Code-Breakers Look to Devices Other Than iPhone
Los Angeles — Computer hacker Will Strafach had no trouble seizing control of the original iPhone. Same went for later generations over the next five years. But by now, Apple Inc. has introduced so many layers of protection inside its flagship device that Strafach and others have moved on. As the frenzied hacking has subsided, publicly shared solutions to crack iPhone security are becoming harder to come by. The frustration he and...
Mercedes Has Growth Challenges
Mercedes-Benz is completing a decade-long rejuvenation with the new E-Class sedan this month, capping an unprecedented flurry of fresh models that have brought rapid expansion but will make future growth tougher to deliver. The overhaul of Mercedes’ bread-and-better business sedan marks the last major model to get a technology and design upgrade until the next-generation A-Class hatchback rolls out in 2018. By that time, Mercedes will...
Consumer Confidential: Is the Apple iPhone Really Any Different From Other Consumer Products?
Apple lawyer Ted Olson said last week that the tech heavyweight has good reason not to help federal investigators hack an iPhone that belonged to one of the San Bernardino shooters. The company, he said, “has to draw the line at re-creating code” and “changing” its product. To which there’s a two-word response: seat belts. And here’s two more: air bags. In both those cases, the auto industry said federal officials had no right to make...
Alphabet Tops Apple in Total Value
San Francisco — Alphabet, Google’s new parent company, topped Apple as the world’s most valuable business in after-hours trading Monday after reporting surging earnings. Alphabet Inc. earned $4.9 billion in net income on revenue of $21.3 billion in the fourth quarter. If not for employee stock expenses and certain other items, Google said it would have earned $8.67 per share. That figure easily topped the average estimate of $8.10 per...
Samsung Pay Ready for U.S. Launch on Monday
Samsung said Thursday that its mobile payment platform reached $30 million in transaction volume a month after it was launched in South Korea. The news comes as Samsung Pay is scheduled to launch in the U.S. Monday to compete with the likes of Apple Pay and Google’s Wallet and Android Pay. The payment technology is being touted as the next big development in retailing as Americans gradually abandon cash and credit cards to make...
