Category: iPhone 5

Important Judgement affecting fingerprint protected devices.

exclamation mark

 

A recent ruling by a circuit judge in Virginia could have long casting implications for security features such as Touch ID and other fingerprint protected devices.

 

According to the Judge, Judge Steven C. Fucci, whilst passwords (and hence password protected devices) are protected under the Fifth Amendment, fingerprints are not.

 

This means that a police officer can make a criminal defendent give up your fingerprint in order to unlock a device. Uh Oh.

 

The Fifth Amendment states that “no person shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself.”  This protects memorized information and knowledge such as passwords and passcodes, but it DOES NOT extend to fingerprints in the eyes of the law, because, as the judge ruled, giving up a fingerprint is just like providing a DNA or handwriting sample or an actual key, which the law permits.

 

Interesting.

 

The case that the judge was ruling on was against a David Baust who is accused of strangling his girlfriend to death. The cops believe that he has video of the crime recorded on his phone. prosecutors are obviously trying to get access to that video and were trying to get the judge to force the defendant (Baust) to unlock it.

 

Here’s the thing, however: If the phone in question is an iPhone with Touch ID, it is probably passcode locked at this point and, hence, protected by the fifth Amendment. Touch ID requires a passcode after 48 hours of disuse, a restart, or three failed fingerprint entry attempts and it’s pretty unlikely that Baust has had his phone in prison.

 

Unless the judge’s finding gets overturned, it does seem like this ruling might have some pretty big ramifications for fingerprint protected technology and privacy versus security in the future.

 

 

iPhone 5C is now only offered in 8GB!

1409219258_support-px-png

 

 

Around the same time that Apple announced the new iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus and Apple Watch, something else happened quietly in the background to one of their recent iPhone models.

 

The iPhone 5C is now being offered only in one size – 8GB. Dun dUn DUN!

 

This size was not even offered as an original option for the iPhone 5C, (the options were 16GB and 32GB only) however earlier in the year Apple did release the 8GB model in 5 areas such as the UK and Australia – not the United States.

 

Now, if you take a look at the Apple store, you’ll find this is the only option available. This is something a lot of people may not be super happy about, considering how small 8GB feels like to some (most?), and especially considering it takes approximately 4.6 GB of free space just to upgrade an iPhone to iOS 8.

 

So, is this the beginning of the end to the iPhone 5C in the U.S.? It looks like it might be the case. If so, we’ll miss you, you colorful little guy. You were too cool for your own good.

 

If you want to sell your iPhone 5C, we’d love to take him! Get a quote and send him on over to us for CASHmoney!

 

 

 

Apple might replace your iPhone 5 battery?

6010872603_ce03cfdd97_m

 

 

Have you found that your iPhone 5 isn’t running as well as you thought it would? Getting sctick at the playground/water cooler for your phone battery always dying? Have you become one of those people who always has to ask for chargers? Well, we could have some good news for you.

 

If you purchased your iPhone 5 between September 2012 and January 2013, you may be part of the very small percentage of people who who were sold devices with faulty batteries and who are now eligible for a free battery replacement from Apple.

 

If your phone is experiencing battery problems and is otherwise in working order, go on over to Apple’s eligibility website here, fill in your device’s serial number and WHAMMO you can see if you’re eligible for battery replacement.

 

To find your serial number, tap Settings > General > About.

 

If you are eligible, there are a number of options for replacing the battery listed so you can find the best option for you.

 

Congratulations! You might not be that guy anymore! Hooray!

 

 

 

Low Battery by Paul Swansen is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

iPhone Tip Of The Day!

 

Ever see a rockin’ photo on your iDevice whilst browsing that wonderful world wide web? Something like this?

 

 

 

 

 

Or this?

 

 

 

 

In Safari or Chrome, simply place your magic finger on the image, hold down for a moment, and you’ll be given an option to save the image to your iPhoto library. BAM! Now it’s yours to do anything with (that’s not commercial or against copyright or, you know, mean. Don’t be mean, guys.)

 

Now you can use it as your wallpaper, email it, print it out and hang it on your wall, or just look back at it fondly and wistfilly every now and then.

 

Like we do with this one:

 

 

 

 

 

Images courtesy of Planetsforkids.org &  Imgur.com 

iPhone Tip Of The Day

 

 

You know that little suggested spelling box that comes up sometimes when you’re typing on your iPhone or iPad? And about 60% of the time you’re like, ‘oh hey little box, that’s cool, you’re totally right on how to spell that word, my bad, thanks for your assistance!’

 

But the other 40% of the time you’re like ‘agggh i know what i want to say little box and you’re totally wrong this time and my finger is too fat to touch that little stupid x of yours to make you go away!’

 

Well, actually, that 40% of the time? You can tap anywhere on the screen- except for the box- and it’ll go away.

 

Freeeeedom!

 

 

 

 

Image courtesy of Huffington Post & Sodahead.

Apple vs Samsung ( & Google?)!

 

 

So if you guys didn’t know, Apple & Samsung have been at it again, Round Two in the Battle of The Patents. After winning Round 1 in The Battle, Apple were awarded $1 billion in damages, eventually reduced to $929 million.

 

This time,  Apple was seeking $2.2 Billion in damages from Samsung over 5 patents, and for the judge to stop Samsung selling their devices in the US.

 

As unlikely as this was to happen, the lawsuit was still a pain in Samsung’s butt and wallets. What made it a little easier? Google offered to help Samsung cover their costs.

 

According to reports from Windows IT Pro Blog, Apple’s lawyers showed a video during testimony in which a Google attorney confirmed that there were email messages between Google and Samsung where Google offered to help cover Samsung’s legal expenses and maybe even damages fees.

 

This kind of financial assistance, known as indemnification, is covered by Google’s “contractual obligations” to Samsung, because they are the hardware partner that sells the most Android phones.

 

Basically, because Samsung are the biggest hardware partner that uses Google’s apps and operating system, they want to help there guy out, right?  And so they do it with offers of money and offers to defend some patent claims Samsung says is covered by Google’s Android Operating System.

 

Samsung was also claiming a smaller $7 million for Apple infringing two of its patents.

 

Today, the unanimous jury verdict was reached after three days of deliberation, finding that Samsung willfully infringed on two of the 5 patents involved in the suit. Samsung has been ordered to pay $119.6 million, which whilst still a win, is not exactly what Apple had hoped for, especially knowing that Google might be helping Samsung out by throwing some cash their way!

 

Apple in turn were ordered to pay Samsung $158,400. Mere pennies! What we’re all wanting to know though is,

 

 

 

 

 

Images courtesy of Digitaltrends & Sodahead

Broken wake/sleep button or home button? Here’s what to do!

 

Do you have an iPhone that has a broken wake/sleep or home button and it’s not covered under warranty?

 

 

We got you!

 

You have 2 options.

 

1. If you’re not ready to sell your beloved iPhone, or get it repaired for a silly amount of money, there’s a software solution for your broken buttons!

 

Go to Settings>Accessibility>Assisted Touch>Switch to On.

 

Now you’ll see a floating button on your iPhone screen that can act as both the wake/sleep button, volume buttons, and the home button. It can peform functions such as waking the device up, making it go to sleep, taking photos, screenshots, etc. It looks like this:

 

 

 

The other option?

 

2. Go to www.iphoneantidote.com to sell your stupid broken iPhone with it’s stupid broken buttons to us for CASHMONEY in the easiest and fastest way ( in the known galaxy at least) and use that CASHMONEY to get a shiny new phone!

 

We like that option.

 

 

 

 

mages courtesy of Hampshirecatteries.com & Quickmeme.com

Apple replacing sleep/wake buttons on some iPhone 5 models!

 

 

Has the sleep/wake button on your iPhone 5 stopped working? Thought it was a lost cause? There might be some hope yet!

 

Apple has released a statement to The Loop regarding a recall of some iPhone 5 models because of broken sleep/wake buttons, which means if you are one of the device owners affected- you could get it replaced for free.

 

Here’s the lowdown-

 

You’ll need to enter your iPhone’s serial number here to see if your device is one of those affected by the recall.

 

If your phone is affected and you want to get it fixed for free ( duh) you can bring it to any Apple Retail Store or Apple Authorized Service provider. Your device will have to be sent away to an Apple repair centre to be fixed, however it is believed that for the interim some Apple stores are lending customers iPhone 5 16Gb models. You can also mail your device directly to the repair centre if you’d like.

 

According to Apple your device will take 4-6 days from the time it is received until it is returned to you, and all customers should back up all their data and erase all content and setting before sending it in to get fixed. All devices that receive a new sleep/wake button will be updated to iOS 7.

 

If you’ve got an iPhone 5 that is affected by this recall and you’ve already paid for an out-of-warranty replacement, you should contact an Apple customer service rep to ask for a refund.

 

This recall and placement program will be effective for 2 years after the initial retail purchase of your device.

 

According to some reports there are stores that are offering customers affected by the recall  a $350 upgrade credit for a new device, but you must specifically ask for it, your phone must be in perfect condition other than the sleep/wake button, and it’s of course not guaranteed.

 

By the way, why doesn’t Apple have a cooler name for that button? Writing sleep/wake button over and over has cemented the fact that it’s a pretty stupid name. It should be called, like, the enforcer button or something. Just saying, Apple.

 

Good luck Guys! Let us know how you go if this recall applies to you!

 

 

 

Image courtesy of Techcrunch

Facetime Facepalm

 

Since April 16th people who have devices running iOS 6 have been experiencing difficulty using FaceTime. Apple changed their troubleshooting page to advise updating devices to the latest operating system, but it was thought that the issue would be fixed after a short period of time.

 

Unfortunately kids, it appears we are just not that lucky. Apple today released a new support document advising that the problems people are experiencing with FaceTime are due directly to a bug which has resulted from an expired device certificate.

 

No good.

 

If you are on of those people experiencing the problem, then the only way you can use FaceTime is to update your operating system to the latest version that your device is capable of running.

 

If your device is capable of running iOS 7 it must be upgraded to iOS 7.0.4 or later, however if your device is incapable of running iOS 7 ( like the iPhone 3GS), you must upgrade to iOS 6.1.6.

 

Here it is direct from the sauce:

 

“If you started to have issues making or receiving FaceTime calls after April 16, 2014, your device or your friend’s device may have encountered a bug resulting from a device certificate that expired on that date. Updating both devices to the latest software will resolve this issue.

 

If you’re using iOS 7.0.4 or later or iOS 6.1.6, this issue doesn’t affect you.

 

If you’re using these versions of OS X or FaceTime for Mac, this issue doesn’t affect you:

 

– OS X Mavericks v10.9.2 or later
– OS X Mountain Lion v10.8 with the latest security updates
– OS X Lion v10.7 with the latest security updates
– FaceTime for Mac version 1.0.5 or later for Mac OS X v10.6

 

While FaceTime does work with iOS 6.1.6, that particular update is not available to recent devices that are able to run iOS 7, which means iOS 6 users with newer devices who wish to access FaceTime must upgrade to iOS 7.”

 

 

So… Happy upgrading? We guess? For reals though, it actually is a pretty nice iOS, even though the changes might look a bit scary. Check out our iOS 7 article here. You knew you had to do it eventually, right?  Right? … FaceTime Shots Anyone?

 

 

FaceTime not working? This might be why.

 

 

 

If you’re running iOS 6 on your iPad or iPhone, you may have noticed that you’re currently unable to FaceTime. According to a report on Macrumors, multiple people running iOS 6 have encountered the problem and Apple has updated it’s troubleshooting page specifically to advise upgrading to the latest iOS as the number 1 step.

 

 

Users who have complained directly to Apple have also been advised to update their iOS as the first troubleshooting step, however it is acknowledged among the tech community that the problem should be a temporary one.

 

 

If you don’t want to update your device to the latest iOS, you shouldn’t have to, unless you NEED to do FaceTime shots/ show babies to someone IMMEDIATELY.  Or REALLY SOON.

 

 

We totally understand that need, by the way and we plan to be doing one of those today, so we’ll use an ioS 6 device and keep you guys updated as to if and when the issue appears to get fixed!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Images courtesy of Quickmeme.com & Petapixel.com