Items tagged with (NASDAQ:APPL)
If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Smartphone users know that there are hordes of counterfeit devices and apps out there that are meant to give nefarious parties access to your device and personal information. In the case of counterfeit devices, they often have the same general appearance as their intended target, but often miss the mark in some glaring areas. Such is the case with this Apple iPhone X counterfeit device that was discovered for sale in China at a low, low price of $100 (compared to the $999 starting MSRP for the real deal). At that price, you would assume that something is amiss, but the device looked so much like an iPhone in style and in software, that it...
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Mac fans were excited when Apple finally rolled out updated MacBook Pro notebooks. The updated machines have support for Intel Coffee Lake processors, up to 32GB of RAM, True Tone displays and tweaked third-generation keyboards. Among the Coffee Lake processor options available is a high-end Core i9 part. A report has surfaced this week suggesting Apple didn't design the cooling system of the MacBook with enough chill to support that hot processor. YouTuber David Lee has made a video of a MacBook with a 2.9GHz six-core Core i9 processor inside that can hit up to 4.8GHz with Turbo Boost enabled. That chip is a $300 option on the 2018 15-inch MacBook Pro. Lee claims that the chip is unable...
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In May word was going around that noted Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo was leaving KGI Securities and the world of Apple rumors behind. While he did, in fact, leave KGI, he is still prophesying things all things Apple and is back with a new rumor. Kuo is now at TF International Securities and has published an investor note that outlines what he expects to see in the fall hardware lineup from Apple. Perhaps the biggest news is that long after Tim Cook promised the Mac mini would remain part of the lineup as the cheapest Mac, it will finally get a performance update. Sadly, if you are dying for details on that Mac mini there are no hardware predictions offered. Other tidbits Kuo predicts include...
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China has no love for Taiwan, and the former's censorship has led to strange issues for some iPhone users. If users have their region set to China and someone sends them the Taiwan flag emoji, a bug in iOS could cause the app to crash. That bug has the potential to allow a remote user to launch a denial of service attack on the message receiver by continually sending them the Taiwan flag emoji. The bug was discovered by security researcher Patrick Wardle. Wardle says that the bug was first brought to his attention when a friend told him that iOS apps crashed when she typed the word "Taiwan" or received a message with the Taiwanese flag in it on a fully patched iPhone 7. In his debugging of the...
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Apple has launched iOS 11.4.1 and this is the update that adds USB Restricted Mode to the iPhone. The intention with USB Restricted Mode was to lock down the USB port of an iPhone to block intrusion techniques using third-party devices to crack the passcode of devices. USB Restricted Mode deactivates USB data processes via the Lighting port when the device is locked for more than an hour. Once that hour limit is reached, the USB port is only good for charging the iPhone. Security Researchers at ElcomSoft have discovered what appears to be an oversight on Apple's part that allows the USB port to continue working normally for an indefinite period. All police or hackers trying to gain access to...
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Apple has been fighting Qualcomm over patents that the iPhone allegedly violates. Qualcomm filed a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) previously, and a panel has recommended that a trade judge find that Apple infringed on at least one of these patents. If the judge does rule that Apple infringed on the patent, there is a chance that the import of some iPhone devices into the United States could be blocked. More than likely any ruling that Apple violated patents would simply mean a licensing fee paid by Apple to keep a steady flow of iPhone coming into the country. The iPhone is too important to Apple for it to not license the patent. The original...
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Apple wants to make it harder for anyone to gain unauthorized access to iPhones with a new USB Restricted Mode in iOS 12. That move infuriated law enforcement as it meant that the GrayKey iPhone hacking tool (and others from Cellebrite) used by authorities to crack iPhones would be useless. Grayshift, the company behind GrayKey, didn’t take Apple's new restrictions lying down. Grayshift went on the offensive and has been actively working to crack Apple's new USB Restricted Mode, and the company is now claiming victory. If you haven’t been following USB Restricted Mode, the feature locks out USB accessories from communicating with an iPhone if the device hasn't been unlocked...
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Apple has Spotify in its sights as the company to beat in the streaming music industry. Spotify currently has the most subscribers out there (75 million paying subscribers), but Apple is catching up. Apple CEO Tim Cook confirmed that Apple Music now has 50 million subscribers on the Bloomberg Television program “The David Rubenstein Show: Peer-to-Peer Conversations.” Cook says that the service has over 50 million users between paid members and trial users. That it’s a marked gain in subscribers compared to the 38 million in March and 40 million in April. Apple is gaining about 4 million conversions to paid subscribers per month and that amount has reportedly been consistent...
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Technology companies that collect any sort of data are scrambling to be sure that they are being as careful in the wake of Facebook's Cambridge Analytica privacy problems. The latest tech firm to take a hard look at user privacy is Apple, with reports that it is cracking down on apps that share location data with third-party companies. Apple has begun removing the apps in question from the App Store if it finds that data is being shared and notifying the developers of the app that they have violated two different listing guidelines (sections are 5.1.1 and 5.1.2 of the App Store Review Guidelines). Those guidelines have to do with transmitting user location data and user awareness of data collection....
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Apple has a new iPad that has finished development, and the device will reportedly make an appearance next week at the company's education-focused keynote at the Lane Technical College Prep High School in Chicago. This will be a decidedly less "splashy" affair than typical Apple keynotes, but the company is looking to regain some ground lost in the education sector to Google's Chromebooks that are powered by Chrome OS. Not much is known about the new iPad, other than the fact that it will take the place of the current 9.7-inch iPad, which is priced from $329 with 32GB of onboard storage and is powered by an Apple A9 processor. Given that this iPad will be at the low-end of the tablet family,...
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Amid an escalating legal battle between two technology giants, it seems that Apple would like nothing more than to sever ties with Qualcomm in the construction of its iPhone and iPad products. Apple relies on Qualcomm to supply high-speed LTE models for its mobile gadgets, but has been looking at Intel to replace at least some of its orders. Now it's being reported that Apple has MediaTek on the radar as well. Image Source: Wikimedia Commons via Solomon203 According to Digitimes, Apple has already switched half of its baseband modem chipset orders from Qualcomm to Intel, though the last we heard (in October) nothing was yet official. Industry sources tell the news and rumor outlet that Apple...
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Do you have an iPhone that is looking a little worse of the wear and needs serving at an Apple Store? Well, it might be good to know beforehand whether that cracked screen or potential water damage is covered under warranty. Thankfully, internal Apple documentation has leaked out that gives us a good look at what Apple deems covered (or not covered) by its warranty services. The service guide was obtained by Business Insider, which has posted a few select pages for all to view. The Visual/Mechanical Inspection Guide (VMI) covers Apple’s iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6S, 6S Plus, 7, and 7 Plus smartphones. The first page covers items that are eligible for Apple’s warranty services “regardless of any accidental...
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Andy Rubin Takes Page From Legere’s Playbook And Hopes Essential Will Break Up Apple-Samsung Duopoly
Are you tired of the current smartphone offerings from the Apple-Samsung duopoly? Andy Rubin, the creator of Google’s Android, may have the right product for you. His startup just introduced its new premium-tier device, the Essential Phone. Rubin recently remarked at the Wired conference, “I think when there's this duopoly with these two guys owning 40 percent of the market, this complacency sets in. And that's the perfect time to start a company with this. Some people are complacent and it needs to be disrupted.” Much like third-place U.S. wireless carrier T-Mobile and its brash CEO John Legere have thought outside the box to counter big guns Verizon and AT&T, Rubin wants to be a disrupter. Rubin...
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Apple took an important step in making good on CEO Tim Cook’s promise to make Apple’s new campus “the greenest building on the planet.” The company announced that it plans to spend $850 million as part of a massive, 25-year solar power purchase agreement with a solar power farm in California. The farm, which will belong to Tempe, Arizona-based First Solar, has yet to be built. However, following its completion in 2016, the farm will supply Apple with up to 130 megawatts of power from what has been dubbed the “California Flats Solar Project.” The Monterey County solar farm will power the ring-shaped Apple headquarters that is currently under construction. “We expect...
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Just how secure is your favorite chat app? The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) found out and is sharing the results of its research as part of its battle against NSA surveillance. As you’d probably expect, it has some complaints about the security of certain mainstream chat programs, but there are a few surprises on the EFF’s Secure Messaging Scorecard. A portion of the Electronic Frontier Foundation Secure Messaging Scorecard. Image Credit: EFF For one thing, Skype received poor marks, garnering only two positives (out of a possible seven). The video chat service encrypts communications during transit and doesn’t have a way to monitor the content of your chats, according...
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So you've been tempted by Apple's new big, beautiful 5.5-inch computer-in-your-pocket known as the iPhone 6 Plus. I mean if you're going to get a new smartphone, surely anything labeled "Plus" by Apple must be all that and a bag of Fritos, right? And #bendgate? You couldn't care less about what a few clumsy types are squawking about. You take care of your devices and don't plan on sitting on your phone anytime soon. Then again, the iPhone 6 Plus is expensive and it sure is big. There are so many smartphones to choose from these days and when it comes to Android, Google and their multitude of manufacturing and software developer partners, have done a nice job of empowering an ecosystem and...
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When NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden came forth last year with the US government's spying secrets, it didn't take long to realize that some of the information revealed could bring on some serious repercussions - not just for the US government, but also for US-based companies. The latest to feel the hit? None other than Apple, and in a region the company has been working hard to increase market share in: China. China, via state media, has today declared that Apple's iPhone is a threat to national security - all because of its thorough tracking capabilities. It has the ability to keep track of user locations, and to some of the media in China, this could potentially reveal "state secrets" - somehow....
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Typically with every iPhone release, the rumors trickle in months ahead of time, and the release of the iPhone 6 has been no different. We’ve heard that the iPhone 6 will come in two sizes, 4.7- and 5.5 inches, we know that it will have some health-related features thanks to iOS 8, and we’ve seen leaked photos or the new handsets. We also know that Apple will likely announce the iPhone 6 in August. The latest rumor is that the handset will go into production next month instead of last month, as we heard earlier, and the iPhone 6 should be shipping to retailers in September, according to Bloomberg’s sources. Credit: Sonny Dickson There was a time when an iPhone release meant...
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We’ve been getting used to billion-dollar-plus acquisitions lately, and thus a rumor that Google is in talks to buy streaming music service Songza for just $15 million doesn’t quite make ones eyes pop, but it’s still noteworthy that the search giant is working to enhance its product offerings. It would seem that the current Google Play Music streaming service, with its $9.99 per month All Access plan, needs some spicing up in the form of better playlists. With oceans of music available, many people rely on pre-curated playlists--sometimes made by celebrities or popular musicians--to keep up on the hottest new tunes. Songza has evolved into a music streaming service that only...
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Apple’s long-rumored smartwatch, which may or may not be called the iWatch, may finally arrive in October, according to a new reports. An unidentified parts supplier and person familiar with the matter let slip that the company will build 3-5 million smartwatches per month for its initial run of the devices. That’s some bold predicting, especially as the smartwatch market has so far been a bit lukewarm as consumers so far haven’t the devices as central to their lives the way they do smartphones. If any company is going to crack that nut so to speak, it might as well be Apple, the company that set the standard for smartphones with the release of the first iPhone. Image Source:...
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Apple has added a spec to its MFi (Made-For-iPhone/iPad/iPod) program that allows for a headphone connection via the Lightning port instead of the traditional 3.5mm headphone jack, and the functionality will come via an iOS 7.1 software update. According to 9to5Mac, the Lightning port will allow headphones to receive lossless stereo 48kHz digital audio streams--as well as a mono 48kHz output, which means that users’ headphones could have a microphone to allow for voice input. Thus, you could ostensibly control the audio (volume up/down, pause/play, and even perhaps app launching). Credit: 9to5Mac There will be two types of headphones: Standard Lightning Headphones will be simpler and will...
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