Hasta La Gadget!

Hacking group AntiSec (connected to Anonymous and LulzSec) made some bold claims Tuesday that it had obtained the unique device identifiers (UDIDs) of 12 million iOS devices from an FBI laptop, setting more than a few people on edge. The FBI has already denied that anything was stolen, but Apple has gone one step further to argue that it had no involvement. Spokeswoman Natalie Kerris tells AllThingsD that Apple hasn’t given UDIDs to the FBI “or any organization” — suggesting that either AntiSec or the FBI isn’t telling the whole story of what data emerged and where. Even if there are real UDIDs floating around, Kerris adds that they don’t necessarily pose much danger. She notes that programming hooks in iOS 6 will provide an alternative to UDID for device-specific data, and that apps will eventually be forbidden from using the older identifiers altogether. While the truth in the situation is hard to pin down, the technical reality doesn’t leave much risk that our iPads and iPhones will be compromised. At least, not after this month.

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Internet, Mobile

Apple denies giving FBI any iOS device UDIDs, raises questions over AntiSec claims originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05 Sep 2012 14:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We know you’ve got questions, and if you’re brave enough to ask the world for answers, here’s the outlet to do so. This week’s Ask Engadget inquiry is coming to us from Dustin, who wants to turn the humble iPod Touch into a cash register for live events. If you’re looking to send in an inquiry of your own, drop us a line at ask [at] engadget [dawt] com.

“We currently have 10 credit card terminals we purchased three years ago, and we’re looking to replace them thanks to their horrific failure rate and replacement cost. We only use them for special events, but they account for $24 million of our credit card revenue. Ideally I’d like to replace them with iPod touches and a wireless printer, but I can’t seem to find a solution that offers printing — but it’s essential to what we do. Thanks for your help!”

We found that Square lets you connect to a Star Micronics receipt printer, and Intuit GoPayment accepts Bluetooth-enabled P25 Blue Bamboo printers — so those could work for you. Of course, Ask Engadget is about sourcing the opinion of our hive-mind, so if your business has already conquered this problem, why not share what you know?

Filed under: Cellphones, Misc, Portable Audio/Video

Ask Engadget: is iPod Touch and Wireless Printer-based credit card processing possible? originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 01 Sep 2012 23:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Trouble looked to be brewing for Apple last April: an International Trade Commission judge made an initial ruling that Apple infringed on a standards-essential Motorola WiFi patent, raising the possibility of a trade ban if the verdict held true. The fellows in Cupertino may have caught a big break. A Commission review of the decision on Friday determined that Apple didn’t violate the patent, and it upheld positions that exonerated the iPhone maker regarding two others. Apple isn’t entirely off the hook, however. The ITC is remanding the case to the judge to review his stance that Apple hadn’t violated a non-standards-based patent, which still leaves Apple facing the prospect of a ban. However, having to revisit the case nearly resets the clock — we now have to wait for another ruling and a matching review, and that likely puts any final decision well into 2013. Google-owned Motorola isn’t lacking more weapons in its arsenal, but any stalled proceedings take away bargaining chips in what’s become a high-stakes game.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

ITC decides Apple didn’t violate Motorola WiFi patent after all, tosses case back to judge originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Aug 2012 18:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Although they’re called hearing aids, they can sometimes be as much of a hindrance as a help. Catch an unfamiliar accent and the attention might be on just parsing the words, let alone moving the conversation forward. Apple is applying for a patent on a technique that would take the guesswork out of listening by smoothing out all the quirks. The proposed idea would convert speech to text and back, using the switch to remove any unusual pronunciation or too-quick talking before it reaches the listener’s ear. Not surprisingly for a company that makes phones and tablets, the hearing aid wouldn’t always have to do the heavy lifting, either: iOS devices could handle some of the on-the-fly conversion, and pre-recorded speech could receive advance treatment to speed up the process. We don’t know if Apple plans to use its learning in any kind of shipping product, although it’s undoubtedly been interested in the category before — and its ambitions of having iPhone-optimized hearing aids could well get a lift from technology that promises real understanding, not just a boost in volume.

Filed under: Cellphones, Wearables

Apple seeks patent for hearing aids that deliver speech at an even keel originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Aug 2012 11:50:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Maxthon has long since escaped the days when it was chiefly a customized version of Internet Explorer on the desktop, and nowhere is that more apparent than its just-launched version of the normally WebKit-based browser for the iPhone and iPod touch. All the core features of the app carry over from earlier Android and iPad versions, such as an Opera-like grid of favorite pages, a download manager and a unified address bar, but it’s arguably more useful than the iPad edition: conventional browser tabs aren’t coming to smaller-screened iOS devices in a future mobile Safari build anytime soon. Bookmark syncing and an optimized reading mode also persist to reduce the chance that Maxthon users drift back towards the official Apple browser, even after iOS 6 rolls around. With that all-important “free” price tag, there’s every reason to give it a try — let others know in the comments if Maxthon is enough to take precedence over comparable iOS alternatives like Chrome.

Filed under: Cellphones, Software

Maxthon web browser arrives in bite-sized form for iPhone originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Aug 2012 00:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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