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FYI: Apple and IBM Forge Global Partnership
by Wayne Billing 15 Jul '14

15 Jul '14

[cid:DB386B97-933D-4328-ACC2-13FF7E647899] ...from: http://www.ibm.com/mobilefirst/us/en/?lnk=ushpls1 http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2014/07/15Apple-and-IBM-Forge-Global-Partne… Apple and IBM Forge Global Partnership to Transform Enterprise Mobility CUPERTINO, California and ARMONK, New York—July 15, 2014—Apple® and IBM (NYSE: IBM<http://www.ibm.com/investor/>) today announced an exclusive partnership that teams the market-leading strengths of each company to transform enterprise mobility through a new class of business apps—bringing IBM’s big data and analytics capabilities to iPhone® and iPad®. The landmark partnership aims to redefine the way work will get done, address key industry mobility challenges and spark true mobile-led business change—grounded in four core capabilities: * a new class of more than 100 industry-specific enterprise solutions including native apps, developed exclusively from the ground up, for iPhone and iPad; * unique IBM cloud services optimized for iOS, including device management, security, analytics and mobile integration; * new AppleCare® service and support offering tailored to the needs of the enterprise; and * new packaged offerings from IBM for device activation, supply and management. The new IBM MobileFirst for iOS solutions will be built in an exclusive collaboration that draws on the distinct strengths of each company: IBM’s big data and analytics capabilities, with the power of more than 100,000 IBM industry and domain consultants and software developers behind it, fused with Apple’s legendary consumer experience, hardware and software integration and developer platform. The combination will create apps that can transform specific aspects of how businesses and employees work using iPhone and iPad, allowing companies to achieve new levels of efficiency, effectiveness and customer satisfaction—faster and easier than ever before. As part of the exclusive IBM MobileFirst for iOS agreement, IBM will also sell iPhones and iPads with the industry-specific solutions to business clients worldwide. “iPhone and iPad are the best mobile devices in the world and have transformed the way people work with over 98 percent of the Fortune 500 and over 92 percent of the Global 500 using iOS devices in their business today,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “For the first time ever we’re putting IBM’s renowned big data analytics at iOS users’ fingertips, which opens up a large market opportunity for Apple. This is a radical step for enterprise and something that only Apple and IBM can deliver.” “Mobility—combined with the phenomena of data and cloud—is transforming business and our industry in historic ways, allowing people to re-imagine work, industries and professions,” said Ginni Rometty, IBM Chairman, President and CEO. “This alliance with Apple will build on our momentum in bringing these innovations to our clients globally, and leverages IBM’s leadership in analytics, cloud, software and services. We are delighted to be teaming with Apple, whose innovations have transformed our lives in ways we take for granted, but can’t imagine living without. Our alliance will bring the same kind of transformation to the way people work, industries operate and companies perform.” Apple and IBM’s shared vision for this partnership is to put in the hands of business professionals everywhere the unique capabilities of iPads and iPhones with a company’s knowledge, data, analytics and workflows. Specifically, the two companies are working together to deliver the essential elements of enterprise mobile solutions: - Mobile solutions that transform business: The companies will collaborate to build IBM MobileFirst for iOS Solutions—a new class of “made-for-business apps” targeting specific industry issues or opportunities in retail, healthcare, banking, travel and transportation, telecommunications and insurance, among others, that will become available starting this fall and into 2015. - Mobile platform: The IBM MobileFirst Platform for iOS will deliver the services required for an end-to-end enterprise capability, from analytics, workflow and cloud storage, to fleet-scale device management, security and integration. Enhanced mobile management includes a private app catalog, data and transaction security services, and productivity suite for all IBM MobileFirst for iOS solutions. In addition to on-premise software solutions, all these services will be available on Bluemix—IBM’s development platform on the IBM Cloud Marketplace. - Mobile service and support: AppleCare for Enterprise will provide IT departments and end users with 24/7 assistance from Apple’s award-winning customer support group, with on-site service delivered by IBM. - Packaged service offerings: IBM is introducing IBM MobileFirst Supply and Management for device supply, activation and management services for iPhone and iPad, with leasing options. Announced at Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference in June and available later this year, Apple’s iOS 8 is the biggest release since the launch of the App Store℠, giving users incredible new features and developers the tools to create amazing new apps. For enterprise, iOS 8 builds on the new IT model for a mobilized workforce by improving the way users are informed of how their devices are configured, managed or restricted, with expanded security, management and productivity features. Apple designs Macs, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices with iPad. IBM’s 5,000 mobile experts have been at the forefront of mobile enterprise innovation. IBM has secured more than 4,300 patents in mobile, social and security, that have been incorporated into IBM MobileFirst solutions that enable enterprise clients to radically streamline and accelerate mobile adoption, help organizations engage more people and capture new markets. IBM has made a dozen acquisitions in security in the past decade, has more than 6,000 security researchers and developers in its 25 security labs worldwide that work on developing enterprise-class solutions. IBM has also established the world’s deepest portfolio in Big Data and Analytics consulting and technology expertise based on experiences drawn from more than 40,000 data and analytics client engagements. This analytics portfolio spans research and development, solutions, software and hardware, and includes more than 15,000 analytics consultants, 4,000 analytics patents, 6,000 industry solution business partners, and 400 IBM mathematicians who are helping clients use big data to transform their organizations. For more information regarding the new Apple and IBM solutions, please visit www.ibm.com/MobileFirstForiOS<http://www.ibm.com/MobileFirstForiOS> or www.apple.com/ipad/business<http://www.apple.com/ipad/business>. Press Contacts: Edward Barbini IBM barbini(a)us.ibm.com<mailto:barbini@us.ibm.com> (914) 499-6565 Natalie Kerris Apple nat(a)apple.com<mailto:nat@apple.com> (408) 974-6877

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INTEREST: Goole search now flagging FLASH page results
by Wayne Billing 15 Jul '14

15 Jul '14

...from: http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.ca/2014/07/promoting-modern-websites… Promoting modern websites for modern devices in Google search results<http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.ca/2014/07/promoting-modern-websites…> Posted: Monday, July 14, 2014 Tweet<https://twitter.com/share> Webmaster level: all A common annoyance for web users is when websites require browser technologies that are not supported by their device. When users access such pages, they may see nothing but a blank space or miss out a large portion of the page's contents. Starting today, we will indicate to searchers when our algorithms detect pages that may not work on their devices. For example, Adobe Flash is not supported on iOS devices or on Android versions 4.1 and higher, and a page whose contents are mostly Flash may be noted like this: [cid:1611829B-5A94-4760-9F2B-F4F98E240FE7] Developing modern multi-device websites Fortunately, making websites that work on all modern devices is not that hard: websites can use HTML5 since it is universally supported, sometimes exclusively, by all devices. To help webmasters build websites that work on all types of devices regardless of the type of content they wish to serve, we recently announced<http://googledevelopers.blogspot.com/2014/06/web-fundamentals-and-web-start…> two resources: * Web Fundamentals<https://developers.google.com/web/fundamentals/?utm_source=wmc&utm_medium=b…>: a curated source for modern best practices. * Web Starter Kit<https://developers.google.com/web/starter-kit/?utm_source=wmc&utm_medium=bl…>: a starter framework supporting the Web Fundamentals best practices out of the box. By following the best practices described in Web Fundamentals you can build a responsive web design<https://developers.google.com/web/fundamentals/layouts/?utm_source=wta&utm_…>, which has long been Google's recommendation<https://developers.google.com/webmasters/smartphone-sites/> for search-friendly sites. Be sure not to block crawling of any Googlebot of the page assets (CSS, JavaScript, and images) using robots.txt or otherwise. Being able to access these external files fully helps our algorithms detect your site's responsive web design configuration and treat it appropriately. You can use the Fetch and render as Google<https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/158587?hl=en> feature in Webmaster Tools to test how our indexing algorithms see your site. As always, if you need more help you can ask a question in our webmaster forum<https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!categories/webmasters/mobile>. Posted by Keita Oda, Software Engineer, and Pierre Far<https://plus.google.com/+PierreFar/posts>, Webmaster Trends Analyst

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FYI: iCloud, Google I/O, & GoogleDrive storage: 1 TB: was $120/year; new pricing: now $120/year
by Wayne Billing 25 Jun '14

25 Jun '14

Apple just had their yearly get together for developers called the "World Wide Developers Conference" (WWDC) which saw a raft of announcements including "iCloud Drive" and a change in their "cloud storage" pricing: for example, 20 GB for $12 per year and $50 per year will get you 200 GB in iCloud. (1 TB pricing has not yet been announced.) "iCloud Drive" will, of course, work with the new CONTINUITY features of 10.10 and iOS 8: https://www.apple.com/ca/ios/ios8/continuity/ Google's annual developer get together (called "I/O") is on this week and they, too, have announced new pricing for their cloud storage called Google Drive. 1 TeraByte of Google Drive storage used to cost $120 per year. Under the new pricing 1 TeraByte is priced at $120 per year............ oh. Well, while that is the truth that isn't the whole truth ..... if you are a company getting Google Drive for your employees (more than 5 employees, actually) http://www.google.com/enterprise/apps/business/pricing.html) your annual fee of $120 per employee gets you "Unlimited" Google Drive storage...... Oh.......... oh, ya, and it seems you need to enrol your company and employees in the "Google Apps for Business plan". The "Google Apps for Business plan" gets you all the online "Google Apps for Business": [cid:3465D8D4-F732-4131-BB4D-1A6BF5ABB8A0] [cid:C8069529-0C3A-4E1D-B3DB-737C108DF828] http://www.google.com/enterprise/apps/business/products.html Wayne

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INTEREST: iOS 7's Activation Lock Feature Helping Reduce iPhone Theft in Three Major Cities
by Wayne Billing 19 Jun '14

19 Jun '14

...from: http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/06/19/antitheft-technology-led-to-a-dip-… Antitheft Technology Led to a Dip in iPhone Thefts in Some Cities, Police Say By BRIAN X. CHEN<http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/author/brian-x-chen/> JUNE 19, 2014 12:01 AM 4 Comments [Police officers in San Francisco and London say that after Apple last fall introduced a safety measure, called Activation Lock, iPhone theft fell significantly.]Larry W. Smith/European Pressphoto AgencyPolice officers in San Francisco and London say that after Apple last fall introduced a safety measure, called Activation Lock, iPhone theft fell significantly. Updated with additional reporting on kill switch plans for Google and Microsoft. For several years, cellphone theft has been a growing epidemic worldwide. But the police in New York, San Francisco and London say they are finally starting to see a dip in thefts of one of the most popular smartphones. The reason? The attorney general of New York, Eric T. Schneiderman, and the district attorney of San Francisco, George Gascón, share the theory that phone thefts are dropping because of Apple’s addition of a so-called kill switch, a type of antitheft technology, in its iPhone in September. Police officers in San Francisco and London say that after Apple introduced its measure, called Activation Lock, last fall, iPhone theft fell significantly. Comparing data in the six months before and after Apple released the feature, the police said iPhone robberies in San Francisco dropped 38 percent, and those in London fell 24 percent. The police in New York said that robberies involving Apple products dropped 19 percent and those involving grand larcenies dropped 29 percent in the first five months of 2014, compared with the same time period from 2013. A kill switch is software that lets consumers lock down a phone after the device has been reported stolen; users can reactivate the phone only with the correct password or personal identification number. Police have said that this type of antitheft technology could discourage criminals from stealing smartphones. Microsoft on Thursday said<http://blogs.technet.com/b/microsoft_on_the_issues/archive/2014/06/19/micro…> that it, too, will introduce a kill switch in a future software update for its Windows Phone operating system. Google will also be introducing one in the next version of Android, said Matt Kallman, a Google spokesman. “The introduction of kill switches has clearly had an effect on the conduct of smartphone thieves,” Mr. Schneiderman said in an interview. “If these can be canceled like the equivalent of canceling a credit card, these are going to be the equivalent of stealing a paperweight.” Other factors could have contributed to the decrease in iPhone thefts. For one, the police and tech companies have tried harder over the last year to educate consumers on additional security measures to protect phones, like setting up passcodes, which can make it harder to gain access to devices so that they can be erased and resold. Over the last year, several lawmakers across the country have pushed for stronger antitheft features on smartphones. In May, Minnesota became the first state to require a kill switch on all smartphones. In California last month, senators passed a bill<http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/05/08/with-a-change-of-heart-california-…>requiring phones sold in the state to include the antitheft technology. That bill still requires approval from the governor of California, Jerry Brown. San Francisco’s district attorney, Mr. Gascón, has been one of the most vocal supporters of a kill switch. He and Mr. Schneiderman collaborated to form the Secure Our Smartphones initiative to press businesses to create a technical way to dissuade thieves from stealing phones. Mr. Gascón said plenty of work remained. He said he hoped all manufacturers would include a kill switch turned on by default on all smartphones so consumers did not have to figure out how to use it. In the iPhone, for example, it is not turned on by default. “Many consumers might not be tech-savvy enough to do this,” Mr. Gascón said. He added that he still thought it was necessary for there to be laws requiring kill switches in phones, similar to how seat belts eventually became legally required inside cars.

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FYI: arrest made in "Locking and Ransoming Apple Devices"
by Wayne Billing 19 Jun '14

19 Jun '14

...from: http://www.macrumors.com/2014/06/09/australia-device-hackers-arrested/ Hackers Involved in Locking and Ransoming Apple Devices in Australia Arrested Monday June 9, 2014 10:37 am PDT by Juli Clover Two weeks ago, hackers hijacked several iOS and Mac devices in Australia, remotely locking them via iCloud and demanding a ransom from the owner to get the device unlocked. "Device locked by Oleg Pliss," read the hijacker's message, along with a demand for $50 to $100. Quite a few users were affected and while early speculation suggested iCloud may have been hacked, Apple confirmed<http://www.macrumors.com/2014/05/28/apple-denies-icloud-hack/> that iCloud was not compromised, and that hackers had instead gained access to Apple IDs and passwords, likely through other site breaches where they used similar credentials. [australian_ios_device_hacked] The two hackers behind the attacks have now been detained by Russian authorities, reportsThe Sydney Morning Herald<http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/consumer-security/hackers-who-held-apple…>. The hackers - aged 17 and 23 - were detained in the course of "operational activities" by the Russian Interior Ministry, Russia's Ministry of Internal Affairs said. They are both residents of the Southern Administrative District of Moscow and one has already been tried before, it said. According to Russian site MKRU<http://www.mk.ru/incident/2014/06/09/kibermoshenniki-shantazhirovali-rossiy…> [Google Translate<http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mk…>), the two hackers were caught after appearing on camera withdrawing a victim's ransom money from an ATM. The site also confirms the hackers gained access to Apple IDs and passwords via phishing pages and social engineering techniques, then used that information to lock devices. Russian users were also affected, which led to the investigation. One method of obtaining login information involved a pre-owned account filled with movies and music that was sold to an unsuspecting victim. Once the person linked their own details with the account, it was vulnerable to being hijacked. During the attacks, users who had passcodes enabled on their devices were able to bypass the hack, but those who had not previously set a passcode were out of luck, requiring a full reinstall of iOS. Apple recommends using a passcode with iOS devices, as well as two-step authentication, which can help thwart attacks like this one.

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FYI: Android changes updates; might more easily expose private data
by Wayne Billing 11 Jun '14

11 Jun '14

...from: Android no longer reveals app permission changes in automatic updates Change could heighten security risks for users. by Dan Goodin<http://arstechnica.com/author/dan-goodin/> - June 11 2014, 10:11am CDT * ANDROID<http://arstechnica.com/discipline/android> * HARDENING<http://arstechnica.com/discipline/hardening> 61<http://arstechnica.com/security/2014/06/android-no-longer-reveals-app-permi…> [cid:B3933F94-CCCA-46F6-B996-4B40A40F7C32] Yoav F<https://secure.flickr.com/photos/yoav85/6231910409/> [New automatic Android app updates means users could miss a change in the permissions - such as permission to text message or permission to track - that app has on your device.] Previously, automatically updated apps displayed explicit details when a new version gained additional privileges. For example, an app that previously tracked only coarse GPS coordinates would warn users if an update would begin receiving fine coordinates. Similarly, a newly assigned ability to send SMS messages would also be disclosed. Under changes implemented through the latest Play store app, neither new privilege is displayed if a user has previously accepted any other permission in the same category as the new permission. In other words, by accepting one permission from a category, users agree that every other permission in that category can be added without notification in future updates. The change is an attempt by Google to streamline and simplify the process of installing updates. Rather than providing lengthy details many users likely don't understand, the new permission disclosure is much less verbose. Permissions are indicated only by a very general category such as Location, SMS, or Contacts/Calendar. Users who want to track precisely how a permission may have changed must click the category to see if specific new capabilities have been added. As a result, an app update that replaces coarse location with fine location simply shows the location category. End users must manually drill down to learn of the change. "I'd call it a step sideways," Marc Rogers, principal security researcher at Android antimalware provider Lookout, said of the change. "It definitely doesn't improve anything and it introduces some new risks, but I do think it addresses a couple of other issues." As an example, he said, suppose an updated app acquires the right to view photos. "I'm not sure users are well equipped to understand the full risk that each category could represent. I doubt as a user I would understand that the implication of that is I'm also giving someone permission to format my SD card. So there is a risk that users who have auto update on will not see this new permission of 'format the SD card' come in and somebody could do something malicious." The changes have been the topic of sometimes vigorous debate on reddit threads here<http://www.reddit.com/r/Android/comments/27n7yr/what_latest_changes_to_play…>, here<http://www.reddit.com/r/Android/comments/27gsqn/how_to_find_the_hidden_new_…>, andhere<http://www.reddit.com/r/Android/comments/27g33v/security_warning_android_pl…>. Users who object to the changes should consider disabling automatic updates<https://support.google.com/googleplay/answer/6014972#update>. That can be done by opening the Google Play app and switching to the settings view. Auto updating can be set for all apps or just some of them. Google has more details about the permission changes here<https://support.google.com/googleplay/answer/6014972?hl=en>.

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INTEREST: iOS8: feature: randomizes MAC address while scanning
by Wayne Billing 09 Jun '14

09 Jun '14

...from: http://9to5mac.com/2014/06/09/ios-8-randomizes-mac-address-while-scanning-w… iOS 8 randomizes MAC address while scanning WiFi, blocks marketers tracking you<http://9to5mac.com/2014/06/09/ios-8-randomizes-mac-address-while-scanning-w…> [WiFi-Mac-Address-iOS-8] One iOS 8 feature Apple hasn’t talked about much is its ability to randomize the device’s MAC address<http://www.reddit.com/r/apple/comments/27n6cy/ios_8_randomises_the_mac_addr…> while scanning for WiFi networks. In iOS 8, Wi-Fi scanning behavior has changed to use random,locally administered MAC addresses… The MAC address used for Wi-Fi scans may not always be the devices real (universal) address… Once the iOS device is done scanning it will give the real MAC ID. This appears to be a security and privacy precaution as marketing and analytics companies routinely use this unique identifier to collect data about nearby devices scanning for WiFi networks. The New York Times published<http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/15/business/attention-shopper-stores-are-tra…> a story last year about a similar experiment at Nordstrom and several marketing companies selling data to retailers and more use the same method of picking up the MAC address from devices scanning for WiFi networks. One of those companies, Euclid Analytics<http://euclidanalytics.com/privacy/statement/?_ga=1.96730975.1797034683.139…>, explains how it currently uses the MAC address of iPhones to help clients. While it notes “the MAC address does not disclose the device owner’s real-world identity nor any other personal data,” it also uses the data it collects to help clients “improve store layouts, determine timing for promotions and sales, measure the effects of advertising, and set staffing levels and store hours.” These marketing companies do the same for Samsung and Android devices, which also do not currently automatically randomize the MAC address, but it looks like Apple might put an end to that with iOS 8.

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FYI: WWDC Keynote and iOS HEALTH app
by Wayne Billing 08 Jun '14

08 Jun '14

Apple's annual World Wide Developer Conference (WWDC) was held this week and, while the KEYNOTE address and sessions have been available only to developers in the past, this year the Keynote was webcast for anyone to watch: http://www.apple.com/apple-events/june-2014/ It's quite long (about 2 hours) so here's a quick synopsis of what will be introduced for OS X and iOS this fall: http://www.wired.com/2014/06/tldr-all-the-news-you-need-from-wwdc/ http://www.engadget.com/2014/06/02/apple-wwdc-2014-liveblog/ One of the announcements that might have a big impact on how people monitor their health was Apple's HealthKit (for developers) and the HEALTH app for users: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gg_SYnw3-vA http://www.cnet.com/products/apple-health/

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FYI Important: Set Passcodes on your devices
by Wayne Billing 29 May '14

29 May '14

Safer passwords, unique passwords across services, set passcodes for devices that support them...... ...from: http://9to5mac.com/2014/05/26/australian-mac-and-ios-users-find-devices-rem… Australian Mac and iOS users find devices remotely locked, held for ransom (and how to keep yours safe)<http://9to5mac.com/2014/05/26/australian-mac-and-ios-users-find-devices-rem…> [1401164873077.jpg] The Sydney Morning Herald reports that several Australian Mac, iPhone, and iPad users are finding that their devices have been locked remotely through Apple’s Find My iPhone service by someone using the name “Oleg Pliss.” The hacker (or hackers) then demand payments of around $50 to $100 to an anonymous PayPal account in order to restore the devices to their owners. An active thread on Apple’s support forum was started yesterday as users started to discover that they had been targeted by the attack. According to that discussion, users are finding all of their devices locked at once rather than a single device per user. Based on that report and the fact that Find My iPhone is being used to hold the devices hostage, it seems likely that the perpetrator has gained access to these users’ iCloud accounts—possibly through password reuse by those users—rather than some device-specific malware or hack. Because the hackers used Find My iPhone to lock out the victims, users who had set a passcode on their devices were able to regain access. This is because Find My iPhone can only be used to add a passcode to devices that don’t already have one set. If you’ve created a passcode on your device, you (or malicous users with access to your account) cannot change it from Find My iPhone. It can only be changed or removed directly from the device. Unfortunately, users affected by this attack will need to get in touch with Apple to work around the issue. It’s also highly advisable to reset your Apple ID password and security questions once you’ve regained access to the affected iCloud account. For those who haven’t been affected, here are a few steps you can take to ensure you aren’t hit by a similar attack: Use unique passwords. Using the same password on multiple services (iCloud, Gmail, Facebook, etc) put all of your accounts at risk. An attacker who gains your password for one service can then try it on the others. If you use the same password on some of them, they’ll have access to everything. One great way to ensure you’re using a unique password on each website is to use an app like iCloud Keychain (http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5813) or 1Password to manage them. Use two-factor authentication (http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5570?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US). Two-factor authentication boosts your online security by requiring you to enter a time-sensitive code after logging in and before accessing your account. Not all web services offer this extra layer of security, but many do, including Gmail, Facebook, Twitter, and yes, even your Apple ID (http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5570?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US). You can use an app like iCloud Keychain (http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5813), Google Authenticator or Authy to manage these codes, or get them via SMS. Use a passcode or Touch ID on your iOS devices. If you’re not already using Touch ID or a passcode to secure your iOS devices, it’s a good idea to add one. That will prevent malicious users from remotely adding one to lock you out. As noted above, unprotected devices can be remotely locked, while devices secured with a passcode or Touch ID cannot. <http://9to5mac.com/2014/05/26/australian-mac-and-ios-users-find-devices-rem…>

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INTEREST: Using Microsoft’s New Surface Pro 3 as a laptop—on my lap
by Wayne Billing 20 May '14

20 May '14

Microsoft presented the Surface Pro 3 today to the press. ...from: http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2014/05/hands-on-using-microsofts-surface-pr… Hands-on: Using Microsoft’s Surface Pro 3 as a laptop—on my lap We give the device the couch treatment to see if it's up to the task. by Andrew Cunningham<http://arstechnica.com/author/andrew_cunningham/> - May 20 2014, 12:53pm CDT [cid:97A74A17-F83A-493F-BE9A-5FA9B663FCEB]<http://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/surface-pro-3-4.jpg> Enlarge<http://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/surface-pro-3-4.jpg> / Microsoft thinks this tablet can replace a laptop. We'll take that bet! Casey Johnston I've never actually considered buying one of Microsoft's Surface tablets. It's not because they're bad machines or because of some specific distaste for Windows or something—it's just that I spend most of my time on my computers writing, and when I'm writing on a laptop, I'm almost always using the device on my lap. The Surface Touch and Type covers have their virtues, but they absolutely need a stable desk or table to be used. When combined with the Surface tablet, the system is shaky on your lap at best. Microsoft made light of this foible at the Surface Pro 3 announcement today<http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2014/05/surface-pro-3-sports-12-inch-screen-…>, taking care to highlight how many of the assembled press and analysts were using MacBook Airs to do their liveblogs and take their notes. I was one of those people, so a substantial portion of the announcement was aimed specifically at me (and my kind). Here's a Surface tablet you can use on your lap, as you would a laptop. Challenge accepted, Microsoft! When Panos Panay and the other Microsoft execs left the stage, I stowed my MacBook Air in my bag, grabbed my Surface review unit from the cart, and found a couch. This entire hands-on post was written with the Surface Pro 3 in my lap, and I kind of liked it. Going lap-on [cid:A594B609-3489-4A1F-B8A7-A9A9391EFFCB] Hands-on with the Surface Pro 3, by Casey Johnston. The Type Cover now has a magnetic strip running across the top that you fold flat to the front of the tablet. Before you fold it, the Type Cover is usable but uncomfortable and wobbly. After folding it, it's still not as rock-solid as a non-removable aluminum base, but it's a much more laptop-like typing experience. The keyboard is more stable, but the new kickstand comes into play here, too. The original Surface Pro supported one kickstand angle (22 degrees) while the Surface Pro 2 supported two (24 and 40 degrees). The Surface Pro 3 is more like a laptop in that its kickstand is pretty stable at any angle, so when you have the thing on your lap, you can point the screen at your face basically however you want. Looking at it from the front, it's easy to forget that you're not using a laptop. [cid:7EDEBFF2-A998-49A7-9A20-068B78DD2C03]<http://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/surface-pro-3-3.jpg> Enlarge<http://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/surface-pro-3-3.jpg> / The tablet's new kickstand. It's not quite the same as using a laptop, though. For one thing, the unfolded kickstand and the keyboard cover combined expand to take up a wide swath of one's lap—the whole apparatus extends nearly to my knees, and I'm not a short person. Those with less expansive laps may need to do a little maneuvering to fit the whole thing. You're also going to have to keep your lap mostly level. If one of your legs is raised higher than the other, the kickstand and keyboard become more wobbly again. The worst part, at least relative to the MacBook Air and the best Ultrabooks, is the Type Cover itself. It's a relatively shallow chiclet keyboard with mostly full-size keys, though the up and down arrow keys and some on the left and right of the keyboard are a little squeezed to conserve space. The backlight is nice, and I was quickly typing at my usual speeds, but the key travel is too shallow to be as satisfying or responsive as a normal keyboard. It's merely good, not great. For what it's worth, the trackpad in the Type Cover actually seems reasonably good. Usually when I review a Windows laptop, the first thing I do is update the trackpad driver and tweak the sensitivity settings until they feel reasonable, but I didn't have any problems with palm rejection or accuracy while I was typing this article. My only complaint is that it's a little small—on older laptops with smaller trackpads, I've seen some users have trouble because it's too easy to accidentally invoke the Windows 8 trackpad gestures, but that's not an issue I ran into. If one of your key complaints about previous Surfaces was that they were insufficient laptop replacements, the Surface Pro 3 hits much nearer the mark. The rest of the system [cid:B30DE39A-6BAD-422F-9544-82D49B72647E]<http://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/surface-pro-3.jpg> Enlarge<http://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/surface-pro-3.jpg> / The Surface Pro 3 and its Type Cover. Casey Johnston We'll be able to go a little more in-depth with the system (including the pen input) when we publish our full review, but for now we'll run through some of the important specs so you know more about what you're getting if you preorder one of these today. Let's start with the specs. Though we speculated that Microsoft would have to use one of the ultra-low-voltage Y-series Haswell CPUs to make the system thin and light enough, our review loaner has the same Core i5-4300U used in the revised last-generation Surface Pro<http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2014/01/microsoft-quietly-bumps-surface-pro-…> (Core i3 and Core i7 options will also be available). Performance isn't going to go up much, and the Intel HD 4400 integrated GPU means this thing won't be much of a gamer, but we're impressed that Microsoft was able to make the tablet thinner and lighter without sacrificing speed, The tablet also has an 802.11ac adapter from Marvell, an upgrade from the 802.11n adapter in the Surface Pro 2. Our review loaner includes 8GB of DDR3 RAM and a 256GB solid-state drive from Samsung on a SATA III interface. With its i5 processor, this configuration<http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2014/05/surface-pro-3-sports-12-inch-screen-…> costs $1,299. The body of the tablet is lighter than the Surface Pro 2 (800g versus 903g), though it remains considerably heavier than something like Apple's iPad Air<http://arstechnica.com/apple/2013/11/review-apples-ipad-air-is-a-big-tablet…> (469g) or even the older fourth-generation Retina iPads (652g). It's not going to break your arms, but it's definitely more similar to a laptop in its weight than most other tablets. [cid:9AAA1186-B854-4026-9D7B-1B07E905683C]<http://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/surface-pro-3-gallery…> Enlarge<http://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/surface-pro-3-gallery…> / Typing on the Surface Pro 3. Casey Johnston The 12-inch, 2160×1440 display compensates for the added weight. It's a reasonably bright, sharp 216 PPI display, which puts it within striking distance of the 15- and 13-inch Retina MacBook Pros<http://arstechnica.com/apple/2013/10/retina-round-two-apples-15-inch-2013-r…>(220 and 227 PPI, respectively). Its 3:2 aspect ratio will please those who prefer taller monitors to wider ones, though using the tablet in portrait mode isn't really any more comfortable than with any other large widescreen tablet—it's just a little too large to be as comfortable as the paper notepad that Panay compared it to. We've seen in other high-PPI Windows laptop reviews<http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2014/03/lenovo-yoga-2-pro-review-you-say-you…> that this relatively high pixel density can cause problems with applications on the Windows desktop, though the Surface 3 Pro seems to strike a decent balance. By default, it's set to display onscreen elements at 150 percent their normal size, which shouldn't cause quite as many obvious UI problems as higher scaling settings. While using Chrome, an app that doesn't support Windows' high-PPI scaling modes properly, text and images was noticeably blurrier compared to Internet Explorer, but not so blurry that it was unusable or even immediately noticeable if you didn't know what you were looking for. [cid:3416217E-70D2-457E-8C26-FEC7735F183E]<http://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/surface-pro-3-2.jpg> Enlarge<http://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/surface-pro-3-2.jpg> / We'll test more about the system (including the pen input) in our full review. Casey Johnston Finally, the build quality is as good as we've come to expect from the Surface lineup. The magnesium chassis is nice-looking and solid-feeling, and the hinge was perfectly stable as long as I kept my lap level. The system gets a little warm to the touch, and Microsoft's demo booth was too loud for me to put Microsoft's ultra-quiet fan assembly to the test, but the fan vent along the edges of the tablet is unobtrusive, and you can't feel any hot air coming out of it. We'll be giving the pen, the battery life, and the performance a more thorough look in our full review. Based on our hour of usage, though, we're comfortable saying that the Surface Pro 3 is at least a little bit closer to being a suitable laptop replacement than the older versions. It might not be exactly what you're looking for in a tablet, but if you were on the fence about the Surface Pro 2, this is probably the device you needed to knock you over.

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