Friday Morning News

apple-patent-universal-magnetic-adapterA review of the iPhone SE from Six Colors says that it’s up-to-date hardware in a familiar package and form-factor. There’s nothing wrong with the iPhone SE per se — it reportedly has the best battery life of any iPhone, and those matte chamfers give it a more modern, clean look — but there’s no hiding the fact that within 6 months, it will be obsolete by whatever Apple releases in the next iPhone.

Chipworks’ teardown of the iPhone SE logic board reveals that it’s a hodge-podge of various components. Some parts have been borrowed from the iPhone 5s, while others appear to be completely new, which kind of puts the iPhone SE in a unique position, at least as far as innovation is concerned.

Apple has released iOS 9.3.1, an update that resolves issues with links not working on the platform. While no official explanation has been given for the cause of the issue, it’s great to see Apple identifying and releasing a fix so quickly.

In order to make the next iPhone thinner than the current iPhone 6s design, it’s possible Apple will be taking advantage of something called Fan Out technology, a chip design that means smaller chips with better I/O connectivity. MacRumors had the technical details on what Fan Out technology means for the next iPhone.

A report on Apple Pay coming to websites from Re/code makes me wonder if this will be a worldwide rollout, or whether only certain banks will be on-board to begin with. Re/code seems to suggest Apple Pay will become a PayPal-like competitor, which could mean that the bank of Apple is not too far away.

A patent for an Apple-developed “universal magnetic adapter” wonders why we haven’t thought of this kind of thing sooner, and then also makes me realise that people don’t want adapters, they want universal connection standards like Lightning, USB-C, or whatever spec Apple and the wider technology community is supporting.

AppleInsider talks about a modular Apple Watch accessory that lets devices connect to the built-in diagnostics port on the Apple Watch.

The FBI has agreed to help unlock an iPhone and iPod involved in a homicide case in Arkansas, and that’s about all we know. It seems curious that one moment the FBI was asking for Apple’s help, now they’re helping others unlock iPhones.

Meanwhile, the father of a recently-deceased 13-year old has written to Apple CEO Tim Cook, asking for his assistance in unlocking his dead son’s iPhone. The father just wants access to the last two months of photos and thoughts, and although he agrees with Cook’s philosophy of customer privacy, he thinks an “solution should be made for exceptional cases like his own”.

If you’re looking for something to play on your brand-new 9.7-inch iPad Pro or iPhone SE this weekend, check out the arcade line-drawing title Dirac, or even the card combo game Exploding Kittens, from the guy that brings you The Oatmeal.


Originally published at: http://appletalk.com.au/2016/04/friday-morning-news010416/

There’s a difference between unlocking a device that they can unlock, and decrypting a device by writing new software as the methods to unlock have been exhausted.

I love this game :slight_smile:

It’s cool and all. I was hoping for more. Maybe some of the next versions will have more repeat playability. I played it for a while and then ended up going back to Star Fluxx and Munchkin :slight_smile:

btw as of this morning’s News, we are now a native Apple News publisher. This means that our articles are not just an RSS feed, they’re in Apple’s new format which allows for text resizing and a prettier overall look.

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