Apple apply for patent to allow for remotely disabling devices if unauthorised usage is detected

Draeger

Draeger

Draeger

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Apologies if this has already been posted.

Apple yesterday applied for patent to allow remotely disabling electronic devices when 'unauthorized usage' is detected. The patent application covers using the camera to take pictures of the unauthorized user and using GPS to determine location, and it involves ascertaining whether the phone has been hacked or jailbroken, using that as criteria for detecting 'suspicious behavior.' The patent would allow the carrier or any other 'authorized' party to disable or restrict the functionality of the device. Is this Apple's latest tool to thwart jailbreaking?
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Slashdot Article

Details of alleged "Patent" application

LOL at #13 in the list :-

13 . The electronic device of claim 11, further comprising: a heartbeat sensor operable to detect the heartbeat of the current user; and wherein the processor is further operable to: compare the detected heartbeat with heart signatures of each authorized user of the electronic device; and determine that detected the heartbeat does not match the heart signature of any authorized user of the electronic device.
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Determining an unauthorised user or whether there is a suspicious process/service running is a good thing imo and it's good to see they're taking security seriously.

The anti-jailbreaking uses might just be a convenient side effect, as trying to beat the hackers is like peeing against the wind.
 
So if you have a heart attack.. your phone stops working so people can't call for help.. nice.

Ok that's facetious but what if your daughter is out with a friend and the phone decides not to work.. how do they call you to pick them up?

Biometrics are flawed as the key changes. Finger prints are a good one - do DIY and they stop working.. lastly if they base security off it (banking apps etc) then what happens when it's breached? You can't change it lol..

I think I'd drop Apple in a heartbeat if they think they can use my information (life signs) as information for their partners.
 
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Apple patent loads of daft stuff all the time - most of which never gets heard of again - they must laugh at all the teeth knashing on tech blogs and forums.
 
n111ck said:
Apple patent loads of daft stuff all the time - most of which never gets heard of again - they must laugh at all the teeth knashing on tech blogs and forums.
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Yep, it's good publicity if anything.

Personally I can't see it happening. If it did happy I could see it causing a reduction apple sales as I'm sure most people will see this as a bad thing.
 
Beerbaron said:
Doesn't mean fashionable gadgets are any good. The only Apple item i own is an ipod and itunes is terrible :(
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iTunes is great if you have half a brain to actually use it properly. If not then best to stick to media player eh.

I have used itunes for about 5-6 years now and never had any issues with it other than when I **** up. I dont own an ipod or iphone and I still used it for managing my music.

Apple became a world leader in tech because they innovate more than pretty much any other company save google.
 
fez said:
iTunes is great if you have half a brain to actually use it properly. If not then best to stick to media player eh.

I have used itunes for about 5-6 years now and never had any issues with it other than when I **** up. I dont own an ipod or iphone and I still used it for managing my music.

Apple became a world leader in tech because they innovate more than pretty much any other company save google.
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lies :p .no they dont, what they are good at is putting hardware together and screwing down an OS. innovating suggests they come up with new ideas. I dont think apple could be further from that.

I dont like itunes, so much so that i never bothered putting music on my iphone. You cant assume that only people who dont know how to use the program are the ones who complain about it - after all, ive used foobar2000 and custom profiles/UI's for probably longer than you've used itunes...without problems.

:)
 
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iTunes really is crap compared to so many other media players. If I could manage/update my iPhone without it I would.
 
iTunes is terrible on Windows, and I used to despise it. But I generally keep my media stuff on my Macbook Pro now and iTunes isn't bad on Mac. There isn't anything I've found I can't do on it and there are little to no performance issues on the Mac version.

As for the Patent. All these technology companies patent any idea their Research Department comes up with *just in case*. Apple is FAR from the only one, just that, because it is Apple - it generates hype.
 
iTunes is fine if you set it up so it doesn't interfere. The only reason I have it installed is to update, backup and manage content on my iPhone. I don't actually use it's media functions as I prefer MediaMonkey.

As far as managing the iPhone goes iTunes does a good job.

If apple ever implement this remote monitoring and tracking I'll be off to an Android phone.
 
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