lockdown
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Apple's French and UK stores switch to Express pickups as lockdowns begin
With lockdowns starting today in the UK and last week in France, Apple Stores in those countries are switching gears. Starting tomorrow (November 6th) in the UK, Apple will switch stores over to Storefront service, offering “click-and-collect” pickup only and no Genius bar or shopping.
Google and Facebook employees can work from home for the rest of the year
Major tech companies are extending work-from-home options until the end of the year.
Apple, Google reportedly team with UK's NHS on COVID-19 tracing app (updated)
An app made with Apple and Google's help could help end coronavirus lockdowns in the UK.
EVO 3D shipping with locked down bootloader, but HTC may reconsider policy
We've got some good news and some bad news. Let's do the bad news first: much like the Sensation, Thunderbolt, and Incredible S, Android Police has confirmed that the upcoming HTC EVO 3D will also be sporting a locked down bootloader of similar fashion, meaning custom ROM modders will have a hard time glamming up said phone. Not that anyone should be surprised by this finding though, given the sad trend. That said, there is still hope: earlier today, HTC announced on Facebook that it's "reviewing the issue and our policy around bootloaders" -- looks like someone's pulled a page out of Sony Ericsson's good book. If all goes well, we'll just have to wait and see whether HTC will beat Motorola to making their fans smile again. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
App Store locked down for Thanksgiving, Christmas holidays
Apple is apparently going to give the App Store approval staff some time off over the holidays. But don't worry, you'll still be able to shop. It's just that developers who are rushing to get holiday-themed apps into the App Store will need to make sure that they get their content approved before the holidays arrive. According to Macgasm, the content lockdown has occurred at Christmas in the past. This will be the first year that Apple is throwing the Thanksgiving holiday in late November into the mix as well, ensuring that the App Store folks can get their fill of the U.S. Thanksgiving feast and watch lots of college and pro football. Developers won't be able to make changes or submit new apps during the lockdown periods through iTunes Connect, the portal that devs use to coordinate app entries in the store. There will also be a freeze in the Top App listings during each of the holidays, so developers might want to make sure that they're at the top of the heap before taking a short vacation -- they'll get a few more days of App Store listing love that way. Developers are also reminded to pre-schedule any price changes during the freeze, as they won't be able to adjust pricing for special sales during the lockdown.
The OverAchiever: End of the Glory of the Hero
Welcome back to OverAchiever's Glory of the Hero guide. I honestly can't believe I started this series almost a year ago. Time flies when you're deliberately wiping Less-rabi over and over again, I guess. This is the full Glory of the Hero guide, organized by dungeon: Part I: Ahn'kahet Part II: Azjol-Nerub and Culling of Stratholme Part III: Drak'Tharon Keep Part IV: Gun'drak Part V: Halls of Lightning Part VI: Halls of Stone Part VII: The Nexus Part VIII: The Oculus Part IX: Utgarde Keep and Utgarde Pinnacle And today's guide, Part X: Violet Hold
Apple to use Fairplay for iBooks DRM?
FairPlay, you'll remember, is the oft-maligned (yet still much-used) DRM that locks down content on the iTunes Store, and rumor has it that Apple's bringing that code to a whole new media. The LA Times tech blog says that sources in the publishing industry are hearing that Apple will lock down the sales of their content in the iBooks store with FairPlay as well. Of course, it probably would have been wishful thinking for Apple to sell content under an open license, but opponents of FairPlay might be unhappy to hear that it's coming back for iBooks. Of course, we still don't know what kind of implementation they'll use on the iBooks store, but remember that FairPlay limits iTunes content to five different accounts, so if you happen to have more than six people in your house, they may not all be able to have their own books on your iPad. FairPlay also limits content to strictly Apple devices, so (again, depending on implementation) it's a fair guess to say that any books you purchase on the iPad won't be usable on any other device. Which might be just fine for you anyway -- while FairPlay has its share of opponents, it's worked just fine for most users in iTunes. Apple is likely selling their platform to publishers right now, and in order to do that, they've got to guarantee that they can lock down content if necessary. [via Engadget]
iPhone Developer Lockdown reportedly iPinkBricks all dev units
Readers report that update 5A240d is now available on the Dev PortalReports are streaming into TUAW that official iPhone developers have been hit this morning by the Pink Screen of Expired Release. Their beta licenses for the current 1.2/2.0 firmware distribution have expired as of 12:01am April 8th. Both iPhones and iPod touches now display the pink-backgrounded "This device is expired. Please install a newer version of the OS" activation screen and will do so until Apple issues a firmware refresh. You can easily downgrade your iPhone or iPod touch from the PSOD. Just restore your iPhone or touch to an earlier firmware release. You will not be able to use your unit for development until Apple updates the developer release but you should be able to make phone calls.iPhone hacker Nicholas "Drudge" Penree reports that you can bypass 1.2/2.0 activation using the dev team's pwnage tool. He writes that he is aware of 1.2/2.0 iPhones that are still working today.[Via iPhoneDevHelp]Thanks everyone who sent this in. Update: Straight from our blue & green super-sekrit source: "I got bricked as well. Called ADC and they told me there was a new SDK. They said it was stilllabeledas the old SDK but that if I hovered over the link would show the new one. Not sure how the SDK would fix it vs. a new firmware but I'm downloading it now." I personally can't see any updated SDK material. Perhaps its only available to those accepted into the dev program. Other readers report that they do not see any updates--in the dev program pages or the general iPhone dev center ones. Update 2: Another blue and green birdie sent us this, which has apparently been posted since the developer program opened: "Important note: Once you install the pre-release iPhone OS on your device, such device may only be used for development and testing purposes until the final (GM) version of the iPhone OS is released. In addition, you will need to install new versions of the software from time to time throughout the beta period. Failure to install the most current version will, after a period of time, put your device in a de-activated state. Updating to the most current version will re-activate your device so that you may continue testing."Update 3: Apparently the new (possibly 5A240d) firmware seed has only been released to Enterprise developers so far according to yet another blue & green birdie. This birdie tweets that the seed note is quite extensive and includes "unsettling" details. It looks like a lot of device hangs and system restores are in developer futures.
The Lockdown: Lasershield - convenient, cost effective, potentially vulnerable
What we may have is "a failure to communicate!" In previous Lockdown articles we have examined the vulnerabilities of mechanical locks and how easily most of them can be compromised. Even some popular high security locks can be easily bypassed -- if you thought that installing a deadbolt would provide all the protection you may need, think again.But if your locks will not adequately protect you, then what will? How about a portable alarm system that is affordably priced, a cinch to install, and virtually immune to the most common cause of false alarms (keypad entry errors), maybe something like the LaserShield. Still, the question arises: if a determined burglar can easily bypass this wireless system with some simple and abundant technology, is that too much of a risk to your home security?
EFF technologist on DRM, Apple's role and the bigger picture
Seth Scoen, an EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation) staff technologist, has an interesting blog post in which he analyzes some of the arguments surrounding DRM, Apple's role and how DRM affects the market in more ways than simply locking down content. He also hopes to remind those who have gone astray from the meat of the topic that getting caught up in the Mac vs. PC (and Apple vs. Microsoft) debates in the DRM world only serves to muddy the issue, much like many political debates get too caught up in 'Democrat vs. Republican' rivalry.One of the more important arguments that Seth examines in terms of DRM as a whole and how it affects market competition is that of 'it's the record labels, not Apple who are to blame for the use of DRM'. Seth cites an EFF post from May, 2004 in which their own Fred von Lohmann wrote about his chance to ask the iTMS head lawyer as to whether Apple would stop using DRM if the record labels got really drunk one night lifted their requirement of it. The lawyer reportedly answered "no", which prompted Seth to remind us that DRM clearly isn't just about protecting content - it's also about protecting profitable and closed products like iTunes + iPod, and, perhaps even more importantly, Apple isn't the only one trying to do this.Seth's post offers some interesting perspective on these DRM arguments, and it refreshingly delves deeper than the "Apple's solution is terrible which means you should use Microsoft's" banter. Check it out.[via BoingBoing]
