Apple helped make 'top secret' iPod for US government

Re:Apple helped make 'top secret' iPod for US government by reaperducer on Wednesday August 19, 2020 @01:35PM (#24213276)

I look forward to the day when one of these makes an appearance on one of those prototype/collector forums.

It's surprising how frequently restricted computing devices end up in public hands.

Through a relative who worked for a guy who knew a guy and so on, I ended up with the world's most awesome GRiD Compass back in the 80's. It was supposedly formerly used by someone in the Reagan administration, and had big stickers on the bottom listing all the countries where it was never to be used.

I threw it away when I got my first IBM XT. Stupid of me.

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Re:Apple helped make 'top secret' iPod for US government by gambiting on Wednesday August 19, 2020 @03:28PM (#24215071)

A whole bunch of Sony devkits have gone on auction at one time, because the company went into bankruptcy and appointed administrators just went ahead to sell all company property. Of course Sony protested saying that they can't sell the devkits, but the administrators basically told them to get in the long line of people with some kind of claim. It's company property it's getting sold.

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Re:Apple helped make 'top secret' iPod for US government by emiliobumachar on Wednesday August 19, 2020 @03:58PM (#24215503)

I'm missing some context. Why would Sony devkits be sensitive? What exactly do you mean by "devkit"? I though of those development kits with one specific processor you want to get familiar with, plus auxiliary hardware and software to help access it.

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Re:Apple helped make 'top secret' iPod for US government by cdcarter on Wednesday August 19, 2020 @04:07PM (#24215615)

You're on the right track, but they're usually considered rentals not purchased property. The Apple ARM devkit Mac Mini, for example, has to be returned to Apple at the end of the preview.

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Re:Apple helped make 'top secret' iPod for US government by saagarjha on Wednesday August 19, 2020 @06:43PM (#24217694)

What's interesting is that some people have the old (Intel) developer transition kits, even though Apple has done extraordinarily well in the intervening time period. One wonders how Apple missed them…

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Re:Apple helped make 'top secret' iPod for US government by gambiting on Thursday August 20, 2020 @02:44AM (#24220542)

"devkit" in this context means a development version of a Sony gaming console, like the PlayStation. They are different from a regular retail model in that they can run unsigned code so you can develop games for them. The reason why they are sensitive is that you could use a devkit to learn how the console works internally and potentially find some exploits that could be used in the retail models. Any company using them has to sign a very restrictive NDA that basically requires the kits to be locked up, you can't talk about their development environment or precise technical details. Sony would never sell you a devkit until you pass their security assesment, and you are only allowed to have them on the condition that they are returned to Sony when no longer needed.

Obviously, the severity of the problem depends on what gets auctioned. PS4 kits? Probably not much, pretty much everything about the console and its capabilities has been leaked a long time ago. But if some PS5 devkits were to go missing right now it would be a huge deal as the console isn't even out yet.

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Re:Apple helped make 'top secret' iPod for US government by munificent on Wednesday August 19, 2020 @08:09PM (#24218396)

> Why would Sony devkits be sensitive? What exactly do you mean by "devkit"?

"Devkits" (at least in the context used here) are hardware for developing console videogames. Console manufacturers work quite hard to control who gets to develop for their platform and how. The devkits are often quite expensive and you won't (usually) get your hands on one unless you work for a company that has signed a very detailed contract with the console manufacturer.

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Re:Apple helped make 'top secret' iPod for US government by jandrese on Wednesday August 19, 2020 @04:15PM (#24215727)

If you got your hands on the devkit without signing the NDA with Sony you could release details about how it works.

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Re:Apple helped make 'top secret' iPod for US government by codebeaker on Wednesday August 19, 2020 @04:13PM (#24215691)

Exactly, and often times extraordinarily valuable because they can be used for reverse engineering, or learning how the key signing or DRM works, or can be bypassed.

Of course, most legitimate indie communities stay away from this, preferring clean-room RE efforts.

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Re:Apple helped make 'top secret' iPod for US government by saagarjha on Wednesday August 19, 2020 @02:49PM (#24214468)

It's interesting to see Apple prototypes with serial numbers on them crop up all over the place…

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Re:Apple helped make 'top secret' iPod for US government by dylan604 on Wednesday August 19, 2020 @01:44PM (#24213401)

Or some drunk engineer leaves the device at at a bar.

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Re:Apple helped make 'top secret' iPod for US government by bnt on Wednesday August 19, 2020 @03:29PM (#24215093)

I still firmly believe it was a marketing stunt by Apple.

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Re:Apple helped make 'top secret' iPod for US government by sneak on Wednesday August 19, 2020 @05:27PM (#24216782)

The drunk engineer is my friend, it was his birthday, and it wasn’t a stunt. He was authorized to have the device out for testing, and brought it with him to his birthday at a beer bar.

You know the rest of the story. Apple is entirely familiar with the Osborne Effect.

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Re:Apple helped make 'top secret' iPod for US government by ameen on Wednesday August 19, 2020 @05:46PM (#24217052)

I wanted to know what happened to him after that. Were there any repercussions? Is he still there?

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Re:Apple helped make 'top secret' iPod for US government by fomine3 on Thursday August 20, 2020 @03:40AM (#24220841)

IIRC His LinkedIn is on public.

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Re:Apple helped make 'top secret' iPod for US government by sneak on Wednesday August 19, 2020 @09:34PM (#24218958)

I can’t give details as it isn’t my story to tell.

He was not fired for it, as it was an honest mistake, and he stayed with the company for several more years.

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Re:Apple helped make 'top secret' iPod for US government by ameen on Saturday August 22, 2020 @06:25AM (#24243142)

Thank you, appreciate your response. I'm glad he wasn't penalized for an honest mistake. I've heard of folks citing policy and firing great employees, good to hear a happy end to the whole situation.

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Re:Apple helped make 'top secret' iPod for US government by aYsY4dDQ2NrcNzA on Wednesday August 19, 2020 @07:14PM (#24217960)

He is still there.

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Re:Apple helped make 'top secret' iPod for US government by docbrown on Wednesday August 19, 2020 @10:02PM (#24219131)

A marketing stunt that involved the police conducting a raid on Jason Chen’s home and then barring Gizmodo from future Apple events? Yeah, that’d be one hell of a PR stunt if it was.

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Re:Apple helped make 'top secret' iPod for US government by dylan604 on Wednesday August 19, 2020 @04:21PM (#24215826)

To what purpose? To get people talking about the newest version of the iPhone? Don't think this stunt was required for that.

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Re:Apple helped make 'top secret' iPod for US government by kosherbeefcake on Wednesday August 19, 2020 @04:39PM (#24216103)

I remember reading a conspiracy that the iPhone 4 was left at that bar, because Samsung was about to announce the latest Galaxy phone. Apple did this to take the wind out of their sails.

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Re:Apple helped make 'top secret' iPod for US government by rangibaby on Wednesday August 19, 2020 @09:59PM (#24219120)

To paraphrase a famous quote: Apple are not that dumb, and not that smart.

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Re:Apple helped make 'top secret' iPod for US government by serf on Wednesday August 19, 2020 @03:52PM (#24215409)

yeah, me too , but the 'Apple Police' aspect of that marketing stunt left me with a negative impression -- so I guess it wasn't an all-around net good advertising wise.

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Re:Apple helped make 'top secret' iPod for US government by hcarvalhoalves on Wednesday August 19, 2020 @02:08PM (#24213785)

You bet!

Does anyone have the link to the story about the guy who found a Made in China power strip w/ a hidden bug inside?

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Re:Apple helped make 'top secret' iPod for US government by rockinghigh on Wednesday August 19, 2020 @03:46PM (#24215326)

You can buy them: https://www.trackers-cam.com/en/gsm-spy-microphone/329-gsm-c...

The power strip calls you as soon as it detects a sound.

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Re:Apple helped make 'top secret' iPod for US government by csilverman on Wednesday August 19, 2020 @02:32PM (#24214202)

Not sure if this is the story you're thinking of, but I do recall hearing a while ago about Chinese irons and kettles that came with some, er, undocumented features:

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hacked-from-china-is-your-kettl...

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Re:Apple helped make 'top secret' iPod for US government by ArnoVW on Wednesday August 19, 2020 @05:25PM (#24216763)

I remember Christmas cards produced in China, containing secret 'help me' messages from prisoners that were used as cheap labor:

https://www.npr.org/2019/12/23/790832681/6-year-old-finds-me...

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Re:Apple helped make 'top secret' iPod for US government by coopsmgoops on Wednesday August 19, 2020 @01:29PM (#24213191)

Probably on Gizmodo. Steve Jobs will be rolling in his grave.

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