Linked

Sony Is Working on a PS4 With 4K Output →

March 19, 2016 · 07:20

Patrick Klepek:

Sony is currently planning a new version of the PS4 with increased graphical power and games running at 4K resolution, developer sources tell Kotaku.

We don’t know whether current PS4 owners will be able to upgrade or if they’ll have to buy an entirely new device to benefit from this power boost, but from what we hear, Sony has started briefing developers.

Based on conversations with developers who have spoken with Sony, this ‘PS4.5’ will include an upgraded GPU both to support high-end 4K resolution for games and add more processing power that can enhance the games supported by PlayStation VR, the headset Sony will launch this fall. It’s unclear if ‘PS4.5’ is an official name or just a nickname that developers have been using. One developer jokingly called it the ‘PS4K’ while telling me about the device.

Will games that are enhanced for the PS4K scale down their graphics gracefully for the PS4 or will there be a break in compatibility? What about PS VR? And since this would require the GPU to push four times the pixels, would it still have similar performance to a 1080p PS4?

I still have a 1080p plasma, but is the first reason I would consider using to upgrade to a 4K TV.

iPhone SE Design ‘Identical’ to 5S, Will iPhone 6S Camera →

March 18, 2016 · 19:19

Mark Gurman:

Checks with additional sources indicate that the iPhone SE, to be launched at Apple’s March 21st event next week, will look “almost exactly the same” as the iPhone 5s…

This means the phone will include a boxier, not curved, design complete with rounded volume buttons, a power button on the top, a headphone jack, speaker, and microphone on the bottom, and a back with a metal center and a glass bottom and top. We previously reported that the only easily apparent difference would be the product’s edges. There have been mixed reports regarding the look of the new edges, and sources say that while the front edges could be “very slightly” curved, the potential change is not noticeable. Regardless, the iPhone SE’s edges will be less shiny and likely lose the shiny mirror finish that helped make the iPhone 5s prone to scratches.

The other hardware differences are internal: an A9 processor, an M9 chip for always-on “Hey Siri” support, an NFC chip for Apple Pay, and upgrades to the cellular and WiFi hardware. We have now also learned that the device’s rear camera system will match the system found on the iPhone 6s: the iPhone SE is said to include a 12 megapixel camera and 4K video recording support like the upcoming smaller iPad Pro. We previously reported the ability to take Live Photos is also in the mix.

What I don’t understand is how the camera system can match the 6S if the lens will be flush with the case. I assume it will be ‘close enough’ but slightly inferior… unless they managed to make a huge jump in lens design.

However good or bad the camera in the SE will be, I wonder how Apple will word it.

Apple to Hand iCloud Encryption Keys to Users →

March 18, 2016 · 19:12

Wayne Rash:

According to a number of press reports, Apple is in the process of revamping its iCloud storage service to increase security by divesting itself of the task of keeping users’ encryption keys.

Currently Apple keeps the keys to access iCloud accounts, which means, among other things, that Apple can provide information to authorities when presented with a warrant. The company provided such information from the iCloud account of Sayed Farook, the terrorist who killed 14 county employees late last year in in San Bernardino, Calif. Apparently that’s now about to change. If the reports are correct, Apple is planning to offload the storage of encryption keys so that users control their keys, and they’re accessible only through a password.

This way, even Apple cannot gain access to your encrypted data, no matter how much it may want to and no matter how many government subpoenas it receives. It can’t honor court orders to provide the data because the company has no way to decrypt it.

This is to be expected. I’d like to think that Apple would have gone down this route without the current FBI fiasco taking place, but perhaps the latest events have just accelerated their plans.

Apple Encryption Engineers, if Ordered to Unlock iPhone, Might Resist →

March 18, 2016 · 19:07

John Markoff, Katie Benner & Brian X. Chen:

Apple employees are already discussing what they will do if ordered to help law enforcement authorities. Some say they may balk at the work, while others may even quit their high-paying jobs rather than undermine the security of the software they have already created, according to more than a half-dozen current and former Apple employees.

Among those interviewed were Apple engineers who are involved in the development of mobile products and security, as well as former security engineers and executives.

I can’t help but wonder how far this will go.

Algorithmic Feed to Be Introduced on Instagram →

March 16, 2016 · 12:02

Instagram blog:

You may be surprised to learn that people miss on average 70 percent of their feeds. As Instagram has grown, it’s become harder to keep up with all the photos and videos people share. This means you often don’t see the posts you might care about the most.

To improve your experience, your feed will soon be ordered to show the moments we believe you will care about the most.

Nooooooooooooooo!

As I complained when Facebook introduced this “feature”, I carefully curate my feed to display what I want it to display in the correct order (by time and date!). I don’t want a machine to screw this up for me.

PlayStation VR Launching October for $399 →

March 16, 2016 · 12:00

Andrew House:

With the annual Game Developers Conference in full swing, I’m pleased to give you an exciting update on PlayStation VR. Today, we are announcing that the PlayStation VR headset will launch in October of this year for a suggested retail price of USD $399 / CAD $549.

This is probably the first time VR has actually caught my interest. I might actually get this.

Racism, Sexism, and Discrimination at Squarespace →

March 15, 2016 · 20:39

Amélie Lamont:

As a young black woman in the tech industry, by virtue of my existence, I am bound to face discrimination. I’ve wanted to share this story for 2 years, but I’ve been scared. I recently decided that speaking up is far more important than remaining silent.

I’m hoping that telling my story urges both Squarespace and other companies in the tech industry to change their behaviors for the better.

If my experience resonates with you, maybe you’ll be inspired to speak up, or at least seek help. If it doesn’t, that’s fine. Keep it civil.

Overcast 2.5 Is Out With New Features →

March 15, 2016 · 08:13

Marco Arment:

Overcast 2.5 is now available, bringing major under-the-hood improvements and some of the most requested features to my iOS podcast player.

The new features are: a new dark mode using the system font, audio file uploads, optimised battery life, a separate Voice Boost profile when listening via the built-in speaker, and many bug fixes. The first two are for patrons only. Speaking of battery life…

Some results were unsurprising: Compared to wired headphones, Bluetooth headphones cut battery life by about a third, while AirPlay cut it about in half. But the biggest battery drain is the built-in speaker, which is even more costly to the battery than AirPlay.

Marco’s battery results actually surprised me. I didn’t think that the impact on the battery by using Bluetooth headphones was so big.

I’ve used Overcast solely since its release and apart from one bug/feature1, it has been the perfect companion during my walks and runs. There are many other great podcast players out there, but Overcast’s simplicity, Voice Boost, and Smart Speed2 won me over.

★ Overcast – iOS – News – free →

  1. When changing the sort options of a playlist, it doesn’t reorder the already downloaded episodes automatically. ↩
  2. I run it at 1.5x. ↩

Facebook, Google and WhatsApp Plan to Increase Encryption of User Data →

March 14, 2016 · 20:38

Danny Yadron:

Silicon Valley’s leading companies – including Facebook, Google and Snapchat – are working on their own increased privacy technology as Apple fights the US government over encryption, the Guardian has learned.

The projects could antagonize authorities just as much as Apple’s more secure iPhones, which are currently at the center of the San Bernardino shooting investigation. They also indicate the industry may be willing to back up their public support for Apple with concrete action.

Within weeks, Facebook’s messaging service WhatsApp plans to expand its secure messaging service so that voice calls are also encrypted, in addition to its existing privacy features. The service has some one billion monthly users. Facebook is also considering beefing up security of its own Messenger tool.

Snapchat, the popular ephemeral messaging service, is also working on a secure messaging system and Google is exploring extra uses for the technology behind a long-in-the-works encrypted email project.

At this point in time I would like to see more action from the other tech companies — this is obviously a delicate situation, but too much is at stake.

The Sequel to the Crypto Wars →

March 14, 2016 · 20:13

Steven Levy:

As with the first round of the crypto wars, the stakes could not be higher. Once again, the government is seeking to control that genie first released by Diffie and Hellman. But the physics of computer security have not changed. Last July, a panel of fifteen eminent security specialists and cryptographers — many of whom are veterans of the first crypto war — released a report confirming there was no way for the government to demand a means of bypassing encryption without a dire compromise of security. It just doesn’t work.

There is no middle ground.

Barack Obama: ‘Smartphones Can’t Be Allowed to Be Black Boxes’ →

March 13, 2016 · 10:38

Justin Sink:

President Barack Obama said Friday that smartphones — like the iPhone the FBI is trying to force Apple Inc. to help it hack — can’t be allowed to be “black boxes,” inaccessible to the government. The technology industry, he said, should work with the government instead of leaving the issue to Congress.

“You cannot take an absolutist view on this,” Obama said at the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas. “If your argument is strong encryption no matter what, and we can and should create black boxes, that I think does not strike the kind of balance we have lived with for 200, 300 years, and it’s fetishizing our phones above every other value.”

I’m disappointed in Obama. I also don’t think he knows exactly what he’s talking about.

WhatsApp Encryption Targeted by DOJ →

March 13, 2016 · 10:35

Matt Apuzzo:

But in late 2014, the company said that it would begin adding sophisticated encoding, known as end-to-end encryption, to its systems. Only the intended recipients would be able to read the messages.

“WhatsApp cannot provide information we do not have,” the company said this month when Brazilian police arrested a Facebook executive after the company failed to turn over information about a customer who was the subject of a drug trafficking investigation.

The iPhone case, which revolves around whether Apple can be forced to help the F.B.I. unlock a phone used by one of the killers in last year’s San Bernardino, Calif., massacre, has received worldwide attention for the precedent it might set. But to many in law enforcement, disputes like the one with WhatsApp are of far greater concern.

For more than a half-century, the Justice Department has relied on wiretaps as a fundamental crime-fighting tool. To some in law enforcement, if companies like WhatsApp, Signal and Telegram can design unbreakable encryption, then the future of wiretapping is in doubt.

Amazon Removing Kindle eBooks That Have Table of Contents at the End →

March 13, 2016 · 10:17

Michael Kozlowski:

Amazon has begun a quiet campaign of removing Kindle e-books that have the table of contents at the end of the book, instead of the front. Amazon has a new algorithm that is automatically emailing authors and telling them they have five days to make the changes or the BUY button will disappear. In some cases authors aren’t even getting the emails  and their e-books have just been removed.

The giant, stretching and flexing his muscles.

Warrant-Proof Places →

March 13, 2016 · 10:13

Jonathan Zdziarski:

We, as everyday Americans, should also encourage the idea of warrant proof places. The DOJ believes, quite erroneously, that the Fourth Amendment gives them the right to any evidence or information they desire with a warrant. The Bill of Rights did not grant rights to the government; it protected the rights of Americans from the overreach that was expected to come from government. Our most intimate thoughts, our private conversations, our ideas, our -intent- are all things our phone tracks. These are concepts that must remain private (if we choose to protect them) for any functioning free society. In today’s technological landscape, we are no longer giving up just our current or future activity under warrant, but for the first time in history, making potentially years of our life retroactively searchable by law enforcement. Things are recorded in ways today that no one would have imagined, even when CALEA was passed. The capability that DOJ is asserting is that our very lives and identities – going back across years – are subject to search. The Constitution never permitted this.

Screening Room — New Movies Straight to Your Living Room →

March 12, 2016 · 15:39

Chris Welch:

Screening Room plans to charge $150 for access to a tightly-secured set-top box that would let people skip theater lines and watch brand new films in their own living room. On top of the equipment cost, viewers would have to pay $50 per screening, and they’d get only 48 hours to watch the movie after laying down that money. Theaters and movie exhibitors are expected to receive a decent chunk of profits to offset complaints that Screening Room could potentially throw a wrench into their profits.

I’m fine with the price, but I’m pretty sure the technology will be atrocious. I wish they could just get their act together, and put the movies in iTunes.

Make it easy, and people will pay; make it hard and people will go out of their way to make it easier, pirating along the way, not caring about the fact that they are doing so.

Eric Schmidt Spotted Snapping Pics With an iPhone →

March 11, 2016 · 17:50

Appleinsider Staff:

While the sight of Schmidt using an iPhone, and not an Android device, may come as a surprise to some, it’s not entirely unexpected — Schmidt continued to use a BlackBerry well after the launch of Android, candidly admitting he preferred the handset’s physical keyboard.

Probably got a good deal from his carrier. On a more serious note, I don’t see why this is even a subject. I’m sure he has a good reason for using it — Google does make software for iOS after all.

How to Use Workflow for iOS When You Don’t Know Where to Start →

March 10, 2016 · 08:53

Federico Viticci:

With Workflow, your imagination is, in many ways, the only limit. And that can also be a problem at first. Facing the potential of Workflow and the breadth of its actions can be a little daunting; fortunately, the app makes it easy to get started and experiment.

The first thing you’ll want to understand is which kind of task you want to automate on your iOS device, and why. My suggestion, if you’re new to automation: Find common tasks that would truly benefit from requiring fewer seconds each day. They don’t even have to be extremely complex; something simple will do. When automating, it’s better to save a second on a trivial task that you repeat 10 times a day than to save 30 seconds on an impressive workflow you only need once a month.

A good starting point for those of you who are at a loss. I love the app myself. In fact, I used my own workflow to publish this post.

Apple: iOS Apps That Adjust Display Temperature Aren’t Allowed →

March 10, 2016 · 08:51

Juli Clover:

Earlier this week, we shared a blue-light reduction app called FlexBright, which worked similarly to Apple’s own Night Shift mode. Apple initially approved the app, which was able to adjust the screen temperature for the entire iPhone, but after it garnered attention following our post, Apple pulled it from the App Store.

Normally I would be against pulling apps like this, but since it uses silent background audio to keep it alive, which surely increases battery drain, I’m not disappointed. Most users would blame iOS or their device instead of the app.

What It’s Like to Fly in an Apartment in the Sky →

March 10, 2016 · 08:50

Chris Guillebeau:

Earlier this year I identified a new travel goal: to fly in the Etihad “Apartment,” a full-on suite that’s included on their A380 aircraft on certain routes.

Well, as of last week I can now say “mission accomplished”—I flew in The Apartment from Sydney to Abu Dhabi, a 15-hour journey. The short version of the flight is: it was amazing.

Here’s how it all went down.

Galaxy S7 vs. iPhone 6S Plus Camera Shootout ‘Proves iPhone Still Best’ →

March 9, 2016 · 12:46

Daniel Bader writing for iMore:

It’s not easy to tell which device wins this contest, as both the iPhone 6s Plus and Galaxy S7 dominate a couple of categories. The iPhone’s strengths are in situations with ample light, particularly with the sun as a source; Apple manages to capture photos with more natural colors and less artificial sharpening. This is especially evident in shots with lots of minute detail, or in macros.

The Galaxy S7, on the other hand, performs well in lower light, owing to a larger sensor and wider aperture. That said, the device doesn’t outright dominate, as photos taken in dim situations tend to emerge warmer and less lifelike.

I hope I get a review unit to test this out personally, but it appears from the samples Daniel posted, that the iPhone takes the more naturally pleasing and technically better photos, while the Galaxy S7 prefers to go for more ‘pop’ (eg. in HDR mode). Having said that, many users prefer the latter, just like they like the screen’s colours to be unnaturally saturated.

Duplicate Software on Samsung Galaxy S7 →

March 9, 2016 · 12:42

Walt Mossberg:

I agree that the S7’s have the cleanest software build of any Galaxy I’ve tested, and that Samsung’s TouchWiz interface has been toned down. But there’s still too much duplicate software for my taste. For instance, out of the box, there are still two email apps, two music services, two photo-viewing apps, two messaging apps, and, except on Verizon, two browsers and dueling wireless payment services.

I still don’t understand this.

Samsung Galaxy S7 Has ‘Basically Perfect’ Colour Saturation →

March 9, 2016 · 10:15

Joshua Ho writing for AnandTech in his preliminary review:

The next portion of our testing is the standard saturation sweep test. Here, the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge are basically perfect. It’s great to see that Samsung continues to provide their Basic color mode with a real focus on providing accurate color calibration for those that care about these things, and the user experience with getting to the right color calibration is pretty much as painless as it can be compared to some other devices where things like saturation curves, white balance, and other parts of a display calibration can only be adjusted using unitless sliders that basically require a spectrophotometer to actually use.

Unfortunately, nothing is perfect:

It’s likely that the green tint issue may only appear on a device to device basis, but to see that such issues haven’t been resolved for years is somewhat concerning given that phones costing hundreds of dollars less don’t seem to have the same problems.

Samsung Galaxy S7’s Confusing Camera →

March 9, 2016 · 10:11

Phil Nickinson:

It’s the end result that’s … well, it’s a little confusing. We’re gotten some great shots out of the Galaxy S7 in daylight, for sure. But we’ve also gotten some that have a good bit of yellow tinge to them. Or others with details that aren’t as crisp as we expected. Or a beautiful blue sky that’s noisy when viewed at 100 percent. Or sometimes the shot is simply blown out with any sort of direct sunlight. It’s good, but maybe there’s a little more tuning to be done?

One thing that I want in any hardware that I use is consistency — I don’t want to come home and find that half of my shots are unacceptable to me in some way.

The Great Mac Dev Survey →

March 8, 2016 · 17:24

Are you working as a web or software developer on a Mac?

Then you can help us find out who we are as a community: What technologies do we work with? Which tools do we use? And, maybe most importantly, which super hero rules?!

Those taking part can win licenses for some amazing software, including: 1Password, Tower, Ulysses, RapidWeaver, Postmark, BBedit, Marked 2, Sketch, xScope, and many more.