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The Smartphone Platform War Is Over
Statista, the Statistics Portal ^ | August 22nd, 2016 | Felix Richter

Posted on 09/05/2016 5:39:45 PM PDT by Shanghai Dan

A picture truly is worth a thousand words:



TOPICS: Business/Economy; Computers/Internet
KEYWORDS: android; ios; smartphone
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To: Swordmaker

IF.....when it’s time for my upgrade, the Techs at Verizon can now show me how to get FR text to change as I desire, I will CONSIDER getting an iphone. What’s the big deal, anyhow? Sheesh!


161 posted on 09/06/2016 6:44:22 PM PDT by Tucker39 (Welcome to America! Now speak English; and keep to the right....In driving, in Faith, and politics.)
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To: mrsmith; ctdonath2
CHEAP AND EASY encryption indeed leads to the problem that unlocking one device means unlocking all devices. Individualized encryption requires more effort and expense by the manufacturer- and more cost to the consumer. But maintains the Fourth Amendment and, given a large enough production, is affordable.

Excuse me? Who told you that the best encryption on any mobile device and the strongest security is "CHEAP AND EASY encryption"? It is far from that. It is baked into the hardware and the OS and provides rock solid end-to-end 256 bit AES encryption of everything on the device. It is not a pasted on after thought such as you are claiming is better. Access to ALL Android devices has been available from multiple vendors for years, despite every thing Google and the multiple manufacturers of Android devices have tried.

Only three weeks ago did a company finally get to the point of being able to offer a means of cracking into a modern iPhone. Before that it was not possible. The Hacking Team offered the means to get into every other mobile device on the market, but NOT the modern iPhone.

That new development was due to an Israeli security company out-bidding Apple at the White Hat hackers competition in late June by bidding $1 million for what appeared at the time to be a general iOS vulnerability which later turned out to affect not only Apple iOS but apparently all other mobile devices in general AND OS X Yosemite and El Capitan as well. This crack only gained access to certain currently in use data, but not to everything encrypted on the iPhone such as stored data, but it was still quite worrisome as it apparently allowed the one who had it to track the phone, tap into the messaging services and email being sent and received prior to and after encryption, track internet activity, operate the camera and microphone surreptitiously and monitor the user's activities.

What it did not and could not do is get the user's passcode. That processing is handled by a dedicated Encryption processor which with its own buried memory which is locked off from even the main processor.

This Israeli company made this crack available only to government agencies around the world for a fee of $650,000 for 10 devices plus a one-time $500,000 set up fee. The exploit required the installation of a malicious app onto the iPhone by some means, either surreptitiously, by hook or crook, or physical possession, or by phishing the target. In other words, it was a sophisticated Trojan, and not one that would or could be targeted to the average user.

The Israeli company had also made it also available for Android, Symbian, Blackberry, and (although not mentioned) Windows phones, because the three vulnerabilities were apparently in a standard that all five systems use.

However, it is no longer available to that company for Apple iOS devices. . . Because Apple closed those vulnerabilities on iOS devices within three days of discovering their first use in the wild. A week later it was discovered the same vulnerabilities were shared with OS X, and Apple closed them there as well. It will not be closed on more than 80% of Android devices in the wild, all of the Symbian devices still out there. It will probably be fixed for both Windows, Blackberry, and more modern Android devices running the later versions of Android.

Any pasted on encryption has to put the passcodes and testing software to unlock it somewhere outside of the encrypted data. That is its soft point and the way to attack it to break in, it's Achilles Heel. Apple does not have that at all as the passcode is not kept on the device at all.

162 posted on 09/06/2016 7:09:57 PM PDT by Swordmaker (This tag line is a Microsoft insult free zone... but if the insults to Mac users continue...)
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To: Swordmaker

So we agree maintaining the security of a device’s “passcode” is not CHEAP AND EASY for the manufacturer?
Amazing!


163 posted on 09/06/2016 7:47:18 PM PDT by mrsmith (Dumb sluts: Lifeblood of the Media, Backbone of the Democrat/RINO Party!)
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To: Shanghai Dan; Hodar
Yes, the latest Note 7 is about 40% slower than the iPhone when pushing pixels. It also pushes 2.2 times as many pixels - that takes time.

On a pixel-time basis, the Note 7 is faster...

And, as I have told you before, the Note 7 is pushing all those extra pixels for NO DISCERNIBLE purpose. No human being can tell the difference at the viewing distance people use phones, so they are supplying a super-high-pixel count screen merely so the various Android manufacturers' and ignorant Android Fanboys like you can brag how their screen's pixel count is bigger than Apple's. . . but having that giant pixel count slows their devices' performance down abysmally and causes their videos' to stutter and shudder. The frame rates in their games suffer tremendously. Way to go, marketing departments.

A far as security goes, I posted earlier. Both platforms have issues (only the most hard-core Apple fanatic would claim otherwise).

And I completely shot down your argument and refuted your phony evidentiary link. You are ignoring it and repeating your claim. . . even in the same thread after having your claim refuted with facts. I bet you did not even bother to read it. You are a hide bound Apple Hate Brigade member and you are not amenable to facts that refute your completely pre-conceived facturds.

There have been fewer than ten exploits in nine years on iOS compared to the over 10 MILLION on Android IN THE WILD that Kaspersky logged two years ago (!), yet you repeatedly claim equivalence by implying that "both platforms have issues (only the most hard-core Apple fanatic would claim otherwise)," despite evidence that overwhelming shows YOU ARE DELUSIONAL to make that claim.

The only major outbreak on iOS occurred in China and totaled ~4000 Chinese language apps in Chinese third party App stores due to a bogus Xcode called XcodeGhost making infected apps. . . which required JAILBROKEN iPhones to work because they were required to download from 3rd party app stores. 37 of those XcodeGhost Apps did make their way on to the Apple App Store but were removed. None were ever found in the USA as they were all Chinese language apps.

People forget they had iAds that was doing the same thing, and collected the same kinds of data for their own internal sales use (of course, Apple was really pretty bad at it, so they have closed it down).

You make an assumption that Apple closed down iAds because they were doing badly at it. Apple closed it down because they determined they were NOT in the business of selling advertising, but rather in the business of selling hardware, software, and services. Apple decided they were not going to put ads on their devices and computers and shut down iAds. It was not because they could not sell ads or monetize it. It was not conducive to their core business. YOU made the assumptions they were doing badly at it. Apple does NOT mine their customers for their personal information except to improve Apple's service to those customers. They state categorically that any information Apple has on its customer will NOT be shared with any third party.

Google doesn’t sell YOUR information to a particular advertising companies, they sell blocks of statistics, like “55% of our users are male; 84% who are interested in games are also interested in pizza”. You get aggregated into big groups. That’s the information you get as a consumer of Google analytics.

You are wrong. Google sells individual information about their "products" desires, personal browsing activities, locations, and even what was in their "products" emails or emails. A freeper not too long ago mentioned in an email to his wife sent from his Android phone that he was thinking about stopping at Burger King to have lunch. Not five minutes later, ads started popping up on his phone from Burger King, with coupons specials and notices of the nearest BK. That IS personalized, targeted advertising from something put in a private email. Google makes no secret they scan emails for advertising purposes. That IS invasion of your personal documents. Google admitted they archive your emails for their purposes, separate from YOUR purposes. That is invasion of your privacy. Apple does not do any of that. When BK can target an ad to you directly, through Google, you have no privacy and it is NOT from a "block" of data.

164 posted on 09/06/2016 8:07:47 PM PDT by Swordmaker (This tag line is a Microsoft insult free zone... but if the insults to Mac users continue...)
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To: mrsmith
Now, however, a ‘clipper chip’ (or software/firmware) that is individually accessible can be put in a device and recorded so that the manufacturer can give access to that ONE INDIVIDUAL DEVICE upon proper legal request.

Uh, anything that is recorded somewhere is amenable to being compromised by bribery, hacking, or kidnapping the keeper of the list or his family. Oops. Guess what, it is no longer so secret.

Apple's system is a modified form of that, except that while the hardware/software does have a Universally Unique ID assigned when the silicon of the Secure Element's dedicated processor is burned—that UUID is accessible only from within the Secure Element and is not readable by any external means—no record is kept of the random generated 128 byte UUID is kept anywhere. There simply are no records of what was burned on that IC chip. That UUID is used as one of FOUR pieces that will be used to construct the AES KEY that will be used to encrypt the data. The other three pieces are the User's Unique Passcode which will be entangled into that UUID; the shared Group ID of the Apple devices which is assigned to that Apple model; and finally a completely random number generated from data gathered by the device's microphone, camera, gyroscope, and GPS when the user's passcode was first entered. These four items, three of them Unique, one of which, the user's passcode, has to be entered anew each time the phone is started, are used by a hidden algorithm also burned in the Encryption Processor to re-generate the Encryption Key and then either en-code or de-code the data on the storage of the iPhone, iPad, etc. Trying to brute force it would require 5.62 time 10195 years to try all possible encryption keys. Without all four pieces, deciphering the data is literally impossible.

165 posted on 09/06/2016 8:28:38 PM PDT by Swordmaker (This tag line is a Microsoft insult free zone... but if the insults to Mac users continue...)
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To: Tucker39; Mark17
Preach anything you like. But the fact remains; when this discussion began, you DID NOT tell me I could pinch and expand. You gave me a list of steps, to go into SETTINGS and a big ringamarole. Neither the snobs at the Club, nor the Verizon Techs could show me how. Good bye!

Yes, I did. My first comment to YOU was this:

"Uh, Tucker, it's worked that way on iPhones from the very first iPhone. . . even on FreeRepublic's pages. How come you didn't try it on the iPhone you had? Android copied that from the iPhone. You can see Steve Jobs demonstrate that feature on the original iPhone in the original KeyNote presentation from January 2007, long before the first touch screen Android phone was ever made. Alternately, you can just double tap a column of print and it will expand to fit the screen."

You've spent the last several comments you've made trying to argue the indefensible, claiming that iPhones do not pinch to zoom when WE KNOW THEY DO. Don't try to teach experts something YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT! They will hand you your head. Mark17 provided you with the original very pertinent response that was ALSO on point to your statement, thinking you already knew how to use a multi-touch phone. Now it is obvious you did not. You just continued to argue something we knew not to be true. . . and repeated your claims and then built a house-of-cards higher and more rickety adding to your claims that were even more unbelievable.

166 posted on 09/06/2016 8:47:34 PM PDT by Swordmaker (This tag line is a Microsoft insult free zone... but if the insults to Mac users continue...)
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To: dragnet2
So how are Apple sales going? You seem to be their biggest salesperson.☺ Oh that's right, you're the guy who invests in that leftisty company. How about that Apple watch? What is that, a must have for gizmo geeks?

First of all, I am not a "salesperson" for Apple . . . or any other company. I keep the Apple Ping list of over 750 of your fellow Freepers on Freerepublic and also the truth means something to me. Not the propaganda and lies pushed by some people on here.

Apple sales on certain products are down along with the rest of the smartphone market. It is not just Apple, but all smartphones. Apple's iPhones are down this quarter in anticipation of tomorrow's release of the new iPhone 7.

The Apple Watch 1 is essentially sold out in anticipation of the introduction of the Apple Watch 2 tomorrow. Apple sold something close to 15 million last year at an average sales price of around $450 each, counting the stainless steel versions. If you are thinking the Apple Watch is a flop, that converts into a business that has a revenue of $6.75 Billion, which would make it number 381 on the Fortune 500 list all by itself. It is NOT a flop by anyone's definition.

As for Apple being a "leftisty" organization. Check your history of political donations. You'll find that Apple hasn't. It did not even have a lobbying presence in Washington, D.C. until just about three years ago. Apple kept out of politics for the most part. Perhaps some of its officers were leftist leaning, but Apple as a corporation was agnostic. Steve Jobs stated on political involvement:

"Some people have said that I shouldn't get involved politically because probably half our customers are Republicans – maybe a little less, maybe more Dell than ours. But I do point out that there are more Democrats than Mac users — so I’m going to just stay away from all that political stuff because that was just a personal thing."

Tim Cook is not as wise as Steve Jobs. . . but what he does is personal, not Apple. Yes, some of Apple's company policies are liberal, but they don't make political donations. Over the years, Microsoft has given FAR more to even LBGT causes than has Apple and for a longer time period. Yes, Apple is embracing the green agenda, but only as much as is profitable for the company. Apple makes its products recyclable, and its installations energy independent, but that's good marketing and they SELL power back onto the grid, lots of it, megawatts and megawatts of it.

167 posted on 09/06/2016 9:21:58 PM PDT by Swordmaker (This tag line is a Microsoft insult free zone... but if the insults to Mac users continue...)
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To: Swordmaker
First of all, I am not a "salesperson" for Apple

Sure you are. You admitted being an Apple investor. No? And in fact an investor that posts tons of Apple threads would likely be motivated by profit. Like your typical salesperson for example. Or am I supposed to believe you're doing this to fight for truth and justice? ☺

Come on.

168 posted on 09/06/2016 9:35:00 PM PDT by dragnet2 (Diversion and evasion are tools of deceit)
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To: mrsmith
So we agree maintaining the security of a device’s “passcode” is not CHEAP AND EASY for the manufacturer?
Amazing!

The manufacturer should NEVER have any user's passcode. If they do, then the user's data is neither private nor secure. So, no, we are not agreed. Why would you trust anyone but yourself with your passcode?

Apple decided to just NOT even keep the users' passcodes on their devices. Instead they keep a one-way hash that must be re-calculated every time the user inputs his passcode which is then compared with a stored one-way hash which was created and stored from the original creation of the passcode by the same algorithm that will re-construct the hash so it can be compared. Being a one-way hash, no one can re-create the seed passcode by knowing the hash if even if it could be read. It is 100% secure. The original one-way hash is stored in a memory area inside the Secure Element that cannot be accessed or read from the outside of the Secure Element and it is not on the same memory bus as the system processor so it is not reachable by the data processor which runs the iPhones apps.

169 posted on 09/06/2016 9:45:31 PM PDT by Swordmaker (This tag line is a Microsoft insult free zone... but if the insults to Mac users continue...)
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To: dragnet2
Sure you are. You admitted being an Apple investor. No? And in fact an investor that posts tons of Apple threads would likely be motivated by profit. Like your typical salesperson for example. Or am I supposed to believe you're doing this to fight for truth and justice? ☺

I have also said my Apple holdings are a small portion of my entire holdings. My postings on FR have everything to do with the Apple Ping List. I make far more money off of properties I own. You don't find me making any comments about those, do you? Profit is not my motivation. I long ago realized that the ups and downs of Apple sales or products have ZERO impact on what the stock market does or does not do about AAPL. That's a zero sum game to play. You cannot predict a thing about what Wall Street will do. Apple announces the BEST QUARTER IN WORLD HISTORY for any company, the highest profits, the greatest revenues, the best sales, and the best forecast. . . And the next day's AAPL drops like a rock because the traders on Wall Street are irrational.

Anything I post will have ZIP to do with my investment in AAPL.

170 posted on 09/06/2016 9:51:12 PM PDT by Swordmaker (This tag line is a Microsoft insult free zone... but if the insults to Mac users continue...)
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To: Swordmaker
my Apple holdings are a small...Profit is not my motivation.

Right, it's truth and justice for Apple! Got it!


171 posted on 09/06/2016 9:57:17 PM PDT by dragnet2 (Diversion and evasion are tools of deceit)
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To: Swordmaker
Thanks for the great work bro. 😀😆😄 I am doing this on my IPhone 6. I hardly even use my Mac Book Pro anymore, except when I watch NHL hockey games. Then I have it hooked up to my 40 inch HD TV.
That DOES remind me of something. Back in the 80s, when I was considering either an Atari 1200 or an Apple 11e, I asked if I could use my TV as a computer monitor. I never got a good answer. Now, I use my HD TV as the monitor for my Mac Book Pro. I guess I finally got that question answered.
Hey, people can use whatever they like. I do, and I don't care if people approve or not. I am the only one I need to please. 😀😆😄
172 posted on 09/06/2016 10:02:26 PM PDT by Mark17 (Calvary's love has never faltered. All it's wonder still remains. Souls still take eternal passage.)
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To: dragnet2
Right, it's truth and justice for Apple! Got it!

And truth (justice has nothing to do with it) doesn't matter to you. Got it. You can just say what ever comes into your mind and post cute GIFs. Fine. Facts are nothing, just ignore them, like most anti-Apple fanatics.

173 posted on 09/06/2016 10:07:07 PM PDT by Swordmaker (This tag line is a Microsoft insult free zone... but if the insults to Mac users continue...)
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To: Freedom_Is_Not_Free
Well, Apple is #3 on this top 10 list of companies that liberals love. Amazon and Google are pretty darn leftist, baby.

1. Amazon
2. Alphabet (Google)
3. Apple
4. Walt Disney
5. Microsoft
6. Target
7. Intel
8. Johnson & Johnson
9. Costco Wholesale
10. CVS Health

http://fortune.com/2016/06/06/fortune-500-companies-loved-by-liberals/

And here are the top 10 companies conservatives love:

  1. Walt Disney
  2. Amazon
  3. Apple
  4. Microsoft
  5. Wal-Mart Stores
  6. Exxon Mobil
  7. Alphabet (Google)
  8. Ford Motor
  9. Johnson & Johnson
  10. Coca-Cola

http://fortune.com/2016/06/06/fortune-500-companies-loved-by-conservatives/

What ever happened to United Fruit?

174 posted on 09/06/2016 10:19:43 PM PDT by cynwoody
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To: Swordmaker

You’re very confused. Unlike you, I’m not a cheerleader for any product nor do I cruise around this site posting endless Apple threads. Get it straight.


175 posted on 09/06/2016 10:20:33 PM PDT by dragnet2 (Diversion and evasion are tools of deceit)
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To: dragnet2
You’re very confused. Unlike you, I’m not a cheerleader for any product nor do I cruise around this site posting endless Apple threads. Get it straight.

I am not at all confused. I know where I stand and what is important. You are the one posting nonsense in a post about a product you do not own or have any experience with, arguing nonsense about a company whose competitors are just as, or even more, liberal than it is. Yet this one takes principled stances in support of the Bill of Rights but you cannot seem to see that.

176 posted on 09/06/2016 10:31:27 PM PDT by Swordmaker (This tag line is a Microsoft insult free zone... but if the insults to Mac users continue...)
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To: Swordmaker
I am not at all confused. I know where I stand and what is important.

See, you’re very confused and that has zip to do with my last comment: "Unlike you, I’m not a cheerleader for any product nor do I cruise around this site posting endless Apple threads. Get it straight."

You are the one posting nonsense in a post about a product you do not own or have any experience with

Still confused. Try reading the thread and direct your attention to door #27.

177 posted on 09/06/2016 10:37:29 PM PDT by dragnet2 (Diversion and evasion are tools of deceit)
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To: dragnet2

Keep trolling. Maybe you’ll catch the fish you think you’re going to hook, dragnet. I’m not it.


178 posted on 09/06/2016 10:40:51 PM PDT by Swordmaker (This tag line is a Microsoft insult free zone... but if the insults to Mac users continue...)
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To: Swordmaker

Boy, that was a predictable response. See the tagline.


179 posted on 09/06/2016 10:42:21 PM PDT by dragnet2 (Diversion and evasion are tools of deceit)
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To: sockhead
Based on what my friends have, I never would have guessed that iPhones represent a small share of the market.

The chart shows worldwide numbers. In the US, Android is still on top, but not by nearly as lopsided a margin. From comScore:

Smartphone Platform Market Share
Android ranked as the top smartphone platform in January with 52.8 percent market share, followed by Apple with 43.6 percent (up 0.3 percentage points from October), Microsoft with 2.7 percent and BlackBerry with 0.8 percent.

Top Smartphone Platforms
3 Month Avg. Ending Jan. 2016 vs. 3 Month Avg. Ending Oct. 2015
Total U.S. Smartphone Subscribers Age 13+
Source: comScore MobiLens
  Share (%) of Smartphone Subscribers
Oct-15 Jan-16 Point Change
Total Smartphone Subscribers 100.0% 100.0% N/A
Android 52.9% 52.8% -0.1
Apple 43.3% 43.6% 0.3
Microsoft 2.7% 2.7% 0.0
BlackBerry 1.0% 0.8% -0.2

At the top end, it appears Samsung is beating Apple in the US. The Galaxy S7 / S7 Edge accounted for 16% of sales vs 14.6% for iPhone 6S / 6S Plus.

180 posted on 09/06/2016 10:46:15 PM PDT by cynwoody
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