As a result of my crazy schedule last week — depositions. meetings, and a missed connection in Atlanta resulting in me being stuck there overnight — this In the news comes a little later than normal. As we finish up the first half of 2014, there were lots of interesting items in the news over the past week, including a big cellphone-related decision from the U.S. Supreme Court. Last week, the Court unanimously ruled in Riley v California (PDF opinion) that police must obtain a search warrant before examining the contents of a cellphone taken from a person that is arrested. Thus, the Court limited the scope of the search incident to a lawful arrest doctrine, accepting the argument that a cellphone is unlike the contents of your pocket, and can contain information for which a person is entitled to expect privacy. As Chief Justice Roberts wrote, "it is no exaggeration to say that many of the more than ninety percent of American adults who own a cell phone keep on their person a digital record of nearly every aspect of their lives — from the mundane to the intimate." I agree completely. Lyle Denniston of the SCOTUSblog wrote an analysis of the opinion. And now, the other news of note from the past week:
- Ohio attorney Will Harrelson wrote about how the Rules of Professional Conduct intersect with the use of iPhones in an article titled Mobile Device Security for Lawyers: How Solos and Small Firms can Ethically Allow Bring Your Own Device.
- Ian O'Flahery is the man behind some of the very best iPad apps for lawyers: TranscriptPad and TrialPad. In a post on MacSparky, Ian shows California attorney David Sparks what apps are on his iPad home screen.
- Alan Cohen of Law Technology News discusses two favorite external keyboards for the iPad: the Logitech Ultrathin Keyboard Cover and the ZAGGkeys PROfolio Keyboard Case.
- The iPhone turned 7 yesterday. As Rene Ritchie of iMore notes, the first generation iPhone went on sale June 29, 2007. My first iPhone was the iPhone 3G that went on sale July 11, 2008. Four months later, iPhone J.D. launched on November 17, 2008.
- Ritchie also explains how third party iPhone keyboards will work in iOS 8 when it comes out this Fall. This will be an interesting feature of iOS 8.
- Apple celebrated Pride Week by raising a rainbow flag at the company's 1 Infinite Loop headquarters, and Seth Weintraub of 9to5 Mac notes that Apple CEO Tim Cook, Apple VP of Environmental Affairs Lisa Jackson, and 5,000 Apple employees and their family marched in San Francisco yesterday. The Apple rainbow T-shirts that they wore to support nondiscrimination remind me somewhat of the original multi-colored Apple logo. As Glenn Fleishman remarked on Twitter: "A world in which gay kids see [the] Apple CEO fully embracing Pride Week, posing with employees, is a piece of Making Things Better."
- Security expert Rich Mogull explains how and why Apple does such a good job protecting your privacy, compared to other companies, in an article for Macworld.
- Mike Beseley of 9to5 Mac reports that Apple has apparently started updating data in the Maps app every morning at 3 am.
- Kate Renner of KSTP reports that a two-year-old used Siri to call for help when her mother fainted. She told Siri "Call Emergency" and the phone dialed 911. (via iMore)
- A few days ago I reviewed the CaseMaker Pro, a device that lets you use whatever picture you want on an iPhone case. My wife owns a neat cutting device called the Silhouette Cameo — sort of like a printer that cuts paper instead of printing on it, a useful and fun product for any tech-savvy crafter in your life. She pointed out to me that folks who own a Silhouette can follow these instructions to do the same thing. And as she told me that, I think I heard the song "Anything you can do, I can do better" playing in the background, but that may have been just my imagination.
- And finally, if you are of my generation, then you probably have fond memories of using a Trapper Keeper when you were in grade school. Kensington this week introduced the Mead Collection Folios to give you an iPad case with the Trapper Keeper look.
