IR-transmitted metadata. Last week, Apple filed for a patent on an iOS camera that can detect infrared in addition to visible light. If a user aims the camera at an object that is sending out additional information about that object in the IR band, the camera transmits that information to the device, and potentially also […]

Smartphone tracking data. Two researchers reported last month that Apple has been storing time-stamped location information on users’ iOS devices since June. An unencrypted file with these data is saved onto a user’s computer each time she syncs her device with it, as well. Apple appears to have good reasons for collecting the location information, […]

Amazon strong-arms a third-party Kindle service. Amazon shut down Lendle, a popular Kindle service that allows users to lend their books to strangers, last week because it didn’t “serve the principal purpose of driving sales of products and services on the Amazon site.” Two days later, after customers tweeted their displeasure, Amazon informed Lendle of […]

Retailer’s Terms and Conditions attempt to restrict negative online reviews. After a consumer posted a negative review of an Internet retailer online, the retailer reached out, not to apologize, but rather to threaten a libel suit. It turns out that the retailer’s Terms and Conditions aim to limit the circumstances under which an unhappy customer […]

The NYT Bits blog broke the story of an Android app called the “SMS replicator.”  This odious piece of spyware is described here; unless it’s a prank, the idea is that a stalker type with momentary access to someone else’s Android phone can install it.  It doesn’t show up as an icon, but runs quietly […]

T-Mobile gives its G2 Droid amnesia. The G2s appearing on T-Mobile shelves this week come with an extra piece of hardware, and it’s not a free car charger. If G2 owners teach their Droids (either by coding or downloading software) to do something that interferes with T-Mobile’s business model, the company-installed rootkit will induce short-term […]

Earlier this month, Apple announced changes to its iOS Program License for app developers. This move happened “suddenly” and was “surprising” to the tech community. Some e-news sites speculated that Apple was bowing to FTC pressure; this spring, the agency launched a probe into whether Apple’s ban on third-party app development tools constituted an impermissible […]

Google launches Government Requests tool. Google is now making public information on the requests it receives from government agents to remove content from its search results or reveal private user data. The Government Requests tool currently displays the number and type of requests by country for the last six months of 2009. In a bit […]

On April 3, an Adobe technical project manager demonstrated that Adobe’s new Air software could be used to develop across platforms—he created a Reversi game app that runs on Android, iPhone, iPad, Windows 7, Ubuntu, and OS X (see potential caveats in comments here). Cool! As JZ said, via email, “if this is really possible, […]

Recently, the Electronic Freedom Foundation posted the previously secret iPhone Developer Program License Agreement – a contract that apparently all iPhone app developers are required to click-sign before using Apple’s iPhone Software Development Kit.  Though a provision of the Agreement prohibits disclosure of its contents, EFF gained access by requesting it under the Freedom of […]