In a recent bond offering, Apple took on billions of dollars in debt in order to finance an initiative to return some of its cash to shareholders. Its plan is to give $100 billion back to investors, by way of dividends and stock buybacks, by 2015.
Since most of its cash is offshore, Apple's decision to take on debt instead of tapping its own $150 billion cash pile helped it sidestep an estimated $9 billion in taxes. Unfortunately, it's also caught the attention of the US government...
It appears that all of that talk regarding iOS devices being close to gaining Pentagon clearance was spot on. Bloomberg is reporting this weekend that the US Department of Defense plans to give Apple security clearance later this week.
As we've discussed before, the DoD's approval would mean a lot for the Cupertino company, who has been trying to get its iPhone and iPad into government buildings, that were once reserved for BlackBerry, for quite some time now...
Back in January, the mobile homebrew community suffered a major blow when several DMCA exemptions expired. Among them was a rule that made unlocking cellphones legal, effectively making the practice illegal here in the United States.
But it may not be that way for long. A new bill just landed in the House of Representatives called The Unlocking Technology Act of 2013, which, among other things, would make the process of unlocking your cellphone unequivocally legal...
There's been a lot of talk lately regarding Apple and its efforts to broaden the use of iOS in government agencies. The latest report says the US Department of Defense is close to granting both the iPhone and iPad approval for secure use.
Today comes word that the DoD might have just received the green-light it needed to move forward. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (or NIST) just announced that iOS 6 has achieved FIPS 140-2 certification (Level 1)...
As Samsung and Apple are bringing the smartphone wars to the Pentagon, the Galaxy maker has drawn first blood as its Galaxy S4 flagship smartphone gets cleared for government use ahead of the iPhone. A security approval from the US Department of Defense (DoD) is a major recognition for Samsung and its new Knox security software as the S4 becomes the first Android smartphone to win a DoD approval.
It wasn't immediately clear what's up with the holdup concerning Apple, but the iPhone and iPad devices should get cleared later this month...
A new report is out this afternoon, claiming the US Department of Defense is going to grant security approvals for Samsung's Galaxy smartphones, as well as Apple's iPhones and iPads running iOS 6 in the coming weeks.
The move is separate from the mobile device implementation plan that the Pentagon announced back in February, and could pave the way for Apple to gain more notable influence in the hard-to-reach government sector...
The AppGratis app curation software is no longer available on the App Store but the controversy is far from being over. After AppGratis CEO Simon Dawalt lambasted Apple on a company blog for kicking his app out of the App Store, a move he called "an absolutely crazy situation to deal with," a French minister today slagged the iPhone maker over the ouster. Fleur Pellerin, France’s junior minister for digital economy, publicly described Apple’s decision to pull AppGratis as “extremely brutal and unilateral.”
She urged European regulators to “think about legislation” because Apple is not “behaving ethically" in its dealings with small startups like AppGratis...
The United States Department of Defense has a pending purchase order for more than half a million iOS devices, according to a new report. 'Well-placed sources' say the government plans to purchase in upwards of 650,000 iPhones, iPads and iPod touches as part of an ongoing effort to update and mobilize its technologies...
I find it peculiar that regional wireless carriers in the United States have traditionally been way more vocal in their support of Apple and sound business practices than the corporate behemoths like AT&T, Verizon, Sprint or T-Mobile, the nation's top carriers.
A new report out this morning praises some regional carriers for having the guts to back a broader initiative to make cell phone unlocking legal again. Contrast the move to AT&T's "straightforward" policy of locking your device to its network until you've met the terms of your service agreement.
Specifically, rural carriers such as U.S. Cellular and Bluegrass Cellular are now backing these looming bills, likely in a bid to appease to its iPhone customers. Remember, these same guys happily undercut major carriers' iPhone deals by at least $50...
In 2011, the FAA green-lighted several commercial and charter airlines to replace their bulky, 50-page paper flight manuals with iPads. And last year, they expanded the rule to allow pilots to use their new tablets during all stages of flight.
So why in the world are passengers still required to power down their electronics before takeoff? No one really knows. And that's why Senator Claire McCaskill says she's putting together a bill that would, by law, remove this silly restriction...
After the White House last week weighed in on the still illegal cell phone unlocking in the United States, drawing responses from carriers, The Library of Congress and FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, Democratic Senator Ron Wyden announced on Twitter yesterday his proposal of a new bill dubbed the Wireless Device Independence Act to ensure that owners of mobile phones are allowed to bypass copy protection and unlock their devices without being scrutinized as criminals.
Arguing "it's a freedom issue", the Senator confirms the bill seeks to amend a section of the United States Code covering the circumvention of copyright protection systems. A few other lawmakers voiced their support for unlocking as well, having announced plans to introduce legislation to make the practice legal again...
With the United States Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski promising last Thursday to look into cell phone unlocking, the federal government is now expressing concern about the recent criminalization of the controversial topic, with the White House finally making known its official stance on cell phone unlocking.
R. David Edelman, a Senior Advisor for Internet, Innovation, and Privacy for the White House, Monday published the official response stating the government stands in support of those wishing to unlock their cellphones once they have fulfilled the terms of the contract. Unlocking your iPhone, as you know, basically frees your handset from the clutches of your carrier so you can take it to any wireless company's network...