Verizon takes Apple’s side against “backdoor” into phones

Verizon Wireless, the largest mobile carrier in UnitedStates, takes Apple’s side against “backdoor” into phones for law enforcement. Verizon CEO ‘Lowell McAdam’ issued a statement in support of Apple’s stance against a technological backdoor into its devices for law enforcement- statement that is significant considering the nation’s largest wireless carrier had so far remained silent in Apple's ongoing battle against an FBI request for access into an iPhone linked to December's San Bernardino shootings. 

"Verizon is committed to protecting customer privacy and one of the tools for protecting that privacy is encryption," McAdam said. He further added, "We support the availability of strong encryption with no back doors. The case with Apple presents unique issues that should be addressed by Congress, not on an ad hoc basis."

This statement by Verizon coincided with an interview on the topic that Apple CEO Tim Cook granted to ABC World News a few days back. "If a court can ask us to write this piece of software, think about what else they could ask us to write," Cook said during the interview, according to a Verge transcript. "Maybe it's an operating system for surveillance. Maybe it's the ability for law enforcement to turn on the camera. I mean, I don't know where this stops. But I do know this is not what should be happening in this country. This is not what should be happening in America. If there should be a law that compels us to do it, it should be passed out in the open, and the people of America should get a voice in that. The right place for that debate to occur is in Congress."

Meantime, an article published in the New York Times citing unnamed sources reported that Apple engineers are working on “new security measures” that would make it impossible for the external agencies to unlock an iPhone.

Verizon joins Facebook, Twitter and other major Tech companies in voicing support for Apple’s position. However, other major carriers have remained silent on the topic.

Apple Finally Hits Back! The Awaited Apple Watch is Up for Release

After months of conjecture, Apple has finally hit back aloud unveiling its long-awaited dive into the smartwatch industry with a product thought to be finer than all its peers, the Apple Watch.

The Watch has stepped away from the monotony of designs by other manufacturers that have preceded it. This smartwatch brings to the plate more choices for customization and pricing along with two versions based on the size of the watch face suited to smaller as well as larger wrist sizes. The watch is capable of running its own apps and pretty well manages notifications from iPhones. It makes calls, sends and receives emails, messages, and manages music playback controls besides taking care of fitness tracking via the renowned app HealthKit.

The Sports edition of the watch is priced at $349 for the 38mm size and $399 for the 42mm size. The one with a stainless steel face and assorted alloy bands will range between $549 and $1,049 for the 38mm size and $599 to $1,099 for the 42mm size.

There is yet another that edition that is made of 18K gold. It starts at a price of $10,000 and as expected, will not be very readily available at retail stores. The company will accept preorders for Apple Watch beginning April 10 in Australia, Germany, Canada, France, China, Hong Kong, Japan, the UK and the US. The unique and classy watch will also be available for preview with try-on by appointment at Apple’s retail stores, and available for pre-order through the Apple Online Store.

The Apple Watch will be available online or by reservation in Apple’s retail stores as well as select Apple Authorized Resellers in China and Japan by April 24. While many will wait for the responses of those who will be the first ones to lay their hands on the product, there will be others who will want to be the first to own one. A question that is cropping up in minds alike is whether this package is good enough for the price and reputation of Apple as a useful wearable product? From what we have heard, the battery life of the watch is below the hours in a day, which does have its own downside. 

However, the Apple Watch will definitely be a game changer in terms of sales, making the wearable market move up a notch from its current niche level.

AT&T, Verizon, Samsung, Apple in 2014: A Competition Review

It often seems obvious for executives from wireless carriers to comment at investor conferences on how they think the industry is fiercely competitive. Such a comment sounds even more obvious when it comes from executives at AT&T Mobility and Verizon Wireless. However, the year that went by has justified their statements thoroughly as every other cellphone network carrier felt the tremors of stiff competition in the marketplace.

In reality, the pricing competition started gaining momentum right from January of 2014 and only kept picking up pace during the rest of the year. In fact, it got a real boost when the merger dialogue between Sprint and T-Mobile US broke down. Although financial analysts have been chafing about the probable impact of the ongoing price competition on the long-term margins and investment of the network carriers, it is, somehow, a great development for customers.

In the smartphone arena too, the pricing competition is pacing up as Google, Microsoft, Mozilla and their device partners look out for fresh customers in the emerging markets. Parallel to this has been an unusual development that saw average selling prices going down with low-cost providers like Xiaomi coming up. Although Samsung Electronics and Apple are secure in their own niches as the No. 1 and No. 2 smartphone players, respectively, pressure has mounted as well and is greater than what they have been facing until now.

Further on, the overwhelming $44 billion auction for the AWS-3 spectrum has brought to the surface carriers’ desire for extra network capacity. The hefty amount being spent in the auction highlights even better the challenges that smaller carriers are facing. It is a bigger problem for those who have realized that they are falling short of the resources to continue and compete with the Tier 1 operators. As a result, such operators have entirely abandoned their wireless business.

Competition certainly heated up in 2014 on various accounts this year, and it only appears ready to heighten up ahead into 2015. The resulting disruption should then hopefully illicit greater innovation from carriers and device manufacturers.