Investors Might Now be Valuing Apple Stock Properly

Apple shares have soared recently, hitting record highs. Writing for AppleInsider, Daniel Eran Dilger argued that this is in no small part down to investors and analysts starting to properly value AAPL.

It certainly appears that Apple’s historically low valuation in terms of Price to Earnings—its stock valuation compared to its ability to generate profits—is tied directly to one of the largest mistakes made by tech industry investment analysts over the past decade: the idea that Apple’s iPhone was a fluke product that would rapidly be commodified and overrun by an army of cheaper, less restricted and more “open” handsets running Google’s Android… This assumption was grounded on the 1990’s history of the Macintosh, which began to perform well for Apple for just a few years before Microsoft copied its foundational concepts and spread them across generic PCs…

Microsoft Vows to Be Carbon Negative by End of The Decade

Microsft pledged to become carbon negative by 2030 on Thursday. It made the declaration in a new blog post. Led by Lisa Jackson, Apple has made strides in this regard too, including financing a carbon-free aluminum smelting process.

By 2030 Microsoft will be carbon negative, and by 2050 Microsoft will remove from the environment all the carbon the company has emitted either directly or by electrical consumption since it was founded in 1975. We recognize that progress requires not just a bold goal but a detailed plan. As described below, we are launching today an aggressive program to cut our carbon emissions by more than half by 2030, both for our direct emissions and for our entire supply and value chain. We will fund this in part by expanding our internal carbon fee, in place since 2012 and increased last year, to start charging not only our direct emissions, but those from our supply and value chains.

Scotland Police to Use ‘Cyber Kiosks’ to Extract Smartphone Data

Starting January 20, 2020 Scotland police will use devices called cyber kiosks to analyze the contents of smartphones during investigations.

Police Scotland will only examine a digital device where there is a legal basis and where it is necessary, justified and proportionate to the incident or crime under investigation.

Cyber kiosks used by Police Scotland will not be enabled to store data from digital devices.  Once an examination is complete, all device data is securely deleted from the cyber kiosk.

CaseBoy Gamecase Retro Gaming Case: $18.99

We have a deal on the CaseBoy Gamecase Retro Gaming Case, in black. This iPhone case has game controllers and its own display built into the back of the case. It also comes with 36 emulated classic games built in, including Tetris, Donkey Kong, Super Mario Brothers, Pac Man, and more. It’s just $18.99 through our deal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCuTrFFHVfg

What we Know About the iPhone SE2

Ever since the iPhone 11 emerged there have been lots of rumors about its successors. Forbes rounded up everything we know about one that is attracting a lot of attention.

The iPhone SE2 will use the same 12MP primary camera as the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max, but it will not feature ultrawide or telephoto sensors as Apple looks to save costs. The iPhone 12 will have an exciting new long-range 3D camera, but don’t expect that functionality to reach the iPhone SE2 at its affordable price point. Perhaps the one area where the iPhone SE2 may disappoint is its design. Rather than copy the iPhone X-inspired looks of current models, the iPhone SE2 will look like an iPhone 8, complete with a Touch ID fingerprint sensor and no Face ID. That said, this will make for a very portable device you’ll easily be able to use one-handed. It will also feature a glass back to support wireless charging.

The Unofficial Apple Digital Archive

We all know people have collections, sometimes extensive ones, of Apple gear. They serve as personal archives of what the company has done. There’s an unofficial archive on the web too. It begins with the ‘Introducing the Apple II’ ad from 1977 and ends in 2019 (so far). It includes press releases, products, event details, and more. It really is a great collection of almost everything the company has ever done. The person behind it is Sam Henri Gold. Perhaps one day Apple itself could put together something similar in an official archive!

Google’s iPhone Security App Keeps You in its Ecosystem

Google updated its Smart Lock app on iOS to let iPhones be used for two-factor authentication. But it will only work inside Chrome. Now your only choices for Google two-factor authentication are this Smart Lock app, or a phone number (an insecure method). You can also use a physical security key but not an app like Authy.

After installing the update, users are asked to select a Google account to set up their phone’s built-in security key. According to a Google cryptographer, the feature makes use of Apple’s Secure Enclave hardware, which securely stores ‌Touch ID‌, Face ID, and other cryptographic data on iOS devices.

Update. So I made a mistake and you can use an app like Authy, but you first have to surrender your phone number to Google. Which I’m obviously loathe to do so I use a disposable number.

Apple Needs to Put Hardware at The Heart of its Smart Home Strategy

Apple needs to dive headfirst into the smart home industry, with hardware at the center of the strategy. That’s according to Jason Snell, who laid out his argument for MacWorld.  He argues for the creation of a new product, a kind of hub, that will sit at the heart of it all.

Apple can contribute to the smart-home industry and its own bottom line by doing what it does best, namely creating a new product that’s a fusion of hardware, software, and cloud services. It’s time for Apple to build a product that makes your home smarter and more secure. It’s time for Apple Home. Apple got out of the home router game a while ago, with the discontinuation of the AirPort line. I’m recommending that Apple bring it back, because today’s smart homes require rock-solid wireless connectivity, and while Apple’s two biggest competitors have home-network offerings, Apple’s got nothing. An Apple-built mesh networking system a la Amazon’s Eero seems like a natural.

Cellebrite’s Acquisition Adds Computer Forensics to its Portfolio

Cellebrite, a company specializing in hacking smartphones for law enforcement, has acquired BlackBag Technologies, a company specializing in hacking computers for law enforcement. This will let Cellebrite offer law enforcement an “all-in-one” forensic solution to cover smartphones, laptops, desktops, and cloud data.

It also means offering a broad array of field acquisition capabilities including consent-based evidence collection along with an integrated solution set that provides access, insight and evidence management to facilitate and control large-scale deployments and orchestrate the entire digital intelligence operation.

Cellebrite offers all of these capabilities to law enforcement, but the FBI still wants Apple to create a backdoored version of iOS.