Shanghai Surprise: Chinese Couple Sells Baby For Money To Buy Apple Inc. (AAPL) iPhone And Pair Of Shoes

The lure of the iPhone has driven people to extremes to get one. Reuters

An unemployed Shanghai couple is accused of selling their newborn in exchange for up to 50,000 yuan (US$8,000) and then using the proceeds to going on a shopping spree -- including the purchase of an iPhone. 

The couple, identified in Chinese media only as “Mr. Teng and Ms. Zhang,” will stand trial in Shanghai for allegedly auctioning off their baby and using the proceeds to finance a shopping spree. Shanghai's Jiefang Daily newspaper said that the couple posted advertisements for the unborn child in June suggesting they'd  be willing to give up their unborn baby in exchange for money.

Chinese prosecutors said the couple hid the woman’s pregnancy to avoid arousing suspicion among friends and strangers. To explain her growing bump, the woman told neighbors that she had a tumor, according to the U.K. Telegraph. After a home birth, the couple reportedly handed their daughter over to an anonymous buyer, who then made a direct deposit into their bank account later the same day.

According to media accounts, the couple said in court testimony that they were acting in the child's best interest. The couple said that they didn't have steady incomes and would have had difficulty caring for the child. They hoped by auctioning her off, the child would be placed in a good, stable home and receive a good education. “We did not give the baby away for money but in order to give it more security,” the couple said, according to the Telegraph.

Prosecutors said that authorities have examined the couple’s bank records and believe the transactions indicate that the couple masterminded a “sinister conspiracy” to profit from the child's birth. One credit card bill showed that immediately after the baby was "traded" in, the couple spent large amounts of cash during an online shopping spree, which included the purchase of an iPhone and a pair of "high-end" sneakers.

This isn't the first time someone in China has gone to extremes for an Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) product. Last year, a 17-year-old boy in central China’s Hunan province sold his kidney to earn enough money to buy an iPhone and an iPad, according to state-run Xinhua News Agency. The teenager told his mother about his desperate act after he began feeling pain due to renal failure following extraction of the organ, the report said.

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Apple Inc. (AAPL) Vehemently Denies iMessage Security Claims

Following the Snowden scandal, Apple Inc. and others are fighting back against claims that it is complicit in offering governments access to your communications. Earlier this year, the Cupertino company claimed that its end-to-end encryption that protects its iMessage service is so secure that the company can’t decrypt it. This claim, however, was quickly refuted by the security company QuarksLab on Thursday.

Apple can read your iMessages

“Apple Inc. can read your iMessages if they choose to, or if they are required to do so by a government order,” QuarksLab said in a white paper presented Thursday at the Hack in the Box conference.

As I’m not a hacker, I’ll quickly summarize the byzantine findings. QuarksLab claims that because Apple Inc. controls the keys used in encryption on both ends, the company could launch a “man-in-the-middle attack” that would leave both parties believing that they are chatting directly with each other when they are not. This would, therefore, allow Apple Inc. to read iMessage communications.

There is no end-to-end encryption

“As Apple Inc. claims, there is end-to-end encryption,” QuarksLab explains. “The weakness is in the key infrastructure as it is controlled by Apple Inc. They can change a key any time they want, [and] thus read the content of our iMessages.” QuarksLab, it should be noted, has no evidence that Apple Inc. does or has done this. Its presentation begins with this explicit statement: “What we are not saying: Apple reads your iMessages. What we are saying: Apple Inc. can read your iMessages if they choose to, or if they are required to do so by a government order.”

So far, the security community seems to agree with QuarksLab’s claims.

Apple’s iMessages security

“I think what their presentation demonstrates is that it’s very difficult, but not impossible, for an outside attacker to intercept messages if they’re able to control key aspects of the network,” independent security researcher Ashkan Soltani told AllThingsD. “Probably not something that just any actor can do, but definitely something a state/government actor or Apple Inc. themselves could do, if motivated.”

Apple Inc. has recently fired back by sticking to the claims it made earlier this year.

“iMessage is not architected to allow Apple Inc. to read messages,” said Apple spokeswoman Trudy Muller in a statement to AllThingsD. “The research discussed theoretical vulnerabilities that would require Apple Inc. to re-engineer the iMessage system to exploit it, and Apple has no plans or intentions to do so.”

At the end of the day, it’s just a matter of how much you trust Apple Inc.

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Maria Kang, 'fit Facebook mom' accused of fat-shaming with Facebook picture

Elk Grove, Calif. - Elk Grove, Calif., mother and fitness buff Maria Kang has ignited a firestorm in cyberspace with her "what's your excuse?" Facebook photo, which shows her in a sports bra and short shorts, posing with her three young sons.

Some call it flattering and inspiring, others call it insulting and overly revealing, but Kang's photo has gone viral -- and global -- as media outlets from California to London have covered the controversy.

Posters and bloggers have accused Kang, 32, of "fat shaming," claiming her photo suggests that all women can look like her if they just work hard enough.

On her blog about motherhood, Theinklingsoflife.com, Morgan Moss declared: "You, as a woman, should be ashamed that you are furthering the downward spiral of how society views women, and how we women view ourselves. ... Most REAL moms don't look like you, sweetheart."

Kang has been called a hurtful, hateful bully. One online commenter said, "People like you who post pictures like this make me cry because without surgery I will never look like you."

By Saturday afternoon, Kang's Facebook photo had generated 241,801 "likes," 21,795 "shares" and 33,665 comments, and Kang said the international exposure, ranging from CNN to Good Morning America, The New York Daily News and The Daily Mail in Great Britain, has pushed her page views to 1 million.

Kang recently told her critics: "I'm sorry you took an image and resonated with it in such a negative way. I ... had an eating disorder, work full time owning two businesses, have no nanny, am not naturally skinny and do not work as a personal trainer."

Kang said her Facebook photo, posted to promote her free fitness classes, meant to send the message that women should "make no excuses not to follow through on your fitness action plan."

Kang, who runs two board-and-care homes for the elderly, says she doesn't profit from fitness and just wants to help people get healthy. She runs an unpaid nonprofit, Fitness Without Borders, a free Mom-Me Fit Club that meets in public parks three times a week and free 12-week family fitness boot camps.

''I discovered fitness was my passion because my mom was very sick, had diabetes, heart disease, kidney failure and a stroke at a young age because of her eating habits and lack of exercises," she said.

Kang said she has battled her weight and, from ages 23 to 27, struggled with bulimia. "I was binging and purging three times a day, five times a week for four years straight," she said. Kang, a Catholic, said she turned to prayer and moved from San Francisco back home to Elk Grove to help her mother, who needed dialysis three times a week.

Kang has been a cheerleader, kickboxer, personal trainer and beauty pageant winner, but gained 35 to 40 pounds with each pregnancy. Her sons Christian, Nicholas and Gabriel are now 4, 3 and 1.

She said she started the Mom-Me Fit Club in 2009, using a grant from the First Five Sacramento commission. She said 15 to 20 moms bring their kids to each outdoor session to work out. "We do ab exercises, circuit training, lunges -- it's really inspirational," said Kang, who first posted the "What's your excuse?" photo in September 2012 and reposted it a few weeks ago.

Asked to describe her fitness regimen: Kang said she wakes up at 6 a.m., tries to run 3 miles on her treadmill, and serves her kids raisin bran, sweet potato pancakes, fruit or eggs for breakfast -- "no pop tarts, no sugar cereals." She squeezes in an hour of strength-training at California Family Fitness by taking her children to the gym's child-care center.

Getting in shape "only takes 30 minutes a day" and doesn't require a gym, Kang said. "Wake up an hour earlier, do it at lunch time or after dinner instead of watching TV. Eating is 80percent of your results."

Kang said she thinks walking is the best exercise, and she encourages moms who work out with her in the park to do 20 pushups, squats, crunches and jumping jacks five times in a row without stopping.

At least one Northern California blogger offers Kang grudging respect on her Facebook page. Janelle Hanchett of Renegademothering.com declares: "Maria Kang, I hate you. But you're right. And now I hate you more. ... I am currently 40 pounds overweight. Why? Because I use food for emotional comfort. Because I'm lazy. Because I put things before my health, Hanchett wrote. "I'm tired of my own excuses."

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Apple iPhone 5S vs iPhone 5C vs iPhone 5: Pick the right one!

Confused with all the iPhones around? Don’t fret as we give you a quick comparison of the different models released by Apple.

Latest reports are saying that Apple is cutting back the production of the recently released iPhone 5C as the colorful version of the very successful handset isn’t as appealing as its more premium iPhone 5S sibling.

The iPhone 5S screams of new hardware, software, features, and speed. On the other hand, the purportedly cheaper iPhone 5C isn’t really to be discounted as it is also a potent device with Apple’s gamble on offering a colorful chassis. Let us take a quick look on the possible sibling rivalry that is happening between the iPhone 5, iPhone 5S, and the iPhone 5C.

Operating System

Both the iPhone 5S and the iPhone 5C come out of the box with the iOS 7 while the iPhone 5 has the iOS 6 installed.

Display

All of the iPhone models in comparison enjoy a four-inch IPS LCD with a resolution of 1,136 x 640 and a pixel density of 326ppi. The 5S and the 5C both come with sapphire crystal lens cover.

Tale of the Tape

The iPhone 5S measures 4.87 x 2.31 x 0.30 inches (height x width x depth). It tips the scale at 3.95 ounces. The iPhone 5C is slightly bigger measure 4.90 x 2.33 x 0.35 inches (h x w x d). It weighs a bit more at 4.65 ounces. The iPhone 5 registered at 4.87 x 2.31 x 0.30 inches and weighed the same as the 5S at 3.95 ounces.

Camera

All of the iPhones in comparison are equipped with an 8MP, 1080p main camera. The iPhone 5S comes with a dual-element flash while the 5C and the iPhone 5 came with an LED flash.

Processor

The iPhone 5S comes with the 64-bit A7 chip working in tandem with an M7 motion coprocessor. The iPhone 5C sports a 32-bit A6 CPU, the same chip inside the iPhone 5.

Battery

Both the iPhone 5S and 5C can last for 10 hours while on 3G compared to the talk time of the iPhone 5 pegged at 8 hours on 3G.

Carrier

AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon offer the iPhone 5S and the 5C. Global also carries the 5C. All iPhones in comparison have 4G LTE capability.

Price, Storage, Color

The iPhone 5 is no longer sold. The iPhone 5 S comes in three variants 16 GB ($199), 32GB ($299), and 64GB ($399). It is available in Silver, Space Gray, and Gold. On the other hand, the 5C comes in White, Pink, Yellow, Blue, and Green. There is a 16GB variant for $99 and a 32GB version for $199.
The iPhone 5 is no longer sold, but it came as 32GB and 64GB variants.

Extras

Among the bunch, the iPhone 5S is the only unit that features Apple’s fingerprint scanner.

Here’s a chart below for a deep dive into the specs:

	iPhone 5S	iPhone 5C	iPhone 5
Operating system	iOS 7	iOS 7	iOS 7
Display	4-inch IPS LCD; 1,136×640 pixels, 326 ppi	4-inch IPS LCD; 1,136×640 pixels, 326 ppi	4-inch IPS LCD; 1,136×640 pixels, 326 ppi
Processor	A7 CPU (64-bit)	A6 CPU (32-bit)	A6 CPU (32-bit)
Memory	16GB, 32GB, 64GB	16GB, 32GB	16GB, 32GB
4G LTE	Yes	Yes	Yes
Camera	8-megapixel, 1080p front-facing, dual-LED flash	8-megapixel, 720p front-facing	8-megapixel, 720p front-facing
Battery	Talk time up to 10 hours on 3G; embedded	Talk time up to 10 hours on 3G; embedded	Talk time up to 10 hours on 3G; embedded
Fingerprint scanner	Yes	No	No
Dedicated fitness tracking	Yes	No	No
Weight and thickness	3.95 ounces, 0.3 inch	4.65 ounces, 0.35 inch	3.95 ounces, 0.3 inch
Colors	Gray, gold, silver	Blue, green, pink, yellow, white	Black, white

Just to recall, the iPhone 4S was also offered by the major US mobile carriers. It came in Black and White variants and had a storage space of 8GB. It was slightly smaller primarily because it offered a smaller Retina display measuring 3.5 inches. It also had an 8MP main camera and depended on an A5 chip. It also makes use of a 30-pin connector compared to the Lightning-type connector of the newer models.

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Hands On: The Difference Between The iPhone 5S And The iPhone 5

Comparing the iPhone 5S with last year's iPhone 5 reveals more than a few differences—but most of them are under the hood.

Today's the day that the new iPhones have hit the shelves in the U.S. The pricier—and apparently more desired—iPhone 5S is not easy to find today, but after managing to get my hands on one, here's a quick comparison between the new 5S model and last year's iPhone 5.

First Impressions

The iPhone 5S, at first glance, is identical to its forebear. But with a flashy new A7 64-bit chip, the M7 motion co-processor, Apple's clever Touch ID fingerprint sensor and some powerful photography/video features, its insides bear little resemblance to the iPhone 5. Both phones boast a bright 326-ppi Retina touchscreen, of course, and the new version maintains the dimensions of its predecessor, weighing in at the same 112 grams. In our early testing, we compared a black 16GB iPhone 5S with a white Verizon iPhone 5 (pictured below).

Appearance

From the front, you could mistake the iPhone 5S for last year's iPhone 5 if it weren't for the new home button. The iPhone 5S's home button has lost the iconic rounded square of past generations in exchange for its nifty new fingerprint sensor. Beyond that, on the back of the device you'll note that the 5S has a new oblong-shaped dual flash to the right of the lens. The charging port, headphone jack placement, buttons and speaker arrangement remain unchanged. Beyond that, about the only discernable difference is that the iPhone logo has been Jony Ive-ified, featuring the printed "iPhone" logo in a thin font to match iOS 7's ubiquitous Helvetica Neue Ultra Light typeface.

Speed

As more comprehensive benchmarking comparisons would suggest, the iPhone 5S is noticeably faster than many competitors, easily doubling the speed of last year's model in many tests. The iPhone 5 is certainly no slouch, but upon activating my device, a "space gray" 16GB iPhone 5S running on AT&T's network, my first takeaway is whoa... this thing is fast. Granted, any new phone is blazing fast right out of the gate, but the 5S opens apps, loads webpages and executes so quickly it's hard to imagine a phone actually doing things faster than this. Next to an iPhone 5 over a shared Wi-Fi network, everything happens faster on the 5S. The camera was actually the most notable—it recovers in an instant with no lag at all. 

Camera

How does the iPhone 5S and its juiced-up camera compare to the iPhone 5? Well, the iPhone 5S's shooter is noticeably faster, like the phone is in most regards. The 5S, in our testing, seems to snap photos instantly. Burst mode is a cool trick, too—and one unique to the 5S, like the slow-motion video camera. Holding down the home button while shooting yields a ton of photos really, really quickly, but the only use cases we can imagine are tricky-to-capture shots, like maybe at a kid's football game when objects (and children) are moving, in order to get an in-focus shot.

The sample shots below compare the camera's respective capabilities in a handful of shooting conditions, though we've got a more in-depth examination of the 5S's camera features cooking too. In all of the pictures, we allowed autofocus to do its work rather than manually focusing with a tap like we make a habit of normally.

iPhone 5

iPhone 5S

iPhone 5

iPhone 5S

iPhone 5

iPhone 5S

iPhone 5

iPhone 5S

iPhone 5

iPhone 5S

iPhone 5

iPhone 5S

As you can see, the iPhone 5S performed a bit better under duress in bright- and mixed-light situations. The photos are mostly pretty comparable, though we'll be testing the 5S camera and its improved flash in more settings to see where (and if) it shines. Bells and whistles like Slow-mo, burst mode and the True Tone flash will likely be its strongest qualities, so we look forward to playing with all of those further.

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