DTNS WEEKLY UPDATE- The iPhone was not that important - DTNS WEEKLY TECH UPDATE 06/29/2017
Added 2017-06-29 17:21:56 +0000 UTCThis is the weekly newsletter companion to Daily Tech News Show at http://dailytechnewsshow.com/
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Yes, I know the title of this week's column verges on clickbait. But I intend to back up my premise AND try not enrage too many Apple fans in the process. A fool's errand, I know. But give it a chance, read to the end, then let me know what you think.
CLOSER LOOK - The iPhone went on sale 10 years ago today. You know that, because every outlet in tech has written an angle on it. It was a big event at the time, there's no denying that. Sometimes I forget that Apple, at the time, was the iPod company and there was just as much-- if not more-- hype around them then as there is now. So the iPod company making a phone was a big deal.
I also think Apple legitimately deserves credit for changing the way we use and think of phones, especially with its implementation of multitouch. I'm writing this on an iPhone right now. I would never have ventured that on a Treo or even a BlackBerry.
But if you back away from the hype generated by fans and press (it takes both to make the hype) the iPhone is not the greatest innovation of the last 10 years. Sacrilege, I know.
In the past 10 years, we-- meaning humans-- have developed wireless data that is significantly faster than my home wired data was 10 years ago. We have created machines that can teach themselves innumerable things. from recognizing faces, to understanding conversations, including speech. I can stream high-quality television shows in HD, while on an airplane, from a company that didn't make shows ten years ago and is not a broadcast or cable network. I can unlock my door, adjust my thermostat and turn lights on and off from my phone. The list goes on.
It is perfectly reasonable to argue that the iPhone, by making smartphones popular, helped hasten these innovations. But that street runs both ways. Without these innovations, all smart phones are less useful, not just the iPhone. Like fans and press need each other to create hype, devices and services need each other to make us bother with them.
The iPhone does not dominate market share. Android does. Again, iPhone paved the way, but doesn't lead in share. Cost explains some, but not all of it. Even if you only compare Android phones that cost the same as iPhones, Android still has the edge. The iPhone had a first mover advantage with the touch screen interface, but it's subsequent features have not been at that same level of revolution. That's not to say touchID and Siri and other improvements aren't fantastic. Just not the wholesale change in how use a smartphone that the all touchscreen front was. So iPhone remains healthy and very competitive but not dominant.
http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/3725117
All of that is a long way to say that we have had other significant advances in tech but they don't get celebrated as much. And I suspect the answer to why, is showmanship.
Let's imagine Apple was an entirely different kind of company and released the iPhone hardware and software as a platform for license. Like ARM. Yes, I know it's impossible to imagine a world where Apple does this, but just for kicks do it anyway. That licensed iPhone design would likely have been just as revolutionary and had just as much impact. It probably wouldn't have made Apple as much money of course but it arguably could have made iOS the dominant platform and maybe even hastened innovation. And yet it probably wouldn't have as much celebration. In this thought experiment, the announcement would have been along the lines of a new reference design from ARM.
Remember the first ARM announcement? No? Oh, OK, that one person does. You're aces. The rest of you shouldn't feel bad. Most of people don't remember the first ARM announcement. The reason why? ARM didn't have a Steve Jobs to build up a pattern of expectation where everyone focuses in rapt attention as he goes on stage and performs his usual magic trick of making you believe you're seeing history. But because Apple did have a Steve Jobs, who was a master showman IN ADDITION to his other talents, 10 years later we-- myself included (video at Tech Republic)-- extend that hype a little longer through nostalgia.
http://www.techrepublic.com/article/top-5-moments-in-iphone-history/
Now. Before you make your comment or send your email, just let me be clear. I do think the iPhone is important. It's as important as the Thinkpad, or the HP calculator, or the Walkman. Arguably more. I just think, maybe, a little perspective around its relative importance is called for. Just to temper some of that hype. I hope you Apple fans can forgive me.
NEWS RECAP
A new ransomware attack emerged in Ukraine and spread fast. Systems at Ukraine’s central bank, Kiev metro and airport and power company Ukrenego were all reportedly affected. Electricity supply was not affected. Danish shipping firm Maersk also reported systems down at multiple sites. Other reports include Russia’s oil company Rosnoft and individuals in France and the UK. Kaspersky Lab believes the ransomware virus Petwrap, a version of the Petya ransomware is at fault. That ransomware demands $300 and the Verge notes blockchain records show nine payments totaling about $2,600 sent to the virus’s bitcoin address as of early Tuesday. https://www.theverge.com/2017/6/27/15879480/petrwrap-virus-ukraine-ransomware-attack-europe-wannacry
Cybereason security researcher Amit Serper discovered that the NotPetya ranswomware can be stopped before locking up a computer by placing a read only file named perfc in the Windows folder. BleepingComputer has full instructions including a batch file if you need it. Meanwhile German email provider Posteo has shut down the email address used by the creators of NotPetya to confirm payments and provide unlock keys. https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/vaccine-not-killswitch-found-for-petya-notpetya-ransomware-outbreak/
Talos intelligence and several other research groups believe the NotPetya ransomware began spreading through a hacked update to a Ukrainian accounting system called MeDoc. Talos points to a forged digital signature in the NotPetya payload that refers to MeDoc. MeDoc denies the allegation. https://www.theverge.com/2017/6/27/15883110/petya-notpetya-ransomware-software-update-wannacry-exploit
The European Union announced it will fine Google €2.42 billion for abusing its market dominance by prioritizing its own shopping service in search results. The EU report states Google's search algorithm often showed rival commerce results low down in search results, which combined with Google's search dominance in all EU countries, constituted abuse. Google has 90 days to stop the practice, and show rival comparison shopping results in a way consistent with the principal of equal treatment. Google said it disagrees with the decision and is considering an appeal.The EU has two other investigations underway into Google's advertising search practices and bundling of Google services with Android. http://g8fip1kplyr33r3krz5b97d1.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Google-MEMO-17-1785_EN.pdf
In a recent filing in Waymo's trade secret lawsuit against Uber, Uber stated that it included a clause in Anthony Levandowski's employment agreement explicitly prohibiting him from bringing any files from Google. Uber says that former CEO Travis Kalanick advised Levadowski to destroy the discs of data from Google and believed Levandowski had the data to ensure he'd receive a $120 million bonus payment from Google. Uber says it never knew what was in the data and did not want to know. In response, Waymo accused Uber of a cover-up. UBer said Waymo has brought zero evidence of Uber ever having the files. A trial in the case is set for October http://www.reuters.com/article/us-uber-alphabet-lawsuit-idUSKBN19J2Z1
Facebook has changed its mission statement from “Making the world more open and connected” to “Give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together.” Mark Zuckerberg announced the new mission statement at the Facebook Communities Summit. Facebook set a goal of helping 1 billion people join meaningful communities. Facebook Chief Product Officer Chris Cox told TechCrunch “We’re getting to a size where it’s worth really taking a careful look at what are all the things that we can do to make social media the greatest force for good possible.” https://techcrunch.com/2017/06/22/bring-the-world-closer-together/
Google senior vice president of cloud, Diane Green posted Friday that Google will no longer scan Gmail users email in order to serve ads. Google will continue to serve ads based on search and YouTube history. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-06-23/google-will-stop-reading-your-emails-for-gmail-ads
At Mobile World Congress Shanghai, Qualcomm demonstrated its ultrasonic-based under display fingerprint sensor on a prototype Vivo Xplay6 smartphone. The system uses the lower third of the screen as a fingerprint reader, but seems to work slower than current button-based fingerprint sensors. The sensor can see past dirt and sweat , read blood flow without a camera flash and even work underwater. Synaptics also has an under-glass fingerprint sensor and its rumored that Apple will use a similar technology in an upcoming iPhone. Qualcomm also unveiled the Snapdragon Wear 1200 for wearables which include and LTE modem. https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2017/06/qualcomm-vivo-show-off-slow-but-convenient-under-display-fingerprint-sensor/
- http://www.anandtech.com/show/11588/qualcomm-announces-snapdragon-wear-1200-lte-cat-m1-nb1
- https://www.androidheadlines.com/2017/06/qualcomms-snapdragon-450-announced-with-adreno-506-gpu.html
- https://www.androidheadlines.com/2017/06/qualcomm-announces-new-ultrasonic-fingerprint-sensors.html
The Windows 10 Fall Creators Update will include Windows Defender Exploit Guard which can control OS-wide mitigation capabilities to guard against things like malicious macros in Office or websites known to contain malware. This is similar to the retired Enhanced Mitigation Experience Toolkit, or EMET. The update is on track to include the Application Guard for Edge which runs the browser in a virtual machine to protect the rest of the system from Web vulnerabilities. Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection will also expand its ability to inspect suspicious behavior like keylogging and script-based attacks. https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2017/06/microsoft-bringing-emet-back-as-a-built-in-part-of-windows-10/
Nintendo’s SuperNES Classic Edition launches September 29th. The miniature console plays games over HDMI using two wired controllers. It will come with 21 classic games including Donkey Kong Country, Final Fantasy III, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Star Fox and Star Fox 2 and of course, Super Mario World and Super Mario Kart. Europeans get a sleek curved Japense Super Famicom design while the US gets the purple boxy Super NES for $80 http://www.businessinsider.com/nintendo-super-nintendo-classic-edition-2017-6
32TB of Windows 10 source code and internal builds leaked via an archive to Betaarchive.com. The leak includes wi-fi and usb stacks, storage drivers, and code for the ARM-based OneKernel code, as well as internal test builds for Windows 10 and Windows Server 2016. Microsoft confirmed that the code came from its Shared Source Initiative. After being reported on by The Register, Beta Archive removed the source code pending review. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/06/23/windows_10_leak/
The Canadian Supreme Court has upheld a ruling requiring Google to remove a company’s website from global search result. The company that was removed had been sued for relabeling products from Equustek and passing them off as its own. Google had delisted the offending site from its Canadian search engine but argued removing it globally violated freedom of expression. Justice Rosalie Abella wrote, "We have not, to date, accepted that freedom of expression requires the facilitation of the unlawful sale of goods." Music Canada welcomed the decision as a way to help enforce copyright. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/canada-s-top-court-backs-order-for-google-to-remove-firm-s-website-from-global-searches-1.4181322
YouTube and Google’s Daydream VR division have launched a new format called VR180. The videos show a 180-degree view and can be viewed flat on a screen, in 3D on YouTube or in Cardboard, Daydream or PlayStation VR headsets. It will eventually be editable in Adobe Premiere Pro. VR180 will use less data both in streaming and in storage and doesn’t require the extensive stitching that 360-degree video does. VR180 can be made with a new line of cameras from Yi, Lenovo and LG among others coming this winter. https://www.theverge.com/2017/6/22/15854308/google-youtube-vr180-video-camera-lenovo
