Items tagged with (NASDAQ:APPL)
Voice assistants can be great for looking up the weather, playing music, and answering inquiries. However, consumers should use caution before asking their voice assistant to call a business or customer service line. The Better Business Bureau (BBB) recently reported that voice assistants are accidentally dialing scammer phone numbers. According to the BBB, several consumers have recently used voice search to dial the numbers of customer service lines, but were taken instead to scammers. For example, one consumer asked their voice assistant to dial an airline’s customer service phone number. The scammer attempted to convince the consumer to purchase $400 in prepaid gift cards. Why are consumers...
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Are Apple employees listening to your conversations? There is a chance that whatever you say is not just between you and Siri. An Apple whistleblower recently revealed that contractors listen to Siri recordings and frequently hear private information. According to an interview in The Guardian, Apple hires contractors to listen to and “grade” roughly 1% of daily Siri recordings. These contractors are tasked with deciding whether Siri responded appropriately to a question and whether or not Siri activations are accidental or deliberate. Unfortunately, these Apple contractors will often hear private information and recordings. Siri can accidentally be activated if it believes that...
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Firefox users have spoken up and Mozilla has listened. Firefox 68 is available today for iOS and desktop, with the new update including a number of features like dark mode for Firefox Reader View, new extensions and bookmark editing, and more options for IT professionals. Firefox or “Firefox Quantum” desktop and iOS users can now enjoy “blackout shades” in Firefox Reader View. Reader View strips away extras like advertisements and allows users to alter the size and color of a page’s text. Before this update, “dark mode” only affected the text. Now dark mode will apply to all sections of a page, including sidebars and images. Mozilla has also created a...
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There are few things more inconvenient in the modern world than a bricked smartphone. A security researcher recently disclosed an iMessage bug that could brick a user’s iPhone. The bug was severe enough to require users to wipe and restore their device. What caused the bothersome issue? Google Project Zero security researcher Natalie Silvanovich noted that a “malformed message” contained a text key, but not a string. She noted that another method would try to use the key as if it was a string without confirmation. This created “an exception as the selector does not exist in that class”. This exception caused Springboard, an application launcher for iPhones, to crash...
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Video chats are awkward. The video can be of poor quality, the audio can be unreliable, and it can be odd to speak to someone when they staring at the screen instead of the camera. Apple plans to fix the last dilemma with its next major mobile device update. iOS 13 will use ARKit to fix the eye contact issues in FaceTime. This new feature was discovered by Mike Rundle and quickly posted to Twitter. He noted that the third developer beta for iOS 13 includes a feature called “FaceTime Attention Correction”. This feature will use augmented reality to make it seem like you are looking into the camera while you FaceTime. How is the feat being achieved? With ARKit, Apple is able to map...
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Owners of previous-generation 15-inch MacBook Pros may have cause for concern. Apple has recalled some older models of the machine due to potential battery fire risks. Consumers will be able to get their battery replaced for free, however. The batteries in the affected Macbook Pros may overheat and create a fire hazard. The machines were sold between September 2015 and November 2017 and users will need to check their device's serial number to determine whether or not their machine is eligible for a battery replacement. The affected model is the “MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2015)”. If the device is eligible, Apple suggests that users stop using the device immediately....
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Foldable devices have been touted as the next big development in the smart device market. The Samsung Galaxy Fold will hopefully be eventually released in the coming months, while Huawei claims that half of its flagship devices will be foldable by 2021. Apple, one of the largest technology companies in the world, is expected to also get in on this action. Apple was just granted a patent by the US Patent and Trademark Office for a foldable device. The patent describes a device with a cover and display layer that connect to a bendable region. The flexible cover layer is meant to protect the display layer and provide structural support. The device is also able to fold not once, but twice. It is...
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Are Apple’s app practices anti-competitive? Phillip Shoemaker, the former head of App Store approvals, is concerned about the current competition between Apple and other developers. He argued that Apple should update its guidelines to give users a better experience, but noted that the app review process is rather complicated. Shoemaker was the head of App Store approvals between 2009 and 2016, and he helped to craft Apple’s in-app purchase system. In 2009, his team decided that Apple would receive a 30% cut of every digital good or service sold within an iOS app. Furthermore, apps were not allowed to include buttons or links that would direct customers to other places where...
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It has been several years since Apple has released an updated iPod touch. The former workout companion and 2000’s teen hangout mainstay has been supplanted by newer products like iPhones and iPads. Thankfully, the classic iPod touch is getting a refresh and an attractive price tag of $199. The new iPod touch incorporates Apple’s 10 Fusion chip (first seen the elderly iPhone 7), which is a dramatic upgrade on the processing front. The device is the first iPod touch to feature AR gaming, education, web-browsing experiences and Group FaceTime. Its image detection can even bring 3D toys and sculptures to life. Users can downloaded a variety of games from the App Store right now and will...
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Digital wellness apps and products have become increasingly popular in recent years. Parents in particular have started to use “screen time apps” to monitor the amount of time their children are playing games or watching shows on their devices. Unfortunately, according to Apple, not all screen time apps are created equal and the company recently banned several of them due to privacy violations. Phil Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing, reported that Apple has banned apps that have misused mobile device management (MDM) systems. The offending MDM apps tracked information about children’s devices and then shared that information with parents who downloaded...
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Apple's AirPods wireless earbuds have proven popular with the company's fans. However, some very active people find that the AirPods might not be ideal for strenuous activity. A new report claims that Apple is planning to launch new wireless, and AirPods-like, Beats-branded headphones next month. The product is reportedly called the Powerbeats Pro and is said to be "truly wireless." The first glimpse at the headphones came in the form of images and animations that were found tucked away inside iOS 12.2. The headphones are said to be nearly identical to the Powerbeats3 headphones but truly wireless like the AirPods. The headphones will come in black or white colors. Also found stashed away inside...
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Even the most ardent fans of movie theaters cannot ignore the increased popularity of streaming. In 2018, Netflix reportedly brought in $15.8 billion USD in revenue. Tech giant Apple is certainly taking notice and plans to reveal more information about its own streaming service at an event on March 25th. Despite all of the hype, there is already trouble in paradise. Apple has experienced a number of conflicts with the studios working on its streaming service. Apple recently sent out an invitation for an event on March 25th in Cupertino, California. Although the invitation does not lay out the agenda for the event, many believe that Apple will reveal more information about the upcoming streaming...
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Is Apple working on an augmented reality (AR) device? Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo recently reported that consumers should expect AR glasses from Apple sometime next year. The device will supposedly be marketed as an iPhone accessory. Apple’s AR glasses will serve primarily as an iPhone display while the actual computing, internet connectivity, and location services will be provided by the iPhone. Although users will need to carry their iPhone around with them to use the AR glasses, the glasses themselves will supposedly be smaller, more lightweight, and more comfortable to wear. It is also likely that the AR glasses will pair with other devices like the Apple Watch. Kuo believes that the...
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It looks as though Apple's autonomous vehicle efforts still have a ways to go before they can compare with the best in the industry. The numbers are in, and Apple reported more self-driving vehicle disengagements than any other company. Apple’s 62 vehicles experienced a grand total of 69,510 disengagements. A “disengagement” is when an autonomous vehicle either gives control back to the driver or when a driver interferes. Ideally, the self-driving car should remain “engaged” during the entirety of the drive unless there is an unusual and unavoidable emergency. Apple reported 871.65 disengagements per 1000 miles or a disengagement occurrence every 1.1 miles. Google’s...
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