Connecticut's IT Managed Services Blog

It was recently found that Apple has been tracking every iPhone user’s location with a secret hidden file. This came as a shock to most, as Apple has never mentioned this feature, which was most likely added in the iOS 4 update, and has caused quite a stir among privacy experts. This file tracks your location based on cell phone triangulation, which gives a general pinpoint of where you are at that time by locating the signal strength over 3 towers. What is even more alarming as there is currently no way to prevent apple from gathering your data, even with your GPS off, Apple can see where you were at any given time. To make matters worse, this file is unencrypted, meaning that anyone with a little bit of knowhow can pull up this data and check in on your activities.

Currently there is no word on why Apple added this feature to its mobile devices or what it planned on doing with the data, but the data is there assessable to anyone who can gain access to your iPhone or even a backup copy you make during syncing, as the data is transferred from the device to your computer. Current speculation has people wondering if this was even intentional, as both Android and Windows Mobile both track your location, but only the most recent one used. Apple might have been doing the same thing, but do to a bug/oversight it might not be deleting the past data like it should.

The Kindle took the market by storm and in June of 2010 the electronic editions were outselling hardcover books, by January of 2011 they were outselling paper back. This trend shows that e-readers are the way the industry is moving and while books aren't going away yet, as prices of e-readers drop, more and more people are finding the convenience of e-readers as a major selling point. But the real question is how do these devices work? They have battery life measured not in hours, like many smart phones, but rather in weeks and are fully visible in daylight, making them seem like magic compared to their LCD brethren.

The first thing to notice is that e-ink works nothing like a normal screen on a monitor or phone. An LCD screen is made of millions of dots that all glow Red, Green, and Blue. Each pixel, dot, is made up of these 3 colors and using various mixtures of these colors you can form the wide range of colors that your screen displays. The problem is that these displays generate light; this light fatigues your eyes over time and is hard to see when in direct sun light. Because of this LCD screens use a lot of power and can't be easily used when outdoors.

For the people who don’t trust anyone with their data, Toshiba has released a new hard drive that automatically erases itself if it plugged into another computer. This feature works by having the hard drive detect which computer it was originally installed on and from there it checks at each boot to make sure it’s connected to that computer. If you install it on another computer it automatically formats itself ensuring that nobody can have access to your data.

The Pixel Qi, a screen that uses both LCD and e-ink technology, debuted about a year ago showing its ability to switch between its LCD for video and normal computing and then switch to an e-ink display when being used outside in direct light. This is not to be confused with Barnes and Noble’s Nook that uses 2 separate screens, one a LCD, the other e-ink to bridge the gap, this is just one screen and is able to switch between them both at will. What makes this interesting is Apple’s interest in the technology. Amazon has made a lot of money from eBook sales and Apple was looking for part of the market too, in which case it was able to position itself with the iPad as an eBook reader. The problem with this, which Amazon has been keen to point out, is that the iPad isn’t a real eBook reader and still suffers from problems like not being able to read outside in direct sunlight due to glare, along with lower battery life and the eye strain that comes from staring at a LCD screen.

Recently Apple filed for a patent that would have a translucent e-ink display that goes over the LCD screen in which it could switch the displays automatically as needed. This is an interesting development for Apple, as they are perfectionists at heart, and if they plan on using this technology in future tablets means that have will have to overcome certain tech limitations. These limitations come from trying to mix the two technologies which leaves the LCD with lower viewing angles and makes it look less robust and crisp compared to current LCDs, while on the other hand it also gives the e-ink screen a slight glare, most likely from the glass that covers the display itself. These problems seem minor, and for any other company they would be, but Apple has prided itself with the fact that it uses such crystal clear displays and noticeably lowering their quality might disappoint Apple fans who buy these products for this level of quality.