Hasta La Gadget!

Your next iPhone might listen to your heartbeat or scan your face to identify its rightful owner — and it could react with anti-theft measures if it ended up in the wrong hands, according to a patent application recently filed by Apple.

Filed in February and made public this month, the patent application describes an invention that uses several methods to detect “unauthorized” usage of a device, such as voice and facial recognition or a heart rate monitor. Possible anti-theft measures include restricting access to some applications, gathering location data about the unauthorized user or shutting down the device remotely.

One method the patent describes for detecting a stolen iPhone is checking whether it’s been hacked (aka “jailbroken”) or its SIM card has been yanked out — things a clever thief would do to override the iPhone’s security.

The up-close-and-personal security patent has some concerned journalists screaming “1984,” interpreting the patent application as a draconian move by Apple to spy on users and punish customers who hack their iPhones.

“The system described in the patent [would] allow Apple to effectively kill jailbroken devices under the guise of protecting customers from theft, since it may not be able to determine whether a device has been stolen or if it is being willingly jailbroken by users,” writes Mashable’s Lauren Indvik.

“Ignoring the possibility that a false positive in Apple’s proposed theft protection might activate the spy cam while the user is in the bath, or in the middle of some other intimate moment, this technology seems Orwellian for another reason: It gives Steve Jobs and Co. the means to retaliate when iPhones aren’t being used in ways Cupertino doesn’t expressly permit,” The Register wrote over the weekend.

Just about every mobile operating system manufacturer can remotely delete apps from the smartphones they help provide, but if a recent patent application is any indication, Apple’s looking to lock down the whole enchilada on future devices. The basic concept is as simple as the diagram above — certain activities trigger the phone to think it’s in the wrong hands — but the particular activities and particular remedies Apple suggests extend to audiovisual spying (to detect if a user has a different face or voice than the owner), and complete remote shutdown. While the patent mostly sounds targeted at opt-in security software and would simply send you an alert or perform a remote wipe if your phone were stolen or hacked, jailbreaking and unlocking are also explicitly mentioned as the marks of an unauthorized user, and one line mentions that cellular carriers could shut down or cripple a device when such a user is detected. Sounds great for securing phones at retail, sure, but personally we’d rather devices don’t determine our authority by monitoring our heartbeat (seriously, that’s an option) and we’re plenty happy with the existing Find My iPhone app.

Apple attempts to patent kill switch that roots out unauthorized users, detects jailbreaks originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 21 Aug 2010 20:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Surveys reveal that a substantial chunk of U.S. customers plan to buy a tablet in the next year, and it’s not necessarily going to be an iPad.

Fourteen percent, or 27 million U.S. online consumers, intend to buy some kind of tablet in the next 12 months, says a Forrester research report published Thursday (chart below). Customers interested in purchasing a tablet aren’t primarily Apple customers, and they’re well aware of the crop of upcoming tablets from competitors such as Google and Hewlett-Packard.

Additionally, a similar study by the Magazine Publishers of America found that nearly 60 percent of U.S. consumers expect to purchase an e-reader or tablet within the next three years.

“Even though the iPad is the only widely available tablet PC on the market today, tablets have entered consumer consciousness in a very short time frame,” said Sarah Rotman Epps, a consumer product analyst at Forrester. “There’s interest in the category that goes beyond the iPad.”

Apple’s four-month-old iPad is turning in strong sales with 3.27 million units sold to date — just a hair short of Macs, which sold 3.47 million units in the same quarter. That’s a huge accomplishment for a device less than a year old, and it delivered a shot of adrenaline to the mostly moribund tablet market. For years, scores of tablets have come and gone from manufacturers such as HP, Acer and even Apple, whose first tablet offering was the Newton. The Newton, like most other tablet devices during its time, was criticized for poor handwriting recognition and priceyness ($700 to $1,000), and was retired by 1998. In the meantime, dozens of PC manufacturers have shipped Windows-based Tablet PCs, but the category never took off outside of niche markets and enthusiasts.

Even though most of the tablet hype today surrounds the iPad, many respondents to Forrester’s survey said they were aware of other offerings on the horizon, such as the unreleased HP Slate, as well as obscure tablets like the Archos and JooJoo. The general widespread interest in the tablet category gives hope to manufacturers preparing to compete with Apple, Forrester said.

Forrester’s study also found that today’s customers tend to live with many connected devices. Sixty-nine percent of iPad buyers and 57 percent of tablet buyers also own a latest-generation game console (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 or Nintendo Wii) compared with 37 percent of all U.S. online consumers.

Notably, iPad fans aren’t necessarily Apple worshippers (chart below): More iPad customers own HP computers than Macs. Thirty-nine percent of respondents who said they own or intend to buy an iPad said they own an HP computer, for example. IPad owners are also four times more likely to own a connected TV (9 percent versus 2 percent of non-iPad-owning U.S. online customers).

Apple has a head start on the new tablet market with its iPad, but competitors are just beginning to roll in. Dell recently introduced its 5-inch Streak tablet, which is getting some positive reception. And most recently, the tech sphere has been buzzing with rumors of a Google-powered tablet working on the Verizon network, possibly landing as soon as the holiday season (though we’re skeptical).

See Also:

• Verizon CEO: ‘We’re Working With Google on a Tablet’
• Rumor Shootout: Google Tablet Will Be Made by HTC — Or Maybe Motorola
• Dell’s Tablet Aims to Stick It to Apple’s iPad
• How to Make an iPad-Beating Tablet
• Why 2010 Will Be the Year of the Tablet
• How the Tablet Will Change the World
• iPad Could See 50 Tablet Rivals This Year

What’s a boy to do when he desperately needs a portfolio full of galactic imagery of his own doing? In most cases, we’d suggest he grab up a telescope (or one of these), the biggest DSLR he can find and a planetary expert who knows a thing or two about exposure. But thanks to a mod that’s becoming more and more common these days, it seems that you can replace the latter recommendations with an iPhone 4. Yep — Apple’s latest smartphone, when paired up with a miniature tripod mount and a telescope, can apparently take lovely shots of our dear moon, and if you’re struggling to actually spot it, we hear that Planisphere app is pretty handy. Hit the source links if you’re scouting some inspiration.

iPhone 4 cuddles up against telescope, snaps impressive moon closeups originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 19 Aug 2010 12:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iWiz dev does good, becomes Apple App Store director originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 Aug 2010 15:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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