By Graham K. Rogers

Opening Gambit:

Apple Stuff

Also wondering about the hire and noting the raised eyebrows, was Jacqui Cheng on Ars Technica. As well as detailing some of the Apple negatives while he was at Adobe, she is sure that this was "fueled in part by his loyalty to Adobe, but some outsiders are still left wondering why Apple would hire him", adding that others see this as a winning situation for Apple.

Another commentator looking at this, Rene Ritchie on iMore, writes that the decision seems to have produced "confusion, doubt, and curiosity". He will report to Bob Mansfield and it is rumoured that he will be a sort of link between hardware and software. He also mentions that it was Lynch's job to defend Adbe and Flash, so the criticisms might be tempered because of that, but not all are going to be convinced, especially with the hirings of John Browett and Mark Papermaster still remembered.

Also thinking it is a bit of a gamble, Jeff Gamet writes on The MacObserver and begins with question about Adobe's decision-making, but cannot get away from the way that Lynch supported Flash against Apple till the bitter end.

As someone who often brings out sophiticated arguments to defend Apple, Daniel Eran Dilger on AppleInsider is somewhat conciliatory towards Lynch and examines, in some detail, his career path. He was at Macromedia before it was owned by Adobe, and before that he had already developed some software for Macs. Dilger also points out that, in an odd twist, Phil Schiller had been at Macromedia and would also have pushed Flash before moving to Apple. However I think Dilger is a bit off in his dates here as Schiller came to Apple in 1996, and Jobs returned in 1997. This is also clear in the Jobs' biography by Walter Isaacson.

However, Dilger makes a strong case for Lynch being an asset to Apple in his two page article, suggesting a number of ways in which his expertise could be put to good use. He concludes, "His history in developing Macintosh applications and working near Apple in the same Silicon Valley environment are likely to make him a better fit at Apple".

I am still open-minded about this: I gawped initially - sleeping with the enemy - but the executive world is notoriously amoral. Like me, Kate MacKenzie on PixoBebo seems ready to wait and see.

Related to this was Eric Jackson on Forbes who writes that every company needs a no-bozos policy and begins with Steve Jobs and comments on those less able than they should have been, but as this predates this week's hiring, does not actually mention Lynch. Astute readers may look between the lines.

We are used to hearing about Apple being sued for infringements of patents that others own. However, this week a new case is on the go, with a company called Intertrust suing Apple for the way it uses 15 DRM patent on its devices. Which ones: all of them. Jacqui Cheng on Ars Technica writes about this and makes the point that the litigant here has already won over $400 million from Microsoft. But there is something a little different as rather than being a Patent Troll, Sony and Royal Phillips Electronics hold stake in Intertrust, and it "claims to have made patent or software licensing deals with Samsung, Nokia, Motorola, Adobe, Samsung, Vodafone, HTC, and others". There was some more on this from Kevin Bostic on AppleInsider. Both this article and the one above mention that Intertrust actually does create, rather than being a patent troll.

And yet, despite the patents that slip through - Apple does after all buy patent licences for thousands of techologies - the company is still seen by some analysts as a reliable pathfinder. Galen Gruman, writing on InfoWorld, argues that despite what some took from the Galaxy S4 launch, the real leader in innovation is still Apple: "responsible for nearly all the innovations we see in mobile today" and while some may bring their own "inventions and distinctions to the table . . . they're playing in the world Apple defined". While he is full of praise for Samsung and the advances they have made, he (and Trip Chodhury whom he quotes) are less positive about integration and cite bad user experiences. The 3-page item is well worth taking time over. [My link for this was MacDaily News.]

Now this is magic. Mikey Campbell on AppleInsider reports that Apple has filed a patent application on technology to protect a device by shifting its center of gravity if it is dropped, so that it does not fall on sensitive components (like glass). The article has a complete description of how the weight would be shifted by deploying a protective machanism. Patently Apple also has a useful commentary on this.

While we are on suing Apple, there was discussion earlier in the week about a class action suit concerning the MacBook Pro with Retina display that on certain models had monitor ghosting. Jordan Kahn on 9to5 Mac looks at the computer and its problems and why not fixing this (or identifying the models affected) is likely to cause Apple more problems.

Apple is not doing too well in the courts right now as the judge in a case which is looking at tracking of users, has asked the plaintiffs to file for sanctions: how much do they want Apple hit for? Electronista reports that the judge was especially annoyed by the way Apple avoided handing over documents (they must have learned that from Samsung) until he put his foot down. The judge was also critical of Apple's legal team.

Earlier this week we gleefully announced the 6.1.3 update for iOS was available and that one of the fixes was for a passcode bug that had been found. Not so fast. Nick Arnott (among others) reports that iOS 6.1.3 also has a passcode bug: a new one. This problem can be prevented by disabling Voice Dial

There are always rumours about the iPad and the iPhone, but some are more interesting than others. Some, too, have more legs: they are more likely to have some element of truth about them from what we already know; and this does not include a cheap iPhone. Instead, Patently Apple looks at the possibility of a change to the type of glass that is used. Corning Gorilla Glass has been used since the iPhone first appeared, and this was considered a major advance. Now more technological advances suggest that Sapphire Crystal Glass may be the next big thing. As it is used on armoured vehicles, it sounds just the thing for the wear and tear of an iPhone.

Talking of which - iPhone rumours, that is - Adam Landonn on Technorati tells us that the iPhone 5S and an iPad 5 are to be anounced (he writes, unveiled) on 29 June in a special event called, Original Passion, New Ideas. Wow, I hope Tim Cook and Phil Schiller know about this. They should as Landonn tells us this is about re-establishing confidence in Apple and Cook as well as lower sales reports (now I know he is smoking something). He got this from Matthew Lucas on Gizmorati, who cites an unnamed Apple inside source, as well as an unnamed 3rd party: he still believes in Steve Jobs and, presumably the Tooth Fairy. I got this from MacDaily News who comment, "If you planned on celebrating 6 years of iPhone, wouldn't you do it with an "iPhone 6," not an "iPhone 5S"?

A rumour on the Apple TV appeared this week from Taiwan, Patently Apple reports. Unnamed Apple executives apparently met with the Hon Hai chairman and discussed HDTV displays that could be made at a former Sharp plant. They could make up to 6 million 60-inch TVs a year: more if the displays were smaller.

A note on those low sales: according to Steven Sande on TUAW, the boost that the iPhone created when it was relased in China last year has also raised the hopes of China Telecom. While profits were down, the figure was higher than had been predicted and it is the sales of data that made the difference: wireless data.

While Apple is rumoured to be working on the TV that will control them all, a TV company is said to be working on an app that will allow streaming of live TV to the iPhone. Chris Oldroyd on iMore writes about an ABC development of a streaming app, and it could "become the first American broadcaster to offer live internet streams of national and local programming". Ah, there is the catch: not for us outside, although Chris does mention the SkyG app for UK users.

Actually, I do already have such an app and this was created by Al Jazeera. I used it to great effect when some countries in North Africa were dumping their governments a year or so back. There is also the TV Premium app that works for a lot of channels from different countries.

Apple has released the latest version of its Environmental report and details about its move to 100% renewable energy are available. The comoany intends to "power every facility at Apple entirely with energy from renewable sources - solar, wind, hydro, and geothermal" and a graph shows 74% use in 2012: an increase of 114% since 2010. There are details of energy use at the sites in Malden, NC, Prineville OR, Newark CA, and Reno NV. There is also a link to a downloadable PDF of its Facitlities report.

With many sites still repeating the Apple lacks innovation mantra (say it enough and it becomes true), there is news from a number of sources this time, including AppleInsider, about the advances that Jony Ives and his team are making on interface design. There had been some criticism on the skeumorphism that Steve Jobs and mini-Stevem Scott Forestall favoured, which seemed at its worst with the current Calendar and Contacts applications. Ives is puching now for a "a simpler and more cohesive "flat design,"" Although drastic chanegs are not expected, this is being called a period of "thawing". Note this is not what Steve Jobs would have done.

Every week scores of apps are updated and while I note all of them, one or two are of greater interest such as facebook, Twitter, and several others that are widely used. One of my long-time apps, Doc² was updated this week and I also had email from the developers. I had requested some time back that the app should be able to handle more fonts. Not only have they done this but they took the time to send a follow up email. As well as now working with all available fonts, the other updates are shown as

• Auto save
• Improved documemnt rendering for shapes and charts
• Integration with Citrix ShareFile and Huddle cloud services
• Works with the newDropbox interface

A few months ago I mentioned that the authorities in Australia were having a look at the way foreign companies price their goods in the country. Of particular interest were Adobe, Microsoft and Apple. Once the spotlight was turned on, Adobe immediately reduced the prices by a considerable amount. This week, Steven Sande reports, the companies are to face a committee and will be asked about the markups. A study, prepared by Graham Spence of MacStories examines the Apple markups, deducted the 10% tax and converted the currency. The findings are interesting. While the markup is relatively small in most cases, with iPhones it is much more (though the iPhone 4 is cheaper). However, when he looked at the iTunes store, differences were really big.

It would be nice to see such a comparison done here in Thailand. I have done this for one or two items as they appear in the market and, Yes, for many items there is a slight markup, although with one version of OS X it was cheaper in Thailand by a few cents. Some products are noticably higher: mainly accessories. For the iTunes store, however, there is no difference, as prices are in $US so the only difference will be caused by currency fluctuations.

Several sites are reporting that there is another Trojan Horse for Macs. Emil Protalinski on TNW writes that it installs an adware plugin and "attempts to monetize its attack by injecting ads into Chrome, Firefox, and Safari". The malware is introduced via "movie trailer pages that prompt users to install a browser plugin, a media player, a video quality enhancement program, or a download accelerator". Don't.

Some of the technical articles that pass by each week sometimes seem to overlap a bit but it is still worth noting them as sooner or later someone might need information that one of them contains. This week there is a particularly useful subject of the hard disk. I know two local users who have had failures in the last week or so; I had one die last July as well as a warranty replacement on this MacBook pro; and a friend in Indonesia also had a failure last month: perhaps it is the humidity here. Nonetheless, Ted Landau on MacWorld has a check list of what to do: exactly as I have written a number of times, including in messages to a user last weekend, although there is the addition in this article of Internet Recovery Mode, which looks interesting but only for those who are desperate.

Also part of maintenance is the cleanup: all those unnecessary files cluttering everything up. Macworld have an article that puts forward a number of suggestions for this housework.

Several sites, including Chris Welch on The Verge, are reporting a change in the way Apple confirms the Apple ID or iCloud registration. With the need for increased security, there is now a 2-step verification process. This is currently available to users in the United States, UK, Australia, Ireland, and New Zealand

Apple updated the Podcasts app and aparently the tape skeumorphism has gone. I rather liked that. You didn't have to display it, but I thought it was rather neat, and beautifully designed.

Half and Half

Up and down. Down and up. An analyst has been lookng at tea leaves again and this time they fell in Apple's favour. Electornista reports that after the Galaxy S4 release, it will not sell well enough to halt Apple's gains. Ah. I like that word, especially as these figures were known a while back and few, if any of the analysts were rooting for Apple as the share prices fell. However, the report does throw a lot more cold water on Samsung and its claims, including the risible "me too" attempt with the iWatch that may not really exist.

One of the applications that I use daily is NetNewsWire as this deals rather well with RSS feeds that were dumped from Safari without any pre-warning when OS X was updated to Mountain Lion. Daniel Pasco writing on the Black Pixel blog informs users that the application is to be updated soon, and some of the reason is due to the loss of Google Reader. A couple of features were promised, like Sync (but not iCloud) as well as new versions for the iPad and iPhone.

Other Matters

Now here's a switch that could have some locals wondering about their next step. In California, the Attorney General has decided that the way the laws are framed concerning copyright, means that if (say) a company is India is using pirated software, they can be brought to court in the US. Mike Masnick reports on this for TechDirt and does make some points about the relative costs of software in different countries: sometimes it is actually a higher dollar price, leaving aside GDP and incomes.

However, the intent is to put pressure on the companies and it may be better to pay up than be dragged all the way to the West Coast to face an expensive court battle, but Mike argues this is a slippery slope: there are a number of points that could work against US companies, leave aside the popularity question which many Americans never get.

Talkng of Microsoft, the DoJ in the USA is probing the company because allegedly some of its staff in certain countries, may have been invovled in bribery. Perish the thought. Redmond is taking this seriously, Reuters reports.

Earlier this week I discussed the Swatting of Brin Krebs when a spoofed phone call had a SWAT team rushing to his house. Authorities in some countries (read USA and now their puppet on Airstrip One) seem to become overexcited by some events that they ought not to be, yet strangely unmoved by others. Chris Matyszczyk discusses the full police response to a photograph - a photo for Heaven's sake - of a kid in fatigues holding a .22 rifle. Like Chris Matyszczyk I do not like such a scenario - if I could I would ban all guns - but the reaction of the police and their illegal attempts at entry, over a photograph they had not actually seen (they just had a report about it) does seem to be overkill. As an opposite to this, I was reminded this week (after reading a Tweet) in an article on Washington Post by Stephen Dinan, about Homeland Security and their demands that an injured soldier returning in a wheel chair should stand on his prosthetic legs, and should also remove those legs (later) so that HS could search for explosives.

Local Items

Graham K. Rogers teaches at the Faculty of Engineering, Mahidol University in Thailand. He wrote in the Bangkok Post, Database supplement on IT subjects. For the last seven years of Database he wrote a column on Apple and Macs.