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The Clever Cryptography Behind iOS 13 ‘Find My’

Andrew Orr ·

iOS 13 ‘Find My’ combines Find My Friends and Find My iPhone. Apple says it uses Bluetooth signals from Apple devices even if they’re offline. And the encryption scheme it uses means that third party attackers can’t track Apple devices, and Apple can’t track them either.

In a background phone call with WIRED following that keynote, Apple broke down that privacy element, explaining how its “encrypted and anonymous” system avoids leaking your location data willy nilly, even as your devices broadcast a Bluetooth signal explicitly designed to let you track your device. The solution to that paradox, it turns out, is a trick that requires you to own at least two Apple devices. Each one emits a constantly changing key that nearby Apple devices use to encrypt and upload your geolocation data, such that only the other Apple device you own possesses the key to decrypt those locations.

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Stabilize Your Phone, Switch Shooting Positions and More with This Innovative Gimbal: $99

Bryan Chaffin ·

Check out our deal on the VILTA-SE (Special Edition) 3-Axis Smartphone Gimbal Stabilizer. As the name says, it’s a 3-axis, handheld gimbal for stabilizing your iPhone (and Android device) videos. This model allows you to seamlessly switch your phone between landscape and portrait modes, adjust your shot’s focus manually via the built-in focus wheel, and stow/transport it with a magnetic locking mechanism. It’s $99 through our deal. The promo video below shows the device in action.

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Apple Park Campus is Ready for Earthquakes

Andrew Orr ·

As big as Apple Park campus is—about a mile around—it’s actually not attached to the ground. It has sliding mechanisms in the basement to reduce earthquake shaking by up to 80%.

Two stories underground, beneath offices where engineers design iPhones and MacBooks, the building rests on 692 huge stainless steel saucers. When the ground shakes, the building can shift as much as four feet in any direction on the saucers. Picture an ice cube on a plate. If you shake the plate back and forth, the ice cube slides to stay nearly stationary.

Completely fascinating. And as the article points out, apparently Jony Ive redesigned his own home to make it more earthquake resistant.

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Foxconn Moving 155 Jobs From U.S. to Mexico

Charlotte Henry ·

Key Apple supplier Foxconn is moving 155 jobs from the U.S. to Mexico. They offshored jobs come from a factory located outside of Indianapolis, according to Reuters, who broke the news. It comes alongside continued criticism of the firm for failing to meet its job creation targets in Wisconsin.

The Taiwan-based electronics maker said in a filing in Indiana in November 2018 that it would lay off 155 workers at a computer factory outside Indianapolis, citing “changes in our business and production objectives.” The Labor Department in February determined that the jobs were eliminated because the company had shifted some production to Mexico, records obtained by Reuters through a Freedom of Information Act request show….The company told the Indianapolis Business Journal in November that the plant in Plainfield, Indiana, was operated by a subsidiary firm and added that the layoffs would not affect other Foxconn-related companies.

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Teen AirDrop Wars Get Serious

Charlotte Henry ·

AirDrop wars between teenagers are apparently a thing. Teens use the file sharing tool to send each other memes and other content, and adults are getting caught in the crossfire. YouTuber and Adobe Spark product manager Veronica Belmont was amongst those who told their story to The Atlantic.

Anyone who has accidentally left their AirDrop settings open to everyone around a group of teens is likely familiar with the deluge of memes, selfies, and notes that arrives so quickly it can often freeze your phone. “Another day another group of French teens trying to AirDrop me memes on the subway,” one woman tweeted. “in a crowd of teens and they keep trying to AirDrop me memes!!!” said another. One young Twitter user joked that she was going to a music festival last weekend “just to AirDrop”… The photos swapped are usually memes or odd pictures teens find on Google Images.