Media wants affidavit in iPhone raid unsealed

The Associated Press and other news organizations asked a judge Wednesday to unseal the search warrant affidavit used to raid the home of a blogger who posted pictures and details of an iPhone prototype.

The legality of the raid is one of many unanswered questions in a saga that began when Gizmodo, a prominent technology blog owned by Gawker Media Inc., paid $5,000 to obtain a device it says was lost by an Apple Inc. engineer in a Silicon Valley bar.

Apple is notoriously secretive about unreleased products, and Gizmodo editor Jason Chen's dissection of what may be the next-generation iPhone appears to have rubbed the company the wrong way.

After Gizmodo returned the phone to Apple in April, members of a computer crime task force raided Chen's Fremont, Calif., home, taking computers, hard drives, digital cameras, cell phones and financial documents, among other things.

Steve Wagstaffe, spokesman for the San Mateo County district attorney's office, said the company and the engineer reported the loss of the phone to the authorities.

The search warrant itself, which was made public, indicated that the search was related to a suspected felony.

No charges have been filed, but under California law, someone who finds a lost item and doesn't make appropriate efforts to return it could be considered to have stolen it.

Court documents spelling out the legal reasons for a search are usually made public within 10 days, but the affidavit supporting the April 23 raid remains sealed.

Chen's lawyer, Thomas Burke of Davis Wright Tremaine in San Francisco, said in a recent interview with the AP that a search warrant should never have been issued because Chen is a journalist and his home is his newsroom. California law protects journalists from such searches.

Burke has represented the AP in the past.

With the motion filed Wednesday in Superior Court in California's San Mateo County, the media organizations are trying to learn whether there was a reason for the search warrant more compelling than the legal protections given to journalists.

Wagstaffe said the computers and other objects seized from Chen's home are not being examined while prosecutors consider arguments that the search was illegal.

Apple declined to comment on the matter.

Joining in the court filing are Bloomberg News, CNET News, the Los Angeles Times, Wired.com, the California Newspaper Publishers Association and the First Amendment Coalition.

Feds to look at Apple policy on programming tools

Federal regulators plan to examine whether Apple Inc. is violating antitrust rules by requiring software developers to use Apple programming tools to create applications for the iPhone and iPad.

Officials at the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission are sorting out which agency will examine Apple's new policy, according to a person with knowledge of the inquiry. Apple's policy prevents developers from using outside tools such as Adobe Systems Inc.'s Flash format, which is used in many Web videos, games and interactive graphics, to design apps for Apple's popular devices.

The person with knowledge of the inquiry, who was not authorized to speak publicly, noted that it is in a preliminary stage. The two antitrust agencies regularly scrutinize whether corporate conduct could stifle competition, and not all inquiries result in a formal investigation or action by the government.

Apple declined to comment Tuesday. The Federal Trade Commission and the Justice Department had no comment.

The inquiry was reported earlier by the New York Post.

A key question facing federal regulators is whether Apple hurts competition by forcing software developers to choose between designing apps that can run only on the iPhone and iPad and those that can run on rival devices such as Google Inc.'s Android phones and Research in Motion Ltd.'s BlackBerry.

Apple's new policy, which was announced in April along with changes to the iPhone's operating system, has raised concerns for Adobe, which includes Flash as part of a package of software tools sold to professional designers and Web developers. Although Apple's decision to ban Flash limits what its iPhone and iPad can do, the popularity of the devices has led many software developers to design apps without the format.

Last week, Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs defended the company's decision in a lengthy Web posting arguing that "letting a third party layer of software come between the platform and the developer ultimately results in substandard apps." Jobs criticized Flash for, among other things, causing performance problems with mobile devices.

Adobe had no comment Tuesday. But last week, the company said in a statement that Apple's "attempt to position this solely as a technology issue is a smoke screen." Instead, Adobe said, Apple was trying to protect a business model that locks developers and consumers into its tools and services.

Apple sells 1 million iPads, outdoing first iPhone

Apple Inc. said Monday that is has sold 1 million of its new iPad tablet computers in the month after its launch, meaning it's been selling more than twice as fast as the iPhone did when it was new.

Apple said it reached the milestone on Friday, when the new 3G model of the iPad was delivered to its first buyers. That model can access AT&T's cellular broadband network. The first models had only Wi-Fi access.

"One million iPads in 28 days — that's less than half of the 74 days it took to achieve this milestone with iPhone," said CEO Steve Jobs. Demand keeps exceeding supply for the tablet, he added.

The iPad went on sale in the U.S. on April 3. Apple has already the delayed the international launch of the device, saying sales in the U.S. were unexpectedly strong. It's planning to start taking orders for the iPad from international buyers on May 10.

In morning trading, Apple shares rose $3.01 to $264.10.

The iPad is half an inch thick and has a 9.7-inch screen. The Wi-Fi-only models start at $499, and the 3G models at $629.

Computer-security event seeks to spur int'l talks

As governments around the world amass armies of hackers to protect their countries' computer networks and possibly attack others, the idea of getting officials together to discuss shared threats such as cybercrime is challenging.

"You just don't pick up the phone and call your counterparts in these countries," said retired Lt. Gen. Harry Raduege Jr., former head of the federal agency responsible for securing the military's and the president's communications technologies. "They're always guarded in those areas, and they're always wondering if there's some other motive" behind the outreach.

So the idea behind an international security conference in Dallas this week is to get government officials, industry executives and others talking, informally, about where they might find common ground.

The Worldwide Cybersecurity Summit, organized by the EastWest Institute think tank, is different from some other big security conferences in that the focus isn't on hackers showing off their latest research or security-technology vendors connecting with customers.

"It's reaching across the table," said Raduege, who is honorary chair of the conference. "It's not official U.S. policy that's going to be put out there, but it's an opportunity to exchange ideas of the possible."

Scheduled speakers include Howard Schmidt, the White House's cybersecurity coordinator, as well as other influential cybersecurity officials from the European Union, Canada, Japan, India and China. Also on the agenda are the CEOs of AT&T Inc. and computer maker Dell Inc. and executives from Microsoft Corp. and Huawei Technologies Co., China's biggest maker of telecommunications equipment.

Dialogue among them is important as concerns rise about computer warfare between nations and the potential damage that can be caused from computer attacks.

As more computers get connected to the Internet — Intel Corp. estimates there are 1 billion PCs worldwide on the Web — they're used for more sensitive things, such as online banking and even remotely controlling critical infrastructure, such as power plants.

Underscoring the threats: recent attacks on Google Inc. that caused the Internet search leader to move its search engine out of mainland China, and the revelation last year that spies hacked into the U.S. electric grid and left behind computer programs that would let them disrupt service.

The Worldwide Cybersecurity Summit, which runs Monday through Wednesday, is substantially smaller than other security conferences. Although more than 400 government officials and industry executives from 30 countries were expected to attend, that pales in comparison with the thousands who have attended the annual Black Hat and DefCon conferences in Las Vegas, which focus on hackers' demonstrations of their latest research.

Still, Dmitri Alperovitch, vice president of threat research at computer-security software maker McAfee Inc., said the conference "has a lot of potential because of the stakeholders that are involved."

"I think it's going to be a first step," said Alperovitch, who is participating on a panel talk on national security. "Right now we have situations where many countries are speaking past each other. The Google attacks are a great example of that. That's just not productive or helpful to any country, and I think having a frank and open conversation between all parties is critical."

Want Google TV? Your Wait May Soon Be Over

We've been hearing about the rumored Google TV for more than two months now, and it appears that May could bring an official unveiling of sorts. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Google plans to debut its Web-meets-television software to some 3,000 developers at the Google I/O conference, which runs May 19-20 in San Francisco.

Google TV is an Android-based technology designed to bring Internet-style content, including Web search, apps, and of course video entertainment, to the bigger screen in your livingroom. And Google TV software could come embedded in a new generation of Internet-ready TVs, game consoles, set-top boxes, and Blu-ray players. Or it could bomb miserably like Google Wave and other half-baked Google science projects.

Assuming it does succeed, Google TV could very well expedite the metamorphosis of your big-screen HDTV into a giant Web terminal, perhaps with smartphone-style apps that pull in cloud-based content to perform a myriad of tasks.

For Google, the potential upside is simple: More eyeballs to view its Web-based ads, which provide nearly all of the search giant's ever-growing revenues. For you the consumer, Google TV, as well as up-and-coming Internet streaming services from Netflix, VUDU, Apple, and others, might provide an affordable alternative to the traditional cable/satellite bundle. Hey, if you don't want the Siberian Sewing Channel, why pay for it?

Powerful Friends

Google is reportedly partnering with fellow tech leaders Intel, Sony, and Logitech in its TV initiative. A likely first-gen consumer product is Google TV-branded set-top box powered by Intel's Atom processor. The device would run the Android OS and use a Logitech-built remote. Given the Web app-oriented nature of the initiative, a touchscreen or physical keyboard would be included. As for Sony, it may add Google TV software to its lineup of Internet-ready TVs, as well as set-top box, the Journal reports.

What's particularly interesting about the Internet-to-TV niche is that it's uncharted territory. No one's sure how it'll evolve. Consumers are still learning about Internet streaming--what's a Roku again?--and the technology is rife with glitches, particularly when Wi-Fi is involved. Google TV could help drive end-user adoption, especially if there's some sort of cost savings or other advantage associated with Web-to-TV integration.

Steve Jobs attacks Adobe Flash as unfit for iPhone

For iPhone users who've been wondering whether their devices will support Flash technology for Web video and games anytime soon, the answer is finally here, straight from Steve Jobs: No.

In a detailed offensive against the technology owned by Adobe Systems Inc., Apple's CEO wrote Thursday that Flash has too many bugs, drains batteries too quickly and is too oriented to personal computers to work on the iPhone and iPad.

This is not the first time Jobs has publicly criticized Flash, but the statement was his clearest, most definitive — and longest — on the subject.

In his 1,685-word "Thoughts on Flash," Jobs laid out his reasons for excluding Flash — the most widely used vehicle for videos and games on the Internet — from Apple's blockbuster handheld devices.

He cited "reliability, security and performance," and the fact that Flash was designed "for PCs using mice, not for touch screens using fingers" as some of the reasons Apple will continue to keep the program off its devices.

But he said the most important reason is Flash puts a third party between Apple and software developers. In other words, developers can take advantage of improvements from Apple only if Adobe upgrades its own software, Jobs wrote.

Adobe representatives did not have an immediate comment Thursday. But in a March 23 conference call, President and CEO Shantanu Narayen said his company is "committed to bringing Flash to any platform on which there is a screen."

That certainly includes Apple's devices, and Narayen said at the time the Flash ban "has nothing to do with technology."

"It's an Apple issue and I think you'll have to check with them on that," he said.

Adobe has owned Flash since buying its creator, Macromedia Inc., in 2005. Flash is one of the slew of software tools Adobe sells to professional designers and Web developers as part of its Creative Suite software package, which also includes Photoshop, Illustrator and other programs, and brings in more than half of Adobe's revenue. Adobe benefits from Flash's wide use because it means Web developers will keep buying the tools they need to create Flash content.

Apple has been criticized for the omission of Flash because that limits what the iPhone can do. Hulu.com, the popular video viewing site, uses Flash, for example, as do many restaurant websites. But thanks to the immense popularity of the iPhone, game and application developers are pouring their creations onto Apple's devices without using Flash.

In his rebuttal, Jobs said that with an abundance of media outlets offering their content on iPhones and iPads, "Flash is no longer necessary to watch video or consume any kind of Web content."

"And the 200,000 apps on Apple's App Store proves that Flash isn't necessary for tens of thousands of developers to create graphically rich applications, including games," he wrote.

For consumers, Apple's move means they will have to decide whether or not they want Flash content, and if they do, they'll have to use devices other than Apple's.

"It doesn't mean this is the end of Flash," said Sheri McLeish, an analyst with Forrester Research. "Apple is not the only game in town, and PC and Windows devices continue to dominate the market."

She called Apple's move a business decision, even though Jobs stressed it is based on technology: It is, after all, up to Apple to control how users experience its products.

"They have the momentum to do it today," McLeish said. "A few years ago they wouldn't have been able to."

Although many websites use Flash to display videos, animation and Internet ads, this may change in the years to come. HTML5, a new Web standard — that is, a way to create Web pages — will have built-in support for video and audio files.

But it could take as long as 10 years for HTML5 to be fully adopted, McLeish said. What Apple is banking on is that HTML5 will eventually win out, making Flash obsolete.

"Perhaps Adobe should focus more on creating great HTML5 tools for the future, and less on criticizing Apple for leaving the past behind," Jobs wrote.

Shares of San Jose, Calif.-based Adobe dropped 82 cents, or 2.3 percent, to $34.65 in midday trading. They have traded between $24.78 and $38.20 in the past 52 weeks.

Microsoft reaches licensing deal on HTC phones

Microsoft Corp. says it has patents covering phones that use Google Inc.'s Android software — but unlike Apple Inc., Microsoft has reached a licensing deal rather than suing over the software.

Microsoft said Wednesday that it has reached an agreement that will give HTC Corp., a Taiwanese company that is a major maker of Android phones, the rights to use technology covered by Microsoft's patents in those phone. Financial terms were not disclosed.

The deal comes a month after Apple sued HTC and accused the company of violating patents related to the iPhone.

HTC, which has said it will defend itself against Apple's claims, is a key partner for Google in its expansion into mobile services. Android has intensified the competition between Google and companies such as Apple and Microsoft.

But Apple and Microsoft are dealing with HTC, not Google, because the device maker, not the maker of software that runs on it, historically has been the focus for settling intellectual-property disputes.

HTC started out as a maker of phones based on Microsoft's Windows Mobile software, but as that operating system has lost favor among buyers, it's focused more efforts on Android.

Microsoft did not say what technology is covered in the licensing agreement with HTC. Technology analyst Rob Enderle of Enderle Group said it is unlikely there's any overlap with the patents Apple is suing over. Microsoft and Apple have licensed each other's patents, and Enderle said if there were any question of overlapping patents around "multitouch" or other smart phone technologies, it would have been hashed out already.

That means the deal between Microsoft and HTC for Android phones wouldn't likely give HTC any extra protection against the lawsuit Apple filed. But HTC is also expected to produce phones for Microsoft's next mobile system, Windows Phone 7, which is set to reach consumers before the holidays. Wednesday's licensing deal with Microsoft would protect HTC against another Apple lawsuit over a Windows phone, Enderle said.

Both the Apple lawsuit and HTC's deal with Microsoft may make Android less attractive to other device makers. Part of Android's appeal to companies such as Motorola Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. was its price: free. Enderle called the legal battle and the licensing fees "hidden costs" to choosing to make Android phones.

Facebook's expansion triggers political backlash

Facebook's plan to spread its online social network to other websites could be detoured by regulators looking into privacy concerns that have raised the ire of federal lawmakers.

Four senators said Tuesday that Facebook needs to make it easier for its 400 million users to protect their privacy as the site opens more avenues for them to share their interests and other personal information.

The Federal Trade Commission already had been examining the privacy and data collection practices of Facebook and other social networks, the agency confirmed Tuesday.

Then last week, Facebook announced a proposed expansion that irked Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., and, he says, many Web surfers who called his office to complain.

Having built one of the Web's most popular hangouts, Facebook is trying to extend its reach through new tools called "social plug-ins." These enable Facebook's users to share their interests in such products as clothes, movies and music on other websites. For instance, you might hit a button on Levis.com indicating you like a certain style of jeans, and then recommend a movie on another site. That information about the jeans and the movie might be passed along to other people in your Facebook network, depending on your privacy settings.

Facebook says all this will help personalize the Web for people. It stresses that no personal information is being given to the dozens of websites using the new plug-ins.

Still, it means that information that hadn't been previously communicated could get broadcast to your friends and family on Facebook.

And Facebook is indeed sharing some personal information with three websites that Facebook hopes will demonstrate how online services can be more helpful when they know more about their users. The sites with greater access to Facebook's data are business review service Yelp, music service Pandora and Microsoft Corp.'s Docs.com for word processing and spreadsheets.

Facebook users who don't want to be part of the company's expansion have to go through their privacy settings and change their preferences.

Schumer thinks the onus instead should be on Facebook to get users' explicit consent, a process known as "opting in."

"They have sort of assumed all their users want their information to be given far and wide, which is a false assumption," Schumer said in an interview.

Schumer sent a letter calling for simpler privacy controls to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. The concerns were echoed by Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo; Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska; and Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn.

Facebook tried to assure Schumer that its latest idea won't invade users' privacy.

"We welcome a continued dialogue with you and others because we agree that scrutiny over the handling of personal data is needed as Internet users seek a more social and interactive experience," a Facebook vice president, Elliot Schrage, wrote in a letter to Schumer.

Schumer called Facebook's response inadequate and said his staff planned to meet with the company Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the FTC indicated it will weigh into the debate at some point.

"Our plan is to develop a framework that social networks and others will use to guide their data collection, use, and sharing practices," said Jessica Rich, deputy director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection.

Schumer pledged to introduce legislation that would expand the FTC's powers over Facebook and other Internet social networks if the regulatory agency doesn't feel it has the authority to require more straightforward privacy controls.

The political pressure could undermine Facebook's ambition to create a more social, open Web that could make it easier to aim online advertising at consumers based on their presumed interests. Facebook would probably thrive in a more communal Internet because it has amassed a huge database of personal information since Zuckerberg set up its website in a Harvard dorm room six years ago.

If Facebook's plans pan out, it could change the way people think of social networking. Instead of communicating on a closed website, Facebook's users could interact with one another over the entire Web. More sharing could spawn more customized websites that look different to each person visiting, depending on their friends and preferences.

While Zuckerberg has likened his vision to an online nirvana, critics see another hole in the crumbling walls of online privacy.

Facebook is moving from being a social network about sharing with friends "to a service that is about collecting and sharing information about you with advertisers so they can more closely tailor ads to you," said Ginger McCall, staff counsel at the Washington-based Electronic Privacy Information Center.