Most Useful Post! Grazie to Alex Levinson: 3 Major Issues with the Latest iPhone Tracking “Discovery”

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Read the full post for Alex Levinson's analysis of the legal context & implications of Apple's data tracking:

"1) Apple is not collecting this data.

And to suggest otherwise is completely misrepresenting Apple. I quote:

Apple is gathering this data, but it’s clearly intentional, as the database is being restored across backups, and even device migrations.

Apple is not harvesting this data from your device. This is data on the device that you as the customer purchased and unless they can show concrete evidence supporting this claim – network traffic analysis of connections to Apple servers – I rebut this claim in full. Through my research in this field and all traffic analysis I have performed, not once have I seen this data traverse a network. As rich of data as this might be, it’s actually illegal under California state law:

(a) No person or entity in this state shall use an electronic tracking device to determine the location or movement of a person.

I don’t think that’s a legal battle Apple wants to face considering the sale of over 100 million iDevices worldwide. That raises the question – how is this data used? It’s used all the time by software running on the phone. Built-In applications such as Maps and Camera use this geolocational data to operate. Apple provides an API for access to location awareness called Core Location. Here is Apple’s description of this softare library:

The Core Location framework lets you determine the current location or heading associated with a device. The framework uses the available hardware to determine the user’s position and heading. You use the classes and protocols in this framework to configure and schedule the delivery of location and heading events. You can also use it to define geographic regions and monitor when the user crosses the boundaries of those regions.

Seems pretty clear. So now the question becomes why did this “hidden” file secretly appear in iOS 4?..."

Innovation Always Starts With Empathy; Look at Zipcar and Even Apple | Co.Design

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By SOHRAB VOSSOUGHI, originally post on fastdesign.com

Why empathy is a creative company’s most powerful tool.

[This post is a rebuttal to one previously written by Jens Martin Skibsted and Rasmus Bech Hansen, "User-Led Innovation Can't Create Breakthroughs; Just Ask Apple and Ikea." — Ed.]

User research has been a critical part of Ziba’s design process for more than 25 years, and we’re not alone. Long before the term User Centered Design (UCD) was coined in the 1980s, the world’s smartest companies have relied on insights gained from their customers to innovate....

Be the Target Market

Consider Zipcar. The world’s leading car-sharing service got its start 11 years ago in a Cambridge, MA cafe, when Antje Danielson described a concept she had seen in Berlin to fellow businesswoman Robin Chase. Chase recognized the opportunity immediately, because she was its target user. In 2003, she explained to the New York Times that there was “a huge demand for the service if it was positioned correctly--I knew because I was the market.”

The world is full of innovations that came from users...."

read the full post on fastdesign.com

Apple 3D patent details glasses-free display projection

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"Apple describes the special display involved as “a projection screen having a predetermined angularly-responsive reflective surface function,” which basically means that the angle of light reflection from different points on the screen would be predicable enough for a computer to bounce light with individual eye accuracy. It’s unclear whether Apple’s system would be able to support more than one simultaneous viewer, or indeed what computational requirements such a setup might demand.

The application was filed back in 2006, and of course there’s no guarantee that Apple ever intends to produce 3D-capable hardware using the technology it covers."

Apple Wins a Patent for a Futuristic 3D Stereoscopic Display & More - Patently Apple

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From the site:

"The US Patent and Trademark Office officially published a series of 17 newly granted patents for Apple Inc. today. The notables within this group include two iPhone related User Interface designs, another for their Mini DisplayPort and others relating to iTunes and their fantastic LED backlit displays. Yet one of the star patents that were granted to Apple today, is definitely one that involves a futuristic 3D stereoscopic display. Is Apple wetting our appetite for a possible future 3DTV system? Here's to hoping that Apple could actually one day deliver something beyond a little black box called Apple TV.

Granted Patent: 3D Stereoscopic Display System

Apple has been granted a patent for a 3D stereoscopic display system. Apple first applied for this patent in 2006 and we first posted a detailed report on this in March 2008. It's interesting to note that one of the key attributes of Intel's forthcoming Sandy Bridge processor is its native support for 3D stereoscopic video playback. One could only imagine that it'll only gain momentum in their 2012-2013 22nm Ivory Bridge processors that will pack 8 and 16 cores."

Heads Up! Are You Running These Apps?: Two lawsuits target Apple, app makers over privacy concerns - CNN.com

Two separate class-action lawsuits filed last week in federal court allege that Apple and as many as eight makers of popular applications for the iPhone facilitated the sharing of private information about their customers to advertisers.

Though a recent news report claimed that many apps are sharing this personal data, the lawsuits together target just eight: Dictionary.com, the Weather Channel, internet radio service Pandora, the messaging app textPlus 4, as well as the makers of entertainment or game apps Talking Tom Cat, Paper Toss, Pumpkin Maker and Pimple Popper Lite.

read the full post:

http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/mobile/12/28/apple.app.lawsuits/index.html#

This I Will Consider: Apple wins patent for glasses-free 3D display (Wired UK)

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Excerpt:

"Named "three-dimensional display system", the patent claims to allow 3D content to be displayed without those goofy goggles, while also letting multiple people view simultaneously and keep up the 3D illusion even as they move about the room.

It's by no means a simple solution. The proposed device would keep a constant watch on the viewer's position and movement, to beam the 3D image focused at their eyes. As you move about the room, the special display would change its projection angle so your eyes are constantly receiving the correct images...."

Artist Michael Tompert destroys apple products

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Excerpt:

"tompert said the idea for the project came to him after he gave each of his two sons an ipod touch for christmas. he said the two boys fought over one of the devices, which had a certain game on it. fed up with the quarrel, tompert said he grabbed one of the ipods and smashed it on the ground.

'they were kind of stunned - the screen was broken and this liquid poured out of it.
I got my camera to shoot it,' tompert said. 'my wife told me that i should do something with it.'"

Read the full article & see more pics:

http://www.designboom.com/weblog/cat/10/view/12267/destroyed-apple-products.html

Apple already knows where you are all the time — and is telling others | VentureBeat

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"Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced today that the social network’s geolocation tool is nearing release. But Apple already knows exactly where all of its iPhone users are in real-time, and is sharing this data with its “partners and licensees” for all users who agree to its just revised privacy policy.

This sounds reasonable, except that all iPhone users who want to download applications or media via the iTunes Store are forced to agree to the policy. Otherwise they are blocked from downloading anything, so it really isn’t an option.

Apple assures its users that all of this data — especially the data it is sharing — is completely anonymous. But as if enough information is provided, it might not be that difficult to pinpoint who people are based on where they go."