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Who says Siri is useless? A Florida man accused of killing his roommate found a novel use for Siri. Police say 20-year-old Pedro Bravo allegedly kidnapped and strangled his friend in 2012, but didn’t know where to dispose of the body — that was, until Siri helped him out. According to his iPhone’s records, Mr. Bravo allegedly asked Siri “I need to hide my roommate.” The personal assistant app kindly responded by asking “What kind of place are you looking for?” and then offered him four ideal places, including metal foundries, dumps, swamps and reservoirs.

Do you ever feel like you're being watched? In the past, you could chalk it up to paranoia, close the curtains and get on with your life. Thanks to technology, it's not just your imagination. You really are being watched in your home, at work and everywhere in between. From online advertisers and hackers to the NSA and other government agencies, everyone is trying to keep tabs on you. And things keep getting worse. If you think you know every gadget and organization that's a danger, think again. Here are three things spying on you that you probably didn't know...

This is a fun, quarterly chart based on company reports and data from Canaccord Genuity, a Canadian investment bank. It shows the relative share of each major smartphone maker based on their operating profits. Since just about every company other than Apple and Samsung is losing money, Canaccord analyst Michael Walkley says, "Apple and Samsung once again dominated handset industry operating profits and combined to capture a remarkable 108% of Q2/14 handset industry profits as other leading OEMs such as BlackBerry, Nokia/Microsoft, and Sony posted operating losses or near breakeven results.”

Corporate America can learn a lot from a chicken burrito. As many companies struggle to boost prices without alienating consumers, they may want to study Mexican-food chain Chipotle, which has managed to do both. Companies including Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc (CMG.N), Apple Inc (AAPL.O) and PepsiCo (PEP.N) have shown they're able to take advantage of quality, trendiness, and, in the case of Pepsi's snack foods, market dominance, to maintain high prices or even raise them faster than the inflation rate, now at about 2.1 percent in the U.S. Chipotle raised chicken-dish prices by 5 percent this year after leaving them...

Apple Inc. is preparing for its largest initial production run of iPhones, betting that larger-screen models will lure consumers now attracted to similar phones from Samsung Electronics Co. and others. The Cupertino, Calif., company is asking suppliers to manufacture between 70 million and 80 million units combined of two large-screen iPhones with 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch displays by Dec. 30, according to people familiar with the matter. Its forecast for what is commonly called the iPhone 6 is significantly larger than the initial order last year of between 50 million and 60 million versions of the iPhone 5S and 5C--which had...

Zdziarksi is certain that these mechanisms, whatever their purpose, are no accident. He has seen them become more complex, and they seem to get as much maintenance and attention as iOS' advertised features. Even as Apple adds new security features, the company may be adding ways to circumvent them.

(Reuters) - A Beijing court has ruled against Apple Inc by upholding the validity of a patent held by a Chinese company, clearing the way for the Chinese company to continue its own case against Apple for infringing intellectual property rights. Apple had taken Shanghai-based Zhizhen Internet Technology and China's State Intellectual Property Office to court to seek a ruling that Zhizhen's patent rights to a speech recognition technology were invalid. But the Beijing First Intermediate Court on Tuesday decided in Zhizhen's favour, the People's Daily state newspaper reported on Wednesday.

It's been clear for some time that the iPad has taken the enterprise by storm as employees tote it to work and companies buy fleets of them. But Apple's PC, the Mac, has never been as dominant in the workplace, until now, according to new research from long-time Microsoft rival, VMware. VMware queried 376 IT professionals and found that they are increasingly being asked to buy and/or support Macs in the enterprise by employees who want Macs, not Windows machines. "Microsoft Windows has dominated enterprise desktops for close to three decades but it appears its reign is coming to an...

The TV reporter was caught up in a discussion about the rarity of openly gay CEOs when he said, ‘I think Tim Cook is open about the fact he’s gay.’ Simon Hobbs is likely wishing he could press rewind. The CNBC co-anchor spoke too soon during a live segment of "Squawk on the Street" Friday when he accidentally outed Apple CEO Tim Cook. New York Times columnist and CNBC contributor James B. Stewart spoke about his recent column dealing with the "tortured life" former BP chief John Browne led as a closeted gay CEO. "I just found it very, very...

Taiwan's Quanta Computer Inc will start mass production of Apple Inc's first smartwatch in July, according to a source familiar with the matter, as the tech giant tries to prove it can still innovate against rival Samsung Electronics Co Ltd. The watch, which remains unnamed but which company followers have dubbed the iWatch, will be Apple's first foray into a niche product category that many remain skeptical about, especially as to whether it can drive profits amid cooling growth in tech gadgets. Apple will introduce a smartwatch with a display that likely measures 2.5 inches diagonally and is slightly rectangular,...

Fasting for as little as three days can regenerate the entire immune system, even in the elderly, scientists have found in a breakthrough described as "remarkable". Although fasting diets have been criticised by nutritionists for being unhealthy, new research suggests starving the body kick-starts stem cells into producing new white blood cells, which fight off infection. Scientists at the University of Southern California say the discovery could be particularly beneficial for people suffering from damaged immune systems, such as cancer patients on chemotherapy. It could also help the elderly whose immune system becomes less effective as they age, making it...

iOS Malware Does Exist With our FortiGuard Labs reporting that 96.5% of all mobile malware is Android based it would be easy to see why someone might opt for an iPhone. But, users beware. Don’t write off iOS as the secure alternative to Android just yet! Despite, Android malware being nearly an epidemic, or as Tim Cook referenced, “a toxic hellstew”, iOS is not immune. Before somebody asks me (again) whether there are any iOS malware or not, I decided to consolidate the information for you. Hope this helps you, and keeps your (i-) phones secure :) (I have marked...

Can the NSA really listen to your iPhone’s microphone even when it is turned OFF? Experts say it is possible - but reveal the trick to beat it Technique known as an 'implant' (requires physical access—Swordmaker) Allows phone to appear switched off - but still operate some communications The NSA could technically listen in to the microphone of an iPhone even if it switched off, experts have revealed. The claim was first made by Edward Snowden during an interview with Brian Williams of NBC Nightly News. Today, experts confirmed the technique was technically possibly - and revealed a way to...

After releasing a lackluster Maps app to compete with Google Maps, Apple found that its wasn't so easy to eclipse Google's long-used app. In fact, Apple Maps was a failure. It would seem that after such a failure Apple would try to update and improve the Maps app, but the Worldwide Developers Conference showed that the app was far from perfected. Instead, it seemed ignored. “There were multiple improvements that didn’t make it into iOS 8,” an unnamed source told TechCrunch. Unfortunately, Apple still hasn't made a good Map app. Previous reports said that app would be more reliable, have...

Apple will unveil and release its highly anticipated smartwatch, which many presume to be called iWatch, in October, according to a report from Re/code.Re/code has a stellar track record when it comes to Apple news, so we believe this report to be legitimate.According to the report, Apple says it is confident enough in its product that it will produce 3 to 5 million for the initial shipment.The New York Times was one of the first outlets to report on the iWatch, after a February 2013 report from Nick Bilton illuminated Apple's nascent smartwatch efforts, likening its possible "next big thing" to something...

It looks like Apple has updated its app developer guidelines today to allow for Bitcoin apps. The new clause under section 11.17, which was flagged by folks on Twitter like investor Bill Lee today, reads: Apps may facilitate transmission of approved virtual currencies provided that they do so in compliance with all state and federal laws for the territories in which the app functions. That sounds like Bitcoin!

Here at the SF Globe, we are huge fans of life hacks. Here's one super creative and easy trick by Simon from Handimania. We do admit...you will need to take caution before trying this one. The good news? You never need to peel apples the traditional way again.

A new video that shows kids reacting to old technology is stirring up memories of clunky monitors and large floppy disks. The Apple II, which was released in 1977, was the pioneer of desktop computers. The 8-bit Apple computer featured a green and black screen and a floppy disk drive for 3.5-by-5-inch media. Relative to today's technology, describing the Apple II as simply obsolete or primitive does not do the situation justice. When the computers first hit the marketplace, Apple sold them for about $1,300. Adjusted for inflation, that translates to $5,000 in today's world, and that amount of money...

Owners of iPhones and iPads have been targeted by a hacker who is freezing iOS devices and demanding a ransom of up to £55 to unlock them. ... "I went to check my phone and there was a message on the screen (it's still there) saying that my device(s) had been hacked by 'Oleg Pliss' and he/she/they demanded $100 USD/EUR (sent by paypal to lock404(at)hotmail.com) to return them to me. ... "Such scams have been around for years. By using the credentials to access an Apple iCloud account, the attackers can enable the 'Find My iPhone' service - this is...

“Owners of Apple devices across Australia are having them digitally held for ransom by hackers demanding payment before they will relinquish control,” Ben Grubb reports for Fairfax Media. “iPad, iPhone and Mac owners in Queensland, NSW, Western Australia, South Australia and Victoria have reported having their devices held hostage.” “One iPhone user, a Fairfax Media employee in Sydney, said she was awoken at 4am on Tuesday to a loud ‘lost phone’ message that said ‘Oleg Pliss’ had hacked her phone. She was instructed to send $50 to a PayPal account to have it unlocked,” Grubb reports. “It is likely hackers...