First Look: iTunes in the Cloud | Web | Playlist | Macworld

by Christopher Breen, Macworld.com   Jun 6, 2011 7:35 pm

Recently I considered, in a best-of-all-worlds fashion, what media in an iCloud might look like. With the official unveiling of iCloud we now know the reality. While I certainly didn’t get everything on my wish list—streaming music and video, remote access to media stored on your computer, and an iTunes music subscription service—iTunes in the cloud is a solid step forward for consumers and one that should cause Google and Amazon to strongly consider their next moves.

What it is

The key components of iTunes in the Cloud are these: The ability for you to push new iTunes music purchases to your iOS devices and computer, the opportunity to re-download music that you’ve purchased from the iTunes Store, and (for an annual fee of $25) the option to have access to not only the music you’ve purchased from the iTunes Store, but any music stored in your iTunes library—including music you’ve ripped or purchased from another outlet such as Amazon MP3. In real-world use the three break down this way:

Pushy music On your iPhone (or other supported iOS device), you navigate to Settings -> Store. There, you can enable an Automatic Downloads option individually for Music, Apps, and Books. You later purchase an album on your Mac. That album is then automatically downloaded to your iPhone when it’s connected to the Internet via Wi-Fi or, optionally, 3G. And it can go in the other direction—iPhone purchases are automatically downloaded to your computer or other iOS devices.

Download music (again) In the past if you lost your purchased music because of a computer crash (and the lack of foresight to back up your purchases) you had to ask Apple if you could pretty-please download them again. Permission was invariably granted, but it was a pain. That roadblock is gone with iTunes in the cloud. Now you can re-download the unprotected music you’ve purchased at a bit rate of 256kbps AAC. If you purchased DRM-protected 128kbps AAC files and re-download them, they’ll download in the same format. Regrettably, the tracks aren’t updated to DRM-free 256kbps AAC files. You still have to pay 30 cents per track or $3 per album to upgrade them to that format.

You can currently re-download your music on an iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 (GSM model), iPod touch (3rd and 4th generation), iPad, or iPad 2 running iOS 4.3.1 or later by launching the iTunes app, tapping the Purchased button, choosing the song or album you wish to re-download, and tapping the cloud button. The music will then download to your device. You’ll similarly see Purchased buttons in the App Store and iBookstore apps and they work the same way. Choose content you’ve previously purchased and download it to your device (you’ve been able to re-download apps and books for a while, but the process wasn’t always very clear).

Re-downloading purchased music on an iPad
iTunes 10.3 offers a similar scheme. The difference, of course, is that you can do it all from within a single Mac or Windows iTunes application rather than separate apps on an iOS device. When you click on the Purchased link on the iTunes Store's Home page to visit the Purchased screen, you’ll see links to purchased music, apps, and books. Select the category you like, and the items you’ve purchased appear on screen. Click a Cloud button next to the item you want to re-download and it’s downloaded to your computer. (Although the version of the iTunes Store found in iTunes 10.3 allows you to purchase and download books—and re-download books you've already purchased—those books are still viewable only on iOS devices.)

iTunes' Purchased screen
There’s one catch for albums no longer available at the iTunes Store. According to Apple: “Previous purchases may be unavailable if they are no longer in the iTunes Store.” This means that if you purchased Frank Zappa’s catalog before it was pulled from the iTunes Store by the Zappa Estate, you can’t re-download it.

iTunes Match and the active locker As I explained in that earlier article, there are two schemes for storing music you own in the cloud. The first is to place a copy of the music you own on a server and make only that copy available to you. This is called a passive locker. Conversely, an active locker keeps only a record of the music you own and then makes one copy of that music available to multiple users.

Google’s Music Beta and Amazon’s Cloud Drive use a passive locker and require that you upload the music you own to their servers. (When you purchase music from Amazon a copy of that music is placed on the server so you don’t have to upload it.) Apple’s $25-a-year iTunes Match uses an active locker. Much like with iTunes’ Genius feature, a database of the music you have in your iTunes library (purchased as well as other music you’ve ripped or acquired) is uploaded to Apple. Once Apple has that record, you can treat that music just as you can purchased music. If you want to re-download it, you can, in 256kbps AAC format. This is a very big deal if you ripped a lot of your music in the old days as 128kbps MP3 files and then later disposed of your CDs.

If tracks in your library aren’t available at the iTunes Store, you’re welcome to upload them to Apple’s servers. Also note that iTunes Match limits you to 25,000 tracks (although iTunes purchases are not counted against that limit).

The outstanding question is whether Apple will put any safeguards in place that attempt to identify pirated music and prevent it from being available to those who have it in their music libraries. For example, music you currently purchase from iTunes is unprotected, but it’s watermarked with the name of the purchaser. If you were to take a track purchased by another person and ask Apple to add it to your online collection via iTunes Match, would there be a problem? Or does that annual $25 fee also buy a measure of amnesty from the record labels?

The merits of cooperation

Active lockers aren’t a technical challenge. Rather, they’ve been difficult in the past because of licensing issues. Specifically, the music labels insist that companies must have their permission to make single copies of tunes available to multiple users. Apple has been able to secure that permission while Amazon and Google have not. Instead, Amazon and Google have been forced into the passive locker approach, which, because of the time and bandwidth needed to upload large music libraries, is less than ideal.

Having leapt these licensing issues, Apple is free to pursue other goals—streaming of this stored content, for example, rather than simply offering downloads. Google and Amazon, on the other hand, are a lap behind and looking at either coming up with deals of their own or, worse, spending time in court fighting with the labels.

Updated 12:00AM 6/7/11 with additional iTunes 10.3 information.

Related articles

• Inside Apple's iOS 5: Reminders app offers location-aware to-do lists (appleinsider.com)
• iTunes in the iCloud, First Take (reviews.cnet.com)

Senator Al Franken wants answers from Apple CEO Steve Jobs on reports that the devices can track users’ location. Google Android Phones Apparent track and receive transmissions of data from Android devices.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

I am actually not very concerned about tracking accept when it is being used for marketing purposes. Google has a direct pecuniary interest in mining this data while Apple's interest is a good bit more murky plus there is no evidence that Apple is actually being transmitted this data where Google is being transmitted this data.

Related articles

• Google denies 'traceably' tracking Android devices (news.cnet.com)
• Your Android Phone is Tracking You (pcworld.com)

The New York Times reports more than 100,000 digital subscribers | Web | iOS Central | Macworld

Image via CrunchBaseThe New York Times reports more than 100,000 digital subscribers | Web | iOS Central | Macworld

The Gray Lady may start to see a bit more green, thanks to its recently introduced digital subscription plans. On Thursday, The New York Times reported that it amassed more than 100,000 subscribers since March 28—the day the Times began instituting a limit on the number of articles visitors may read on its Website each month.

The Times’s paywall works like this: Readers can freely read 20 articles each month at the Website, and certain articles (like those linked from Twitter and Facebook) don’t count against your quota. To avoid that limit, you need to pay a minimum of $15 per month, which gets you unlimited access on the Website and via its smartphone apps (available for the iPhone, Blackberry, and Android devices). iPad app-based access to the Times costs $20 per month, and also includes full Website access—but not smartphone access. And if you simply want to consume Times content no matter what device you’re using, you need the $35 per month All Digital Access plan. (There will be no quiz later.)

If you’re playing along at home, you may be calculating 100,000 subscribers times a minimum of a $15 monthly subscription fee—but that would be a mistake. As the Times itself notes, “most subscribers have paid a discounted introductory rate of 99 cents for four weeks of access.” But the paper adds that Janet L. Robinson, chief executive of the Times Company, says that the number of full-price renewals is strong.

The paper reports that the 15 percent drop in its site’s overall traffic (in light of the article limits for non-paying readers) is consistent with its expectations.

There’s a lot riding on the Times’s digital subscription plans; the company reported that—thanks to ever-declining print advertising rates—net income fell 57.6 percent, to $5.4 million, compared to $12.8 million in the year-ago quarter. The company hasn't yet reported specifically on digital subscription revenue.

Report: Google, Too, Is Collecting Location Information From Phones : The Two-Way : NPR

Image via CrunchBaseReport: Google, Too, Is Collecting Location Information From Phones : The Two-Way : NPR

by EYDER PERALTA

Two days after researchers discovered that Apple's iPhone keeps an unencrypted log of everywhere you go, The Wall Street Journal reports that Google is also collecting location information from Android devices:

In the case of Google, according to new research by security analyst Samy Kamkar, an HTC Android phone collected its location every few seconds and transmitted the data to Google at least several times an hour. It also transmitted the name, location and signal strength of any nearby Wi-Fi networks, as well as a unique phone identifier.

Google declined to comment on the findings.

Until last year, Google was collecting similar Wi-Fi data with its fleet of StreetView cars that map and photograph streets world-wide. The company shut down its StreetView Wi-Fi collection last year after it inadvertently collected e-mail addresses, passwords and other personal information from Wi-Fi networks. The data that Mr. Kamkar observed being transmitted on Android phones didn't include such personal information.

Google's passive collection of data has come under scrutiny before. In response, it has said the data they collect is anonymous and at least for the data used for traffic information on Google Maps, Google says it deletes the start and end point of each trip.

Google even has a page explaining how to opt out of sending your GPS coordinates to the Google Maps' My Location. When you first setup an Android phone, it specifically asks if you'd like to send anonymous data to Google. A user has the ability to turn off location services.

Here's the rub: Turning off location services would in essence take away what makes mobile devices so appealing. It means you couldn't

find your nearest pizza joint on Yelp! or use Google Maps to find your way back home.

Google took issue with the Journal's use of the word "unique phone identifier." The number Google receives is random, they say, and it is only used in order for the servers to be able to adequately communicate with the phone.

"All location sharing on Android is opt-in by the user" read a statement released by Google. "We provide users with notice and control over the collection, sharing and use of location in order to provide a better mobile experience on Android devices. Any location data that is sent back to Google location servers is anonymized and is not tied or traceable to a specific user."

On the Apple front, yesterday, Congressman Ed Markey (D-Mass.) sent a letter to Apple's CEO Steve Jobs.

"I am concerned about this report and the consequences of this feature for individuals," Markey wrote.

Markey then asks several questions from Jobs. Among them: Did Apple notify its users that iPhones were recording location and Wi-Fi information and then copying a backup file with that info onto the computer with which the device is synchronized? What is Apple using this information for and is it for commercial reasons? What is Apple doing to protect the underage users who own their devices?

Related articles

• Google's Android Phones Also Collecting User Location Data (outsidethebeltway.com)
• Report: Apple, Google collecting location data on users - USA Today (news.google.com)

Apple tops smartphone satisfaction for fifth time | The Digital Home - CNET News

Apple tops smartphone satisfaction for fifth time | The Digital Home - CNET News

Another year, another win for Apple in smartphone satisfaction.

According to findings released today from the J.D. Power and Associates 2011 U.S. Wireless Smartphone Customer Satisfaction Study, customers are more satisfied with Apple's iPhone than any other smartphone on the market. Apple secured a rating of 795 out of a possible 1,000 points in customer satisfaction. Motorola and HTC secured the second and third spots with 763 points and 762 points, respectively.

This isn't the first time Apple has placed at the top of a J.D. Power and Associates satisfaction study. In fact, Apple's latest win marks the fifth-consecutive year that it has bested all other smartphone makers in this study. However, customers were a smidge less satisfied with Apple's smartphone this year than they were last year. In J.D. Power and Associates' 2010 findings, Apple was able to secure 800 points of the available 1,000.

But Apple wasn't alone in seeing its satisfaction slip this year. Both Motorola and HTC have witnessed satisfaction for their devices decline significantly. In 2010, their figures stood at 791 points and 781 points, respectively.

J.D. Power and Associates said respondents based their opinions on "ease of operation, operating system, physical design, features, and battery function."

Smartphone market overall

In addition to looking at individual smartphones, J.D. Power and Associates also examined other areas of the space. It found that the average price of a "traditional mobile phone" has dropped to about $73 in 2011, down from its average price of $81 in 2009.

Related articles

• Survey: T-Mobile tops in customer satisfaction (news.cnet.com)
• J.D. Power says Verizon tops in call quality (news.cnet.com)
• iPhone tops JD Power ranks, widens lead over Android (electronista.com)

MacSparky - Blog - Thoughts on The Post PC World

Image via WikipediaMacSparky - Blog - Thoughts on The Post PC World

I watched the Apple Keynote tonight and was struck by how often I heard the term “Post PC.” When Steve Jobs and Apple start using these catch phrases, it is no accident. Apple has its own lexicon that starts internally but, at some point, often finds its way into Keynote speeches and product descriptions.

I believe “Post PC” is the newest of these phrases. We’ve all speculated about the future of technology in light of the explosive growth of iOS and the growing legions of mobile competitors. To the people at Apple, I don’t believe this dialogue is anything new. Internally, I think they’ve been planning this for years.

Looking back, I suspect Apple first started contemplating the Post PC world when iPods were selling like hotcakes. I’m certain that by the time the iPhone showed up, Apple’s Post PC plans were already in full swing. When the iPad appeared, the shoe dropped for the rest of us. Steve Jobs confirmed this last year at the AllThingsD conference when he talked of trucks and cars and how the PCs we all know and love are going to become the trucks of technology: still useful, but not necessary for most.

This all culminates today with Apple’s repeated mantra about the “Post PC” world. Why are we just hearing about this now? Because Apple is already sitting on top of the mountain in this new order.

I’ve written before about Mac user’s fear of returning to those dark days. I suspect there is a certain degree of that also ingrained in the Apple corporate culture. I’m not sure I’d call it fear so much as resolve with this second chance. Never again.

Never again will Apple blow its lead. Never again will Apple seize defeat from the jaws of victory. Never again in this new Post PC World.

Related articles

• The iPad's new engine: The A5 chip (news.cnet.com)
• Apple's Jobs: The tablet PC 'crashed and burned' (news.cnet.com)
• Jobs makes surprise showing at iPad 2 unveiling (news.cnet.com)

Hands on with iPad 2 | Tablets | iOS Central | Macworld

Hands on with iPad 2 | Tablets | iOS Central | Macworld

Immediately after Steve Jobs introduced the iPad 2 Wednesday at the Yerba Buena Theater in San Francisco, California, he invited members of the media to visit a special hands-on area right behind the theater—the same set-up Apple used a year ago to introduce the original iPad. While the iPad 2 wonʼt be available until March 11, we were able to spend some quality time with the

iPad 2 today. Hereʼs what we found.

The iPad 2 is thinner and lighter than its predecessor. People who have been following Appleʼs product designs will not be surprised by this. Whatʼs interesting is the effect this has on the “grippability” of the product. The original iPad was one of the most solid pieces of hardware weʼve seen from Apple, but the combination of its weight, thickness, and the curve of its backplate made it a bit hard to hold—and made a case pretty much necessary.

Itʼs much more comfortable to hold the iPad 2 in one hand. The slight decrease in weight helps, no doubt, but itʼs also the thinness—and most notably the fact that the back side of the device tapers to a flat surface in a much shorter distance than its predecessor.

In terms of materials, the iPad 2 and the iPad are cut from the same cloth (figuratively speaking): Thereʼs a glass front and an aluminum back. The device still seems solid, though palpably thinner. The big difference when looking at it from the front is that you canʼt see the edge of the aluminum frame, which is quite noticeable around the edge of the original iPad when viewed from the front.

The reduced thickness of the iPad 2 means that we canʼt say the iPadʼs buttons and ports are on its side—there really is no side, unlike on the original iPad. Thereʼs a front and a back, really, with a very small amount of curved space on the back where it meets the front piece. Thatʼs where the buttons and ports are. Itʼs a very different feel from the original iPad. However, the buttons and ports are in more or less the same places as they were on the original iPad.

Beyond the deviceʼs physical redesign, the major outward difference in the iPad 2 is the addition of a pair of cameras: one on the front and one on the back. As on the latest iPhone and iPod touch, these cameras can shoot pictures, record video, and be used for FaceTime video conferencing. However, theyʼre definitely of lower quality than the iPhone 4ʼs 5 megapixel camera, and more in line with the cameras on the current-model iPod touch. The test images we shot in the hands-on room were grainier and with more evident jagged edges than those shot with an iPhone 4. Even a FaceTime conference with an Apple rep across the room looked a bit soft, though some of that could have been the result of heavy Wi-Fi traffic.

Along with the cameras, there are a couple of minor changes related not to sight but to sound. Instead of the pinhole microphone residing near the original iPadʼs headphone port, the microphone has been shifted to the top back of the iPad 2 (on the 3G models, itʼs actually right in the black plastic that covers the 3G antenna). And since thereʼs no real “edge” on the iPad 2, the speaker has been moved to the back, and sports a grille design more like that of a MacBook Pro speaker. It was impossible to gauge the speaker performance in the crowded hands-on room, but weʼd guess itʼs roughly comparable to that of the original iPad.

Dan Moren tests out the iPad 2 camera. There were white and black iPads on display Wednesday, and while this isnʼt evidence that the white iPad 2 is real—weʼve held a white iPhone 4, after all—Steve Jobs seemed to indicate they would definitely ship on day one. Personally, I think I like the look of the black iPad 2 better, but thatʼs why they make the iPad 2 in both versions. Isnʼt choice great?

Beyond the two colors, there are also three different variations of the iPad 2 based entirely on wireless configuration. Thereʼs the Wi-Fi version, of course, and then two separate versions with 3G cellular connections as well—one for AT&T and one for Verizon. Both of the 3G versions have a black plastic strip on the back, at the top, just like the 3G versions of the original iPad. The only way to tell them apart is the presence of a microSIM slot on the AT&T version.

As ridiculous as it is to focus on something a simple as a cover when thereʼs new technology to be had, the fact is, Appleʼs new iPad 2 Smart Covers are a pretty interesting and notable feature: so notable, in fact, that iOS 4.3 includes a feature designed specifically to support them. (How very Apple is that?)

The Smart Cover itself is a rectangle exactly the size and shape of the iPadʼs screen, folded in four parts. The side that faces inward is made of soft microfiber cloth; the outside is either leather or polyurethane in one of five colors each. On one side is a metal hinge with small magnetic parts at both ends; these magnets attach to magnets embedded in the iPad 2 when you drag the Smart Cover near the iPadʼs edge (it only affixes to the left-hand side of the device, however). One Apple representative referred to attaching the Smart Cover as a foolproof operation, but we proved him wrong by failing to do it the first couple times we tried. After we figured out how it worked, it all went smoothly.

iPad 2 Smart Cover in action. The inside of the Smart Cover on the edge opposite of the hinges also has an embedded magnet; when you close the cover over the iPadʼs screen, it snaps closed and stays closed. But thereʼs more going on here: the iPad 2 senses that the Smart Cover has been closed, and immediately locks itself. Thatʼs cool, but even cooler is what happens when you peel the Smart Cover back and disengage that magnetic clasp: the iPad 2 automatically wakes back up, bypassing the lock screen in the process. (Thereʼs an option in the Settings app to turn this feature off.)

As with Appleʼs case for the original iPad, the Smart Cover can be folded up to provide a gentle incline for typing, or flipped around to make a stand for watching video. In this latter regard, itʼs vastly superior to the case for the original iPad, which always felt a little bit wobbly in this configuration.

Lest we judge the iPad 2 by its (Smart) Cover, letʼs remember that itʼs whatʼs inside that counts. In this case, itʼs an Apple-designed dual-core A5 processor. Itʼs very hard to test speed of a device like this, especially in a controlled environment like a demo room. The iPad 2 certainly felt fast—really fast. GarageBand and iMovie, both apps that presumably tax hardware to its limits, moved smoothly. While we donʼt know for sure how much memory the iPad 2 contains, 512MB—the same as the iPhone 4—seems like a reasonable guess.

Apple also spent some time touting the iPad 2ʼs graphics performance, an improvement that is subtly visible when you fire up the new Photo Booth application and are greeted with nine previews of real-time effects, ranging from thermal vision and x-ray to twirl and mirror. A brief tour through Epicʼs Infinity Blade RPG and Gameloftʼs N.O.V.A. 2 yielded likewise impressive results.

These are just a few of our impressions after spending some time in a room packed with journalists and a few iPad 2 demo units. Weʼll have much more to say, obviously, when the iPad 2 arrives and we write our full review. In the meantime, check out our hands-on video below:

Related articles

• Apple debuts iPad 2 (roundup) (news.cnet.com)
• Podcast: Apple's iPad 2 announcements (macworld.com)
• Apple iPad 2 (photos) (reviews.cnet.com)

Study: Apple's Mobile Browser is Fastest - PCWorld

Image via CrunchBaseStudy: Apple's Mobile Browser is Fastest - PCWorld

By Nick Mediati, PCWorld Feb 25, 2011 8:50 PM

Sick of waiting for pages to load on your mobile device? Get an iPad or iPhone. That’s the upshot of a mobile browser speed study done by a company called Gomez. They found that Apple’s mobile version of Safari was fastest and BlackBerry’s browser the slowest.

According to Gomez, the iPad fully loads pages in 8.4 seconds on average. The iPhone comes in second at 19.7 seconds, followed by Android at 36.5 seconds, and Blackberry at 61 seconds.

Gomez also analyzed perceived page loading times--that is, how long it took each browser to load the items visible "above the fold" on screen (i.e. the elements visible to you when you first visit the page without scrolling down). Perceived load times are shorter because … In this, the iPad again came out on top, with a perceived load time of roughly 6.6 seconds. The iPhone clocked in at about 15.7 seconds, followed by Android at 28.2 second, and BlackBerry at around 43.8 seconds.

Some have tested mobile browsers on a particular OS--such as our Android browser comparison from September--or have compared browsing on one phone to browsing on another, but as far as we're aware, nobody else has released this sort of mobile browser speed comparison before.

Browser Testing: No Clear Winners

These are by no means end-all, be-all numbers. Browser speed testing can be a bit of a thorny issue. There are many variables involved, depending on your hardware, your network connection, your operating system, the Web site itself, and so forth. For example, Gomez's numbers don't match up exactly with the testing we've previously done.

In the case of Gomez, the company, which helps companies improve the performance of their Websites and applications, decided to take what it considers to be a "real-world" approach to measuring browser performance. Its data is based on over 282 million Webpages served across over 200 popular sites. Gomez used data collected from business customers that use its performance monitoring services. It only takes into account Webpages visited using the browser included with the operating system, so browsers like Opera Mini were not included.

Also, since the data is in aggregate, it includes data from both Wi-Fi and cellular network users, and users from different cellular networks. It also includes data from all sorts of different phones and tablets with different hardware configurations. Still the information they provided to us is interesting, and gives us at least an idea of what the general experience of using each browser is like.

And as we've said in the past, other factors beside speed should dictate your choice in browsers--and now, smartphone OSes. Go with whatever works best for you.

How about you? Do Gomez's numbers reflect what you've experienced? Let us know what you think by leaving a comment below.

Apple releases 2011 Supplier Responsibility report | Computers | MacUser | Macworld

Apple releases 2011 Supplier Responsibility report | Computers | MacUser | Macworld

Company details efforts to improve working conditions among its suppliers and manufacturers

Posted on Feb 14, 2011 5:38 pm by David Chartier, Macworld.com

Apple has released its 2011 report on Supplier Responsibility, a relatively new annual report that compiles results from audits it performs of its component suppliers and manufacturing facilities. Social responsibility at Appleʼs overseas partners has become an increasingly hot topic lately— fairly or not, Apple has often been singled out over other companies—and the report offers a summary of the progress that Appleʼs suppliers are making.

As Appleʼs packaging often so modestly touts, the companyʼs products are usually designed at its U.S. headquarters in California. But like many companies, Appleʼs products are primarily built by a variety of manufacturers, most of which are located in Taiwan, China, and Singapore. Over the years, stories from these factories of worker abuse, inhumane working conditions, and a Chinese employee committing suicide after losing an iPhone prototype have prompted investigations from both Apple and Chinese authorities. A 26-page complaint lobbied against Apple from 36 environmental groups in China just last month revived the topic again.

The discussion of social responsibility in these factories—and Appleʼs role in facilitating it—has increased in recent years, roughly in proportion to Appleʼs escalating popularity. To tackle the subject more directly, Apple began auditing its supplierʼs facilities in 2007 to verify that they meet, or are aspiring to meet, various criteria of its Supplier Code of Conduct, a series of guidelines that is modeled after (but, according to Apple, are more stringent than) the Electronics Industry Code of Conduct. Apple also created its aforelinked Supplier Responsibility site and has been publishing its reports.

For its progress report this year, Apple says it audited 97 new facilities in 2010 and repeated audits at 30—thatʼs 14 more new audits than in 2009 and nearly double the number of repeat audits. The company investigated 127 facilities in all last year, bringing the total number of audits since 2007 to 288. The report organizes key findings, decisions, and facility improvements by a handful of topics, including employee and management training, protecting worker rights, and acquiring conflict-free materials.

Training and education

Apple introduced the Train-the-Trainer program in 2008, which educates workers, supervisors, and managers in facilities that make Apple products on things like the code of conduct, occupational health and safety, and workersʼ rights. In 2010, Apple expanded the program to 29 more facilities (which were chosen based on their lower audit scores) and doubled the number of participants in 2009, reaching a total of 300,000 workers since the programʼs introduction. More than 6000 supervisors and managers have also been trained on their responsibilities to their workersʼs rights.

The training is working, Apple claims. A survey showed an increase in confidence among assembly line workers—59 percent in 2009, but 93 percent in 2010—that they can provide feedback without any concern of negative repercussions.

Apple says it also found a few aspects of its program in need of improvement, including class sizes, engagement through interactivity, and expanding coverage of topics around anti- harassment, anti-discrimination, and grievance mechanisms. The company says new tactics have been implemented for this yearʼs programs.

Another program, launched as a pilot in 2009 called Supplier Employee Education and Development (SEED), saw greater success in 2010. SEED allows workers to take computer- based classes to learn English, computer, and technical skills, and some workers are able to join associate degree programs that are linked to Chinese universities. In 2009, 14,800 workers participated. In 2010, that number rose to more than 16,000.

Protection

After one of its first audits in 2008 revealed a number of unethical hiring practices, Apple launched initiatives to combat involuntary labor through the use of excessively high recruitment fees. In short, some workers in these factories pay fees to recruitment services in order to get their jobs. While such fees are often legal in many of these facility workersʼs countries—namely the Philippines, Thailand, indonesia, and Vietnam—Apple found that many were being forced to pay many months worth of wages, and therefore become steeped in debt, just to get a job.

Apple now regulates against what it calls “debt-bonded labor” by mandating that recruitment fees for the facilities it uses cannot exceed more than one monthʼs wages. Going one step further, Apple also requires suppliers to reimburse overpaid fees for all contract workers, even for employees who are not building Apple products. Since 2008, more than $3.4 million in overcharges have been returned, and as far as Apple knows, it is the only company in the electronics industry that mandates reimbursement of excessive recruitment fees.

After expanded audit efforts in 2010 at 20 facilities in Taiwan and eight between Malaysia and Singapore, Apple found 18 facilities where workers were forced to pay excessive recruitment fees. Apple required the suppliers to reimburse those workers and management to take classes that cover labor standards. It also invited officials from Taiwan, Thailand, and the Philippines to share information about their laws governing everything from the recruitment and management of foreign workers to direct-hire processes that reduce recruitment fees.

Fighting underage labor was another focus of Appleʼs efforts in 2010. Chinese factories are increasingly turning to labor agencies and vocational schools to meet rising production demands. Worse, some sources—including schools and hiring agencies—provide false IDs to misrepresent a childʼs age. In the case of one particular school, students who revealed their true ages during Appleʼs investigations were threatened with retaliation.

Audits of 127 facilities found 10 that had hired workers under Chinaʼs minimum employment age of 16. A total of 49 workers from nine facilities were hired before reaching the legal age, and Apple has required those suppliers to add policies and procedures to prevent hiring underage workers. Apple found, however, that the tenth facility was responsible for hiring 42 underage workers on its own, and it intentionally ignored Appleʼs requirements for changing its policies. Apple has since terminated its relationship with that facility (but does not name which one), required other facilities to reimburse educational expenses, living stipends, and lost wages for the underage workers, and reported the offending school to Chinese authorities.

Conflict-free minerals

The supply chain for various materials that Apple and many tech companies use in their products can be convoluted, ranging from family-run mines, to brokers, and commodity exchangers. Apple has been mapping its supply chain and working with the the Extractives Workgroup, a joint effort of the Electronics Industry Citizenship Coalition and the Global e- Sustainability Initiative, to validate conflict-free sources and comply with new provisions of the Dodd-Frank Consumer Protection and Wall Street Reform Act, which became U.S. law in July 2010.

In 2010 the Extractives Workgroup began audits to identify smelters which can demonstrate that they do not get their materials from conflict areas associated with the Democratic Republic of Congo or neighboring countries. Apple expects audits for smelters of two of its key materials, tantalum and tin, to be completed by the end of 2011.

Foxconn suicides

In this yearʼs report, Apple detailed its response to the tragic suicides of 12 workers in Foxconnʼs Shenzhen factory in 2010. COO Tim Cook and other Apple executives accompanied suicide prevention experts with experience in China on a visit to the Shenzhen factory in June 2010. They wanted a better idea of the conditions at the factory and to assess how Foxconn would prevent future suicides.

Two of Foxconnʼs post-suicide efforts gained attention in the media: the installation of safety nets outside the factory and an average of a 30 percent pay raise for each worker. However, company representatives denied that the latter measure had anything to do with the suicides, insisting that business had simply been good over the past year.

Apple commissioned an independent team of suicide prevention experts to interview more than 1000 workers about working at Foxconn. Per the teamʼs recommendations, Foxconn began implementing a number of long-term plans for improving employee well-being, including better training of care center staff and expanding operations to other parts of China so that workers can be closer to their home provinces.

Core violations

In addition to the involuntary and underage labor violations mentioned earlier, Apple outlined a number of other “core violations”—serious abuses of its Supplier Code of Conduct—that it found in 2010, as well as how it reacted to them.

Core violations included worker endangerment, health impairment from exposure to the hazardous n-hexane chemical, and employee coaching. In all but one case, facilities followed Appleʼs requirements and discontinued the violating practices. Apple caught one facility repeatedly offering cash to third-party auditors in order to reduce the number of audit findings, so it subsequently terminated business with the facility.

Moving forward

Apple finishes its report by outlining priorities for 2011. The company plans to expand the reach of its social responsibility training for workers and its SEED education program. Apple says it wants to work with both industry groups and NGOs in China to tackle fundamental issues such as underage labor and employee well-being. In addition to training expansion, Apple wants to implement more aggressive audits and stronger rules to help correct bad practices and bolster preventative actions.

Related articles

• Apple Report Details Supplier 'Core Violations' (pcworld.com)
• Apple reports on Foxconn, supplier workplace standards (news.cnet.com)
• Apple finds supplier labour abuse (bbc.co.uk)
• Apple reveals child labour increase (guardian.co.uk)

BBC News - Apple reveals labour abuses at Chinese suppliers

BBC News - Apple reveals labour abuses at Chinese suppliers

US electronics giant Apple has revealed labour and safety abuses at companies that supply components for its products.

It found a total of 49 workers "hired before reaching the legal age".

The firm also found 137 workers at a Wintek facility near Shanghai, had suffered adverse health effects after exposure to n-hexane, a chemical used in some processes.

Apple says it will reaudit Wintek, which also supplies Nokia, in 2011.

The findings were published in its annual supplier responsibility report.

A series of suicides at the Foxconn Technology Group last year drew attention to the working conditions of those who assemble devices such as the iPhone for Apple and other companies.

The company said it was working with Foxconn to prevent any further deaths and stated that Foxconn's response to the situation had "definitely saved lives".

Related articles

• Apple report reveals grim truths behind gadgets (news.cnet.com)
• Apple reveals child labour increase (guardian.co.uk)
• Apple releases 2011 Supplier Responsibility report (macworld.com)

Apple's Jobs Calls Shots From Home - WSJ.com

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeApple's Jobs Calls Shots From Home - WSJ.com

Three weeks into a medical leave he took "to focus on my health," Apple Inc. Chief Executive Steve Jobs is staying closely involved in the company's strategic decisions and product development, according to people familiar with the matter.

The 55-year-old Mr. Jobs, whose ailment hasn't been disclosed, has been taking business meetings at home and on the phone, these people said.

He also has been seen on Apple's Cupertino, Calif., campus and in public in Palo Alto, Calif., with a company executive, said people familiar with the matter.

Among products he is continuing to work on are the next version of the iPad tablet computer, expected out in the next couple of months, and a new iPhone, expected to be released this summer, said two of these people.

The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that Apple has started manufacturing a new iPad, which includes a front-facing camera and other new features, and which will be available through Verizon Wireless and AT&T Inc.

Inside Apple, meanwhile, day-to-day operations continue nearly unchanged under Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook, said people inside the company and at its business partners. While several of them said there is a sense of sadness about Mr. Jobs's health struggles, they said Apple employees are focused on their jobs and projects.

"Steve is the CEO of Apple and during his medical leave he'll continue to be involved in major strategic decisions," said an Apple spokeswoman. Messrs. Jobs and Cook didn't respond to requests for comment.

Mr. Jobs, who was treated for a rare form of pancreatic cancer in 2004 and who got a liver transplant in 2009, said in January that he would take a leave of absence for an unspecified period. His health status remains unclear. Apple has said it will say no more about his condition.

Medical experts not involved in his care have speculated that there are many reasons why he might need medical attention again, including possible metastasis of the cancer or complications arising from the transplant. People who have seen Mr. Jobs in the past few months said he continues to look thin. A drastic weight loss was one indication of the severity of the CEO's illness two years ago before he received his liver transplant.

The company and Mr. Jobs appear to be going about things in much the same way as they did during his previous medical leave, at the time of his transplant, said people familiar with the matter. During that leave, Mr. Jobs continued to work on Apple strategy and products from home.

While some people at Apple said there was concern about Apple's future during Mr. Jobs's previous leave, Apple stock rose 78% while Mr. Cook steered the company through his nearly six-month absence. Mr. Cook's performance then has made Apple employees more secure about his taking the reins again, said people familiar with the matter. One of these people said Mr. Jobs often worked from home even before his leave.

Apple's business has been gaining momentum, and people inside the company are enthusiastic about the new products and services they are working on, said the people familiar with the matter.

Last month, Apple reported a 78% increase in profit and 71% rise in revenue for the quarter ended Dec. 25 on strong demand for its iPhones, iPads and Macintosh computers. Apple is expected to see more iPhone sales in the current quarter as Verizon Wireless, a joint venture of Verizon Communications Inc. and Vodafone Group PLC, begins selling the smartphone for the first time starting Thursday.

Wall Street so far appears to be unfazed by Mr. Jobs's leave. Apple's stock has risen about 1.7% to $354.54 since Jan. 17, when he announced it.

His leave "is a concern because people view [Mr. Jobs] as the head innovator, but...I feel Apple can continue down its path with or without Steve," said Mike Binger, fund manager at Thrivent Asset Management in Minneapolis, which holds Apple shares as part of the $70 billion in assets it manages.

Some Apple watchers said they are withholding judgment about the seriousness of Mr. Jobs's health until the company's annual Worldwide Developers Conference in early June, at which the CEO traditionally gives the keynote address and unveils the latest version of the iPhone. "App developers are waiting to see if Steve will come back to give the keynote at WWDC," said Vishal Gurbuxani, a co-founder of mobile-ad company Mobclix Inc.

Apple hasn't announced the dates for this year's conference, but San Francisco's Moscone Center, which has hosted the event for the past few years, has June 5-9 blocked out for a "corporate meeting" on its online events calendar.

A spokeswoman for Moscone Center declined to comment.

Related articles

• Report: Jobs still very involved during medical leave (news.cnet.com)
• Verizon IPhone 4 Debut: The Big Fizzle (pcworld.com)

Apple poised to make 'universal' iPhone, says analyst - CNN.com

Apple poised to make 'universal' iPhone, says analyst - CNN.com

(CNN) -- Apple has the pieces needed to build an iPhone model that can connect to just about any cellular network.

The evidence was found under the hood of a new iPhone 4 unit made for Verizon Wireless.

To work with the nonstandard infrastructure used by Verizon, Apple needed to deploy a different cell chip. The hardware company had to alter parts of the iPhone's construction in order to make it compatible, Apple COO Tim Cook said during the phone's coming-out event.

While the new iPhone will only work on Verizon's network, the Qualcomm chip Apple is using in these new models is capable of connecting to Verizon's network, as well as to carriers using the GSM standard, which is what AT&T and T-Mobile USA have.

The finding was unearthed by repair firm iFixIt in a full dissection of a Verizon iPhone obtained through the pre-order system.

The silicon chip in the iPhone is the same type used in another Verizon phone, the Droid Pro. The latter smartphone is designed for frequent travelers and can be used easily in most countries overseas.

But Apple didn't develop the first-run Verizon iPhones in a way that lets them work internationally, despite the building blocks being there. For one, it's lacking the crucial SIM card slot used for telling the phone which network it should connect to and what its phone number is.

AT&T is positioning this travel-ready ability as a major competitive advantage of its iPhones, and of other phones made for its network.

That Apple has a healthy supply of these dual-carrier chips could be a sign of an impending "universal iPhone."

Charles Golvin, an analyst for Forrester Research, is confident that the next iPhone model, expected to come out this summer, will be capable of working on both Verizon and AT&T, along with most cell networks worldwide, he said in an interview.

Related articles

• iPhone Antennagate: Now on the Verizon Model (pcworld.com)
• Verizon's iPhone 4 packs 'world mode' chip (news.cnet.com)
• Apple opens up iPhone 4 orders, Walmart joins fray (macworld.com)
• iPhone 5: A GSM/CDMA World Phone? (pcworld.com)

Why Mac OS X Lion will be better for enterprise administrators | Macs in Business | TechRepublic.com

Why Mac OS X Lion will be better for enterprise administrators | Macs in Business | TechRepublic.com

Major operating system releases are typically painful for enterprise administrators. Users often need to learn new ways of performing the same rote actions. Menus move. Commonly accessed applications change locations. Vastly faster computers are required to run the upgrade.

Thankfully, that won’t be the case with Mac OS X Lion. The OS, in fact, will simplify enterprise administrators’ lives. Here’s why.

The Mac App Store

When it’s released in the summer of 2011, Lion (Apple’s eighth iteration of its acclaimed Mac OS X platform) will include the Mac App Store by default. One simple icon, a new addition to the Dock, means enterprise administrators can begin delegating to end users some of the responsibility for obtaining, installing and updating applications. Over time, the industry may find online application delivery and maintenance becomes the norm.

As Apple’s ads say, there are no more boxes, no more disks. Users can begin using new applications with a single click, thanks to one-click downloads and installation. Further, apps are browsable by category. Sample screen shots are available, and users can read reviews prior to purchase or even download and install software to test a program.

New programs install straight to the Dock, which further simplifies use and likely reduces calls to IT for support. Updates are then managed through the App Store, too, which notifies users when updates are available and makes upgrade and patch management easy, thereby further reducing enterprise administrators’ application maintenance and patching responsibilities.

Despite all those advantages and resulting efficiencies, however, there’s an even greater benefit. When end users purchase new Macs (or replace lost, failed or older systems), applications can be downloaded again on to multiple machines. No repurchase is required, no installation media must be tracked down and no license keys must be dug out of the back of file cabinets.

If you disagree that the Mac App Store is another genuine Apple innovation, just wait. When Microsoft clumsily deploys a new Windows App Store, it’ll claim the feature as revolutionary. Apple’s already there.

Launchpad

The new OS will also include Launchpad, a new feature that streamlines accessing applications and system use. The new Lion Dock will include a Launchpad icon. Launchpad removes open windows from view in favor of a full-screen display of application icons, thereby mimicking the hugely popular iPhone and iPad user interfaces. Thus, administrators (particularly in large environments) should find themselves providing less application support. Users, already comfortable with using iPhones and iPads, will find the same application interface in use with the new Lion OS. And, just as applications purchased online automatically appear on the iPhone and iPad, they’ll now appear automatically within the Launchpad space.

Full -screen apps

Apple is also touting Lion’s support for full screen applications. The new OS permits users to interact with their Mac desktops and laptops the same way they do with their iPhones and iPads.

With millions upon millions of iPad and iPhone units sold, Apple engineers have learned their lesson. New ways of interacting with traditional computers arrives with Lion. Applications can now be run in new full screen modes, thereby reducing distractions and providing a more immersive experience. Other running applications are removed from view, just as on iPhones and iPads, with the ability to switch between modes or applications just a gesture away. These changes, too, should reduce IT department support requirements, as users are already familiar with the way in which Lion will simplify computing and application use.

Mission Control

Enterprise administrators will also hear much discussion of Mac OS X Lion’s Mission Control feature. Mac users possess widely varying preferences regarding the ways in which they interact with their computers. Some use Spaces (which groups apps together), while others prefer Expose (which provides quick access to all open windows). Still others leverage Mac’s Dashboard, which collects various gadgets within a single window.

Mission Control helps all Mac users, regardless of personal preference, cut through the clutter. The new feature reveals what’s running, including applications, Dashboard, Expose and Spaces information and more. Accessed using a swipe gesture, Mission Control provides users with a unified view of their computer’s active programs and interfaces, which means enterprise administrators have yet another tool for helping end users better navigate their own systems without requiring help desk interaction.

System requirements

Apple hasn’t yet released system requirements for Mac OS X Lion. If the company’s latest iLife suite (as the last-released major Apple software platform) is any indication, enterprise administrators aren’t in for any surprises or required hardware upgrades.

iLife ‘11 requires only a Mac computer with an Intel processor, but it’s fair to believe Lion will require Core 2 Duo or faster chips. Memory requirements will likely be 1GB RAM, but administrators should plan on at least 2GB for smooth operation. While Disk space should prove no different than Snow Leopard, it’s possible Lion will ship without an install DVD. USB software reinstall drives, as accompany new MacBook Air models, may become standard issue, but that’s just a guess. Time will tell.

Related articles

• Macs get more like iPads (news.cnet.com)
• Apple previews upcoming Mac OS X Lion (macworld.com)
• 2011 Predictions: Macworld's annual forecast of the year ahead (macworld.com)
• Summary: Apple previews OS X Lion, updates iLife and MacBook Air (macworld.com)

Mac malware threat still tiny, report suggests - Techworld.com

Mac malware threat still tiny, report suggests - Techworld.com

But OS X vulnerabilities on the rise

• 
• 
• 
• 

By John E Dunn | Techworld
Published: 15:40 GMT, 20 January 11

Virus writers finally paid some attention to Apple Macs in 2010, with several new types of malware appearing to puncture the myth of the platform’s security invulnerability, security company Intego has reported in its annual review.

The numbers are still tiny and hard to meaningfully compare to PC equivalents, but it does look as if there has recently been a modest rise in the sophistication of Mac malware.

Perhaps the most interesting was October’s Koobface/Bonnana variant, which installed a malicious Java applet using social media sites to spread infection. This gained more attention for its cross-platform capabilities, targeting Mac, Windows and even Linux users, and holds a warning for the future: malware writers might start using Java more often to ‘weaponise’ browser malware for a range of platforms and not only Windows.

The company also mentions the appearance of backdoor malware, HellRTS, and an unamed ransomware program that appeared during the year, but both of these are rated as proof-of-concept malware rather than a live threat. Meanwhile, older threats seem to hang around longer than they would in the PC world, including the DNS-tampering malware form 2007, RSPlug.

The company goes on to document a clutch of Mac OS X and iPhone iOS vulnerabilities plus some affecting vendors such as Adobe, Microsoft and Mozilla's Firefox.

None of this should be tremendously frightening for Mac users. The Intego report runs to five pages, about the length of the table of contents alone on many Windows security reports which have appeared this month. Mac malware is still a small threat in absolute let alone relative terms.

Significant in 2010, however, was the uptick in the number of free Mac antivirus programs, including one from Sophos, which set out to address what is undoubtedly still the platform’s software underbelly – many Mac users don’t run an antivirus program at all.

This fact offsets the relative rarity of Mac Malware in that any malware encountering an unprotected user will have a far higher chance of achieving infection.

It could also be that Mac security issues are under-reported, which leads to an underestimation of the problem. If many Mac users have no relationship with a security company through using antivirus software they won’t show up in statistics as and when they do hit trouble.

Related articles

• Mac Users Hit With Windows-style 'Koobface' Trojan (pcworld.com)
• Antivirus utilities and recommendations for OS X (reviews.cnet.com)