Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Apple distances itself from Google, Facebook in new transparency report

Apple distances itself from Google, Facebook in new transparency report
A leaf for every government request

Following months of revelations that the government has likely collected information from and about you (yes, you), Apple has issued a new formal transparency report.

Google, Yahoo, Facebook and others have circulated these for some time now, but Apple, perhaps struck by a pang of duty, is out with its data on government information requests for both account and device info. The data covers the period between January 1, 2013 and June 30, 2013.

Apple pointedly noted that "[u]nlike many other companies dealing with requests for customer data from government agencies, Apple's main business is not about collecting information."

In an earlier part of the report, the company stated: "[O]ur business does not depend on collecting personal data. We have no interest in amassing personal information about our customers. We protect personal conversations by providing end-to-end encryption over iMessage and FaceTime. We do not store location data, Maps searches, or Siri requests in any identifiable form."

Types of data

Because of this, Apple said the "vast majority" of requests it receives are for information about lost or stolen devices. Apple logs these as device requests.

"Only a small fraction of the requests" governments send Apple's way are for personal information related to an iTunes, iCloud or Game Center accounts.

These requests typically involve the account holder's personal data and "their use of an online service in which they have an expectation of privacy." Apple categorizes orders for identifying information, email, stored photographs and other user content stored online as account requests.

Account requests most commonly involve robberies and other crime or requests involving law enforcement searching for a missing person or child, finding a kidnap victim or hoping to prevent a suicide, Apple explained.

These requests typically see Apple turning over information in someone's iTunes or iCloud account, like a name or address.

"In very rare cases, we are asked to provide stored photos or email. We consider these requests very carefully and only provide account content in extremely limited circumstances," Apple assured.

The company noted that in order to get user info, government agencies need a court order. The Apple legal team pours over these orders, and only after determining them "valid and appropriate" does it hand over "the narrowest possible set of information responsive to the request."

The requests

While the account request orders for most regions are down to the number, there's one glaring exception.

The United States has imposed a set of stipulations that limit the amount and type of information Apple can reveal about these requests. The company, for example, is required to combine national security orders with account-based law enforcement requests, and only a range in increments of 1,000 are allowed to enumerate the orders.

For account requests, the US leads the pack in all categories, though again, no specifics are allowed.

Australia sent 74 requests for 75 accounts, and data was disclosed for 41 of those. The UK issued 127 requests, and in one instance some content was disclosed.

Apple transparency

Apple also recorded the number of requests it objected to, however it's unclear whether this means Apple was successful in fighting the request or not.

As Apple stated, device information requests far exceed account requests in most regions. Apple receive 1,178 device requests from Australia, and for 59% of those Apple provided some data. The UK issued 1,028 requests and received some info for 67% of them.

The US filed 3,542 requests with Apple to receive some information on 88% of them.

Interestingly, the numbers tend to differ between requests and devices specified in the request. The US, for example, wanted info on 8,605 devices within its 3,542 requests. Apple explained this occurs in circumstances where a shipment with hundreds of serial numbers is compromised.


Source : http://www.techradar.com/news/internet/apple-our-business-does-not-depend-on-colleciting-personal-data-1196897

HTC Comes Crawling Back to Budget Phones for the Rest of the Year

HTC Comes Crawling Back to Budget Phones for the Rest of the Year
Could the HTC One Two be doomed already?

You better start savoring that HTC One family now because it might be the last set of premium handset HTC ever makes.

Reuters reports that the Taiwanese smartphone maker is planning to sell cheaper devices in an attempt to cut its costs by nearly a quarter and hopefully bounce back onto stable, and profitable, feet for the last financial quarter of the year.

During the an investor briefing today, HTC said its outlooks were looking grim with stock prices hitting their lowest level since 2005 and its revenue was 13 percent lower than last year.

A new deal

In a bid to recover from all this bad news, HTC Financial Chief Chialin Chang said they would look "at boarder products this quarter." The company told Reuters that it would aim to produce a higher volume of affordable smartphones.

It's a major reversal since the company decided last summer that it was going after the premium market occupied by iPhones and Samsung Galaxy phones, followed by the announcement of the HTC One this February.

Much of this move is in reaction to its second-quarter results, which revealed 60 percent of phones shipped to China costed $150 or less. While this might sound like news that's only important to China, a shift in manufacturing could affect the global supply of HTC Phones.

As the Taiwanese company focuses on making budget handsets, we could see shortages of HTC One Mini and HTC One and HTC One Maxx phones during the holiday season. Even without the shadow of Black November looming over technophile heads, the HTC One has seen its own string of supply issues already.

As for the future, this could also lead to familiar lack of the HTC One Two smartphones. Of course nothing is certain yet, but we'll post any new developments as they happen.

Via Reuters


Source : http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/htc-comes-crawling-back-to-budget-phones-for-the-rest-of-the-year-1196838

'We want KitKat!' say thousands of Galaxy Nexus owners in petition

'We want KitKat!' say thousands of Galaxy Nexus owners in petition
Nexus owners for change (credit: Change.org)

Galaxy Nexus owners miffed their devices won't receive the latest Android 4.4 KitKat update can now take action!

Sorry, we got a little caught up in the spirit of the 15,378 (at last check) people who've signed a Change.org petition asking Google to send the new OS down to their handsets.

"We, the Galaxy Nexus owners and anticipators ask you, Google, to update the Galaxy Nexus for one last time and give us KitKat! Don't be an apple ;)," the petition cheekily read in part.

Google revealed after its October 31 KitKat announcement that the Samsung phone falls outside the 18-month release window of devices it will update, clearly causing waves of disgruntledness to flow amongst Nexus owners.

Organizer Max Duckwitz wrote November 4 that he'd printed the signatures and comments, plus a letter and the petition text, and sent them to Android head Sundar Pichai. The ball is in your court, Mr. Pichai.

More blips!

The spirit of the people compels you to read more blips.


Source : http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/-we-want-kitkat-say-thousands-of-galaxy-nexus-owners-1196823

Nokia Lumia 525 press image makes the rounds on Facebook

After getting spotted in China’s mobile certification agency, the upcoming Nokia Lumia 525 made another appearance. This time around, a press image of the handset made the rounds on Facebook.

The press image reveals that Nokia Lumia 525 will sport a visibly sleeker profile than its predecessor. Three color options are shown – red, yellow, and white.

Previously known as Nokia Glee, the Lumia 525 is said to be a minor update over the wildly popular Lumia 520. The device is rumored to be announced before the end of the year.

Source


Source : http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_lumia_525_press_image_makes_the_rounds_on_facebook-news-7132.php

ZTE announces the Grand S Flex for the European market

ZTE has officially announced the Grand S Flex smartphone for the European market. ZTE's newest addition has a stylish look with its thin and clear lines running around the bezel.



The Grand S Flex measures 145 x 70 x 8.9mm and weighs about 130g. It sports a 5-inch display with a resolution of 720 x 1280 pxiels and is powered by a dual-core processor clocked at 1.2 GHz. Furthermore, the device features 1 GB of RAM, 16 GB of inbuilt memory, 8 megapixel primary camera with LED flash and supports a wide range of connectivity options, which includes 4G LTE.

The Grand S Flex runs on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and the juice for the device is provided by a 2,300 mAh battery. For now, the Grand S Flex is available in Spain, Czech Republic and Slovakia, however, the company will be expanding its reach to Germany, Finland and Poland in the coming days.

Source


Source : http://www.gsmarena.com/zte_announces_grand_s_flex_for_the_european_market-news-7131.php

Android 4.3 update now seeding to HTC One in UK

The international version of the HTC One has already received the Android 4.3 Jelly Bean upgrades, but the users in the UK had to wait a bit longer. However, the new firmware upgrades for the device is now seeding across the country.



There's no word on why the upgrades were delayed, but we presume that the optimizations required for specific UK carriers might have been the reason for the delay. But, nevertheless, HTC UK has rolled out the Android 4.3 Jelly Bean upgrades, as promised.

The changes that come with the new firmware for the UK HTC One users do not vary from that of the international version, which means that the upgrade brings the all new Sense 5.5 UI. As usual, there are several other tweaks and enhancements to improve the overall performance of the device.

Android 4.3 update will pop up on your screen and in case you missed it, you can still download the new firmware from the settings menu.

Thanks Neil Tomlinson, for sending this in!


Source : http://www.gsmarena.com/android_43_update_now_seeding_to_htc_one_in_uk-news-7130.php

HTC posts loss in Q3, predicts declining revenue in Q4

HTC's unaudited report for the third quarter of this year pointed to the first quarterly loss in the company's history. The final report confirms that and doesn’t paint a rosy picture for Q4 either.

The company's revenue for Q3 this year was $1.6 billion. That's a sizeable drop from the $2.4 billion in last year's Q3, and $4.54 billion for the same quarter in 2011. The gross margin was 20.4%, down from 25% last year, while operating margin was -7.4% compared to a positive 7% in Q3 last year.

HTC posted lower monthly revenues for the three months of Q3, despite a nearly 40% rise in revenue month to month in the last month of the quarter, September. Q4 isn't starting off well with decreased revenues both month on month and year on year.



For Q4 this year, HTC is forecasting $1.4-1.5 billion in revenue with a gross margin of around 20%. HTC made $2 billion in revenue during last year's Q4.

It's not all gloomy – Peter Chou says with the launch of the One mini and One Max, plus midrange and entry-level phones in the Desire line, HTC has offerings in all price segments. “We have delivered good progress in the third quarter, with the introduction of HTC One Mini and One Max, we now have an HTC One for everyone,” says Chou.

HTC's campaign starring Robert Downey Jr. is paying off, having raised brand awareness by 12% and "brand momentum" by 15%. Will that be enough? We'll see if HTC manages to beat expectations in Q4 or if it will continue its decline.

Source 1 (PDF) • Source 2 (XLSX)


Source : http://www.gsmarena.com/htc_posts_loss_in_q3_predicts_declining_revenue_in_q4-news-7129.php

Nokia Lumia 525 leaked as budget blower follow up

Nokia Lumia 525 leaked as budget blower follow up
The name's had a slight tweak, but that's about it (credit: Baidu)

We're big fans of the Nokia Lumia 520 and we're not alone as it's proved to be the most popular Lumia yet. So the thought of a follow up is no bad thing.

That follow up is the Nokia Lumia 525 and Chinese site Baidu recently got a hold of its specs. The phone apparently has a 1GHz dual-core Snapdragon 400 processor, 1GB of RAM, a 4-inch 800 x 480 IPS display, 5MP camera, 8GB of built in storage, microSD card slot and a 1430mAh battery.

All of which is identical to the Nokia Lumia 520, other than the RAM, which is up to 1GB from 512MB. Even the dimensions and weight are the same.

Headset heaven

The only other difference we can see so far is the suggestion that the Nokia Lumia 525 comes with the Nokia Guru Bluetooth Headset, which suggests it's aimed at music fans.

So it's not the most exciting successor to the Lumia 520, but if the price is right then the jump to 1GB of RAM could still make it a great prospect.

While its most immediate point of reference is the Nokia Lumia 520, the numbering of the Lumia 525 also brings to mind the big-screened Nokia Lumia 625, though it seems to have little else in common with that over sized handset.


Source : http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/nokia-lumia-525-leaked-as-budget-blower-follow-up-1196675

Nokia Lumia 525 gets certified in China, new images appear

The Nokia Lumia 525 has bouncing around in rumorland by its codename "Glee" for quite a while now. The upcoming device will be the replacement for the hugely successful Lumia 520, and naturally, the smartphone is set to compete strongly in the midrange sector.

We now have the first leaked images of the Lumia 520 successor, which comes from China's mobile certification agency TENAA, which is equivalent to the FCC in the US.

According to the certification, the Lumia 525 is said to be a music oriented smartphone. The hardware specifications of the device are rumored to be similar to what we found on the Lumia 520, except for the RAM being boosted from 512MB to 1GB.

Sources say the Nokia Lumia 525 will be announced by the end of the year and the smartphone will be available in White, Yellow, Black and Orange color options.

Via


Source : http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_lumia_525_gets_certified_in_china_new_images_appear-news-7128.php

Sure enough, the LG G Flex can actually flex

Sure enough, the LG G Flex can actually flex
Well we'll be damned

Well whaddyaknow - the LG G Flex actually lives up to its name. The phone has been caught bending out of its unusual shape in a demo video.

You can see the action taking place over on Engadget, although it's added that a "reasonable amount of force" is needed to contort the phone. Maybe not all that advisable then...

While we've been briefed on the specs - 6-inch 720p OLED screen, Qualcomm 800 Snapdragon, 2GB of RAM, 13-megapixel camera - the flexy stuff has been a little unclear. We do know, however, that the G Flex will be able to heal itself.

So that's pretty cool too.

More blips!

These blips are customized for a quick, fun read.


Source : http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/sure-enough-the-lg-g-flex-can-actually-flex-1196645

LG offering developers a device for 30 days to test their apps

Looking for an Android device to test your app on but don't have access to the latest hardware? If you live in US or Canada, LG has got you covered.



Android developers in the above mentioned areas can now sign up for LG's developer program to request an LG G2 or even the older Optimus G Pro and Optimus G for up to 30 days to test their applications on.

You can sign up for the LG Device Loaner Program from the link below.

Source


Source : http://www.gsmarena.com/lg_offering_developers_a_device_for_30_days_to_test_their_apps-news-7127.php