Linked List: January 15, 2016

Friday, 15 January 2016

iAd App Network Will Be Discontinued ★

Apple:

The iAd App Network will be discontinued as of June 30, 2016. Although we are no longer accepting new apps into the network, advertising campaigns may continue to run and you can still earn advertising revenue until June 30.

When iAd launched, its biggest advocate among Apple’s leadership was Scott Forstall. In some ways I’m surprised it took this long for them to pull the plug. After Forstall, I don’t think anyone’s heart was in this.

Fujifilm X70: Smaller, Wider, Cheaper (But, Alas, Slower) X100 ★

Sam Byford, The Verge:

The X70 keeps the same 16-megapixel APS-C X-Trans II sensor as the current X100T, but the body size has been dramatically reduced. Although the trademark hybrid viewfinder is gone, replaced by an optional hotshoe optical unit that Fujifilm warns is likely to be pretty expensive, the control scheme of an aperture ring around the lens with dials for shutter speed and exposure compensation up top is intact, and the X70 is the first X-Series camera to feature a touchscreen. That screen is capable of rotating 180 degrees for full selfie compatibility.

The defining feature of the X70, though, is its lens, since it’s a non-removable prime without any zoom function. Fujifilm has gone for an 18.5mm f/2.8 here, which is a little slower and wider than the 23mm f/2 found on all the X100 cameras — you lose a stop of light and the field of view widens to 28mm equivalence from 35mm.

I’ve owned the X100S for a little over two years, and I really like it. If Fuji had managed to keep the lens at f/2.0 I’d consider upgrading to this.

Tim Cook Lashes Out at White House Officials for Being Wishy-Washy on Encryption ★

Jenna McLaughlin, reporting for The Intercept:

Apple CEO Tim Cook lashed out at the high-level delegation of Obama administration officials who came calling on tech leaders in San Jose last week, criticizing the White House for a lack of leadership and asking the administration to issue a strong public statement defending the use of unbreakable encryption.

The White House should come out and say “no backdoors,” Cook said. That would mean overruling repeated requests from FBI Director James Comey and other administration officials that tech companies build some sort of special access for law enforcement into otherwise unbreakable encryption. Technologists agree that any such measure could be exploited by others.

Nick Heer, at Pixel Envy:

Apple — and Tim Cook, specifically — is the only major tech company currently defending encryption against intrusive surveillance to this degree. Every other company is either open to compromise publicly, has privately compromised, or has failed to take a firm stand.

This came up during last night’s Republican primary debate — not about tech companies refusing to allow backdoors in encryption systems, but about Apple specifically. Tim Cook is right, and encryption and privacy experts are all on his side, but where are the other leaders of major U.S. companies? Where is Larry Page? Satya Nadella? Mark Zuckerberg? Jack Dorsey? I hear crickets chirping.

Real leaders have courage, and on this very essential issue — in the face of fierce political pushback from law enforcement officials — only Tim Cook is showing any.