Wednesday, March 02, 2011
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:
Tuesday, March 01, 2011
Monday, February 28, 2011
Closing backdoor threats in OS X | MacFixIt - CNET Reviews
Closing backdoor threats in OS X | MacFixIt - CNET Reviews
by Topher Kessler
A "back door" in computing terms is a method that hackers use to circumvent a system's authentication features and gain access without being detected. Usually this involves taking advantage of bugs in the built-in sharing services and OS features, but it also can happen if a user inadvertently installs some malware that provides a path around the system's security.
Anytime you start a sharing service on your computer, be it for files, screen sharing, chatting, or printers, you are technically opening a door for a client application running on remote system to connect and change or use aspects of your system. For instance, when you enable Web sharing, then a Web browser client on another computer can connect and read HTML Web pages that the server has made available. These sharing services run as background tasks and usually first authenticate and authorize users and connections based on the system's security measures (recognizing accounts and permissions limits).
While these services are built to be legitimate and productive features of an OS, bugs in them may provide a route that hackers can take to open back doors in the system's security and gain access to the system. These holes are rare and are usually patched quickly by Apple or legitimate third-party developers when found, but besides taking advantage of built-in services one method that hackers can use is to trick users into installing a malware service that runs hidden in the background and allows the hacker entry into the system.
A new Trojan horse security threat has recently surfaced that has been described as a backdoor Trojan for OS X. The malware allows an attacker to connect to a system using a client application and perform tasks like shutting it down, restarting it, creating files on the desktop, opening URLs in a Web client, requesting administrative passwords, and messaging the current user.
As with any Trojan horse program, the user inadvertently installs the application thinking it is a legitimate package, but instead of being a standalone program that alters configurations (like the DNSChanger Trojan) or sends data to remote systems (like a botnet hack), this Trojan installs a server on your system that allows a hacker to connect and administer the system with a small remote client program (called a remote administration tool, or RAT). The hacker enters your IP address into his client, connects
With the Trojan installed, a hacker can use an RA T client program to connect and send commands to the affected system. This is the RAT interface for the newly discovered malware. (Credit: Sophos) to the malware service installed on your system, and can then send remote commands to your system using the RAT system.
This malware is very similar to the age-old NetBus and Sub7 RATs for Windows, and can ultimately be characterized more as a prank application than anything else (though there are legitimate RAT services, including Apple's Server Admin tools). Nevertheless, it does still pose a security risk if installed because users can be tricked into supplying their administrative passwords to the hacker, among other things.
Does this change the nature of OS X security? Absolutely not, and given the measures required to install and enable this threat, it is ultimately a very low risk. While there is always concern that OS X's security features can be circumvented and result in malware being automatically installed, so far this malware, as with most other Trojans, requires you to manually run an installer to load a separate standalone program. The supplied OS features and services are not touched and their security measures are left intact.
Because you need to install the program to put your system at risk, the simplest and easiest way to avoid it and other similar Trojan threats is to never run an installer or other program unless you know exactly where it came from. Depending on your familiarity with computers this may be difficult to tell, so your next-best bet is to keep away from underground Web sites and any online deals that seem to be too good to be true, especially if the sites require a program to be installed to view their offerings.
If you are uncertain about your ability to identify hack attempts, install a malware scanner and have it watch your Downloads folder so any new files added to this folder are immediately scanned. Also go to Safari's General settings and uncheck the option to open "safe" files after downloading, and set your browsers to download files into the watched downloads folder. Some antivirus tools have on-access scanning features, but these are likely not yet necessary for OS X and may cause compatibility and performance problems. Therefore, disable these features unless you specifically need them, and then set them up to watch or manually scan a common Downloads folder. See this article for a list of antivirus software recommendations for OS X.
Disabling Safari's option to open 'safe' files will prevent programs disguised as documents from being opened.
In addition to scanning with a robust and updated malware scanner, there are other ways to protect your system. Because this malware appears to be a standard client-server program that uses basic IP connectivity, even if it is running on your system it will be nearly impossible for a hacker to use if your system is behind a properly configured network firewall. Most modern home and workplace routers have robust NAT firewalls with numerous extra security features (such as stealth modes and flood detection), so be sure your network is protected by one. Additionally, check your router and disable any unused ports and DMZ hosting.
Lastly, be sure to enable the OS X firewall and regularly clear the list of applications allowed through the firewall (found in the Security system preferences in the Firewall tab). This will ensure you only allow the programs you currently use through the firewall, and are notified of other, less common ones that might be requesting network access. In addition, while the built-in firewall blocks incoming traffic, it does not block outgoing traffic, so you might consider installing a program like Little Snitch to detect when applications on your system send information out to the Internet.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Apple gets back to basics in Mac OS X Lion | Operating Systems | MacUser | Macworld
Apple gets back to basics in Mac OS X Lion | Operating Systems | MacUser | Macworld
Apple on Thursday gave us another sneak peek at whatʼs in store for the next major release of Mac OS X, dubbed Lion, due out this summer. Between the iOS-inspired features we saw in the first Lion preview in October and the new features the company revealed today, itʼs clearer than ever that Apple isnʼt merely getting Back to the Mac. With Lion, Apple is getting back to basics, making significant changes and adding new features that are all focused on making the Mac easier to use and more accessible to both new and longtime users.
Apple has always touted the Mac as the “computer for the rest of us,” wearing its reputation on its shoulder for designing intuitive interfaces and great experiences. But there have always been parts of Mac OS X where those claims just donʼt hold up. Remember the last time you tried to explain to your parents or non-technical friends how to download and install Firefox from a Disk Image—or for that matter, what a Disk Image even is? With the meteoric rise of iOS and the iPad changing our perception of the personal computer, Mac OS X can sometimes look downright Windows-y by comparison.
Lion is designed to fix that.
You got your iOS in my Mac OS
Apple isnʼt kidding around when it says the iPad was the inspiration for many of the big additions and changes in Mac OS X Lion. In the October preview, we saw some of the blossoming fruits of iOSʼs muse: full-screen apps, even deeper multitouch support with new gestures, and a new Launchpad view of all your apps that was stolen straight off the iPadʼs homescreen—all are focused on making parts of Mac OS X and our apps more accessible.
There is a general theme in Lion of simplifying Mac OS X, either by streamlining existing features or by bringing iOS workflow perks to the Mac. For example, Apple unveiled a new Lion feature on Thursday, called AirDrop, which is “a remarkably simple way to copy files wirelessly from one Mac to another with no setup.” But this just sounds like an update and rebranding of the Bonjour file sharing and public folder features that Mac OS X has had all along, except the goal of AirDrop is to make file sharing between family and coworkers much, much easier to grasp and use. Like it did for some parts of iOS, Apple simplified existing Mac OS X features and polished them up with a better interface.
There are plenty of other more subtle tweaks that are making the pilgrimage from iOS to Mac OS, all in the name of streamlining the interface and the many ways we interact with apps. From more legible and universal icons (see Mail 5 on Appleʼs Lion page), to popovers (see iLife ʼ11), to scrollbars that can hide when you donʼt need them, Mac OS X Lion will simply look cleaner and more intuitive than any of its predecessors, and it has iOS to thank.
Viva la Mac
But if the iPad was “just a giant iPod touch,” is the Mac becoming “just a giant iPad?” Not in the least. The file system hasnʼt gone anywhere, the Finder looks to have received some much- needed attention, and despite concerns of Apple embracing digital totalitarianism after announcing the Mac App Store, you will not be forced to give up the ability to install software from anywhere on the Web.
Another new Lion feature Apple announced, “Resume,” is also an ode to iOS, but it will likely have an even larger impact on the Mac. Just like switching between apps on an iPad or iPhone, or even restarting the device, Resume is Lionʼs official support for third-party Mac apps to pick up right where they left off, even after a restart. Thatʼs not merely a good idea in iOS, itʼs just a good idea for any reasonably complex computing device—especially one that is designed to multitask and juggle many apps and open windows with ease.
Speaking of recovering your data, a pair of new features will make it easier to continue working with individual documents and recuperating lost data—key requirements of any worker bee who needs more power and flexibility than iOS typically offers. Auto Save will allow apps to automatically save your work as you create it, while Versions brings the continuous backup concepts and interface behind Time Machine down to a per-document basis. You will be able to step back through the history of the current file on-the-fly and easily revert to a previous iteration.
Great artists reciprocate
iOS and Mac OS X are symbiotic entities. When designing iOS, Apple distilled the Mac down to something pocketable, but the core concepts are there, such as an app-centric workflow, an always-accessible “home base” Dock, and a fierce pursuit of intuitive interfaces. After gaining knowledge and experience from nearly five years and four versions of iOS, Apple clearly felt that it's time to return the favor in Lion. Apple is incorporating some of the fresh simplicity of iOS back into its point-and-click desktop computing platform that, at its conceptual core, is almost three decades old.
When Lion arrives, the Mac might begin to resemble some aspects of Appleʼs simpler, more streamlined OS thatʼs designed for mobile devices. But thatʼs only because they are fundamentally good ideas that can polish a full-featured desktop platform and make it even easier to use, without sacrificing any of the power and flexibility that brought users to the platform to begin with.
[David Chartier is a Macworld associate editor.]
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Study: Apple's Mobile Browser is Fastest - PCWorld
Image via CrunchBaseStudy: Apple's Mobile Browser is Fastest - PCWorldBy 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.
Friday, February 25, 2011
Chrome Browser Acts More Like an OS, But Security Is Unclear - PCWorld
Image via WikipediaChrome Browser Acts More Like an OS, But Security Is Unclear - PCWorldWith the capability to run apps in the background, Google’s making its Chrome browser even more like an operating system and is attempting to change the way we work forever.
By Keir Thomas
Feb 25, 2011 12:42 PM
Google has announced that forthcoming releases of its Chrome browser will be able to run apps in the background. Essentially, the feature moves Chrome one step closer to becoming a true application platform--and with continuing efforts to develop HTML5, in a few years time it's very likely the Chrome browser will have more in common with an operating system than a humble Web browser.
Google says the new feature will see use "checking for server-side changes and pre-emptively loading content into local storage," and it's not hard to imagine how apps could use the feature. A chat application could listen for messages, for example, and then pop up a new window should somebody want to message you. A cloud office suite could watch for changes made to your online docs and download them locally, ready for you to work on them instantly when you choose.
The background processes keep running for as long as Chrome is running, even if no browser windows are open. Right-clicking the taskbar icon will allow users to see what background apps are running.
One of the central definitions of a contemporary operating system is the capability to run tasks in the background. MS-DOS did it with infamous terminate-and-stay-resident programs, while Windows does it with Services. Linux and Unix use daemons.
As with those operating systems, significant security issues come up with the capability to run background apps. Running code in the background without the user's knowledge is the modus operandi of viruses, for example.
It's not clear how Chrome is going to be able to tell apart good and bad background processes, or whether Google intends to rely on third-party applications like antivirus suites to do so.
Google says "backgrounding" will be allowed only for apps and extensions, and not Web pages, which will avoid drive-by infections from nefarious Websites. Chrome users already have to confirm installation of apps and extensions, giving security warnings at the time. If the app or extension isn't offered via Google's official distribution channels, it's usually blocked from installation unless the user makes a configuration change allowing it.
However, as anybody who's used the Android Marketplace will know, Google takes a laissez-faire attitude towards monitoring apps. Last year the company pulled around 50 third-party and unauthorized Android banking apps from the Marketplace after suggestions came up that they could easily be used to harvest account details.
To ensure user safety, the bar for app and extension quality is going to have to be set high, and there's no indication in this announcement that that's going to happen.
However, security issues aside, Google's efforts will bring a smile to cloud computing advocates. By blurring the distinction between browser and operating system, Google's making it far more intuitive for us both to work and store our data online. Of course, data is what Google is interested in, and it seems Google won't be satisfied until it has control of all the data in the world.
It's not hard to imagine a future scenario whereby we first boot our computer and then "boot the Internet" by double-clicking a browser like Chrome. Upon starting, Chrome will automatically log into all our favorite Web applications, and start any necessary background services. The new tab screen within Chrome, which shows installed apps, could easily evolve into a desktop-like experience in the future, wherein users are able to start and stop apps, and manage any data stored online.
A lot has been written about whether the Chrome browser or OS will ultimately succeed, but it's not an either-or situation. It's better to view the projects as two heads of the same animal. If you buy a new computer, then Google can provide an operating system, but if you prefer to stick with what you know--such as Windows, Mac OS X, or Linux--then Google will offer you the same functionality via a program you can download.
Essentially, Chrome browser and Chrome OS are heading in the same direction, which is to turn the Internet into an platform where we all can work. If we're ready to abandon our desktops, however, is yet to be seen.
Keir Thomas has been making known his opinion about computing matters since the last century, and more recently has written several best-selling books. You can learn more about him at http://keirthomas.com. His Twitter feed is @keirthomas.
New MacBook Pros outperform some recent Mac Pros | Electronista
Image via WikipediaNew MacBook Pros outperform some recent Mac Pros | ElectronistaSome of the very earliest benchmark tests of Apple's new MacBook Pros have shown them fast enough to outperform some Mac Pro workstations. Geekbench scores for the new 2.2GHz and 2.3GHz quad Core i7 processors are regularly reaching over 10,000 and producing better integer and floating point scores than Apple's pro towers from a year or two ago. Some results, such as one test for a 2.2GHz MacBook Pro, are outperforming the 3.2GHz and 3.33GHz quad-core Xeons from Mac Pros in 2010 and 2009 respectively.
The benchmarks are chiefly testaments to the optimizations behind the Sandy Bridge architecture in the Core i7. Intel's new design works on a smaller, more efficient 32 nanometer process where earlier chips were working on 45 nanometer technology. Sandy Bridge also has important design changes that can better handle out-of-order execution and otherwise calculate more per clock. Although the clock speed is much lower, Turbo Boost will often ramp the clock speed significantly higher and can close the gap significantly in a high-demand situation such as a benchmark.
The base 15-inch MacBook Pro, with a 2GHz Core i7, hovers at about 8,800 points in Geekbench and can outrun either the very earliest eight-core Mac Pros from 2008 or a late 2009 27-inch iMac with a 2.8GHz quad Core i7.
Quad-core notebooks aren't new and have been present in the Windows PC market for more than a year, but most of these are desktop replacements and mobile workstations that are often considerably thicker and heavier. The new MacBook Pros are some of the first quad-core portables to keep a thin profile and long battery life, and their performance relative to much larger and more expensive workstations may be part of a rare closing of the gap between desktop and mobile. [via 9to5
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Monday, February 21, 2011
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.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Kindle e-book piracy accelerates | Fully Equipped - CNET Reviews
Cover via AmazonKindle e-book piracy accelerates | Fully Equipped - CNET ReviewsSeveral months ago I set up a Google alert for my book, "Knife Music," to keep abreast of anything anybody was saying--good or bad--about the thing. Over the months I've received news of the occasional blog post and tweets, but more recently I popped open an alert to learn that my book was being pirated--both as a separate file and part of two larger torrents called "2,500 Retail Quality Ebooks (iPod, iPad, Nook, Sony Reader)" and "2,500 Retail Quality Ebooks for Kindle (MOBI)."
I had the strange reaction of being both dismayed and weirdly honored that someone had selected my book to strip free of its copy-protection (DRM) and include as part of a collection of "quality" e-books, many of which were from very good authors.
OK, so the use of the term "quality" was a reference to the formatting of the e-books and not the quality of the actual work, but for a moment I wasn't too bothered. After all, if someone downloads 2,500 books, what are the odds he or she is going to even bother looking at yours? I was probably only losing a few bucks, especially considering my e-book is currently priced at $3.99, which only leaves me with about 50 cents a book after the publisher, e-book seller, and agent take their cuts. Even if I missed out on selling 200 e-books, that's a mere $100. No big deal, right?
Well, obviously, for big authors, this whole pirating thing presents a bigger problem--and a bigger loss. But that isn't what dismayed me so much (sorry, but when you're a little guy, you don't care so much about how much the big guys are losing). Rather, what's shocking, and what the publishers should be most concerned about, is the fact that a library of 2,500 books can be downloaded in a matter of hours. E-books are small files and 2,500 of them can be packed into a single download (torrent) that's only about 3.4GB.
By comparison, a single DVD movie is usually larger than that, as well as many retail PC games, which tend to run in the 4GB to 7.5GB range. A "major" PSP title is about 1GB, sometimes a bit larger (yes, the PSP has been severely affected by piracy).
I probably don't need to point this out, but I will. I have about 600 books in my paper book collection, which took me years to gather and prune during various moves. Digitally, that same collection could be downloaded in around 30 minutes and stored on a cheap 1GB thumb drive (or a Kindle).
A lot of people think that's a good thing. And maybe it is. But what should also be alarming to publishers is that the number of people pirating books is growing along with the number of titles that are available for download. As I've written in the past, the rise of the iPad has spurred some of the pirating, but now the huge success of the Kindle is also leading to increased pirating. Yes, some companies, such as Attributor, have done some studies about the issue and have seen increases. But for my evidence one only need glance at Pirate Bay and see what people are downloading and how many of them are doing it.
The most popular e-book download on Pirate Bay is the Kindle Books Collection, which has something like 650 e-books in it (it's just less than 1GB), and is ahead of a 224-page PDF e-book called "Advanced Sex: Explicit Positions for Explosive Lovemaking." At the time of this writing, 668 people were "seeding" the Kindle collection while 153 people were downloading it. A few month ago, the numbers of people downloading e-book collections like this at given moment were in the 50 to 60 range with fewer seeders.
Now some of you in the comments section are going to inevitably say, who needs 2,500 books? And most people don't read all that much anyway. But the point here is that there may very well be a dark side to the success of e-books, which some are speculating will make up 50 percent of the market in as little as five years.
You can argue whether it was Napster or the rise of the iPod--or most probably both--that led to the huge amount of music piracy, but the book business will also take its share of big losses as it moves further into the digital realm. True, it's much harder to get someone to invest the time to read a book than to listen to an album, watch a movie, or play a game, so chances are piracy won't hurt the book business as much as those industries. But on the flip side, as I said before, it's also much quicker to download a huge collection of books or a number of New York Times best sellers with a single click of a button.
How much will price play into all this? Well, you already have plenty of folks out there who think it's outrageous for publishers to price an e-book at $12.99 or $14.99 when the hardcover is first released. And some of those folks may feel justified in downloading pirated versions of books in protest--or just because they say they don't like getting ripped off. And while some pricing decisions by publishers are clearly bad, pricing may be a smaller part of the piracy equation than you might think. What a surprising number of people have told me is that they pirate stuff for the same reason that a lot of people like the Kindle: it's all about instant gratification.
As one friend put it, "You want something, you click a button, you get it." He has a Netflix account and knows he can get a particular movie within 36 hours delivered to his door, yet he says he sometimes uses BitTorrent to get the movie so he can watch it faster.
This is something publishers will have to contend with going forward. They know it, and Scott Turow, the president of the Author's Guild and a practicing lawyer, is acutely aware of how much of a problem it is and could become.
"It [piracy] has killed large parts of the music industry," he said in an interview. "Musicians make up for the copies of their songs that get pirated by performing live. I don't think there will be as many people showing up to hear me read as to hear Beyonce sing. We need to make sure piracy is dealt with effectively."
Alas, so far it hasn't been dealt with effectively and I doubt it ever will be. It won't cost me much now--and it may even help me find a few readers who might not have read my book--but in the long run, it could really hurt. And unlike the New York Times' David Pogue, I've got no live act. Perhaps I need to get one, though I think I'd have a hard time matching his rendition of "Apps, I did it again."
Read more: http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-18438_7-20033437-82.html#ixzz1EVQJoSE8
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Bulk of browsers found to be at risk of attack | Browsers & Add-Ons | Macworld
Bulk of browsers found to be at risk of attack | Browsers & Add-Ons | Macworld
About eight out of every 10 Web browsers run by consumers are vulnerable to attack by exploits
of already-patched bugs, a security expert said today.
The poor state of browser patching stunned Wolfgang Kandek, CTO of security risk and compliance management provider Qualys, which presented data from the companyʼs free BrowserCheck service Wednesday at the RSA Conference in San Francisco
.
“I really thought it would be lower,” said Kandek of the nearly 80 percent of browsers that lacked one or more patches.
BrowserCheck scans Windows, Mac and Linux machines for vulnerable browsers, as well as up
to 18 browser plug-ins, including Adobeʼs Flash and Reader, Oracleʼs Java and Microsoftʼs Silverlight and Windows Media Player.
When browsers and their plug-ins are tabulated together, between 90 percent and 65 percent of all consumer systems scanned with BrowserCheck since June 2010 reported at least one out-of- date component, depending on the month. In January 2011, about 80 percent of the machines were vulnerable.
Even worse, about 30 percent of browser plug-ins are perpetually unpatched, a rate triple that of Windows, where Qualysʼ data has shown that, on average, about 10 percent of all PCs never receive Microsoftʼs patches.
When plug-ins were excluded, browsers fared better: Only about 25 percent of the scanned machines had an unpatched browser on board last month.
Kandek read those results as proof that browser updates were applied more regularly by users. “The lower percentage shows that updating works pretty well for [browsers],” he said.
Unlike most plug-ins, browsers either silently self update — as does Googleʼs Chrome—or automatically check for new patches, a practice of Microsoftʼs Internet Explorer (IE) and Mozillaʼs Firefox.
The most likely plug-in to require a patch is Oracleʼs Java, which was outdated on more than 40 percent of the scanned systems. Adobeʼs Reader was second, with about 32 percent of the computers reporting a vulnerable version. Appleʼs QuickTime took third, with less than 25%.
Java was also in the top spotlast year when Qualys unveiled statistics from BrowserCheckʼs first three months of operation.
“I bet that most people donʼt even know that they have Java, or how it installs,” said Kandek. “Exploit writers have recognized that, and have been adding Java exploits in their toolkits.”
Although Oracle usually releases Java updates quarterly, last week it rushed out an emergency patch to quash a critical bug.
Kandek said he sees two solutions.
“A single updater would be the right thing [to have],” he said, referring to calls heʼs made before that Microsoft take on the responsibility for patching important third-party plug-ins.
“All the different patching mechanisms are confusing, a bit of this and some of that,” Kandek
added, arguing that that was one reason why so many plug-ins go unpatched.
A second answer may come with the newest round of browsers—such as Firefox 4, IE9 and Chrome—that support HTML5, the Web standard that can handle the audio and video processing now done by many of the most popular plug-ins, including Flash, QuickTime and Windows Media Player.
“Moving more functionality into the bowsers with HTML5 would help, because then you donʼt need those plug-ins,” Kandek said.
He also applauded Google for updating Flash alongside Chrome, and for integrating a bare- bones HTML-based PDF viewer into its browser, moves rivals have not mimicked.
Jennings Explains Jeopardy Loss to Watson - PCWorld
Jennings Explains Jeopardy Loss to Watson - PCWorld
In the final analysis, Watson's dismantling of human Jeopardy champions Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter was so one-sided as to render any rematch unlikely: After all, Watson will only get better; Jennings and Rutter, not so much.
Jennings, in an article he wrote for Slate, offers his explanation of why the computer prevailed. (And, for the handful of you who may not have fully appreciated the "overlord" message that Jennings penned underneath his Final Jeopardy response, we'll provide the background.)
From Jennings:
"I expected Watson's bag of cognitive tricks to be fairly shallow, but I felt an uneasy sense of familiarity as its programmers briefed us before the big match: The computer's techniques for unraveling Jeopardy! clues sounded just like mine. That machine zeroes in on key words in a clue, then combs its memory (in Watson's case, a 15-terabyte data bank of human knowledge) for clusters of associations with those words. It rigorously checks the top hits against all the contextual information it can muster: the category name; the kind of answer being sought; the time, place, and gender hinted at in the clue; and so on. And when it feels "sure" enough, it decides to buzz. This is all an instant, intuitive process for a human Jeopardy! player, but I felt convinced that under the hood my brain was doing more or less the same thing."
Continuing the case that his foe showed more human-like qualities than may have been apparent, Jennings reaches for geek self-deprecation:
"Indeed, playing against Watson turned out to be a lot like any other Jeopardy! game, though out of the corner of my eye I could see that the middle player had a plasma screen for a face. Watson has lots in common with a top-ranked human Jeopardy! player: It's very smart, very fast, speaks in an uneven monotone, and has never known the touch of a woman."
(Rim shot)
"But unlike us, Watson cannot be intimidated."
And it was with his on-air final comment - "I for one welcome our new computer overlords" -- scribbled under his Final Jeopardy response, that Jennings best summed up his attitude toward this failed attempt to beat IBM's best: There's not much left to do but laugh.
I'm sure I wasn't alone in laughing out loud at the overlord line, which, as most of you know, is based on what might be called the overlord of all Internet memes. However, I know from experience that even the most well-known memes may require explaining to those who have better things to do with their lives than keep up with such conventions.
Hence the Web site "Know Your Meme" has joined Snopes.com and IMDb in the pantheon of indispensible Internet sources. Here's KYM on overlord:
"The Overlord meme is a popular snowclone based on the following phrasal template: 'I, for one, welcome our new X overlords (or masters).' X in the phrase refers to (often in a humorous or overgeneralized fashion) any powerful entity with overwhelming strength; Sometimes that entity is a government or corporate power, but has also been seen applied to kittens walking on their hind legs as farcical declaration of rapid evolution. ... The 1977 film adaptation of the classic H.G. Wells short story Empire of the Ants (starring Joan Collins) is allegedly the origin of the phrase 'I, for one, welcome our new insect overlords.' "
But it is The Simpsons that receive credit for popularizing the meme to an extent such that Ken Jennings would use it to express his final capitulation to Watson.
"The quote gained popularity after the 1994 episode of The Simpsons, 'Deep Space Homer,' when news announcer Kent Brockman believes the Earth to be under invasion by giant space ants. Fearing for his life, he announces his willingness to collaborate with the insectoid invaders: 'One thing is for certain: there is no stopping them; the ants will soon be here. And I for one welcome our new insect overlords. I'd like to remind them that as a trusted TV personality, I can be helpful in rounding up others to toil in their underground sugar caves.' "
So all hail Watson, for resistance is futile.
AppleInsider | Apple's Steve Jobs to meet with President Obama on Thursday
AppleInsider | Apple's Steve Jobs to meet with President Obama on Thursday
Though recent reports have alleged that Jobs' health has continued to decline, the executive is scheduled to attend a business leaders' event with President Obama Thursday evening, a source told ABC News.
Google's Schmidt, who will step down as CEO in April; GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt, the newly named chairman of the White House Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, and Facebook's Zuckerberg will also be in attendance, according to sources familiar with the meeting.
“The president and the business leaders will discuss our shared goal of promoting American innovation, and discuss his commitment to new investments in research and development, education and clean energy,” a White House official said.
Jobs and President Obama met in October of last year to discuss the US technology industry and the economy. At the time, White house press secretary Robert Gibbs said that the President was "eager" to talk with the CEO.
In December 2010, Obama cited Jobs as an impressive example of the American dream.
"Something that's always been the greatest strength of America is a thriving, booming middle class, where everybody has got a shot at the American dream. And that should be our goal. That should be what we're focused on," the President said. "How are we creating opportunity for everybody? So that we celebrate wealth. We celebrate somebody like a Steve Jobs, who has created two or three different revolutionary products. We expect that person to be rich, and that's a good thing."
Though Jobs has kept a relatively low profile during his medical leave, which he announced in January, rampant speculation on his condition continues to abound. Jobs stayed on as Apple's chief executive and continues to be involved in major strategic decisions as he works from home.
RadarOnline reported Wednesday that Jobs had been spotted at the Stanford Cancer Clinic in Palo Alto, Calif. According to a recent report, Jobs, who turns 56 next week, had been in a "down cycle" for weeks and appeared "increasingly emaciated."
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
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".
Monday, February 14, 2011
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