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11 Sep 2015, California, USA — Apple Computers new headquarters new 300K foot office campus is under construction and due for completion in 2017. The design is by UK architect Foster + Partners. — Image by © Steve Proehl/Proehl Studios/Corbis[/caption]Fortune’s Q&A with Apple CEO Tim Cook doesn’t include any questions or answers about the recent security and privacy debate between Apple and the FBI, probably because the interview was conducted before any of that happened. Instead, what we do get is a look at Apple’s first quarter financial results, as well as insight on the innovation process at Apple.
On the other hand, Apple has published a Q&A about the entire security debate, saying that while creating a new operating system to allow the FBI to have more guesses is technically possible, Apple believes it is too dangerous to do, and that “the only way to guarantee that such a powerful tool isn’t abused and doesn’t fall into the wrong hands is to never create it.”
Tim Cook’s letter to Apple employees says that ever since Apple opened up the issue to the public, they’ve had outpourings of support from everywhere in the US. Cook also writes that the best way forward is for the government to withdraw its demands under the All Writs Act, and form some kind of commission or party that investigates matters of civil liberties including privacy and security to ensure this kind of situation doesn’t happen again.
The director of the FBI claims the bureau does not want to break anyone’s encryption, and re-iterates that it isn’t trying to set a precedent or let a master key loose. All the FBI wants to do is guess the passcode on the device in question, without the device self-destructing or taking a decade to guess the right passcode, as reported by The Verge.
John Gruber has some clarification on how the iCloud backup and iCloud password comes into play. If the iCloud password wasn’t changed at the request of the device owner — the San Bernardino County Department of Public Health — then the device may have been able to back up to iCloud over a known Wi-Fi network without being unlocked. But since the iCloud password was changed, that’s now off the table, and is why the FBI wants to get into the device.
Apple has released the fourth beta of iOS 9.3 to developers, with mostly minor changes. However, iMore highlights a regression in Pencil-based navigation. In iOS 9.2, Pencil owners were able to navigate with the accessory by tapping and scrolling through lists much like you would with a normal stylus. But in the iOS 9.3 betas, that hasn’t been the case, and depending on who you read, that may or may not be intentional.
WatchOS 2.2 beta 4, tvOS 9.2 beta 4, and OS X El Capitan 10.11.4 beta 4 have also been seeded to developers, with open beta participants not far behind, if previous beta releases are anything to go by.
Interestingly enough, Apple Pay fees for Chinese banks are half what they are in the US. Those following along in the Apple Pay situation in Australia know that Apple Pay fees are at the centre of the debate, with Australian banks having lower interchange fees than overseas banks.
Apple has hired the former VP of corporate communications from AMC Networks, with Bernadette Simpao joining Apple’s PR team focusing on the Apple TV.
There’s now a beta of iTerm2 version 3, which brings a bunch of great new features to one of the best terminal emulators around.
Originally published at: http://appletalk.com.au/2016/02/tuesday-morning-news230216/
