Apple users raise privacy concerns after hard-drive files uploaded to iCloud

Line between devices and cloud services fades as online storage allows users to switch without losing data by for the Washington Post

After security researcher Jeffrey Paul upgraded the operating system on his MacBook Pro last week, he discovered that several of his personal files had found a new home – on the cloud. The computer had saved the files

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Apple and Google brands worth $100bn each

PARIS: The US Apple and Google brands which have become household names around the globe are worth more than $100 billion each, and top a ranking of the world’s biggest brands, consultancy Interbrand said. In number one place, computer brand Apple has risen 21 percent in value this year to worth an estimated $118.9 billion (93.0 billion euros). In second place, the brand value of Internet search engine Google has increased by 15 percent to $107.43 billion. “The fact that Apple and Google have exceeded $100 billion is proof of…

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Apple vs. Google: New privacy battle looms

A new battle is brewing over privacy for mobile devices, after moves by Google and Apple to toughen the encryption of their mobile devices sparked complaints from law enforcement Washington (AFP) – A new battle is brewing over privacy for mobile devices, after moves by Google and Apple to toughen the encryption of their mobile devices sparked complaints from law enforcement. The issue is part of a long-running debate over whether tech gadgets should have privacy-protecting encryption which makes it difficult for law enforcement to access in time-sensitive investigations. FBI…

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California Passes Smartphone Remote Kill Switch Law

Mobile Apps

In a move that has me scratching my head, the California legislators have seen fit to pass a law that requires smartphones to have a remote kill switch built into them. Don’t worry for the time being as this only affects smartphones sold after July 1, 2015. Still, it leaves one wondering, what are they thinking? While the premise here is to protect people when they have their phones stolen the possibility of this being perverted by either law enforcement of criminal alike has not gone unnoticed. This reminds me…

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Microsoft Office for iPad, How it all started

Han-Yi Shaw didn’t like what he saw, and he told Microsoft so. The software giant, by Shaw’s reckoning, didn’t really understand Apple’s platform or how to develop Office for it. Shaw told Microsoft exactly what he thought — and the company responded by agreeing to all of his changes, then hiring him. That was more than a decade ago. Today, Shaw heads up Microsoft’s Office Design Studio and is the architect of one of the tech giant’s most important innovations in years: Office for iPad. The product is available now…

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Microsoft May Introduce Office for Apple’s iPad Next Week

Microsoft

Newly appointed Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella is said to be announcing a version of the company’s popular Office productivity suite, including Word, Excel and Powerpoint for Apple’s iPad tablet devices at an event next week Microsoft may finally introduce a version of its Office software suite for Apple’s iPad devices at an event next Thursday, according to multiple reports. Sources close to Reuters, ZDNet and The Verge have said Microsoft’s about to introduce a suite of Microsoft Office applications designed for the Apple tablet. The suite is expected to include…

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Facebook-WhatsApp Deal Haunted by Past Web Merger Flops

Facebook Inc. (FB) investors who pushed the company’s shares to a record after it unveiled the $19 billion deal for WhatsApp Inc. would be well served to remember — every Internet takeover of more than $10 billion has flopped. Last week’s proposed purchase would be the biggest Web acquisition in more than a decade and only the fifth ever to top that threshold, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That puts it in the same category as AOL’s merger with Time Warner and Terra Network SA’s takeover of Lycos, which…

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book fair targets Internet giants Amazon, Apple and Google

Organisers of the world’s biggest book fair warned on Tuesday against the domination of Internet giants as the publishing world grapples to blend old and new forms of reading. American giants Amazon, Apple and Google — whose entry into the world of online sales and digital books is threatening the traditional publishing industry — are “logistics magicians but are not publishers”, said Juergen Boos, director of the Frankfurt Book Fair. “There’s no passion there,” he told reporters as the giant German book fair prepared to open Wednesday. Boos warned it…

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U.S. Confirms That It Gathers Online Data Overseas

WASHINGTON — The federal government has been secretly collecting information on foreigners overseas for nearly six years from the nation’s largest Internet companies like Google, Facebook and, most recently, Apple, in search of national security threats, the director of national intelligence confirmed Thursday night. The confirmation of the classified program came just hours after government officials acknowledged a separate seven-year effort to sweep up records of telephone calls inside the United States. Together, the unfolding revelations opened a window into the growth of government surveillance that began under the Bush…

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Apple loses US trade panel ruling in Samsung dispute

Voice App

Apple has lost a ruling by a US trade panel in a patent dispute with its rival Samsung. The International Trade Commission (ITC) ruled that Apple infringed on a Samsung patent, which could mean some older models of the iPad and iPhone are banned from sale in the US. The patent relates to 3G wireless technology and the ability to transmit multiple services correctly and at the same time. Apple said it plans to appeal. The ruling could also be reversed by a US presidential order within 60 days. The…

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