While it’s a bit early to call the death of the headphone jack just yet, we sense that Apple’s interest in thinner, sleeker designs means that the 3.5mm connection is likely living on borrowed time at this point. via PC magazine Here’s my prediction: Apple will indeed drop the standard headphone port on the iPhone 7. Or 8. Or at some point. Guaranteed to happen eventually. There will be an immediate uproar from the tech community when this phone is announced (despite the discussions we’ll…

PayPal exec aims to “obliterate passwords from the face of the planet” | Ars Technica: “Phones could also authenticate a user with voice biometrics, eye scans, or facial recognition, he said. On PCs, there would be a browser plugin which could recognize the authentication methods that the system is capable of. A USB stick loaded with FIDO software could also work, allowing users to authenticate to computers they don’t own. Google is reportedly working on similar ways to eliminate the password.” (Via ars technica.) I’ve made it clear on…

John Siracusa is right about electronic voting. People have been trained for years to be skeptical about computers replacing our ancient paper ballot systems. It’s sad for me to hear otherwise intelligent people spew out all the various rote reasons why we could never vote via the Internet from our own laptops or phones. “It’ll be the end of democracy!” “Hackers will steal elections with a single click!” “Paper systems are so much harder to manipulate!” Nonsense, plain and simple. Like fears of Terminator style artificially intelligent machines…

Infographic: 4G LTE speeds, Verizon vs. AT&T: The infographic below shows each carrier’s average LTE speed in the cities we tested where both LTE services are offered. The cities are ranked according to a composite score of AT&T and Verizon LTE download speed. (Via Tech Hive) The problem with average speeds in tests like this is that they mean almost nothing compared to your real-world performance. Now that I’m carrying an AT&T phone and a Verizon iPad, I have to say, Verizon…

Sweden may also investigate Apple over iPad 4G/LTE marketing: Just a day after the Australian Competition & Consumer Commissionfiled a complaintover Apple’s 4G/LTE marketing in the new iPad, Sweden is considering an investigation of its own. The Swedish Consumer Agency says it has received a number of complaints from iPad buyers about the device’s LTE capabilities—LTS is only available in the US—and is now weighing whether it wants to open its own investigation into Apple’s marketing practices. (Via Ars Technica) Apple’s going…