lutonlad

Always has.
Thankfully in the UK history of buffoons in government, nobody had the guts to join the Euro. Good shout.

VFR

Because a smart phone will do all of that in one unit & a whole lot more (a lot more)

Why have email when you can post a letter ?

EMR

From one pedant to anothet I bow before the mistress of pedantry as readers on other threads can see.

I am sure that the citizens of Norway and Switzerland wou;d take umbrage to be included in your condemnation of the EU or Europe as you keep calling it.

Maybe1day

We left the iphone mafia at the S4 32GB level and went over to android HTC One. But at Xmas I got my wife a Chinese Octa-processor 5.5" screen product 16GB +64 dual sim for peanuts, Even uses GPS time (selectable sources are network or GPS satellite)
She is over the moon and her HTC is on the local market.

petew

[QUOTE=Maybe1day;11556931 at Xmas I got my wife a Chinese Octa-processor 5.5" screen product 16GB +64 dual sim for peanuts, Even uses GPS time (selectable sources are network or GPS satellite)[/QUOTE]

I hope it's not relaying all your personal info to a server somewhere in China...............

Maybe1day

Who knows that's why my wife has it, I'm keeping to my HTC. Is iPhone more secure, also made in China? I worked for a Major Chinese telecoms company for 3 yrs. Software all pirated, Spyware, Total control software and serious malware.
We were basically told to Format our pcs every 6 months and that included mbr too..................... dodgy stuff. However with Echelon and Co, as long as my bank acc isn't touched..........

calman014

Not with HSBC by any chance??...:-P

Maybe1day

Only slightly....

Maybe1day

Only slightly....

Actually I chinese guy had his whole salary transferred to somewhere else.....
A lot of us got that nasty and it took a lot to get it off one of my machines. Even today I use it only for programming phones etc.

calman014

Back-Door programmes are going to become a greater problem in all kinds of hardware as prices drop and we use more "web-enabled" devices, not just phones and PC's..

amideislas

I'm not any more delighted about domestic spying than anyone else.

But it's not a surprise, really, with all the dependence we now have on a publicly-accessible medium, there's bound to be invasion. Nor do I expect it's something that's likely to change anytime soon. The value of it for both commerce and governments is much too great.

However, it's worth considering that the vast majority of it is in the interest of collecting data about market or political trends and the vast majority of it cannot be easily linked to any specific individual without someone going to great lengths to analyse the data - which takes time and costs money. There are, of course, dubious intents, such a phishing and collecting credit card information. And I find the fact that "given the proper motivation, it can be done" rather troubling.

Think about it; given a few trillion bits of encrypted data, your job is to find Jane Doe's credit card information and online banking password. Obviously, that's a near-impossible task, unless of course, you already have the combination to Jane Doe's internet "safe" and know exactly where it is - as in the case of too freely giving out sensitive personal data. People need to understand when it's safe to provide personal data and when it's not, and that's still a bit foggy for most people. But common sense should prevent much of it.

I reckon the easiest place to obtain data is either by hacking into a bank, a business, or whatever, not specifically looking for Jane Doe's info, but really to find anything to unlock any door you can find, and from there, try to find something you can monetise. The exception being governments, of course, who have the luxury of simply legalising domestic spying.

Really, it's the responsibility of those in possession of your data to keep it secure. The laws covering this are still a bit too vague, but it's improving. I'm sure any future enhancements will equate to giving up more privacy in return for "security".

amideislas

Just saw a news report about Apple working on a "secret" project involving driverless cars.

My first thought was that considering Google's play in this area, this sounds like a rather "me too" strategy.

But then, I remember a case I made some time ago - that Apple's next innovation should be in robotics. Apple already has some the most advanced expertise in human interaction with machines.

Imagine an affordably-priced robot that is constantly internet-connected, has eyes, ears, speech and mobility, that takes care of routine functions around the home and office.

It cleans, takes care of the pets, keeps track of your food preferences and stocks and tells you when you need to shop and what to buy. Empties the rubbish, Controls the heating and cooling in your home, and can alert emergency services in the event there's a fire or an accident...

It arranges things - social occasions, travel arrangements, orders things, act as a personal assistant... yada yada.

And you can converse with it. "What was the name of that movie with Cher and Christina Agulera?" - "Can you put it on, please?", "What is the cheapest flight to Prague?", how far is it to Calle Francisco 46, Valencia?", "Where is the nearest bank branch", "Please find the best price on new tyres for the car"... This isn't new, really, but it's still not like simply asking someone :-)

Perhaps it watches over the kids, even helps them with their education and homework.

the list is endless...

Anyway, back to cars. Well, imagine such a "robot" that has the mobility of a car. Or perhaps a robot that has a car. Could it do shopping, pick things up for you? Have a meeting with your accountant? Take the kids to the cinema?

So, perhaps the notion isn't so far-fetched.

Fredbargate

If it's cheaper than the wife I will get one

amideislas

I AM a wife, and I surely want one!

jimenato

Maybe it could fulfill other wifely functions as well...