police Chased Criminals Using 'Find My' App

We’ve heard a number of stories about how the Apple Watch has alerted people suffering from a heart condition, potentially saving their lives. Now it seems, Apple products are helping fight crime. The Sydney Morning Herald told the story of how the ‘Find My’ app helped police pursue two men, in what ultimately became a fatal police chase.

The victim opened his tracking app, which pinged the iPad, and he began following his stolen Triton. Police called him off before officers tracked the ute and iPad to the Glengala Hotel in Sunshine. The police air wing was called in, but when officers arrived at the scene the ute had been dumped. The iPad, though, began pinging inside the Toyota Kluger. Over the following two hours the men were traced heading to the Sunshine Motor Inn and across the suburb before a brief police pursuit on the Western Ring Road. Police then tracked the Kluger to Tullamarine, Epping, Mernda and Thomastown.

Twitter Urges Employees to Work From Home

In an updated blog post, Twitter encouraged its staff to work from home in a bid to protect them from COVID-19. It became one of the first major U.S. firms to take such a step.

We are working to make sure internal meetings, all hands, and other important tasks are optimized for remote participation. We recognize that working from home is not ideal for some job functions. For those employees who prefer or need to come into the offices, they will remain open for business. Our Real Estate & Workplace team is increasing deep cleaning and sanitizing in all spaces, as well as more visual reminders for personal hygiene best practices and pre-packaged, pre-composed, and pre-plated food options. Working from home will be mandatory for employees based in our Hong Kong, Japan, and South Korea offices due in part to government restrictions. Our criteria will evolve over time as we get more information, and we will communicate to affected Tweeps as appropriate.

Book Publishers Artificially Limit eBook Lending in Libraries

Major book publishers impose limits on how libraries handle ebooks, with short-term licenses and contracts.

Because only one reader can check out an ebook at a time, and because the cost of licensing an ebook is prohibitively high for libraries to invest in hundreds of copies for every new title, library-goers have become accustomed to long waits to check out ebooks, particularly bestsellers. For publishers, that’s the point. If you have to wait weeks to check out a new ebook, you might just cruise on over to Amazon and pay $14.99 to have it delivered immediately to your Kindle or the Kindle app on your phone.

Expensive college textbooks and dumb eBook rules are two good examples of how ripe for disruption this space is. It’s also shortsighted. The point of digital media is to make it so easy to access that people don’t feel the need to pirate anymore. But practices like this is partly what drives people to pirate.

World Travel Plug Adapter with 6 Attachments:$24.99

We have a deal on the PAK-WS Travel Adapter Set. This world travel plug adapter comes with six different attachments that will allow you to plug in in 200 different countries. In addition to having a standard U.S. three-pronged A/C outlet and a two-pronged A/C outlet, it also has a USB-A, a USB-C, and a 3.1A USB port. It’s $24.99 through our deal.

The Apple Smart Ring Might Cover an Entire Finger

Apple’s much-rumored smart ring could be extended to cover an entire finger. That’s according to a new patent, granted on Tuesday and reported on by AppleInsider.

A smart ring has the potential to provide users with functionality similar to an Apple Watch, but in a smaller package that doesn’t take up space on a user’s wrist. While part of the challenge of designing a smart ring involves cramming components into a small space, there is also the issue of its size offering little in the way of opportunity for embedded sensors to be used due to a lack of surface area, as well as for users to accurately control it. In a patent granted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Tuesday titled “Expandable Ring Device,” Apple suggests the size of a smart ring may not necessarily be static. While the name of the patent hints at a one-size-fits-all design, the filing actually refers to ways the ring could be expanded into a longer tube that covers more of the finger, including some knuckles.

Atari’s Missile Command Heads to iOS This Spring

2020 is the 40th anniversary of Missile Command and Atari is bringing it to iOS sometime this spring.

Missile Command: Recharged maintains the same perspective of the original game, in which missile silos battle incoming rockets to protect civilian structures. Recharged uses a neon-colored visual design, a la classic arcade game re-imaginings like Pac Man Championship Edition and Space Invaders Extreme. Gameplay has been remixed, with power-ups, an upgrade system, and an augmented reality mode that projects gameplay onto a “virtual arcade cabinet.”

Coronavirus Causing Shortages of Key Apple Products

The availability of a number of Apple products has been hit by the coronavirus outbreak, Bloomberg News reported. Products affected include the iPad Pro, AirPods Pro, and customized Macs.

The iPad Pro tablet is seeing limited availability at stores in major cities in the U.S., Australia and Europe, according to a review of Apple’s website on Monday. The 12.9-inch iPad Pro with 512 gigabytes of storage and no cellular connectivity is sold out at all Apple stores in the Los Angeles area. That model and other versions are sold out at many stores in New York City as well… AirPods Pro earbuds and built-to-order Mac computers are also continuing to show shipping delays, and some Apple Watch Series 3 and Series 5 models are listed as unavailable to buy online. The Watch Series 3 and in-demand AirPods Pro had been constrained even before the coronavirus. The latest iPhones and Apple’s non-Pro iPads are still widely available in the U.S., though some locations in Europe and Australia are showing the iPhone 11 as unavailable.

YouTube Doesn’t Recommend as Many Conspiracy Videos Anymore

YouTube is working to cut the number of conspiracy video it recommends to users, but that number is slowly increasing again.

Researchers trained an algorithm to judge the likelihood that a video on the site contained conspiracy theories by looking at the description, transcript, and comments. They examined eight million recommendations over 15 months. They found that shortly after YouTube announced it would recommend less conspiracy content in January 2019, the numbers did indeed gradually drop—by about 70% at the lowest point in May 2019. However, the number of conspiracy videos YouTube’s algorithm recommends has steadily risen again since then. These recommendations are now only 40% less common than when YouTube started its crackdown.