Linked List: March 23, 2016

Wednesday, 23 March 2016

BuzzFeed: ‘Questions Hang Over FBI After Apple Showdown Fizzles’ ★

Hamza Shaban, summarizing the state of the Apple-FBI fight for BuzzFeed:

In an editorial Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal described the government’s clash with Apple as “reckless,” as the Justice Department “rushed to legal war with dubious theories,” and “fibbed” by stating that the San Bernardino case is all about one phone, even as law enforcement officials clamor for special access to encrypted devices in numerous cases across the country.

In a letter to the Journal, FBI Director James Comey said, “You are simply wrong to assert that the FBI and the Justice Department lied about our ability to access the San Bernardino killer’s phone.” Comey’s remarks echo those of DOJ officials from earlier this week, who stated that the worldwide publicity of the San Bernardino case prompted interested parties to contact the FBI and share methods to gain access to the iPhone. But all previous attempts have fallen short, until now. “Lots of folks came to us with ideas,” Comey said.

When the FBI lies it’s a “fib”. When you lie to the FBI it’s a “felony”. Good to see the Journal calling them out on it, though.

Walt Mossberg: ‘The iPhone 7 Had Better Be Spectacular’ ★

Here’s the thing: read Mossberg’s wish list at the end of his column. Let’s say Apple ships an iPhone this fall that checks off every single item on his list. (Don’t hold your breath waiting for a thicker phone so as to provide longer battery life, but for the sake of argument, let’s just say they do.)

Would Mossberg deem such an iPhone “spectacular”? I doubt it.

Mossberg also wants a reduced forehead and chin on the front face. I don’t think that’s coming until 2018, when I suspect Apple will ship an iPhone with no forehead or chin, just edge-to-edge display with the camera, sensors, and home button embedded in the display. That’s quite a way out in the future.

The Information on Apple’s Data Center Plans ★

Amir Efrati and Steve Nellis, reporting for The Information (behind a paywall; 9to5Mac has a summary post):

Apple is also working on projects to design its own servers. At least part of the driver for this is to ensure that the servers are secure. Apple has long suspected that servers it ordered from the traditional supply chain were intercepted during shipping, with additional chips and firmware added to them by unknown third parties in order to make them vulnerable to infiltration, according to a person familiar with the matter. At one point, Apple even assigned people to take photographs of motherboards and annotate the function of each chip, explaining why it was supposed to be there. Building its own servers with motherboards it designed would be the most surefire way for Apple to prevent unauthorized snooping via extra chips.

Cough, NSA, cough.

North Carolina House Passes Bill to Allow Anti-LGBT Discrimination ★

Dominic Holden, reporting for BuzzFeed:

The North Carolina House voted 83-25 to pass a sweeping bill on Wednesday that would negate all local LGBT nondiscrimination ordinances in the state and ban transgender people from certain restrooms.

Republican leaders of the North Carolina General Assembly had unveiled the legislation on Wednesday, and quickly began rushing the bill through a $42,000-a-day special legislative session fueled by rhetoric that portrayed transgender people as sex predators. Conservative lawmakers argued they are trying to protect privacy and promote safety in restrooms.

A lot of conservatives have some really weird hang-ups about public restrooms.

Pebble Layoffs ★

Steve Kovach, writing for Tech Insider:

Pebble, the buzzy startup credited for being one of the first companies to launch a modern smartwatch, is laying off 40 employees this week, CEO Eric Migicovsky told Tech Insider in an interview. That’s about 25% of its total staff.

I still hope they make it, but its hard for a scrappy small company to compete against Apple, Samsung, LG, et al.

Kovach:

The Pebble layoffs come at a shaky time for the wearable technology market. FitBit, the leader in the wearable category, has seen its stock fall dramatically in recent months. Apple dropped the price of the Apple Watch by $50 to $299 on Monday, a sign that it’s not selling as well as hoped.

I do not assume that the $50 price cut for the Sport models is a sign it’s not selling as well as hoped. My guess is that it’s a sign that, one year in, they’re significantly cheaper for Apple to produce.

How Nike Lost Stephen Curry to Under Armour ★

Ethan Sherwood Strauss, writing for ESPN:

Perhaps this is how Nike missed. Years of promoting Michael Jordan descendents made them oblivious to a player who shot the ball over that whole paradigm. It left them vulnerable to Kent Bazemore, and a company with less than 1 percent of the sneaker market. The next frontier of flight didn’t happen to be the next frontier of basketball. The next frontier happened to be Steph Curry, whose launches aren’t leaps, yet whose range commands a zeitgeist.

Nike could have re-signed Curry for just $4 million — a mistake that is now costing them billions.

Disney, Marvel Boycott Georgia Anti-Gay Bill ★

Variety:

“Disney and Marvel are inclusive companies, and although we have had great experiences filming in Georgia, we will plan to take our business elsewhere should any legislation allowing discriminatory practices be signed into state law,” a Disney spokesman said on Wednesday.

Good for them. The NFL is warning Georgia as well.

Matthew Panzarino Explains the New iPad Pro’s Embedded Apple SIM ★

It’s a great feature, but carrier restrictions make the overall situation as clear as mud.