Apple has applied for a patent covering an elaborate series of measures to automatically protect iPhone owners from thieves and other unauthorized users. But please withhold the applause.
The patent, titled “Systems and Methods for Identifying Unauthorized Users of an Electronic Device,” would also protect Apple against …
Just listen to all of you whinging pussies. First off, companies file patents for things that'll never see the light of day all of the time and since you have no guarantee that Apple will ever produce a kill switch, what the hell are you getting your panties in a bunch about?
Secondly, Jobs has said that one of the main reasons Apple wants to keep control over it's phone system is to stop unauthorized software threatening the mobile network. If Apple really were the control freaks that you say they are, then why is it that they don't even ask for registration and get you to jump through all sorts of hoops when you install their operating system on their computers? You know, like Microsoft does when you chuck it's OS on your PCs.
And you Android users make me laugh. You do know that Google own up to having a kill switch when you look at their terms and conditions don't you? And you do remember that they've already used it on two occasions to remotely wipe apps off users phones (with no guarantee of a refund) don't you - something which Apple has never done.
Oh, and you do remember that your 'garden without walls' has already seen one app uploading personal info to it's author in the background whilst you were using your phone? Of course, these sort of unscrupulous malware authors would never behave worse than Apple with people's data would they?
Grow up you silly sods and if you don't like Job's toy then don't buy one.
"stop unauthorized software threatening the mobile network"
Bollocks. WinMo has been about for years- I've been using it since it was PocketPC. It's hooked up to the mobile network, so it could have had mobile-network-damaging code written for it.
And no-one's done it. So unless you're saying that Windows Mobile is safer and better coded than iOS, there is no risk.
How would a phone threaten the network anyway? At worst you're looking at it being used as what, a radio jammer?
Google's control is over apps bought on the Android Marketplace. It's a subtlety to be sure, but they don't have any (legal) control over, say, an application you bought yourself. To make yourself "google-proof" you just install the .apk file directly rather than using the Market. Which is something that you can do without "jail-breaking" or whatever the device.
Apple's tightly-controlled application checking system failed to pick up on an app providing "tethering" functionality for quite a while- and then probably because news of it spread through their community.
What're the chances that a similarly shoddy check has been performed on another app that, while looking innocuous, harvests user data in the background? Which no-one would notice? Pretty high, I'd imagine.
Would something stuffed into a firmware update be able to override current legislation?
Take a look at http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts1990/ukpga_19900018_en_1#pb1-l1g3 for the part about "Unauthorised modification of computer material" and ask yourself if you could apply this against Apple if it decides to employ measures to deliberately nobble your phone if they don't like your take on it.
After all, they CAN refuse to support jailbroken (!) phones, but to actively look to disabling them, it's flying a bit close to the wind...
Given the antenna problems that aren't really real, and the WiFi problems that aren't really real, and the exploding batteries that aren't really real...
...do we trust such a feature not to ever backfire on users?
You should all think yourself honoured that Apple let you hold their hardware (as long as your only hold it the correct way that is). You don't actually think you pay to own it, you pay to borrow it off them.
The part about transmitting GPS, SIM card and camera info when your device is stolen is indeed already done. If they manage to patent that then it is yet another clear example that the US patent office is a bunch of idiots.
My n900 has such a package where it will send location, camera pics and other data (like new sim card number and telephone number) when the SIM card is switched or you send a special passphrase via SMS (in case your SIM card is still in there).
Buying an Android to escape from the I-phone is like going from the frying pan into the fire. I have the Motorola Droid, and I hate it for so many reasons.
1) the quality apps you used on the I-phone don't exist for the Android. You get cheap, knock-off versions of popular apps which are often unstable enough to force an app closeure. Your favorite app may not exist at all.
2) the photo gallery attempts to open all of your pictures (no matter how many folders you file them in) every time you use photo gallery. At higher amounts of stored images, this causes Android to display your pictures at a horrible low resolution, make you wait for minutes to over an hour for the normal picture to display, and the app may "force close" (crash) at any time. So even if you buy a 32GB SD card, you can't store more images because more images would crash the photo gallery app.
3) You're going from one tyrannical closed OS (Apple) to another, slightly less tyrannical closed OS (Google).
4) When Android "upgrades" an app, it usually either has no effect for common users (unneeded functions), or it makes the existing app worse.
5 - infinity) I could tell you many more faults with the android, but I have hit the major faults above. I have 1 year, 3 months, ands 29 days in my contract before I can say goodbye to the Google OS forever, and get a Windows Mobile phone again. Apps that work again. Folders that work again.
It's like Google goes to great pains to make its users feel like the car buyer who just bought a "lemon". Take my advise - STEER CLEAR of Android. Go with Windows Mobile. MS has its faults, but it's not complete piece of crap like Android phones, and Bill Gates is not quite as evil as Steve Jobs. MS works most of the time, and Android doesn't.
I may have to suffer with a phone I would much rather crush s-l-o-w-l-y in a vise than use, but you don't have to suffer. STEER CLEAR of the Android. You're been warned.
"A System for Keeping the Intrusive Manufacturer of the Device I Have Paid For The Fuck Away From My Data".
Let's see how it works. A law is passed mandating the inclusion in all electronic devices a big indicator that lights up to tell the user the manufacturer has attempted to access device data. If the user has not requested this intrusion, they then press a button and the CEO of the manufacturer has his testicles electrocuted.
Seriously, if you want to build "security" features into your OS, fine. But when you're going and patenting systems for being a prying, spying, paranoid control-freak, you need to have your ego checked at the door.
Paris because maybe we could get something useful out of remotely activating her camera and turning on geotagging.
I bet Steve Job's wife has to wear what he wants when he wants, I bet he even picks here food when eating out, in fact it wouldn't surprise me if he has a GPS on her in case.
The guy is a deluded idiot with a Napoleon Complex, let's just hope someone proves the right to "JailBreak" your own device in the EU too now!
More ill informed nonsense from the Apple haters. Android is just as bad - try tampering with your Motorola Droid and it will detect that and brick itself. Android is not open for end users, only for manufacturers. And with malware appearing the manufacturers will work harder to lock them down, when they're not conspiring to push out Vodafone branded nonsense.
I was just browsing the internet with the latest "stable" Firefox release when it crashed, again. After reviving it and being told how embarrassing it was that it crashed I thought I'd pop into my favourite IT web site only to read how the Apple haters (I count myself amongst your numbers) seem to be outweighing the fanbois. My HTC desire has been upgraded to 2.2 of Android only to become less stable and now has a feature that can tell Google exactly what I sound like.
It seems all the big IT companies push us to the point where we have to turn against them. Microsoft must be quite delighted that nobody even bothers to ridicule their efforts any longer.
I love Apple products. They work well and their attention to detail is 2nd to none. If they do this though I will quickly drop my iPhone and move straight to Google.
I am still grateful to this day I am not an Apple fan. In fact, I am grateful to this day I never liked Apple. It doesn't surprise me that Apple would not only come up with plans to shut down jailbroken phones but also make up some bullshit about protecting their users int he process.
Anything to keep from looking like the real dishonest moneygrubbers they actually are, eh?
Thing is, Apple's NEVER really been the heroic underdog it's been trying to depict itself as. EVERY move its made has been about consolidating its products in a way that makes sure they have the control over their users for the most money.
Still, this isn't illegal. As awesome as this new law is, it doesn't actually stop a company from blocking it. It just means they can't sue or press charges.
Yours is the one with the phone whose OS was manufactured by a company that routinely keeps your searches, also tracks which sites you visit, and probably knows roughly where you are at all times (thanks to the Streetview IP grab), and can install or uninstall software without your knowing?
You call the iPhone a 1984 phone? At least where Apple do stuff like this, they are honest about it. Google do it and don't tell you.
'skeletor' comment. The poor guy (Steve Jobs) is becoming more and more bony. :(
Remember, companies patent loads of stuff, whether they use it or not. (The software patent system is broken, not to mention boring). As much as I like Apple, if they did some of the shit described in this article, I'd be an ex-Apple customer, very quickly.
Also, how long before the jailbreakers/haxxors disable the kill switch? (somehow). Bored 14 year old geeks will probably do it in a day. :D
Send one of the new iGoodies to a security threat on the CIA "kill asap" list. It monitors location, excellent! It monitors movement? Even better! It monitors heart rate, or the lack thereof? Perfect!
"Sir, we can confirm that the Predator missle strike was effective. His iPhone heart-monitor showed zero rate as of 90 seconds ago!"
What a glorious victory for the Patriot Act; give us a huge "iThanks" to Mr. Jobbo!
unlike when filming police officers is deemed as wiretapping - wtf? this would certainly seem to qualify as such.
So if I was going to jailbreak my iphone i'd do it as soon as possible and make sure to pay with a credit card. From what I recall that's the only payment method apple wants anyhow for obvious reasons.
When apple starts it's crap just charge it back, you have 6 months + you'll get to keep it.
Im sure there'd be ways to get it to work since at that point it would be worthless and you'd at least have gotten your money back.
Apple seems to want to follow in googles coat-tails in regards to owning you when you buy their hardware but google doesn't want competition and there can only be 1.
The company has tech sweatshops manufacturing their devices working 60-80 hours a week for no rewards other than perhaps suicide which some are opting into as a permanent vacation from making this crap.
Apple's in for some wakeup calls, and it's already too late for them to make a comeback.
I was a contended convert to the Apple empire since my first encounter with a Powerbook 12" in 2004. since then I've owned Macbook Pro's, iPods, iPad etc, and extolled the virtues of Apple to many a bored individual. But this goes a step too far and Jobs can take his shiny aluminium toys and poke them, the word 'megalomaniac' springs to mind.....
firstly, I'm glad that I have an Android device...where, actually, theres no real need to jailbreak it in the first place
secondly, I own a PS3 that lost its ability to run another alternative OS , legally - this wasnt some dodgy jailbreak thing and was used legitimately, not for dodgy pirated games (my PS3 hardly plays games anyway!) - and Sony released a firmware that removed that ability...
Sony still havent been seen by a UK court for that - I doubt Apple would either. the big corporations rule our world these days....we are expected to cow to them...and cower against their 'rights'
You are deluding yourself if you think even android is immune. There are plenty of legitimate apps that have been force removed from the app store. Many wifi tethering apps spring to mind.
Waiting to see Apple block 1m iPhones from iTunes because they have been cracked.
Microsoft did the exact same thing last year (I supposed it figured those 1m console that were rendered useless would mean 1m replacement sales, as Xbox fanboys are too dumb to wake up from their MS Coma).
The idots at Apple are going to kill themselves off
Being a designer I've used Macs since 1994. Not a fashion thing, but they were and still are a great tool. But Apple are going down the wrong road now and as my Mum used to say to my sister and me, "It'll end in tears. you just mark my words!"
This tech site is getting more and more like a z list celebrity tabloid. All you going so against this and going to android blah blah must be so so dumb and only have selective news memory. Every post in here that aims to balance the debate and actually states fact gets downvoted. How pathetic you lot are you can't handle the truth.
Sure have a rant about apple trying to patent something that has been done beforeany a time. But the rant about the evil control. Yeah right, just look a few month back who actually exercised such a kill switch ;-)
> Yeah right, just look a few month back who actually exercised such a kill switch ;-)
Right the scandal of Google daring to uninstall an App with hidden malware it had punted through Market and was therefore liable for. That's exactly the same as bricking your handset when you jailbreak it to install software or basic functionality Apple don't want you to have or get paid a commission on.
I like the prospect that thieves can be caught rather than the usual, phone is barred then sold on ebay for spare parts.
Leave the phone unlocked, snap a few geotagged pics whilst in the perps posession and then arrest them take them to court with the best evidence possible.
Although I can see where things could go wrong, just so long as proper and correct measures are in place to ensure you don't get nudie pics of your wife beamed direct to Stevie.
The Sacred J just can't stand it. Somebody bigger than he made a decision he doesn't like. So now the cry baby is going to take his bat, ball and glove and not play. Like cockroaches, he'll never kill them all. But he has to try because like Pavlov's dog he just jumps at the chance to be psychotic and manipulative.
Apple Quid Pro Quo, Give users a real reason to NOT hack devices...
Apple should give something to users to make it worthwhile to NOT hack their phones. They could prevent theft of devices as every single user has to register the device in iTunes. if Apple disallowed duplicate device IDs to be registered, a stolen ianything would be iUseless.
Hacking and jailbreaking devices removes this requirement, hence would also remove the protection Apple could be providing.
Use your technology as a carrot rather than always as a stick!
...someone ENABLING these 'kill switch" features for all the IApples, legal or not, without Apple's or users consent, thus effectively killing all of them in one go. Surely, this "kill switch" is already installed, they are just launching the patent so they can enable it and nobody else can copy it without getting sued. If Apple can kill your Istuff, so any other miscreant. Such backdoor is waiting to be opened.
On the other hand:
1. lock yourself in a faraday cage with the Isheep, ILamb-to-slaughter, Iwhatever. Preferably under 10 feet of solid lead-filled rock.
2. duct tape the lenses. Even the one hidden under the battery recess. Don't forget the one below the SIM card too. Remember to zero-out any memory storage directly linked to the lenses.
Don't forget any buffers.
3. hack away and erase the "kill switch". Wipe any geotagged images or any scrambled or encrypted GPS coordinates remotely similar to the coordinates of where the hack was made.
Soldering may be involved. Running away from premises after the hack was completed and nuking the site from orbit may be involved too.
You buy the privilege of being allowed to shop at SteveCo. Just like you have to pay for a warehouse card to be allowed to shop at things like costco or sams club or Bj's.
And just like warehouse clubs this SteveCo sells things they did not produce at a markup ( books, movies, music ). Since they have a wide subscribers group Steveco determines aggressive pricing towards his suppliers (developers, musicians, writers).
And just like warehouse clubs SteveCo also has some house brand products and can decide what it will sell in its stores.
So there you have it. Either you shop at SteveCo and you pay for 'membership'. Or you keep using Safeway, Kroger , Walmart ( HP, Dell , Ibm etc.. )
"It gives Steve jobs and Co. the means to retaliate when iPhones aren't being used in ways Cupertino doesn't expressly permit."
Yep, it also gives them the ability to brock the phone when you report it missing so that no-one can log into your bank accout (or even El Reg) and/or access your personal data (and that of your contacts). Sounds like a good thing to me (but then I haven't jailbroken my iPhone)
A company buys a load of Blackberrys or WiMo or whatever, and have the ability to brick THEIR OWN PHONES if, say, the employee (who haven't paid for the phone) leaves the company, but keeps the phone.
It is NOT the same as Apple having the ability to brick PHONES OWNED BY OTHERS (who've paid for the phone) because said user somehow has more applications on his phone than Apple has sold to him.
Register
Apple has applied for a patent covering an elaborate series of measures to automatically protect iPhone owners from thieves and other unauthorized users. But please withhold the applause. The patent, titled “Systems and Methods for Identifying Unauthorized Users of an Electronic Device,” would also protect Apple against …
Page:
Jesus H Christ....
Just listen to all of you whinging pussies. First off, companies file patents for things that'll never see the light of day all of the time and since you have no guarantee that Apple will ever produce a kill switch, what the hell are you getting your panties in a bunch about?
Secondly, Jobs has said that one of the main reasons Apple wants to keep control over it's phone system is to stop unauthorized software threatening the mobile network. If Apple really were the control freaks that you say they are, then why is it that they don't even ask for registration and get you to jump through all sorts of hoops when you install their operating system on their computers? You know, like Microsoft does when you chuck it's OS on your PCs.
And you Android users make me laugh. You do know that Google own up to having a kill switch when you look at their terms and conditions don't you? And you do remember that they've already used it on two occasions to remotely wipe apps off users phones (with no guarantee of a refund) don't you - something which Apple has never done.
Oh, and you do remember that your 'garden without walls' has already seen one app uploading personal info to it's author in the background whilst you were using your phone? Of course, these sort of unscrupulous malware authors would never behave worse than Apple with people's data would they?
Grow up you silly sods and if you don't like Job's toy then don't buy one.
"stop unauthorized software threatening the mobile network"
Bollocks. WinMo has been about for years- I've been using it since it was PocketPC. It's hooked up to the mobile network, so it could have had mobile-network-damaging code written for it.
And no-one's done it. So unless you're saying that Windows Mobile is safer and better coded than iOS, there is no risk.
How would a phone threaten the network anyway? At worst you're looking at it being used as what, a radio jammer?
Google's control is over apps bought on the Android Marketplace. It's a subtlety to be sure, but they don't have any (legal) control over, say, an application you bought yourself. To make yourself "google-proof" you just install the .apk file directly rather than using the Market. Which is something that you can do without "jail-breaking" or whatever the device.
Apple's tightly-controlled application checking system failed to pick up on an app providing "tethering" functionality for quite a while- and then probably because news of it spread through their community.
What're the chances that a similarly shoddy check has been performed on another app that, while looking innocuous, harvests user data in the background? Which no-one would notice? Pretty high, I'd imagine.
Computer Misuse Act?
Would something stuffed into a firmware update be able to override current legislation?
Take a look at http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts1990/ukpga_19900018_en_1#pb1-l1g3 for the part about "Unauthorised modification of computer material" and ask yourself if you could apply this against Apple if it decides to employ measures to deliberately nobble your phone if they don't like your take on it.
After all, they CAN refuse to support jailbroken (!) phones, but to actively look to disabling them, it's flying a bit close to the wind...
In Jobs we trust
Given the antenna problems that aren't really real, and the WiFi problems that aren't really real, and the exploding batteries that aren't really real...
...do we trust such a feature not to ever backfire on users?
Dear Steve
I have a friend who says customers are like tofu. You can hold more in open gentle hands than a tightly closed fist.
Think yourself lucky!
You should all think yourself honoured that Apple let you hold their hardware (as long as your only hold it the correct way that is). You don't actually think you pay to own it, you pay to borrow it off them.
prior art indeed
The part about transmitting GPS, SIM card and camera info when your device is stolen is indeed already done. If they manage to patent that then it is yet another clear example that the US patent office is a bunch of idiots.
My n900 has such a package where it will send location, camera pics and other data (like new sim card number and telephone number) when the SIM card is switched or you send a special passphrase via SMS (in case your SIM card is still in there).
Big Brother
I wouldn't worry about the Orwellian aspects of this too terribly much. It will probably be hacked by a 17 year old within a week anyway.
Android ? STOP
Nooooooooooooooooooooooo !!!
Buying an Android to escape from the I-phone is like going from the frying pan into the fire. I have the Motorola Droid, and I hate it for so many reasons.
1) the quality apps you used on the I-phone don't exist for the Android. You get cheap, knock-off versions of popular apps which are often unstable enough to force an app closeure. Your favorite app may not exist at all.
2) the photo gallery attempts to open all of your pictures (no matter how many folders you file them in) every time you use photo gallery. At higher amounts of stored images, this causes Android to display your pictures at a horrible low resolution, make you wait for minutes to over an hour for the normal picture to display, and the app may "force close" (crash) at any time. So even if you buy a 32GB SD card, you can't store more images because more images would crash the photo gallery app.
3) You're going from one tyrannical closed OS (Apple) to another, slightly less tyrannical closed OS (Google).
4) When Android "upgrades" an app, it usually either has no effect for common users (unneeded functions), or it makes the existing app worse.
5 - infinity) I could tell you many more faults with the android, but I have hit the major faults above. I have 1 year, 3 months, ands 29 days in my contract before I can say goodbye to the Google OS forever, and get a Windows Mobile phone again. Apps that work again. Folders that work again.
It's like Google goes to great pains to make its users feel like the car buyer who just bought a "lemon". Take my advise - STEER CLEAR of Android. Go with Windows Mobile. MS has its faults, but it's not complete piece of crap like Android phones, and Bill Gates is not quite as evil as Steve Jobs. MS works most of the time, and Android doesn't.
I may have to suffer with a phone I would much rather crush s-l-o-w-l-y in a vise than use, but you don't have to suffer. STEER CLEAR of the Android. You're been warned.
This post has been deleted by its author
Jehovah?
Bet you tell people to use macs instead of PCs because it's impossible to get a virus... am I right? ;o)
I have an idea for a new patent.
"A System for Keeping the Intrusive Manufacturer of the Device I Have Paid For The Fuck Away From My Data".
Let's see how it works. A law is passed mandating the inclusion in all electronic devices a big indicator that lights up to tell the user the manufacturer has attempted to access device data. If the user has not requested this intrusion, they then press a button and the CEO of the manufacturer has his testicles electrocuted.
Seriously, if you want to build "security" features into your OS, fine. But when you're going and patenting systems for being a prying, spying, paranoid control-freak, you need to have your ego checked at the door.
Paris because maybe we could get something useful out of remotely activating her camera and turning on geotagging.
Napoleon Complex Anyone?!
I bet Steve Job's wife has to wear what he wants when he wants, I bet he even picks here food when eating out, in fact it wouldn't surprise me if he has a GPS on her in case.
The guy is a deluded idiot with a Napoleon Complex, let's just hope someone proves the right to "JailBreak" your own device in the EU too now!
Pfff, and we though Gates was bad!!!
Android as bad or worse
More ill informed nonsense from the Apple haters. Android is just as bad - try tampering with your Motorola Droid and it will detect that and brick itself. Android is not open for end users, only for manufacturers. And with malware appearing the manufacturers will work harder to lock them down, when they're not conspiring to push out Vodafone branded nonsense.
We never learn
I was just browsing the internet with the latest "stable" Firefox release when it crashed, again. After reviving it and being told how embarrassing it was that it crashed I thought I'd pop into my favourite IT web site only to read how the Apple haters (I count myself amongst your numbers) seem to be outweighing the fanbois. My HTC desire has been upgraded to 2.2 of Android only to become less stable and now has a feature that can tell Google exactly what I sound like.
It seems all the big IT companies push us to the point where we have to turn against them. Microsoft must be quite delighted that nobody even bothers to ridicule their efforts any longer.
Shocking!
I love Apple products. They work well and their attention to detail is 2nd to none. If they do this though I will quickly drop my iPhone and move straight to Google.
Already there
I get it now ... it's pronounced eyePhone.
I bet the kill switch is already there, just waiting for a patent to give them "legal" grounds to use it.
Steve Jobs middle name is Hand.
You obviously haven't read about
Google's kill switch on the Android.
Which is real.
and
Has been used
And therefore stops Apple patentling it.
Not surprising, Apple's always been scum.
I am still grateful to this day I am not an Apple fan. In fact, I am grateful to this day I never liked Apple. It doesn't surprise me that Apple would not only come up with plans to shut down jailbroken phones but also make up some bullshit about protecting their users int he process.
Anything to keep from looking like the real dishonest moneygrubbers they actually are, eh?
Thing is, Apple's NEVER really been the heroic underdog it's been trying to depict itself as. EVERY move its made has been about consolidating its products in a way that makes sure they have the control over their users for the most money.
Still, this isn't illegal. As awesome as this new law is, it doesn't actually stop a company from blocking it. It just means they can't sue or press charges.
iFail
Enjoy your 1984-phone you don't even have control of, iDiots.
Mine's the one with the Android phone in the pocket.
Control
You mean like the ability to control what apps google decide to remove from your phone?
Irony
Yours is the one with the phone whose OS was manufactured by a company that routinely keeps your searches, also tracks which sites you visit, and probably knows roughly where you are at all times (thanks to the Streetview IP grab), and can install or uninstall software without your knowing?
You call the iPhone a 1984 phone? At least where Apple do stuff like this, they are honest about it. Google do it and don't tell you.
pissed my self laughing at
'skeletor' comment. The poor guy (Steve Jobs) is becoming more and more bony. :(
Remember, companies patent loads of stuff, whether they use it or not. (The software patent system is broken, not to mention boring). As much as I like Apple, if they did some of the shit described in this article, I'd be an ex-Apple customer, very quickly.
Also, how long before the jailbreakers/haxxors disable the kill switch? (somehow). Bored 14 year old geeks will probably do it in a day. :D
And this is why I own a Palm Pre
I knew that there were good reasons to avoid buying an iPhone. Thanks for the confirmation that I made the right smartphone choice.
WebOS is ...
... just fine.
Monitor a remote kill ...
Send one of the new iGoodies to a security threat on the CIA "kill asap" list. It monitors location, excellent! It monitors movement? Even better! It monitors heart rate, or the lack thereof? Perfect!
"Sir, we can confirm that the Predator missle strike was effective. His iPhone heart-monitor showed zero rate as of 90 seconds ago!"
What a glorious victory for the Patriot Act; give us a huge "iThanks" to Mr. Jobbo!
hrm
unlike when filming police officers is deemed as wiretapping - wtf? this would certainly seem to qualify as such.
So if I was going to jailbreak my iphone i'd do it as soon as possible and make sure to pay with a credit card. From what I recall that's the only payment method apple wants anyhow for obvious reasons.
When apple starts it's crap just charge it back, you have 6 months + you'll get to keep it.
Im sure there'd be ways to get it to work since at that point it would be worthless and you'd at least have gotten your money back.
Apple seems to want to follow in googles coat-tails in regards to owning you when you buy their hardware but google doesn't want competition and there can only be 1.
The company has tech sweatshops manufacturing their devices working 60-80 hours a week for no rewards other than perhaps suicide which some are opting into as a permanent vacation from making this crap.
Apple's in for some wakeup calls, and it's already too late for them to make a comeback.
Time for a change....
I was a contended convert to the Apple empire since my first encounter with a Powerbook 12" in 2004. since then I've owned Macbook Pro's, iPods, iPad etc, and extolled the virtues of Apple to many a bored individual. But this goes a step too far and Jobs can take his shiny aluminium toys and poke them, the word 'megalomaniac' springs to mind.....
iMegalo
To be exact.
hmm, removal of features etc remotely?
firstly, I'm glad that I have an Android device...where, actually, theres no real need to jailbreak it in the first place
secondly, I own a PS3 that lost its ability to run another alternative OS , legally - this wasnt some dodgy jailbreak thing and was used legitimately, not for dodgy pirated games (my PS3 hardly plays games anyway!) - and Sony released a firmware that removed that ability...
Sony still havent been seen by a UK court for that - I doubt Apple would either. the big corporations rule our world these days....we are expected to cow to them...and cower against their 'rights'
not quite
You are deluding yourself if you think even android is immune. There are plenty of legitimate apps that have been force removed from the app store. Many wifi tethering apps spring to mind.
Dr Who
isn't this the Doctor Who Episode with Trigger from only fools and all the stompy robots?
The Honeymoon is over
Waiting to see Apple block 1m iPhones from iTunes because they have been cracked.
Microsoft did the exact same thing last year (I supposed it figured those 1m console that were rendered useless would mean 1m replacement sales, as Xbox fanboys are too dumb to wake up from their MS Coma).
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33866696/ns/technology_and_science-games/
This is gonna be fun to watch....
This post has been deleted by a moderator
"Think Different"
...but not differently to me.
- Steve J.
The idots at Apple are going to kill themselves off
Being a designer I've used Macs since 1994. Not a fashion thing, but they were and still are a great tool. But Apple are going down the wrong road now and as my Mum used to say to my sister and me, "It'll end in tears. you just mark my words!"
1984
This would make a good spin-off of their famous advertisement - "and you'll see why 2010 is going to be like 1984"
Unbelievabld
This tech site is getting more and more like a z list celebrity tabloid. All you going so against this and going to android blah blah must be so so dumb and only have selective news memory. Every post in here that aims to balance the debate and actually states fact gets downvoted. How pathetic you lot are you can't handle the truth.
Sure have a rant about apple trying to patent something that has been done beforeany a time. But the rant about the evil control. Yeah right, just look a few month back who actually exercised such a kill switch ;-)
#Unbelievabld
> Yeah right, just look a few month back who actually exercised such a kill switch ;-)
Right the scandal of Google daring to uninstall an App with hidden malware it had punted through Market and was therefore liable for. That's exactly the same as bricking your handset when you jailbreak it to install software or basic functionality Apple don't want you to have or get paid a commission on.
So? What's You Point?
You need to polish your halo, it's looking a bit on the dull side.
@ Doug Glass
>>"You need to polish your halo, it's looking a bit on the dull side."
It's not a *halo*, it's just that, just like Steve, the horns have finally joined up.
catch thieves?
I like the prospect that thieves can be caught rather than the usual, phone is barred then sold on ebay for spare parts.
Leave the phone unlocked, snap a few geotagged pics whilst in the perps posession and then arrest them take them to court with the best evidence possible.
Although I can see where things could go wrong, just so long as proper and correct measures are in place to ensure you don't get nudie pics of your wife beamed direct to Stevie.
Apple doing a Microsoft
Isn't Apple doing the same as microsoft did with Internet Explorer?
Cockroaches
The Sacred J just can't stand it. Somebody bigger than he made a decision he doesn't like. So now the cry baby is going to take his bat, ball and glove and not play. Like cockroaches, he'll never kill them all. But he has to try because like Pavlov's dog he just jumps at the chance to be psychotic and manipulative.
Juck Fobs and the mule he rode in on.
Apple Quid Pro Quo, Give users a real reason to NOT hack devices...
Apple should give something to users to make it worthwhile to NOT hack their phones. They could prevent theft of devices as every single user has to register the device in iTunes. if Apple disallowed duplicate device IDs to be registered, a stolen ianything would be iUseless.
Hacking and jailbreaking devices removes this requirement, hence would also remove the protection Apple could be providing.
Use your technology as a carrot rather than always as a stick!
I'd like to see...
...someone ENABLING these 'kill switch" features for all the IApples, legal or not, without Apple's or users consent, thus effectively killing all of them in one go. Surely, this "kill switch" is already installed, they are just launching the patent so they can enable it and nobody else can copy it without getting sued. If Apple can kill your Istuff, so any other miscreant. Such backdoor is waiting to be opened.
On the other hand:
1. lock yourself in a faraday cage with the Isheep, ILamb-to-slaughter, Iwhatever. Preferably under 10 feet of solid lead-filled rock.
2. duct tape the lenses. Even the one hidden under the battery recess. Don't forget the one below the SIM card too. Remember to zero-out any memory storage directly linked to the lenses.
Don't forget any buffers.
3. hack away and erase the "kill switch". Wipe any geotagged images or any scrambled or encrypted GPS coordinates remotely similar to the coordinates of where the hack was made.
Soldering may be involved. Running away from premises after the hack was completed and nuking the site from orbit may be involved too.
4. Enjoy your jailbreak /jailbroken phone.
It's pub o'clock. I'm outta here.
ipof / ipad / iphone are warehouse club cards
Here is the analogy :
You buy the privilege of being allowed to shop at SteveCo. Just like you have to pay for a warehouse card to be allowed to shop at things like costco or sams club or Bj's.
And just like warehouse clubs this SteveCo sells things they did not produce at a markup ( books, movies, music ). Since they have a wide subscribers group Steveco determines aggressive pricing towards his suppliers (developers, musicians, writers).
And just like warehouse clubs SteveCo also has some house brand products and can decide what it will sell in its stores.
So there you have it. Either you shop at SteveCo and you pay for 'membership'. Or you keep using Safeway, Kroger , Walmart ( HP, Dell , Ibm etc.. )
Overstating vs understating...
"It gives Steve jobs and Co. the means to retaliate when iPhones aren't being used in ways Cupertino doesn't expressly permit."
Yep, it also gives them the ability to brock the phone when you report it missing so that no-one can log into your bank accout (or even El Reg) and/or access your personal data (and that of your contacts). Sounds like a good thing to me (but then I haven't jailbroken my iPhone)
Please stop making wrong comparisons
A company buys a load of Blackberrys or WiMo or whatever, and have the ability to brick THEIR OWN PHONES if, say, the employee (who haven't paid for the phone) leaves the company, but keeps the phone.
It is NOT the same as Apple having the ability to brick PHONES OWNED BY OTHERS (who've paid for the phone) because said user somehow has more applications on his phone than Apple has sold to him.
Who cares ?
Got a 3G.
Got iOS4.01
Got no problems, got no slow phone.
Got a phone that's more "manageable" than my Nokia....bigger "keys" and simpler to navigate.
Only use free apps.
Cost me the price of a new touchscreen and display (£28.00 (ebay))
The previous owner couldn't force herself to pay the asked £170.00 from the dealer....so bought a new iphone and gave me the broken one.
Also use O2, no problems.
Must be doing something right ?
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