Bloomberg reports this evening that Apple is getting an extension on its Tuesday deadline to make a decision and respond to the court order asking them to aid the government in retrieving data off of an iPhone 5c used by one of the gunmen involved in the fatal San Bernardino shootings last December. Apple now has until February 26th to respond to the request in court.

Following the order from the court, Apple CEO Tim Cook replied with an open-letter saying that the request is an “unprecedented step which threatens the security of our customers.” With Cook being so vocal on the topic so quickly after the initial order, it’s hard to imagine Apple giving in the FBI’s request.

Originally, the company had 5 days to reply, making this coming Tuesday its deadline.

No matter what happens surrounding this issue, it will likely set a major precedent moving forward when it comes to user privacy versus national security. We’ve covered the topic in detail and you can view all of our coverage at the links below:

• U.S. judge orders Apple to help FBI access data on San Bernardino gunman’s iPhone 5c
• Apple publishes letter responding to FBI iPhone unlock demand: ‘an unprecedented step which threatens the security of our customers’
• Google CEO Pichai appears to side with Apple in series of vague tweets on FBI encryption battle
• Security firm shows how Apple could bypass iPhone security to comply with FBI request
• Opinion: How likely is Apple to succeed in resisting the FBI court order?
• Should Apple comply with FBI request to bypass San Bernardino gunman’s iPhone? [Poll]
• Civil rights groups and tech companies express support for Apple’s stand against the FBI
• Opinion: Why an iPhone master key is better than a backdoor, but still too dangerous
• Petition urges White House to support Apple in blocking government access to locked iPhones
• Senate Intelligence Committee considering bill to penalize companies refusing to decrypt user devices

Filed under: iOS Devices Tagged: Apple, Data, Encryption, FBI, iPhone 5C

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According to a new report from Strategy Analytics, the sales of smartwatches in the fourth quarter of 2015 outpaced sales of Swiss watches for the first time. The company claims that during the holiday quarter, a total of 8.1 million smartwatches were shipped, while 7.9 million Swiss watches were shipped.

Of those 8.1 million smartwatch shipments, Apple and Samsung led the way. The former accounted for 63 percent of the market, coming out to roughly 5.1 million units, while the latter held 16 percent, or 1.3 million units.

With 8.1 million smartwatches shipped in the fourth quarter of 2015, that’s a 316 percent increase over the 1.9 million units shipped in Q4 of 2014. Obviously the big difference between the two years here is that Apple Watch was released in April of 2015, so Android manufacturers and companies like Pebble were the sole manufacturers in 2014.

In Q4 of 2014, Swiss watch shipments were at 8.3 million, meaning that shipments fell by 5 percent year-over-year to the 7.9 million shipped in the 2015 holiday quarter. The report notes that smartwatches manufactured by Swiss companies, like Tag Heuer, accounted for just 1 percent of the smartwatch.

Strategy Analytics executive director Neil Mawston had the following to say about smartwatches overtaking Swiss watches:

“The Swiss watch industry has been very slow to react to the development of smartwatches. The Swiss watch industry has been sticking its head in the sand and hoping smartwatches will go away. Swiss brands, like Tag Heuer, accounted for a tiny 1 percent of all smartwatches shipped globally during Q4 2015, and they are long way behind Apple, Samsung and other leaders in the high-growth smartwatch category.”

A report from Strategy Analytics during the summer of last year claimed that Apple accounted for an estimated 75% of the smartwatch market during Q2 of 2015. The decrease in marketshare since then could perhaps suggest that Apple Watch propelled the general smartwatch idea to be more mainstream, prompting Android users to go out and purchase models compatible with their phones. You can view the full chart below:

Filed under: Apple Watch Tagged: Apple, Apple watch, smartwatch

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Following Apple’s refusal to unlock an iPhone 5c used by one of the San Bernardino gunmen, the Wall Street Journal reports that the Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr, a Republican out of North Carolina, plans to propose a new bill that would impose criminal penalties on companies that don’t comply with those types of orders. Citing people familiar with the matter, the report says that Burr’s plan isn’t finalized yet and that it’s unclear how many other lawmakers support the idea.

Apple on Tuesday was ordered by a U.S. magistrate judge to give the FBI access to a passcode-locked iPhone 5c used by one of the San Bernardino gunmen. CEO Tim Cook then argued in an open-letter posted on Apple’s that the company would not comply with the order, saying it doesn’t want to create such a dangerous tool.

While the bill is likely far off from being officially voted on, it signals just how monumental this issue has become in both Silicon Valley and Washington D.C. The bill, the report claims, could be written as a modification to the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act, which was originally imposed in 1994. This law suggests that companies develop their communication systems so that law enforcement agencies are able to gain access with a proper court order.

Burr has long been a proponent of forcing technology companies to work more closely with government agencies when it comes to accessing data on locked devices. He worked with Senator Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat, in December to propose a bill that would require social media companies to report terrorist activity. That bill, however, has yet to advance. In New York, a bill has been proposed that would force companies to give the government access to user devices, or else face punishment.

On the other side of the aisle, Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House of Representatives’ Intelligence Committee, is more open when it comes to the issue. He suggests that “the court’s decision will likely accelerate our consideration of how to weigh the competing privacy, security and competitiveness issues,” noting that a legislative approach to the issue is “neither feasible or even desirable” (via Reuters).

The Reuters report also notes that the House Judiciary Committee plans to hold a hearing on encryption on March 1st and has invited Apple to attend. That hearing won’t be the first tim Apple has met with the U.S. government on encryption. Meanwhile, a new petition is urging the White House to back Apple in the case.

Filed under: AAPL Company Tagged: Apple, Encryption, Government, legal

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On Wednesday, Google released their aptly named UI testing framework, EarlGrey. Having been using the framework in a few of their current iOS apps already for functional testing, it’s good to hear that the product has been validated before an initial public release.

EarlyGrey offers a few key features to help differentiate it from other functional testing frameworks, the most interesting to me personally is the built-in synchronization feature. This means that when tests are being executed, they’ll automatically wait for “animations, network requests, etc.” before interacting with UI. Developers are now freed up from having to write tests that account for waiting or “sleeping” before proceeding to the next test.

The key features offered by EarlGrey include:

• Powerful built-in synchronization : Tests will automatically wait for events such as animations, network requests, etc. before interacting with the UI. This will result in tests that are easier to write (no sleeps or waits) and simple to maintain (straight up procedural description of test steps).
• Visibility checking : All interactions occur on elements that users can see. For example, attempting to tap a button that is behind an image will lead to test failure immediately.
• Flexible design : The components that determine element selection, interaction, assertion and synchronization have been designed to be extensible.

For developers out there worried about EarlGrey clashing against Xcode’s own testing frameworks Google states that, ”EarlGrey works in conjunction with the XCTest framework and integrates with Xcode’s Test Navigator so you can run tests directly from Xcode or the command line (using xcodebuild).”

EarlGrey is available as an open-source project on GitHub under the Apache license and may be added to your current Xcode project using CocoaPods or manually adding it in.

Google’s list of apps currently utilizing the EarlGrey framework are: YouTube, Google Calendar, Google Photos, Google Translate, and Google Play Music.

Filed under: Developers, General, iOS Tagged: developers, Development, EarlGrey, framework, Google, Google Calendar, Google Play Music, Google Translate, google+ photos, iOS, Testing frameworks, Xcode, YouTube

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A smart thermostat that you can control from your iPhone is nice, but if you’re a fan of Siri then HomeKit-compatibly is a must. The ecobee3 Wi-Fi thermostat can be controlled using Siri on your iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch, and it uses remote sensors to determine temperature and presence around your home to be smarter about automating your HVAC system. Overall, the thermostat itself is rather slick and the software experience behind it holds up well. If you’re curious about HomeKit and in the market for a smart thermostat, the ecobee3 just might be the best option yet …

As with any new thermostat, smart or not, there’s a hardware installation process required at setup. You’re mileage may vary depending on conditions and experience, but using a combination of the setup instructions and the geniuses of YouTube, we got our ecobee3 up and running in under an hour. Wiring configuration will vary and this is where it can get complicated, but assuming your setup is already standard and you follow instructions carefully, you likely won’t need the pros to do the job. Once you replace your previous thermostat for ecobee3, the real fun begins.

At a distance, ecobee3 displays just the current inside temperature prominently above an icon for the local weather condition next to the current outside temperature. When ecobee3 detects your presence, the display animates to reveal an on-screen target temperature slider, current relative humidity, menu button, full weather report, and quick changes button. Heating and cooling are distinguished by orange and blue bars.

While the main view shows you the current outside temperature, you can actually get a detailed weather report right on the ecobee3. This includes a temperature forecast for the next several hours. It’s a small thing and already available on my other devices, but it makes ecobee3 feel smarter knowing and presenting the outside weather next to the inside temperature. You’ll also find a full menu of settings for your temperature preferences and managing ecobee3, but most of these tasks are just easier from the iPhone, iPad, or the web when available.

The ecobee3 unit itself has a built-in sensor for detecting presence and current temperature, but you can optionally place additional sensors around your house to more accurately monitor and manage temperature. My kit came bundled with three sensors, bringing the total number to four including the unit.

I’ve placed a sensor in my bedroom, living room, and office, and have the ecobee3 located in the center of the home in the hallway. These detect both temperature and presence, making ecobee3 more intelligent when using the system to cool or warm your home.

You can buy additional ecobee3 Remote Sensors in 2 packs for $79.

As a smart thermostat, you can already control ecobee3 remotely from your iPhone or iPad from the iOS app, but turning on HomeKit enables Siri control and a lot of automation capabilities. Being able to change the temperature and make my home and office cooler or warmer without interrupting my work or watching a TV show is super convenient with the app alone, but being able to use Siri makes it super fast.

Siri works from the iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch for changing the target temperature or asking where the current temperature is around the house. You can also set target temperatures as triggers and scenes with other HomeKit-compatible accessories. For example, saying “Netflix and chill” to Siri could mean locking the door, dimming the lights, and setting the temperature to be cooler in the summer.

ecobee3 lets you set your system to heating, cooling, or automate between both based on target temperatures. Back in December when I first setup ecobee3, configuring HomeKit disabled Auto Mode which lets you set target cool and heat temperatures, which was an interesting limitation.

But just last week the iPhone app prompted me to the message above, noting that HomeKit now works with Auto Mode. What would have been a knock just a week earlier turned into a positive that reminded me that smart thermostats only get smarter over time.

For Apple Watch owners, ecobee has a nice watchOS 2 app that lets you monitor temperatures and tweak settings. You need to use Siri to set a specific temperature, but the Apple Watch app lets you view the current target temperature as well as what temperature each sensor including the ecobee3’s currently reads. Force Touching within the app brings up options to turn your system’s fan on or off, or manually set ecobee3 to Home or Away mode.

There’s also a watch face complication, or widget, which tells you what mode ecobee3 is in as well as current target temperature. For fans of glances, the app has a card that you can swipe up to access from the watch face to view current temperature, target temperature, and mode. The watch app is nice, especially for viewing temperature readers from various rooms, but Siri control from the Apple Watch is my favorite part.

The ecobee iPhone app actually looks almost identical to the user interface on the actual thermostat, which is nice because it creates a familiar experience on the unit and on your iPhone. The animations on the iPhone app are noticeably laggy, though, which I hope improves in the future.

For the ecobee iPad app, the same user interface is cleverly spread across of grid that requires fewer menus and more features. It feels futuristic and just plain cool controlling and managing the ecobee3 from the modular view on a tablet.

Whether you’re using the thermostat, iPhone app, or iPad app, ecobee3 has some handy intelligence behind it. For example, you can set target temperatures for when you’re at home and away then using the motion sensors to track presence.

The ecobee system also has alert and reminder options for extreme temperature and humidity levels and maintenance reminders. We changed the air filter at our house when we installed ecobee3, then turned on the three-month reminder to change the filter in the future (which I tend to be terrible about remembering).

For me, the ecobee3 thermostat’s appeal is mostly in controlling remotely using Siri and the mobile apps, but the ecobee app also offers insights into system usage over time in the Home IQ section. The iPad app offers some data here, but the web interface shows even more.

According to ecobee, my Home Energy Efficiency rating puts me in the top 20% of homes in my state and I should work on lowering my runtimes. During the month of January (my first full month with ecobee), Home IQ says I’ve saved 13 hours of runtime and $4.80 based on my equipment’s runtime and local electricity rates. This should be fun to game over time.

Finally, there’s the web interface that you can access from ecobee’s website where you can remotely control the temperature, manage settings, view sensor data, and everything else you can access from the iOS apps. The screenshot above captured in Safari features a nearly identical layout to the ecobee iPad app. This makes accessing and controlling the thermostat from anywhere a familiar experience which I like a lot.

Overall, I’ve really enjoyed using the ecobee3 since December and can easily recommend it as a quality HomeKit accessory. Siri control for turning on the heat from my desk is super convenient, especially using the Apple Watch, and using the iPhone app to change the temperature has almost entirely replaced walking over to the thermostat.

I also really enjoy seeing the local outside weather next to the current inside temperature, viewing temperatures by room with multiple sensors is helpful, and I appreciate that the user interface is similar from the thermostat to the iPhone app to the iPad version to the website. Round thermostats like the Nest (no HomeKit, reviewed) and new Honeywell Lyric (HomeKit) can’t quite pull this off.

Lastly, ecobee’s ability to adjust temperature based on my preferences for when I’m home and away or awake and asleep is really helpful in saving energy. I’m still optimizing my preferences after the first month but also finding new features like the ability to schedule vacation temperature levels in advanced.

Being deep in the Apple ecosystem means HomeKit and Siri control enable a lot of the ecobee3 experience, but in general the software and intelligence make it a quality competitor in the smart thermostat space on its own.

Aside from HomeKit and Siri, ecobee3 is getting smarter with new connections like the recently added Amazon Echo for voice control. You can grab the ecobee3 Smarter Wi-Fi Thermostat with Remote Sensor (2nd Generation) from $243, or the 3 Sensor Bundle I have from $318.

Filed under: HomeKit, Reviews Tagged: ecobee, Ecobee3, ecobee3 Smart Thermostat, homekit, Siri, smart appliances, smart home, Thermostat, Wi-Fi thermostat

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A new We the People petition has been created urging the White House to “halt efforts that compel Apple and other device makers to create a “backdoor” for the Government to access citizens data” (via MacReports). 

The petition comes as Apple CEO Tim Cook this week penned an open letter detailing why the company is resisting a demand from the FBI to unlock a device belonging to a suspect in the high profile San Bernardino shooter case.

The United States government has demanded that Apple take an unprecedented step which threatens the security of its customers…The FBI, is demanding that Apple build a “backdoor” to bypass digital locks protecting consumer information on Apple’s popular iPhones…We the undersigned, oppose this order, which has implications far beyond the legal case at hand.

The controversy and Cook’s letter followed complaints from the FBI that it couldn’t crack Apple’s encryption on the iPhone and Apple’s refusal to assist the courts and agency in doing so.

In his open letter, Cook defended Apple’s long running stance of not providing access to personal data to government under any circumstances and said that complying with the FBI’s request would be “‘an unprecedented step which threatens the security of our customers.” Cook continued:

The implications of the government’s demands are chilling. If the government can use the All Writs Act to make it easier to unlock your iPhone, it would have the power to reach into anyone’s device to capture their data. The government could extend this breach of privacy and demand that Apple build surveillance software to intercept your messages, access your health records or financial data, track your location, or even access your phone’s microphone or camera without your knowledge.

Since Cook’s letter, several organizations have voiced support for Apple including statements issued by The Electronic Frontier Foundation, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Amnesty International.

And while it certainly would be possible for Apple to bypass the iPhone’s security — either with a master key of sorts like the FBI wants or through other methods — our own poll shows that an overwhelming amount of you — around 86% of 17,000 and counting votes — support Apple and do not support any type of method of government access to data on iOS.

But so far, at the time of publishing, the We the People petition only has under 100 signatures. Another 99,900 to go before March 18th in order to get the White House’s attention and the required response. You can sign it here.

Filed under: iOS Devices Tagged: Apple, encrpytion, iPhone, privacy, White House

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Filed under: Tips and Tricks Tagged: 9to5Toys, Amazon, app deals, Best Buy, D-Link iOS Water Sensor, Daily Deals, free apps, Gold Box, iPhone car mount, Retina MacBook Pro

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Thanks to JW Player’s new tvOS app framework, Tasting Table was able to successfully build and submit an Apple TV app for review in less than 24 hours. JW Player’s new beta open-source product allows content makers on its platform to utilize what they already have created to build a fully branded Apple TV app.

Tasting Table is the first company to use JW Player’s new app framework to build out their own Apple TV app. Boasting a library of more than 250 food and drink related videos, and producing new videos every month, Tasting Table will be able to bring their viewing experience directly to their 8 million member’s couches.

"Video has always been a mainstay of our content strategy, but with the creation of our in-house Content Studio and our recent push this past November to produce even more video, we knew we wanted to get our new content to an even broader audience. JW Player was already helping us seamlessly stream video to our website, so when it came time to identify a technology provider to help us build an app for Apple TV, it was the natural choice." - Rohit Gupta, Director of Product at TastingTable.com

Customers on the JW Player platform will be able to utilize the content they already have to fully populate the app using any already created playlists. Video titles, descriptions and hero images are all captured from the video feed’s metadata and applied directly into the app. One of best parts about using JW’s open-source option is that it’s free for all users on the platform. Customers who want to integrate HLS (HTTP Live Streaming) within their app can do so by adding external URLs within the JW Player dashboard.

JW Player made sure that any existing customers were able to truly customize and make the app look and match their established brands. Customer can use their own image assets to change the look of the app and take the customization further by editing the framework’s source code. Data collected from video playback within the tvOS apps are reported back to the customer’s JW Player Dashboard.

The Tasting Table app is now available for free in the Apple TV App Store. JW Player’s framework for the Apple TV can be found on GitHub.

Filed under: Apple TV, Apps Tagged: Apple TV, developers, Development, framework, JW Player, Tasting Table, tvOS

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Honeywell’s new Lyric Round thermostat originally announced back at CES in January and until now up for preorder only is today officially on sale and in-stock for all.

Currently shipping from the company’s website for $249, the Honeywell Lyric Round is thought to be one of the smart, wi-fi connected thermostats this year that might ultimately give Google’s Nest thermostat a run for its money. It’s Honeywell’s second generation of the product, but its the first in its line to officially support Apple’s HomeKit home automation platform. That means its the first to offer control via Siri voice commands, something that Nest and other competitors are still a hold outs on as Google pushes its own competitive home automation platform.

The Honeywell Lyric Round works with a companion iOS app that allows manual control of the thermostat, but the product’s main pitch is that it will learn your habits overtime and hopefully help you keep track of energy consumption and adjust accordingly to improve your habits. Honeywell gives the rundown on features of the second-gen Lyric Round including Apple Watch and HomeKit:

• Apple HomeKit and Apple Watch^® – easily and securely control the Lyric thermostat using Siri, set up special actions, connect to other HomeKit-enabled products in the home via the Lyric app, and even make changes and check multiple thermostats using Apple Watch.
• Customizable Geofencing – consumers can create a custom geofence map and distance, enabling the Lyric thermostat to deliver “comfort when you’re home, savings when you’re away” with even greater accuracy.
• Smart Alerts – the Lyric thermostat can send reminders about filter changes, warn of extreme temperatures and humidity inside the home, and more.
• Intelligent Comfort Control – to make sure 72 degrees feels like 72 degrees, the Lyric thermostat considers temperature and humidity to maintain comfort, and can also work with your system to adjust in-home humidity levels.
• Custom Shortcuts – create a dynamic heating/cooling schedule, and set up recurring event triggers with a single touch of the thermostat or app.

You can grab the new Lyric Round thermostat with HomeKit ($249) from Honeywell’s website now.

Filed under: iOS Tagged: Apple, availability, CES, homekit, Honeywell, iPhone, Lyric, order, preorder, Shipping, Thermostat

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Volvo is today announcing the launch of its latest vehicle, the V90 Estate, which also happens to be the company’s latest with support for Apple’s in-dash iPhone CarPlay feature.

The car is Volvo’s third for its premium 90 series and for that reason is being referred to as a sibling of the S90 sedan and XC90 SUV models that the company previously unveiled (and which also include support for CarPlay). In its press release, the company notes that means the new V90 Estate, like the XC90 and S90 before it, is “built on the company’s specially-designed and fully modular Scalable Product Architecture (SPA).”

“The modern premium estate is all about the intriguing combination of a luxurious experience with the functional origins of the estates silhouette. The sophisticated ambience of our new Volvo Interiors is combined with a great cargo space, providing the right kind of functionality – whether through connectivity or cargo and storage solutions,” said Thomas Ingenlath senior vice president for design at Volvo Cars.

The new V90 delivers cutting-edge Pilot Assist semi-autonomous drive technology, the most advanced standard safety package on the market, with large animal detection and run-off road mitigation, and class-leading connectivity including smartphone integration with Apple CarPlay.

The vehicle has full support for Apple’s CarPlay on the V90 Estate’s in-dash system using a connected iPhone. Volvo says the in-dash system on the V90 Estate is the same as in the S90, which includes a 9-inch touchscreen display as pictured above. And here’s a look at the exterior on the V90 Estate:

Volvo first announced support for CarPlay on its 2016 XC90 SUV last year that it later delivered to owners of the vehicle through a software update back in December. Here’s a look at the feature in action in the vehicle:

Earlier this year Apple for the first time offered up an official list of CarPlay partners by year and model via a new webpage, but it has yet to update it to note the new Volvo V90 Estate launching today.

Filed under: CarPlay Tagged: Apple, CarPlay, dash, iPhone, launch, pictures, press release, release, V90 estate, Volvo

Check out 9to5Mac for more breaking coverage of Apple, iPhone, and CarPlay.

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