

Apple plans 'abuse spy' for your iPhone - davecardwell
http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/shortsharpscience/2009/08/apple-patents-phone-abuse-spy.html

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dskhatri
This system could save Apple a lot of money. However, there is a tradeoff: the
perceived quality of Apple's customer service will take a hit.

One of the reasons Costco became really popular was their return policy. You
were able to return any consumer electronics device without any questions
asked. If word spreads that Apple refused to accept faulty devices, they'll
end up pissing off their existing customers and scaring away new customers,
even if the fault was due to abuse.

Another issue: will they count jailbreaking as "abuse"? What about using an
unofficial app store like Cydia?
(<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=746198>)

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cmars232
If you jailbreak your iPhone, you're obviously a terrorist interrupting
critical systems like e911 -- this will set off a small explosive charge that
will fragment the metal casing and internal components to disable the enemy
combatant.

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param
Interesting concept - reminds me of the black box on airplanes...

From a privacy perspective, there shouldn't be any automatic upload of this
information to apple's servers-only when you go in and ask for a replacement.
We'll have to wait and watch though.

I also wonder if this requires them to add a few sensors to the phone that are
not present in the 3G or 3GS versions - which would mean this would only be
applicable from the next version

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pcc
I venture most of these are already present. Eg I've read elsewhere about
"indicator strips" on the casing which divulge water exposure, the
accelerometer ICs these days usually can be programmed to generate an
interrupt on high-g, and there may already be a temp sense in there (eg some
accelerometers carry these on board for temp compensation).

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hexley
There is a thermometer in there already.

[http://heyinternet.com/imgdump/hot-
iphone-20090130-175515.jp...](http://heyinternet.com/imgdump/hot-
iphone-20090130-175515.jpg)

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smokey_the_bear
I've broken three ipods in the last two years. All in the course of doing what
I'd consider normal things to do with a portable music player. One from
getting too much sweat on it, one from a waist level drop, and one from
condensation from a water bottle. I won't buy another iPod again. I'm not sure
if they're much more vulnerable than other brands, but they're sure more
expensive, and too expensive to break that easily.

