It’s being reported that agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the FBI have used a Stingray to track an undocumented individual who was living in Michigan. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has described this usage of the technology as “novel,” prompting concerns that it could potentially be misused in a way that infringes upon civil liberties.
Stingray has become something of a catch-all terms for cell-site simulators, even though it started out as branding for a particular product developed by the Harris Corporation. It works by fooling phones into thinking it’s a standard cell tower, which causes the devices to share information related to the identity and location of its owner.
FBI and ICE operatives used a Stingray device to track the whereabouts of a man from El Salvador who was working at a restaurant in Michigan, according to a report from Engadget. The man had been deported twice in the past, and investigators obtained a warrant before utilizing the hardware, so there’s not much cause for complaint regarding the way this particular investigation played out. However, it does perhaps signal that the Stingray is set to become more widely used across all levels of law enforcement.
Stingrays were originally designed for the military, and then used by federal investigators to track terrorists. Last year, local law enforcement began adopting the technology, a move that was criticized in a report published by the U.S. House of Representatives.
At present, there’s a gray area when it comes to situations where it’s appropriate for law enforcement to utilize a Stingray device. In February 2017, a bill known as the Cell Location Privacy Act was submitted, with the intention of setting a requirement for a probable cause warrant before the hardware could be employed. However, the bill has not been passed as of the time of writing.
The absolutely absurd idea of putting a touchscreen display on a mouse isn't exactly new. Turtle Beach already did it with its Command Series MC7, which features a 2.25-inch control screen. But apparently, even that wasn't ridiculous enough for Arctic Fox Technologies. Its new Super Mouse looks like someone took the chunky old Atari ST mouse, slapped a touchscreen and scroll wheel on it, and called it an upgrade.
The result is a rather unusual-looking mouse that is now on Kickstarter, starting at $199. And as ridiculous as it looks, some of its features are genuinely intriguing.
Apple is less than a day away from launching its highly anticipated OLED MacBook Pro with a touch-sensitive screen. But it appears that the upgrade is going to cost a pretty penny. According to a report by Bloomberg, Apple is reportedly eyeing a starting price of $2,899 for the 14-inch MacBook Pro, while the 16-inch version could start at $3,399 in the US.
"At $2,899, the 14-inch model would mark the highest starting price for a new MacBook Pro model, surpassing the $2,799 Apple charged for a 17-inch version introduced in 2006," says the report. The report claims that Apple is targeting a minimum price hike of $400 for its upcoming redesigned 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models.
I've spent a good amount of time digging into the spec sheet of the new M6 MacBook Pro (14-inch), and for all intents and purposes, this is a classic Apple "chip and connectivity" refresh. It's not a full redesign. The chassis, Liquid Retina XDR panel, speakers, ports, and battery, all of them carry over unchanged.
However, the M6 brings more cores, stronger on-device AI, higher memory bandwidth on the larger configs, and modern wireless. Here’s the practical rundown of what actually improved, and whether those gains are worth your money.