Posts by Mike Bell

Re: $399 on the 16GB Wi-Fi model

@stephajn

I guess you're not one of the 100% of people who were satisfied with this device (according to Tim Cook in his presentation). You should email him so he doesn't make that mistake again.

Re: I don't get the fuss

Well plenty of people have been squealing for more RAM. It will be faster. Touch ID is a tempter for me, because I hate people shoulder-surfing when I unlock my iPad. That's one of the best features of recent iPhones, implemented SO much better than the competition.

I don't give a damn about a better camera, or non-existent gimmicks like tinny stereo with a separation of a few centimetres.

So... bring it on.

Re: Spending Limit + Theft

Spending limit enforcement: it's likely to work the same way that it does for contactless payments. For me, a more pertinent question is: will terminal equipment be upgraded so that higher spending limits can be agreed when a more secure (i.e. fingerprint) means of authentication is provided.

The banks will assume liability, as they do now for card payments.

Re: Can someone tell me...

The camera can sense a wider range of colours than your eye can. But this is a science mission. The camera has a variety of filters that can be used to detect specific wavelength ranges. For example, one filter with a 35nm bandwidth is specifically employed to detect iron-bearing minerals.

Space missions often take a series of images using colour filters that can be combined to give a good idea of how things might look to the human eye, but the science imaging always takes top priority.

For this particular object, from what I've heard, it's 'true' image, as you might perceive it, would be something rather like viewing a piece of coal.

Re: Mnemonics are not new

Good idea, but you should keep this kind of thing to yourself. It would be dead easy to create a rainbow table from a range of (popular) nursery rhymes using this algorithm. Just imagine how many people would end up using The Owl and the Pussy Cat went to sea as a basis for their key. Easy pickings. Wouldn't add much to the length of existing rainbow tables.

Re: Too slow...

8.1 is in beta (2) now.

8.2 and 8.3 are also being worked on concurrently. You can look forward to another update before the end of this month.

Re: Tries to kill?

Fair enough, 45. Sometimes I don't see the trees for the leaves.

Re: Drebin?

Don't call me Shirley.

Re: Have objects automatically sling ads at us?

You've just described an ad man's wet dream there. I don't want to live in a world like that.

Re: Apples response:

He [Jobs] had a point. I went to my doctor comlpaining that my shoulder hurt from going to the gym. He said "don't do it any more". Nice!

Apple's company response (as opposed to one person's quip in an email) was somewhat different. And neither said "you're holding it wrong". But commentards can always interpret history as they like.

No it doesn't. It suggest that you might want to use that website check the status of a specific iPhone using another iPhone. Not necessarily using the one you've just bought.

Except that you won't be able to. Because that site doesn't work on iPhone's Safari browser.

Re: Can I be the first to say ...

No, you can't.

I said that years ago when I won a beer-voucher in a pub quiz.

Re: Another way of looking at it...

Since you're likely to get shot in China just for reading a p0rn mag, what's the penalty for using a mobile device that doesn't have the current regulatory clearance?

Apple would already be selling the iPhone 6 in China if they had permission to do so.

Re: Urrrggghhhh

The OED definition of 'slurp' has not been updated since 1993, long before mainstream adoption of the internet. Meanwhile, it has been appropriated widely in IT circles as in, for example, this 'urban definition':

To upload or download data, usually at a high rate of speed. Often used in slang to refer to illicitly gathering data -- that is, theft of somebody else's private data, trade secrets, etc.

One could reasonably expect the OED to be updated in due course, and for El Reg to be ahead of the game.

Re: Headline should read "Note 3 Twice as Strong as iPhone 6"

Open invitation to Fandroids: Go to an Apple Store and try to bend one. The staff won't stop you. I did. It didn't bend.

Re: "Backlash"

Jim, your down-voter is clearly in his own reality distortion field if he doesn't believe what you're saying. Life. Death. Taxes. Apple making pots of money. These are givens in today's world.

Re: "Key features disabled"?

No, no, no. Fanbois (and Fangirlz) are the Apple devotees. Fandroids are, as you say, slaves to the world of Android, and their commentard faction are typically identified by a certain frothing of the mouth, brought on by endless trawling of articles in which they claim to have no interest!

/Fandroid Baiting

Re: Arcane

What 'fact' would that be? The fact is that over-the-air maintenance has been available for years on iPhones. Connecting to a PC for maintenance is a last resort. Or maybe taking it to an Apple Store.

Re: Fantastic stuff

Well, technically, we're all "journeying through the stars". Albeit a little slowly for some.

Re: Bulk Data

Nope.

From Apple's current privacy policy:

"In the first six months of 2014, we received 250 or fewer of these [National Security Order] requests. Though we would like to be more specific, by law this is the most precise information we are currently allowed to disclose."

I wouldn't equate 250 with a large number.

In the same document:

"The vast majority of the requests Apple receives from law enforcement come from an agency working on behalf of a customer who has requested assistance locating a stolen device."

Re: "So only users, not Apple, can grant access to law enforcement agencies."

What if you forgot your code? What if you entered your desired code incorrectly, and now have no idea what you've accidentally typed? What if your iPhone is unlocked and some joker locks it on you for laughs? Your data is safe, but beyond your own reach?

Forgot password/device disabled

You have to enter the same lock code twice, like you are often required to do when setting up a password.

You have to enter the existing lock code before you can set a new one.

...and relax.

When you enable 2FA, accept the invitation to print out the nicely formatted recovery key. That's what it's for.

Re: WebGL Demo

@Dave

It's probably down to my clunky old graphics card on my PC.

Re: Third Party

If Apple Pay proves to be a big success, which I suspect it will, my guess is that other mobile devices will be able to do the same thing with the same kit. Why? Well, it seems that Apple Pay will be making use of an existing tokenising technology devised by the payment processing industry, and there's no good reason why other parties can't get involved in principle.

The big card issuers / payment processors trust Apple's implementation of fingerprint authorisation and cryptogram production (for a variety of reasons, including the use of a secure element outside of OS space). As I see it, the likes of Samsung, for example, could devise their own similar capability and form agreements with the banks in order to use the same terminal equipment.

I don't see a technical barrier, other than the manufacturer's ability to convince the banks that it's secure. As for any legal barriers (e.g. exclusivity by contract), I don't know.

Other than saying 'time to upgrade' what are people expected to do?

Yes, it's a problem. Especially for people with phones that aren't capable of being upgraded. Or those with manufacturers who roll out updates very slowly.

Re: This is nothing unusual

@nsld

Have a read of this. Note the bit that says "Apple will not be handling the tokenization — the credit networks like Visa and MasterCard will be doing so".

A bit more about the tokens, and how they relate to you and the payment processor (not Apple) is described here.

The card information that you may (or may not) already have stored in iTunes just provides an easy means of getting your payment credentials registered in the first place.