Page 23 - Aruba Today
P. 23
TECHNOLOGY A23
Wednesday 24 February
Bill Gates supports government efforts in Apple case
BREE FOWLER crosoft Corp., told the Fi- government be blind, peo-
nancial Times in a Tuesday ple don’t support that.”
AP Technology Writer interview. Magistrate Judge Sheri Pym
And in a lengthy inter- last week ordered Apple to
NEW YORK (AP) view on Charlie Rose on assist investigators by cre-
PBS, Gates said that if gov- ating specialized software
— Bill Gates is supportive ernment is “blind,” it might that would let the FBI rap-
not be able to stop online idly test random passcode
of investigators’ efforts to crimes such as tax evasion, combinations to try to un-
child pornography and, lock the iPhone and view
force Apple to help them most importantly, terrorism. data stored on it.
He added in an interview
crack into an iPhone used with The Associated Press The county-issued iPhone
that public opinion will like- 5C was used by Syed Fa-
by one of the San Bernardi- ly be on the government’s rook, who with his wife,
side, saying “I do think peo- Tashfeen Malik, killed 14
no shooters, saying a bal- ple want the government people at an office holiday
to act on their behalf if they party in December before
ance needs to be struck feel like the safeguards are they died in a gun battle
there.” with police.
between government ac- But Gates later on Tuesday But Apple maintains that
said that he was being mis- creating such software
cess and the need to pre- characterized by the me- would set a dangerous
dia as backing the FBI. precedent, threatening
serve data security. “The extreme view that data security for millions by
government always gets making essentially a master
While clarifying he doesn’t everything, nobody sup- key that could later be du-
ports that,” he told Bloom- plicated and used against
support untrammeled gov- berg News. “Having the other phones.q
ernment access to per- Bill Gates talks to reporters about the 2016 annual letter from the
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in New York, Monday, Feb.
sonal data, the Microsoft 22, 2016.
co-founder’s position runs Associated Press
contrary to those of many
tech executives who have ful of interviews that it’s with Apple CEO Tim Cook’s
not uncommon for phone argument that helping the
backed Apple Inc. The companies and banks to crack the shooter’s iPhone
hand over customer infor- would set a broader prec-
heads of Facebook, Twit- mation to investigators. He edent.
questioned why tech com- “They are not asking for
ter and Google have all panies should be treated some general thing, they
differently. are asking for a particular
sided with Apple on the case,” Gates, who remains
In particular, he took issue a technical adviser to Mi-
grounds that complying
with the government’s re-
quest would ultimately un-
dermine data privacy.
Gates stated in a hand-
Hottest phones you’ve never heard of _ same bang, less buck
YOUKYUNG LEE wireless show in Barce- the extra dollars their cus- A man checks the Huawei Honor 5X during Mobile World Con-
AP Technology Writer lona, Spain. Huawei and tomers pay. gress wireless show in Barcelona, Spain, Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2016.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) TCL vied to steal the spot- Along with premium hard- Along
— Move over, Apple and light from Samsung and LG, ware, Apple has tried to po-
Samsung. The next big both of which announced sition its products as unique Associated Press
smartphone might be from new high-end phones at by offering software, ser-
little-known Chinese brands the show. Xiaomi, which vices and apps that work Samsung. Although it’s still business have plunged to
such as TCL and OPPO. typically launches phones only on Apple devices — the largest smartphone less than half of what it was
Along with other Chinese in China, will preview the although in many cases maker in the world, Sam- in its heyday. Apple’s sales
phone makers such as Hua- Mi 5 phone in Barcelona on comparable services are sung is no longer among in China rose in the fourth
wei and Xiaomi, Chinese Wednesday. available for Android de- the top five phone mak- quarter, but its growth was
brands have surpassed “The Chinese smartphone vices. ers in China, according to outshined by Huawei.
Samsung in China and are vendors have a very unique At Samsung’s product market research firms IDC But bad news for manu-
encroaching on Apple’s feature — it is the price,” event Sunday, mobile chief and Counterpoint Technol- facturers is good news for
turf. In the coming years, said Shu On Kwok, editor of D.J. Koh said “we have ogy. Profits from the mobile consumers.q
analysts forecast that these AndroidPIT, a website that other ideas” beyond core
cheap Android phones tracks Android develop- smartphone features. Sam-
with not-so-cheap features ments. “You get the same sung, for instance, is pro-
will likely attract more bud- features as an LG or a Sam- moting its Galaxy phones’
get-conscious customers in sung smartphone has hard- compatibility with a Sam-
Europe and even in Sam- ware-wise, but for a lower sung virtual-reality headset
sung’s and Apple’s home price.” and an upcoming 360-de-
markets, South Korea and Samsung saw its market gree camera. But VR is still
the United States. share decline in 2015, while in its early days, of interest
Chinese phone makers Apple forecast its first rev- largely to gamers and tech
made their global ambi- enue decline in over 13 pioneers.
tions known at this week’s years. Both will have to do The Chinese brands have
Mobile World Congress more to prove the value of already taken their toll on
